Calcium sulfonate complex greases (CSCG) have proven to be a sustainable alternative to lithium complex greases, which still require appropriate additives to deliver lubrication performance benefits under extreme working conditions such as heavy load, high speed, and high temperature. The anti-wear and friction reducing properties of CSCG enhanced by two-dimensional MoS₂ nanosheets (2D MoS₂) with a narrow lateral size and thickness distributions were evaluated by a four-ball tribometer. The results showed that the CSCG with 0.6 wt.% 2D MoS₂ performs best, with a 56.4% decrease in average friction coefficient (AFC), 16.5% reduction in wear scar diameter (WSD), 14.3% decrease in surface roughness, and a 59.4% reduction in average wear depth. Combining SEM-EDS images, Raman, and X-ray photoelectron spectra, it is illustrated that the physical transferred film and tribo-chemical film consisting of MoS₂, Fe₂O₃, FeSO₄, CaCO₃, CaO, and MoO₃ were generated on the worn surface, which improves the lubrication performance of CSCG considerably. Full article

Schistosomiasis is a tropical disease transmitted in an aqueous environment by cercariae from the Schistosoma genus. This disease affects 200 million people living in risk areas around the world. The control of schistosomiasis is realized by chemotherapy, wastewater sanitation, health education, and mollusk control using molluscicidal agents. This work evaluates the effects of a nanoemulsion containing essential oil from Myrciaria floribunda leaves as a molluscicidal and cercaricidal agent against Biomphalaria glabrata mollusks and Schistosoma mansoni cercariae. The Myrciaria floribunda essential oil from leaves showed nerolidol, β-selinene, 1,8 cineol, and zonarene as major constituents. The formulation study suggested the F3 formulation as the most promising nanoemulsion with polysorbate 20 and sorbitan monooleate 80 (4:1) with 5% (w/w) essential oil as it showed a smaller droplet size of approximately 100 nm with a PDI lower than 0.3 and prominent bluish reflection. Furthermore, this nanoemulsion showed stability after 200 days under refrigeration. The Myrciaria floribunda nanoemulsion showed LC₅₀ values of 48.11 µg/mL, 29.66 µg/mL, and 47.02 µg/mL in Biomphalaria glabrata embryos, juveniles, and adult mollusks, respectively, after 48 h and 83.88 µg/mL for Schistosoma mansoni cercariae after 2 h. In addition, a survival of 80% was observed in Danio rerio, and the in silico toxicity assay showed lower overall human toxicity potential to the major compounds in the essential oil compared to the reference molluscicide niclosamide. These results suggest that the nanoemulsion of Myrciaria floribunda leaves may be a promising alternative for schistosomiasis control. Full article

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is known to be very stable and can remain infectious over long periods of time especially at low temperatures and within different matrices, particularly those containing animal-derived organic material. However, there are some gaps in our knowledge pertaining to the survivability and infectivity of ASFV in groundwater. This study aims to determine the stability and infectivity of the cell culture-adapted ASFV strain BA71V by plaque assay after incubation of the virus within river water samples at three different environmentally relevant temperatures (4 °C, 15 °C, and 21 °C) over the course of 42 days. The results from this study indicate that ASFV can remain stable and infectious when maintained at 4 °C in river water for more than 42 days, but as incubation temperatures are increased, the stability is reduced, and the virus is no longer able to form plaques after 28 days and 14 days, respectively, when stored at 15 °C and 21 °C. Characterizing the survivability of ASFV in groundwater can allow us to develop more appropriate inactivation and disinfection methods to support disease control and mitigate ASFV outbreaks. Full article

Human Activity Recognition (HAR) has been proven to be effective in various healthcare and telemonitoring applications. Current HAR methods, especially deep learning, are extensively employed owing to their exceptional recognition capabilities. However, in pursuit of enhancing feature expression abilities, deep learning often introduces a trade-off by increasing Time complexity. Moreover, the intricate nature of human activity data poses a challenge as it can lead to a notable decrease in recognition accuracy when affected by additional noise. These aspects will significantly impair recognition performance. To advance this field further, we present a HAR method based on an edge-computing-assisted and GRU deep-learning network. We initially proposed a model for edge computing to optimize the energy consumption and processing time of wearable devices. This model transmits HAR data to edge-computable nodes, deploys analytical models on edge servers for remote training, and returns results to wearable devices for processing. Then, we introduced an initial convolution method to preprocess large amounts of training data more effectively. To this end, an attention mechanism was integrated into the network structure to enhance the analysis of confusing data and improve the accuracy of action classification. Our results demonstrated that the proposed approach achieved an average accuracy of 85.4% on the 200 difficult-to-identify HAR data, which outperforms the Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) method’s accuracy of 77.1%. The experimental results showcase the efficacy of the proposed method and offer valuable insights for the future application of HAR. Full article

Worldwide legislation emphasizes the need to monitor the health of aquatic ecosystems based on the response of biological quality elements to environmental conditions. A plethora of methodologies have been suggested in this sense. Lately, substantial efforts have led to the exploration of new biological quality elements from the meiobenthic compartment and the implementation of new methodologies based on environmental DNA. Due to their short life-cycles, meiofaunal organisms respond quickly to environmental variability. Changes in population dynamics and species composition are indicative of changes in environmental conditions. Recent pioneer studies have shown that biotic indices based on benthic foraminifera and nematodes can efficiently assess the health of transitional and marine ecosystems. The use of environmental DNA, as well as other fingerprinting techniques, is increasing in biomonitoring studies, and further calibrations are still needed to implement this method. The published papers in this Special Issue represent well the wide applicability of meiobenthic groups, i.e., benthic foraminifera and nematodes, allowing us to address a key ecological knowledge gap in order to convince decision makers and stakeholders about the advantage of introducing new biological quality elements in environmental biomonitoring. Full article

Fish is a fundamental component of the human diet, and in the near future the proportion of aquatic foods originating from aquaculture production is expected to increase to over 56%. The sustainable growth of the aquaculture sector involves the use of new sustainable raw materials as substitutes for traditional fishmeal and fish oil ingredients, but it is crucial that the substitution maintains the nutritional value of the fish meat. In addition, the preservation of the nutritional value should be a mandatory requirement of new technologies that extend the shelf life of fish. In this context, we evaluated the impact of a newly formulated feed and three preservation treatments (brine, pulsed electric field (PEF), and PEF plus brine) on the fatty acid composition and protein and lipid digestibility of sea bass fillets. In non-digested fillets, although slightly reduced by the newly formulated feed (standard = 2.49 ± 0.14; newly formulated = 2.03 ± 0.10) the n-3/n-6 PUFA ratio indicated good nutritional value. The preservation treatments did not modify the fatty acid content and profile of non-digested fillets. Conversely, protein and lipid digestibility were not affected by the different diets but were significantly reduced by brine, with or without PEF, while PEF alone had no effect. Overall, our results indicated that the newly formulated feed containing 50% less fishmeal is a good compromise between the sustainability and nutritional value of cultivated seabass, and PEF is a promising preservation technology deserving of further study. Full article

The construction industry is increasingly focused on sustainability, with a particular emphasis on reducing the environmental impact of cement production. One approach to this problem is to use recycled materials and explore eco-friendly raw materials, such as alumino-silicate by-products like fly ash, which can be used as raw materials for geopolymer concrete. To enhance the ductility, failure mode, and toughness of the geopolymer, researchers have added crumb rubber processed from scrap tires as partial replacement to fine aggregate of the geopolymer. Therefore, this study aims to develop rubberized geopolymer concrete (RGC) by partially replacing the fine aggregate with crumb rubber (CR). To optimize the mechanical properties of RGC, response surface methodology (RSM) has been used to develop 13 mixes with different levels and proportions of CR (10–30% partial replacement of fine aggregate by volume) and sodium hydroxide molarity (10–14 M) as input variables. The results showed that the strength properties increased as the molarity of NaOH increased, while the opposite trend was observed with CR. The maximum values for compressive strength, flexural strength, and uniaxial tensile strength were found to be 25 MPa, 3.1 MPa, and 0.41 MPa, respectively. Response surface models of the mechanical strengths, which were validated using ANOVA with high R² values of 72–99%, have been developed. It has been found that using 10% CR with 14 M sodium hydroxide resulting in the best mechanical properties for RGC, which was validated with experimental tests. The result of the multi-objective optimization indicated that the optimum addition level for NaOH is 14 M, and the fine aggregate replacement level with CR is 10% in order to achieve a rubberized geopolymer suitable for structural applications. Full article

Background: The Paris System for Reporting Urinary Cytology (TPS) is considered the gold standard when it comes to diagnostic classifications of urine specimens. Its second edition brought some important changes, including the abolition of the diagnostic category of “low-grade urothelial neoplasm (LGUN)”, acknowledging the inability of cytology to reliably discern low-grade urothelial lesions. Methods: In this retrospective study, we assessed the validity of this change, studying the cytological diagnoses of histologically diagnosed low-grade urothelial carcinomas during a three-year period. Moreover, we correlated the sum of the urinary cytology diagnoses of this period with the histological diagnoses, whenever available. Results: Although all the cytological diagnoses of LGUN were concordant with the histological diagnoses, most low-grade urothelial carcinomas were misdiagnosed cytologically. Subsequently, the positive predictive value (PPV) of urinary cytology for the diagnosis of LGUN was 100%, while the sensitivity was only 21.7%. Following the cyto-histopathological correlation of the sum of the urinary cytology cases, the sensitivity of urinary cytology for the diagnosis of high-grade urothelial carcinoma (HGUC) was demonstrated to be 90.1%, the specificity 70.8%, the positive predictive value (PPV) 60.3%, the negative predictive value (NPV) 93.6% and the overall accuracy 77.2%, while for LGUN, the values were 21.7%, 97.2%, 87.5%, 58.6% and 61.9%, respectively. Risk of high-grade malignancy was 0% for the non-diagnostic (ND), 4.8% for the non-high-grade urothelial carcinoma (NHGUC), 33.3% for the atypical urothelial cells (AUCs), 65% for the suspicious for high-grade urothelial carcinoma (SHGUC), 100% for the HGUC and 12.5% for the LGUN diagnostic categories. Conclusions: This study validates the incorporation of the LGUN in the NHGUC diagnostic category in the second edition of TPS. Moreover, it proves the ability of urinary cytology to safely diagnose HGUC and stresses the pivotal role of its diagnosis. Full article

As a therapeutic tool inherited for thousands of years, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) exhibits superiority in tumor therapy. The antitumor active components of TCM not only have multi-target treatment modes but can also synergistically interfere with tumor growth compared to traditional chemotherapeutics. However, most antitumor active components of TCM have the characteristics of poor solubility, high toxicity, and side effects, which are often limited in clinical application. In recent years, delivering the antitumor active components of TCM by nanosystems has been a promising field. The advantages of nano-delivery systems include improved water solubility, targeting efficiency, enhanced stability in vivo, and controlled release drugs, which can achieve higher drug-delivery efficiency and bioavailability. According to the method of drug loading on nanocarriers, nano-delivery systems can be categorized into two types, including physically encapsulated nanoplatforms and chemically coupled drug-delivery platforms. In this review, two nano-delivery approaches are considered, namely physical encapsulation and chemical coupling, both commonly used to deliver antitumor active components of TCM, and we summarized the advantages and limitations of different types of nano-delivery systems. Meanwhile, the clinical applications and potential toxicity of nano-delivery systems and the future development and challenges of these nano-delivery systems are also discussed, aiming to lay the foundation for the development and practical application of nano-delivery systems of TCM in clinical settings. Full article

In this study, α-Trimethylsilylmethyl-ω-dimethylsilyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane, polydiethylsiloxane and poly[2,2,2-trifluoropropyl(methyl)siloxane] are synthesized using an anion catalyzed nonequilibrium polymerization reaction with trimethylsilylmethyl lithium as the initiator; hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane, hexaethylcyclotrisiloxane or 1,3,5-trimethyl-1,3,5-trifluoropropylcyclotrisiloxane as the monomer; and dimethylchlorosilane as an end-capping agent. Three kinds of α-trimethylsilylmethyl-ω-trimethoxylsilylethyl-terminated polysiloxanes are further prepared by hydrosilylation reaction of α-trimethylsilylmethyl-ω-dimethylsilyl-terminated polysiloxanes with vinyltrimethoxysilane using Karstedt’s catalyst. These α-trimethylsilylmethyl-ω-trimethoxylsilylethyl-terminated polysiloxanes are functionalized as in situ surface treatment agents for AlN particles. The effects of the structure of these polysiloxanes on the dispersion of AlN in the polysiloxane matrix and on the heat transfer performance of silicone pastes and silicone rubbers are investigated. A possible mechanism of surface treatment of AlN fillers by these novel silicone fluids is also discussed. Full article

Hibiscus sabdariffa is a tropical plant with red calyxes whose anthocyanins, phenols, and antioxidant activity make it attractive to consumers both from a nutritional and medicinal standpoint. Its seasonality, perishability, and anthocyanin instability, led to the setup of stabilization methods comprising drying and powdering. However, its properties can often be altered during these stabilization processes. Treatments such as dehumidified-air-drying, infrared drying, and oven-drying, and their combination showed better quality preservation. Moreover, powder production enables superior biomolecule extractability which can be linked to a higher bioaccessibility. However, the required temperatures for powder production increase the bioactive molecules degradation leading to their antioxidant activity loss. To overcome this issue, ambient or cryogenic grinding could be an excellent method to improve the biomolecule bioavailability and accessibility if the processing steps are well mastered. To be sure to benefit from the final nutritional quality of the powder, such as the antioxidant activity of biomolecules, powders have to offer excellent reconstitutability which is linked to powder physicochemical properties and the reconstitution media. Typically, the finest powder granulometry and using an agitated low-temperature reconstitution media allow for improving anthocyanin extractability and stability. In this review, the relevant physicochemical and processing parameters influencing plant powder features from processing transformation to reconstitution will be presented with a focus on bioactive molecules and antioxidant activity preservation. Full article

The suspension system’s performance has a direct impact on the ride comfort, handling stability, and driving safety of heavy vehicles. The active air suspension of heavy vehicles can adjust the stiffness, damping parameters, and body height in real-time based on different road conditions. This adjustment ensures that the entire vehicle experiences a smooth ride while also making vehicle loading and unloading more labor efficient. Additionally, the active air suspension system enables the vehicle to achieve automation and intelligence. This study focused on a particular 6 × 4 heavy vehicle and designed an active air suspension system that aligns with the vehicle parameters of the heavy truck. Through the use of a fuzzy PID active control strategy, this study investigated and analyzed the height adjustment of the air spring. The results indicate that at a vehicle speed of 60 km/h on a class A road surface, the vehicle body’s vertical acceleration was reduced by 22.1%, and the dynamic travel of the suspension was reduced by 20.1%. This indicates that the fuzzy PID active air suspension system effectively reduces the vehicle’s vibrations and improves ride comfort. Full article

Battery charging mode (CM) is a prevalent method of trans-shipping power to new energy vehicles (NEVs). Unfortunately, due to the limited capacity of batteries, typical NEVs can only travel for approximately 350 miles on a single charge and require hours to be recharged. Battery swapping mode (SM), as a novel alternative, can offer an ideal solution by exchanging depleted batteries for recharged ones at swapping stations in the middle of long trips, inevitably influencing potential consumers’ purchase behaviors. To examine the impact of SM and CM on consumers’ purchase intention, this paper examines a duopolistic market consisting of two new energy vehicle manufacturers (i.e., a NEV-SM manufacturer and a NEV-CM manufacturer), who adopt SM and CM to service consumers, respectively. Considering SM is characterized by low initial investment and ease of use for consumers, NEV-CM manufacturers capitalize on extended battery warranty services in response to rivals’ utilization of SM. Thereby, non-cooperative game models are formulated, in which government subsidies are taken into account. The optimal production decision for both the NEV-SM manufacturer and the NEV-CM manufacturer are analyzed under three scenarios: without extended warranty service, with extended warranty service, and with extended warranty service and subsidy. The results show that the two manufacturers’ market dominance relies on the ratio of the swapping station’s convenience to the extended warranty service and the valuation incremental rate. Additionally, we also find that the government subsidy can dramatically improve the NEV-SM manufacturer’s performance at the initial stage, but if the subsidy is insufficient in size at the subsequent stage, this will lead to policy failure and inefficiency in propelling the diffusion of swapping mode. Full article

Mushrooms contain multiple essential nutrients and health-promoting bioactive compounds, including the amino acid L-ergothioneine. Knowledge of the chemical composition of different mushroom varieties will aid research on their health-promoting properties. We compared the metabolomes of fresh raw white button, crimini, portabella, lion’s mane, maitake, oyster, and shiitake mushrooms using untargeted liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC/MS)-based metabolomics. We also quantified amino acid concentrations, including L-ergothioneine, a potential antioxidant which is not synthesized by plants or animals. Among the seven mushroom varieties, more than 10,000 compounds were detected. Principal Component Analysis indicated mushrooms of the same species, Agaricus Bisporus (white button, portabella, crimini), group similarly. The other varieties formed individual, distinct clusters. A total of 1344 (520 annotated) compounds were detected in all seven mushroom varieties. Each variety had tens-to-hundreds of unique-to-mushroom-variety compounds. These ranged from 29 for crimini to 854 for lion’s mane. All three Agaricus bisporus varieties had similar amino acid profiles (including detection of all nine essential amino acids), while other varieties had less methionine and tryptophan. Lion’s mane and oyster mushrooms had the highest concentrations of L-ergothioneine. The detection of hundreds of unique-to-mushroom-variety compounds emphasizes the differences in chemical composition of these varieties of edible fungi. Full article

In this study, Ni-Fe alloy nanoparticles were prepared using the proteic sol–gel method, followed by a reduction in H₂ at 500 and 700 °C, namely hereafter as NiFe-500 and NiFe-700, respectively. The morphological, structural, and magnetic properties were tuned via the thermal treatment in H₂. The samples were studied using XPS, TEM, Mössbauer spectroscopy, DC magnetic measurements, and electrochemical measurements. Ritveld refinements showed that the sample NiFe-500 has FCC (face-centered cubic) and BCC (body-centered cubic) NiFe alloys, while the sample NiFe-700 has only FCC NiFe alloy. For both samples, magnetization measurements in the range of 300–900 K showed the presence of the Griffiths phase, indicating the formation of clusters of either Fe or Ni-Fe alloys rich in Fe. The sample NiFe-500 presented ferromagnetic (FM) transitions at 533, 700, and 834 K, assigned to the alloys Ni₃₇Fe₆₃-FCC, Ni₄₆Fe₅₄-FCC, and Ni₅₅Fe₄₅-FCC, respectively. In contrast, we could not observe the FM transition of the BCC Ni-Fe alloy because of limitations in our experimental setup (T ≤ 900 K). Meanwhile, three FM transitions were observed for the sample NiFe-700 at 480, 655, and 825 K, attributed to the alloys Ni₃₄Fe₆₆-FCC, Ni₄₃Fe₅₇-FCC, and Ni₅₄Fe₄₆-FCC, respectively. At 5 K, the samples NiFe-500 and NiFe-700 have saturation magnetizations of 164.2 and 173.6 emu g⁻¹, respectively. For application in Oxygen Evolution Reaction catalysis, the samples NiFe-500 and NiFe-700 showed different overpotentials of 319 and 307 mV at 10 mA cm⁻². These low overpotential values indicate a higher electrochemical activity of the FCC Ni-Fe alloy and, for both samples, a superior electrocatalytic activity in comparison to RuO₂ e IrO₂ conventional catalysts. Furthermore, the samples showed high electrochemical stability in chrono potentiometric studies for up to 15 h. This current work highlights that the Ni-Fe alloys produced via the proteic sol–gel and with a reduction in H₂ methods can be promising for OER systems due to their good performance and low costs. Full article

Sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) and peracetic acid (PAA) are commonly used disinfectants with a maximum recommended concentration of 200 ppm for food-contact surfaces. The objectives of this study were to assess the effect of pH and water hardness on NaOCl and PAA efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 on stainless steel (SS). The two disinfectants were prepared at 200 ppm in water of hardness 150 or 300 ppm with the final pH adjusted to 5, 6, 7, or 8. Disinfectants were applied to virus-contaminated SS for one minute at room temperature following the ASTM E2197 standard assay. SARS-CoV-2 infectivity was quantified using TCID50 assay on Vero-E6 cells. In general, increasingly hard water decreased the efficacy of NaOCl while increasing the efficacy of PAA. Hard water at 300 ppm significantly increased virus log reduction with PAA at pH 8 by ~1.5 log. The maximum virus log reductions were observed at pH 5 for both NaOCl (~1.2 log) and PAA (~2 log) at 150 and 300 ppm hard water, respectively. In conclusion, PAA performed significantly better than NaOCl with harder water. However, both disinfectants at 200 ppm and one minute were not effective (≤3 log) against SARS-CoV-2 on contaminated food-contact surfaces, which may facilitate the role of these surfaces in virus transmission. Full article

The aging process of lithium-ion batteries is an extremely complex process, and the prediction of the calendar life of the lithium-ion battery is important to further guide battery maintenance, extend the battery life and reduce the risk of battery use. In the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system, the battery is in a floating state for a long time, so the aging of the battery is approximated by calendar aging, and its decay rate is slow and difficult to estimate accurately. This paper proposes a particle filtering-based algorithm for battery state-of-health (SOH) and remaining useful life (RUL) predictions. First, the calendar aging modeling for the batteries used in the UPS system for the Shanghai rail transportation energy storage power station is presented. Then, the particle filtering algorithm is employed for the SOH estimation and RUL prediction for the single-cell battery calendar aging model. Finally, the single-cell SOH and RUL estimation algorithm is expanded to the pack and group scales estimation. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method can achieve accurate SOH estimation and RUL prediction results. Full article

In this review article, we systematically investigated the diverse applications of laser technology within the sphere of food processing, encompassing techniques such as laser ablation, microbial inactivation, state-of-the-art food packaging, and non-destructive testing. With a detailed exploration, we assess the utility of laser ablation for the removal of surface contaminants from foodstuffs, while also noting the potential financial and safety implications of its implementation on an industrial scale. Microbial inactivation by laser shows promise for reducing the microbial load on food surfaces, although concerns have been raised about potential damage to the physio-characteristics of some fruits. Laser-based packaging techniques, such as laser perforation and laser transmission welding, offer eco-friendly alternatives to traditional packaging methods and can extend the shelf life of perishable goods. Despite the limitations, laser technology shows great promise in the food industry and has the potential to revolutionize food processing, packaging, and testing. Future research needs to focus on optimizing laser equipment, addressing limitations, and developing mathematical models to enhance the technology’s uses. Full article

The composition of green tea cream is extremely complex, and identification of key components is a prerequisite for elucidating its microstructure formation mechanism. This study examined the dynamic changes in the content of components and properties of colloid particles during the formation process of tea cream by chemical analysis and dynamic laser scattering (DLS). A “knock-out/knock-in” method was developed and used to further explore the relationship between the interaction of these components and the microstructure formation of tea cream. The results revealed that polysaccharides, proteins, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and caffeine were the main components involved in tea cream formation. These components participated in the formation process in the form of polysaccharide–protein and EGCG–caffeine colloidal particles. Consequently, there were synchronized dynamic changes in the levels of polysaccharides, proteins, EGCG, and caffeine. The “knock-out/knock-in” experiment revealed that the interactions between EGCG or caffeine and macro-molecule components were not the key factors in tea cream microstructure formation. However, it was found that the complexation between EGCG and caffeine played a crucial role in the formation of tea cream. The findings suggested that decreasing the concentrations of EGCG and caffeine could be useful in controlling tea cream formation during tea beverage processing and storage. Full article

A challenge in social marketing studies is the cognitive biases in consumers’ conscious and self-reported responses. To help address this concern, biometric techniques have been developed to obtain data from consumers’ implicit and non-verbal responses. A systematic literature review was conducted to explore biometric applications’ role in agri-food marketing to provide an integrated overview of this topic. A total of 55 original research articles and four review articles were identified, classified, and reviewed. It was found that there is a steady growth in the number of studies applying biometric approaches, with eye-tracking being the dominant method used to investigate consumers’ perceptions in the last decade. Most of the studies reviewed were conducted in Europe or the USA. Other biometric techniques used included facial expressions, heart rate, body temperature, and skin conductance. A wide range of scenarios concerning consumers’ purchase and consumption behaviour for agri-food products have been investigated using biometric-based techniques, indicating their broad applicability. Our findings suggest that biometric techniques are expanding for researchers in agri-food marketing, benefiting both academia and industry. Full article

In this study, the antioxidant properties of intact cells (IC), cell-free supernatant (CFS), and cell-free extracts (CFE) and whole genome sequencing of Bifidobacterium bifidum E3 (B. bifidum E3), as well as the structural characteristics and antioxidant properties of EPS-1, EPS-2, and EPS-3, were evaluated. The results revealed that intact cells (IC), cell-free supernatant (CFS), and cell-free extracts (CFE) had potent DPPH (1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical), hydroxyl, and superoxide anion radical scavenging capacities, among which CFS was the best. At the genetic level, we identified a strong carbohydrate metabolism capacity, an EPS synthesis gene cluster, and five sugar nucleotides in B. bifidum E3. Therefore, we extracted cEPS from B. bifidum E3 and purified it to obtain EPS-1, EPS-2, and EPS-3. EPS-1, EPS-2, and EPS-3 were heteropolysaccharides with an average molecular weight of 4.15 × 10⁴ Da, 3.67 × 10⁴ Da, and 5.89 × 10⁴ Da, respectively. The EPS-1 and EPS-2 are mainly comprised of mannose and glucose, and the EPS-3 is mainly comprised of rhamnose, mannose, and glucose. The typical characteristic absorption peaks of polysaccharides were shown in Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR spectroscopy). The microstructural study showed a rough surface structure for EPS-1, EPS-2, and EPS-3. Furthermore, EPS-1, EPS-2, and EPS-3 exhibited potent DPPH, hydroxyl, and superoxide anion radical scavenging capacities. Correlation analysis identified that antioxidant capacities may be influenced by various factors, especially molecular weight, chemical compositions, and monosaccharide compositions. In summary, the EPS that was produced by B. bifidum E3 may provide insights into health-promoting benefits in humans. Full article

Accurate detection of respiratory system damage including COVID-19 is considered one of the crucial applications of deep learning (DL) models using CT images. However, the main shortcoming of the published works has been unreliable reported accuracy and the lack of repeatability with new datasets, mainly due to slice-wise splits of the data, creating dependency between training and test sets due to shared data across the sets. We introduce a new dataset of CT images (ISFCT Dataset) with labels indicating the subject-wise split to train and test our DL algorithms in an unbiased manner. We also use this dataset to validate the real performance of the published works in a subject-wise data split. Another key feature provides more specific labels (eight characteristic lung features) rather than being limited to COVID-19 and healthy labels. We show that the reported high accuracy of the existing models on current slice-wise splits is not repeatable for subject-wise splits, and distribution differences between data splits are demonstrated using t-distribution stochastic neighbor embedding. We indicate that, by examining subject-wise data splitting, less complicated models show competitive results compared to the exiting complicated models, demonstrating that complex models do not necessarily generate accurate and repeatable results. Full article

This study aims to facilitate a physical understanding of resonating cavity flows with efficient numerical treatments of turbulence. It reinforces the efficiency and affordability of scale-adaptive numerical techniques for simulating open cavity flows with a separated shear layer consisting of a wide range of flow scales. Visualization of the resonant modes occurring due to the acoustic feedback loop aids in a better understanding of large-scale flow oscillations. Under this scope, scale-adaptive simulation (SAS) based on the k-$\omega$ SST RANS model with different turbulence treatments has been studied for an open cavity configuration with a length-to-depth $(L/D)$ ratio of $5.7$ featuring Mach number ($Ma$) $0.8$ and Reynolds number ($Re$) $12\times {10}^6$. It is shown that the essential cavity flow physics has been captured using the SAS approach with more than $90\%$ improved computational efficiency compared to commonly used hybrid RANS-LES approaches. In addition, wall-modeled SAS when supplemented with an artificial forcing concept to trigger the model provides very good spectral estimates comparable with hybrid RANS-LES results. Following the validation of numerical approaches, the directional dependence of the cavity resonance is investigated under asymmetric flow conditions, and spanwise interference of waves due to the lateral walls of the cavity has been observed. Full article