Search Results (1,796)

SUMOylation is a rapid and dynamic process that orchestrates the switch between complex assembly and disassembly and between protein stabilization and turnover, making it particularly suitable for regulating stress responses. While proteomic methodologies exist for analyzing SUMOylated proteins under stress conditions, methods/tools for visualizing polySUMOylation dynamics have not been established. Here, we develop a polySUMOylation tracking tool by fluorescently labeling the polySIM domains derived from RNF4, which can reliably track polySUMO location and relate polySUMOylation levels to puncta number and intensity under various stress conditions, such as serum starvation, oxidative stress, and genotoxic stress. Furthermore, we extend its utility for tracking polySUMOylation across multiple cellular contexts in both control and stressed states. Collectively, this tracking tool enables deeper investigation of polySUMOylation dynamics and advances our understanding of how polySUMOylation regulates cellular processes in stress responses and disease pathogenesis. Full article

Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly used in public speaking training, yet the distinct roles of environmental context and virtual audience design remain unclear. This study examines how avatar visual style (realistic vs. stylized) and scene type (natural vs. indoor) influence subjective experience and physiological stress. A total of 132 participants were assigned to a 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment. Subjective experience was assessed using standardized questionnaires, while physiological responses were measured via electrodermal activity and heart rate variability, complemented by post-experiment interviews. Results revealed a dissociation between subjective and physiological responses. Natural environments significantly enhanced user satisfaction and overall experience, whereas avatar style primarily influenced physiological stress. Specifically, stylized avatars elicited lower electrodermal activity than realistic avatars, indicating reduced sympathetic arousal. No significant interaction effects were observed. Mediation analyses showed no significant roles of perceived support or threat, suggesting that physiological responses may not rely on explicit cognitive appraisal. Qualitative findings further indicated that ambiguous audience feedback limited evaluative interpretation. These findings support a dual-pathway framework in which environmental context shapes cognitive–affective experience, whereas avatar realism modulates implicit physiological stress. This study provides theoretical insights and practical implications for designing VR systems that enhance user comfort and reduce stress. Full article

Background/objectives: Alpha-synuclein (aSyn) is best known for its role in Parkinson’s disease. Increasing evidence suggests a bidirectional relationship between diabetes mellitus and synuclein pathology. Carboxymethyllysine (CML), an advanced glycation end-product, serves as a marker of cumulative glycation stress and tissue damage in diabetes. Our study aimed to evaluate epidermal phosphorylated alpha-synuclein at Ser129 (p-aSyn) immunoreactivity in relation to CML accumulation in epidermis. Methods: Skin punch biopsies were obtained from seven diabetic patients with long-standing type 2 diabetes (T2DM), and from seven healthy volunteers. Tissue samples were processed and analyzed by immunohistochemical DAB-staining for p-aSyn and CML. Quantitative analysis was performed by measuring the percentage area of positive staining using Fiji/ImageJ2. Integrated density was also assessed as a complementary threshold-limited measure of staining signal intensity. Statistical analysis and data visualization were conducted using GraphPad Prism. Comparisons between groups were performed using the exact two-tailed Mann–Whitney U test. Results: Area-fraction analysis showed significantly greater CML-positive staining in diabetic epidermis than in controls (median 10.18 vs. 8.955, p = 0.0262), whereas p-aSyn-positive area fraction did not differ significantly between groups (13.53 vs. 14.64, p = 0.8048). In the complementary integrated density analysis, p-aSyn signal was significantly higher in diabetic epidermis than in controls (21,365 vs. 10,960, p = 0.0023), whereas the increase in CML integrated density did not reach statistical significance (14,165 vs. 6585, p = 0.1282). In diabetic epidermis, both markers showed a more widespread distribution, involving basal keratinocyte cytoplasm and extension into suprabasal layers. Control samples showed staining largely restricted to basal cell contours. In serial sections, p-aSyn and CML showed a similar topographic distribution in diabetic skin. Conclusions: These preliminary observations suggest that chronic diabetic skin changes are associated with increased epidermal CML burden when assessed by area fraction and with higher p-aSyn signal intensity when assessed by integrated density. However, because the study was small and based on semiquantitative DAB immunohistochemistry, the findings should be interpreted cautiously and require validation in larger multimodal studies. Full article

Geothermal energy extraction, hydrocarbon recovery, and CO₂ geological sequestration are frequently hindered by interfacial barriers and slow mass transfer. While high-power ultrasound offers a sustainable, purely physical method for reservoir stimulation, its field effectiveness remains debated because traditional macroscopic experiments fail to isolate mechanisms like acoustic streaming and cavitation. This review systematically examines acoustic mechanisms in porous media via microfluidic visualization, focusing on pore-scale fluid dynamics during enhanced oil recovery, hydrate dissociation, and CO₂ sequestration. Microscopic evidence reveals that fluid transport mechanisms depend heavily on pore geometry and local acoustic intensity. In wider channels, nonlinear acoustic flow provides sustained, directed convection to strip away concentration boundary layers; in narrow throats, microjets and pulsed stresses generated by transient cavitation are responsible for physically breaking capillary barriers. The spatiotemporal synergy of these mechanisms is critical for multiphase fluid transport in tight porous networks. Pore geometry serves not only as the application context but also as a core physical variable. To translate microfluidic results into reservoir-scale applications, future research must address two-dimensional simplifications, thermodynamic discrepancies under high-temperature and high-pressure conditions, and bubble cluster interactions, alongside the development of adaptive frequency-modulated control and multiscale computational models. Full article

Freeze–thaw cycles lead to undesirable gelation in egg yolk, which negatively affects its functional properties, restricting its application in the food industry. This study aimed to investigate whether enzymatic treatment can prevent the freeze-induced gelation of egg yolk, thereby maintaining its desirable quality attributes. Egg yolk samples were treated with an enzyme preparation (Biocatalysts Flavorpro™ 750MDP) at concentrations of 0.05, 0.3, and 0.5 w/w%, homogenized, and incubated at 40 °C for 120 min, followed by rapid cooling and freezing at −24 ± 1 °C for 60 d. Control samples without enzyme treatment were subjected to the same processing steps as the other samples. After thawing, all samples were analyzed for pH, color, rheological and thermophysical properties, turbidity and visual appearance. The results demonstrated that although enzymatic treatment and its combination with freezing significantly altered color, turbidity, rheological and thermophysical properties of egg yolk, it effectively inhibited freezing-induced gel formation, particularly at 0.3 w/w%. The parameters characterizing rheological behavior—yield stress, consistency coefficient, and flow behavior index—were preserved close to those of fresh yolk after the freeze–thaw process. These findings suggest that exopeptidase treatment is a promising approach for controlling freeze–thaw-induced gelation in egg yolk, supporting its wider use in frozen and processed egg products. Full article

Consumer demand for sustainable solutions to protect against hair damage is growing, yet quantitative studies linking molecular interactions to mechanical strengthening and structural changes remain limited. Here, we investigated the effectiveness of biotechnologically obtained Saccharomyces Lysate as a formulated active ingredient for hair care. Molecular modeling was used to explore the interactions between peptides in the lysate and keratin and suggested a network of intermolecular interactions at multiple sites on the proteins. Based on these observations, the strength and structural integrity of hair fibers treated with Saccharomyces Lysate were assessed using tensile measurements. We observed an improvement in the strength of bleached hair tresses, with an increased Young’s modulus compared to tresses treated only with water along with a significantly increased break stress. To visualize the hair fibers and their surface roughness after treatment with the lysate, we employed micro-computed tomography (µ-CT) offering high-resolution visualization of hair fibers. We introduce this method to qualitatively highlight surface appearance following application of a cosmetic product and complemented it with combing force measurements. Our results demonstrate the potential of this complex mixture of small peptides to strengthen hair integrity and we propose a hypothesis for its putative mode of action at the molecular level. Full article

To address the challenge of real-time and global monitoring of the structural stress state of large port gantry cranes in complex working environments, this paper proposes a digital twin system framework covering the physical layer, data layer, model layer, and application layer, utilizing a container gantry crane as the case study. A multi-dimensional working condition space covering key working condition parameters such as lifting load and trolley position is designed, and a stress surrogate model based on the Radial Basis Function (RBF) neural network is constructed. This realizes a rapid mapping from low-dimensional operating parameters to high-dimensional full-field stress distributions. The surrogate model is integrated into the visualization platform, achieving real-time dynamic rendering and threshold exceedance warning of the stress of the key structures of the crane. The results show that the constructed surrogate model ensures the prediction accuracy (R² > 0.94) and achieves millisecond-level calculation response, demonstrating good real-time performance and reliability. It provides a reference for the digital monitoring of large-scale equipment. Full article

This paper investigates whether a low-code workflow engine can operate as practical Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) middleware at the edge when cloud application programming interface (API) rate limits make direct telemetry upload unsustainable. The main contribution is a dual-path architecture in which a Hot Path persists all telemetry locally, while a Cold Path selectively forwards only anomalous or summary events to cloud services. The architecture is implemented as a lightweight containerized stack based on n8n, Eclipse Mosquitto, InfluxDB, and Grafana, and evaluated on a Raspberry Pi 4 under baseline, cloud-only saturation, and edge-filtered stress scenarios. Under the cloud-only condition, the external endpoint is throttled to approximately 60 requests/min, yielding a rejection rate of 98.0% (95% Wilson confidence interval: 97.43–98.44%). Under the dual-path condition, the same inbound load is fully retained locally while outbound cloud traffic is reduced by 98.0%, thereby avoiding throttling without sacrificing edge-side data fidelity. The measured Hot Path processing latency remains around 5 ms on average, with observed peaks below 10 ms, which is compatible with soft real-time monitoring workloads. Compared with more established low-code tools such as Node-RED, the novelty of the study is not the existence of visual orchestration itself, but the combination of containerized deployment, explicit hot/cold decoupling, and an empirical rate-limit mitigation analysis focused on low-cost edge hardware. Full article

Omega-6 polyunsaturated fats (ω-6 PUFAs) are vital for many physiological functions, but their impact on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk is controversial. Eryptosis alters blood viscosity by providing a procoagulant surface and leads to anemia, which is a recognized risk factor for CVD. This study examines the toxic mechanisms of adrenic acid (ADR), an ω-6 PUFA enriched in inflammatory and oxidative conditions, in red blood cells (RBCs). Purified RBCs were prepared from healthy volunteers and treated with 10–100 μM of ADR for 24 h at 37 °C under various physiological conditions. Eryptotic markers were studied through flow cytometry including Ca²⁺ (Fluo4/AM), loss of volume (forward scatter), phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure (annexin-V-FITC), and oxidative stress (H₂DCFDA). Moreover, hemolytic markers were measured by colorimetric methods, whereas cellular morphology was visualized using a scanning electron microscope. ADR led to significant Ca²⁺ elevation, cell shrinkage and schistocyte formation, PS externalization, hemolysis, and oxidative stress. While guanosine, heparin, and NSC 23766 prevented eryptosis and hemolysis, melatonin, ATP, adenine, and L-NAME only prevented eryptosis. Conversely, mannitol and urea exacerbated eryptosis, whereas caffeine, mannitol, and urea under Ca²⁺ deprivation and membrane potential dissipation aggravated hemolysis. ADR induces erythrocyte membrane injury and eryptosis through Ca²⁺ elevation, oxidative stress, and metabolic exhaustion subject to inhibition by the Rac1 GTPase/NOS/COX pathway. Altogether, these findings present a novel mechanistic link between lipid dysregulation and RBC dysfunction which may improve dietary strategies to prevent and manage CVD. Full article

This study numerically investigates the aerodynamic and thermal interactions between a full-scale metro train and the surrounding airflow within a confined tunnel environment using steady-state Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulations. The six-car train, with a total length of 108 m and a cross-sectional area of 5.97 m², operates in a tunnel with a 9.83 square meter cross-section, resulting in a high blockage ratio of approximately 60 percent. The Shear Stress Transport (SST) k–ω turbulence model and a high-resolution finite-volume mesh comprising over 8.5 million elements were employed to capture detailed near-wall phenomena. Six representative motion scenarios were analyzed, including early acceleration, peak cruising, and deceleration phases, with realistic thermal boundary conditions applied by assigning the tunnel air temperature as 29.2 °C and the train surface temperature as 35.0 °C. Velocity, pressure, temperature, and turbulence kinetic energy distributions were extracted from both longitudinal and cross-sectional planes. In addition to visual contour assessments, pointwise and spatially averaged field data were examined to quantify the development of airflow structures, pressure distribution, and thermal behavior. The results reveal speed-dependent aerodynamic resistance, pronounced recirculation and stagnation zones around the train nose and tail, and variations in convective heat transfer rates that evolve with train velocity. These findings provide insights into tunnel ventilation design and thermal management for underground metro operations, representing a novel integration of full-scale computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with thermal characterization under realistic conditions. Full article

Background/Objective: Myocardial fibrosis (MF) is a prevalent pathological endpoint in various heart diseases, characterized by extracellular matrix (ECM) dysregulation and oxidative stress. Hyperoside (Hyp) plays a role in regulating cardiac oxidative stress and fibrosis. This study aimed to elucidate whether Hyp regulates isoproterenol (ISO)-induced MF in mice by modulating the GATA4/HIF-1α signaling pathway and reducing oxidative stress. Methods: The binding affinity of Hyp to GATA4 and HIF-1α was assessed through molecular docking and dynamics simulation. The MF model of mice was established by subcutaneous injection of ISO. Cardiac function was measured by echocardiography. Myocardial injury and collagen deposition were examined using H&E and Sirius red staining. Levels of fibrosis markers, oxidative stress indicators, and GATA4/HIF-1α pathway indicators in serum and heart tissue were quantified by ELISA, Western blot, RT-qPCR and flow cytometry. The distribution of myocardial marker proteins was visualized by immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry. Results: Molecular docking revealed high binding affinity of Hyp to GATA4 and HIF-1α (binding energies < −5.0 kcal·mol⁻¹), and dynamics simulation showed that the complex’s structure remained stable over 100 nanoseconds (RMSD < 0.1 nm). High-dose Hyp (36 mg/kg) significantly improved cardiac function, myocardial injury, collagen deposition, and inflammatory infiltration in MF mice. Molecularly, Hyp effectively reduces oxidative stress and fibrosis through upregulating GATA4 and downregulating HIF-1α. Conclusions: Hyp suppresses oxidative stress by activating the GATA4/HIF-1α pathway, presenting a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of MF. Full article

Recreational (“party”) drug use is prevalent in social environments and is increasingly relevant in ophthalmic care. While the neurological and cardiovascular consequences of these subokstances are well documented, their ocular and visual effects may not be fully recognized or consistently reported in clinical practice. This invited narrative review summarizes clinical observations and translational mechanisms underlying ophthalmic manifestations associated with commonly used recreational substances, including sympathomimetic stimulants (cocaine, amphetamines), empathogens (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), inhalants (alkyl nitrites, “poppers”), and cannabinoids (cannabis/Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)). Particular focus is placed on vascular dysregulation, altered ocular perfusion pressure, venous outflow impairment, oxidative stress, and neuro-ophthalmic dysfunction. Characteristic presentations, diagnostic pitfalls, and management considerations are discussed. Improved awareness of drug-related ocular effects may facilitate earlier recognition of such conditions and help reduce the risk of visual complications. Other recreational substances, including hallucinogens and emerging psychoactive compounds, may also have ocular effects, although current evidence remains limited. Full article

Accurate assessment of cumulative fatigue damage in container gantry cranes under long-term cyclic loading is hindered by the inability of traditional single-model methods to capture real-time structural conditions. This paper proposes a digital twin-driven framework that fuses multi-source data for dynamic fatigue life prediction. The framework’s core is an improved Extended Hyper-Heuristic Neural Network (EHH-NN), which incorporates regularization optimization, a split node structure, and ANOVA-based function decomposition to model complex stress responses under limited training data. The improved model achieves a goodness of fit (R²) of 0.942 and a mean relative error of 4.4%, outperforming standard BP and LSTM models while maintaining a prediction time of 42 ms. A closed-loop correction mechanism driven by measured stress feedback is designed to dynamically adjust model outputs, and a prototype system integrating PLC-based data acquisition with Unity3D 2022.3 visualization is developed to demonstrate engineering applicability. Full article

Background: Digital learning platforms increasingly leverage semantic web technologies to support interoperable and adaptive e-learning. However, the usability and cognitive impact of web-based authoring tools are still mainly assessed through subjective questionnaires and interaction logs, which provide limited time resolution and weak diagnostic power for identifying specific interface bottlenecks. Methods: We propose a multimodal evaluation of SOULSS, a semantic web-oriented platform for creating and optimizing digital learning contents. Eighteen participants completed an authoring workflow organized into three macro-segments (tutorial, initialization, module creation) while wearable electroencephalography, electrodermal activity, photoplethysmography, and eye tracking were recorded; objective metrics were analyzed both across macro-segments and within predefined micro-activities, whereas subjective engagement was collected after each macro-segment using the UES-SF. Results: Objective measures indicated increased EEG-derived mental workload and stress, higher tonic sympathetic arousal, and greater visual search and interaction effort during initialization and module creation, while UES-SF scores were lower during initialization. Fine-grained analyses localized critical elements to tutorial navigation options, the new course entry point, and spoiler-related controls. Repeated-measures correlations linked subjective scores with objective markers and supported an association between stress-related activation and delayed visual discovery. Conclusions: Integrating neurophysiological and eye tracking measures enables a more diagnostic assessment of semantic web-based authoring platforms than questionnaires alone, providing actionable evidence for iterative UX optimization and supporting a more user-centred design of digital educational tools. Full article

Hemodynamic analysis of blood flow is critical for diagnosing cardiovascular diseases and investigating cardiovascular parameters, such as aneurysms and wall shear stress. For subject-specific analyses, the anatomy and blood flow of the subject can be captured non-invasively using structural and 4D Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), respectively. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD), on the other hand, can be used to generate blood flow simulations. To generate and analyze subject-specific blood flow simulations, MRI and CFD have to be brought together. We present an interactive, customizable, and user-oriented visual analysis tool that integrates measured data and CFD simulations. Thus, our open-source tool supports both medical and numerical analysis workflows. It enables the creation of simulation ensembles with a high variety of parameters. Furthermore, it allows for visual and analytical examination of simulations and measurements through 2D embeddings. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our tool, we applied it to three real-world use cases, showcasing its ability to configure simulation ensembles and analyze blood flow. We evaluated our example cases together with MRI and CFD experts. By combining the strengths of both CFD and MRI, our tool provides a comprehensive understanding of hemodynamic parameters, facilitating accurate analysis of hemodynamic biomarkers. Full article