Search Results (8,412)

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with alterations in eating behavior, dietary patterns, and body weight regulation. Although pharmacological treatment is known to suppress appetite, its broader effects on nutrition-related outcomes remain unclear. This scoping review aimed to map the available evidence on dietary intake, eating behavior, nutritional status, growth, and bone health in individuals with ADHD receiving pharmacotherapy. Methods: A scoping review was conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and PRISMA-ScR guidelines. PubMed and Scopus were searched from January 2010 to June 2026. Studies were eligible if they reported at least one nutrition-related outcome in medicated individuals with ADHD. Following study selection and data charting, the reported outcomes were grouped into four domains: dietary intake/eating behavior, nutritional status/metabolic biomarkers, growth/anthropometric outcomes, and bone health. Results: Twenty-seven studies met the inclusion criteria, the majority of which were observational and conducted in pediatric or mixed-age populations. Growth and anthropometric outcomes were the most frequently investigated domain. Stimulant treatment was associated with reduced appetite; lower energy intake during active treatment periods; and transient reductions in body weight, BMI, and growth velocity. Several studies also reported changes in eating behavior, including both increased risk of disordered eating and improvements in dietary structure. Evidence regarding nutritional biomarkers, metabolic outcomes, and bone health was limited and heterogeneous. Conclusions: ADHD pharmacotherapy is associated with a broad range of nutrition-related effects that extend beyond appetite suppression alone. The available evidence suggests that nutritional outcomes are shaped by a complex interaction of biological and behavioral mechanisms. Important evidence gaps remain regarding adult populations, long-term nutritional consequences, and nutritional biomarkers. Full article

This paper concerns the optimization of the tribological properties of carbonitrided steel, a matter of particular significance in the design of highly stressed, hardened mechanical components. The study aims to explore the simultaneous treatment of microhardness, normal load and number of passes as jointly optimized design variables for the multi-pass scratch friction response of carbonitrided AISI 4130 steel. It employs a full-factorial response-surface (RSM) approach, in conjunction with a desirability-function optimization and an artificial neural network (ANN) model, with the objective of both explaining and predicting this response. The microstructural and mechanical properties of carbonitrided AISI 4130 steel were first examined by looking at how the steel wears in tribological applications. The microstructure of the carbonitrided steel was analyzed using optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD), with varying carbon-potential and tempering parameters. As the tempering temperature increased, the carbonitrided steel demonstrated a decrease in microhardness, consistent with progressive relief of quenching-induced stresses and decomposition of retained austenite. The surface microhardness ranged from 630 HV0.1 (C12, tempered at 550 °C) to 980 HV0.1 (C2), against 270 HV0.1 for untreated steel. To investigate the friction coefficient, a multi-pass scratching approach was employed, utilizing a full-factorial design of experiments (4 × 4 × 4 combinations of hardness, normal load and number of passes). The experimental data were analyzed by response surface methodology (RSM) with a desirability-function approach, and by an artificial neural network (ANN) trained with the standard back-propagation algorithm. The correlation coefficient (R²) of 0.993 demonstrates a strong agreement between the model predictions and the experimental results. The findings establish a validated, transferable quantitative relationship between carbonitriding-induced hardness gradients and adhesive-wear friction behavior, providing a predictive framework that can be extended to other case-hardened low-alloy steels subjected to multi-pass sliding degradation. Full article

To further refine rehabilitation protocols for transverse patellar fractures, this study conducted numerical simulations in Abaqus to investigate the interaction between a nickel–titanium shape-memory-alloy patellar concentrator and fractured patellar bone under variations in patellar loading, quadriceps muscle tension, knee-flexion angle, and fracture-site width. Lower knee-flexion angles primarily generated bending moments in the patellar concentrator, whereas greater flexion angles primarily generated tensile forces. Across the simulated knee-flexion range of 0–150°, the predicted quadriceps muscle force ranged from 240 to 670 N. Based on the simulated mechanical response, under the prescribed modeling assumptions, the 60–90° knee-flexion range showed a comparatively favorable balance between predicted fracture closure and implant loading. Comparison with previously published computational studies showed that the loading and angular conditions examined in this study were within the ranges reported in the literature, while extending the analysis to less frequently studied flexion conditions. However, because direct experimental validation, mesh-convergence testing, and comprehensive sensitivity analysis were not included, these values should be interpreted as model-based estimates requiring further experimental and clinical validation. Full article

For several years, an intense needle disease of Pinus mugo, caused by Lophodermella sulcigena, has been occurring in the Polish Tatra Mountains. These needles are secondarily colonized by a fungus of the genus Hendersonia. Phylogenetic analyses placed the Polish isolates together with North American sequences deposited in GenBank as Hendersonia pinicola. However, a major limitation of this comparison is the current lack of an authentic sequence of H. acicola, a sequence from the holotype of H. pinicola, and adequate morphological documentation for the published accessions. To date, no fungus species with morphological characteristics typical of H. pinicola has been documented in Europe. In the current study, detailed morphological and extended molecular analyses were undertaken on Hendersonia colonizing P. mugo needles in the Tatra Mts. For eight representative in vivo samples and eight in vitro isolates, conidia size was measured, the proportion of conidia was calculated according to the number of transverse septa, and the presence of constrictions at the septa was recorded. The conidia of the analyzed Hendersonia reached a wide range of dimensions from 9–23 × 3–7 (14.6 × 4.9) µm, but the proportion of conidia above 15 µm was sparse. Conidia produced zero to five transverse septa, but conidia with two septa predominated (69.0%). Most conidia showed more or less pronounced constrictions at the septa. The morphological characteristics of this fungus do not provide any basis for its classification as Hendersonia pinicola Wehm. Most morphological characteristics support affiliation Polish isolates to Hendersonia acicola Münch & Tubeuf. The nucleotide sequences for four gene fragments from six representative H. acicola cultures were determined and deposited in GenBank (18S; ITS, 28S rRNA, and TEF1). A preliminary in vitro dual culture assay was used to assess the antagonistic properties of six H. acicola isolates against ten fungal species isolated from P. mugo needles. The most common finding was an inhibition zone between the colonies (81.7% of dual cultures). The dual culture assays indicate antagonistic activity of H. acicola against several needle-associated fungi and justify further testing of its interactions with pine needle pathogens under more natural conditions. Full article

How suspended grains traverse energy-dissipating micro-passages determines whether sediment-laden water can be used without rapid emitter deterioration. A novel cylindrical asteroid-shaped drip emitter was investigated through laboratory anti-clogging tests and two-way coupled computational fluid dynamics–discrete element method (CFD–DEM) simulations. The laboratory tests comprised 20 intermittent irrigation cycles at five pressures ranging from 60 to 140 kPa, with relative discharge used to characterize hydraulic performance. The simulations tracked particle motion, wall collisions, and mass transmission over a 0.20 s observation window to examine the effects of operating pressure, injected particle mass, and flow-path radius. Numerical cases isolated hydraulic forcing and, at 100 kPa, changes in solids dose and cavity radius. Measured discharge retention occupied a narrow 96.45–97.83% interval, whereas the fraction of particulate mass leaving the domain spanned 81.3–92.7%. Despite representing different responses, both indices followed pressure in a closely associated manner (Pearson r = 0.975, p = 0.0046). Stronger forcing extended the high-speed portion of individual trajectories and brought the final wall contacts forward in time, although contact totals did not follow a monotonic sequence. Changing the dose between 1.0 and 2.0 × 10⁻⁶ kg altered the selected upper-speed statistics by only +1.8% and −2.1% but reshaped the contact histories. Expanding the radius from 0.65 to 0.85 mm produced much larger reductions of 28.1% and 91.3%; the latter record then showed sustained near-stagnation with relatively few impacts. Thus, low collision frequency cannot independently demonstrate effective sediment passage. Combining effluent mass balance with trajectory and contact information provides a mechanistic basis for diagnosing retention in irrigation microchannels. Full article

Power transformers are critical assets in complex power grid systems, yet On-Load Tap Changers (OLTCs) account for over 30% of documented outages. This study introduces a Health Index (HI) model for OLTCs that employs a Fuzzy-Logic system to enhance condition-based maintenance (CBM) techniques. This research presents a component-wise, Fuzzy-Logic–based HI evaluation using the Scoring Methodology. The OLTC component is subdivided into six smaller components or contributors. Every contributor is a crucial subsystem whose efficacy is vital to the transformer’s overall reliability. Each contributor is divided into three sub-contributors/values and assessed using a three-tier classification scale (A, B, or C). These values could indicate condition measurements, operational observations, and diagnostic data. Each value is evaluated against reference ranges or boundary values derived from a synthesis of international standards, statistical population studies, and expert knowledge. To verify the precision of the proposed methodology, several defective OLTC cases were evaluated under diverse operational settings. This Fuzzy-Logic (FL) approach seeks to deliver a more accurate and interpretable assessment of OLTC condition than traditional crisp-value methods by integrating expert knowledge, diagnostic metrics, and standards within a structured Fuzzy-Inference framework. The implicit FL model is inherently more attuned to early indicators of deterioration and hidden risk factors that may be underestimated in conventional expert evaluations. Implementation of this intelligent monitoring approach enables early fault diagnosis, extends the transformer’s operational life, and reduces the risk of catastrophic failures and unplanned outages in the electrical power network. Full article

The mooring system is the dominant single point of failure on a floating offshore wind turbine, and inspecting it drives much of its operations and maintenance cost. Data-driven damage classifiers could ease that burden, but they are usually trained and tested on one sea-state distribution, so accuracy drops for the severe conditions that lie outside it. This work presents a domain-adversarial gated recurrent unit (GRU) that identifies eleven mooring conditions from the platform’s six rigid-body motions and transfers, under a semi-supervised protocol, to sea states for which no damage labels are available in training. The conditions span a healthy baseline, single-line and multi-line stiffness loss, non-uniform degradation, and two biofouling severities; all are sub-failure damage cases whose motion signatures are weak and easily confused. The model is trained on operational sea states and tested on unseen extreme storm states (22–26 m/s wind, 8.0–9.5 m significant wave height), simulated in OpenFAST with MoorDyn on the IEA 15 MW UMaine VolturnUS-S platform. A three-phase schedule combining a labeled intermediate near-target domain with adversarial alignment of the training and test feature distributions raises per-simulation macro-F1 across three seeds to 0.87, against 0.29 for a source-only model, 0.47 for the near-target bridge alone and 0.73 for adversarial alignment alone. Neither component reaches this level by itself: alignment supplies the larger share of the gain and the bridge stabilizes it, reducing seed-to-seed variability roughly fourfold. The gain persists under sensor noise up to 20% of the per-channel standard deviation, and a parameter-matched 1D-CNN backbone confirms it is not tied to the recurrent architecture. The setting is semi-supervised, with respect to which target domain labels are available for the source and the intermediate near-target range, while the target sea states contribute unlabeled windows only. Because it requires no labels at the target sea states and only the standard six-degree-of-freedom motion sensors, the method can be extended to the severe, unseen simulated sea states that an asset meets in service; labeled near-target simulations from a calibrated platform model are still required. The present study is a simulation-based feasibility study: all evidence derives from OpenFAST and MoorDyn simulations of a single platform, and validation against tank-test or field measurements remains to be carried out. Full article

This study investigates the effect of a static contact load applied during ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification (UNSM) on WC-12Co coatings deposited by detonation spraying. Surface roughness, surface and cross-sectional microstructure, mechanical properties, and adhesion–cohesion strength were evaluated using contact profilometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), instrumental indentation (ISO 14577-1), and progressive-load scratch testing (ASTM C1624) under static contact loads of P = 10, 20, 30, and 40 N at fixed amplitude, frequency, and travel speed. Among the treated samples, the arithmetic mean roughness decreased monotonically with increasing load—from Ra = 1.468 ± 0.098 μm at 10 N to 1.158 ± 0.244 μm at 40 N (−21%); pairwise differences fell within the margin of error (p ≥ 0.26), but the linear trend with load was significant (p = 0.039). Maximum profile height (Rz) did not depend on load. The asymmetry Rsk remained negative at all loads, reaching its most negative value at 30 N. Quantitative analysis of the cross-sections yielded coating thicknesses of 230 ± 12, 246 ± 9, 40 ± 6, and 82 ± 7 μm for samples processed at 10, 20, 30, and 40 N, respectively; this variation in thickness is taken into account when interpreting the scratch tests. The average Vickers hardness and indentation modulus exceeded the values for the sprayed material at any load; the EIT peaked at 20 N; and the coefficient of friction in the range Fn = 0–30 N decreased by 17% between 10 and 40 N. We determined P = 30 N as the optimal static contact load: it provides the smallest residual scratch depth (5.5 ± 1.8 μm) and the highest cohesive critical load (Lc1 = 50.2 N), whereas 40 N further reduces roughness but decreases Lc1 to 38.3 N. This conclusion is preliminary because coating thickness varies across the series, and at the final scratching load the indenter extends beyond the coating boundaries on the thinnest samples. The results identify a provisional useful load range for this specimen series. Establishing whether the deposition route changes the UNSM processing window requires a controlled comparison with coatings deposited by other methods, together with measurements of residual stress and near-surface microstructure. Full article

Wild Allium L. species are important sources of mineral elements and structurally diverse primary and specialized metabolites, yet comparative information integrating their elemental composition, lipophilic constituents, polar metabolites, and biological activity remains limited. This study compared the chemical diversity of four wild Allium L. taxa—A. atrosanguineum var. fedschenkoanum, A. trachyscordum, A. turkestanicum, and A. suworowii—collected from different environments. Elemental composition was measured by atomic absorption spectrometry in samples collected at naturally occurring phenological stages. Chloroform-soluble metabolites were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, and polar and semi-polar metabolites of bulbs were profiled by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. Membrane-stabilizing activity was evaluated using a hypotonic hemolysis assay. Potassium was the main macroelement, reaching 14,119 mg/kg dry weight in bulbs and 13,176 mg/kg in aerial parts. Magnesium and iron reached 4394 and 2435 mg/kg, respectively. Lead concentrations in bulbs of high-altitude species ranged from 0.75 to 4.47 mg/kg. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry showed differences in n-alkane distributions, with some samples dominated by C₂₂ and others extending to C₃₀, reflecting species, developmental, and environmental variation. LC–MS/MS profiling revealed tentative assignments of diverse organosulfur compounds, amino acid derivatives, flavonoids, and oxygenated fatty-acid derivatives. Among the studied chloroform extracts, A. suworowii showed the highest membrane-stabilizing activity at a 10% concentration (51.20%). The four Allium taxa showed distinct elemental and metabolite profiles, although these differences were not subjected to a common statistical comparison across taxa. These results provide a comparative chemical foundation for future chemotaxonomic studies and for assessing the nutritional and pharmacological potential of wild Allium species. Full article

To investigate the effects of end-plate thickness on the seismic performance and damage evolution of K-shaped eccentrically braced frames with end-plate connections (EPEBFs), two scaled specimens with different end-plate thicknesses were tested under low-cycle reversed loading. The influence of end-plate thickness on mechanical behavior and seismic response was evaluated from failure modes, hysteretic response, skeleton curves, ductility, energy dissipation, and stiffness degradation, together with damage assessment using different models. Refined finite element models were then established for parametric analysis. The results show that EPEBFs exhibit a well-defined plastic development path. Damage in the reference specimen was mainly concentrated in the link and its end-plate connection region, thereby protecting the frame columns, beams, and braces. For the two thicknesses tested, the specimen with thicker end plates showed higher lateral resistance, greater ultimate deformation capacity, and better late-stage resistance retention, but lower displacement ductility, indicating enhanced absolute deformation capacity but reduced post-yield deformation reserve. Thicker end plates also altered stress transfer and plastic development in the connection regions, causing damage to extend toward the frame-beam ends. Among the damage models considered, the elastic–plastic energy dissipation ratio model better captured the accumulation of energy dissipation and plastic deformation. The finite element results agreed well with the tests. Within the investigated range, increasing end-plate thickness mainly improved ultimate deformation capacity and late-stage resistance retention, without a clear monotonic effect on lateral resistance. The findings provide a basis for prefabricated design, damage control, and post-earthquake replacement and repair of EPEBFs. Full article

The paper presents a low-cost agricultural monitoring platform based on embedded IoT sensing, LoRa mesh communication, and an Edge–Fog–Cloud architecture designed for real-time environmental monitoring in smart agriculture applications. The proposed system integrates distributed sensor nodes built around the Heltec Mesh Node T114 platform, combining an nRF52840 microcontroller with an SX1262 LoRa transceiver to support low-power, long-range communication in agricultural environments. Environmental data acquisition is performed using integrated BME280 temperature, humidity, and pressure sensors, capacitive soil moisture sensors, and TEMT6000 light sensors. A custom firmware architecture extending the Meshtastic framework was developed to support sensor integration, telemetry generation, packet forwarding, and energy-aware scheduling within the LoRa mesh network. The platform combines embedded telemetry modules, intermediate routing mechanisms, and cloud-based microservices responsible for data aggregation and processing. Experimental results showed stable radio-link conditions in the tested node-to-router configuration, with RSSI values around −55 dBm and SNR values of approximately 6–7 dB. Channel utilization varied between approximately 4% and 12%, while transmission airtime utilization remained below 5%. These results support the feasibility of the proposed sensing, communication, and data-processing architecture under the tested configuration. The architecture is designed to accommodate additional sensing and routing nodes, while multi-hop performance, long-term energy consumption, and network scalability remain to be evaluated in larger deployments. Full article

Non-contact diffuse reflectance to below-surface absorption disguised by a thick superficial layer is challenging to instrument and model. We develop a semi-empirical “capsule” model of non-contact diffuse reflectance, configured as center-illuminated-area-detection (CIAD), to model below-surface absorption. The “capsule” approach extends a principle of modeling the effect of a thin (<1 mm) top layer on radially resolved diffuse reflectance for contact probing to the effect of a thick (1~3 mm) surface layer on radially integrated CIAD diffuse reflectance for non-contact probing. The model treats diffuse reflectance of CIAD from a two-layer medium by weighing between two limiting cases of monolayer taking either the top or bottom of the two-layer properties. The semi-empirical model of CIAD diffuse reflectance over an area of a radius of ≤15 mm responding to variation of single inter-layer contrast is examined against Monte Carlo simulations of two-layer media with a 1–3 mm top layer, three orders of magnitude change in absorption, and two orders of magnitude change in reduced scattering. Compared to MC simulations, the modeled CIAD diffuse reflectance of the two layers gives total ensemble errors of up to 18.6% and 12.2% over the range of a single inter-layer contrast of absorption and reduced scattering, respectively. The results provide insights into the challenges of using CIAD diffuse reflectance to assess spectral absorption of the below-surface layer, which will be examined experimentally in a subsequent paper. Full article

This study presents a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) conducted to evaluate the environmental performance of a Free-Piston Linear Generator (FPLG) compared to conventional internal combustion engines in two applications: automotive range extenders and stationary generator sets. A cradle-to-grave approach was adopted, covering production, use, and end-of-life phases, with consistent modelling of engine materials, fuel supply chains (gasoline, diesel, hydrogen), and mission profiles. The FPLG, modelled based on key components (e.g., stator, magnets, coils), was evaluated under multiple hydrogen-production pathways, including steam methane reforming, wind- and photovoltaic-powered electrolysis, nuclear-based hydrogen production, and coal gasification. Conventional engine baselines were assessed using gasoline, diesel, and hydrogen pathways. Results highlight that environmental impacts are strongly driven by the fuel supply chain, particularly the Well-to-Tank phase. When hydrogen is produced through wind-powered electrolysis, the FPLG achieves over 90% reduction in fossil fuel consumption and more than 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to gasoline. With hydrogen produced through steam methane reforming, benefits are limited in automotive applications but remain significant for stationary systems (>20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions). However, hydrogen produced through wind-powered electrolysis increases impacts in categories such as resource use and toxicity due to materials and infrastructure required for wind farms and electrolyzers. The extended pathway analysis further showed that nuclear-based hydrogen achieved the lowest global warming potential among the investigated hydrogen scenarios, whereas coal gasification produced the highest climate-change impacts. These results confirm that the environmental performance of hydrogen-fuelled FPLG systems depends strongly on the upstream hydrogen-production pathway. Full article

Background: Medical laboratories may use examination procedures outside their originally intended scope, including a new specimen matrix, an extended measurement range, a different reagent–instrument combination, or a modified decision rule. These changes require a controlled transition before routine use. Objective: This concept paper proposes a stage-gated framework for transitioning a laboratory examination beyond its originally intended scope. Digital microscopy of vaginal suspensions for binary classification of Trichomonas vaginalis infection and Candida albicans-associated vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is used only as an illustrative case. Methods: The framework was informed by Regulation (EU) 2017/746, MDCG guidance, ISO 15189, CLSI EP12, and secondary diagnostic literature. No patient specimens, digital images, instrument-generated results, hardware changes, or software modifications were used. Literature-derived sensitivity and specificity ranges were modeled with bounded triangular distributions using 100,000 Monte Carlo iterations in NCSS 2026 (64 bit), version 26.0.5. Results are reported as scenario intervals, not as confidence intervals or estimates of an actual device. Results: The framework comprises six gates: change classification, intended-purpose definition, technical feasibility, performance and risk evidence, implementation decision, and controlled use with monitoring. In the illustrative scenarios, median sensitivity/specificity were 56.7%/96.5% for T. vaginalis and 50.3%/94.5% for C. albicans-associated VVC. Predictive values changed materially across prevalence scenarios, demonstrating why validation criteria must be linked to the intended-use population. Conclusions: The proposed framework supports planning, governance, and transparent separation of secondary-scenario modeling from empirical performance assessment. Prospective analytical and clinical validation with real specimens remains mandatory before implementation. Full article

Background: In vitro skin models are widely used in dermal and transdermal drug development, yet their pharmacokinetic interpretation often remains endpoint-dependent and does not fully capture cutaneous disposition, including partitioning, local metabolism, or clearance-like removal. This review evaluates the utility of these models through a comprehensive pharmacokinetic process framework. Methods: Using a structured literature search, we critically compared data from studies utilizing a range of in vitro skin models, including synthetic membranes, ex vivo human skin, reconstructed human epidermis, full-thickness equivalents, and advanced bioprinted or microfluidic platforms. The assessment focused on model performance across the key processes of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination. Results: Our analysis reveals that alternative barriers exhibit no uniform direction of bias relative to human skin; model rank order varies with compound, formulation, and dose, so that the available evidence does not currently support a single universal scaling relationship, although calibration within a defined applicability domain may remain possible. Synthetic membranes provide reproducible platforms for formulation ranking but lack biological retention and metabolism. Ex vivo human skin remains the closest reference for permeation and mass balance, though donor variability and storage sensitivity limit standardization. Reconstructed epidermis supports standardized permeation and epidermal targeting, while full-thickness equivalents permit dermal retention analysis. Advanced perfused constructs extend experimental capabilities, but their predictive performance remains largely uncharacterized. Conclusions: No single model universally replicates human pharmacokinetics. Model selection must therefore be carefully aligned with the specific pharmacokinetic process of interest, the model’s biological capacity, and the intended context of use to ensure clinically relevant data interpretation. Full article