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Karst cavities can cause substantial concrete loss, construction incidents, and inadequate bearing strata for bored piles. Advance drilling provides direct geological information but samples only a limited volume, while surface methods may lose resolution with depth and cross-borehole methods require multiple boreholes and additional tomographic processing. This study presents single-borehole high-density electrical resistivity profiling (SHERP) as a rapid, near-borehole screening method for karst cavities at pile locations. A high-density electrode cable and a Schlumberger-type acquisition sequence are used to generate apparent resistivity pseudo-sections that can be inspected on site without tomographic inversion. Three-dimensional finite-element forward models were used to examine the response of simplified soil–bedrock and water-filled cavity configurations. For the modeled conductivity contrast and acquisition geometry, the cavity produced a characteristic double-peaked, or ‘M-shaped’, anomaly in the pseudo-section because the conductive cavity redistributed the electric potential field as the current electrodes crossed the target depth. Field measurements from three boreholes at a karst site in Guangzhou, China, were then compared with borehole logs. Among the tested electrode spacings of 0.3, 0.5, and 1.0 m, the 0.3 m configuration provided the closest agreement with logged cavity boundaries and the highest vertical resolution under the investigated site conditions. SHERP is therefore proposed as a complementary method for screening possible off-axis cavities around pile locations and for supporting subsequent drilling and foundation design. Full article

Combined Heat and Power Economic Dispatch (CHPED) is a nonlinear and nonconvex optimization problem involving the coordinated operation of power-only, heat-only, and combined heat-and-power units under electrical and thermal balance constraints, coupled CHP operating regions, valve-point loading effects, and transmission losses. This study proposes a Memory-Assisted Self-Adaptive Bonobo Optimizer (MSBO), which extends the original Bonobo Optimizer (BO) through old, worse, and bad memory populations, adaptive partner selection, and repulsion-based parameter learning. The retained evolutionary information is used to improve search diversity, mitigate stagnation, and regulate the exploration-exploitation balance according to search progress. MSBO is evaluated on 7-unit and 48-unit CHPED systems under both lossless and transmission-loss conditions. Repeated-run analysis shows that, for the 7-unit system, MSBO reduces the standard deviation of the final cost by 99.94% and 99.95% in the lossless and lossy cases, respectively, while the Mann–Whitney tests (p = 0.1485 and p = 0.4095) indicate that the principal benefit is improved repeatability rather than a significant shift in the central cost level. For the 48-unit system, MSBO achieves mean operating-cost savings of 931.09 $/h and 782.54 $/h, with highly significant Mann–Whitney results of p = 3.08 × 10⁻⁸ and p = 5.23 × 10⁻⁷, respectively. The estimated probabilities that an MSBO run outperforms a BO run are 91.67% and 96.50% for the two 48-unit scenarios. These results demonstrate that MSBO primarily strengthens solution reliability for the smaller CHPED system while improving both operating-cost quality and repeated-run performance for the larger-scale system. Full article

To examine the fractal characteristics and pore architectures within marine-continental transitional shale, experimental analyses were carried out for Shanxi shale samples collected from the central Ordos Basin. Multiple test approaches including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction analysis, total organic carbon (TOC) analysis, and gas adsorption experiments were applied in this work. According to experimental measurements, the mineral composition of collected Shanxi shale samples exhibits dominant quartz and clay minerals, averaging 38.2% and 54.36%, respectively, with an average TOC content of 1.635%. CO₂-accessible micropores make an important contribution to specific surface area, whereas N₂-accessible mesopore range pores contribute appreciably to pore volume. The pore size distribution is characterized by two dominant peaks within the ranges of 8–20 nm and 80–85 nm. Mineral pores constitute the primary pore type within Shanxi shale, while pores associated with organic matter are infrequently observed. Micropore-specific surface area parameters show positive correlative trends relative to TOC, yet only weak correlations exist between this parameter and quartz and clay minerals. Meso-macopore-specific surface area exhibits a negative correlative tendency versus TOC content, weakly correlated with clay minerals, and no relationship with quartz content. Pore volume magnitudes are predominantly controlled by organic matter abundance and clay mineral content, with quartz content having no significant impact. Fractal dimensions computed through the Frenkel–Halsey–Hill (FHH) model indicate that D1 values for the low-pressure interval vary between 2.654 and 2.834, and D2 corresponding to the high-pressure interval are distributed from 2.638 to 2.867. The internal pore structure’s complexity and heterogeneity are more pronounced than the surface roughness of the pores. Compared with typical marine and continental shales, marine-continental transitional shale displays intermediate characteristics in both pore morphology and fractal features. The key results demonstrate that TOC content has strong positive linkages with fractal dimensions D1 and D2. By contrast, clay minerals exhibit a marked negative association against D2. Quartz content does not show a significant correlation with D1, yet faint positive linkages are detected between this indicator and D2. The present work offers quantitative constraints to assess pore structure heterogeneity and gain insights into reservoir properties of marine-continental transitional shale. Full article

Cross-border activities between Shenzhen and Hong Kong epitomize regional coordinated development within the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), yet the daily living space patterns of Hong Kong cross-border employees in Shenzhen remain unexamined. Using anonymized 2023 mobile phone signaling data for 19,431 Hong Kong residents active in Shenzhen—of whom 2964 (24.49%) both lived and worked in the city and constitute the analytical sample—this study identifies residences, workplaces, and primary activity locations through spatiotemporal behavior algorithms and applies a 3% aggregation threshold to delineate typical employment and residential areas. Seven patterns are presented as an exploratory, descriptive typology derived from tripartite spatial separation gradients and the pre-specified threshold rulest , rather than as the output of a formal inferential or clustering procedure. Three typical employment areas occupying 0.82% of Shenzhen’s territory concentrate over one-fifth of cross-border employment. Three employment-area types (self-balanced, urban-interactive, single-employment) and four residential-area types (self-balanced, urban-interactive, single-residential, functional-mismatch) map onto a “self-balanced” to “functional-mismatch” continuum; the former are rooted in development chronology and land-use institutions, and the latter are shaped by port location, path dependence, and new-town timing. Among those settled in Shenzhen, jobs–housing separation is comparatively short (medians of 1.5–7.5 km) against the approximately 8.1 km city-wide figure for local residents, although it is indicative rather than like-for-like, as the two figures differ in data source, indicator, and spatial scope. This study proposes “institutional spatial mismatch” as an interpretive hypothesis rather than a measured construct, extends Kain’s framework into a cross-border mechanism operating through spatial and institutional dimensions, and outlines a port–district–Bay Area planning framework for optimizing cross-border functional space under “One Country, Two Systems.” Full article

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an irreversible neurodegenerative disorder with complex multifactorial pathological cascades, including amyloid-β (Aβ) aggregation, tau hyperphosphorylation, sustained neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, cholinergic dysfunction and gut–brain axis imbalance. Current marketed anti-AD drugs merely relieve symptomatic cognitive impairment without halting or reversing disease progression, highlighting an urgent demand for novel multi-target therapeutic candidates. Marine ecosystems, covering 71% of the Earth’s surface, generate structurally unique, low-toxicity secondary metabolites via adaptive metabolic pathways of marine algae, invertebrates and microorganisms, which represent promising lead compounds for developing marine anti-AD therapeutics with synergistic multitarget neuroprotective activities. This systematic review comprehensively summarizes the anti-AD bioactivities and underlying molecular mechanisms of seven major categories of marine natural products, including marine polysaccharides, terpenoids, macrolides, alkaloids, polyphenols and carotenoids, sterols/lipids, and aminosulfonates. We further perform an integrated ADMET druggability assessment of representative marine bioactive molecules to evaluate their blood–brain barrier penetration, oral absorption, physicochemical properties and toxicological risks, identifying homotaurine as the most balanced candidate with favorable central nervous system delivery and safety profiles. We also elaborate the core bottlenecks restricting clinical translation, including insufficient blood–brain barrier permeability and unsatisfactory in vivo pharmacokinetic behaviors of most marine-derived compounds. Finally, we outline future research directions, covering structural modification, nanocarrier delivery, gut–brain axis-targeted intervention and cross-disciplinary translational research. This work aims to provide a comprehensive theoretical reference for the discovery, optimization and clinical transformation of marine anti-Alzheimer drugs, and facilitate high-value exploitation of marine bioactive resources for neurodegenerative disease treatment. Full article

Calcium alginate (CaAlg) hydrogels are attractive matrices for molecular imprinting because of their biocompatibility and functionalizability, but their limited mechanical stability and excessive swelling can compromise the integrity and accessibility of molecular recognition sites. In this study, graphene oxide (GO) was incorporated into CaAlg to regulate the physicochemical properties of the hydrogel and construct a bovine serum albumin (BSA)-imprinted hydrogel interface for selective protein recognition and electrochemical sensing. The incorporation of GO effectively reduced swelling and enhanced the mechanical stability of the hydrogel, with the 1 wt.% GO-containing film exhibiting a tensile strength of 1921.15 kPa and the highest fracture energy. The resulting molecularly imprinted hydrogel showed a BSA adsorption capacity of 55.21 mg g⁻¹ and an imprinting efficiency of 3.68, while preferential recognition of BSA over other proteins was observed. After integration with a carbon electrode, template removal and BSA rebinding produced distinguishable electrochemical responses, with an electrochemical imprinting ratio of approximately 6.5. These results demonstrate that GO can simultaneously regulate the structural stability and molecular recognition behavior of CaAlg-based imprinted hydrogels. The proposed hydrogel interface provides a promising material platform for selective protein recognition and electrochemical sensing, with potential applications in biomolecular detection and functional biointerfaces. Full article

Background/Objectives: Only a handful of stingless bees have had their satDNAs characterized using a cytogenomic approach, highlighting the importance of these repetitive sequences as major heterochromatin constituents. Recently, the genome of Tetragonisca angustula became available, providing an opportunity to investigate the diversity of satDNAs in this species with its remarkably large genome size. Our goal was to identify satDNAs in the genome of T. angustula and investigate their chromosomal distribution in populations of T. angustula and Tetragonisca fiebrigi from different geographical locations, as well as in the closely related species Duckeola guilianii and Frieseomelitta varia and other more distantly related species. Additionally, we also investigated the variability in rDNA clusters among different T. angustula and T. fiebrigi populations. Methods: Genomic analyses were performed using RepeatExplorer2 and TAREAN, and chromosomal investigations were conducted using fluorescent in situ hybridization using satDNAs and rDNA sequences as probes. Results: Four satDNA families were identified, accounting for 56.405% of the T. angustula analyzed genome fraction. Among these, TangSat01-304 is the most abundant, constituting the main heterochromatin constituent of both Tetragonisca species. TangSat02-316 is present on the centromeres of both Tetragonisca species, being shared with several other Meliponini species. TangSat03-129 colocalizes with rDNA genes, being more conserved in the number of sites in T. angustula and more variable in T. fiebrigi, including markings on its B chromosomes. This satDNA is also shared with other stingless bee species. Finally, TangSat04-229 revealed a single euchromatic cluster on one chromosome pair in both Tetragonisca species, being exclusive to this genus, like TangSat01-304. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that the genome size expansion in Tetragonisca was largely driven by the accumulation of satDNAs, particularly TangSat01-304. Full article

This study addresses the need for reliable methods in wastewater-based antimicrobial resistance monitoring by comparing three sample preparation approaches for analyzing intracellular DNA (iDNA) and extracellular DNA (exDNA) in raw wastewater: a filtration-based method, a centrifugation-based method, and a combination of the two (combined). We evaluated method repeatability, operational time, usability, consumable costs, qualitative workflow characteristics, and descriptive recovery. Selected antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) (sul1, bla_OXA48 group, bla_VIM1 group, vanA, tetW, QnrS1) and the mobile genetic element intI1 were quantified by digital PCR. Most target signals occurred in the iDNA-enriched fraction (>98%). Filtration and the combined method received higher usability scores than centrifugation, whereas the combined workflow required approximately 15% higher consumable costs. Storage effects were target-, fraction-, and temperature-dependent. No common holding time satisfied the complete two-sided operational acceptance criteria. Considering decreases in relative recovery alone, storage at 5 °C for up to six days did not reduce any mean recovery below its target- and fraction-specific lower limit. Storage at −20 °C produced decreases in iDNA recovery after 24 h. These findings offer practical guidance for PCR-based AMR monitoring in wastewater. Full article

This paper examines the local asymptotic behavior of the distance ‖T(t + ξ(t)) − T(t)‖ near the origin, where (T(t))_t>0 is a semigroup on a commutative Banach algebra and ξ : ]0, +∞[ → ]0, +∞[ is a continuous function satisfying $\underset{t\to 0^{+}}{\lim \inf } {\displaystyle \frac{\xi \left(t\right)}{t}}>0$. Our first main result establishes that if the closed subalgebra A generated by the semigroup (T(t))_t>0 is non-unital, then $\underset{t\to 0^{+}}{\lim \sup }‖T\left(t+\xi \left(t\right)\right)-T\left(t\right)‖>0$. As an application, we derive an exact asymptotic formula for the disk algebra $A\left(\overline{\mathbb{D}}\right)$. Considering the semigroup (T(t))_t>0 on $A\left(\overline{\mathbb{D}}\right)$, given by (T(t)f)(z) = f(e^−tz) for $f\in A\left(\overline{\mathbb{D}}\right), z\in \mathbb{D},$ and assuming that $\underset{t\to 0^{+}}{\lim }{\displaystyle \frac{\xi \left(t\right)}{t}}=\gamma$ is finite, we prove that $\underset{t\to 0^{+}}{\lim \sup }‖T\left(t+\xi \left(t\right)\right)-T\left(t\right)‖={\displaystyle \frac{\gamma }{{\left(1+\gamma \right)}^{1+\frac{1}{\gamma }}}}$. Furthermore, the closed subalgebra generated by this semigroup is non-unital. Full article