Search Results (424)

Natural fracture development in tight-sand gas reservoirs is strongly controlled by tectonic evolution yet remains difficult to characterize using conventional seismic interpretation due to limited resolution. This study presents a damage-mechanics-based approach that integrates 2D seismic data, well logs, and drilling information to construct a 3D geological model and simulate tectonically induced fracture development under regional orogenic loading. The approach is applied to the Permian formation in the Ordos Basin. Modeled damage zones, interpreted as areas of enhanced natural fracture development, show strong spatial correspondence with high-productivity wells. The results demonstrate that damage mechanics provides an effective framework for linking tectonic processes with fracture distribution in tight-sand reservoirs and offers new insights into fracture-controlled gas accumulation and productivity. This case demonstrates the applicability and effectiveness of the technology of continuum damage mechanics for 3D natural fracture distribution based on sets of 2D seismic data plus drilling data. Although sets of 2D seismic data cannot replace real 3D seismic data for all its usage, it can produce numerical results of natural fractures with reasonable accuracy for calculation of natural fractures with damage mechanics method. Full article

Rapidly progressive infectious keratitis may involve the anterior uveal tract and lead to anterior segment inflammation, resulting in severe structural damage of the cornea and potentially causing corneal perforation or endophthalmitis if not promptly treated. We report the case of a 63-year-old male admitted to the Emergency Ophthalmology Department of the University Clinical Center in Katowice, Poland, with a rapidly progressive corneal ulcer of the left eye that had not responded to two weeks of outpatient topical antibiotic therapy. The condition developed after ocular trauma sustained while chopping wood. At presentation, visual acuity was limited to light perception with preserved projection. Multimodal imaging, including slit-lamp examination, anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT), and in vivo confocal microscopy, revealed extensive corneal ulceration with severe stromal destruction, progressive corneal melting, and marked anterior segment inflammation, with an imminent risk of perforation. Microbiological cultures identified Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Despite intensive empiric topical antimicrobial therapy targeting both bacterial infection and a possible fungal component related to trauma with organic material, rapid clinical deterioration necessitated emergency therapeutic penetrating keratoplasty (PK). The procedure resulted in rapid resolution of inflammation and improvement in visual acuity, with best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) reaching 0.3 logMAR during follow-up. At the three-month follow-up, the corneal graft remained clear with stable visual acuity and no recurrence of infection. The patient remains under regular long-term follow-up, with ongoing monitoring of graft clarity, intraocular pressure (IOP), and visual function. This case differs from routine presentations of infectious keratitis by demonstrating exceptionally rapid stromal melting despite promptly initiated empiric topical therapy. Multimodal imaging, particularly AS-OCT provided clinically meaningful information by revealing structural instability and an imminent risk of perforation not fully appreciable on slit-lamp examination, thereby supporting timely urgent keratoplasty. These findings highlight the practical diagnostic value of imaging-based assessment in advanced infectious keratitis and underscore its role in guiding surgical decision-making in eyes at high risk of corneal perforation. Full article

Pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) may exert antimicrobial effects, which could be relevant both in medical applications and as a contributing factor in electro-disinfection processes. This study was designed to evaluate their impact on the viability of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853). Experiments were performed in three independent biological replicates, each with three technical replicates per group. Groups 1–3 served as controls and were not exposed to PEMFs. Groups 4–6, 7–9, and 10–12 were exposed to PEMFs of 40, 60, and 80 µT, respectively, for 4, 8, and 24 h using a cylindrical copper solenoid coil. Bacterial viability was assessed via colony-forming unit (CFU) counts, and log₁₀ CFU/mL values were reported. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to examine structural changes in bacterial cells. PEMF exposure significantly reduced P. aeruginosa viability, with magnetic field strength (p < 0.001), exposure time (p < 0.01), and their interaction (p < 0.05) showing significant effects. Post hoc analysis revealed that higher field strengths, particularly 80 µT after 24 h, produced the greatest reduction in CFU counts, whereas 40 µT showed no significant difference compared to controls (p > 0.05). TEM images demonstrated pronounced degeneration and structural damage in PEMF-exposed bacterial cells. PEMF exposure reduced CFU counts in an intensity and duration-dependent manner. While a dose-related trend is suggested, limited experimental conditions preclude definitive conclusions, and findings should be interpreted cautiously due to the in vitro design. Full article

The high prevalence of biofilm-associated multidrug-resistant (MDR) Escherichia coli infections in older adults calls for novel control strategies. This study compared fecal E. coli carriage, antimicrobial resistance, and biofilm formation among community-dwelling older adults with different self-reported immune statuses (lower vs. normal), and evaluated the antibiofilm activity of five Lactobacillus cell-free supernatants (CFSs). Fecal samples from 20 older adults were analyzed. E. coli was enumerated, and isolates were characterized for antimicrobial susceptibility and biofilm formation. Five Lactobacillus strains were screened for antibiofilm activity using crystal violet assay, with further evaluation of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) production and biofilm morphology. After removing the redundant isolates, 70 isolates were reported, with significantly higher counts in the lower-immunity group (7.89 vs. 6.04 log MPN/g). The lower-immunity group had significantly higher antimicrobial resistance (97.3% vs. 60.6%), and higher MDR prevalence (91.7% vs. 24.2%). Biofilm formation was observed in 62.9% of isolates, with significantly higher prevalence among MDR isolates and in the lower-immunity group. L. paracasei L475 CFS showed the strongest antibiofilm activity against a representative MDR isolate (L5-1), with inhibition and eradication rates of 82.9% and 75.0%, respectively. Mechanistically, L475 CFS reduced extracellular polymeric substance components, with a 92.3% reduction in proteins and 41.3% in polysaccharides. Microscopy confirmed disrupted biofilm architecture, membrane damage, and cell lysis. In conclusion, these preliminary findings indicate a potential association between self-reported immune function and E. coli resistance/biofilm formation in older adults. L. paracasei L475 CFS demonstrates promising in vitro antibiofilm activity against an MDR E. coli isolate from this population, supporting its potential as a postbiotic candidate. Full article

The bio-colonization of building materials by green algae is a widespread problem. To prevent this, it is advisable to use natural substances to avoid environmental damage. This study examined the effectiveness of four essential oils (cinnamon, thyme, oregano and hop) and four oil-based substances (trans-cinnamaldehyde, thymol, carvacrol and β-caryophyllene) in preventing bio-colonization. The effectiveness of these chemicals against three algal species (Haematococcus pluvialis, Chlorella mirabilis and Stichococcus sp.) and a mixture of these species was tested. The tests were carried out under laboratory conditions over a period of 14 days. The concentrations tested were in the range of 3–200 mg/L. Growth densities were assessed spectrometrically as absorbencies at a wavelength of 750 nm. Caryophyllene, thymol, oregano oil, and hop oil did not negatively affect the growth of algal biomass. The algicidal effect increased in the following order for the other chemicals: cinnamon oil and trans-cinnamon aldehyde < thyme oil and carvacrol. Their biocidal effect was influenced by their structure, particularly their molecular weight and solubility in fat (log K_ow). H. pluvialis was a less sensitive species than the smaller S. sp and Ch. mirabilis. The artificial biofilm was sensitive to thyme oil and carvacrol, similarly to natural biofilms, as was demonstrated in previously published studies. Full article

Klebsiella pneumoniae poses a severe global health threat due to its extensive antibiotic resistance. However, to date, no vaccine against this pathogen has been approved for clinical use worldwide. Although self-assembling nanocarriers present distinct advantages for vaccine design, their ability to effectively load polysaccharide antigens and further elicit mucosal immunity remains unclear. Here, we developed a modular, self-assembling nanovaccine (CNP-OPS_KpO1) against K. pneumoniae by loading of K. pneumoniae O1 polysaccharide antigen onto a cholera toxin B subunit (CTB)-based nanoparticle (CNP). After determining the safety of the vaccine via intranasal immunization, we further evaluated its immune efficacy. CNP-OPS_KpO1 elicited stronger systemic IgG and mucosal sIgA responses than non-nanoparticulate controls. In a non-lethal pulmonary infection model, CNP-OPS_KpO1 vaccination reduced lung bacterial burden by over 5 logs compared to controls, achieving near-complete bacterial clearance. Histopathological analysis further confirmed minimal lung damage in vaccinated animals. In addition, in a lethal pulmonary challenge model, it conferred 90% survival, whereas all mice in the antigen-alone control group died within 4 days. Our work not only provides a safe, effective, and adjuvant-free candidate vaccine against K. pneumoniae but also advances a versatile platform for developing broad-spectrum mucosal vaccines against other pathogens. Full article

Computed tomography (CT) enables non-destructive insight into internal log structure, yet fully automated interpretation of CT images remains limited by inconsistent annotations, boundary ambiguity, and insufficient spatial context in 2D slice-based analysis. These challenges restrict the industrial deployment of deep learning for wood quality assessment. This study applies artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning to the automated analysis of computed tomography (CT) scans of wood logs for detecting internal qualitative features and segmenting bark. Using convolutional neural networks (CNNs), trained models accurately distinguish healthy and damaged regions and segment bark, including discontinuous parts. We introduce a novel pseudo-spatial representation by merging consecutive slices into red–green–blue (RGB) format, which improves prediction accuracy and model robustness across logs. To enhance interpretability, Gradient-weighted Class Activation Mapping (Grad-CAM) highlights regions contributing most to defect detection, particularly knots. Comprehensive evaluation using Sørensen–Dice similarity coefficients and confusion matrices confirms the effectiveness of the proposed approach under industrial conditions. These findings demonstrate that AI-driven CT image analysis can address key limitations of current log-grading workflows and enable more reliable, objective, and scalable quality assessment for timber-dependent economies. Full article

Heavy and overloaded freight traffic strongly affects pavement performance, yet short-term weigh-in-motion (WIM) measurements are not easily converted into design-oriented traffic inputs. Using the Nairobi Southern Bypass in Kenya as a case study, this study develops axle load spectrum (ALS) and equivalent single axle load (ESAL) indicators from more than 1.5 million axle group records collected between June and December 2025 and proposes an XGBoost-based conditional axle load spectrum (CA-ALS) framework. The data revealed strongly right-skewed load distributions, with a limited number of heavily loaded axle groups dominating pavement damage. Compared with the static ALS by axle group type baseline, the CA-ALS reduced log loss from 2.7563 to 2.6709 in conditional spectrum prediction. In the December 2025 tandem axle benchmark, the CA-ALS increased the ESAL-based verification input by 6.0% at b = 4 and 11.1% at b = 5 relative to the stronger static reference. A legal-load-capped counterfactual analysis further showed that, for all heavy vehicles, observed overloading increased ESAL by 161.0% at b = 4 and 239.4% at b = 5. These results indicate that the CA-ALS provides condition-sensitive traffic inputs for design traffic verification, scenario-based pavement checks, and overload-sensitive evaluation based on short-term WIM observations. Full article

Microbiological contamination of drinking water remains a significant public health concern worldwide, necessitating the development of efficient and environmentally friendly disinfection technologies. This study investigated the effectiveness and physicochemical mechanisms of water treatment using high-frequency electrical discharge plasma. Experimental research was conducted employing a laboratory dielectric barrier discharge reactor operating at 10–30 kHz and 10–25 kV, with treatment durations ranging from 5 to 20 min. Plasma exposure resulted in pronounced physicochemical changes in the aqueous medium, including a decrease in pH from 7.1–7.3 to 5.4–6.0 and an increase in electrical conductivity from 280–340 µS/cm to 480–620 µS/cm. The formation of reactive oxygen species, including hydroxyl radicals, ozone, and hydrogen peroxide, was confirmed, with hydrogen peroxide concentrations varying between 0.35 and 1.20 mg/L. Microbiological analysis demonstrated a reduction in microbial concentration from approximately 10⁵–10⁶ CFU/mL to 10²–10³ CFU/mL, corresponding to 3–4 log inactivation. The results indicated that microbial reduction was strongly associated with the generation of reactive species and treatment duration. Energy density within the range of 0.3–1.2 kWh/m³ was found to support effective disinfection performance. The findings demonstrated that high-frequency plasma treatment established a strong oxidative environment leading to microbial membrane disruption and cellular damage. Overall, the study confirmed the potential of high-frequency electrical discharge plasma technology as a promising approach for drinking water disinfection and provided a basis for further optimization and scale-up investigations. Full article

Artocarpin, a prenylated flavonoid isolated from Artocarpus altilis heartwood, has emerged as a promising multi-targeted bioactive compound for combating UV-induced skin aging. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the molecular mechanisms and photoprotective efficacy of artocarpin across in vitro, in vivo and clinical study, based on the peer-reviewed literature published between 2012 and 2025, retrieved from PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Delivery strategies designed to overcome the inherent physicochemical limitations of artocarpin on skin penetration are also discussed. Artocarpin demonstrates antioxidant effects through both direct free radical scavenging and activation of the Nrf2-ARE pathway, providing sustained cellular defense. Its anti-inflammatory properties target multiple signaling cascades, including the NF-κB and MAPK pathways, effectively mitigating UV-induced inflammatory response. The compound maintains dermal matrix homeostasis by inhibiting matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) expression while preserving collagen synthesis and fibroblast mechanical function. Additionally, artocarpin exhibits selective apoptosis modulation, being cytoprotective in normal keratinocytes while acting as pro-apoptotic in damaged or abnormal cells, thereby supporting tissue homeostasis. It also inhibits melanogenesis through anti-inflammatory mechanisms rather than direct tyrosinase inhibition. Furthermore, artocarpin has been shown to induce autophagic cell death in certain cell lines; however, its role in UV-induced skin damages remains to be clarified. Despite these promising biological activities, the poor water solubility (<0.1 mg/mL) and high lipophilicity (log P ≈ 5) of artocarpin significantly limit its skin penetration. Lipid-based delivery systems, including liposomes, transfersomes, ethosomes, and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs), are presented as effective strategies to enhance transepidermal delivery, with each system offering distinct mechanistic advantages. Further investigations should prioritize the safety of artocarpin within each delivery system, as well as the synergistic co-encapsulation with complementary natural antioxidants to simultaneously target multiple mechanisms involved in UV-induced skin damage, thereby broadening its application in the cosmeceutical industry. Full article

Optimal sensor placement (OSP) for structural health monitoring of large-scale space grid structures must enable reliable identification of localized member deterioration with sparse instrumentation. Modal-based OSP criteria optimize observability of a healthy model but do not directly minimize uncertainty in substructure-level damage parameters. We partition the structure into substructures, simulate axial and biaxial bending stiffness-loss cases, and compute truncated modal flexibility. Each element is encoded by stacked end-node flexibility submatrices over $m=6$ modes. A multi-task, zero-anchored multi-layer perceptron is trained to regress three nonnegative damage parameters and classify damage presence using losses tailored for small-damage accuracy. Sensor sensitivities are obtained by automatic differentiation of the surrogate with respect to flexibility features and aggregated with scenario weights emphasizing critical bending and neighbor-substructure interference scenarios. A greedy D-optimal design then maximizes the log-determinant of a regularized Fisher information matrix under practical coverage constraints; substructure selections are merged into a globally feasible layout. On a representative space grid, the method improves task-oriented identifiability over EFI and MKE across budgets $K_{\mathrm{tot}}=30$–60 (higher-damage D-optimality, lower A-optimality trace, and reduced proxy variance indicators), while yielding lower modal log-determinants. These findings indicate risk-weighted, substructure-first task design as an alternative to purely modal criteria for substructure-level damage-parameter identification. Full article

Motorway tunnels are critical elements of the motorway network where traffic accidents, although less frequent than on open sections, often have more severe consequences. This paper develops a model for expected accident frequency in motorway tunnels based on a traditional Negative Binomial (NB) regression model and two machine-learning–based models: Neural Networks (NN) and Random Forest (RF). The study uses historical accident and traffic data for all motorway tunnels between 2013 and 2024, combined with key infrastructural characteristics. The analysis considers all recorded traffic accidents in motorway tunnels, including accidents with material damage only as well as injury-related accidents of varying severity. A stepwise procedure was used to determine the optimal NB model, resulting in a final specification with tunnel length and Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) as predictors. Machine-learning–based models were trained on the same input set and evaluated against the NB model using Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) and log-likelihood. The NN model achieved the lowest MAE (1.03 accidents/year), followed by RF (1.07) and NB (1.13), confirming that machine-learning-based (ML-based) models slightly improved predictive accuracy while maintaining interpretability at the network level. Compared to the NB model, the NN model achieved a reduction in Mean Absolute Error of 9.2%, while the RF model achieved a reduction of 5.1%. A detailed case study of the Trojane tunnel demonstrates that all models reproduce long-term accident trends, while machine-learning-based models better capture variations between years. The proposed modelling framework provides a practical decision–support tool for tunnel operators and policy makers by supporting tunnel risk classification, prioritization of safety investments, and medium-term safety planning. By supporting proactive tunnel safety planning and evidence-based prioritization of safety investments, the proposed framework contributes to sustainable transport infrastructure management. Improved prediction of accident frequency enables more efficient allocation of resources, reduction in accident-related social and economic costs, and enhanced long-term resilience of motorway tunnel systems. Full article

Oxidative stress results from the excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which cause cellular and molecular damage and contribute to chronic diseases. Given the recognized antioxidant potential of benzimidazole derivatives—particularly 2-mercaptobenzimidazole—this study aimed to synthesize novel organosilicon S-silylalkylthioethers (I–IV) and N-alkylsilylthioethers (1a–3f) derived from this scaffold and to evaluate their antioxidant and antibrowning properties. The S-silylalkylthioethers were obtained by reacting 2-mercaptobenzimidazole with different chloroalkylsilanes under reflux in ethanol, followed by a reaction with alkyl halides in aprotic media at room temperature to prepare the N-alkylsilylthioethers. Structural elucidation was achieved through 1D and 2D NMR and FT-IR. Antioxidant activity was assessed using DPPH, the total antioxidant capacity, and ferric-reducing assays. The results showed several derivatives with notable antioxidant responses, revealing a clear relationship between carbon chain length, logP values, organosilicon substitution patterns, and radical-scavenging efficiency. Spearman correlation analysis further confirmed that DPPH activity is inversely related to total carbon number, molecular size, molecular weight, and LogP (ρ = −0.68 to −0.73, p < 0.001) and moderately negatively correlated with N-alkyl chain length (ρ = −0.47, p = 0.027), while S-alkyl chains showed no significant effect. These findings highlight the potential of these benzimidazole–organosilicon hybrids as antioxidant candidates and demonstrate how physicochemical properties govern their reactivity and antiradical capacity. Full article

Zirconia is a material that mimics human teeth and has been extensively studied and applied. This study investigated the surface modifications of dental zirconia induced by two UV-C wavelengths (222 and 254 nm). A total of 72 zirconia specimens were prepared and divided into groups for irradiation at varying distances (1, 6, 12 cm) and durations (40, 120, 480 and 1440 min), with three specimens retained as untreated controls. Surface changes were assessed by measuring colour difference (ΔE) and water contact angle, and by analyzing surface morphology and elemental composition using SEM and EDX, and XRD was employed to determine the crystalline structure. The results showed that both wavelengths induced clinically perceptible colour changes (ΔE > 2.0), with the most pronounced effect at 6 cm for 222 nm and 1 cm for 254 nm. WCA decreased significantly with irradiation time, showing a linear correlation with log(time), and 222 nm irradiation yielded lower WCA than 254 nm. While SEM revealed no morphological changes, both UV treatments significantly increased the Zr/O ratio compared to the control. XRD tests confirmed that UV-C irradiation does not damage the zirconium oxide crystal structure. It is concluded that both UV-C wavelengths can alter the colour and enhance the wettability of zirconia; these modifications are particularly relevant for dental restorative applications, specifically in the fabrication of anterior tooth crowns, where achieving a natural tooth-like appearance is desired. Full article

Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) systems based on on-site measurements enable ultra-rapid alerts by exploiting the time gap between the arrival of P-waves and the subsequent damaging S-waves. A central challenge is the reliable estimation of impending ground motion using only the earliest portion of the signal. This study investigates a site-specific methodology based on the S/P amplitude ratio for near-real-time seismic acceleration estimation at the Iași stations, Romania, in a region dominated by Vrancea intermediate-depth seismicity. Using 50 strong-motion records from the European Strong-Motion (ESM) database, a local calibration coefficient of k = PGA_S/PGA_P = 6.2 was derived for the Iași area, consistent with its soft-soil conditions and with values reported for comparable sedimentary environments worldwide. A regional analysis confirms that the S/P ratio is primarily governed by local site effects, requiring station-level calibration. The methodology was experimentally validated through shaking-table tests using real P-wave recordings. Predicted S-wave peak ground accelerations exhibit no systematic bias, with a median relative error of +2.0% and dispersion consistent with the intrinsic log-normal variability of the S/P ratio. The results demonstrate that a locally calibrated S/P ratio provides a robust and physically grounded basis for rapid seismic acceleration estimation in on-site EEW systems. Full article