Aizada Zholdasbek, Zhanar Tekebayeva, Kamshat Kulzhanova
et al.
Phytopathogens are among the major biotic stressors limiting global crop productivity. Conventional control methods, including chemical pesticides and fungicides, have contributed to pathogen resistance, environmental pollution, and soil degradation, highlighting the need for sustainable alternatives. This review highlights innovative, eco-friendly strategies that exploit plant–microbe interactions to enhance plant health and resilience across diverse agroecosystems. Rhizosphere-, phyllosphere-, and endosphere-associated microbial assemblages contribute to plant immune enhancement through induced systemic resistance, competitive nutrient exclusion, antimicrobial metabolite production, and mycoparasitism. The review emphasizes the functional roles of beneficial microbial communities and the emerging applications of synthetic consortia and bio-organic fertilizers to improving disease suppression, nutrient use efficiency, and soil fertility. In addition, recent progress in omics-based tools and microbial formulation technologies is discussed as a key driver for translating laboratory findings into practical field applications. However, large-scale implementation remains challenged by high research costs, limited metagenomic infrastructure, and the lack of standardized microbial formulations across environments. Strengthening institutional capacity, integrating omics-based tools, and improving technology transfer will be essential to unlock the full potential of microbiome-based pathogen control. Overall, this review highlights microbiome-based interventions as a sustainable alternative to chemical-intensive plant protection strategies under changing environmental conditions.
Saurabh Prabhakar, Bijaya Ketan Panigrahi, Frede Blaabjerg
et al.
Traditional protection systems for microgrids, which rely on high fault currents and continuous communication, struggle to keep up with the changing dynamics and cybersecurity concerns of decentralized networks. In this study, we introduce a novel biologically inspired protection system based on neuromorphic principles, where each distributed energy resource (DER) functions as a simple neuron. These neurons process local changes in voltage, current signals, and converting them into spike patterns that represent the severity of disturbances. Just as neurons communicate via synapses in biological systems, we exploit transmission cables to coordinate between DERs, enabling them to share information and respond to faults collectively. Fault detection and circuit breaker activation are driven by a First-To-Spike (FTTS) mechanism, similar to the concept of traveling wave protection, but without needing GPS synchronization or communication links. A key innovation is the ability to use the timing of spikes to locally determine the nature of a fault, offering an intelligent, adaptive response to disturbances. Performance shows tripping latency of 10-58 ms, surpassing conventional relays and even traveling-wave methods (60 ms), while maintaining detection accuracy above 98% and spatial selectivity over 97%, enabling real-time, communication-free, scalable protection for plug-and-play microgrids.
Brenda J. Mengeling, Azhagiya Singam Ettayapuram Ramaprasad, Martyn T. Smith
et al.
Abstract The potential for food contact chemicals to disrupt genetic programs in development and metabolism raises concerns. Nuclear receptors (NRs) control many of these programs, and the retinoid-X receptor (RXR) is a DNA-binding partner for one-third of the NRs. RXR disruption could generate adverse outcomes in several NR pathways. We used machine learning and other in silico methods to identify RXR-interacting candidates from a list of over 57,000 chemicals. Butylphenols comprised the largest, high-probability, structural group (58 compounds); several are food contact chemicals with widespread commercial use. In vitro ToxCast data suggested that bulky, aliphatic substitution at C4 of 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol facilitated RXR activation. We tested six butylphenols with increasing bulk at C4 in vivo for their ability to disrupt thyroid hormone receptor (TR) signaling, using an integrated luciferase reporter driven by TR-RXR binding and quantifiable morphological changes in a Xenopus laevis precocious metamorphosis assay. Three tert-butylphenols potentiated TH action at nanomolar concentrations. Molecular modeling showed the three positives formed more frequent, stable interactions with RXRα, and bulkiness at C4 increased steric complementarity with the RXR ligand-binding pocket. Our findings establish a paradigm for machine learning coupled with a convenient, in vivo validation approach to identify chemicals interacting with RXR-NR-controlled genetic pathways.
Skin disorders constitute a persistent health problem, covering both acute and chronic conditions that manifest in patients of all ages. Betulinic acid (BA) is a triterpene previously studied as an efficient treatment of skin ailments due to its innate pharmacological properties. Nonetheless, due to its lipophilic nature and low bioavailability, topical delivery systems are necessary for its proper administration. Oleogels are efficient carriers for the incorporation of hydrophobic biomolecules; however, their use for the delivery of BA remains scarce. Therefore, this study was designed to develop, characterize, and evaluate a BA-containing oleogel (BA-O) regarding its cutaneous safety profile as a potential pharmaceutical formulation targeting dermatologic issues. The findings illustrated the efficient formulation of BA as oleogel, the product presenting the specific conditions of topical semi-solid formulations in terms of physico-chemical characteristics and high biocompatibility in vitro and in ovo, as BA-O lacked a cytotoxic effect in HaCaT and JB6 Cl 41-5a skin cells (cell viability percentages being > 70%) and was categorized as non-irritant in EpiDerm™ tissues (viability > 80%) and on the chorioallantoic membrane (Irritation Score = 0.186). These results present the preclinical biosafety profile of BA-O with prospective potential for cutaneous applications that should be investigated in future studies.
PurposeSevere scarcity of natural river sand (RS), exacerbated by environmental protection policies and extraction constraints, has significantly impacted aggregate supply for railway concrete. While manufactured sand (MS) offers a substitute for RS in railway applications, its widespread adoption in high-strength railway prestressed structures is challenged by lack of drying shrinkage and creep research data on concrete.Design/methodology/approachHigh-strength manufactured sand concrete (MSC) was prepared using MS with varying lithologies and stone powder contents. Its drying shrinkage and creep behaviors were evaluated in accordance with the Chinese standard GB/T 50082. The deformation mechanism was analyzed by combining nano-scratch testing.FindingsCompared to RS concrete, MSC from all tested lithologies showed higher drying shrinkage but lower creep deformation. The drying shrinkage rose steadily with increased stone powder content, while the creep strain displayed a distinct non-linear trend, decreasing first before rising. To prepare low-deformation MSC, select high-strength MS and limit stone powder content not greater 10%. Nano-scratch tests indicated that harder MS particles suppress microcracking at the interfacial transition zone (ITZ), improving the creep resistance. The predictive models for drying shrinkage and creep were also developed by incorporating coefficients for stone powder and lithology effects.Originality/valueThese findings serve as a foundation for the application of MSC in railway prestressed structures, offering both theoretical and practical guidance.
Transportation engineering, Railroad engineering and operation
Michele Panariello, Sarina Meyer, Pierre Champion
et al.
Voice anonymisation aims to conceal the voice identity of speakers in speech recordings. Privacy protection is usually estimated from the difficulty of using a speaker verification system to re-identify the speaker post-anonymisation. Performance assessments are therefore dependent on the verification model as well as the anonymisation system. There is hence potential for privacy protection to be overestimated when the verification system is poorly trained, perhaps with mismatched data. In this paper, we demonstrate the insidious risk of overestimating anonymisation performance and show examples of exaggerated performance reported in the literature. For the worst case we identified, performance is overestimated by 74% relative. We then introduce a means to detect when performance assessment might be untrustworthy and show that it can identify all overestimation scenarios presented in the paper. Our solution is openly available as a fork of the 2024 VoicePrivacy Challenge evaluation toolkit.
This paper presents the design and status of Accumulator Ring (AR) RF Equipment Protection System (EPS) of Advanced Light Source Upgrade project at LBNL. The key components of AR RF EPS include a Master Interlock PLC subsystem handling supervisory control and slow interlocks in \SI{}{\milli\second} scale, an FPGA-based LLRF Controller managing fast interlocks in \SI{}{\micro\second} scale, a 60 kW high-power amplifier with standalone PLC-based slow (\SI{}{\milli\second} scale) and FPGA-based fast (\SI{}{\micro\second} scale) protection systems, and an RF Drive Control Chassis acting as primary RF mitigation device. The design of AR RF EPS is presented along with internal RF and external AR subsystems interfaces.
Location-Based Services (LBSs) offer significant convenience to mobile users but pose significant privacy risks, as attackers can infer sensitive personal information through spatiotemporal correlations in user trajectories. Since users' sensitivity to location data varies based on factors such as stay duration, access frequency, and semantic sensitivity, implementing personalized privacy protection is imperative. This paper proposes a Personalized Trajectory Privacy Protection Mechanism (PTPPM) to address these challenges. Our approach begins by modeling an attacker's knowledge of a user's trajectory spatiotemporal correlations, which enables the attacker to identify possible location sets and disregard low-probability location sets. To combat this, we integrate geo-indistinguishability with distortion privacy, allowing users to customize their privacy preferences through a configurable privacy budget and expected inference error bound. This approach provides the theoretical framework for constructing a Protection Location Set (PLS) that obscures users' actual locations. Additionally, we introduce a Personalized Privacy Budget Allocation Algorithm (PPBA), which assesses the sensitivity of locations based on trajectory data and allocates privacy budgets accordingly. This algorithm considers factors such as location semantics and road network constraints. Furthermore, we propose a Permute-and-Flip mechanism that generates perturbed locations while minimizing perturbation distance, thus balancing privacy protection and Quality of Service (QoS). Simulation results demonstrate that our mechanism outperforms existing benchmarks, offering superior privacy protection while maintaining user QoS requirements.
Despite the growing emphasis on intelligent buildings as a cornerstone of sustainable urban development, significant energy inefficiencies persist due to suboptimal design, material choices, and user behavior. The applicability of integrated Building Information Modeling (BIM) and solarpowered environmental monitoring systems for energy optimization in low-carbon smart buildings remains underexplored. Can BIM-driven design improvements, combined with photovoltaic systems, achieve substantial energy savings while enabling self-powered environmental monitoring? This study conducts a case analysis on a retrofitted primary school building in Guangdong, China, utilizing BIM-based energy simulations, material optimization, and solar technology integration. The outcomes reveal that the proposed approach reduced annual energy consumption by 40.68%, with lighting energy use decreasing by 36.59%. A rooftop photovoltaic system demonstrated a payback period of 7.46 years while powering environmental sensors autonomously. Hardware system integrates sensors and an ARDUINO-based controller to detect environmental factors like rainfall, temperature, and air quality. It is powered by a 6W solar panel and a 2200 mAh/7.4 V lithium battery to ensure stable operation. This study underscores the potential of BIM and solar energy integration to transform traditional buildings into energy-efficient, self-sustaining smart structures. Further research can expand the scalability of these methods across diverse climates and building typologies.
In the last few decades, various types of farming systems based on ecological principles have been proposed and developed. There is often interest in knowing about the differences between these systems, but such information must be obtained from several sources describing each of these systems. Therefore, this paper is an effort to consolidate the information on these systems in a concise manner without making comparative ratings between them. We found three components contained in the overarching theme of these systems: the reduction in external inputs, environmental protection, and sustainability. However, several variations exist between them, each with its own focus and guiding principles. Also, these farming systems contain their own specific terms to identify themselves and contain their own set of philosophies based on their founder. In this review, we provided a short description of some of the major ecologically based farming systems such as “agroecology”, “regenerative agriculture”, “holistic management”, “carbon farming”, “organic farming”, “permaculture”, “biodynamic farming”, “conservation agriculture”, and “regenerative organic farming”. We summarized these farming systems as “variants of farming systems based on ecological principles” and outlined the similarities and differences between them. We also discussed how the themes of these systems relate to the United Nations’ thirteen principles of agroecology. Although these systems share several similarities, their philosophy is rooted in their founders and the communities that choose to adopt these philosophies. Last, we discussed some of the challenges in implementing these ecological agriculture systems.
Amal Senevirathne, Chamith Hewawaduge, John Hwa Lee
ABSTRACT: In this study, we incorporated deletion of the O-antigen ligase gene to an attenuated Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) strain, JOL919 (SE PS; Δlon ΔcpxR), using the Lambda-Red recombination method and evaluated the safety and immunological aspects of the novel genotype, JOL2381 (SE VS: Δlon, ΔcpxR, ΔrfaL). Assessment of fecal shedding and organ persistence following administration via oral and IM routes revealed that the SE VS was safer than its parent strain, SE PS. Immunological assays confirmed that immunization via the oral route with SE PS was superior to the SE VS. However, chickens immunized with SE PS and SE VS strains via the IM route showed higher humoral and cell-mediated immune responses. Compared to PBS control, the IM route of immunization with SE VS resulted in a higher IgY antibody titer and expansion of CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell populations, which resulted in the clearance of Salmonella from the liver and splenic tissues. Furthermore, deletion of the O-antigen ligase gene caused lower production of LPS-specific antibodies in the host, promoting DIVA functionality and making it a plausible candidate for field utilization. Due to significant protection, high attenuation, and environmental safety concerns, the present SE VS strain is an ideal choice to prevent chicken salmonellosis and ensure public health.
The erratic nature of chaotic behavior is thought to erode the stability of periodic behavior, including topological oscillations. However, we discover that in the presence of chaos, non-trivial topology not only endures but also provides robust protection to chaotic dynamics within a topological lattice hosting non-linear oscillators. Despite the difficulty in defining topological invariants in non-linear settings, non-trivial topological robustness still persists in the parametric state of chaotic boundary oscillations. We demonstrate this interplay between chaos and topology by incorporating chaotic Chua's circuits into a topological Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) circuit. By extrapolating from the linear limit to deep into the non-linear regime, we find that distinctive correlations in the bulk and edge scroll dynamics effectively capture the topological origin of the protected chaos. Our findings suggest that topologically protected chaos can be robustly achieved across a broad spectrum of periodically-driven systems, thereby offering new avenues for the design of resilient and adaptable non-linear networks.
This paper investigates the faithfulness of multimodal large language model (MLLM) agents in a graphical user interface (GUI) environment, aiming to address the research question of whether multimodal GUI agents can be distracted by environmental context. A general scenario is proposed where both the user and the agent are benign, and the environment, while not malicious, contains unrelated content. A wide range of MLLMs are evaluated as GUI agents using a simulated dataset, following three working patterns with different levels of perception. Experimental results reveal that even the most powerful models, whether generalist agents or specialist GUI agents, are susceptible to distractions. While recent studies predominantly focus on the helpfulness of agents, our findings first indicate that these agents are prone to environmental distractions. Furthermore, we implement an adversarial environment injection and analyze the approach to improve faithfulness, calling for a collective focus on this important topic.
The unique complementarity of frame-based and event cameras for high frame rate object tracking has recently inspired some research attempts to develop multi-modal fusion approaches. However, these methods directly fuse both modalities and thus ignore the environmental attributes, e.g., motion blur, illumination variance, occlusion, scale variation, etc. Meanwhile, insufficient interaction between search and template features makes distinguishing target objects and backgrounds difficult. As a result, performance degradation is induced especially in challenging conditions. This paper proposes a novel and effective Transformer-based event-guided tracking framework, called eMoE-Tracker, which achieves new SOTA performance under various conditions. Our key idea is to disentangle the environment into several learnable attributes to dynamically learn the attribute-specific features and strengthen the target information by improving the interaction between the target template and search regions. To achieve the goal, we first propose an environmental Mix-of-Experts (eMoE) module that is built upon the environmental Attributes Disentanglement to learn attribute-specific features and environmental Attributes Assembling to assemble the attribute-specific features by the learnable attribute scores dynamically. The eMoE module is a subtle router that prompt-tunes the transformer backbone more efficiently. We then introduce a contrastive relation modeling (CRM) module to emphasize target information by leveraging a contrastive learning strategy between the target template and search regions. Extensive experiments on diverse event-based benchmark datasets showcase the superior performance of our eMoE-Tracker compared to the prior arts.
Membraneless droplets formed through liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) play a crucial role in mRNA storage, enabling organisms to swiftly respond to environmental changes. However, the mechanisms underlying mRNA integration and protection within droplets remain unclear. Here, we unravel the role of bacterial aggresomes as stress granules (SGs) in safeguarding mRNA during stress. We discovered that upon stress onset, mobile mRNA molecules selectively incorporate into individual proteinaceous SGs based on length-dependent enthalpic gain over entropic loss. As stress prolongs, SGs undergo compaction facilitated by stronger non-specific RNA-protein interactions, thereby promoting recruitment of shorter RNA chains. Remarkably, mRNA ribonucleases are repelled from bacterial SGs, due to the influence of protein surface charge. This exclusion mechanism ensures the integrity and preservation of mRNA within SGs during stress conditions, explaining how mRNA can be stored and protected from degradation. Following stress removal, SGs facilitate mRNA translation, thereby enhancing cell fitness in changing environments. These droplets maintain mRNA physiological activity during storage, making them an intriguing new candidate for mRNA therapeutics manufacturing.
Aleksandra Walaszczyk, Anna Jasińska, Przemysław Bernat
et al.
Abstract The amounts of anthropogenic pollutants, e.g., microplastics (MPs) and pesticides, in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems have been increasing. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of MPs on the removal of herbicides (metolachlor, MET; 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, 2,4-D) and the production of biosurfactants (surfactin and iturin) by Bacillus sp. Kol L6 active against Fusarium culmorum. The results showed that Kol L6 eliminated 40–55% MET and 2,4-D from liquid cultures, but this process was inhibited in the presence of MPs. Although the pollutants did not strongly limit the production of surfactin, iturin secretion was found to decrease by more than 70% in the presence of all three pollutants. Interestingly, the strongest modification in the profile of iturin homologues was calculated for the cultures containing MET + MP and 2,4-D + MET + MP. The bacteria significantly limited the growth of the phytopathogenic F. culmorum DSM1094F in the presence of individual pollutants and their two-component mixtures. However, in the presence of all three tested pollutants, the growth of the fungus was limited only partially (by no more than 40%). The presented results are a starting point for further research on bacteria-fungi-plants interactions in the soil environment in the presence of multiple pollutants.
Tamás Hofmann, Eszter Visi-Rajczi, Silvia Vaculciakova
et al.
The Kékfrankos is the most frequently cultivated wine grape in Hungary, with a significant national and regional impact, resulting in considerable amounts of byproducts (e.g. pomace, seeds). To the best of our knowledge no research has been conducted on the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of its seed extracts (GSE). A novel apporach of applying direct microwave treatment on grape seeds was implemented for the first time to enhance antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of GSE. Antioxidant properties were assayed using the DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl), FRAP (Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power) and TPC (Folin-Ciocâlteu's Total Polyphenol Content) methods. Profile and content of polyphenols was studied using high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry. Antibacterial properties were evaluated using Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (SA), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (ST239) (MRSA) and Gram-negative Escherichia coli (EC) bacteria strains. Results proved that the mild direct microwave treatment of grape seeds significantly increased total polyphenol, (+)-catechin, (−)-epicatechin as well as antioxidant capacity levels by 20–30 % compared to untreated samples and resulted the best antibacterial properties based on bacterial growth curves (SA and MRSA: 0.015625 mg/mL, EC: 0.25 mg/mL). Results justify the importance of further pharmacological investigations on Kékfrankos grape seed extracts and that the direct microwave treatment of grape seeds is an innovative approach for the fast and cost efficient improvement of the antibacterial properties of grape seed extracts.
Background and Objectives: Environmental crises are threats to all creatures and the balance of nature, and their root is human activity. Therefore, the current change in human behavior will be able to solve environmental problems. The purpose of environmental education is increasing people's sensitivity to events and changes in the physical, biological, social, economic, social, and political environment and their effects on the environment so that the ability to recognize environmental issues can acquire the necessary skills in devising methods and tools to protect the environment and solve its problems. Currently, gamification is one of the techniques that can be used to increase students' environmental literacy. Gamification is a new method that has been translated into ‘playmaking’ in some sources and means the use of playful elements and thoughts in areas that are not the nature of the game. Gamification has been one of the topics discussed in recent years, which can be used to increase efficiency and user interaction. Properly applied gamification in educational environments will lead to better learning of students. This study investigated the impact of gamification on the promotion of environmental literacy of the first-year elementary school students in TehranMethods: The research was conducted as a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test and post-test design along with the experimental group. The statistical population included all male students whose age ranged between 6-7 years, who were studying in the district 15 of Tehran in the academic year of 2021-2022. With multi-stage cluster random sampling method, 60 participants were included in the sample and 30 people were randomly assigned to the experimental group; They have received part of the concepts of environmental literacy through gamification-based education for 12 sessions. The questionnaire was devised by the researcher and its formal and content validity was confirmed by the experts. Also, its reliability was reported using Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.86, indicating acceptable reliability. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics via SPSS 24 software.Findings: The results of the data showed that gamification had a significant and positive effect on promoting environmental literacy (F = 1.57, 70.6 and P = 0.001). Also, gamification made a significant impact in promoting environmental literacy (water consumption management (F = 1.57, P = 0.001), electricity consumption management (F = 1.57, P = 0.001), gas consumption management (F = 0.001, 04 F1.57/58 and P=0.001), waste management (F1.57, 40.8 and P=0.001), forest preservation (F1.57, 337.63 and P=0.001), animal protection (F1.51.06) ,57 and P=0.001) among the students of the first year of elementary school.Conclusion: Taking into account the effective role of gamification in improving environmental literacy (water consumption management, electricity consumption management, gas consumption management, waste management, forest conservation and animal conservation), it can be concluded that the use of gamification in education is a new approach that has caused a wide transformation in the education system and increased the hope of the effectiveness of learning environmental concepts and related literacy among the students.
<p>High-resolution, downscaled climate model data are used
in a wide variety of applications across environmental sciences. Here we
introduce a new, high-resolution dataset, CHELSA-TraCE21k. It is obtained by
downscaling TraCE-21k data, using the “Climatologies at high resolution for
the earth's land surface areas” (CHELSA) V1.2 algorithm with the objective to
create global monthly climatologies for temperature and precipitation at
30 arcsec spatial resolution in 100-year time steps for the last 21 000
years. Paleo-orography at high spatial resolution and for each time step is
created by combining high-resolution information on glacial cover from
current and Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) glacier databases and interpolations
using data from a global model of glacial isostasy (ICE-6G_C) and a coupling to mean annual temperatures from TraCE21k (Transient
Climate Evolution of the last 21 000 years) based on the Community Climate
System Model version 3 (CCSM3). Based on the reconstructed paleo-orography,
mean annual temperature and precipitation were downscaled using the CHELSA
V1.2 algorithm. The data were validated by comparisons with the glacial
extent of the Laurentide ice sheet based on expert delineations, proxy data
from Greenland ice cores, historical climate data from meteorological
stations, and a dynamic simulation of species distributions throughout the
Holocene. Validations show that the CHELSA-TraCE21k V1.0 dataset reasonably
represents the distribution of temperature and
precipitation through time at an unprecedented 1 km spatial resolution, and
simulations based on the data are capable of detecting known LGM refugia of
species.</p>
The aim of this study from 2020 was to identify the role of rivers, including those with low water flow and a constant inflow of bisphenol A (BPA), 4-tert-octylphenol (4-t-OP) and 4-nonylphenol (4-NP) to the marine environment. Water samples were collected from the small rivers flowing into the Gulf of Gdańsk and from the Vistula River. Final assays were performed using high-performance liquid chromatography with a fluorescence detector (HPLC-FL). The highest concentrations of phenol derivatives were found in summer, most likely due to higher consumption of products containing phenol derivatives. Another factor may be the type of development in the catchment area. The measurements did not exceed the PNEC, though this does not mean that the amounts of phenol derivatives introduced into the Gulf of Gdańsk by rivers can be ignored. Mean loads of xenobiotics introduced to the sea via rivers have been calculated as over 320 kg y−1 of BPA and about 55 kg y−1 of 4-t-OP and 4-NP each.