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A historical seismic event revisited: stochastic ground motion modeling of the 1859 Erzurum earthquake and validations with structural damage
No full textErzurum is one of the major cities in T & uuml;rkiye with high seismic hazard, having a well-documented history of destructive earthquakes. The June 2, 1859 earthquake (Mw = 6.1) caused severe damage to the city, but no ground motion records exist because it occurred before the instrumental measurement period. This study aims to simulate and validate a simulated ground motion record for this historical earthquake using the stochastic finite-fault method. In this approach, fault geometry, stress drop, crustal properties, and local site effects were incorporated to generate realistic acceleration time histories. The simulated record was validated through comparisons with empirical ground motion models and historical damage reports. For validation, detailed finite element models of Erzurum Ulu Mosque and Murat Pasha Mosque were developed and calibrated using Operational Modal Analysis (OMA) data, and nonlinear time-history analyses were performed to assess the consistency of observed and simulated damage patterns. The findings demonstrate that stochastic ground motion simulations can provide reliable insights into historical seismic events, offering a robust framework for reassessing earthquakes without instrumental records and contributing to the understanding of the seismic performance of masonry heritage structures
Pre-diagnostic Health Trajectories in Multiple Sclerosis: A Retrospective Claims-Based Study
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Personalized Environmental Control Systems (PECS): Systematic review of benefits for thermal comfort, air quality, health, and human performance
No full textAdvances in environmental technologies have improved indoor environmental quality (IEQ) by creating steady, uniform conditions. However, these often fail to meet individual thermal comfort and air quality needs, prompting a shift toward adaptive, personalized solutions. Personalized Environmental Control Systems (PECS) aim to enhance comfort, air quality, health, and productivity through user-centered designs. This paper systematically reviews 324 journal articles on PECS from 1988-2023, focusing on thermal and indoor air quality (IAQ) domains. PECS are classified by mobility: building-attached, semi-attached, detached, and wearable. The review assesses their impact on thermal comfort, IAQ, health outcomes (e.g., Sick Building Syndrome, heat stress), and human performance (e.g., cognitive function, productivity). Results show that building-detached PECS often improve thermal sensation, comfort, and acceptability, with combined systems yielding better ratings. Personalized ventilation enhances IAQ by delivering clean air directly to the breathing zone, reducing contaminant exposure. Research on PECS effects on health is limited, mainly focusing on short-term, controlled studies. Evidence for benefits on human performance is sparse but promising. Key challenges include inconsistent performance metrics, limited real-world evaluations, and potential publication bias toward positive results. This review highlights the need for standardized evaluation methods, deeper understanding of combined PECS effects, real-world and long-term testing, and clearer quantification of human performance benefits to advance the field
Hydrodynamic flow and benthic boundary layer interactions shape the microbial community in Milos shallow water hydrothermal vents
No full textIn shallow-water hydrothermal vents, the dynamic interface between the discharged reduced hydrothermal fluids and the oxidized seawater allows the establishment of gradients capable of supporting diverse and complex microbial mats. Due to their shallow depths and proximity to land masses, shallow vents are heavily influenced by dynamic forcing, tidal fluctuations, and episodic events (e.g., storms, tides, etc.). Although several studies have investigated the microbial communities inhabiting shallow vents in the last decades, less is known about how microbial communities respond to episodic events and how the complex interplay of physical and chemical drivers shapes the establishment and structure of microbial biofilms in these systems. Here we present data combining the taxonomic and functional diversity of the white microbial mats commonly found in sulfide rich shallow-water hydrothermal vents in Paleochori Bay (Milos Island, Greece), using a combined approach of 16S rRNA transcript amplicon sequencing (from RNA) and shotgun metagenomic sequencing (from which 16S rRNA genes were retrieved). We show that the white microbial mats of Milos shallow-water hydrothermal vents are dominated by Epsilonproteobacteria, now classified as Campylobacterota, with metabolic functions associated with chemolithoautotrophic lifestyles and exposed to a diverse array of viral communities. Taxonomic names follow the classification available at the time of analysis (2012). We explore how dynamic forcing and storm events influence microbial community restructuring and turn-over, and provide evidence that dynamic interactions with the benthic boundary layer play a key role in controlling the spatial distribution of taxa. Overall, our results show diverse processes through which geodynamic events influence microbial taxonomic and functional diversity
POLYELECTROLYTE MULTILAYER FILMS WITH MONOMETALLIC AND BIMETALLIC NANOPARTICLES FOR SURFACE-ENHANCED RAMAN SCATTERING
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