Rigid Structure Research Articles

The utilization of Bacillus spp. as eco-compatible bioresources represented a promising strategy in antifungal biotechnology. In this study, Bacillus subtilis Bs-06, isolated from the rhizosphere of healthy tomato plants, exhibited strong antagonistic activity through the secretion of diverse bioactive metabolites. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of its culture extract identified ten major compounds, including Phenol-3,5-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl), palmitic acid, oleic acid, and octadecanoic acid, which had been widely reported for antimicrobial efficacy. To investigate their Molecular Docking targeted the key virulence proteins of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici Cutinase (5AJH), Avr1/SIX4 (7T6A), and Avr3/SIX1 (7T69). Docking simulations revealed strong binding affinities, with Phenol-3,5-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl) showing the highest interaction energy (- 11.53kcal/mol) against Avr3. The ligand-protein complexes were stabilized by hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions, suggesting potential inhibition of pathogen virulence functions. Normal mode analysis further demonstrated differential flexibility among protein-ligand complexes, where Avr1 exhibited the highest conformational mobility, while Cutinase displayed the greatest structural rigidity. These findings established Bs-06 as a valuable source of antifungal metabolites capable of targeting virulence determinants at the molecular level. The integration of GC-MS profiling, molecular docking, and dynamic simulations underscored the potential of Bacillus derived metabolites as sustainable biocontrol agents for managing Fusarium wilt in tomato.

This review reports the progress on the utilizationof polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) for the adsorption of pharmaceuticals (PCs) and organic dyes. PIMs are exceptional porous organic polymers that possess copious contortion sites and rigid fused-ring structures induced by spirocentric molecules (two cyclic rings sharing one tetrahedral carbon). The availability of these contortion sites inhibits bond flexibility, bond rotation, and structural relaxation of PIMs in their solid state. This has led to the intrinsic microporosity, high Brunauer-Emmett-Teller and Barrett-Joyner-Halenda surface areas, pore radii, pore volumes, high permeability, high diffusivity, high selectivity, and high thermal stability. PIMs comprise a cascade of girthy ladder-like building blocks connected to the spirocentre as a result of inflexible backbone stereochemistry. Research progress has shown from a thorough literature survey that the adsorptive properties of PIMs and their functionalized analogs have not been extensively explored for the removal of PCs and organic dyes in contaminated water. To date, there exists scanty literature on the adsorption of PCs in contaminated water. In prospect, research efforts have to be intensified so as to establish vast applications of PIMs for the treatment of water contaminated with PCs and organic dyes.

Over the last years, stereolithography has developed to be one of the most promising fabrication techniques in tissue engineering. Posing the possibility of fabricating patient-specific, porous implants, it became especially attractive for scaffold fabrication for the treatment of critical sized bone defects. State-of-the-art photopolymer systems mostly consist of potentially cytotoxic compounds, such as (meth)acrylates, that furthermore show insufficient degradation and lead to acidic degradation products that could induce adverse tissue reactions. Herein, we introduced trifunctional monomers comprising cleavable silyl ether groups for thiol-ene photopolymerization to enlarge the material platform for printed bone grafts. Polymer networks comprising a high number of silyl ether moieties typically tend to be mechanically weak and exhibit low Tg values, especially when combined with thioether bonds, which are a direct result of polymerization via thiol-ene click reaction. To push thermomechanical properties to a level where they are sufficient for bone grafting (Tg > 37 °C), we introduced rigid bridged alicyclic structures in the form of norbornane-derived motifs into the silyl ether monomers, resulting in a norbornene-containing double bond monomer and a norbornane-derived thiol monomer. Together with noncleavable comonomers, we were able to demonstrate a substantial increase in Tg up to 62 °C, which is well above the values reported until now for similar thiol-ene networks. Furthermore, in this study, we demonstrated high photoreactivity for some of the monomers and also successfully performed proof-of-concept printing using a DLP setup. Besides excellent thermomechanical behavior, the mechanical strength of the silyl ether-based polymer network was shown to be outstanding. Cleavability of the silyl ethers was displayed with a quasi-linear degradation rate of 6.5% per month with moderate swelling. Additionally, the degradation product of the silyl ether-based network was isolated and shown to exhibit no relevant cytotoxicity to mouse fibroblast cells.

Traditional force fields commonly use a combination of bonded torsional terms and empirically scaled nonbonded interactions to capture 1-4 energies and forces of atoms separated by three bonds in a molecule. While this approach can yield accurate torsional energy barriers, it often leads to inaccurate forces and erroneous geometries and creates an interdependence between dihedral terms and nonbonded interactions, complicating parametrization and reducing transferability. In this paper, we demonstrate that 1-4 interactions can be accurately modeled using only bonded coupling terms, eliminating the need for arbitrarily scaled nonbonded interactions altogether. Furthermore, by leveraging the automated parametrization capabilities of the Q-Force toolkit, we efficiently determine the necessary coupling terms without the need for manual adjustment. Our approach is first validated on a range of small molecule systems, encompassing both flexible and rigid structures, and shows a significant improvement in force field accuracy, obtaining subkcal/mol mean absolute error for every molecule tested. We further extend the bonded-only model for 1-4 interactions to Amber ff14sb, CHARMM36, and OPLS-AA force fields to reproduce ab initio gas and implicit solvent ϕ,ψ surfaces of alanine dipeptide.

Aim: Cloud retail companies today require high availability, scalability, and compliance in order to provide smooth service delivery and enhanced customer experience. Although previous work, such as recent literature reviews of the confluence of AI-DevOps for predictive maintenance, has claimed promising progress in automation and resiliency, issues such as data quality problems, model drift, integration complexity, and standardization gaps remain. The purpose of this study is to critically assess the use of ITIL frameworks in governing large-scale retail cloud operations by evaluating whether ITIL frameworks enable service reliability, scalability, and compliance. Methods: In order to accomplish this, we used a systematic literature review method by analyzing and synthesizing forty publications that agreed to peer review and were published from 2018 to 2024, to uncover common themes, benefits, and disadvantages in ITIL-based frameworks used in cloud governance. Results: The findings indicate that the adoption of ITIL frameworks supports substantively improved efficiency in change and incident management, grows operational transparency, and strengthens compliance alignment across hybrid and multi-cloud retail infrastructures. Conversely, there are challenges related to the more static and rigid structuring of ITIL frameworks, integrated AI-DevOps workflows, and adapting ITIL frameworks to incorporate dynamic, cloud-native contingencies. Integrative autonomous technology is forecasted to establish leaner and resilient governance with more consistency. Conclusion: We report that integrating ITIL 4 principles with tech-enabled approaches, such as DevOps, AIOps, or self-healing systems, will lead to improved agility, resilience, and consistency in governance. Recommendation: Future studies and industry are recommended to adopt the concepts advanced by adaptive ITIL models while ensuring to draw from AI-based predictive analytics and continuous improvement loops, as options to a governing decision support framework that suits the increasingly disruptive features of digital retail ecology.

A “hard” four-block Laue-case X-ray interferometer is proposed. The additional block, compared to the three-block design, enables simultaneous generation of three interferograms from different parts of the interferometer. The rigidity of the interferometer structure ensures the absence of uncontrolled preliminary moiré (at least in the central interferogram), thereby improving measurement accuracy.

Cultural heritage conservation faces escalating challenges from environmental threats and resource constraints, necessitating innovative preservation strategies that balance predictive accuracy with interpretability. This study presents a hybrid neuro-fuzzy framework addressing critical gaps in heritage conservation practice through sequential integration of feedforward neural networks (FF-NNs) and Mamdani-type fuzzy inference systems (MFISs). The system processes multi-sensor data (temperature, vibration, pressure) through a two-stage architecture: an FF-NN for pattern recognition and an MFIS for interpretable decision-making. Evaluation on 1000 synthetic heritage building monitoring samples (70% training, 30% testing) demonstrates mean accuracy of 94.3% (±0.62%), precision of 92.3% (±0.78%), and recall of 90.3% (±0.70%) across five independent runs. Feature importance analysis reveals temperature as the dominant fault detection driver (60.6% variance contribution), followed by pressure (36.7%), while vibration contributes negatively (−2.8%). The hybrid architecture overcomes the accuracy–interpretability trade-off inherent in standalone approaches: while the FF-NN achieves superior fault detection, the MFIS provides transparent maintenance recommendations essential for conservation professional validation. However, comparative analysis reveals that rigid fuzzy rule structures constrain detection capabilities for borderline cases, reducing recall from 96% (standalone FF-NN) to 47% (hybrid system) in fault-dominant scenarios. This limitation highlights the need for adaptive fuzzy integration mechanisms in safety-critical heritage applications.

The size of general-purpose machine tools used in production tends to be oversized for the parts being produced. Downsizing these machine tools can reduce manufacturing costs by decreasing the size of large production lines. Additionally, smaller machine tools can be easily transported and installed, facilitating the construction of flexible production lines that can adapt to changes in demand. However, downsizing machine tools reduces structural rigidity, leading to deformation due to cutting forces. The displacement of the tool from the target position caused by this deformation makes high-precision machining of hard materials, such as steel, difficult. This study proposes a method to reduce machining errors in small machine tools by predicting deformation during cutting and compensating for tool position based on the results of a simple static load test. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, a new small 3-axis NC milling machine was developed. The proposed method successfully reduced machining errors by 87% in the side cutting of a steel workpiece.

Nanoindentation, an advanced technique employed for characterizing materials, facilitates the precise determination of their hardness and Young's modulus by applying a specific, controlled force through an indenter, enabling highly localized deformation and measurement at nanometer scales. The nanoindentation gives us the view of the isotropic and anisotropic features of the materials by analyzing the zone beneath the indenter. The application of Bulk Metallic Glass (BMG) alloy, renowned for its unique combination of high strength, exceptional elasticity, and superior corrosion resistance, spans diverse industries including aerospace, biomedical, and consumer electronics. The study focuses on conducting nanoindentation analysis on the BMG alloy, aiming to characterize its deformation behavior. This involved utilizing Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to discern deformation characteristics, followed by validation of the findings through simulations, ensuring robustness and reliability of the results. The modulus, determined to be 227GPa, provided insight into the material's structural rigidity, and the hardness 14.8GPa offered an indication of its resistance to localized plastic deformation. The results have been compared with the simulation results where the modulus was 242GPa and the hardness was 16.1GPa.

Solar azo-switches, as a newly emerging class of azo molecules, hold great promise for solar energy storage and conversion. However, the synthetic complexity and structural rigidity have limited the economic feasibility and functional diversification of such azo compounds. Inspired by the application of organozinc reagents in synthesis, we developed a modular one-pot synthetic approach for solar azo molecules based on heteroaryl organozinc reagents in this study. This "one-pot" method features a simple operation with commercially available substrates, demonstrating adaptability to various heteroaryl structures and functional groups. These molecules exhibit excellent isomerization efficiency (up to 87%) under unfiltered sunlight and demonstrate tunable half-lives of the Z isomer ranging from seconds to months. Notably, the fluorinated azo compound showed particular promise with a half-life of 157 days, which is the longest reported to date among solar mono-azo molecules.

This study investigates the impact of integrating Project-Based Learning (PjBL) with Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) as a complementary pedagogical framework on the creative thinking skills of senior secondary students studying sustainable natural resource management at SMA Negeri 1 Jombang, Indonesia. A quantitative quasi-experimental design employing a Pre-test Post-test Nonequivalent Control Group approach was conducted with 66 purposively selected grade XI students, divided into an experimental group receiving PjBL integrated with DAP and a control group receiving PjBL alone. The relatively small sample size may limit the statistical power to detect subtle effects. Data collection instruments comprised a validated essay test designed to measure multiple indicators of creative thinking, such as divergence, originality, fluency, elaboration, and convergent thinking, and structured classroom observations conducted by trained observers to assess student engagement and participation during the learning activities. The results of the Independent Sample T-Test analysis showed no significant difference between the two groups (p=0.560), although the mean score of the experimental class was slightly higher (77 vs. 76.4). Two-Way ANOVA also confirmed no significant difference by gender (p=0.422). Findings suggest that factors such as the short duration of the intervention, a rigid project structure limiting student autonomy, and assessment instruments lacking integration of spatial and sustainability contexts may have constrained the development of students’ creative thinking, as supported by qualitative reflections and post-intervention observations. This study recommends modification of DAP with integration of geospatial analysis-based challenges and extension of project duration to increase the relevance of sustainability-based Geography learning.

ABSTRACT The article critically explores the European Union’s (EU) engagement in Lebanon (2015–2024) through the lens of decentring—an approach that seeks to transcend Eurocentric perspectives by acknowledging non-European viewpoints and highlighting the agency and lived experiences of local actors in international relations. Focusing on three key areas—the EU liberal development model, the security-driven approach, and the top-down nature of EU engagement—the study combines quantitative data on EU-funded projects with qualitative insights from interviews and official documents. The analysis uncovers certain ambivalence: while some EU practices are positively received and have contributed to important legal and institutional reforms, the EU support is often perceived as hierarchical and misaligned with local priorities. Civil society actors report challenges related to rigid funding structures that prioritize international NGOs, weak monitoring, and a limited understanding of Lebanon’s socio-political complexities. The article calls for a more reflexive, relational EU foreign policy that embraces dissonance, learns from local actors, and moves beyond normative projection. It contributes to decentring literature by grounding critique in empirical reality and proposing contrapuntal reconstruction as a way forward. In doing so, it encourages rethinking EU engagement not as imposition, but as mutual adaptation amid shifting geopolitical dynamics and increasing pressures on civil society.

Abstract This paper investigates the geometric consequences of equality in area-charge inequalities for spherical minimal surfaces and, more generally, for marginally outer trapped surfaces (MOTS), within the framework of the Einstein-Maxwell equations. We show that, under appropriate energy and curvature conditions, saturation of the inequality Α≧4π(Q E 2 +Q M 2 ) imposes a rigid geometric structure in a neighborhood of the surface. In particular, the electric and magnetic fields must be normal to the foliation, and the local geometry is isometric to a Riemannian product. We establish two main rigidity theorems: one in the time-symmetric case and another for initial data sets that are not necessarily time-symmetric. In both cases, equality in the area-charge bound leads to a precise characterization of the intrinsic and extrinsic geometry of the initial data near the critical surface.

ABSTRACT Soft materials, with high elasticity and low glass transition temperatures ( T g s), present significant challenges in fabricating finely structured components via 3D printing due to their inherent softness and slow curing kinetics. Current direct ink writing (DIW) methods for soft polymers typically rely on external stimuli (e.g., light and heat) or precious metal catalysts to ensure structural stability during printing, increasing process complexity and cost. Here, a simple DIW 3D printing strategy for rubber was developed by introducing modified lignin. By virtue of its rigid benzene ring structure and abundant reactive groups, the modified lignin forms covalently bonded crosslinked networks and intermolecular hydrogen bonds with rubber to enhance the viscoelasticity, and thixotropy of the ink. The addition of 30–50 wt% modified lignin increased the modulus of the ink by five orders of magnitude, which resulted in stable self‐supported printing during the printing process. Water‐collecting materials with a bionic cactus spine structure were fabricated utilizing 3D printing, which demonstrated superior capabilities for efficient fog capturing and photothermal evaporation, respectively. By combining these two water‐harvesting methods, a daily cycle can ideally deliver an overall water yield approximately 22 L m −2 , which will providing a high‐performance solution for all‐weather fresh water access.

Since its inception, plastic has become an indispensable material in human production activities and daily life. Polycarbonate (PC), a high-performance engineering plastic, has emerged as one of the top five engineering plastics due to its outstanding comprehensive properties and is among the fastest-growing and most promising varieties. Polycarbonate is classified into petroleum-based and bio-based types. Bio-based polycarbonate serves as a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based polycarbonate, with core advantages including environmental friendliness and resource renewability. The rigid benzene ring structure in the polycarbonate molecular chain endows it with exceptional performance: it exhibits excellent impact resistance and high tensile strength, as well as low swelling rates, superior insulation, flame retardancy, and electrical properties. These characteristics make it highly promising for applications in flexible electronics, including flexible displays, smart wearable devices, and electronic skin. This paper provides a systematic review of research progress on polycarbonate in flexible electronic devices, focusing on three core areas: first, its applications and technological breakthroughs in key fields such as flexible substrates, functional composite materials, sensors, and packaging; second, modification methods for optimizing polycarbonate performance; third, based on the current research status, an outline of future key research directions, offering references for innovative development in related fields.

High-precision sensor co-registration is a critical prerequisite for achieving high-resolution imaging in Optically Pumped Magnetometer–Magnetoencephalography (OPM-MEG) systems. The conventional magnetic dipole fitting method, essentially a multipole expansion approximation of a finite-size coil, exhibits accuracy that strongly depends on spatial geometric factors such as coil–sensor distance, dipole orientation, and the projection angle of the sensor’s sensitive axis. Moreover, the approximation error increases significantly when sensors are placed either too close to the coils or at an unfavorable angular coupling. To address this issue, we propose a sensor localization and orientation method that combines magnetic dipole-equivalent modeling with a rigid coil structure (RCS). The RCS provides stable geometric constraints and eliminates uncertainties introduced by scalp-attached coils. In addition, three objective functions (the standard Frobenius norm, a weighted Frobenius norm and the structural similarity index (SSIM)) are formulated to mitigate the imbalance caused by near-field strong signals and to improve stability under noise and error propagation. Simulation results demonstrate that both under ideal conditions and with assembly perturbations, the weighted Frobenius norm and SSIM methods consistently achieve position errors below 1 mm and orientation errors below 1°, which effectively suppress large outlier deviations and achieve better performance than the standard Frobenius norm. The results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method in achieving both high accuracy and robustness. Beyond clarifying the primary factors influencing magnetic dipole approximation errors, this study provides a geometry-constrained and optimization-based framework, offering a feasible pathway toward the practical implementation of high-precision, multi-channel OPM-MEG systems.

Deformable image registration (DIR) is a critical component for planning and quality assurance in CBCT-guided adaptive radiotherapy treatment. Conventional DIR methods apply a uniform regularization over the image domain, failing to account for the local biomechanical properties of different tissues. Recent advancements emphasize the need for spatially varying models to improve anatomicalplausibility. This study aims to introduce a novel, lightweight framework that incorporates local rigidity constraints in DIR to improve anatomical consistency and motion estimation accuracy. The approach is designed to be general, computationally efficient, and compatible with existing DIRpipelines. The proposed framework jointly optimizes the rigid-body transformation and the surrounding tissue deformations. The proposed framework was evaluated on pelvic CT-CBCT image pairs with annotated landmarks. Local rigidity constraints were imposed on automatically segmented sacrum, hip, and femur bones. Four registration algorithms were tested, combining different regularization types, with and without rigidity constraints. Accuracy was measured using the target registration error (TRE) and biomechanical plausibility was assessed via the Jacobian of the estimated motion. Secondary verification was performed on a thoracic CT database. With automatic segmentation and rigidity constraints placed upon the ribs and thoracic vertebrae, accuracy and plausibility were analyzed in these structures and inside thelungs. Across cases, the constrained methods improved landmark alignment compared to baseline models, increasing the proportion of cases with mean TRE below 3mm. Local rigidity constraints significantly reduced unphysical deformations in rigid bones as indicated by the Jacobian determinant mappings and analysis on the residual energy of the Jacobian orthogonality. Analysis of thoracic CT images showed improved alignment of the ribs and vertebrae with marginal increase in TRE of the landmarks in the lungs. The added constraints increased the runtime to a maximum of s. The proposed framework enforces local rigidity constraints during DIR, increasing accuracy without significantly compromising speed. It removes anatomically implausible deformations in rigid structures. Its efficiency and anatomical reliability make it well-suited for CBCT-guided adaptiveradiotherapy.

Horizontal blocking of metastatic growth factors signaling by low molecular weight heparin derivative to control ovarian cancer progression.

The effect of cooking time and Premna microphylla Turcz addition on the protein network of noodles: Insights from textural properties and molecular mechanisms.

Planar β keto-enamine-based covalent organic frameworks as new emitters for electrochemiluminescence sensing of organophosphate pesticides.