Search Results (55,772)

White-fruited bitter melon is a rare species of Momordica charantia L., valued for its pearl-like white pericarp. However, limited research is available regarding its supporting cultivation techniques and fruit quality. Two-season field trials were performed using ‘Kuzhongle’ as scion to evaluate the applicability of luffa rootstocks and seasonal variation in rootstock-mediated effects. Three luffa inbred lines (SS07, SS11 and SS26) were screened in spring, and the superior SS26 was further compared with the commercial rootstock ‘Yinzhen No.1’ in autumn. All rootstocks increased stem diameters, shortened internodes and promoted female flower formation in spring, but their effects on fruit quality varied among genotypes. SS26 exhibited the highest survival rate and significantly enhanced soluble solid content, water content, crude protein content and vitamin C content, while reducing crude fiber content and titratable acidity content. Seasonal comparison revealed consistent quality-modulating effects of SS26 across seasons, except for crude fiber, with a comprehensive performance comparable to the commercial rootstock. Overall, luffa rootstocks consistently modulate vegetative and flowering traits within a season, whereas their impacts on fruit quality show genotypic differences. SS26 exhibits stable and superior grafting performance, providing important material support for bitter melon rootstock breeding research. Full article

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) are increasingly used for the management of obesity and type 2 diabetes, including among patients with cancer. Although previous research has mainly focused on cancer incidence, their associations with clinical outcomes after cancer diagnosis remain less well characterized. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the oncologic and survival outcomes associated with GLP-1 RA use in adults with an established malignancy. We performed a systematic review of comparative studies evaluating GLP-1 RA use in patients with a confirmed cancer diagnosis. PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science were searched for English-language publications from 1 January 2016 to 8 August 2026. Twenty-six retrospective cohort studies were included in the qualitative synthesis. Thirteen studies included selective GLP-1 RAs and tirzepatide within the same exposure group. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Twenty-five studies evaluated overall survival and/or all-cause mortality, while nine assessed cancer recurrence, progression, or related outcomes. Survival and mortality outcomes more often favored the exposed group (especially compared with nonuse) than not, but findings were less consistent in active-comparator analyses. Evidence for recurrence and progression was sparse and heterogeneous, and no clear signal of increased risk was observed. Because all of these were observational studies with substantial differences in populations, comparators, exposure definitions, and duration of follow-up, the survival associations do not imply causality or direct antitumor effects of GLP-1 RAs. Clinically, the preponderance of evidence does not support the use of GLP-1 RAs as cancer-directed therapy, and their use in patients with cancer should be guided by established indications such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. Potential explanations include effects on glycemic and cardiovascular risk factors, treatment selection, residual confounding, or combinations thereof. Prospective studies and randomized controlled trials with cancer-specific outcomes and longer follow-up are needed to further evaluate these associations. Full article

The transition towards a circular economy has significantly increased the use of recycled construction materials, including products intended for interior applications. While the environmental benefits of material recycling are well recognised, considerably less attention has been devoted to the potential impact of recycled interior finishing materials on indoor air quality through volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. The objective of this study is to critically review current scientific knowledge, European regulatory frameworks, testing methodologies, and national approaches governing VOC emissions from recycled interior finishing materials, while identifying existing regulatory gaps and proposing directions for future improvement. The study was conducted as a structured literature review and comparative analysis of peer-reviewed scientific literature, European Union legislation, harmonised standards, technical guidance documents, and national VOC emission control systems implemented in selected European countries. Particular attention was given to the Construction Products Regulation (CPR), EN 16516, the ISO 16000 series, EU-LCI values, and national emission classification schemes used in Germany, France, Belgium, Finland, and Latvia. The review demonstrates that Europe has established a comprehensive technical framework for evaluating VOC emissions from construction products. However, current regulatory approaches primarily assess the emission performance of finished products and generally do not explicitly address uncertainties associated with recycled raw materials, including feedstock variability, material traceability, contamination history, manufacturing consistency, and long-term emission behaviour. Furthermore, substantial differences remain between Member States regarding emission classification, product labelling, market surveillance, and practical implementation of VOC control measures. To address these identified gaps, this paper proposes an integrated conceptual framework for VOC risk management in recycled interior finishing materials that combines material traceability, manufacturing quality assurance, emission testing, health-based assessment, regulatory compliance, and market surveillance within a unified decision-making approach. The proposed framework complements existing European legislation by addressing challenges associated with the increasing use of recycled construction materials while supporting both circular economy objectives and the protection of indoor environmental quality. The findings indicate that the principal challenge is not the absence of VOC emission assessment methodologies but the need to adapt existing regulatory approaches to the growing use of recycled construction materials. Strengthening traceability, quality assurance, harmonised emission classification, and market surveillance may improve confidence in recycled construction products while ensuring a high level of chemical safety and human health protection across the European Union. Full article

The incorporation of potato-derived ingredients into cereal-based products represents a promising strategy for improving their nutritional quality while promoting resistant starch (RS) formation through starch retrogradation. This study investigated the effects of potato starch (PS), potato flakes (PF), and potato grits (PG), incorporated at 10 and 20% substitution levels, on the technological, physicochemical, nutritional, and RS characteristics of durum wheat pasta. All potato-enriched pasta samples were compared with a control pasta (CON) produced from 100% durum wheat semolina without any additives. Pasta samples were evaluated for farinograph properties, cooking quality, texture profile, color, chemical composition, and starch digestibility after cooking, cooling (4 °C, 24 h) and freezing (−18 °C, 24 h) treatments. The incorporation of potato materials significantly affected dough behavior and pasta quality depending on the type and level of supplementation. The incorporation of PF and 20% PG slightly increased total dietary fiber (TDF) content in pasta samples, although the differences were not statistically significant (p > 0.05), whereas PS addition reduced TDF levels.Potato-enriched pasta exhibited shorter minimal cooking times (MCT) than the control, while cooking loss (CL) increased, particularly in PG20 (9.33% d.b.). Texture properties were strongly influenced by the potato ingredient, with PF producing the highest hardness and adhesiveness values, whereas PS showed textural characteristics closer to those of the control. Cooling alone resulted in negligible RS formation in most samples; however, frozen storage resulted in substantially higher RS contents than refrigerated storage, a response consistent with the formation of retrograded, enzyme-resistant starch structures. The highest RS content was observed in PG20 (3.18% d.b.), representing a 335.6% increase compared with the control, accompanied by a reduction in digestible starch. These findings demonstrate that the physical form of potato ingredients plays a key role in determining pasta quality and that PG, combined with frozen storage, may increase the RS content of durum wheat pasta, although this was accompanied by higher cooking loss and changes in texture. Full article

With increasing industrialization, heavy metal contamination poses a growing threat to ecosystem stability and human health. Cadmium (Cd) is taken up by medicinal plants through the soil–plant continuum, altering rhizosphere microbial communities and thereby affecting plant metabolism and bioactive compound accumulation. In this study, Dendrobium officinale Kimura & Migo (D. officinale) was used as a model medicinal plant to investigate the effects of Cd exposure on plant quality and rhizosphere microbial community composition. The results show that different D. officinale strains exhibited significant differences in growth traits and Cd accumulation under Cd exposure. Under the 0.9 mg·kg⁻¹ Cd treatment, mean Cd concentrations in the strain with the highest Cd accumulation (Strain 2) reached 6.42, 1.08, and 1.70 mg·kg⁻¹ DW in roots, stems, and leaves, respectively, compared with 2.13, 0.73, and 0.66 mg·kg⁻¹ DW in the strain with the lowest Cd accumulation (Strain 1), corresponding to approximately 3.0-, 1.5-, and 2.6-fold higher accumulation. Cd exposure was associated with strain-specific changes in metal transport-related gene expression, antioxidant responses, bioactive constituent accumulation, and rhizosphere microbial community composition. Together, these changes highlight the complex relationship between Cd accumulation, plant physiological responses, and medicinal quality. These findings provide a theoretical reference for the selection of elite D. officinale strains and for the safe cultivation of this medicinal plant. Full article

Existing texture datasets for tactile sensing primarily consist of sensor readings from a specific sensor interacting with available surfaces/objects rather than describing the textures themselves, limiting fair comparison between tactile sensors and hindering reproducible research. In this work, we introduce a six-piece digital dataset of mathematically defined textures designed to be fabricated reliably across different research groups. The dataset consists of surface patterns derived from combinations of sine-waves, giving controlled variation in spatial frequency, amplitude, and directional structure. To evaluate the physical repeatability of this framework, we present a validation methodology applied to the six-textures. We evaluate the reproducibility of these textures across three popular 3D printers and filament types in multiple ways. We first use an RGBD D405 stereoscopic camera to scan the 3D structure to assess physical differences between repeat prints. To see how physical differences affect a typical tactile sensor, we next calculate the difference in images captured using an optical TacTip sensor under controlled contact conditions. Our results show that print quality, particularly peak sharpness and stringing, affects tactile variance, with the Bambu P1P/PLA- and Form 3 resin configurations producing more consistent prints than the Ender-3/PLA+ configuration. To assess potential downstream effects of the variance, we train two types of classifier, random forest classifiers and neural networks, both with PCA preprocessing and data augmentation, to classify textures. By training on one batch of textures, but testing on different unseen batches, we further assessed how similar different batches of prints are. These experiments demonstrate that the Bambu P1P/PLA- and Form 3 resin configurations support both strong within-batch classification and cross-batch generalisation, reflecting the fact that these configurations had low physical and tactile image variance. This work establishes the first openly available, six-texture digital library paired with a metrology pipeline designed to be sensor-independent, providing an open foundation that enables researchers to replicate textures and fairly compare tactile sensing technologies, while our pipeline has been tested on only one tactile sensor (TacTip) and two classifier types, we hope future research will compare many other combinations of sensing technologies. Full article

The increasing growth in electricity demand leads to higher voltage drops and power losses in distribution networks. The integration of capacitor banks (CBs) and photovoltaic generators (PVGs) helps improve network performance; however, their effectiveness depends on their optimal sizing and placement within the electrical network. This study proposes a hybrid metaheuristic algorithm to determine the optimal locations and sizes of CBs and PVGs in distribution networks under hourly AC power flow, hourly dynamic switching of capacitor banks, and an economic model with tariffs differentiated by consumer type. The proposed PSO–WOA algorithm combines the fast convergence capability of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) with the local refinement capability of the Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA). In addition, to guide the initialization of the population, loss sensitivity indices based on the derivatives of active power losses with respect to voltage and reactive power are employed. The hybrid algorithm begins with the PSO phase to intensively exploit the search space and subsequently transfers the population without reinitialization to the WOA phase to refine promising solutions and improve the final convergence. The application of the proposed PSO–WOA algorithm to the IEEE 33-bus distribution system achieved a 51.92% reduction in active power losses, increased the minimum voltage from 0.9163 p.u. to 0.9500 p.u., and reduced the total annual cost by 50.05% (from 2.573 to 1.285 MUSD/year). A comparison with similar optimization algorithms, namely PSO, WOA, the reverse hybrid WOA–PSO, and the Genetic Algorithm (GA), showed that the proposed PSO–WOA achieved the best overall performance in terms of feasibility and statistical stability, with a mean solution quality comparable to that of PSO but with lower dispersion and a better worst case across independent runs. GA and WOA showed the greatest difficulty in satisfying the operational constraints, achieving only 60% and 79% feasible solutions, respectively, whereas the proposed algorithm achieved a 100% feasibility rate. Full article

Vertically printed fused deposition modelling (FDM) components exhibit pronounced surface irregularities on their sidewalls at the interfaces between deposited layers, while limited interlayer bonding can impair their tensile performance. Although laser polishing has shown potential to improve the surface quality of vertically printed FDM components, the combined influence of laser scan orientation relative to the printed layers and hatch distance on the surface integrity and mechanical response of PLA remains insufficiently understood. To address this gap, a novel methodology for determining hatch distance (H) is introduced, with H defined as 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of the experimentally measured groove width (GW). To maximize structural and surface performance, three scanning strategies, parallel (0°), perpendicular (90°), and oblique (45°) to the layer interfaces, were evaluated using ANOVA, regression models, and SEM analysis. The results demonstrate a fundamental synergy between scan orientation and melt-flow dynamics. At H = 25%, perpendicular scanning produced the largest Sa reduction (59%), whereas parallel scanning yielded the lowest Sdr (3.14%, compared with 20.74% for the as-printed raw surface). At the same H, the Sdr was 4.45% for perpendicular and 8.45% for oblique scanning. SEM analysis indicates that while all strategies eliminated the inherent layered texture, the oblique strategy (45°) additionally led to more thorough valley filling through melt flow from two adjacent peaks. Specific surface porosity was identified at modified interfaces, providing indications of gas entrapment and bubble expansion within the heat-affected zone (HAZ). Statistical height distribution (positive Ssk and Sku < 3) demonstrates that HAZ-driven surface rounding occurs across all orientations. The greatest improvement in tensile performance was observed with oblique scanning (45°) at H = 100%, where peak force increased by 11.2% relative to that of the raw material. Fractography indicates that this improvement originates from a preserved ductile skin-layer that delays delamination, shifting the failure mode toward localized internal fibre breakage. This work establishes scanning orientation as the primary determinant of topography, while hatch distance dictates homogenization intensity, offering a systematic framework for optimising the laser polishing of polymers. Full article

This work aimed to identify the optimal edible germination period for mung bean sprouts and investigate how selenium biofortification modulates γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), phenolic compounds, α-ketoglutarate (AKG), carotenoids, and vitamin C (VC), with a focus on improving their nutritional and functional quality as fresh edible vegetables. The results demonstrated that germination promoted the accumulation of GABA, total phenolics, total flavonoids, AKG, total carotenoids, and VC in sprouts. Nevertheless, excessively prolonged germination significantly decreased GABA, AKG, and VC contents (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, excessive lateral root outgrowth and full elongation of sprouts deteriorated both their functional bioactive profile and sensory edible quality. Accordingly, the 3-day germination stage was selected as the optimal harvest point for edible mung bean sprouts. Treatment with an appropriate concentration of Na₂SeO₃ further enhanced the contents of GABA, AKG, VC, and total carotenoids. In addition, selenium treatment significantly increased (p < 0.05) free total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) while markedly reducing (p < 0.05) bound TPC and TFC across all tested germination stages. UPLC-ESI-MS/MS analysis revealed vitexin and isovitexin as the predominant phenolic compounds in germinated mung beans, detected in both free and bound polyphenol fractions. During germination, free vitexin and isovitexin declined, whereas bound forms of these two compounds increased. Compared with untreated controls, Na₂SeO₃ biofortification elevated free vitexin and isovitexin and lowered their bound fractions at different germination times. Collectively, these findings provide valuable theoretical foundations to guide the production of selenium-biofortified mung bean sprout products enriched with health-promoting bioactive ingredients for functional food applications. Full article

Background/Objectives: Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) severely impacts both patients and their families. This study aimed to compare sleep quality, insomnia severity, and daytime sleepiness in partners of individuals with OCD against a healthy control group. Additionally, it investigated how patient OCD severity and partner depression and anxiety symptoms relate to these sleep outcomes. Methods: This cross-sectional case–control study included 104 spouses of OCD patients (46 females, 58 males; mean age 37.92 ± 8.22 years) and 100 healthy control spouses (48 females, 52 males; mean age 38.40 ± 7.93 years), all married for at least one year. Spouses completed the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Patient OCD severity was assessed using the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). Results: OCD spouses exhibited significantly higher anxiety and depression scores than controls. Poor sleep quality was reported by 57.7% of OCD spouses versus 32% of controls. After adjusting for confounders (age, body mass index, education, sex, marriage duration), OCD spouses demonstrated significantly worse sleep quality and higher daytime sleepiness. Female spouses experienced a significantly more severe burden of insomnia and sleep disturbances than males. Independent of group, higher depression scores correlated with poorer sleep parameters. Furthermore, patient OCD severity positively correlated with all partner sleep scale scores. Conclusions: We conclude that partners of individuals with OCD are particularly vulnerable to complex sleep difficulties, including poor sleep quality and daytime fatigue. By broadening our clinical focus to address these hidden sleep issues and psychological needs, we may help mitigate secondary health risks and improve the overall well-being of affected families. Full article

Inter-limb differences may be observed after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR), even after return to professional sport. This study examined whether anterior–posterior (AP) and medial–lateral (ML) ground reaction force impulses provide information complementary to vertical metrics during bilateral and unilateral jump-landing tasks in professional football players after ACLR, and whether inter-limb asymmetry profiles vary according to task type and movement phase. Twelve male professional football players assessed 12–40 months after primary ACL reconstruction were initially enrolled. One player was excluded before analysis because of insufficient signal quality, leaving 11 players in the final analytical sample. They completed bilateral and unilateral countermovement jumps, drop jumps, and a multi-rebound jump on three-dimensional force platforms. Vertical (V), AP, and ML impulses were analyzed during braking and propulsion together with jump height, reactive strength index, contact time, power, and stiffness. No operated-versus-non-operated difference remained significant after correction for multiple comparisons. Under the prespecified exploratory criteria, cross-direction discordance was observed in 73% of players and occurred more frequently during unilateral than bilateral assessments. AP or ML was the direction of greatest asymmetry in 89% of pooled athlete–task–phase observations; these repeated observations were interpreted descriptively. Vertical asymmetry was not consistently associated with AP or ML asymmetry, and comparable jump performance could coexist with directional force differences. Unilateral tasks and multiplanar analysis therefore provided complementary information, but the clinical relevance of these findings requires validation in larger controlled studies. Full article

The growing demand for alumina, regional limitations in the availability of high-quality bauxite, and the accumulation of aluminum-bearing industrial residues have increased interest in alternative raw materials. In this review, we examine natural and technogenic non-bauxite aluminum-bearing resources, including nepheline ores, kaolin and kaolinitic clays, alunite ores, coal fly ash, and bauxite residue. Their geographical occurrence, chemical composition, aluminum content, major mineral phases, and associated valuable components are summarized and compared. Particular attention is paid to the mineralogical occurrence of aluminum, which largely determines the technological value of a resource. In nepheline ores, aluminum is incorporated into a stable framework aluminosilicate structure. Kaolinite is also relatively resistant, but its transformation into metakaolin substantially increases aluminum reactivity. Alunite represents a distinct sulfate-bearing resource that may provide aluminum together with potassium- and sulfur-containing products. In coal fly ash, aluminum is distributed between reactive amorphous aluminosilicate material and refractory mullite, whereas bauxite residue contains aluminum in several residual and secondary mineral phases associated with Fe, Ti, Si, Ca, and Na. Our comparison demonstrates that the suitability of alternative resources for alumina production cannot be evaluated from the total Al₂O₃ content alone: mineralogy, silica reactivity, impurity composition, resource availability, and the potential recovery of co-products must also be considered. Processing routes are therefore discussed in relation to the specific characteristics of each feedstock. Full article

To address the challenges posed by the structural complexity and frequent resource conflicts in flexible job shop scheduling (FJSP) at practical power grid inspection bases, this paper formulates a makespan-minimization optimization model and proposes a dual-loop multi-strategy migrating birds optimization algorithm (DMMBO). The algorithm first generates a high-quality initial population by integrating the MOR operation priority rule with a weighted shortest processing time (SPT). Then, a four-phase perturbation mechanism for leader birds is designed to accelerate convergence toward optimal solution. To handle the critical path structure, four targeted strategies—time window relaxation, entropy-driven migration, path topology reconfiguration, and temporal shifting of key operations—are introduced to effectively alleviate bottlenecks. Within the algorithmic framework, DMMBO adopts a dual-loop optimization structure: the inner loop conducts local search based on simulated annealing criteria and an adaptive perturbation acceptance mechanism to enhance convergence accuracy, while the outer loop incorporates global perturbations and a restart strategy to maintain population diversity and prevent premature convergence. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed DMMBO algorithm, simulation experiments were conducted on both real-world dry-type transformer inspection tasks and Brandimarte instances. The results indicate that DMMBO outperforms other comparative algorithms in terms of solution quality and result stability, demonstrating its practical value in solving complex power grid scheduling problems. Full article

Ziziphi Spinosae Semen (ZSS) is a traditional Chinese medicinal material used for both medicinal and dietary purposes, but substitution and adulteration can compromise its authenticity and quality. Ten batches of authentic ZSS and one source batch of each of five adulterant materials were used to prepare 325 laboratory samples. This study aimed to develop a rapid method for ZSS identification and adulteration quantification using Fourier transform near-infrared spectroscopy (FT-NIR). Spectral distributions of six sample classes were analyzed using PCA-X, PLS-DA, and OPLS-DA, and the classification performance of SVM, DA, ANN, and KNN was compared. DD-SIMCA was used for one-class authentication, while PLSR was applied to quantify five adulterants using 15 spectral processing approaches. In the internal test set, SVM achieved 98.0% accuracy and 98.4% balanced accuracy. Within the laboratory samples studied, DD-SIMCA achieved 100% accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. Across the five selected PLSR models, prediction-set R² ranged from 0.9272 to 0.9940 and RMSEP from 1.36 to 4.33 percentage points of adulterant mass fraction. These results demonstrate the feasibility of combining FT-NIR with chemometric methods for rapid ZSS classification, authenticity assessment, and adulteration-level prediction. Independent validation with additional source batches is required before practical application. Full article

Tillage is an important agronomic practice that regulates soil quality and microbial ecology. Nevertheless, in-depth evidence on how tillage shapes rhizosphere microbial diversity remains limited. To evaluate the long-term effects of tillage on microbial community structure and diversity in the spring maize rhizosphere four treatments with three replicates have been set up since 2009—rotary tillage (RT), subsoiling (ST), deep ploughing (DT), and no-tillage (NT). Rhizosphere soil samples were collected at the maize harvest stage in 2025 after 17 years of long-term experiment. High-throughput sequencing and soil chemical analyses were used to compare bacterial and fungal diversity and to identify the principal drivers of community differentiation. Compared with the other treatments, NT decreased soil pH by 4.78–7.90%, available phosphorus (AP) by 8.03–22.53%, and available potassium (AK) by 20.43–48.61%, while increasing total carbon (TC) by 8.15–13.29%. Compared with RT, DT increased AP and AK concentrations by 18.72% and 54.84%, respectively. NT significantly decreased the Chao1 and Shannon indices of both bacteria and fungi relative to RT, ST, and DT. For bacteria, the Chao1 index under NT was 18.86–40.18% lower, and the Shannon index was 5.36–8.58% lower than the other three tillage treatments. For fungi, the reduction was more pronounced: the Chao1 index decreased by 35.88–51.32%, and the Shannon index decreased by 15.43–30.70%. ST and DT increased rhizosphere microbial richness and diversity, with similar diversity levels between ST and DT. Redundancy analysis further revealed that soil pH, TC, AP, AK and AN were key factors driving rhizosphere microbial community distribution. Overall, compared with NT, ST and DT improved rhizosphere nutrient status and enhanced microbial richness and diversity. Full article