Search Results (419,054)

Expansion of a polymer chain released from a confined state under theta conditions is investigated by means of Langevin dynamics simulations in both three- and two-dimensional geometries. Using a bead–spring chain representation, the $\theta$-temperature is first identified through a scaling analysis of the chain size that exhibits the expected power-law behavior. Extensive simulations then carried out at this temperature reveal that the time evolution of the average chain size during expansion displays sigmoidal curves on log–log plots, indicating a two-stage process: an initial rapid power-law expansion from the confining size, followed by a slower exponential relaxation toward the final equilibrium size. By examining the regularity of these curves, we determine the scaling laws that govern the characteristic times and expansion exponents in each stage. The 2D expansion is found to proceed with slower dynamics than the 3D case, owing to the restriction of the available chain motion on a plane. Plotting the expansion rate against chain size provides a direct test of the kinetic equations, producing master evolutionary trajectories for both stages. Integrating these kinetic equations yields the scaling forms of the free energy for each stage, from which several relationships between the scaling exponents are obtained. This study demonstrates that incorporating local steric constraints and prohibiting segment crossing is essential for accurately describing chain expansion kinetics at the theta point, thereby exposing the limitations of idealized freely jointed chain models. Full article

Momast is a patented polyphenolic complex sustainably extracted from the vegetation water generated during the processing of the Coratina olive cultivar. Although its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties have been previously demonstrated, its neuroprotective activity and underlying mechanisms remain largely unexplored. In this study, we investigated the neuroprotective effects of Momast using complementary cellular and biophysical approaches. SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells were exposed to cadmium, mercury, or lead to reproduce distinct mechanisms of heavy metal-induced neurotoxicity, and cell viability was evaluated following co-treatment with Momast. In parallel, the interaction of Momast with biomimetic planar lipid membranes composed of phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol was investigated by electrophysiological analysis. Momast significantly attenuated heavy metal-induced cytotoxicity, although the magnitude and concentration dependence of the protective effect varied according to the metal. Electrophysiological measurements demonstrated that Momast interacts directly with lipid bilayers through a sequential adsorption–insertion process, without compromising membrane integrity, and forms stable, conductive assemblies within the membrane. Overall, the combined cellular and biophysical findings support a mechanistic model in which Momast exerts neuroprotective activity through complementary membrane-dependent and intracellular mechanisms, highlighting membrane interactions as an important determinant of the biological activity of complex olive polyphenolic mixture. Full article

Introduction: This study unfolds how embodied emotional processes vary across time and impact conscious attitudinal toward COVID-19-related policy when individuals experience narratives with different emotional features about vaccination for public health crisis prevention. Methods: A media psychophysiology lab experiment was conducted in which college students (N = 86) were exposed to videos that varied in emotional flow. Psychophysiological indicators of arousal (skin conductance), cognitive resource allocation (heart rate), and negative emotional response (corrugator facial EMG) were recorded during exposure to stimulus videos, and self-report measures of attitudes were obtained after each video. Results: Emotional flow impacted the cognitive resources allocated to encoding and moment-by-moment arousal and emotional responses. Health messages with emotional flow features elicited a more skeptical emotional response, whereas those without emotional flow features led to stronger feelings of hope and more positive attitudes toward university public health prevention policy about vaccination. Conclusions: Narrative vaccine campaigns with emotional flow increased psychophysiological engagement but did not improve persuasive outcomes in this experimental context because messages containing emotional shifts elicited greater skepticism and less favorable policy attitudes than consistently positive messages about the COVID-19 vaccine. Full article

Lithium recovery from salt lake brines with high Mg/Li ratios remains highly challenging due to the comparable physicochemical properties of Mg²⁺ and Li⁺, while lithium–aluminum-layered double hydroxides (Li/Al-LDHs) have emerged as promising lithium-selective adsorbents. However, their practical application is hindered by particle aggregation, limited structural stability, and insufficient processability under continuous-flow conditions. Herein, a mineral-directed synthesis strategy was developed to construct natural mineral-supported Li/Al-LDHs composite adsorbents using three abundant clay minerals, chlorite, montmorillonite, and illite, as structural substrates. The mineral crystal structures were demonstrated to regulate the nucleation, growth behavior, and dispersion of Li/Al-LDH nanosheets, resulting in distinct hierarchical architectures and lithium adsorption performances. Comprehensive structural characterization revealed the successful integration of Li/Al-LDH phases with different mineral matrices while preserving the intrinsic layered structures of both components. The results demonstrated that different mineral substrates significantly influenced the crystal growth, dispersion, and interfacial structure of Li/Al-LDHs. Among the prepared composites, montmorillonite @Li/Al-LDHs exhibited the optimal lithium adsorption performance, achieving a lithium adsorption capacity of 6.0 mg·g⁻¹ and a remarkable Li⁺/Mg²⁺ separation factor of 73.5 in a brine with a high Mg/Li ratio of 61.25. Furthermore, the optimized adsorbent maintained 81.7% of its initial adsorption capacity after 100 adsorption–desorption cycles and demonstrated stable lithium recovery performance under continuous-flow conditions. This work establishes the relationship between natural mineral crystal structures and Li/Al-LDH adsorption behaviors, providing new insights into the rational design of economical, scalable, and environmentally friendly lithium adsorbents for sustainable recovery of lithium resources from Mg-rich brines. Full article

The building and construction sector accounts for approximately 37% of global CO₂ emissions and nearly 50% of material extraction, driving urgent demand for sustainable material alternatives. Bio-based composites derived from recycled waste and biomass offer a promising pathway toward a circular built environment, yet their production remains hampered by biomass batch variability, the absence of standardized process protocols, and sensitivity to environmental conditions. Digital twin (DT) technology, with its capacity for real-time monitoring, predictive simulation, and closed-loop optimization, has been widely applied in building operation and maintenance but has received scant attention at the material production end. This paper addresses this cross-disciplinary gap by proposing a five-layer DT conceptual framework for the standardized production of bio-based composites, developed using the Design Science Research paradigm. The framework comprises a physical layer, a data acquisition layer, a virtual model layer, a decision and control layer, and a lifecycle-circularity layer, mapped onto five production stages from raw material to recovery. An observe–simulate–decide–adjust (OSDA) closed-loop mechanism runs across all stages. A synthetic-data simulation of the OSDA closed-loop mechanism across 200 virtual production batches illustrates a 48.5% reduction in performance variability (95% CI: 42.9–53.7%) and a 99.0% reduction in the reject rate (95% CI: 96.9–100.0%) in a biochar–recycled-HDPE panel scenario; sensitivity analysis confirms robustness across a range of moisture penalty assumptions. These results are derived from a simplified regression model and constitute numerical proof-of-concept rather than empirical validation. The study contributes a structured, standards-aligned architecture that bridges digital twins and circular building materials, providing a methodological reference and conceptual justification for industry stakeholders. Full article

Background: Preconception screening traditionally focuses on physical health indicators and diagnosed psychopathology, potentially overlooking subclinical psychological vulnerabilities that could predict perinatal mental health outcomes. This study examined whether transdiagnostic psychological assessment before pregnancy provides information beyond childhood adversity and current symptom severity. Methods: In this prospective cohort study, 170 healthy nulliparous women attempting natural conception underwent preconception assessment and were followed through postpartum. Preconception measures included childhood adversity, transdiagnostic psychological processes (emotional dysregulation, learned helplessness, and dissociation), and psychiatric symptoms (depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder). Postpartum outcomes included maternal bonding, birth-related trauma symptoms, depression and anxiety levels. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), structural equation modeling (SEM), and hierarchical linear regressions were used to characterize associations between preconception dimensions and postpartum outcomes. Results: Standard trauma screening cutoffs identified 19.3% of women with significant childhood adversity, and over 90% scored below clinical thresholds for current psychopathology. Analyses identified three distinct dimensions: childhood adversity (Risk), transdiagnostic psychological processes (Vulnerability), and current symptoms (Symptoms). Risk was indirectly associated with Symptoms through Vulnerability (β = 0.24), while the direct association between Risk and Symptoms was not significant. Risk and Vulnerability were the primary predictors of maternal bonding (R² = 0.21), whereas Symptoms was the dominant predictor of postpartum anxiety (R² = 0.30), depression (R² = 0.20), and birth-related trauma symptoms (R² = 0.32). Conclusions: In a cross-sectional preconception analysis, transdiagnostic psychological vulnerability structurally linked childhood adversity to current symptoms. In a prospective analysis extending from preconception to postpartum, Vulnerability independently predicted postpartum outcomes, including maternal bonding and anxiety. These findings support further investigation of modifiable vulnerabilities, such as emotion dysregulation and learned helplessness, as potential targets for preconception assessment and preventive research. Full article

During the frequent charging, discharging, and storage processes of underground compressed air energy storage systems, the damage and degradation of sealing plugs directly affect the long-term stability of gas storage caverns. Using a self-developed cyclic charging–storage–discharging–restorage gas disturbance rock testing system, this study conducted cyclic gas disturbance tests on sealing plug specimens at different storage pressures, followed by post-disturbance uniaxial compression tests, to investigate the thermodynamic response during cyclic disturbances and elucidate the mechanical property degradation mechanism of sealing plug specimens after cyclic disturbances. The results show that, during a single cycle, the gas temperature exhibits staged responses characterized by compression heating, cooling during high-pressure storage, decompression cooling, and temperature recovery during low-pressure storage. As the storage pressure increases, the heating rate increases from 0.005 to 0.016 °C/s, while the cooling rate increases from 0.023 to 0.055 °C/s. During cyclic charging–storage–discharging–restorage processes, the gas temperature exhibits an overall logarithmic growth trend comprising three stages, namely a rapid increase, a slow increase, and stabilization, with the degree of heat accumulation increasing progressively with storage pressure. Cyclic alternating loading by high-pressure gas aggravates internal specimen damage. With increasing storage pressure, the peak strength of the specimens after cyclic disturbances decreases by 8.14%, 8.99%, 11.58%, and 15.05%, respectively, while the elastic modulus decreases by 2.12%, 6.45%, 8.88%, and 13.49%, respectively. Acoustic emission activity during failure becomes more pronounced, and deformation localization intensifies. With increasing storage pressure, the macroscopic failure mode gradually changes from localized cracking to multiple-crack coalescence and block fragmentation, while the increase in average fracture-surface porosity rises from 7.29% to 37.89%. These results are important for assessing the stability of sealing plugs in underground CAES caverns. Full article

The pea is a crop of great economic and nutritional importance due to its protein contribution. However, its productivity is affected by water deficit, which is an increasingly frequent phenomenon due to rising climate variability. Brassinosteroids (BRs) are plant hormones that regulate multiple and diverse physiological processes and can mitigate the effects of water stress. The objective was to evaluate the physiological response of the ‘San Isidro’ pea crop variety to water deficit and the application of BRs during flowering. A completely randomized design was used with five treatments: well-watered control (CK) and four treatments with water stress (imposed by withholding irrigation until volumetric water content reached 5–9%, maintained for 21 days) and BR doses of 0, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 mg per plant. On average, water deficit reduced shoot dry biomass and pod biomass by 82% and 77%, respectively, and decreased the number of pods per plant (49%) and per branch (41%) compared to the well-watered control. It also significantly decreased water potential, net photosynthetic rate (A_n), stomatal conductance (g_s), transpiration (E), and intercellular CO₂ concentration, while foliar temperature increased. The application of BRs (especially the 0.5 mg per plant dose) increased 100-seed mass by 91.4% compared with the water-stressed 0-BR treatment. Although no statistically significant differences were detected, this dose also increased pod biomass by 130% and the number of pods by 73% compared with the water-stressed 0-BR treatment. BR application alleviated the impact of water stress by increasing q_L in leaves (at 85 DAP) and Φ_PSII in stipules (at 95 DAP) and by enhancing ATP synthase activity (g_H⁺) in both organs and promoting recovery of gas exchange (A_n, g_s, E) and water potential. The stipules showed significant differences in more physiological variables than the leaves, suggesting potentially higher sensitivity; however, formal organ × treatment interaction analyses are needed to confirm this. It should be noted that the experimental design included only one well-watered control and did not include a factorial combination of water status × BR dose; consequently, the scope of our conclusions is restricted to the evaluation of BR effects under water-stress conditions. Further studies with a complete factorial design are required to fully disentangle the interactions between water status and BR dose. Full article

Distant-water squid-jigging operations require continuous route decisions that balance expected fishing returns and fuel consumption under spatially heterogeneous fishery resources and oceanographic conditions. This study proposes a Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO)-based dynamic routing framework for the Peruvian jumbo flying squid fishery. A data-informed gridded simulator integrates oceanographic variables, historical fishing-ground information, a wave-induced fuel adjustment, and an MVT-Inspired Local Depletion Mechanism. The routing task is formulated as an augmented-state Markov decision process with a multi-component reward function considering economic return, historical fishing-ground guidance, wave-related operating effects, and operational inefficiency. Vessel-level cross-fitting is used to reduce data reuse between reward-environment construction and historical-prior construction, and the policy is evaluated retrospectively in a held-out 2021 simulation environment. Across three independent training seeds, PPO achieved 257.42 ± 13.92 t of Cumulative Simulated Catch, 256.59 ± 7.83 t of Cumulative Fuel Consumption, and a Simplified Simulated Operating Margin of 129,376.80 ± 24,244.68 USD. Relative to the prespecified representative Historical Trajectory Replay, these results represent 13.77% higher simulated catch, 8.58% lower simulated fuel consumption, and 85.88% higher simulated operating margin. Additional sensitivity analyses showed that the qualitative catch–fuel–margin advantage was retained under moderate perturbations of the held-out catch field and across ±20% squid- and fuel-price variations. The results indicate that PPO provides a more favorable and comparatively stable catch–fuel–margin trade-off within the constructed retrospective simulation framework. Full article

Background/Objectives: Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which is released by enteroendocrine L-cells, is the primary incretin hormone and plays a pivotal role in glucose regulation, appetite control, and metabolic health. While GLP-1 receptor agonists offer significant therapeutic benefits, there is a growing interest in identifying foods that can increase endogenous GLP-1 production through physiological processes. However, the physiological impact of modulating GLP-1 through diet is modest compared with activating GLP-1 receptors pharmacologically. This narrative review summarizes the latest reports on how specific food matrices and gut microbiota-dependent pathways influence GLP-1 release, emphasizing their importance in precision nutrition. Methods: Literature published between 2001 and 2026 was reviewed, including experimental, clinical, and translational studies examining the effects of foods on GLP-1 secretion, L-cell activation, nutrient-sensing receptors, microbial metabolites, and metabolic outcomes. Evidence was synthesized for food categories such as fermented dairy products, fermented vegetables, whole grains, legumes, fiber-rich root vegetables, berries, grapes, green tea, turmeric and oily fish. Results: Foods modulate endogenous GLP-1 secretion through complementary pathways involving L-cell stimulation and the activation of receptors, including FFAR2, FFAR3, GPR119, TGR5 and FFAR4 (GPR120), as well as the production of microbial metabolites. Fermented dairy products, kimchi, kefir, Jerusalem artichokes, chicory root, oats, garlic, onions, berries, grapes, green tea and oily fish support incretin regulation through microbial fermentation, the generation of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), bile acid signalling and the release of bioactive compounds. These food matrices shape metabolite profiles more effectively than isolated nutrients, highlighting the importance of the interaction between whole foods and the gut microbiota. Conclusions: Foods rich in fermentable substrates, polyphenols, bioactive peptides and omega-3 fatty acids are promising dietary modulators of physiological GLP-1 activity. Taking into account microbiome characteristics, metabolic phenotype and individual postprandial responses could facilitate the development of personalized nutrition strategies to help prevent and manage obesity, type 2 diabetes and related cardiometabolic disorders. Full article

The structural, processing, and mechanical response of a multiphase poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV)/poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT)/thermoplastic starch (TPS) matrix to two distinct glass fillers was investigated. Glass fibers and hollow glass spheres were incorporated by melt compounding and injection molding, while the unfilled blend served as the reference. Differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, melt-flow-rate measurements, helium pycnometry, scanning electron microscopy with deep-learning-based segmentation, tensile, and Charpy impact tests were applied. At higher filler contents, the composite-level XRD-based crystallinity index decreased to approximately 47%, whereas the Scherrer-derived PHBV (110) coherent-domain size remained within approximately 21–24 nm. Preferred orientation, assessed independently from the PHBV reflection-intensity ratio, varied with filler type and content. Glass fibers progressively reduced melt flow and were associated with an increase in tensile modulus from 2.06 to 3.45 GPa and maximum tensile stress from 23.46 to 27.32 MPa at the highest investigated fiber content. Hollow glass spheres produced a non-monotonic melt-flow response, while the reduction in tensile performance at higher contents coincided with decreasing interparticle spacing and increasing specific external polymer–glass interfacial area. Within the analyzed SEM fields, no pronounced filler-rich clustering was evident. Notched specimens remained brittle, whereas unnotched specimens retained impact strength above 10 kJ × m⁻². Overall, the two filler geometries exhibited distinct relationships among apparent melt flowability, crystalline organization, quantitative microstructural descriptors, and mechanical response. Full article

This study examines how corporate governance (CG) and integrated reporting (IR) are associated with firm value and whether IR moderates the relationship between CG and firm value. Based on the agency theory and signaling theory, the results show that CG leads to improved monitoring, accountability, and strategic management processes while IR creates an opportunity to increase market confidence through the provision of connected, transparent and decision-useful information. The study uses a panel dataset of 80 firms listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange during 2020–2025, comprising 480 firm–year observations; the inclusion of a one-year-lagged variable reduced the estimation sample to 400 observations. CG was measured using a composite index of seven governance indicators, while IR was measured using a 58-item binary disclosure index. For the empirical analysis, random-effects regression, fixed-effects regression, and two-step system GMM were employed. The results reveal that CG and IR are positively related to firm value. Importantly, IR positively moderates the relationship between CG and firm value. This study demonstrates that IR enhances the value implication of CG among Saudi-listed firms. Full article

Background: Geriatric patients represent a growing proportion of the population, accounting for more than 9% globally. At our study center, admissions to general medical services comprise over 30% of geriatric patients. This study investigated the reasons for 30-day readmissions among geriatric patients and the impact of a multidisciplinary approach on reducing readmission rates. Methods: A retrospective, observational study was conducted at a tertiary care center in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Data was collected on patients aged ≥60 years admitted under the general medicine unit between October 2022 and August 2023 (October–December 2022 for baseline, and January 2023–August 2024 for action, intervention and result). Information was extracted from the hospital’s health informatics system (HIS), including demographics, comorbidities, reasons for readmission, post-discharge care, and outcomes. The multidisciplinary approach included nutritional support (nutritional assessment by referral to dietitian), wound care, virtual post-discharge clinics, family meetings, home healthcare, involvement of social services and psychiatry when indicated. The 30-day readmission rate was calculated by dividing the number of geriatric patients readmitted within 30 days of their last admission by the total number of geriatric patients admitted to internal medicine each month, with a benchmark of 11–23% from previous studies. Results: Of 650 geriatric patients, N = 100 required 30-day readmission. Among those 100 geriatric patients (mean age 78), 48% were over 80 years old, 41% had dementia, and 67% were bedridden (defined as the patient’s inability to get out of bed, ambulate, or sit upright without assistance). Hypertension (90%), type 2 diabetes mellitus (78%), and renal impairment (50%) were the top comorbidities. Urinary tract infections (24%) and pneumonia (17%) were the leading causes of readmission. Post-discharge interventions included virtual clinics within 1–2 weeks (49%), home healthcare referrals (27%), and regular outpatient follow-up (87%). Despite a mortality rate of 16% during the study period, the 30-day readmission rate was reduced to less than 23% from 40% in the fourth quarter of 2022 (baseline). Conclusions: The observed reduction in 30-day readmissions coincided with multidisciplinary care, yet SPC (Statistical Process Control) analysis confirmed process stability, supporting an observational rather than causal interpretation. Full article

Reliable orbit estimation from position observations depends on both nominal propagation and the specification of process and measurement uncertainty. An offline covariance calibration framework is presented for a TLE-driven differentiable SGP4 extended Kalman filter (dSGP4–EKF). dSGP4 supplies the fixed nominal trajectory, while the sensitivities to six TLE initialization elements define a local Cartesian error transition. Error state re-baselining maintains consistent coordinates across catalog changes. Each condition-specific checkpoint contains six positive scalars: three continuous white noise acceleration scales defining the process covariance Q, and three position noise scales defining the measurement covariance R. One-step-ahead innovation negative log-likelihood calibrates these parameters without ground-truth state supervision. The calibrated parameters are frozen during deployment, which requires no neural network inference. Across three Sentinel satellites, three synthetic Gaussian noise levels, and ten paired realizations, the proposed method achieved macro-average component-wise position and velocity RMSEs of 20.64 m and 0.0463 m s${}^{-1}$, respectively. The corresponding values for a supervised observation-conditioned GRU-Q/R point estimator were 20.42 m and 0.0462 m s${}^{-1}$. The proposed method used six trainable parameters per checkpoint, compared with 8886 for GRU-Q/R, and had a median Day-7 filtering time of 13.37 ms versus 40.35 ms. Re-baselining reduced switch-local errors, while the tested initialization, training seed, and window settings produced limited variation for the proposed method. No numerical divergence was observed during the examined 24-h S1A–25 m runs. The learned scales are effective uncertainty parameters rather than uniquely identifiable physical disturbances. These findings are limited to the controlled synthetic observation protocol. Full article

Aedes aegypti surveillance is essential for guiding arbovirus control strategies. The BG-Sentinel (BGS) trap is a widely used reference trap for monitoring adult Ae. aegypti, but its cost and need for electricity limit its use in resource-constrained settings. This study evaluated locally made, low-cost oviposition-based traps relative to the BGS trap. The Ovillanta trap was modified with internal adhesive surfaces to capture adult mosquitoes. Six trap types were evaluated at six outdoor locations, including (1) Ovillanta with yeast (2) Ovillanta with only water, (3) BG-Gravid Aedes Trap (BG-GAT) with yeast, (4) one modified GAT (1MoGAT) with yeast, (5) four modified GATs (4MoGAT) with yeast, and (6) a standard BGS trap with BG-Lure. Traps were deployed for three consecutive 24 h sampling periods before rotation. This process was repeated four times resulting in a total of 72 experimental days. The primary outcome was total number of captured female Ae. aegypti. The yeast-baited modified Ovillanta captured more Ae. aegypti than the other oviposition-based traps (n = 468), with catches comparable to the BGS trap (n = 497; IRR = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.76–1.41; p = 0.859). Removing yeast from the Ovillanta reduced captures by 31% (n = 321; IRR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.51–0.95; p = 0.023). The BG-GAT (n = 95), 4MoGAT (n = 35), and 1MoGAT (n = 31) captured significantly fewer Ae. aegypti than the yeast-baited modified Ovillanta (all p < 0.0001). Around 95% of captured mosquitoes were unfed across all trap types. These findings suggest that the yeast-baited modified Ovillanta may provide a low-cost alternative for adult female Ae. aegypti surveillance, but further evaluation across diverse ecological and operational settings is needed. Full article