Search Results (648)

The use of cytostatic drugs for cancer treatment is currently the main weapon in the fight against cancer; however, prolonged exposure of healthcare personnel can cause adverse toxic effects. Objective: To determine the genotoxicity caused by exposure to cytostatic drugs, using the comet assay, in workers in the oncology department of a tertiary hospital in northern Peru. Methodology: Descriptive, quantitative, correlational, and cross-sectional study. The population consisted of two groups of workers: exposed (n = 40) and unexposed (n = 40). The alkaline lysis comet DNA technique was used on peripheral blood cells; tailing moment and tailing percentage indicators were evaluated. Results: Using nonparametric tests, the percentage and tail moment showed no significant differences, with p values of 0.8928 and 0.4675, respectively. The distribution observed in the group exposed to cytostatic drugs (pharmacists and pharmacy technicians) compared to the control group showed a normal distribution, with a tail moment of 8.29 vs. 3.03 and a percentage of tail of 37.12 vs. 23.24, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that the tail moment variable was 11.56% greater in the group of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians (p = 0.0119) compared to the other participants. Conclusions: Although no significant difference was found, a trend toward a higher percentage and tail moment was observed in the group exposed to cytostatic drugs. Furthermore, the group of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, compared to the other professions, showed significantly greater damage. Full article

This data descriptor provides a standardized and reproducible subsystem-level representation of the NREL wind turbine gearbox condition monitoring benchmarking dataset. The released records are derived from Healthy (H1–H10) and Damaged (D1–D10) measurement files and include subsystem-level standardized indices (KHI_HS, KHI_IMS, KHI_PL) together with a calibrated 0–1 Gearbox Health Index (GHI). The indices are generated using a fully specified and deterministic feature extraction and aggregation workflow based on established vibration indicators and healthy-referenced normalization. The Zenodo deposit contains machine-readable CSV tables intended to support transparent benchmarking across supervised classification and anomaly detection studies. The proposed GHI is introduced as an interpretable and reproducible reference baseline rather than an optimized diagnostic model. Technical validation demonstrates condition-level separability within the analyzed dataset while emphasizing the descriptive nature of the index. By releasing structured derived records and a documented regeneration procedure, this work enables an implementation-independent comparison of gearbox condition monitoring approaches and supports reproducible evaluation of alternative health index formulations. Full article

Oxidative stress is no longer viewed as a random imbalance between reactive oxygen species and antioxidants, but as a failure of an integrated redox network that connects metabolism, immunity, and metal homeostasis. Classical markers such as malondialdehyde and 4-hydroxynonenal define oxidative damage, yet they cannot explain how redox adaptation occurs or fails. Over the past decade, the discovery of regulated cell-death pathways (ferroptosis, cuproptosis) and emerging metabolic signals has revealed a new generation of adaptive redox mediators—including itaconate, nitro-fatty acids, reactive sulfur species and succinate—that act as electrophilic or persulfidating regulators rather than passive by-products of oxidation. This review integrates mechanistic, biochemical and clinical evidence to define how these mediators remodel the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2/Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1, nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells, and hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha axes, coordinate lipid–metal–sulfur cross-talk, and shape vulnerability or resistance to ferroptosis and cuproptosis. By combining deep molecular research with translational perspectives, we propose a unifying framework for predictive redox medicine based on composite biomarker panels and AI-assisted phenotyping. Understanding and quantifying these next-generation mediators will open new avenues for precision nutrition, drug development, and disease prevention—transforming oxidative-stress biology from a descriptive field into an actionable platform for human health. Full article

Repeated impact loading can induce progressive fatigue delamination in composite laminates, in which both damage accumulation and strain-rate sensitivity of the interlaminar interface play important roles. In this work, an adopted rate-dependent fatigue cohesive formulation is extended to a three-dimensional framework for simulating interlaminar delamination in composite laminates subjected to repeated impact. The constitutive formulation incorporates separation-rate-dependent critical tractions and fracture toughness together with cumulative fatigue damage, enabling a unified description of dynamic rate effects and progressive interface degradation. A time-incremental algorithm is developed and implemented in ABAQUS 2020/Explicit through a user-defined cohesive element subroutine (VUEL). The cohesive formulation is further coupled with the Hashin intralaminar failure criterion to represent the interaction between interlaminar delamination and intralaminar damage. Numerical simulations are conducted for composite laminates with three structural configurations—conventional, drop-off, and wrapped drop-off—to systematically examine the influence of rate dependence on fatigue delamination under repeated impact. The results show that the developed framework captures the progressive evolution of delamination and impact response under repeated impact and indicate that the sensitivity to rate-dependent interlayer properties depends on both laminate configuration and impact velocity. The present study provides a feasible computational framework for the comparative simulation and assessment of fatigue delamination under repeated impact and offers numerical insight into the role of structural configuration and interfacial rate dependence in composite laminates. Full article

Background: Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRB), including compulsive skin picking, are observed in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). However, their functional significance remains unclear. AN is characterized by chronic energy restriction and altered interoceptive processing, which may contribute to persistent internal tension beyond overt eating symptoms. This study aimed to explore the functional meaning of compulsive skin picking as a potential behavioral marker of emotional and interoceptive dysregulation relevant to clinical assessment and treatment planning. Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted among 33 hospitalized patients with AN who reported recurrent skin picking leading to tissue damage. Patients were undergoing structured nutritional rehabilitation. Individual semi-structured interviews were performed. Results: Patients with AN described a consistent emotional and physiological sequence preceding skin picking: increased internal tension followed by short-term relief and subsequent self-directed negative emotions. Episodes occurred in contexts of emotional overload, understimulation, reduced emotional awareness, and, in some cases, hunger- or meal-related stress. Participants described the behavior as partly intentional, serving to reduce tension, but at times occurring almost automatically. It was closely connected with eating-related anxiety and dissatisfaction with the body. Conclusions: The findings indicate that compulsive skin picking in AN may reflect underlying emotional and interoceptive instability, instead of being an unrelated co-occurring symptom. In the broader context of chronic energy restriction, such behaviors may reflect attempts to modulate internally generated physiological arousal. Incorporating routine assessment of BFRB into clinical practice could improve the identification of ongoing emotional instability and support more coordinated multidisciplinary care. Future studies combining qualitative insights with physiological measures would help clarify the mechanisms underlying this association. Full article

Offshore pipeline systems associated with floating platforms operate under complex environmental and operational conditions that significantly influence their structural integrity and inspection requirements. Limited accessibility, harsh marine environments, and time-dependent degradation mechanisms require inspection planning to be supported by structured decision-making frameworks capable of explicitly accounting for both degradation processes and failure consequences. In this study, a Risk-Based Inspection (RBI)-driven integrity assessment is applied to three carbon steel pipeline systems associated with a SPAR offshore platform. The analysis integrates system description, identification of dominant damage mechanisms, and RBI quantification to evaluate probability of failure and consequence-related risk under offshore operating conditions. Internal corrosion is identified as the dominant long-term degradation mechanism for all analyzed pipelines, while external corrosion governs short-term inspection interval definition due to its higher growth rate and sensitivity to insulation characteristics and environmental exposure. Although all pipelines are classified within the same overall qualitative risk category, significant differences in failure probability, risk intensity, and consequence-driven risk behavior are observed, reflecting variations in system configuration, insulation systems, length, and functional role within the offshore production infrastructure. To enable meaningful comparison between pipeline systems of significantly different total lengths, normalized risk indicators per unit length are introduced. These indicators provide additional insight into local risk intensity and spatial risk distribution that are not evident from absolute risk values alone. The results highlight the importance of treating risk as a dynamic quantity rather than a static classification and demonstrate that RBI-based assessment supported by normalized risk metrics can enhance inspection prioritization and maintenance decision-making for SPAR-associated offshore pipeline systems. Full article

Background: Calcaneal fractures are complex injuries frequently associated with significant soft tissue damage and a high risk of post-operative complications, particularly infection. Despite advances in surgical techniques, infectious complications remain a major cause of morbidity and can severely compromise functional outcomes. The aim of this systematic review was to analyze the incidence, management strategies, and clinical impact of infectious complications following surgical treatment of calcaneal fractures. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science in accordance with PRISMA guidelines, including studies published up to May 2025. Randomized controlled trials and prospective and retrospective cohort studies involving adult patients surgically treated for calcaneal fractures and reporting post-operative infectious outcomes were included. Data extraction focused on patient demographics, fracture characteristics, surgical techniques, infection rates, microbiological findings, management strategies, complications, and functional outcomes. Methodological quality and risk of bias were assessed using the MINORS score. Due to substantial heterogeneity, results were synthesized descriptively. Results: Forty studies met the inclusion criteria, encompassing 5343 patients and 4638 surgically treated calcaneal fractures. Displaced intra-articular fractures predominated, with Sanders type II and III accounting for 79.8% of classified fractures, while Sanders type IV fractures represented 20.2% and were associated with higher complication rates. The overall post-operative infection rate was 9.4%, including 6.3% superficial surgical site infections and 3.0% deep infections. Open fractures accounted for 7.5% of reported cases and demonstrated markedly higher infection rates than closed injuries. Deep infections frequently required implant removal (62%), prolonged intravenous antibiotic therapy (100%), and additional surgical procedures (71%). Staphylococcus aureus, including methicillin-resistant strains, was the most commonly isolated pathogen. Functional outcomes were consistently worse in patients who developed infections. Conclusions: Infectious complications remain a clinically significant problem following surgical treatment of calcaneal fractures, particularly in severe fracture patterns, open injuries, and patients with relevant comorbidities. Deep infections are associated with substantial morbidity and inferior functional outcomes. Optimization of patient-related risk factors, careful surgical planning, and the selective use of minimally invasive approaches may help reduce infection risk. Further high-quality prospective studies with standardized outcome measures are needed to define optimal management strategies. Full article

As one of the world’s leading cotton-producing countries, China frequently experiences severe yield reductions due to crop diseases and pest infestations, with losses often exceeding 20%. Although computer vision models can identify diseased plants, they currently fail to connect visual symptoms to the diagnostic reasoning process used by agronomists. This leads to text descriptions that ignore the biological causes of the damage. To fix this, we built Multimodal Knowledge Graph-Enhanced Cross Vision Transformer-18-Dagger-408 and Text-to-Text Transfer Transformer for Cotton Disease and Pest Image Captioning (MKG-CottonCapT6), a model that uses a local knowledge database to generate professional diagnostic reports from field images. The technical core consists of a Multimodal Knowledge Graph (MMKG) containing 14 types of entities (such as Pathogens and Control Agents) and 12 types of relations. We use a Cross Vision-Transformer-18-Dagger-408 (CrossViT) encoder to capture both the overall leaf shape and microscopic details of pests. Through a Visual Entity Grounding (VEG) module, the model maps visual features directly to specific triplets in the graph. These triplets are then turned into text sequences and fused with image data in a Text-to-Text-Transfer-Transformer (T5) decoder. To train the model, we collected a dataset of cotton images paired with expert descriptions of lesions, colors, and affected plant parts. Tests show that MKG-CottonCapT6 performs better than standard models, reaching an Information-based Metric for Image Captioning (InfoMetIC) score of 72.6%. Results prove that by using a specific alignment loss (${\mathcal{L}}_{align}$), the model generates reports that correctly name the disease stage and recommend specific chemicals, such as Carbendazim or Triadimefon. This framework provides a practical tool for farmers to record and treat cotton diseases with high precision. Full article

Background: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of vision loss worldwide. Microvascular changes precede clinically detectable DR, creating an opportunity for early diagnosis and intervention. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) enables noninvasive, quantitative assessments of retinal and choroidal microcirculation and has emerged as a promising tool for identifying early biomarkers of DR. The goal of this study was to review the literature on OCTA-derived biomarkers associated with preclinical diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: This descriptive literature review summarizes current evidence regarding OCTA-derived biomarkers associated with preclinical diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. A search of the PubMed/MEDLINE database was performed to identify original studies published between 2015 and 2025 evaluating OCTA parameters in diabetic patients without clinically detectable diabetic retinopathy. The findings were synthesized qualitatively due to methodological heterogeneity among studies in terms of OCTA devices, imaging protocols, and analyzed parameters. Results: The reviewed studies consistently reported early microvascular abnormalities detectable by OCTA prior to the development of clinically visible diabetic retinopathy. The most frequently described changes included reduced vessel density (VD) and perfusion parameters, enlargement and increased irregularity of the foveal avascular zone (FAZ), areas of capillary non-perfusion, and alterations in vascular network geometry and complexity. These changes were most consistently observed in the deep capillary plexus (DCP), suggesting that this vascular layer may be particularly susceptible to early diabetic microvascular damage. Conclusions: This review provides a comprehensive synthesis of OCTA-derived biomarkers associated with early retinal microvascular alterations in diabetic patients without clinically detectable diabetic retinopathy. By integrating findings from recent studies, the review highlights the potential role of OCTA in identifying preclinical microvascular changes and discusses current methodological challenges and future research directions. Full article

Physics-based constitutive modelling remains a cornerstone for predicting ductile damage and fracture in metallic materials, particularly where microstructural mechanisms govern macroscopic response. Over the past two decades, a wide range of crystal plasticity, porous plasticity, and void-based fracture models have been proposed to capture deformation localisation, void growth, and coalescence under complex loading paths. However, these developments are often presented in isolation, obscuring their shared physical assumptions and limiting their transferability across material systems and length scales. This article provides a microstructure-sensitive perspective on the constitutive modelling of ductile damage and fracture, with particular emphasis on crystal plasticity-based frameworks, void growth and coalescence mechanisms, and interface-driven fracture. Rather than attempting an exhaustive review, this review highlights the unifying concepts, modelling trade-offs, and recurring challenges related to parameter identifiability, scale bridging, and predictive robustness. It further clarifies how physics-based constitutive descriptions can be systematically integrated into modern fatigue and fracture assessments and situates these developments relative to emerging data-assisted and machine-learning-enhanced modelling strategies. By reframing established constitutive models within a coherent physical narrative, this perspective aims to support more transparent model selection, improve interpretability, and guide future developments in the multiscale damage and fracture modelling of metallic materials. While these frameworks offer enhanced microstructure sensitivity, their parameter richness and experimental calibration demand currently limit widespread industrial deployment, motivating ongoing work on reduced-order and data-assisted variants. Full article

Background/Objectives: Endometrial cancer frequently develops resistance to therapy, partly due to the ability of tumor cells to adapt to cellular stress through non-apoptotic mechanisms. Mitochondrial dysfunction and cytoskeletal remodeling are increasingly recognized as key components of stress adaptation; however, their structural relationship under pharmacological stress in three-dimensional (3D) tumor models remains poorly characterized. The present study aimed to investigate the ultrastructural and phenotypic effects of lithium chloride (LiCl)-induced stress in 3D endometrial cancer spheroids, with a particular focus on mitochondrial alterations and intermediate filament organization. Methods: Three-dimensional spheroids generated from Ishikawa endometrial cancer cells were exposed to lithium chloride at concentrations of 1, 10, or 50 mM for defined time periods. Cell viability, proliferative activity, and clonogenic capacity were assessed using Trypan Blue exclusion, BrdU incorporation, and soft agar assays. Ultrastructural changes were examined by transmission electron microscopy to evaluate mitochondrial morphology, cytoplasmic organization, and intermediate filament distribution. Results: LiCl exposure resulted in a dose- and time-dependent reduction in cell viability, proliferation, and clonogenic potential in 3D spheroids. Ultrastructural analysis revealed pronounced mitochondrial swelling, cristae disorganization, and membrane-associated mitochondrial alterations. These changes were consistently accompanied by conspicuous accumulation and reorganization of intermediate filaments in close spatial proximity to damaged mitochondria, suggesting a structural association between cytoskeletal remodeling and mitochondrial injury. Across all experimental conditions, classical apoptotic ultrastructural features, including chromatin condensation and apoptotic body formation, were not observed. Conclusions: Together, these observations indicate that lithium chloride elicits a stress phenotype in 3D endometrial cancer spheroids that primarily manifests at the organelle and cytoskeletal levels, rather than through classical apoptotic execution. Although descriptive in nature, the present study highlights intermediate filament accumulation as a prominent structural feature of lithium-induced mitochondrial stress and establishes a structural reference point for future studies aimed at further investigating mitochondrial–cytoskeletal relationships during pharmacological stress in endometrial cancer. Full article

This study examines whether moral identity, perceived environmental responsibility, and locus of control predict green consumption behaviour among young consumers. Adopting a quantitative approach, the study follows an explanatory research design grounded in the positivist paradigm. Primary data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire delivered to respondents aged 18–35 years. Descriptive statistics were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 30, while inferential analysis was conducted using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) via SmartPLS 4. The findings suggest that moral identity and perceived responsibility for environmental damage are significant predictors of green consumption among youth. In contrast, locus of control shows a weak, statistically insignificant association with green consumption behaviour. After controlling for demographic variables, including gender, age, race, education, occupation, and income, the results indicate that only education level and race make significant contributions to the model. Notably, the effect of moral identity becomes insignificant once demographic factors are considered, while locus of control remains insignificant. However, perceived environmental responsibility not only retains its significance but also demonstrates a strengthened effect on green consumption behaviour. These findings highlight the persistence of the attitude–behaviour gap in sustainable consumption among young consumers, particularly in rural contexts. The study contributes to the literature by extending the Theory of Planned Behaviour through the incorporation of moral and psychological constructs within a rural African setting. Practically, the study offers insights for policymakers, educators, and marketers, emphasising the importance of environmental education, moral reinforcement, and targeted behavioural interventions to enhance youth participation in sustainable consumption practices. Full article

This research introduces a novel approach for seismic fragility assessment by employing a long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network to identify the most effective scalar and vector intensity measures (IMs). This approach enables the rapid and accurate plotting of vector fragility surfaces for shield tunnels embedded in layered soils and subjected to seismic actions. First, an extensive suite of two-dimensional, fully nonlinear soil–structure interaction analyses was executed to generate ground–motion–structure response pairs. These records were subsequently leveraged to train the LSTM network, which received free-field acceleration time histories and directly output critical engineering demand parameters along the tunnel lining. The developed framework significantly mitigates computational expenses while maintaining an acceptable level of fidelity relative to the reference finite element results. Consequently, it serves as an alternative to traditional time history evaluation techniques. Second, we conducted an IM screening process using the results of the LSTM predictions. On the basis of criteria such as relevance, efficiency, practicality, and professionalism, we benchmarked 17 scalar IM and 3 vector IM candidate schemes. The findings indicate that the peak ground velocity (PGV) serves as the most effective scalar IM, whereas the combination of peak ground acceleration (PGA) and PGV forms the optimal vector IM. Finally, probabilistic demand and capacity models are integrated within a fully analytical fragility formulation to derive both scalar and vector fragility estimates. Comparative evaluation reveals that vector IM based fragility surfaces markedly reduce epistemic uncertainty and furnish refined probabilistic descriptions of damage states (DSs) across the seismic demand space. Full article

Climate change has heightened concerns regarding the economic impacts of natural disasters, particularly in countries highly exposed to weather-related hazards, such as South Korea. Although official disaster statistics are published regularly, national-level analyses that jointly examine economic damage, recovery expenditures, and hazard composition remain limited. This study analyzes data from the Korean Disaster Yearbook to investigate temporal patterns in natural disaster impacts over the period 2015–2024. Descriptive statistics, cause-based decomposition, and non-parametric trend tests are employed to assess interannual variability, monotonic trends, and changes in the contributions of different disaster causes. The results reveal substantial year-to-year variability in both economic damage and recovery costs, with a small number of extreme years accounting for a large share of cumulative losses. Mann–Kendall tests do not detect statistically significant monotonic trends; however, positive Kendall’s tau values and Sen’s slope estimates indicate an overall increasing tendency. In addition, the composition of economic damage by disaster cause varies markedly across years, reflecting shifts in dominant hazards. These findings suggest that recent disaster risks in South Korea are driven more by episodic extreme events and evolving hazard compositions than by smooth linear trends, underscoring the importance of preventive and adaptation-oriented disaster management strategies for long-term sustainability. Full article

The authors provide further elements in support of the hypothesized use at Pompeii of an advanced repeating dart-thrower. This article primarily emphasizes the strong formal analogy between Philo of Byzantium’s description (3rd century BC) of the damage produced by the polybolos and the distinctive configurations of quadrangular cavities arranged at short intervals along a curved line, identified and documented during the 2024 digital survey and metric documentation campaigns. The processed trace models, selected as emblematic case studies, constitute the starting point of the workflows developed in collaboration with the interdisciplinary team participating in the SCORPiò-NIDI project (PRIN22). The resulting hypotheses were formulated with awareness of fundamental polemological knowledge, as well as of the historical and technological development of Roman artillery, whose functional principles are now largely clarified. The originality of the study lies in the possibility of “certifying” the dimensional module on which the entire weapon is proportioned, once the terminal ballistic parameters are assessed within a dedicated digital analytical environment. This activity is intended to be further developed, in the hope of fostering broader and more participatory interdisciplinary collaboration within the archeological area of Pompeii. At present, the article reconstructs the research experience acquired so far, highlighting connections between previous publications and proposing both a starting point for further research and a methodological tool for further investigations required to verify the hypothesis and reconstruct the polybolos. The historical relationship between Rhodes and the military decisions preceding the siege of Pompeii provides additional contextual background for the proposed scenario. Full article