The metabolic reprogramming that promotes tumorigenesis in glioblastoma is induced by dynamic alterations in the hypoxic tumor microenvironment, as well as in transcriptional and signaling networks, which result in changes in global genetic expression. The signaling pathways PI3K/AKT/mTOR and RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK stimulate cell metabolism, either directly or indirectly, by modulating the transcriptional factors p53, HIF1, and c-Myc. The overexpression of HIF1 and c-Myc, master regulators of cellular metabolism, is a key contributor to the synthesis of bioenergetic molecules that mediate glioma cell transformation, proliferation, survival, migration, and invasion by modifying the transcription levels of key gene groups involved in metabolism. Meanwhile, the tumor-suppressing protein p53, which negatively regulates HIF1 and c-Myc, is often lost in glioblastoma. Alterations in this triad of transcriptional factors induce a metabolic shift in glioma cells that allows them to adapt and survive changes such as mutations, hypoxia, acidosis, the presence of reactive oxygen species, and nutrient deprivation, by modulating the activity and expression of signaling molecules, enzymes, metabolites, transporters, and regulators involved in glycolysis and glutamine metabolism, the pentose phosphate cycle, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation, as well as the synthesis and degradation of fatty acids and nucleic acids. This review summarizes our current knowledge on the role of HIF1, c-Myc, and p53 in the genic regulatory network for metabolism in glioma cells, as well as potential therapeutic inhibitors of these factors. Full article

The HER2-positive subtype accounts for approximately one-fifth of all breast cancers. Insensitivity and development of acquired resistance to targeted therapies in some patients contribute to their poor prognosis. HER2 overexpression is associated with metabolic reprogramming, facilitating cancer cell growth and survival. Novel liver X receptor (LXR) ligand GAC0001E5 (1E5) has been shown to inhibit cancer cell proliferation by disrupting glutaminolysis and inducing oxidative stress. In this study, HER2-positive breast cancer cells were treated with 1E5 to determine their potential inhibitory effects and mechanisms of action in HER2-positive breast cancers. Similar to previous observations in other cancer types, 1E5 treatments inhibited LXR activity, expression, and cancer cell proliferation. Expression of fatty acid synthesis genes, including fatty acid synthase (FASN), was downregulated following 1E5 treatment, and results from co-treatment experiments with an FASN inhibitor suggest that the same pathway is targeted by 1E5. Treatments with 1E5 disrupted glutaminolysis and resulted in increased oxidative stress. Strikingly, HER2 transcript and protein levels were both significantly downregulated by 1E5. Taken together, these findings indicate the therapeutic potential of targeting HER2 overexpression and associated metabolic reprogramming via the modulation of LXR in HER2-positive breast cancers. Full article

Additive manufacturing of soft magnetic materials is a promising technology for creating topologically optimized electrical machines. High-performance electrical machines can be made from high-silicon-content FeSi alloys. Fe-6.5wt%Si material has exceptional magnetic properties; however, manufacturing this steel with the classical cold rolling methodology is not possible due to the brittleness of this material. Laser powder bed fusion technology (L-PBF) offers a solution to this problem. Finding the optimal printing parameters is a challenging task. Nevertheless, it is crucial to resolve the brittleness of the created materials so they can be used in commercial applications. The temperature dependence of magnetic hysteresis properties of Fe-6.5wt%Si materials is presented in this paper. The magnetic hysteresis properties were examined from 20 °C to 120 °C. The hysteresis measurements were made by a precision current generator–based hysteresis measurement tool, which uses fast Fourier transformation–based filtering techniques to increase the accuracy of the measurements. The details of the applied scalar hysteresis sensor and the measurement uncertainties were discussed first in the paper; then, three characteristic points of the static hysteresis curve of the ten L-PBF-manufactured identical toroidal cores were investigated and compared at different temperatures. These measurements show that, despite the volumetric ratio of the porosities being below 0.5%, the mean crack length in the samples is not significant for the examined samples. These small defects can cause a significant 5% decrement in some characteristic values of the examined hysteresis curve. Full article

To understand how the soil microbial community structure responds to vegetation restoration in alpine mining areas, this study specifically examines the grassland ecosystem in the Qianmalong mining area of the Qilian Mountains after five years of artificial restoration. High-throughput sequencing methods were employed to analyze soil bacteria and fungi microbial characteristics in diverse grassland communities. Combined with modifications in vegetation diversity as well as soil physicochemical properties, the impact of vegetation restoration on soil microbiome diversity in this alpine mining area was investigated. The findings indicated that the dominant plants were Cyperus rotundus, Carex spp., and Elymus nutans. As the extent of the grassland’s restoration increased, the number of plant species, importance values, and plant community diversity showed an increasing trend. The plant functional groups were mainly dominated by Cyperaceae, followed by Poaceae. Plant height, density, plant cover, frequency, and aboveground biomass showed an increasing trend, and soil water content (SWC) increased. While soil pH and soil electrical conductivity (EC) exhibited a declining trend, available phosphorus (AP), total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), nitrate nitrogen (NO₃-N), soil organic carbon (SOC), and soil water content (SWC) showed an increasing trend. The dominant bacterial communities were Actinobacteriota, Proteobacteria, Acidobacteriota, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, and Gemmatimonadota, while the dominant fungal communities were Ascomycota, Mortierellomycota, Basidiomycota, unclassified_k_Fungi, and Glomeromycota. Significant differences were detected within soil microbial community composition among different degrees of restoration grasslands, with bacteria generally dominating over fungi. SWC, TP, and TN were found to be the main soil physicochemical factors affecting the distribution of soil bacterial communities’ structure; however, SOC, TN, and NO₃-N were the primary factors influencing the soil distribution of fungal communities. The results of this study indicate that different degrees of vegetation restoration in alpine mining areas can significantly affect soil bacterial and fungal communities, and the degree of restoration has varying effects on the soil bacteria and fungi community structure in alpine mining areas. Full article

Cervical cancer is caused by a persistent and high-grade infection. It is caused by the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), which, when entering cervical cells, alters their physiology and generates serious lesions. HPV 18 is among those most involved in carcinogenesis in this region, but there are still no drug treatments that cause cure or total remission of lesions caused by HPV. It is known that L-asparaginase is an amidohydrolase, which plays a significant role in the pharmaceutical industry, particularly in the treatment of specific cancers. Due to its antitumor properties, some studies have demonstrated its cytotoxic effect against cervical cancer cells. However, the commercial version of this enzyme has side effects, such as hypersensitivity, allergic reactions, and silent inactivation due to the formation of antibodies. To mitigate these adverse effects, several alternatives have been explored, including the use of L-asparaginase from other microbiological sources, which is the case with the use of the fungus Aspergillus niger, a high producer of L-asparaginase. The study investigated the influence of the type of fermentation, precipitant, purification, characterization, and in vitro cytotoxicity of L-asparaginase. The results revealed that semisolid fermentation produced higher enzymatic activity and protein concentration of A. niger. The characterized enzyme showed excellent stability at pH 9.0, temperature of 50 °C, resistance to surfactants and metallic ions, and an increase in enzymatic activity with the organic solvent ethanol. Furthermore, it exhibited low cytotoxicity in GM and RAW cells and significant cytotoxicity in HeLa cells. These findings indicate that L-asparaginase derived from A. niger may be a promising alternative for pharmaceutical production. Its attributes, including stability, activity, and low toxicity in healthy cells, suggest that this modified enzyme could overcome challenges associated with antitumor therapy. Full article

Consumers are increasing their daily demand for beef and are becoming more discerning about its nutritional quality and flavor. The present objective was to evaluate how the ration energy content (combined net energy, Nemf) impacts the slaughter performance, carcass characteristics, and meat qualities of Honghe yellow cattle raised in confinement. Fifteen male Honghe yellow cattle were divided into three groups based on a one-way design: a low-energy group (LEG, 3.72 MJ/kg), a medium-energy group (MEG, 4.52 MJ/kg), and a high-energy group (HEG, 5.32 MJ/kg). After a period of 70 days on these treatments, the animals were slaughtered and their slaughter performance was determined, and the longissimus dorsi muscle (LD) and biceps femoris (BF) muscles were gathered to evaluate meat quality and composition. Increasing the dietary energy concentration led to marked improvements (p < 0.05) in the live weight before slaughter (LWBS), weight of carcass, backfat thickness, and loin muscle area. HEG also improved the yield of high-grade commercial cuts (13.47% vs. 10.39%) (p < 0.05). However, meat quality traits were not affected by treatment except for shear force, which was affected by dietary energy. A significant improvement (p < 0.05) in the intramuscular fat (IMF) content was observed in the HEG. Little effect on the amino acid profile was observed (p > 0.05), except for a tendency (p = 0.06) to increase the histidine concentration in the BF muscle. Increasing dietary energy also reduced C22:6n-3 and saturated fatty acids (SFAs) and enhanced C18:1 cis-9 and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs, p < 0.05). Those results revealed that increasing energy levels of diets could enhance slaughter traits and affect the meat quality and fatty acid composition of different muscle tissues of Honghe yellow cattle. These results contribute to the theoretical foundation to formulate nutritional standards and design feed formulas for the Honghe yellow cattle. Full article

In this work, we will explore the effects of non-commutativity in fractional classical and quantum schemes using the flat Friedmann–Robertson–Walker (FRW) cosmological model coupled to a scalar field in the K-essence formalism. In previous work, we have obtained the commutative solutions in both regimes in the fractional framework. Here, we introduce non-commutative variables, considering that all minisuperspace variables $q_{nc}^i$ do not commute, so the symplectic structure was modified. In the quantum regime, the probability density presents a new structure in the scalar field corresponding to the value of the non-commutative parameter, in the sense that this probability density undergoes a shift back to the direction of the scale factor, causing classical evolution to arise earlier than in the commutative world. Full article

China’s economy has achieved significant success by integrating itself into the globalized production system over an extended period. However, it is crucial to address the environmental consequences that accompany rapid economic progress. The correlation between trade and environmental pollution is still controversial in the existing literature, with a lack of research specifically investigating this relationship using detailed data at the firm level. Based on the quasi-natural experiment of China’s accession to the WTO, this study uses the DID method to evaluate the causal relationship between trade and the environment experimentally. It is found that trade liberalization significantly increases firms’ industrial wastewater emissions, and the empirical results remain robust after parallel trend tests, placebo tests, and replacement variables. The mechanism of action suggests that trade expansion enhances corporate pollution emissions through two channels: attracting foreign investment into the country and intensifying energy consumption. A heterogeneity analysis reveals that the pollution-enhancing effect of trade expansion on enterprises is mainly concentrated in export-oriented enterprises, labor-intensive industries, and coastal regions. Additionally, further analysis shows that trade liberalization not only has local impacts but also spatial spillover effects on enterprise pollution. It is found that enhancing environmental governance and reducing corruption can effectively mitigate the adverse environmental consequences caused by trade liberalization. Full article

Ecological quality in China has experienced significant improvements due to the interplay of climate change and human activities. Nevertheless, previous studies exploring the trend of ecological parameters have always overlooked the effects of land use types. Therefore, in this study, we explored the spatiotemporal variation in ecological parameters in various land use types and discussed the relationship between ecological parameters and climatic factors in China during the first 20 years of the 21st century. The results show that: (1) The area of grassland and unutilized land decreased, and the area of other land use types increased. (2) Distinct variations in the average, slope, and interval distribution of ecological parameters across various land use types were evident. Particularly significant increases in ecological parameters were observed in cultivated land and forest. (3) The influence of land use and land cover change on ecological parameters was evident. The conversion of cultivated land, forest, and grassland into water bodies, constructive land, and unutilized land resulted in a significant decrease in ecological parameters. (4) The distinct climatic conditions resulted in heightened monthly variations in the ecological parameters. Significant monthly fluctuations in ecological parameters were observed for cultivated land, forest, grassland, and constructed land, while water bodies and unutilized land did not exhibit such variations. (5) The correlation between ecological parameters and climatic factors varied considerably in various land use types in different regions. Full article

Microplastics (MPs), defined as plastic particles measuring less than 5 mm, are considered an emerging pollutant. Their presence in the water cycle and their interaction with ecological processes pose a significant environmental threat. As groundwater (GW) represents the primary source of drinking water, monitoring MPs in GW and investigating their potential sources and pathways is of urgent importance. This article offers a comprehensive overview of the primary contamination pathways of MPs from surface water, seawater, and soil into the GW. Moreover, it presents an examination of the occurrence of MPs in GW and identifies the challenges associated with their monitoring in GW. This study also discusses the difficulties associated with comparing research results related to MPs in GW, as well as indicating the need for implementing standardised techniques for their sampling and detection. On the basis of our experience and the literature review, we highlight the importance of understanding the specific hydrogeological and hydrogeographic conditions, collecting representative samples, using sampling devices with comparable specifications and comparable laboratory techniques for MP identification, and preventing contamination at all stages of the monitoring process. This review offers valuable insights and practical guidelines on how to improve the reliability and comparability of results between studies monitoring MPs in GW. Full article

Programmable metasurfaces are two-dimensional electromagnetic structures characterized by a low profile, conformability, and the ability to flexibly manipulate the amplitude and phase of electromagnetic waves. For high-quality beam scanning with the metasurface, it is essential that the metasurface possesses high-precision phase response quantization characteristics. This paper constructs a reflection-type metasurface unit cell featuring four P-I-N diodes and six operating states. To address the unit cell’s complexity and optimization challenges, we developed an automatic optimization algorithm, derived from the genetic optimization algorithm, for the metasurface unit cell. This algorithm was used to optimize a six-phase reflective 2.5 bit programmable metasurface cell operating at 5 GHz. The unit cell’s prototype was fabricated and measured to verify the design. Additionally, a metasurface comprising 16 × 16 unit cells was designed and simulated. The results highlight the metasurface unit cell’s excellent phase response quantization characteristics, and investigate the impact of quantization accuracy on beam scanning. Full article

For several decades, multinational enterprises (MNEs) have offshored their manufacturing activities to low-cost countries to achieve significant productivity gains. However, changes in the relative competitiveness of countries, social effects of deindustrialization in advanced economies and the vulnerability of global value chains (GVCs) revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic have encouraged some firms, supported by governments, to “reshore” part, or all of their offshore industrial operations back to their home country. Reshoring decisions are motivated by a variety of endogenous and exogenous factors that are empirically analyzed in this paper to understand how reshoring policies implemented by governments can more effectively address the factors driving the firms’ location decisions. A review of the reshoring policies implemented in Europe, the UK and the US is conducted to provide general policy recommendations regarding policy instruments, SMEs, innovation and regionalization of value chains. This paper fills a gap in the literature by connecting the micro-level supply chain management analysis of firms’ reshoring drivers with the macro-level economic policy perspective on reshoring. The review of existing reshoring policies calls for an in-depth analysis by the manufacturing sector and at the local level. Full article

Exploring the mechanisms and processes of land-use transitions (LUTs) and their impact on ecosystem services can effectively elucidate the intricate interactions between human and natural systems, which is pivotal for advancing the sustainable development of regional economies and enhancing ecological environments. However, the existing literature lacks comprehensive analysis regarding the spatial and temporal evolution of LUTs, with insufficient integration of the “spatial pattern” and “time process”. Moreover, traditional assessments of the ecosystem services value (ESV) often overlook their negative costs. To address these gaps, this study first utilized the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud platform and employed the random forest algorithm to conduct supervised classification on Landsat remote-sensing images from the years 2000, 2010, and 2020 within the research area, thereby obtaining land-use data for three distinct periods. And then, we investigated the geographic features of LUTs and their ecological effects in the Ningde City of China from 2000 to 2020. The geo-informatic Tupu model and a newly revised method of benefit transfer were primarily employed for this purpose. The findings indicate the following: (1) Over the study period, the land-use structure of Ningde City predominantly comprised cultivated land and forest land, with continuous decreases in both types and a concurrent increase in built-up land. (2) Significant disparities exist in the spatial distribution of Tupu units, notably with “forest land → cultivated land” and “cultivated land → built-up land” as crucial units influencing ESV changes. (3) The ESV in Ningde City decreased from CNY 1105.54 × 10⁸ to CNY 1020.47 × 10⁸ over 2000–2020, while the ecosystem dis-services value exhibited an opposing trend, rising from CNY 12.68 × 10⁸ to CNY 20.39 × 10⁸. (4) The net ESV in Ningde City showed a decline over the same period, indicating a certain vulnerability in the city’s ecological system structure. This study aims to enhance our understanding of the influence of land-use patterns on ESV, offering valuable insights for regional ecological–environment management and land-use policy formulation, thereby fostering sustainable development in ecological, environmental, and socio-economic dimensions. Furthermore, the results serve as a reference for evaluating net ecosystem services value in other countries/regions. Full article

Shadow, a natural phenomenon resulting from the absence of light, plays a pivotal role in agriculture, particularly in processes such as photosynthesis in plants. Despite the availability of generic shadow datasets, many suffer from annotation errors and lack detailed representations of agricultural shadows with possible human activity inside, excluding those derived from satellite or drone views. In this paper, we present an evaluation of a synthetically generated top-down shadow segmentation dataset characterized by photorealistic rendering and accurate shadow masks. We aim to determine its efficacy compared to real-world datasets and assess how factors such as annotation quality and image domain influence neural network model training. To establish a baseline, we trained numerous baseline architectures and subsequently explored transfer learning using various freely available shadow datasets. We further evaluated the out-of-domain performance compared to the training set of other shadow datasets. Our findings suggest that AgroSegNet demonstrates competitive performance and is effective for transfer learning, particularly in domains similar to agriculture. Full article

Agro-investment in the fourth industrial revolution will be an imperative driving factor and a sacrosanct enabler for small farm business entrepreneurs to participate holistically in the agricultural economic value chain. Investing in advanced technology and entrepreneurship has the potential to promote business modernization and improve the productivity and profitability of farm businesses. This study assessed agro-investments in small farm business entrepreneurs in the era of the fourth industrial revolution in Mpumalanga province, South Africa. The study objectives were precisely to determine the perception of small farm business entrepreneurs on agro-investment and examine the impact of agro-investment for small farm business entrepreneurs in the fourth industrial revolution. The questionnaire used in this study employed structured and semi-structured questions for data collection, and an aggregate of 235 participants were randomly selected. The results on perception indicate that small farm business entrepreneurs mostly perceive agro-investment in the fourth industrial revolution as not suitable for small farm business conditions; this may be attributed to modern agricultural implements being predominantly manufactured in accordance with commercial sector specifications. The results from the binary logistic regression analysis on the perception of small farm business entrepreneurs in the fourth industrial revolution revealed that gender (P-value = 0.031), level of education (P-value = 0.04), farm size (P-value = 0.048), farming skills and knowledge (P-value = 0.027), farm productivity (P-value = 0.059) and investment opportunities (P-value = 0.057) were significant and influence the perception of small farm business entrepreneurs. The mean and standard deviation were used to assess the degree of severity of impact. From the results, sources of investment, technology, market participation, economic benefits, and government interventions were discovered to be impactful on agro-investment for small farm business entrepreneurs. The key contributions of agro-investments among small farm business entrepreneurs in the technological era embody catalyzed rural development, a diversified inclusive rural economy, and competitive participation in the agricultural food value chain. Another crucial contribution of the study is unlocking and accentuating the potential and opportunities that investors, technology designers, and manufacturers can exploit in small farm business agro-investments. This paper identifies and recommends that the South African government ought to create enabling environments for agricultural investment activities to thrive, especially among small farm business entrepreneurs, thereby providing grant funding and training, and enabling public-private stakeholder linkages. Full article

The analysis of tephra layers in maar lake sediments of the Eifel shows 14 well-visible tephra during the last glacial cycle from the Holocene to the Eemian (0–130,000 yr b2k). These tephra were analyzed for their petrographic composition, which allows us to connect several tephra to eruption sites. All tephra were dated by application of the ELSA-20 chronology, developed using the late Pleistocene infilled maar lake of Auel and the Holocene lake Holzmaar (0–60,000 yr b2k). We extend the ELSA-20 chronology with this paper for the millennia of 60,000–130,000 yr b2k (ELSA-23 chronology), which is based on the infilled maar lake records from Dehner, Hoher List, and Jungferweiher. The evaluation of the tephra from the entire last glacial cycle shows that all 14 tephra were close to interstadial warming of the North Atlantic sea surface temperatures. In particular, phreatomagmatic maar eruptions were systematically associated with Heinrich events or C-events. These events represent times of warming of the Southern Hemisphere, global sea level rise, and CO₂ increase, which predate the abrupt interstadial warming events of the Northern Hemisphere. This synchroneity indicates a physical relationship between endogenic and exogenic processes. Changes in the lithospheric stress field in response to changes in continental ice loads have already been suggested as a potential candidate to explain the exogenic forcing of endogenic processes. The chronology of volcanic activity in the Eifel demonstrates that intraplate mantle plumes are also affected by the exogenic forcing of endogenic processes. Full article

Three widths of manufacturing S-ribs carbon-fiber filaments acting as turbulence promoters were implemented into the flow channel of direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) modules to augment the permeate flux improvement in the present study. Attempts to reduce the disadvantageous temperature polarization effect were made by inserting S-ribs turbulence promoters in improving pure water productivity, in which both heat- and mass-transfer boundary layers were diminished due to creating vortices in the flow pattern and increasing turbulence intensity. The temperature polarization coefficient $t_{temp}$ was studied and found to enhance device performance (less thermal resistance) under inserting various S-ribs carbon-fiber thicknesses and operating both cocurrent- and countercurrent-flow patterns. The permeate fluxes in the DCMD modules with inserted S-ribs carbon-fiber turbulence promoters were investigated theoretically by developing the mathematical modeling equations and were conducted experimentally with various design and operating parameters. The theoretical predictions and experimental results exhibited a great potential to considerably achieve permeate flux enhancement in the new design of the DCMD system. The DCMD module with inserted S-ribs carbon-fiber turbulence promoters in the flow channel could provide a relative permeate flux enhancement up to 37.77% under countercurrent-flow operations in comparisons with the module of using the empty channel. An economic consideration on both permeate flux enhancement and power consumption increment for the module with inserted S-ribs carbon-fiber filaments was also delineated. Full article

The past five decades have witnessed remarkable advancements in the field of inhaled medicines targeting the lungs for respiratory disease treatment. As a non-invasive drug delivery route, inhalation therapy offers numerous benefits to respiratory patients, including rapid and targeted exposure at specific sites, quick onset of action, bypassing first-pass metabolism, and beyond. Understanding the characteristics of pulmonary drug transporters and metabolizing enzymes is crucial for comprehending efficient drug exposure and clearance processes within the lungs. These processes are intricately linked to both local and systemic pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drugs. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the literature on lung transporters and metabolizing enzymes while exploring their roles in exogenous and endogenous substance disposition. Additionally, we identify and discuss the principal challenges in this area of research, providing a foundation for future investigations aimed at optimizing inhaled drug administration. Moving forward, it is imperative that future research endeavors to focus on refining and validating in vitro and ex vivo models to more accurately mimic the human respiratory system. Such advancements will enhance our understanding of drug processing in different pathological states and facilitate the discovery of novel approaches for investigating lung-specific drug transporters and metabolizing enzymes. This deeper insight will be crucial in developing more effective and targeted therapies for respiratory diseases, ultimately leading to improved patient outcomes. Full article

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is characterized by chronic inflammation and ulceration of the intestinal inner lining, resulting in various symptoms. Sea buckthorn berries contain a bioactive compound known as sea buckthorn polysaccharide (SBP). However, the precise mechanisms underlying the impact of SBP on UC remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects of pretreatment with SBP on colitis induced by DSS. Our findings demonstrate that SBP pretreatment effectively reduces inflammation, oxidative stress, and intestinal barrier damage associated with colitis. To further elucidate the role of SBP-modulated gut microbiota in UC, we performed fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) on DSS-treated mice. The microbiota from SBP-treated mice exhibits notable anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, improves colonic barrier integrity, and increases the abundance of beneficial bacteria, as well as enhancing SCFA production. Collectively, these results strongly indicate that SBP-mediated amelioration of colitis is attributed to its impact on the gut microbiota, particularly through the promotion of SCFA-producing bacteria and subsequent elevation of SCFA levels. This study provides compelling evidence supporting the efficacy of pre-emptive SBP supplementation in alleviating colitis symptoms by modulating the gut microbiota, thereby offering novel insights into the potential of SBP as a regulator of the gut microbiota for colitis relief. Full article

Background: We conducted an in vitro comparison of the snare loop reinforcement against a closed-loop reinforcement (Hungaroring) for physician-modified endograft (PMEG) fenestrations regarding preparation time and stability during flaring balloon dilatation. Materials and methods: The time to complete a PMEG fenestration with reinforcement was measured and compared between the Hungaroring and snare loop groups. The number of stitches was counted. Each fenestration was dilated using a 10 mm high-pressure, non-compliant balloon up to 21 atm in pressure, and fluoroscopic images were taken. The presence of indentation on the oversized balloon at the level of the reinforcement was evaluated at each fenestration. Results: Five fenestrations were created in each group (n = 5) for a total of ten pieces. The completion time in the snare loop group was 1070 s (IQR:1010–1090) compared to 760 s (IQR:685–784) in the Hungaroring group (p = 0.008). Faster completion time was achieved by faster stitching (23.2 s/stitch (IQR 22.8–27.3) for the snare loop group and 17.3 s/stitch (IQR 17.3–20.1) for the Hungaroring group (p = 0.016). None of the fluoroscopic images of the snare loop reinforcement showed an indentation on the balloon during the overexpansion; on the contrary, the Hungaroring showed indentation in every case, even at 21 atm. Conclusion: Fenestrations reinforced with Hungaroring can be completed significantly faster. Furthermore, the Hungaroring resists over-dilation even at high pressures, while snare loop reinforcements dilate at nominal pressure. Full article

Reinforced concrete slabs are widely used in building structures due to their economic, durable, and aesthetic advantages. The determination of their ultimate strength often hinges on punching shear strength. Presently, methods such as closed hoops, steel bending, and fiber reinforcement are employed to enhance punching shear strength, with fiber reinforcement gaining popularity due to its ease of implementation and efficacy in improving concrete durability. This study introduces a novel approach employing six machine learning algorithms rooted in decision trees and decision tree-based ensemble learning to predict punching shear strength in steel fiber-reinforced concrete slabs. To overcome experimental data limitations, a data augmentation approach based on the Gaussian mixture model is employed. The validation of the data augmentation is conducted through “synthetic training—real testing” and “real training—real testing”. Additionally, the best machine learning model is analyzed for explainability using Shapley Additive exPlanation (SHAP). Results demonstrate that the proposed data augmentation method effectively captures the original data distribution, enhancing the robustness and accuracy of the machine learning model. Moreover, SHAP provides better insights into the features influencing punching shear strength. Thus, the proposed data enhancement model offers a reliable approach for modeling small experimental datasets in structural engineering. Full article