Failure and Degradation Mechanisms of Steel Pipelines: Analysis and Development of Effective Preventive Strategies.

The increasing challenges related to the reliability and durability of steel pipeline infrastructure necessitate a detailed understanding of degradation and failure mechanisms. This study focuses on selective corrosion and erosion as critical factors, analyzing their impact on pipeline integrity using advanced methods, including macroscopic analysis, corrosion testing, microscopic examination, tensile strength testing, and finite element method (FEM) modeling. Selective corrosion in the heat-affected zones (HAZs) of longitudinal welds was identified as the dominant degradation mechanism, with pit depths reaching up to 6 mm, leading to tensile strength reductions of 30%.

Guiding Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cell Maturation Using Electrospun Fiber Cues in a 3D Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel Culture System.

The current lack of therapeutic approaches to demyelinating disorders and injuries stems from a lack of knowledge surrounding the underlying mechanisms of myelination. This knowledge gap motivates the development of effective models to study the role of environmental cues in oligodendrocyte progenitor cell (OPC) maturation. Such models should focus on determining, which factors influence OPCs to proliferate and differentiate into mature myelinating oligodendrocytes (OLs).

Electrical polarization switching of perovskite polariton laser.

Optoelectronic and spinoptronic technologies benefit from flexible and tunable coherent light sources combining the best properties of nano- and material-engineering to achieve favorable properties such as chiral lasing and low threshold nonlinearities. In this work we demonstrate an electrically wavelength- and polarization-tunable room temperature polariton laser due to emerging photonic spin-orbit coupling. For this purpose, we design an optical cavity filled with both birefringent nematic liquid crystal and an inorganic perovskite.

Non-Hermitian polariton-photon coupling in a perovskite open microcavity.

Exploring the non-Hermitian properties of semiconductor materials for optical applications is at the forefront of photonic research. However, the selection of appropriate systems to implement such photonic devices remains a topic of debate. In this work, we demonstrate that a perovskite crystal, characterized by its easy and low-cost manufacturing, when placed between two distributed Bragg reflectors with an air gap, can form a natural double microcavity.

Sex and Size Disparities in Access to Liver Transplant for Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Importance: Women on the liver transplant waiting list are less likely to undergo a transplant than men. Recent approaches to resolving this disparity have involved adjustments to Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scoring, but this will not affect candidates who rely on exception scores rather than calculated MELD score, the majority of whom have hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Objective: To evaluate the association between female sex, candidate size, and access to liver transplant among wait-listed patients with HCC.

Racial-ethnic differences in liver transplant waitlist outcomes in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma before and after recent changes to allocation policy.

Background: In May 2019, liver transplant (LT) allocation policy changed to limit MELD exception points for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to median MELD at transplant minus three (MMaT-3). We evaluated this policy's impact on waitlist outcomes for HCC candidates, by race and ethnicity, hypothesizing that the introduction of the MMaT-3 reduced inequities in waitlist outcomes.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of the Scientific Registry for Transplant Recipients, including all adult LT candidates (N = 10 751) who received HCC exception points from May 17, 2017 to May 18, 2019 (pre-policy; N = 6627) to May 19, 2019 to March 1, 2021 (post-policy; N = 4124).

Principles of Palliative and Supportive Care in Pancreatic Cancer: A Review.

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is well known for its poor survival time. Clinical symptoms are painless jaundice or abdominal or back pain. Less specific symptoms often appear that make diagnosis difficult, e.

Drop impact dynamics on the hydrophobic leaf surface of an aquatic plant: a case study of Pistia stratiotes.

Pistia stratiotes is an aquatic plant with a complex structure that allows it to stay afloat. It grows quickly, and in large numbers becomes an undesirable plant as an invasive species. Describing the dynamics of a water drop splash on P.

Impact of Median MELD at Transplant Minus 3 National Policy on Quality of Transplanted Livers for Patients With and Without Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background: Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have been overprioritized in the deceased donor liver allocation system. The United Network for Organ Sharing adopted a policy in May 2019 that limited HCC exception points to the median Model for End-Stage Liver Disease at transplant in the listing region minus 3. We hypothesized this policy change would increase the likelihood to transplant marginal quality livers into HCC patients.

Splash erosion and surface deformation following a drop impact on the soil with different hydrophobicity levels and moisture content.

The splash phenomenon and the scale of the surface deformation of post-fire soils in the variants of various hydrophobicity and moisture content were studied. Splash erosion is the result of the impact of a single water drop and was analysed using high-speed cameras, while the surface deformation was parameterized using a structured light scanner. The extremely water-repellent variant (dry_V) showed distinct differences, expressed primarily in the number of ejected particles, which was 2.

Comparative Analysis of Corneal Parameters Performed with GalileiG6 and OCT Casia 2.

Backgrounds: To compare keratometry (Ks and Kf), astigmatism (Ast.), and the astigmatism axes (Ax.) of the posterior surface of the cornea; the total, central cornea thickness (CCT); and the thinnest corneal thickness (TCT) measured using two different measurement methods.

Soil Deformation after Water Drop Impact-A Review of the Measurement Methods.

Water erosion is an unfavorable phenomenon causing soil degradation. One of the factors causing water erosion is heavy or prolonged rainfall, the first effect of which is the deformation of the soil surface and the formation of microcraters. This paper presents an overview of research methods allowing the study of microcraters as well as the process of their formation.

Electrically tunable Berry curvature and strong light-matter coupling in liquid crystal microcavities with 2D perovskite.

The field of spinoptronics is underpinned by good control over photonic spin-orbit coupling in devices that have strong optical nonlinearities. Such devices might hold the key to a new era of optoelectronics where momentum and polarization degrees of freedom of light are interwoven and interfaced with electronics. However, manipulating photons through electrical means is a daunting task given their charge neutrality.

Annihilation of exceptional points from different Dirac valleys in a 2D photonic system.

Topological physics relies on Hamiltonian's eigenstate singularities carrying topological charges, such as Dirac points, and - in non-Hermitian systems - exceptional points (EPs), lines or surfaces. So far, the reported non-Hermitian topological transitions were related to the creation of a pair of EPs connected by a Fermi arc out of a single Dirac point by increasing non-Hermiticity. Such EPs can annihilate by reducing non-Hermiticity.

The coupled photocycle of phenyl-p-benzoquinone and Light-Harvesting Complex II (LHCII) within the biohybrid system.

The combination of trimeric form of the light-harvesting complex II (LHCII), a porous graphite electrode (GE), and the application of phenyl-p-benzoquinone (PPBQ), the quinone derivative, allow the construction of a new type of biohybrid photoactive system. The Chl fluorescence decay and voltammetric analyzes revealed that PPBQ impacts LHCII proportionally to accessible quenching sites and that PPBQ forms redox complexes with Chl in both ground and excited states. As a result, photocurrent generation is directly dependent on PPBQ-induced quenching of Chl fluorescence.

Influence of Supraphysiologic Biomaterial Stiffness on Ventricular Mechanics and Myocardial Infarct Reinforcement.

Injectable intramyocardial biomaterials have promise to limit adverse ventricular remodeling through mechanical and biologic mechanisms. While some success has been observed by injecting materials to regenerate new tissue, optimal biomaterial stiffness to thicken and stiffen infarcted myocardium to limit adverse remodeling has not been determined. In this work, we present an in-vivo study of the impact of biomaterial stiffness over a wide range of stiffness moduli on ventricular mechanics.

STN7 Kinase Is Essential for Fitness under Prolonged Darkness but Not under Dark-Chilling Conditions.

Reversible phosphorylation of photosystem II light harvesting complexes (LHCII) is a well-established protective mechanism enabling efficient response to changing light conditions. However, changes in LHCII phosphorylation were also observed in response to abiotic stress regardless of photoperiod. This study aimed to investigate the impact of dark-chilling on LHCII phosphorylation pattern in chilling-tolerant and to check whether the disturbed LHCII phosphorylation process will impact the response of Arabidopsis to the dark-chilling conditions.

Flexoelectric Polarization in a Nematic Liquid Crystal Enhanced by Dopants with Different Molecular Shape Polarities.

Flexoelectricity may have an important impact on the switching properties of nematic and cholesteric liquid crystals due to the linear coupling between the flexoelectric polarization of the liquid crystal and the applied electric field. This coupling is the origin of the extraordinary electro-optic effect in cholesterics aligned in the uniform lying helix texture, resulting in fast switching and field control of both rise and fall times. Therefore, the flexoelectric properties of the liquid crystals have become an important issue when designing and synthesizing liquid crystal materials and/or preparing their mixtures with appropriate flexoelectric compounds (dopants).

Experimental investigations of crater formation as a result of high-velocity impacts on sand bed.

The formation of craters is an important issue in the investigations of the surface of the earth and other planets. The aim of the study was to check whether the different textures of sand beds affect the size and dynamics of the formation of craters and ejection curtain after high-velocity impacts. The experiments were conducted using an aluminium impactor at two impact speeds (~700 and ~1300 m∙s-1) and a sand bed composed of either a broad range of sizes (<2.

as a useful plant in bioremediation - studies of defense mechanisms and accumulation of As, Tl and PGEs.

Pollution of the soils with toxic elements is a serious problem all over the world. One of environmentally friendly techniques of their removal is phytoremediation. This paper is a summary of literature data and the results of own studies about the potential of for bioaccumulation of Tl, As and PGEs, and its usefulness in remediation of polluted environment.

Influence of slope incline on the ejection of two-phase soil splashed material.

Soil splash is the first step in the process of water erosion, where impacting raindrops cause the detachment and transport of soil material. One of the factors that strongly influences the magnitude of soil splash is the incline of the surface (slope). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the slope on the course of the splash phenomenon caused by single-drop impact (one drop impact per soil sample), with respect to the mass and proportions of the ejected material, taking into account its division into solid and liquid phases i.

Comparative analysis of measurements of the anterior segment and the axial length parameters of the eyeball obtained with optical and ultrasound technique.

Purpose: To compare anterior chamber depth (ACD), keratometry (K1, K2), central corneal thickness (CCT), and axial length (AL) measured by four different devices.

Material And Methods: 150 eyes qualified for cataract surgery were included in the study. Four devices: IOL Master 500, OCT CASIA2, Dual Scheimpflug Analyzer Galilei G6, and Quantel Compact Touch ultrasound biometer, were compared.

Realizing Optical Persistent Spin Helix and Stern-Gerlach Deflection in an Anisotropic Liquid Crystal Microcavity.

Spin-orbit interactions which couple the spin of a particle with its momentum degrees of freedom lie at the center of spintronic applications. Of special interest in semiconductor physics are Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling. When equal in strength, the Rashba and Dresselhaus fields result in SU(2) spin rotation symmetry and emergence of the persistent spin helix only investigated for charge carriers in semiconductor quantum wells.