Search Results (512)

Managing soil-borne pathogens and diseases in plants is particularly challenging because the pathogens that cause them can persist in the soil for extended periods, often resulting in repeated crop damage in affected areas. These destructive diseases compromise plant health by weakening the root systems, which makes the plants more susceptible to environmental stress and nutritional deficiencies. Every year in the United States, a whopping $9.6 million is allocated to reverse the harmful effects of pesticides on humans, plants, animals, and the environment. On the contrary, disease-suppressive soils offer an effective strategy for controlling pathogens while ensuring the least contamination of the environment. These soils can be managed by both conventional and advanced methods, such as reduced tillage, crop rotation, organic amendments, nanoparticles, omics approaches, and biofumigation. However, these soils can be local in nature, and their properties might be disrupted by common agricultural practices like tillage and agro-chemical application. This review synthesizes the concepts and mechanisms of disease suppression in soils and explores the ways that can be improved through the management of soil health for enhanced plant health and yield. Full article

This study provides an up-to-date assessment of the environmental status in the area of the S/s Stuttgart wreck in the southern Baltic Sea, focusing on macrozoobenthos, sediment chemistry, and contamination in Mytilus trossulus soft tissues. Comparative analyses from 2016 and 2023 revealed increased species richness and distinct benthic assemblages, shaped primarily by depth and distance from the wreck. Among macrozoobenthos, there dominated opportunistic species, characterized by a high degree of resistance to the unfavorable state of the environment, suggesting adaptation to local conditions. Elevated concentrations of heavy metals were detected in sediments, with maximum values of Cd—0.85 mg·kg⁻¹, Cu—34 mg·kg⁻¹, Zn—119 mg·kg⁻¹, and Ni—32.3 mg·kg⁻¹. However, no significant correlations between sediment contamination and macrozoobenthos composition were found. In Mytilus trossulus, contaminant levels were mostly within regulatory limits; however, mercury concentrations reached 0.069 mg·kg⁻¹ wet weight near the wreck and 0.493 mg·kg⁻¹ at the reference station, both exceeding the threshold defined in national legislation (0.02 mg·kg⁻¹) (Journal of Laws of 2021, item 568). Condition indices for Macoma balthica were lower in the wreck area, suggesting sublethal stress. Ecotoxicological tests showed no acute toxicity in most sediment samples, emphasizing the complexity of pollutant effects. The data presented here not only enrich the existing literature on marine pollution but also contribute to the development of more effective environmental protection strategies for marine ecosystems under international protection. Full article

Precision irrigation plays a crucial role in managing crop production in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner. This study builds on the results of the GreenWaterDrone project, aiming to estimate, in real time, the actual water requirements of crop fields using the crop water stress index, integrating infrared canopy temperature, air temperature, relative humidity, and thermal and near-infrared imagery. To achieve this, a state-of-the-art aerial micrometeorological station (AMMS), equipped with an infrared thermal sensor, temperature–humidity sensor, and advanced multispectral and thermal cameras is mounted on an unmanned aerial system (UAS), thus minimizing crop field intervention and permanently installed equipment maintenance. Additionally, data from satellite systems and ground micrometeorological stations (GMMS) are integrated to enhance and upscale system results from the local field to the regional level. The research was conducted over two years of pilot testing in the municipality of Trifilia (Peloponnese, Greece) on pilot potato and watermelon crops, which are primary cultivations in the region. Results revealed that empirical irrigation applied to the rhizosphere significantly exceeded crop water needs, with over-irrigation exceeding by 390% the maximum requirement in the case of potato. Furthermore, correlations between high-resolution remote and proximal sensors were strong, while associations with coarser Landsat 8 satellite data, to upscale the local pilot field experimental results, were moderate. By applying a comprehensive model for upscaling pilot field results, to the overall Trifilia region, project findings proved adequate for supporting sustainable irrigation planning through simulation scenarios. The results of this study, in the context of the overall services introduced by the project, provide valuable insights for farmers, agricultural scientists, and local/regional authorities and stakeholders, facilitating improved regional water management and sustainable agricultural policies. Full article

Conventional cast-in-place counterfort retaining walls, while widely used to support the fill body in geotechnical engineering cases, suffer from extended construction cycles and environmental impacts that constrain their usage more widely. In this study, in order to overcome these limitations, the performance of two types of innovative prefabricated counterfort retaining wall system—a monolithic design and a modular design—was investigated through physical modeling. The results reveal that failure mechanisms are fundamentally governed by the distribution of stress at the connection interfaces. The monolithic system, with fewer connections, concentrates stress and is more vulnerable to cracking at the primary joints. In contrast, the modular system disperses loads across numerous connections, reducing localized stress. Critically, this analysis identified a construction-dependent failure mode: incomplete contact between the foundation and the base slab induces severe bending moments that can lead to catastrophic failure. Furthermore, this study shows that complex stress states due to backfill failure can induce detrimental tensile forces on the wall structure. To address this, a composite soil material–wall structure system incorporating geogrid reinforcement was developed. This system significantly enhances the backfill’s bearing capacity and mitigates adverse loading. Based on the comprehensive analysis of settlement and structural performance, the optimal configuration involves concentrating geogrid layers in the upper third of section of the backfill, with sparser distribution below. Full article

Loading and clamping schemes significantly influence the behavior of shape memory alloys, specifically, the course of their solid-state transformations. This paper presents experimental and numerical findings regarding the nonlinear response of samples of the above-mentioned type of smart materials observed during tensile tests. Hysteretic properties were studied to elucidate the superelastic behavior of the tested and modeled samples. The conducted tensile tests considered two configurations of grips, i.e., the standard one, where the jaws transversely clamp a specimen, and the customized bollard grip solution, which the authors developed to reduce local stress concentration in a specimen. The characteristic impact of the boundary conditions on the solid phase transformation in shape memory alloys, present due to the specific clamping scheme, was studied using a thermal camera and extensometer. Martensitic transformation and the plateau region in the nonlinear stress–strain characteristics were observed. The results of the numerical simulation converged to the experimental outcomes. This study explains the complex nature of the phase changes in shape memory alloys under specific boundary conditions induced by a given clamping scheme. In particular, variation in the martensitic transformation course is identified as resulting from the stress distribution observed in the specimen’s clamping area. Full article

This study investigates the mechanical properties of LiCoO₂ (LCO) cathode materials under varying states of charge (SOCs) using both an empirical Buckingham potential model and a machine learning-based Deep Potential (DP) model. The results reveal a substantial decrease in Young’s modulus with decreasing SOC. Analysis of stress factors identified pairwise interactions, particularly those involving Co³⁺ and Co⁴⁺, as key drivers of this mechanical evolution. The DP model demonstrated superior performance by providing consistent and reliable predictions reflected in a smooth and monotonic stiffness decrease with SOC, in contrast to the large fluctuations observed in the classical Buckingham potential results. The study further identifies the increasing dominance of Co⁴⁺ interactions at low SOCs as a contributor to localized stress concentrations, which may accelerate crack initiation and mechanical degradation. These findings underscore the DP model’s capability to capture SOC-dependent mechanical behavior accurately, establishing it as a robust tool for modeling battery materials. Moreover, the calculated SOC-dependent mechanical properties can serve as critical input for continuum-scale models, improving their predictive capability for chemo-mechanical behavior and degradation processes. This integrated multiscale modeling approach can offer valuable insights for developing strategies to enhance the durability and performance of lithium-ion battery materials. Full article

Under service conditions, randomly distributed cracks in the top coat (TC) layer of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) lead to local stress concentrations, which serve as the primary drivers of crack propagation and coating delamination. This study systematically analyzes the influence of crack defects on the thermal stress distribution in TBCs, based on their microstructural characteristics, using a multi-physics-coupled finite element model. Numerical analysis of crack characteristics reveals that crack length significantly influences the stress distribution in the coatings, with the maximum tensile stress at the crack tip increasing from 104.02 to 238.51 MPa as the crack half-length extends from 400 to 1000 μm. Shorter cracks induce lower tensile stresses, thereby retarding crack propagation and delaying coating delamination. Crack depth also influences the stress distribution, with the maximum tensile stress decreasing from 205.88 to 101.65 MPa as the crack is buried deeper, from 50 to 200 μm, indicating a more stable stress state less prone to propagation in deeper cracks. For inclined cracks, increasing the inclination angle induces a shift in stress from tensile to compressive, with larger inclination angles exhibiting greater stability. Accordingly, this study proposes a laser scribing strategy to mitigate crack-tip stress concentration, which is validated through comparison with two-dimensional crack models. Laser scribing shortens crack length by interrupting crack continuity, relieves localized thermal expansion strain, effectively suppresses crack growth, and significantly enhances the crack resistance and thermal shock stability of the coating. Full article

The addition of beryllium (Be) to Al–Cu alloys enhances their mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. This study aims to investigate the effects of solidification cooling rates and the addition of Be on the microstructural refinement and corrosion behavior of an Al–5wt.%Cu–1wt.%Si–0.5wt.%Be alloy. Radial solidification under unsteady-state conditions was performed using a stepped brass mold, producing four distinct cooling rates. An experimental growth law, λ₂ = 26${\dot{\mathrm{T}}}^{-1/3}$, was established, confirming the influence of Be and the cooling rate on dendritic size reduction. The final microstructure was characterized by an α-Al dendritic matrix with eutectic compounds (α-Al + θ-Al₂Cu + Si + Fe-rich phase) confined to the interdendritic regions. No Be-containing intermetallic phases were detected, and beryllium remained homogeneously distributed within the eutectic. Notably, Be addition promoted a morphological transformation of the Fe-rich phases from angular or acicular forms into a Chinese-script-like structure, which is associated with reduced local stress concentrations. Tensile tests revealed an ultimate tensile strength of 248.8 ± 11.2 MPa and elongation of approximately 6.4 ± 0.5%, indicating a favorable balance between strength and ductility. Corrosion resistance assessment by EIS and polarization tests in a 0.06 M NaCl solution showed a corrosion rate of 28.9 µm·year⁻¹ and an Epit of −645 mV for the Be-containing alloy, which are lower than those measured for the reference Al–Cu and Al–Cu–Si alloys. Full article

Liver diseases encompass a wide range of etiologies and involve highly heterogeneous cellular environments, yet the specific cellular states through which genetic risk contributes to disease remain incompletely understood. In this study, we integrated genome-wide association study (GWAS) data from six liver diseases and two metabolic traits with transcriptomic profiles of approximately 168,000 human liver cells at single-cell resolution, using the single-cell disease relevance score (scDRS) approach. Our results revealed that disease-associated genetic signals are predominantly localized to non-parenchymal cells—particularly liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs), cholangiocytes, and specific subsets of lymphocytes. Notably, we identified marked intra-cell-type heterogeneity, with disease associations confined to specific subpopulations exhibiting immune activation or stress-responsive transcriptional programs. For example, autoimmune and viral liver diseases were linked to immunologically active LSECs and cholangiocytes, whereas their metabolically active counterparts showed no enrichment. These findings highlight the necessity of resolving liver cell complexity to uncover the functional basis of genetic risk and suggest that susceptibility to liver disease is driven by specialized cell states within broader cellular categories. Our study provides a refined cellular map of liver disease susceptibility, offering new perspectives for understanding pathogenic mechanisms and informing targeted therapeutic strategies. Full article

Fatigue failure, generated by local multi-axial random state stress, frequently occurs in many engineering fields. Therefore, it is customary to perform experimental vibration tests for a structural durability assessment. Over the years, a number of testing methodologies, which differ in terms of the testing machines, specimen geometry, and type of excitation, have been proposed. The aim of this paper is to describe a new testing procedure for random multi-axial fatigue testing. In particular, the paper presents the experimental set-up, the testing procedure, and the data analysis procedure to obtain the multi-axial random fatigue life estimation. The originality of the proposed methodology consists in the experimental set-up, which allows performing multi-axial fatigue tests with different normal-to-shear stress ratios, by choosing the proper frequency range, using a single-axis exciter. The system is composed of a special designed specimen, clamped on a uni-axial shaker. On the specimen tip, a T-shaped mass is placed, which generates a tunable multi-axial stress state. Furthermore, by means of a finite element model, the system dynamic response and the stress on the notched specimen section are estimated. The model is validated through a harmonic acceleration base test. The experimental tests validate the numerical simulations and confirm the presence of bending–torsion coupled loading. Full article

Tensile tests are a common method for characterizing plastic behavior for sheet metal forming applications. During tensile testing at the beginning of the deformation, the stress state is uniaxial; however, as the deformation proceeds, the state changes to triaxial, making the post-processing of experimental data challenging using analytical methods. In contrast, inverse approaches in which the behavior is represented by constitutive equations and the parameters are fitted using an iterative procedure are extremely dependent on the empirical equation chosen at the outset and can be computationally expensive. The inverse piecewise flow curve determination method, previously developed for compression tests, is extended in this paper to tensile testing. A stepwise approach is proposed to calculate constant strain rate flow curves accounting for the unique characteristics of tensile deformation. To capture the effects of localized strain rate variations during necking, a parallel flow curve determination strategy is introduced. Tensile test flow curves for manganese-boron steel 22MnB5, a material commonly used in hot stamping applications, are determined, and the approach is demonstrated for virtual force–displacement curves. It has been shown that these curves can replicate the virtual experimental flow curves data with a maximum deviation of 1%. Full article

Drosophila suzukii is a successful invasive insect species responsible for agricultural losses. The key to its prowess is the ability to swiftly adapt to new environments through various genetic mechanisms, including fast accommodation of mutations and gene expression fine-tuning. Piezo and nanchung (nan) genes are linked to circadian clock-related behaviors and, therefore, are expected to readily respond to stress stimuli. Herein, we compared the DNA sequences of Piezo, nan, and αTubulin at 67C, a highly conserved housekeeping gene, in ICDPP-ams-1, a Romanian local population of D. suzukii, and two well-annotated reference populations from the United States of America and Japan. Our results imply that short-term evolutionary accumulated single nucleotide and indel variants are overrepresented within introns, a propensity evaluated through the mutation accumulation tendency (MAT) original parameter. Piezo and nan gene expression under photoperiodicity changes challenges were assessed in a series of experiments on three groups of individuals from ICDPP-ams-1. We found that both genes are upregulated in females if their customary circadian rhythm is affected, a trend seemingly reverting if, after an initial perturbation, the circadian clock is reset to its initial timing. In conclusion, we found that both highly conserved and adaptability-related genes are rapidly evolving and that Piezo and nan have a fast functional reaction to circadian clock changes by modifying their gene expression profiles. Full article

To overcome the limitation of traditional elastic phase field models that neglect plastic deformation in rock compressive-shear failure, this study developed an elastoplastic phase field fracture model incorporating plastic strain energy and established a coupling framework for plastic deformation and crack evolution. By introducing the non-associated flow rule and plastic damage variable, an energy functional comprising elastic strain energy, plastic work, and crack surface energy was constructed. The phase field governing equation considering plastic-damage coupling was obtained, enabling the simulation of the energy evolution in rock from the elastic stage to plastic damage and unstable failure. Validation was carried out through single-edge notch tension tests and uniaxial compression tests with prefabricated cracks. Results demonstrate that the model accurately captures characteristics such as the linear propagation of tensile cracks, the initiation of wing-like cracks under compressive-shear conditions, and the evolution of mixed-mode failure modes, which are highly consistent with classical experimental observations. Specifically, the model provides a more detailed description of local damage evolution and residual strength caused by stress concentration in compressive-shear scenarios, thereby quantifying the influence of plastic deformation on crack driving force. These findings offer theoretical support for crack propagation analysis in rock engineering applications, including hydraulic fracturing and the construction of underground energy storage caverns. The proposed plastic phase field model can be effectively utilized to simulate rock failure processes under complex stress states. Full article

Global warming is influencing marine dynamics, with marine heat waves (MHWs) threatening the survival of several species. After observing mussels’ massive mortality for three consecutive years (2022–2024) along the Italian Mid-Adriatic Coast, the present study aimed to evaluate, from an ecological and molecular perspective, the evolution of the health state of the Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) population facing the effects of summer heatwave in 2024, in situ. Three MHWs were recorded over the summer, with the second being 41 days long and having temperatures higher than 30 °C. In both sites considered (at the Tronto River mouth and the Frana San Nicola) inside the Piceno coast, the mussel beds experienced a clear decrease in individual density from April (the reference month) to August, with the total mortality recorded in September. The transcriptional levels of the molecular biomarkers analyzed during this time span revealed a state of heat stress with HSP70 (heat shock protein 70) and HSP90 (heat shock protein 90) upregulated in July and August. The apoptotic signal measured through the branchial transcript quantification of p53 and caspase 3 is less clear. The occurrence of MHWs is reshaping the local macrozoobenthonic community structure: the permanent mussel beds that characterized the intertidal and shallow submerged reef along the Mid-Adriatic coast are shifting to a temporary population that renovates yearly. Full article

On 6 February 2023, two major earthquakes struck southeastern Türkiye along the East Anatolian Fault, causing widespread structural damage, including the partial collapse of the historic Habibi Neccar Mosque in Antakya. This study presents a simulation-based approach to rapidly assess the seismic vulnerability of this partially damaged historic masonry structure. Due to the complexity and urgent condition of such heritage buildings, a simplified finite element (FE) modeling methodology is employed to evaluate structural behavior and support immediate stabilization decisions. Response spectrum analysis is applied to simulate and interpret stress distribution and deformation patterns in both undamaged and damaged states. The simulation results highlight significant tensile stress concentrations exceeding 0.2 MPa at dome–arch joints and vaults—primary indicators of localized failures. Additionally, the analysis reveals increased out-of-plane deformations and the influence of soil amplification in the remaining walls, both of which further compromise the structural integrity of the building. The findings demonstrate that simplified FE simulations can serve as practical and efficient tools for early seismic assessment of historic structures, contributing to rapid decision making, risk mitigation, and cultural heritage preservation in earthquake-prone areas. Full article