Search Results (10,057)

Background: The nursing profession is recognized as a high-risk occupation, with the emotional toll on healthcare workers reaching a critical point. A complex interplay of anger and cynicism, often stemming from systemic pressures and chronic moral injury, seems to increasingly affect nurses’ professional and personal lives. This psychological strain does not end when the shift ends; rather, it often manifests as insomnia and nightmare distress, creating a vicious cycle of exhaustion and emotional instability. This article explores how anger, cynical distrust, nightmare distress and insomnia are interrelated and jeopardize the well-being of nursing staff and what these “invisible” symptoms reveal about the current state of healthcare by confirming their prevalence rates. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted online in October 2025 and included 441 hospital nurses who completed the Dimensions of Anger Reactions-5 (DAR-5), the 8-item Cynical Distrust scale (CDS-8), the Nightmare Distress Questionnaire (NDQ) and the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS). Results: The prevalence rates of anger, nightmare distress and insomnia were 41.5%, 6.6%, and 62.1%, respectively. Based on the CDS-8 scores, a notable proportion (20.9%) of nurses fell within the highest quartile of CDS-8 scores (CDS-8 > 29), indicating relatively elevated cynical distrust within this sample; this threshold is sample-derived and does not correspond to a validated clinical cut-off. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that the DAR-5 explained 22.1% of the variance in AIS, while an additional 10.2% was explained by NDQ and another 1.5% by the CDS-8. Both cynical distrust and nightmare distress displayed a chain mediation pattern in the association between anger and insomnia; however, given the cross-sectional design, the temporal order of these variables cannot be confirmed. Conclusions: Anger exhibited significant direct and indirect associations with insomnia, with cynical distrust and nightmare distress acting as serial mediators in this cross-sectional model. Findings from this cross-sectional study tentatively suggest that future intervention efforts targeting insomnia in nurses might benefit from addressing anger alongside nightmare distress and cynical attitudes; however, experimental studies are needed to confirm whether such interventions would be effective. Full article

This paper studies subset construction in NP-complete problems from the perspective of structured exploration of combinatorial search spaces. Classical approaches rely on exhaustive enumeration of subsets, which leads to exponential growth in time and memory requirements. To address this limitation, we introduce an indexed framework based on the correspondence between a finite set and its associated index set. Within this framework, subsets are represented as ordered index sequences, allowing subset construction to be reformulated as a constraint-guided search process over index space. Candidate subsets are characterized by numerical descriptors derived from their indices (referred to as index certificates), which guide and filter the construction process. Subset generation is further organized through admissible index intervals that restrict feasible transitions and reduce the effective search space. The framework is based on an index-based representation and structured traversal of pairwise index combinations. Computational experiments on representative instances illustrate the behavior of the indexed construction procedure and indicate its efficiency relative to classical enumeration-based methods for small and medium-sized instances. The proposed approach provides a structured perspective on combinatorial search and offers a basis for further development of algorithms based on constrained exploration of subset structures. Full article

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate burnout and job satisfaction levels among audiologists in Türkiye and the factors that contribute to them. Methods: The study included 152 female (59.80%) and 102 male (40.20%) audiologists aged 20–30 (n = 133, 52.40%), 31–40 (n = 82, 32.30%), and 41 and over (n = 39, 15.40%). Participants were required to have at least 1 year of experience and be an active audiologist. Analysis was performed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and correlation statistics to assess the predictive relationship between burnout sub-dimensions and job satisfaction components. Results: The results showed that burnout and job satisfaction among audiologists differed according to demographic data. In Türkiye, audiologists reported high burnout and low job satisfaction. A significant relationship was found between burnout and job satisfaction. The exhaustion subscale of the Maslach Burnout Scale statistically significantly and negatively predicted the Job Satisfaction Scale scores (β = −0.35; p < 0.05). Furthermore, it was determined that audiologists working in implant centers experienced less burnout, while those working in rehabilitation centers had lower job satisfaction. Conclusions: In conclusion, addressing burnout levels among audiologists is expected to not only improve individual well-being but also contribute to the overall enhancement of hearing health services in Türkiye. Full article

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex, multi-system disease characterized by a multitude of symptoms across various organ systems. Diagnosis has relied heavily on heterogeneous clinical symptom presentation and evolving case definitions, with treatment focused on addressing presenting symptoms due to the paucity of validated biomarkers. Meanwhile, advances have been made in understanding the underlying pathophysiology through strong epidemiologic, clinical, and basic science studies. This narrative review synthesizes recent advances that are likely to drive a shift in understanding from symptom-based classification toward a molecularly defined understanding of the disease. This shift in understanding will likely provide the foundation for future research efforts focused on targeting diagnosis and treatment more effectively. Specifically, we reference the identification of rare genetic risk variants through the HEAL2 deep learning framework, the large-scale DecodeME genome-wide association study, and dynamic epigenetic markers of disease state. In addition, the findings revealed the downstream consequences of this genetic and epigenetic priming: chronic innate immune activation, CD8+ T cell exhaustion characterized by upregulation of the exhaustion-driving transcription factors Thymocyte Selection-Associated HMG Box (TOX) and Eomesodermin (EOMES), and a cellular energy crisis centered on mitochondrial dysfunction. Furthermore, results of recent studies have revealed sex-specific transcriptomic and proteomic signatures of maladaptive recovery. We also highlight the role of machine learning and artificial intelligence integrations in translating high-dimensional multi-omics data into actionable biological insights, including the identification of monocyte subsets via Positive Unlabeled Learning, circulating cell-free RNA diagnostic signatures, and integrated multi-modal disease models such as BioMapAI. The combination of these findings, which highlight multiple identifiable mechanisms of molecular activity, support the feasibility of molecular subtyping, precision diagnostics, and targeted therapeutic strategies for ME/CFS. Full article

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) progression involves dynamic cellular state transitions and tumor microenvironment remodeling, accompanied by extensive transcriptional regulation reprogramming. Here, we systematically mapped the TF-mediated regulatory landscape underlying ESCC progression at single-cell resolution by integrating stage-specific ESCC single-cell transcriptomic datasets comprising over 200,000 cells with TF–target interaction networks. Using a random walk algorithm combined with hypergeometric testing, we identified malignant progression-associated TFs (mpTFs) across multiple cell types and disease stages. Our analysis revealed extensive stage-dependent regulatory remodeling during ESCC progression. TCF4 was identified as an early-stage regulator associated with epithelial–mesenchymal transition activation and malignant invasive phenotypes. In immune lineages, BATF and IRF4 exhibited trajectory-associated activation during CD4⁺ T-cell differentiation and CD8⁺ T-cell exhaustion, suggesting critical roles in immunosuppressive T-cell state transitions. Additionally, mpTF-mediated remodeling of M2 macrophage subpopulations contributed to immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment formation during advanced ESCC progression. We further identified prognosis-associated cell-type-specific and shared mpTFs, including TFAP2C, which was associated with stabilized fibroblast and monocyte functional states and a less aggressive tumor microenvironment phenotype. Collectively, this study provides a comprehensive single-cell atlas of TF-mediated regulatory programs during ESCC progression and offers potential therapeutic targets for precision oncology. Full article

The valorisation of lignocellulosic residues into bio-based feedstocks is a key strategy for advancing circular bioeconomy models. In this study, chestnut wood residues, including virgin wood (VW) and detannized wood (DT) from the tannin industry, were evaluated as substrates for polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production using Cupriavidus necator. Biomass was subjected to thermo-acid hydrolysis followed by ion-exchange detoxification, yielding hydrolysates rich in organic acids (levulinic, acetic, and formic acids) and residual inhibitory compounds. Both substrates supported microbial growth and PHA accumulation, although clear differences in performance were observed. The maximum biomass concentration reached 1.26 ± 0.01 g L⁻¹ in VW hydrolysate and 0.40 ± 0.03 g L⁻¹ in DT hydrolysate. PHA production was higher in VW hydrolysate, reaching 68.51 mg L⁻¹ with 5.44% (w/w) accumulation, while DT hydrolysate yielded 0.21 mg L⁻¹ with 6.01% (w/w). The reduced biomass formation in DT hydrolysate was associated with the greater persistence of inhibitory compounds generated during thermo-acid treatment. Although the obtained PHA yields are lower than those reported for optimized lignocellulosic systems, this study demonstrates for the first time the feasibility of producing PHA from chestnut wood residues, including industrial detannized byproducts, without nutrient supplementation. These findings highlight the potential of tannin-industry waste streams as alternative feedstocks for biopolymer production, while indicating that optimization of hydrolysis conditions, detoxification efficiency, and fermentation strategy is required to improve process performance. Full article

Industrial control systems (ICSs) increasingly rely on legacy communication protocols such as ModbusTCP, which lack built-in security mechanisms and remain widely exposed to network-based attacks. This paper investigates the security limitations of authentication mechanisms in ModbusTCP-enabled programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and demonstrates how plaintext credential transmission and limited connection handling capabilities can be exploited to perform brute-force and denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. An experimental testbed based on two industrial Delta PLC families (DVP-13SE and DVP-311SV3) was developed to systematically evaluate these vulnerabilities under realistic conditions. The results show that authentication credentials can be easily captured through network sniffing, while the PLC communication stack supports a maximum of 16 concurrent connections and can process up to approximately 8600 Modbus operations per second, making it susceptible to resource exhaustion and performance degradation under distributed attack scenarios. To address these limitations, this paper proposes a lightweight deception-based protection mechanism, termed the PLC misleading algorithm (PMA), which is implemented directly within the PLC ladder logic. Unlike traditional network-level defenses, PMA operates at the device level and dynamically misleads attackers by generating controlled randomized responses while preserving consistent behavior for legitimate clients. Experimental results demonstrate that PMA significantly mitigates brute-force effectiveness by preventing reliable password extraction while introducing minimal overhead (2.2% memory usage) and maintaining acceptable communication latency. Additionally, the proposed approach significantly reduces observable attack traffic, with only 0.246 Modbus operations per second observed during the attack phase, thereby limiting the effectiveness of automated exploitation tools. These findings highlight the potential of in-device deception mechanisms as a practical and deployable security layer for legacy industrial systems, and provide new insights into the resilience of PLC-based infrastructures against network-level attacks. This work bridges the gap between lightweight PLC-level protections and the growing need for robust cybersecurity mechanisms in industrial IoT environments. Full article

The housing crisis in rapidly transforming earthquake zones represents the exhaustion of conventional construction paradigms. Unlike single-focused analyses, this study compares conventional reinforced concrete and modular steel systems from a holistic lifecycle perspective, using Turkey as a strategic laboratory for urban transformation. Employing qualitative content analysis, it maps in-depth interviews with 14 sector experts onto a ‘Dialectical Life Cycle Matrix’ via frequency-based consensus indicators. Expert assessments indicate that conventional methods face a structural bottleneck driven by architectural uniformity, labour-related weaknesses, rising costs, and prolonged durations, triggering seismic vulnerability, compromised living quality, and non-circular end-of-life outcomes. Modular systems counter this through factory-controlled rapid production, QA/QC mechanisms, and economies of scale, integrating guaranteed safety and the robust option of steel with R&D-driven human comfort. However, transitioning requires relinquishing deep-rooted advantages—financial flexibility, established order, regulatory comfort, cultural perception, and morphological harmony—introducing local trade-offs: high initial investment, geometric plot and logistical constraints, cultural barriers, and design concerns. Consequently, universal technologies cannot be directly transferred. To overcome Turkey’s local barriers, this study proposes a three-stage transition model: (I) civil and public-led legislative and workforce reforms; (II) financial innovation and gradual hybrid adaptation; and (III) industrial maturation transforming housing into a continuously updated living product. Full article

Current industry standards for evaluating concrete durability in wastewater environments, such as ASTM C267, rely almost exclusively on mass loss as the primary performance indicator. This study demonstrates that mass change alone can be an ambiguous metric that does not fully characterize the structural degradation of advanced cementitious binders. Through a comprehensive physical, chemical, and mechanical evaluation of 27 binary and ternary mixtures (totalling 486 specimens), we identify four limitations of mass-based standards: (1) The Slag Anomaly, where excellent surface mass preservation masks a significant loss of internal structural capacity, indicating potential internal structural softening. (2) The Sewage Anomaly, where specimens in active biogenic environments exhibit mass gain (up to +1.21%) despite continuous chemical attack. (3) Non-Linear Scaling, where 5% “accelerated” acid tests fundamentally alter degradation kinetics compared to realistic 1% environments. (4) The Maturation Conflict, where extended curing (56 days) significantly improves the physical resistance of slow-reacting pozzolans (cyment) while increasing the mass loss of high-performance ternary blends (MK/SF), likely linked to the exhaustion of their chemical buffering capacity. Current standards relying solely on mass loss may not capture internal degradation in slag-based cements that remain geometrically intact. We propose residual flexural strength as a necessary complementary metric. Full article

The high emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere have driven the development of carbon capture, transport, and storage (CCTS) technologies. These focus on capturing CO₂ from industrial exhaust gases and transporting it through existing pipeline networks. Although various capture techniques are available, they may introduce impurities such as O₂, N₂, Ar, H₂O, NH₃, and others into the CO₂ stream. These contaminants can significantly alter the thermophysical behaviour of the fluid, making the phase behaviour predictions, reliable for pure CO₂, much more complex. Pressure and temperature variations along pipelines can induce unexpected phase transitions, affecting fluid composition and potentially triggering corrosion. This review examines the formation of condensates within pipelines and their role in initiating corrosion phenomena, with a focus on top of the line corrosion (TLC) and conventional CO₂-induced corrosion (sweet corrosion). The main literature findings highlight how phase changes and altered fluid composition due to corrosion processes can significantly intensify degradation mechanisms during CO₂ transport. Full article

This paper presents a conceptual design for a technological installation aimed at mitigating ventilation air methane (VAM) from coal mine exhaust shafts, offering combined heat and power generation. It addresses the challenge posed by low methane concentrations (below 0.7%), which preclude direct combustion. To overcome this, the proposed concept involves diverting a portion of the VAM to a combustion chamber of the power boiler dedicated to co-combustion with flotation concentrate suspension, which is properly prepared for feeding into the combustion chamber. The heat generated in the power boiler produces steam to drive a turbine generator for electricity production. Back-pressure steam from the turbine can be utilized for district heating or as a thermal energy source for various industrial processes, optimizing the plant’s energy efficiency and reducing its environmental footprint. The feasibility of this technology hinges on its cost-effectiveness and energy efficiency. This aspect of efficiency has been outlined. An energy balance analysis, based on real emission data from a selected mine, is provided to determine power boiler efficiency, fuel consumption, and a VAM reduction rate. The forecast of the amount of energy produced was presented for a single installation with a grate boiler capable of co-firing fuels with a VAM flow participation of 25 m³/s. Such installations can be scaled to meet mine requirements, enabling the neutralization of VAM at a total capacity of up to 300 m³/s, which corresponds to emissions from a large ventilation shaft. Full article

Coal mine dust is a critical hazard that can trigger explosions and cause pneumoconiosis, thereby severely threatening mine safety and occupational health. Although long-forcing and short-exhausting ventilation are commonly adopted in long-distance heading faces, their parameters are often determined empirically, leading to suboptimal dust control efficiency. This study utilizes numerical simulations via FLUENT to investigate dust migration patterns under five key ventilation parameters in the 2-2 Upper Coal Working Face of the Xintai Taigemiao Mining Area. The results reveal a zonal distribution of dust: a high-concentration accumulation zone within 0–15 m, a medium-concentration transition zone between 15 and 35 m, and a low-concentration settling zone beyond 35 m. Diffusion rates vary significantly across zones under different ventilation settings. The optimized parameters for the 20 m² cross-section roadway in this study include: exhausting duct set 0.3 m from the return-side wall, exhausting inlet at a distance of 4 m (0.9√A, A is the roadway cross-sectional area) from the face, forcing inlet at 20 m (4.5√A) from the face, duct installation height of 0.75 times the roadway height, and a forcing-to-exhausting air volume ratio between 1.2 and 1.6. Compared with the non-optimized scheme, this configuration reduces the average dust concentration in the breathing zone (1.2 m height) by up to 62.3%, and restricts 85% of the high-concentration dust within 0–15 m from the heading face, effectively suppressing dust dispersion to the rear roadway. This study provides a quantitative reference and theoretical strategy for engineering applications of dust prevention in similar large-section long-distance heading faces within the scope of numerical simulation. Full article

Background/Objectives: This study evaluated carotid baroreflex sensitivity (cBRS) during graded exercise tests to exhaustion in healthy individuals. It aimed to elucidate whether the augmented blood pressure response during heavy- and maximal-intensity dynamic exercise alters carotid baroreflex control of heart rate and contributes to exercise intolerance. Methods: Thirteen healthy males (age 33 ± 2 yrs, body mass 74.6 ± 2.4 kg, and $\dot{V}$O_2max 54.12 ± 1.88 mL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹) performed a 4 min constant-load cycling exercise at low—(30% PPO), moderate—(60% PPO), high—(80% PPO), and maximal—(100% PPO) intensity, in two experimental conditions: (a) with unrestricted muscle blood flow (no-BFR) and (b) with partial muscle blood flow restriction (BFR). Results: A significant decline in cBRS was observed during the graded maximal exercise test compared to baseline (p < 0.001), accompanied by an upward and rightward relocation of the linear relationship between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and heart rate (HR). However, the magnitude of cBRS reduction was attenuated towards maximum exercise. Application of BFR during exercise exaggerated the blood pressure rise (p < 0.01), the perceptual response (p < 0.001), the exercise-induced cBRS reduction (p < 0.001), and induced a further relocation of the SBP-HR relationship. Additionally, BFR limited the HR increase and resulted in reduced exercise performance compared to the no-BFR condition. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the pronounced increase in blood pressure during heavy- and maximal-intensity exercise may limit further increases in heart rate through arterial baroreflex activation. This may contribute to reduced exercise tolerance, as evidenced by the lower peak power output and attenuated maximal heart rate observed in muscle BFR condition. Full article

Poterioochromonas is a typical mixotrophic chrysophyte that plays an important ecological role in natural aquatic environments and has received particular attention from morphological and ecological perspectives over the last few decades because of its peculiar mode of feeding and relevance for practical applications. However, the taxonomic classification of this genus remains controversial, and the true extent of its diversity remains largely unknown. Here, we use a complementary approach of culturing, morphological and phylogenetic analyses, and sequence database mining to address this issue. We collected 16 cultures of Poterioochromonas to determine the essential morphological characteristics and clarify the taxonomy and phylogeny of the genus. Our results confirmed that all Poterioochromonas strains produce lorica, which is the diagnostic character for the genus. We suggest that the shape of the lorica cup and the morphology of the cyst could be used as diagnostic characteristics to differentiate different species within the genus. Molecular phylogenetic analysis based on the SSU rDNA and rbcL gene sequences confirmed the monophyly of Poterioochromonas, which is subdivided into heterotrophic and mixotrophic clades. Comparative analysis of six molecular markers revealed that the COI gene is the most sensitive for distinguishing both inter- and intraspecific relationships. An exhaustive screening of the NCBI GenBank database and publicly available amplicon sequencing datasets revealed 100 SSU rDNA gene sequences for Poterioochromonas. The results showed that many soil-derived environmental sequences grouped with heterotrophic Poterioochromonas and indicated that the heterotrophic representatives of the genus are abundant in the soil environment. The results also revealed that many environmental sequences did not group with any reference sequences of known species, indicating that the genus Poterioochromonas is much more diverse than previously thought. This study contributes to a clearer taxonomic and distributional framework for Poterioochromonas, thereby facilitating future basic and applied research on this genus and similar mixotrophic chrysophytes. Full article

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), particularly ELM-11, are promising sorbents for CO₂ capture due to their gate-opening phenomenon and excellent reusability. Since actual exhaust gases contain impurities such as NO₂, in this study, the effect of NO₂ on the CO₂ sorption performance of ELM-11 was investigated. ELM-11 was exposed to 1000 ppm NO₂ for varying durations, ranging from short to long, and subsequent CO₂ sorption was evaluated using several methods: gravimetric analysis (TG-DTA), volumetric analysis (sorption isotherms), FT-IR spectroscopy (to detect chemical bond changes), TG-MS (to analyze decomposition products), and PXRD (to observe structural changes). The TG-DTA results indicated that long-term NO₂ exposure (e.g., 20 h) generally reduced CO₂ sorption, whereas short-term exposure (3 h) could enhance it. This finding was supported by volumetric sorption isotherm measurements. FT-IR and TG-MS analyses revealed that NO₂ underwent both physical and chemical sorption in small amounts, with chemical sorption occurring through reactions with Cu²⁺ ions. Consequently, 20 h of NO₂ exposure resulted in approximately a 6 or 10% reduction in CO₂ recovery capacity. However, since the degradation was only 6 or 10% despite exposure to a relatively high concentration of NO₂ (1000 ppm), these results suggest that ELM-11 exhibits high resistance to NO₂, making it suitable for practical applications. Full article