Phaeocystis globosa is a significant cause of harmful algal blooms in temperate and tropical regions, with outbreaks typically occurring after spring diatom blooms. A previous study revealed that Chaetoceros affinis promotes the formation of P. globosa colonies. However, the composition of its extracellular metabolites and the underlying molecular mechanisms driving colony formation remain unclear. This study utilized C. affinis and its filtrate as stress conditions to stimulate P. globosa. Results indicated that both C. affinis and its filtrate induced a life-history transition in P. globosa. The abundance of solitary cells decreased, whereas colony abundance, colony diameter, and the number of colonial cells increased. Additionally, the filtrate induced significant alterations in the metabolic pathways of P. globosa cells. Photosynthesis was enhanced; genes related to DNA replication were downregulated, while those involved in fatty acid synthesis, amino acid synthesis, and polysaccharide synthesis were upregulated, and its degradation were downregulated. The reduced concentrations of 3-hydroxy-4-methoxycinnamic acid, abietic acid, 4,6-dinitro-o-cresol, and oleamide in the filtrate favored algal growth, thereby promoting colony formation. Nonetheless, the specific metabolites responsible for colony formation warrant further characterization in future studies. This study offers new insights into the role of chemical interactions in regulating the alternation processes between diatoms and P. globosa.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12866-025-04378-6.

Regional head elections (Pilkada) are a crucial instrument in Indonesia's democratic system. However, their implementation often faces transparency issues, such as allegations of fraud, money politics, and limited access to public information. To maintain public trust, election observers are needed whose performance can be objectively evaluated. This study developed a decision support system based on the Simple Multi-Attribute Rating Technique (SMART) method to evaluate the performance of election observers in North Sumatra Province. The SMART method was chosen because it can handle multi-criteria decision-making through a process of weighting, normalization, and ranking alternatives. Research data was obtained from documentation from the North Sumatra General Elections Commission (KPU) for the 2024 period, including criteria such as mobilization of state officials, intimidation, money politics, politicization of social assistance, violations of the quiet period, and findings at polling stations (TPS). The results indicate that the SMART-based evaluation system provides a more systematic, transparent, and accountable assessment mechanism. These findings are expected to provide policy recommendations for the KPU to improve the quality of monitoring and strengthen transparency in the implementation of regional elections.

This paper presents N-bipolar soft expert (N-BSE) sets, a novel framework designed to enhance multi-attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) by incorporating expert input, bipolarity, and non-binary evaluations. Existing MAGDM approaches often lack the ability to simultaneously integrate positive and negative assessments, especially in nuanced, multi-valued evaluation spaces. The proposed N-BSE model addresses this limitation by offering a comprehensive, mathematically rigorous structure for decision-making (DM). Fundamental operations of the N-BSE model are defined and analyzed, ensuring its theoretical consistency and applicability. To demonstrate its practical utility, the N-BSE model is applied to a general case study on sustainable energy solutions, illustrating its effectiveness in handling complex DM scenarios. An algorithm is proposed to streamline the DM process, enabling systematic and transparent identification of optimal alternatives. Additionally, a comparative analysis emphasizes the advantages of the N-BSE model over existing MAGDM frameworks, highlighting its capacity to integrate diverse expert opinions, evaluate both positive and negative attributes, and support multi-valued assessments. By bridging the gap between theoretical development and practical application, this paper contributes to advancing DM methodologies.

The offering of grocery stores is a strong driver of consumer decisions. While highly processed foods such as packaged products, processed meat and sweetened soft drinks have been increasingly associated with unhealthy diets, information on the degree of processing characterizing an item in a store is not straightforward to obtain, limiting the ability of individuals to make informed choices. GroceryDB, a database with over 50,000 food items sold by Walmart, Target and Whole Foods, shows the degree of processing of food items and potential alternatives in the surrounding food environment. The extensive data gathered on ingredient lists and nutrition facts enables a large-scale analysis of ingredient patterns and degrees of processing, categorized by store, food category and price range. Furthermore, it allows the quantification of the individual contribution of over 1,000 ingredients to ultra-processing. GroceryDB makes this information accessible, guiding consumers toward less processed food choices.

This work characterized different cation- and anion-exchange membranes to improve the efficiency for the electrochemical conversion of Li2SO4 into LiOH and simultaneously recover H2SO4 as a byproduct, an essential process for sustainable alternatives for lithium−ion battery recycling. The membrane’s ability to block H+ and OH− migration over the membrane to the feed stream of the electrolyzer was investigated. Simultaneously, the membrane resistance was measured to assess its impact on the cell voltage and overall energy consumption. The best CEM, Sx-2301-Wn, enabled to concentrate LiOH up to 1.7M with a current efficiency (CE) of 77.3%, while Fumasep FAB-130-PK, the best AEM, was able to concentrate H2SO4 up to 0.6M with a CE of 74.6%. The recirculation of LiOH into the middle compartment to maintain a constant pH was also investigated and showed to improve both Li+ (4.2%–8%) and SO42- (5.1%) migration, but pH higher than 3 led to an increased membrane resistance. The results of this work contributed to the selection of a suited membrane and ideal operational conditions for producing LiOH and H2SO4 through a three-compartment membrane electrolysis cell.

The TODIM method (Tomada de Decisao Interativa Multicriterio), which in Portuguese means “Interactive and Multicriteria Decision Making”, is a process of evaluation alternatives, with various academic and professional uses. The current project focuses on the first approach, considering students, professors and investigators as the main beneficiaries and target audience. There is a shortage of software that automate the TODIM method, therefore it is proposed to develop a web application mainly using Python, HTML and JavaScript programming languages that can satisfy this necessity. To guarantee a uniformity in the results obtained by this program, samples of results obtained by this method by other researchers are taken as a basis and guide. To develop the application, the complete functioning of TODIM as an alternative evaluation approach must be understood. In a general view, TODIM uses pairwise comparisons between decision criteria while eliminating the inconsistencies that arise from such comparisons. Thus, the main idea is to measure the degree of dominance in each alternative over the others using the prospective value function. As result, it calculates the overall and partial degrees of dominance of each alternative to finally lead to a classification or “ranking” of the best alternatives.

To confront current sustainability challenges, the European Commission aims to transition towards plant-based diets as well as shorter, regionalized value chains. Legume-based meat and dairy alternatives (LBAs) are seen as an important tool in the food system transition, replacing protein from animals with high-protein plant-based sources. However, regionalized LBA value chains require the co-occurrence of legume producers, LBA manufacturers, and consumers, and we lack understanding of the current status and future potential for such value chains in Europe. In this article, we integrate publicly-available datasets with a web-derived inventory of LBA manufacturer locations to map the regional strength of LBA value chains across Europe. Using manufacturers’ visions and employee interviews, we complement the spatial analysis with an exploratory assessment of how actors perceive their role in a plant-based food system transition.Regions in north-western Europe demonstrate (moderately) strong value chains for regionalized LBAs, yet few regions contain all three value chain nodes. The absence of LBA manufacturers is the most widespread barrier for more regional value chains (particularly in Eastern Europe), suggesting a need for infrastructure and policies that incentivize innovation in the value chain and new connections between legume producers, processors, LBA manufacturers, and consumers. LBA manufacturers in our sample express diverse values and therefore could play complementary roles in sustainability transitions. However, global manufacturers are markedly less likely to have visions related to systemic change. Together, our results showcase the potential to expand regionalized LBA value chains to improve sustainability throughout the EU, but regionalisation may not be possible everywhere, highlighting the need for a cross-scale and context-specific approach to plant-based protein transitions.

This study presents a comprehensive 3D printing process for plant-based meat alternatives, covering ink formulation, printing, and final product characterization. Traditionally, achieving desired food properties requires extensive exploration of ink components. Here, we demonstrate the potential of manipulating processing parameters instead of ink composition. Two structures were printed, differing only in extrusion temperature. The printed structures exhibited a dimensional accuracy slightly below 100%. We investigated their behavior through simulated food production cycles, including freezing, thawing, dehydration, and rehydration. Rheological measurements revealed that protein denaturation caused a 20% increase in viscosity. Temperature-induced protein denaturation allowed to produce 3D printed samples with a fine porous structure, with pore sizes ranging from 50 to 450 μm. Mechanical characterization showed that a single printing parameter (extrusion temperature) significantly impacts the final product mechanical properties, with an increase of about 50% in the maximum stress for denatured samples after rehydration. This novel approach simplifies 3D-printed protein-based food production, establishing a link between processing parameters and the final product mechanical behavior.

Managing flexible linguistic expressions with subjective preferences and objective information in group decision-making: A perspective based on personalized individual semantics

Logical abilities and creativity in calculations can be applied in economics where people organize and manage a business activity themselves and bear the risks of their business. He is responsible for his business, financial risks, material and human resources in his business. Technical economists usually act as owners or managers and also as operators of their business activities. Calculation in technical economics is a science that contains how to calculate, how to make considerations in solving a problem, including the feasibility of a business with existing alternatives based on economic factors and criteria. By studying this approach, it is hoped that someone can make the best decision from the many available alternatives. From the description of arithmetic it can be seen that calculations in technical economics involve very technical considerations. So technical economics involves technical analysis, with emphasis on economic aspects and has the aim of assisting decision making. Therefore, in making the decision to do so, a technical economist must be able to make the right decision. The right decision is not a decision without consideration. Of course, to make the right decision, basic considerations are needed. These basics are what are called alternatives in making decisions. This process of many alternatives can be tried to simulate through learning arithmetic calculations which can be done in various or many ways using the vertical metris method.

Mulberry (Morus alba L.) leaf powder modified the processing of meat alternatives: Principal component analysis from apparent properties to chemical bonds

Arsenic mobilization across the sediment-water interface of the Three Gorges Reservoir as a function of water depth using DGT and HR-Peepers, a preliminary study

The introduction of the first list of priority pathogenic fungi by the World Health Organization stresses the need to research and develop public health actions to mitigate infections caused by fungi. One of those actions involves the water disinfection systems, which comprise classical and alternative methods that have been developed in the last decades. Thereby, this work reviews the disinfection of fungi by classical methods such as chlorination, ozonation, and ultraviolet (UV) treatments and alternative advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) such as photo-Fenton, photocatalysis, or couplings of UV with peroxides. The matrices of aquatic systems (sewage, groundwater, drinking water, among others) were considered. A bibliometric analysis is performed initially, and then some aspects of the resistance to antifungals are presented, and the efficiency of the diverse processes in the reduction in fungal loading is also revised. Herein, it is shown the role of the disinfecting agents (e.g., chlorine, hydroxyl radical, or light) and their effects on fungi structures (e.g., direct DNA damage, or indirect damage due to the action of radicals). Moreover, gaps, such as the treatment of antifungal-resistant fungi and limited information about combinations among AOPs, related to the disinfection of water polluted by fungi, were identified.

The endothelial glycocalyx encompasses the entire endothelial cell, transducing extracellular signals and regulating vascular permeability and barrier functions. The apical glycocalyx, which forms the lumen of the vessel, and the basal glycocalyx, at the smooth muscle cell interface, are often investigated separately as they are exposed to vastly different stimuli. The apical glycocalyx directly senses fluid shear forces transmitting them intracellularly through connection to the cytoskeleton of the endothelial cell. The basal glycocalyx has demonstrated sensitivity to shear due to blood flow transmitted through the cytoskeleton, promoting alternate signaling processes. In this review, we discuss current literature on the basal glycocalyx's response to shear stress in the context of mechanotransduction and remodeling. The possible implications of basal glycocalyx degradation in pathologies are also explored. Finally, this review seeks to highlight how addressing the gaps discussed would improve our wholistic understanding of the endothelial glycocalyx and its role in maintaining vascular homeostasis.

Abstract Van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures that pair materials with diverse properties enable various quantum phenomena. However, the direct growth of vdW heterostructures is challenging. Modification of the surface layer of quantum materials to introduce new properties is an alternative process akin to solid state reaction. Here, vapor deposited transition metals (TMs), Cr and Mn, are reacted with Bi2Se3 with the goal to transform the surface layer to XBi2Se4 (X = Cr, Mn). Experiments and ab initio MD simulations demonstrate that the TMs have a high selenium affinity driving Se diffusion toward the TM. For monolayer Cr, the surface Bi2Se3 is reduced to Bi2‐layer and a stable (pseudo) 2D Cr1+δSe2 layer is formed. In contrast, monolayer Mn can transform upon mild annealing into MnBi2Se4. This phase only forms for a precise amount of initial Mn deposition. Sub‐monolayer amounts dissolve into the bulk, and multilayers form stable MnSe adlayers. This study highlights the delicate energy balance between adlayers and desired surface modified layers that governs the interface reactions and that the formation of stable adlayers can prevent the reaction with the substrate. The success of obtaining MnBi2Se4 points toward an approach for the engineering of other multicomponent vdW materials by surface reactions.

Early identification of acute gout is crucial, enabling healthcare professionals to implement targeted interventions for rapid pain relief and preventing disease progression, ensuring improved long-term joint function. In this study, we comprehensively explored the potential early detection of gout flares (GFs) based on nurses’ chief complaint notes in the Emergency Department (ED). Addressing the challenge of identifying GFs prospectively during an ED visit, where documentation is typically minimal, our research focused on employing alternative Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques to enhance detection accuracy. We investigated GF detection algorithms using both sparse representations by traditional NLP methods and dense encodings by medical domain-specific Large Language Models (LLMs), distinguishing between generative and discriminative models. Three methods were used to alleviate the issue of severe data imbalances, including oversampling, class weights, and focal loss. Extensive empirical studies were performed on the Gout Emergency Department Chief Complaint Corpora. Sparse text representations like tf-idf proved to produce strong performances, achieving F1 scores higher than 0.75. The best deep learning models were RoBERTa-large-PM-M3-Voc and BioGPT, which had the best F1 scores for each dataset, with a 0.8 on the 2019 dataset and a 0.85 F1 score on the 2020 dataset, respectively. We concluded that although discriminative LLMs performed better for this classification task when compared to generative LLMs, a combination of using generative models as feature extractors and employing a support vector machine for classification yielded promising results comparable to those obtained with discriminative models.

Abstract Due to the need for environmental protection and sustainability, there has been a rising need to replace the traditionally harsh oxidative functionalization process, which is essential for syntheses of various organic compounds, by biocatalysis. However, the investigated alternative processes are still challenged with enzyme instability and/or low specific reaction rate. Due to these still existing challenges and the recognition of Pickering emulsions as an efficient platform for continuous biphasic biocatalysis, the first, enzymatic step of the lipase catalyzed oxidative functionalization was investigated in bioactive Pickering emulsions. The study focused on the impact of Pickering emulsion composition such as the volume phase fraction, type and concentration of the nanoparticles and enzymes on continuous peroxyacetic acids synthesis. The type of nanoparticles used and Candida antarctica lipase B concentration significantly impacted the process while the other named parameters only had a marginal influence.

Electrocoagulation treatment of sugarcane vinasse: Operating parameters and cost analysis by response surface methodology

In this work a multilevel nanoimprint lithography (NIL) replication process was demonstrated to produce 1D MEMS mirrors employing vertical asymmetric comb-drive electrostatic actuation, in a 200 mm wafer SOI-based process. In comparison with a direct write laser (DWL) grayscale lithography step (which for the proposed layout requires around 40 h of exposure time per wafer), this NIL method greatly enhances fabrication throughput by reliably reproducing a master's multilevel topography onto the photoresist. This study describes the NIL master fabricated using grayscale lithography, the working stamp, and the replication micromachining processes. An extensive characterization of the morphology and topography of the intermediate working stamp is provided, along with an optimization study of the replica fabrication and the alignment procedure between the replica and the mirror substrate. The MEMS device pattern was effectively replicated, exhibiting electrode gaps of 3.66 μm (grayscale process yields gaps of 3.5 μm). Discrete photoresist levels of 1.53 μm and 2.83 μm were observed, with a misalignment to the preceding metal layer of 5 μm and 10 μm in the x and y directions, respectively. These deviations were found to be within the required alignment margin defined by the layout (20 μm). The 1D MEMS mirror fabricated using this NIL process was successfully characterized using Scanning Laser-Doppler Vibrometry under atmospheric pressure conditions. The results obtained were in accordance with the theoretical design parameters, demonstrating that NIL can be successfully used as a fast, low-cost alternative lithography process to fabricate multilevel MEMS structures.

Abstract Photocatalytic oxygen reductive H2O2 production is a promising approach to alternative industrial anthraquinone processes while suffering from the requirement of pure O2 feedstock for practical application. Herein, we report a spaced double hydrogen bond (IC−H‐bond) through multi‐component Radziszewski reaction in an imidazole poly‐ionic‐liquid composite (SI‐PIL‐TiO2) and levofloxacin hydrochloride (LEV) electron donor for highly efficient and selective photocatalytic air reductive H2O2 production. It is found that the IC−H‐bond formed by spaced imino (−NH−) group of SI‐PIL‐TiO2 and carbonyl (−C=O) group of LEV can switch the imidazole active sites characteristic from a covered state to a fully exposed one to shield the strong adsorption of electron donor and N2 in the air, and propel an intenser positive potential and more efficient orbitals binding patterns of SI‐PIL‐TiO2 surface to establish competitive active sites for selectivity O2 chemisorption. Moreover, the high electron enrichment of imidazole as an active site for the 2e− oxygen reduction ensures the rapid reduction of O2. Therefore, the IC−H‐bond enables a total O2 utilization and conversion efficiency of 94.8 % from direct photocatalytic air reduction, achieving a H2O2 production rate of 1518 μmol/g/h that is 16 and 23 times compared to poly‐ionic‐liquid composite without spaced imino groups (PIL‐TiO2) and TiO2, respectively.