Search Results (19,373)

Optical ground wire (OPGW) cables are subjected to extreme electromagnetic stresses from lightning and short circuits. Existing models have three main limitations: (i) they assume uniform current distribution, (ii) they use constant material properties, and (iii) they do not couple the electromagnetic, thermal, and mechanical domains. This paper proposes a coupled multiphysics model that incorporates non-uniform current distribution with ${\mu }_r$ dependent on the magnetic field, temperature-dependent properties, and differentiated failure criteria. The model was implemented in COMSOL Multiphysics and was validated against experimental short-circuit tests (15–30 kA) conducted at the HPT-Laboratory (FEC). For the lightning scenario (10/350 $\mathsf{\mu }$s impulse), the model predictions were compared with experimental results reported in the literature, showing good agreement in temperature rise and damage patterns. Results show that including a non-uniform current distribution modifies the predicted maximum temperature by 15.8% and shifts its location from the center to the outer aluminum layers. The model reproduces the experimental temperature with an RMSE of <7 °C and a relative error of <8%. A combined failure criterion (thermal + mechanical) predicts strand breakage with 89.2% accuracy, outperforming the purely thermal (72.5%) and mechanical (78.3%) criteria. Specific $I-t$ and $I^{2}t$ curves were generated for two commercial OPGW cable configurations (Manufacturer A and Manufacturer B), with $I^{2}t$ capacities at 500 ms of 128 kA²s and 98 kA²s, respectively. The proposed model provides a useful tool for protection selection and coordination in transmission lines with OPGW cables. Full article

Background/Objectives: Pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is an important prognostic marker in HER2-positive breast cancer (BC). However, reliable pre-treatment predictors based on routinely available clinical data remain limited. This study evaluated whether clinicopathologic and baseline magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) variables could predict NAC response using classical machine learning (ML) approaches. Methods: A retrospective cohort of 112 patients with HER2-positive BC treated with NAC was analysed, including 57 patients who achieved pCR and 55 who did not. Fourteen pre-treatment variables were evaluated, including hormone receptor (HR) status, tumour grade, ER and PR expression, Ki67, nodal status, age, and baseline MRI characteristics. Seventy ML classifiers were compared using a fully nested leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) framework. Performance was assessed using accuracy, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), Cohen’s kappa, sensitivity, specificity, and F1-score. Results: A support vector machine (SVM) with a radial basis function (RBF) kernel achieved the highest observed accuracy (82.1%) among the 70 evaluated classifiers. The corresponding AUROC was 83.3%, Cohen’s kappa was 64.2%, and sensitivity, specificity, and F1-score were 87.7%, 76.4%, and 83.3%, respectively. HR-related variables, particularly PR and ER expression, together with Ki67 and baseline MRI features, ranked among the most influential predictors. Despite relying exclusively on routinely available pre-treatment variables, the model demonstrated meaningful predictive performance. Conclusions: ML applied to routinely available clinicopathologic and baseline MRI variables showed promising ability to predict pCR before treatment initiation in HER2-positive BC. The proposed approach may support pre-treatment clinical risk assessment using information already generated during routine clinical assessment. Nevertheless, prospective multicentre external validation, calibration assessment, and evaluation of clinical utility are required before implementation in routine clinical practice. Full article

Prolonged drought in Chile has imposed increasing pressures on water-dependent tourism activities, although its effects have been assessed only fragmentarily and rarely linked to tourism-relevant indicators. This study provides an integrated hydro-climatic and economic assessment of drought impacts on two tourism categories especially sensitive to water availability: snow and mountain tourism, and tourism related to water bodies and watercourses. For this purpose, time series of snow cover, streamflow, precipitation, and water quality were analyzed for 2000–2024, complemented by sectoral statistics and indirect indicators of economic impact. Trend analyses used linear regression, the Mann–Kendall test, Sen’s slope, Pettitt change-point detection, and Spearman correlations between hydroclimatic variables and tourism proxies. Results show a significant decline in snow cover across most of northern and central Chile, with strong signals in basins critical for winter tourism and a common temporal break in 2009. Widespread streamflow reductions were also detected in rivers from central, southern, and Patagonian Chile, although with differing magnitude and timing. In contrast, water-quality changes were limited and spatially heterogeneous. In the ski sector, reduced snow accumulation was associated with shorter ski seasons, fewer skier-days, and lower direct employment. For rafting, declining streamflow was associated with reduced hydrological suitability, indicating less favorable potential operating conditions. Overall, drought affects tourism significantly but unevenly, depending on geography, hydrological regime, activity type, and data availability. The proposed integrated assessment helps identify differentiated drought-impact pathways and supports more climate-resilient tourism management. Full article

Additive manufacturing, particularly Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), has emerged as a promising technology for construction applications due to its ability to fabricate complex geometries, optimize material usage, and enable customized designs. This study investigates the effects of different infill patterns and densities on the compressive behavior of polylactic acid (PLA) specimens to identify suitable configurations for industrial applications. Cubic specimens (50 mm × 50 mm × 50 mm) were designed in SolidWorks, sliced with PrusaSlicer using various conventional and bio-inspired infill patterns, and manufactured using a Prusa i3 MK3S printer. Compression tests were conducted to evaluate stiffness, strength, toughness, and deformation capacity. In addition, finite element method (FEM) simulations were carried out to predict the mechanical response under compressive loading. The results showed that the honeycomb infill pattern provided the best overall performance, combining moderate stiffness with high deformation capacity, reaching strains of approximately 40% before failure, and exhibiting superior energy absorption. Among the tested configurations, an infill density of 20% offered the best balance between mechanical performance, material consumption, and printing time. These findings demonstrate that honeycomb-based structures with moderate infill densities are promising candidates for lightweight engineering applications requiring high energy dissipation and damage tolerance. Full article

Neurotropic viruses can alter neuronal responses in the central nervous system (CNS), significantly affecting viral clearance and disease progression. Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) brain infection may lead to life-threatening severe acute encephalitis in untreated patients and neurological sequelae in survivors despite antiviral treatment. Notably, asymptomatic brain infection occurs in an important proportion of healthy individuals (>35%) and is associated with residual chronic neuroinflammatory responses that may lead to neurodegeneration. Therefore, understanding the molecular basis of these detrimental effects and finding and advancing new therapeutic strategies to manage HSV-1 brain infections are needed. Neuropeptides are pleiotropic neuroimmune mediators expressed throughout the CNS that modulate glial activation, cytokine production, and neuronal survival. However, their regulation during HSV-1 brain infections remains largely unexplored. Here, we sought to investigate the expression dynamics of two neuropeptides, neuropeptide Y (NPY) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), in two mouse strains that model human traits of symptomatic and asymptomatic HSV-1 brain infections (BALB/c and C57BL/6, respectively), as well as in the human neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y, to uncover potential differences that could help explain the susceptibility of some individuals to develop severe HSV-1 infection. Our findings provide evidence that HSV-1 brain infection modulates NPY and VIP mRNA expression in a neurovirulence- and host-susceptibility-dependent manner, which may be associated with disease severity and chronic damage, warranting further evaluation. Full article

This data descriptor documents a two-level genre classification scheme for metal-music corpus studies derived from Encyclopaedia Metallum’s multi-label genre strings. The scheme assigns each band to one of eleven mutually exclusive primary buckets and, alternatively, to one of seventeen finer-grained sub-categories that separate closely related sub-styles. Classification is implemented by keyword priority on the lower-cased genre string and is fully deterministic given the published keyword table. The scheme was developed and tested on a corpus of 560 metal bands from Southern Chile (1988–2024), which serves as the development corpus throughout. On a stratified 60-band subset of this corpus, automatic assignments agreed with independent expert human coding at 81.7% (Cohen’s κ = 0.78, 95% bootstrap CI [0.66, 0.88]); an out-of-sample application to a 60-band Norwegian sample, with the keyword tables left unchanged, retained the scheme’s core logic at a 5.0% residual rate. The encoding rules, the keyword tables, and the mapping CSVs are released under CC-BY 4.0 to enable replication and adaptation across other metal-scene corpora. Full article

Background: Professional women’s football requires precise neuromuscular characterisation because of the high mechanical demands associated with acceleration, deceleration, jumping, braking, landing, and rapid force production. The aim was to characterise the multivariate neuromuscular profile derived from the countermovement jump (CMJ) and isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP), and to examine neuromuscular components according to tactical positions in professional female football players. Methods: Twenty-three professional female football players were assessed using the CMJ and IMTP. Force-time, impulse, rate of force development, jump performance, landing, and inter-limb imbalance variables were extracted. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to the standardised variables, and individual component scores were compared according to tactical positions using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: The first five principal components explained 79.19% of the total variance. PC1 represented the propulsive force and the rate of force development; PC2 reflected total force and mechanical impulse; PC3 represented early explosiveness; PC4 grouped indicators of inter-limb imbalance; and PC5 integrated jump performance and landing control. No statistically significant differences were observed between tactical positions. Conclusions: The combination of CMJ, IMTP, and PCA enabled multiple muscle-force variables to be synthesised into interpretable neuromuscular dimensions. The findings provide preliminary and exploratory evidence to support the individual monitoring of female football players. Given the low participant-to-variable ratio, the PCA findings should be considered exploratory. Full article

Recent advances in structural engineering have enabled lightweight and slender footbridges. However, these structures are often susceptible to excessive vibrations induced by pedestrian activities, primarily impacting urban footbridge serviceability. Most studies evaluate human–structure interaction (HSI) uniaxially based on peak dynamic sensitivity. Nevertheless, this approach may overlook multidirectional mechanisms in footbridges with similar vertical and lateral modal properties. This study presents an extensive experimental assessment of HSI effects on a functional urban pedestrian bridge, known as the Premier-Footbridge, which exhibits clear multiaxial dynamic sensitivity within the frequency range associated with human walking. The structure was characterized by using operational modal analysis (OMA) based on ambient vibration measurements. Subsequently, a comprehensive human gait campaign evaluated different pedestrian density loads (PDL) and gait conditions, including synchronized, non-synchronized, and random walking. The results show that the multiaxial interaction effects were predominantly concentrated around the first lateral vibration mode (1.07 Hz), despite concurrent dynamic sensitivity in both lateral (1.07 Hz) and vertical (1.98 Hz) directions. Increasing PDL levels led to higher vibration amplitudes and measurable changes in HSI-related structural dynamics, including apparent damping and pedestrian step frequency. The experimental results indicated an apparent increase in effective structural damping with increasing pedestrian density, as identified through nonlinear trend fitting of the measured modal response parameters. Despite the multiaxial dynamic sensitivity of the structure, lateral vibrations remained the dominant factor governing the serviceability response, even under moderate PDL conditions. Full article

Protein hydrolysates (PHs) have emerged as a pivotal category of plant biostimulants in sustainable agriculture. They are derived from the enzymatic, chemical, or thermal hydrolysis of agro-industrial by-products of animal or plant origin. These complex mixtures of free amino acids, oligopeptides, and polypeptides enhance crop productivity, nutrient use efficiency, and abiotic stress resilience. This review examines and compares the production methods, chemical composition, agronomic performance, physiological mechanism, and safety profiles of animal-derived (A-PHs) and vegetal-derived (V-PHs) protein hydrolysates, with particular emphasis on hydrolyzed collagen (HC) as an emerging biostimulant. Furthermore, the specific physiological roles of proline in mediating plant stress tolerance and hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins in maintaining cell wall integrity are evaluated. Animal-derived sources, including collagen, keratin, and fish by-products, are characterized by elevated glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline concentrations, amino acids with established roles in root architecture promotion, reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging, and osmotic adjustment under stress. Conversely, V-PH exhibit richer bioactive peptide profiles and superior environmental sustainability indices. Underlying mechanisms encompass hormone-like activities mimicking auxin and gibberellin signaling, transcriptional reprogramming of nitrogen assimilation pathways, antioxidant enzyme modulation, and rhizosphere microbiota stimulation. Full article

Adipose tissue is now recognized as a heterogeneous endocrine and metabolic organ rather than a passive lipid reservoir. Beyond the classical white, brown, and beige adipocytes, several depot- and organ-specific lipid-storing cell populations, including pink adipocytes, bone marrow (yellow) adipocytes, and hepatic stellate cells, contribute to energy homeostasis, thermogenesis, immune regulation, bone marrow function, and hepatic retinoid storage. Most existing reviews address these populations separately or focus narrowly on classical depots. Here, we integrate classical and non-classical adipocyte populations within a single depot-specific framework, examining how anatomical location and functional specialization jointly determine their contribution to obesity-related non-communicable diseases, including type 2 diabetes mellitus, metabolic-associated fatty liver disease, hypertension, and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. We further highlight unresolved mechanistic questions, including macrophage phenotypic heterogeneity beyond the classical M1/M2 model, the translational limits of brown adipose tissue activation, and the paracrine role of perivascular adipose tissue, that represent priority areas for future investigation. Full article

Ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), known as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), result from a complex interaction of genetic, immunological, microbial and environmental factors. There is growing evidence suggesting that imbalances in the gut microbiota, or dysbiosis, play a causal role in IBD and are strongly influenced by aspects of the Western lifestyle. Diet is an important modulator of gut health, and whole cereals have attracted attention for their potential to positively shape gut microbiota and intestinal function. Germination further enhances the content of prebiotic substrates and bioactive compounds such as polyphenols, GABA and fiber, which may modulate inflammation, oxidative stress and immune responses. In vitro and clinical studies suggest that these compounds may reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines and improve symptoms in IBD, although robust evidence in patients is still lacking. Here, we provide an overview of whole and sprouted cereals and their effects on inflammation and gut microbiota, with particular focus on IBD. We also discuss the potential of sprouted grains as a complementary approach to diet alongside conventional therapy, highlighting their possible support to gut health to mitigate inflammation. Finally, we emphasize the need for further well-designed clinical studies to confirm their therapeutic potential and to better understand the mechanisms underlying their beneficial effects. Full article

The shrinking of glaciers is drastically transforming headwater catchments, exposing new land surfaces and forming new water bodies, characterized by marked environmental gradients and the activation of potential geochemical hazards. The aim of this study was to characterize and compare the geochemical patterns of soil and water in areas deglaciated between 1970/1984 and 2025 within the Llaca and Gueshgue valleys of the Cordillera Blanca, Peru. Systematic soil and water sampling was conducted, and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate techniques. The analyses revealed a clear and statistically significant geochemical differentiation between the two areas (p ≤ 0.05). Gueshgue was identified as a system in transition, exhibiting geochemical signatures of acid rock drainage (ARD), with loamy soils rich in Fe and Al, and acidic waters featuring high redox potential and elevated concentrations of SO₄²⁻, EC, Co, Cu, Mn and Mg. In contrast, Llaca exhibited greater stability, with neutral waters and sandy soils dominated by silicate weathering signatures (SiO₂) and trace elements (Al, Li, Ba, K, and Ti). These findings indicate that the impact of glacier retreat on proglacial ecosystems is heterogeneous; identifying these geochemical patterns is fundamental to establishing baseline monitoring and guiding the sustainable management of these climate-change-sensitive ecosystems. Full article

Passive infrared (PIR) sensors provide a low-cost, unobtrusive, and privacy-preserving approach for continuously monitoring daily activity in older adults. This study investigated whether indoor mobility features derived from PIR sensors could discriminate levels of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in community-dwelling older adults living alone. Mobility variables were extracted from three months of PIR sensor recordings and aggregated at the participant level for 40 individuals, who were classified into high- and low-HRQoL groups according to the EQ-5D index. A nested stratified five-fold cross-validation framework was implemented, incorporating RandomOverSampler exclusively within the training folds to address class imbalance while preserving the original distribution of the outer test folds. Three machine learning classifiers—Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest, and K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN)—were evaluated using accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). The SVM achieved the best overall performance, with an accuracy of $0.825\pm 0.143$, precision of $0.860\pm 0.080$, recall of $0.900\pm 0.149$, F1-score of $0.876\pm 0.102$, and AUC of $0.937\pm 0.069$. Random Forest achieved a comparable AUC of $0.933\pm 0.109$, whereas KNN showed lower overall performance and greater variability across the outer folds. Aggregated out-of-fold predictions further provided class-specific performance estimates while preserving the original participant distribution, confirming that model evaluation was conducted exclusively on non-oversampled test data. Overall, the findings support the feasibility of combining PIR-derived mobility features with interpretable machine learning models to investigate HRQoL in older adults. These results should be considered proof-of-feasibility and warrant validation in larger, independent, and more diverse cohorts. Full article

Recently, novel nanobiotechnological approaches have been developed to reduce the impact of pollutants during the synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs). To do so, green synthesis methods have now become widely adopted, using biomolecules to produce high-quality, stable nanoparticles. In this work, we employed the K1 toxin produced by S. cerevisiae as a reducing and capping agent for silver nanoparticles. The synthesis of Ag-K1 NPs was carried out using a concentrated protein fraction from the culture medium of S. cerevisiae 42300 containing the secreted K1 toxin. The obtained nanoparticles were characterized using UV–Vis spectroscopy, STEM, EDS, and FTIR, and the antimicrobial efficacy was determined against S. cerevisiae, P. aeruginosa, and B. subtilis. The synthesized NPs showed high antimicrobial efficacy, killing all tested strains; additionally, dose–response modeling suggested differential activity among the nanoparticles. This work reports, for the first time, the bio-assisted synthesis and antimicrobial characterization of silver nanoparticles associated with K1 killer toxin-containing protein fractions. Full article

Background/Objectives: Pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) are widely used to quantify hyperalgesia in tension-type headache (TTH). However, previous diagnostic accuracy research has mainly focused on muscular or segmental sites, while the discriminative performance of PPTs measured over peripheral nerves remains largely unexplored. This study primarily aimed to compare PPTs measured across nerve-related and muscular anatomical sites between women with frequent episodic TTH and headache-free controls. As a secondary exploratory objective, site-specific ROC analyses were performed to examine within-sample discrimination and derive sample-specific exploratory cut-offs. Methods: A cross-sectional exploratory study with a case–control sampling design evaluated 31 women with frequent episodic TTH (mean age: 19.6 ± 4.3 years) and 32 headache-free women (mean age: 22.1 ± 4.9 years). The groups differed significantly in age (p = 0.039). PPTs were recorded over peripheral nerves (greater occipital, median, ulnar, radial, tibial, common fibular), muscles (temporalis, tibialis anterior), 2nd–3rd interdigital hand space and the C5/C6 zygapophyseal joints. Results: Women with TTH showed lower PPTs than controls across all evaluated locations. However, after adjustment for age and Holm correction across the 20 anatomical sites, only the right greater occipital nerve remained statistically significant (p = 0.043). The right greater occipital nerve also yielded the highest area under the curve (AUC = 0.706; 95% CI 0.576–0.836) and was the only location whose AUC remained significantly different from 0.50 after correction for multiple testing (p = 0.040). Its sample-derived exploratory cut-off of 1.75 kg/cm² showed low sensitivity (0.419; 95% CI 0.245–0.609) but high specificity (0.969; 95% CI 0.838–0.999). Although the corresponding LR+ was 13.419, its confidence interval was extremely wide (95% CI 1.866–96.525), indicating substantial imprecision. The LR− was 0.599 (95% CI 0.442–0.814). Overall, the operating characteristics varied considerably across locations and should be interpreted as exploratory. Conclusions: Women with frequent episodic TTH showed generally lower PPTs across nerve and muscle locations. However, after adjustment for age and multiple testing, the between-group difference was statistically supported only at the right greater occipital nerve. Although this location showed the highest AUC and high specificity at the sample-derived cut-off, its low sensitivity and the considerable imprecision of the LR+ estimate limit its interpretation. These findings reflect discrimination between selected participants with established TTH and headache-free controls, and should not be interpreted as evidence of clinical differential-diagnostic accuracy. Full article