Search Results (6,659)

This study assesses the accuracy of flood extent predictions in five U.S. watersheds. We generated flood maps for four return periods using various digital elevation models (DEMs)—FABDEM, SRTM, ALOS, and USGS 3DEP—and two versions of the GEOGLOWS River Forecast System (RFS) hydrography. These comparisons are notable because they build on operational global hydrology models so subsequent work can develop global modeled flood products. Models were made using the Automated Rating Curve (ARC) and Curve2Flood tools. Accuracy was measured against USGS reference maps using the F-statistic. Our results show that flood map accuracy generally increased with higher return periods. The most consistent and reliable improvements in accuracy occurred when both the DEM and hydrography datasets were upgraded to higher-resolution sources. While DEM improvements generally had a greater impact, hydrography refinements were more important for lower return periods when flood extents were the smallest. Generally, DEM resolution improved accuracy metrics more as the return period increased and hydrography and bare earth DEMs mattered more as the return period decreased. There was a 38.9% increase in the mean F-statistic between the two principal pairings of interest (FABDEM-RFS2 and SRTM 30 m DEM-RFS1). FABDEM’s bare-earth representation combined with RFS2 sometimes outperformed higher-resolution non-bare-earth DEMs, suggesting that there remains a need for site-specific investigation. Using ARC and Curve2Flood with FABDEM and RFS2 is a suitable baseline combination for general flood extent application. Full article

Background/Objectives: Although both the MEL90 (Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Jena, Germany) and WaveLight EX500 (Alcon Laboratories, Inc., Fort Worth, TX, USA) are two widely used excimer lasers, comparisons between the two remain limited. This study evaluates visual and refractive outcomes from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) premarket approval trials of these platforms in the treatment of myopia with and without astigmatism, hyperopia with and without astigmatism, and mixed astigmatism. Methods: Clinical outcomes from FDA premarket approval trials were compared between the recently approved MEL90 and the WaveLight (now termed EX500) excimer lasers. Results: A total of 714 eyes (358 patients) from MEL90 and 1353 eyes (706 patients) from EX500 were analyzed up to 6 months postoperatively. In the hyperopia/hyperopic astigmatism cohort, the EX500 demonstrated greater efficacy relative to MEL90, with more eyes achieving a postoperative uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) of 20/20 or better (48.6% vs. 68.7%, respectively; p < 0.001). In both the MEL90 and EX500, at least 85% of eyes with myopia/myopic astigmatism and 68% with mixed astigmatism achieved a postoperative UDVA of 20/20 or better. For all refractive cohorts, more than 95% of eyes achieved a UDVA of 20/40 or better at 6 months (all p > 0.05). The EX500 was more likely to demonstrate an improvement of more than two lines of UDVA compared to baseline CDVA (all p < 0.05). In contrast, the MEL90 showed greater predictability of spherical equivalent within ±0.50 D and ±1.00 D for the hyperopia/hyperopic astigmatism cohort (both p = 0.007), as well as within ±0.50 D for the myopia/myopic astigmatism cohort (p < 0.001). Postoperatively, both platforms were associated with decreased glare and halos, although findings were variable in the EX500 mixed astigmatism cohort. Conclusions: Both excimer lasers demonstrated safe and effective outcomes that exceed the threshold set by the FDA. Full article

This study examines the effect of elevated printing speeds (100–600 mm/s) on the dimensional accuracy and tensile strength of PLA components fabricated via fused deposition modeling (FDM). To isolate the influence of printing speed, all other parameters were kept constant, and two filament variants—natural (unpigmented) and black PLA—were analyzed. ISO 527-2 type 1A specimens were produced and tested for dimensional deviations and ultimate tensile strength (UTS). The results indicate that printing speed has a marked impact on both geometric precision and mechanical performance. The optimal speed of 300 mm/s provided the best compromise between dimensional accuracy and tensile strength for both filaments. At speeds below 300 mm/s, under-extrusion caused weak layer bonding and air gaps, while speeds above 300 mm/s led to over-extrusion and structural defects due to thermal stress and rapid cooling. Black PLA yielded better dimensional accuracy at higher speeds, with cross-sectional deviations between 2.76% and 5.33%, while natural PLA showed larger deviations of up to 8.63%. However, natural PLA exhibited superior tensile strength, reaching up to 46.59 MPa, with black PLA showing up to 13.16% lower UTS values. The findings emphasize the importance of speed tuning and material selection for achieving high-quality, reliable, and efficient FDM prints. Full article

Prognostic markers such as overall survival (OS) and tertiary lymphoid structure (TLS) ratios, alongside diagnostic signatures like primary cancer-type classification, provide critical information for treatment selection, risk stratification, and longitudinal care planning across the oncology continuum. However, extracting these signals solely from sparse, high-dimensional multi-omics data remains a major challenge due to heterogeneity and frequent missingness in patient profiles. To address this challenge, we present SeNMo, a self-normalizing deep neural network trained on five heterogeneous omics layers—gene expression, DNA methylation, miRNA abundance, somatic mutations, and protein expression—along with the clinical variables, that learns a unified representation robust to missing modalities. Trained on more than 10,000 patient profiles across 32 tumor types from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), SeNMo provides a baseline that can be readily fine-tuned for diverse downstream tasks. On a held-out TCGA test set, the model achieved a concordance index of 0.758 for OS prediction, while external evaluation yielded 0.73 on the CPTAC lung squamous cell carcinoma cohort and 0.66 on an independent 108-patient Moffitt Cancer Center cohort. Furthermore, on Moffitt’s cohort, baseline SeNMo fine-tuned for TLS ratio prediction aligned with expert annotations (p < 0.05) and sharply separated high- versus low-TLS groups, reflecting distinct survival outcomes. Without altering the backbone, a single linear head classified primary cancer type with 99.8% accuracy across the 33 classes. By unifying diagnostic and prognostic predictions in a modality-robust architecture, SeNMo demonstrated strong performance across multiple clinically relevant tasks, including survival estimation, cancer classification, and TLS ratio prediction, highlighting its translational potential for multi-omics oncology applications. Full article

Background/Objectives: Chronic inflammation and Western-style diets elevate colorectal cancer (CRC) risk, particularly in individuals with colitis, a feature of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Diets rich in polyphenol-containing functional foods, such as cocoa, may reduce gut inflammation and modulate the gut microbiome. This study investigated the impact of cocoa polyphenol (CP) supplementation on inflammation and microbiome composition in mice with colitis, fed either a healthy or Western diet, before, during, and after the onset of disease. We hypothesized that CPs would attenuate inflammation and promote distinct shifts in the microbiome, especially in the context of a Western diet. Methods: A 2 × 2 factorial design tested the effects of the basal diet (AIN93G vs. total Western diet [TWD]) and CP supplementation (2.6% w/w CocoaVia™ Cardio Health Powder). Inflammation was induced using the AOM/DSS model of colitis. Results: CP supplementation did not reduce the severity of colitis, as measured by disease activity index or histopathology. CPs did not alter gene expression in healthy tissue or suppress the colitis-associated pro-inflammatory transcriptional profile in either of the two diet groups. However, fecal microbiome composition shifted significantly with CPs before colitis induction, with persistent effects on several rare taxa during colitis and recovery. Conclusions: CP supplementation did not mitigate inflammation or mucosal injury at the tissue level, nor did it affect the expression of immune-related genes. While CPs altered microbiome composition, most notably in healthy mice before colitis, these shifts did not correspond to changes in inflammatory signaling. Basal diet remained the primary determinant of inflammation, mucosal damage, and colitis severity in this model. Full article

Clinical trials serve as a cornerstone in the meticulous assessment of the efficacy and myriad health benefits that functional foods offer. These trials are not merely confined to the specific domain of functional foods; rather, they resonate throughout the expansive realms of nutrition science and public health, illuminating the intricate interdependencies that exist among these disciplines. This interconnectedness is becoming increasingly apparent, emphasizing the significant influence of scientific inquiry on fostering healthier dietary habits and shaping well-informed public health strategies. Functional food clinical trials yield essential insights into the potential of functional foods to enhance health outcomes, thereby playing a pivotal role in the prevention of various ailments and substantially elevating the quality of life for individuals in diverse contexts. By delivering consistent and compelling results, these trials bolster the foundational knowledge requisite healthcare practitioners to navigate dietary decisions wisely. Ultimately, the impact of such trials transcends individual health, contributing to the collective well-being of communities. They serve as a vital link between scientific progress and practical implementation, ensuring that the benefits of research are seamlessly integrated into everyday dietary practices, thereby promoting a healthier society at large. Full article

On 10 May 2024, a super geomagnetic storm with a minimum Dst index of less than −400 nT occurred. It has attracted a significant amount of attention in the literature. Using total electron content (TEC) observations from a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), in situ electron density data from the Swarm satellite, and corresponding simulations from the thermosphere–ionosphere–electrodynamics general circulation model (TIEGCM), the dynamic poleward shift of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) during the main phase of the super geomagnetic storm has been explored. The results show that the EIA crests moved poleward from ±15° magnetic latitude (MLat) to ±20° MLat at around 19.6 UT, to ±25° MLat at 21.2 UT, and to ±31° MLat at 22.7 UT. This poleward shift was primarily driven by the enhanced eastward electric field, neutral winds, and ambipolar diffusion. Storm-induced meridional winds can move ionospheric plasma upward/downward along geomagnetic field lines, causing the poleward movement of EIA crests, with minor contributions from zonal winds. Ambipolar diffusion contributes/prevents the formation of EIA crests at most EIA latitudes/the equatorward edge. Full article

An anion exchange-assisted technique was used for the synthesis of platinum-decorated SnO₂ supports, providing nanocatalysts with enhanced activity for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP). In this study, a series of SnO₂ supports, namely SnA (synthesized almost at room temperature), SnB (hydrothermally treated at 180 °C), and SnC (annealed at 600 °C), are systematically investigated, all loaded with 1 mol% Pt from H₂PtCl₆ under identical mild conditions. The chloride ions from the SnCl₄ precursors were efficiently removed via a strong-base anion exchange reaction, resulting in highly dispersed, crystalline ~5 nm cassiterite SnO₂ particles. All Pt/SnO₂ composites displayed mesoporous structures with type IVa isotherms and H₂-type hysteresis, with SP1a (Pt on SnA) exhibiting the largest surface area (122.6 m²/g) and the smallest pores (~3.5 nm). STEM-HAADF imaging revealed well-dispersed PtOx domains (~0.85 nm), while XPS confirmed the dominant Pt⁴⁺ and Pt²⁺ species, with ~25% Pt⁰ likely resulting from photoreduction and/or interactions with Sn–OH surface groups. Raman spectroscopy revealed three new bands (260–360 cm⁻¹) that were clearly visible in the sample with 10 mol% Pt and were due to the vibrational modes of the PtOx species and Pt-Cl bonds introduced due the addition and hydrolysis of H₂PtCl₆ precursor. TGA/DSC analysis revealed the highest mass loss for SP1a (~7.3%), confirming the strong hydration of the PtOx domains. Despite the predominance of oxidized PtOx species, SP1a exhibited the highest catalytic activity (k_app = 1.27 × 10⁻² s⁻¹) and retained 84.5% activity for the reduction of 4-NP to 4-AP after 10 cycles. This chloride-free low-temperature synthesis route offers a promising and generalizable strategy for the preparation of noble metal-based nanocatalysts on oxide supports with high catalytic activity and reusability. Full article

Underwater towed systems (UTSs) are widely used in underwater exploration and oceanographic data acquisition. However, the heave motion information of the towing ship is usually affected by the measurement transmitting delay, sensor noise and surface waves, which will result in uncontrolled depth variation of the towed vehicle, so as to adversely affect the monitoring performance and mechanical robustness of the UTS. To resolve this problem, a heave motion prediction approach based on sparse Bayesian learning (SBL) incorporated with empirical mode decomposition (EMD) for the UTS is proposed in this paper. With the proposed approach, a heave motion model of the towing ship with random waves is firstly developed based on strip theory. Meanwhile, the EMD is employed to eliminate the high-frequency noise of the measurement data to restore low-frequency towing ship motion. And then, the SBL is utilized to train the weight parameters in the built model to predict the heave motion, which not only reconstruct the heave motion from non-stationary sensor signals with noise but also prevent overfitting. Furthermore, the depth compensation of the towed vehicle is then performed using the predicted heave motion. Finally, experimental results demonstrate that the proposed EMD-SBL method significantly improves both the prediction accuracy and model adaptability under various sea conditions, and it also guarantees that the maximum prediction depth error of the heave motion does not exceed 1 cm. Full article

In the framework of hydrogen production and storage for clean energy generation, the resistance to hydrogen embrittlement of a newly developed austenitic stainless steel is presented. Gas-atomized metal powders prepared from secondary-sourced metals were employed to manufacture test specimens with Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) technology. After machining and exposure to a controlled, pressurized hydrogen atmosphere at high temperature, the effect of hydrogen charging on the mechanical performance under static and dynamic conditions was investigated. The stabilizing effect of the optimized chemical composition is reflected in the absence of degradation effects on Yield Stress (YS), Ultimate Tensile Stress (UTS), and fatigue life observed for specimens exposed to hydrogen. Moreover, despite a moderate reduction in the elongation at fracture observed by increasing the hydrogen charging time, ductility loss calculated as Relative Reduction of Area (RRA) remains substantially unaffected by the duration of exposure to hydrogen and demonstrates that the austenitic steel is capable of resisting hydrogen embrittlement (HE). Full article

Modern utilities face unprecedented pressures as trends in digital transformation and democratized energy choice empower consumers to engage in peak shaving, flexible load management, and adopt grid automation and intelligence solutions. A powerful confluence of architectural, technological, and socio-economic forces is transforming the U.S. electricity market, triggering significant changes in electricity production, transmission, and consumption. Utilities are embracing digital twins and repurposed Utility 2.0 concepts—distributed energy resources, microgrids, innovative electricity market designs, real-time automated monitoring, smart meters, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and advanced data and predictive analytics—to foster operational flexibility and market efficiency. This analysis qualitatively evaluates how digitalization, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESSs), and adaptive strategies to mitigate rebound effects collectively advance smart duck curve management. By leveraging digital platforms for real-time monitoring and predictive analytics, utilities can optimize energy flows and make data-driven decisions. BESS technologies capture surplus renewable energy during off-peak periods and discharge it when demand spikes, thereby smoothing grid fluctuations. This review explores the benefits of targeted digital transformation, BESSs, and managed rebound effects in mitigating the duck curve problem, ensuring that energy efficiency gains translate into actual savings. Furthermore, this integrated approach not only reduces energy wastage and lowers operational costs but also enhances grid resilience, establishing a robust framework for sustainable energy management in an evolving market landscape. Full article

Eccentric muscle actions are integral to human movement, rehabilitation, and performance training due to their characteristic high force output (overload) and low energy cost and perceived exertion. Despite the growing use of eccentric devices, a gap in the research exists exploring multi-muscle activation profiles during multi-joint eccentric-only, isokinetic exercise. This study aimed to quantify and compare surface electromyographic (EMG) activity of four leg muscles—vastus lateralis (VL), tibialis anterior (TA), biceps femoris (BF), and medial gastrocnemius (GM)—during a standardized (isokinetic) submaximal eccentric multi-joint exercise using the Eccentron dynamometer. Eighteen healthy adults performed eccentric exercise at 40% of their maximal eccentric strength. Surface EMG data were analyzed using root mean square (RMS) and integrated EMG (iEMG) variables. Repeated-measures ANOVAs and effect sizes (ES) were used to evaluate within-subject differences across muscles. Results showed significantly greater activation in the VL compared to all other muscles (p < 0.05; and ES of 1.28–3.17 versus all other muscles), with the TA also demonstrating higher activation than the BF (p < 0.05). The BF exhibited the lowest activation, suggesting limited hamstring engagement. These findings highlight the effectiveness of the multi-joint isokinetic eccentric leg press movement (via an Eccentron machine) in targeting the quadriceps and dorsiflexors, while indicating the possible need for supplementary hamstring and plantar flexor exercises when aiming for a comprehensive lower body training routine. This study provides important insights for optimizing eccentric training protocols and rehabilitation strategies. Full article

Background/Objectives: Accurate visualization of the Achilles tendon enthesis is critical for distinguishing mechanical, degenerative, and inflammatory pathologies. Although ultrasonography is the first-line modality for suspected enthesis disease, recent technical advances may expand the role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This study evaluated the utility of ultra-short echo time (UTE) and zero echo time (ZTE) sequences versus proton density-weighted imaging (PD-WI) for depicting the enthesis organ in healthy volunteers. Methods: In this institutional review board (IRB)-approved prospective single-center study, 50 asymptomatic adult volunteers underwent 3-Tesla hindfoot MRI with fat-suppressed PD-WI, UTE, and ZTE between 2018 and 2023. Four radiologists assessed image quality, signal-to-noise ratio, visibility, and abnormal high signal intensities (SIs) of the periost, sesamoid, and enthesis fibrocartilages (PCa, SCa, and ECa, respectively). Statistical tests included Chi-square, McNemar, paired Wilcoxon, and Benjamini–Hochberg adjustments for multiple comparisons. Results: The median age was 36 years (range: 20–51); 58% women were included. PD-WI and ZTE sequences were always available while UTE was unavailable in 24% of patients. PD-WI consistently failed to concomitantly visualize all fibrocartilages. ZTE and UTE visualized all fibrocartilages in 72% and 92.1% of volunteers, respectively, with significant differences favoring ZTE and UTE over PD-WI (p < 0.0001) and UTE over ZTE (p = 0.027). Inter-rater agreement exceeded 80% except for SCa on ZTE (68%, 95%CI: 53.2–80.1). Abnormal SCa findings in asymptomatic patients were more frequent with UTE (23.7%) and ZTE (34%) than with PD-WI (2%) (p = 0.0045). Conclusions: At 3-Tesla, UTE and ZTE sequences reliably depict the enthesis organ of the Achilles tendon, outperforming PD-WI. However, the high sensitivity of these sequences also presents challenges in interpretation. Full article

Background/Objectives: Prader–Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a neurodevelopmental disease associated with multiple behavioral features, including a prevalence for psychosis. The genetic causes of PWS are well characterized and involve the silencing or deletion of the paternal copy of a region of chromosome 15q11–13. One gene within this region, Snord116, a non-coding RNA, has been determined to have a determinant role in the manifestation of PWS. However, it remains unclear as to how the deletion of this allele can affect activity in the brain and influence psychosis-like behaviors. Methods: In this study, we assessed the effects of the microdeletion of the paternal copy of Snord116 on regional neural activity in psychosis-associated brain regions and psychosis-like behaviors in mice. Results: The results suggest that Snord116 deletion causes increased c-Fos expression in the hippocampus and anterior cingulate cortex. Snord116 deletion also results in behavioral phenotypes consistent with psychosis, most notably in stressful paradigms, with deficits in sensorimotor gating and augmented contextual as well as cued fear conditioning. Conclusions: These results implicate the targets of Snord116 in the presentation of a psychosis-like state with regional specificity. Full article