Search Results (1,797)

Objective: This retrospective cross-sectional study aimed to characterize HIV-1 genotypes, assess drug resistance, and analyze molecular transmission networks in Zhongwei City to inform prevention strategies. Methods: Plasma samples were collected from antiretroviral therapy (ART)-treated patients (2007–2024) with viral load ≥ 200 copies/mL. HIV-1 pol was amplified by nested PCR; successful sequences were genotyped by maximum likelihood (ML) (IQ-TREE, TVM+F+I+G4, 1000 bootstrap). Drug resistance (DR) was interpreted using Stanford HIV Drug Resistance Database (HIVDB) v9.0; detected mutations represent acquired drug resistance (ADR). Pairwise genetic distances (GD) (TN93 model) were calculated; transmission networks were constructed in Cytoscape 3.10.3. Results: 75 sequences were obtained. Males (84.00%), and heterosexual transmission (64.00%) predominated. CRF07_BC (46.67%) and CRF01_AE (38.67%) were the major subtypes; the overall ADR rate was 40.00%, mainly NNRTIs-associated (30.67% of all participants, including 16.00% single-class NNRTIs and 14.67% dual-class NRTIs-NNRTIs). Network inclusion rate was 40.00% of the 75 sequences; CRF07_BC showed higher betweenness centrality (p = 0.028), while CRF01_AE and CRF85_BC showed higher closeness centrality (p < 0.001). Occupation significantly affected network enrollment (p ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: HIV-1 subtypes are diverse with high ADR. CRF07_BC may act as a transmission bridge, whereas CRF01_AE and CRF85_BC exhibit faster potential spread. Baseline DR testing and network-guided interventions are recommended. Full article

Predictive maintenance in underground mining faces challenges due to severe conditions such as confined environments, high humidity, presence of silica dust, and restricted access. This study develops a predictive framework based on oil analysis and machine learning for multiple compartments of mining equipment (engine, hydraulic system, transmission, differential). Samples were processed under ASTM standards, integrating wear metal concentrations (Fe, Cu, Cr, Pb, Al), physicochemical properties (viscosity, TBN, soot), and contaminants (Si, Na). Based on tribology, interpretable ratios were constructed. Three algorithms (Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, and XGBoost) were evaluated using cross-validation. XGBoost achieved the best balance (F1 = 0.852, AUC = 0.975), with a recall of 94.5% for the critical class and only 3 false negatives out of 199 test samples, while Random Forest presented the highest global discrimination power (AUC = 0.978). SHAP revealed that viscosity at 100 °C is the most important predictor (SHAP ~0.9), surpassing iron. No temporal wear trend was found (R² = 0.000). Threshold optimization to 0.25 reduced false negatives by 67% (from 9 to 3). The framework provides interpretable predictions with uncertainty quantification for underground environments. Full article

Purpose: The current study tested the hypothesis that a bodyweight training (BWT) protocol with a higher weekly time commitment and training volume would produce greater improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness compared to lower time commitment/volume BWT protocols. Methods: Fifty-eight (n = 21 males; n = 37 females) recreationally active, healthy, young adults were randomized to either a 16 (TAB, n = 20), 27 (5BX, n = 19), or 90 min/week (AMRAP, n = 19) BWT protocol for 6 weeks. Peak work rate (WRpeak) was measured pre- and post-intervention using a cycle ergometer graded exercise test. VO₂peak was estimated (eVO₂peak) using a simple linear regression of WRpeak and VO₂peak generated from a previous study (n = 26; 13M/13F). Results: TAB and 5BX yielded non-inferior improvements in eVO₂peak. The 95% confidence intervals of the mean difference in change did not cross our non-inferiority margin of −2.6 mL/kg/min (TAB—AMRAP = 95% CI = −1.16 to 2.07; 5BX—AMRAP 95% CI = −0.29 to 2.89). Conclusions: Our results suggest that 16 and 27 min/week of minimalist BWT yields non-inferior improvements in CRF compared to 90 min/week and provides evidence supporting the efficacy of low-volume BWT protocols compared to higher volume protocols. The study was registered on Open Science Framework on 29 May 2023 (OSF registration). Full article

We investigate the formation of surface periodic structures during ablation of a 20 nm aluminum film on a glass substrate by high-power terahertz pulses. Using subpicosecond pulses in the 0.5–3 THz range with a field strength of 15 MV/cm (fluence 0.3 J/cm²) generated in a DSTMS crystal pumped by a femtosecond Cr:Forsterite laser, we observe discrete growth of cone-shaped damage channels with a period of 20 µm at an energy density below the single pulse ablation threshold ($F_a\approx 0.15$ J/cm²). The channel length increases from pulse to pulse (for 8, 20, and 100 pulses) due to local current density enhancement at the channel tip. This enhancement scales inversely with the square root of the tip radius and reaches an order of magnitude. Surface morphology analysis reveals a thermomechanical mechanism governing film destruction. The observed self-organized periodic structures, whose orientation is strictly perpendicular to the THz electric field, hold promise for functional devices in the terahertz band, such as polarizers, near-field sensors, and spatially selective absorbers, provided the formation process can be regulated. Full article

Background: Falls and fall-related injuries are common in older adults and are frequently accompanied by fear of falling (FoF), which may lead to activity avoidance and functional decline. Because many interventions target falls or FoF in isolation, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to identify, describe, and evaluate interventions reporting both falls and FoF outcomes in older adults. Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis were registered in PROSPERO (CRD420251113137) and conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were searched from inception to 4 November 2025. Eligible studies were English-language RCTs that included adults aged ≥60 years, evaluated nonpharmacological interventions, and reported both FoF and falls. Methodological quality was assessed using the PEDro scale. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed for FoF (Hedges g), and Bayesian random-effects binomial meta-analyses were conducted for falls. Results: Ten RCTs published between 1998 and 2018 (sample sizes per trial: n = 27–540) were included. Interventions included cognitive–behavioral therapy-based programs, Tai Chi, physiotherapist-led strength and balance training, computerized visual feedback, and video-guided home exercise. PEDro scores ranged from 6 to 9 (mean, 7.7). Pooled analyses showed no significant effect on FoF at the end of intervention (g = −0.20, 95% CI −1.45 to 1.05; p = 0.68; high heterogeneity) or at follow-up (g = −0.14, 95% CI −0.60 to 0.33; p = 0.50). For falls, postintervention evidence favored the null (BF₁₀ = 0.16; pooled estimate −0.01, 95% credible interval [CrI] −0.30 to 0.14). Follow-up results were inconclusive (BF₁₀ = 2.07; pooled CrI −0.56 to 0.00), with substantial uncertainty. Conclusions: Across RCTs that measured both outcomes, interventions did not consistently improve both FoF and falls outcomes. These findings may suggest a partial dissociation between psychological and physical fall-related outcomes, highlighting the need for integrated, adequately powered trials that utilize standardized measures and longer follow-up periods. Full article

Background: The relationship between physical exercise and human longevity constitutes one of the most consequential intersections in contemporary preventive medicine. Although international guidelines recommend 150 min of moderate-intensity exercise weekly, growing evidence suggests that the architecture of optimal exercise is far more complex, encompassing dose, modality, timing across the lifespan, and the paradox risks imposed by extreme endurance. Methods: We included in this narrative review landmark cohort studies, randomized controlled trials, meta-analyses, and expert physiological frameworks published in high-impact cardiovascular, sports medicine, and longevity journals from 1966 to 2024. Results: Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), indexed by maximal oxygen uptake (VO₂ max), demonstrates the strongest and most linear dose–response relationship with all-cause mortality identified in preventive medicine, with every 1 metabolic equivalent of task (MET) increment associated with a 12–15% reduction in mortality risk. The optimal dose of vigorous-intensity exercise follows a J-shaped dose–response curve: 3–5 sessions per week generating 1–2.4 h of vigorous activity is associated with the lowest all-cause mortality risk in large prospective cohorts, whereas chronic extreme endurance exercise incurs measurable atrial remodeling, patchy myocardial fibrosis, and a 5.3-fold increase in the risk of atrial fibrillation. The importance of exercise types shifts profoundly across the lifespan, transitioning from aerobic capacity effort in the third decade to resistance training in the seventh decade and neuromuscular stability in the eighth. Based on our interpretation of the available evidence, we propose a structured, personalized four-step exercise pathway integrating CRF assessment, lifespan-adapted prescription, lifestyle co-interventions, and periodic reassessment. Conclusions: Among currently available lifestyle interventions, regular exercise is consistently associated with some of the largest and most reproducible reductions in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality observed in prospective cohort data, while remaining accessible and cost-effective. Full article

Background/Objectives: Lifestyle Modification Programs (LMPs) based on exercise and nutrition aim to prevent/manage chronic diseases and foster well-being. However, moving LMPs from research to medical practice can be challenging, as programs must be both effective and feasible. The primary goal of this study was to assess cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) changes according to an LMP, measured through VO_2max, as a key indicator of health outcomes and intervention efficacy. Methods: In this single-arm intervention study, 100 subjects were enrolled; per-protocol analysis of main parameters was performed on 85 participants (15 were excluded due to medical/technical reasons). A feasible intervention program (of low resource intensity with only two physician/patient encounters) provided personalized exercise prescription, optimized nutritional habits based on the Mediterranean diet and Healthy Eating Plate principles, and supported behaviour change. We assessed CRF through VO_2max, a key indicator of health outcomes and intervention efficacy. We also analyzed, using regression analysis, the relationship between VO_2max (the gold-standard measure of CRF) and MET_Speak, a simpler, feasible parameter of CRF derived from Exercise Stress Testing. Body composition (BC) and AHA diet score were also measured at baseline and post-6-month intervention. Statistical analyses included paired comparisons and multivariable regression to explore factors influencing CRF changes. Results: Analysis on the primary outcome, VO_2max, was performed according to the intention-to-treat principle and per-protocol. This feasible protocol resulted in a significant increase in VO_2max, improvements in fat-free mass, and a reduction in fat mass. Overall, 42.4% of participants achieved an improvement of ≥1 MET, a change previously associated with reduced mortality risk. Older participants tend to experience smaller improvements in VO_2max. Conclusions: Although observing an improvement in CRF and BC following an LMP is not surprising, the strength of the study is to show the feasibility of implementing an effective, feasible LMP into clinical routine, supporting the integration of such programs into clinical practice. Full article

Achieving a favorable synergy of strength, ductility, and toughness is a critical challenge for expanding the engineering applications of titanium alloys. In this work, a medium-strength and high-toughness novel Ti-Al-Mo-V-Cr-Sn-Zr (named Ti62F) titanium alloy in the form of a Φ400 mm bar was adopted to systematically investigate the regulation behavior of double annealing on its microstructure and mechanical properties, and quantitative correlations between microstructural parameters and macroscopic properties were established. Increasing the cooling rate during the first annealing stage (air cooling, force air cooling and water quenching) significantly refined the secondary α (α_s) phase and reduced the volume fraction and size of the primary α (α_p) phase, leading to an increase in the ultimate tensile strength of the alloy from 1077 MPa to 1229 MPa. However, the impact-absorbed energy decreased from 51.5 J to 23.3 J. When the second annealing temperature was varied within the range of 625–675 °C, the ultimate tensile strength fluctuated slightly and the impact toughness increased moderately. Equiaxed α_p phase and relatively thick α_s can induce multiple crack deflections, prolong the crack propagation path and enhance energy absorption. Dislocations are mainly piled up at α/β phase boundaries, triggering void nucleation and growth, which dominate the ductility and toughness levels. Tensile twinning acts only as an auxiliary deformation mechanism and contributes limitedly to toughness. After heat treatment under the optimized schedule of 880 °C/2 h/AC + 650 °C/4 h/AC, the Ti62F alloy exhibits a superior strength–toughness balance compared with conventional medium-strength titanium alloys such as TA15, TC4, and TC4-DT. The findings can provide a heat treatment basis for microstructural regulation of large-size Ti62F bars and their engineering applications in aerospace structural components. Full article

High dynamic range (HDR) image reconstruction from a single low dynamic range (LDR) input remains an important problem for computational photography, particularly when practical deployment on consumer-grade hardware is considered. With the increasing availability of hardware supporting HDR, public demand for capturing and viewing HDR images has grown significantly. Recent research has explored deep learning-based approaches to reconstruct HDR images from low dynamic range (LDR) inputs by extracting regional pixel features or leveraging the camera response function (CRF) for model training. Many of these approaches employ Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) architectures and utilize skip connections to preserve learned information. Nevertheless, the configuration-level effects of data augmentation in HDR reconstruction remain insufficiently discussed. Existing CNN-based approaches, such as HDRCNN, HDRUNet, and ExpandNet, have demonstrated promising reconstruction ability, but they may involve a heavy backbone architecture, a long training time, or a limited discussion of how preprocessing configurations affect reconstruction performance. This study presents an engineering-oriented HDR reconstruction framework derived from HDRCNN, focusing on practical efficiency, structural fidelity, and training feasibility. The proposed framework introduces three modifications: (1) a configuration-level comparison of composite data augmentation settings, including unsharp masking, denoising, Gaussian blur, and brightness–contrast adjustment; (2) the replacement of the original VGG16 backbone with a ResNet50-based encoder enhanced with attention blocks and squeeze-and-excitation (SE) blocks for improved multi-scale feature extraction and channel-wise recalibration; and (3) the integration of mixed-precision training with cosine annealing learning-rate scheduling to reduce computational cost. Experimental results on the SI-HDR dataset show that the best composite augmentation configuration improves PSNR from 19.05 dB to 22.10 dB and SSIM from 0.6444 to 0.7714 without increasing the training time. Compared with the original VGG16-based HDRCNN setting, the ResNet50-based model reduces training time while improving SSIM from 0.2705 to 0.8512. Under the adopted comparison protocol, the proposed model achieves the shortest training time and slightly higher PSNR than HDRUNet, while HDRUNet retains a higher SSIM. This indicates a trade-off among pixel-wise fidelity, structural similarity, and computational efficiency. The current evaluation is limited by a small test setting, composite rather than operation-level augmentation analysis, and the use of PSNR and SSIM only; therefore, future work should include full benchmark evaluation, additional perceptual/HDR-specific metrics, and controlled component-level ablation studies. Full article

Tea pest and disease named entity recognition (NER) faces challenges resulting from dense domain terminology, multi-granularity entity structures, and long-distance semantic dependencies. This paper proposes E-BERT-wwm-BiGRU-RAT-CRF, integrating whole-word masking E-BERT with three innovations—a trainable relative position bias matrix, a cross-layer hierarchical mask matrix, and a heterogeneous multi-head attention mechanism—followed by bidirectional gated recurrent units (BiGRU), residual attention (RAT), and conditional random fields (CRF). On a self-constructed tea pest and disease corpus of over 300,000 characters across seven entity categories, the model achieves 93.67% precision, 93.07% recall, and 93.37% F1-score, outperforming the baseline by 2.73 percentage points in F1-score. Ablation experiments confirm the contribution of each module. Full article

Multi-source heterogeneous data in substation secondary systems are typically characterized by high entropy and disorder, which pose significant challenges for cross-modal information integration and efficient retrieval. Therefore, a method for multimodal information extraction and knowledge graph construction is proposed, enabling structured processing of heterogeneous data from multiple sources. For the image modality, positional and semantic information is extracted using YOLOv8n and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) techniques. To mitigate the effects of uncertain connection topology and noise interference, a Heuristic Circular Stepping Search Algorithm (HCSA) is designed to achieve deterministic path tracing of information flows. For the text modality, a RoFormer-BiLSTM-CRF model enhanced with Rotary Position Embedding (RoPE) is developed to alleviate information degradation in long-sequence texts, thereby enabling high-accuracy extraction of entities and relationships. Furthermore, by combining the domain ontology mapping rules and string similarity, the extracted device entities from the two modalities are aligned, thereby converting scattered data into a structured knowledge graph. Experiments conducted on the secondary-side data of a substation in China demonstrate that the proposed method effectively extracts multimodal information from substation secondary systems, providing valuable support for information management and decision-making assistance in complex industrial systems. Full article

Considering the production efficiency and performance limitations inherent in conventional wet process asphalt mixtures, this study investigates the synergistic potential of fast-melting styrene–butadiene–styrene (F-SBS) and crumb rubber (CR) in enhancing the performance of asphalt mixtures when applied through the dry process modification method. Firstly, high- and low-temperature rheological tests were conducted on modified asphalt containing different dosages of F-SBS (1–3%) and CR (1–10%) to determine the optimal dosage of the modifier for the asphalt mixture. Furthermore, a comprehensive comparative analysis was conducted to evaluate the performance of asphalt mixtures modified with conventional SBS/CR against the F-SBS/CR system across both wet and dry modification processes. Finally, microscopic tests were conducted on the modified asphalt and asphalt mixtures to further investigate the synergistic mechanisms and effects of F-SBS and CR. The results indicated that F-SBS (2.5%)/CR (8%)-modified asphalt exhibited superior rheological properties, enhanced compatibility, and improved storage stability. Additionally, the dry process F-SBS/CR asphalt mixture demonstrated a 12.9% improvement in high-temperature stability, a 19.1% improvement in split strength after freeze–thaw cycles, and a 14.4% improvement in fatigue resistance compared to wet process conventional SBS/CR asphalt mixtures. The microscopic test results indicate that F-SBS and CR modify the asphalt primarily through physical blending. Observations further confirm that the dry process enhances interfacial bonding among the modifiers, asphalt binder, and aggregates, promoting closer and more stable interactions and thus improving mixing efficiency and overall performance. This study confirms the advantages of applying F-SBS and CR in dry process asphalt mixtures, thereby providing guidance for establishing a connection between laboratory investigations and field construction practices in the future. Full article

The connection of a dianionic 2,2’-biimidazolate (biim²⁻) bridging unit to cis-[Cr(N^∩N)₂]³⁺ (N^∩N is a chelating didentate ligand) or cis-[Cr(N^∩N^∩N^∩N)]³⁺ building blocks (N^∩N^∩N^∩N is a chelating tetradentate ligand) produces heteroleptic pseudo-octahedral [CrN₆]⁺ chromophores. Their reduced cationic charge is compatible with the subsequent complexation of trivalent lanthanides (Ln³⁺) to give d-f {[(N^∩N)₂Cr(biim)]_nLn}⁽³⁺ⁿ⁾⁺ (n = 1–4), {[(N^∩N)₂Cr(biim)]Ln(Tp)₂}²⁺ and {[(N^∩N^∩N^∩N)Cr(biim)]Ln(Tp)₂}²⁺ adducts (Tp is tri(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)-λ⁴-borate). Moving from polyaromatic N^∩N (1,10 phenanthroline) to saturated N^∩N^∩N^∩N polyamine (cyclam) receptors controls the photophysical properties and leads to tunable light conversion in the target heterometallic complexes when Eu(III) is exploited as the activator for downshifting and Er(III) as the activator for upconversion. Full article

Background/Objectives: Aztreonam/avibactam is a promising treatment option for serious infections caused by metallo-β-lactamase-producing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (MBL-CRE). However, the labeled regimen is operationally demanding because it requires frequent, prolonged infusions, and the recommended loading dose does not match the commercially available vial strength. This population pharmacokinetic (PopPK)-based Monte Carlo simulation study aimed to optimize aztreonam/avibactam dosing across renal function strata while maintaining pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) target attainment. Methods: Published PopPK models for aztreonam and avibactam were reconstructed and applied in Monte Carlo simulations. Virtual adult patients (body weight 70 kg) were stratified into five renal function groups according to creatinine clearance (CrCL): 101–120, 81–100, 51–80, 31–50, and 15–30 mL/min. Simulated scenarios varied infusion duration, dosing interval, maintenance dose, and loading strategy. Prespecified PK/PD targets were 60% fT > MIC (the percentage of dosing interval that free drug concentration remains above the minimum inhibitory concentration) for aztreonam (MIC 8 mg/L) and 50% fT > CT (the percentage of dosing interval that free drug concentration remains above the critical threshold concentration) for avibactam (CT 2.5 mg/L). A joint probability of target attainment (PTA) ≥ 90% was considered acceptable. Results: Regimen performance differed across renal function strata. For patients with CrCL > 80 mL/min, the labeled q6h regimen infused over 3 h remained the most robust option, whereas shortening the infusion to 1 h or 2 h reduced target attainment. In the CrCL 51–80 and 31–50 mL/min subgroups, both q6h/3 h and q6h/2 h regimens generally achieved acceptable PTA. However, in the CrCL 31–50 mL/min subgroup receiving q6h/2 h administration, omitting a loading dose was associated with reduced early avibactam exposure. In the CrCL 15–30 mL/min subgroup, a simplified half-vial regimen (0.75/0.25 g q8h/2 h) provided PTA comparable to that of the complex labeled reduced-dose regimen. Across loading dose scenarios, omission of the loading dose was best supported in the CrCL 51–80 mL/min subgroup, whereas retaining the labeled loading dose remained the more prudent approach in the CrCL 31–50 mL/min subgroup when a 2 h infusion was used. Conclusions: PopPK-guided, renal function-stratified simplification of aztreonam/avibactam dosing may improve clinical practicality without materially compromising PK/PD target attainment in selected patient subgroups. A 2 h infusion appears a reasonable alternative for patients with CrCL 31–80 mL/min, and a 0.75/0.25 g q8h/2 h half-vial regimen may be considered a plausible exploratory option for patients with CrCL 15–30 mL/min. These findings support more feasible administration strategies, but prospective clinical validation remains necessary. Full article

Named entity recognition in natural disaster emergencies is a critical foundational task for emergency management. However, existing methods face challenges including complex entity types, frequent emergence of new terminology, model knowledge obsolescence, and poor adaptability to dynamic knowledge updates, resulting in limited accuracy and generalization in real-world disaster scenarios. To address these issues, this paper proposes a named entity recognition method for natural disaster emergencies based on instruction tuning and knowledge graph retrieval-augmented generation. We first construct a dedicated instruction-tuning dataset, EM-InstructNER, and a domain-specific knowledge graph, EmergencyKG, tailored to natural disasters. Then, LoRA is employed for parameter-efficient fine-tuning of the Qwen2-7B-Instruct base model, while KG-based RAG dynamically retrieves subgraphs from the knowledge graph to generate semantically enriched augmented prompts, providing external structured knowledge support for generative NER. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves a macro F1 score of 0.9205 on the EM-InstructNER test set, representing a 36.6% relative improvement over the best-performing zero-shot baseline (DeepSeek-R1:14B), while remaining competitive with strong supervised sequence labeling approaches (e.g., BERT + CRF). The framework provides knowledge graph update flexibility and significantly reduces training computational cost and GPU memory consumption through LoRA-based parameter-efficient fine-tuning. Cross-domain evaluation on the public CLUENER2020 benchmark further demonstrates its generalization capability. Full article