Search Results (3,280)

This study examines the evolving structural relationship between capital networks and technological trajectories in China’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry from 2018 to 2023. Using a network-based analytical framework, we integrate venture capital co-investment data with patent-text semantic similarity measures to assess the structural association between financial connectivity and technological distribution patterns. Technological diversity is quantified using text-embedding techniques and Shannon entropy, while Quadratic Assignment Procedure (QAP) models are employed to evaluate inter-network alignment between capital ties and technological similarity. The results indicate a progressively strengthened capital–technology coupling accompanied by increasing technological convergence within the industrial network. Robustness checks across multiple similarity thresholds confirm the stability of these structural associations. Quadrant-based analysis identifies a persistent asymmetry between technologically distinctive but financially peripheral firms and highly central yet technologically homogeneous actors. Robustness analysis further suggests a “robust yet fragile” network configuration characterized by resilience to random disturbances but vulnerability to hub-targeted shocks. Collectively, the findings illuminate the structural implications of capital–technology interdependence for industrial sustainability. From a sustainability perspective, maintaining structural diversity alongside capital coordination is essential for preserving adaptive capacity in rapidly evolving innovation ecosystems. Excessive alignment between financial networks and dominant technological paradigms may enhance short-term efficiency but constrain long-term evolutionary flexibility. Full article

Background: Medial-compartment knee osteoarthritis (KOA) carries substantial disability and long-term cost. High tibial osteotomy (HTO) and unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) are key joint-preserving or joint-replacing options for selected patients, but their comparative economic ranking remains uncertain. Methods: This critical narrative review synthesized comparative economic evidence on HTO versus UKA for isolated medial-compartment KOA. PubMed and Web of Science were searched as primary sources for English-language studies published from 1 January 2000 to 15 January 2026, while Google Scholar and citation tracking were used supplementarily to identify potentially missed records. Eligible studies were direct economic evaluations or comparative cost/resource studies with clear decision relevance to the HTO–UKA choice. Burden and cost-of-illness studies were used for contextual framing only and were not included in the core comparative synthesis. Results: The direct evidence base was small and methodologically heterogeneous and was dominated by decision-analytic models that differed in perspective, time horizon, utility metric, and assumptions regarding reoperation, revision, and conversion to total knee arthroplasty (TKA). These structural differences largely explain why a U.S. lifetime societal model favored HTO, a UK age-stratified 10-year model produced age-dependent findings, and a recent Canadian public-payer model favored UKA. Observational studies suggest that UKA episode costs can fall substantially in outpatient or ambulatory pathways, whereas HTO costs may rise when reoperations and technique-specific resource use are explicitly captured. Conclusions: Current evidence does not support a context-free economic ranking of HTO and UKA. Because the available studies are heterogeneous and incremental utility differences are often small, the findings should be interpreted cautiously and as scenario-dependent rather than definitive. Future comparative analyses should use contemporary pathway data, transparent and standardized costing, and explicit downstream event definitions for both procedures. Full article

The global seafood industry faces persistent challenges related to product quality, safety, and authenticity, driven by complex supply chains, increasing demand, and the perishable nature of aquatic products. Traditional analytical methods often fall short in providing rapid, comprehensive, and non-destructive insights into the intricate biochemical changes occurring in seafood. ¹H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (¹H NMR) spectroscopy has emerged as a powerful and versatile tool for metabolomics, offering a holistic view of the low-molecular-mass compounds (metabolites) present in biological samples. The present study applied ¹H NMR for chemical fingerprint identification in mullets (Mugil liza) from Brazil. Dorsal muscle samples were taken from the fish during summer, autumn, and winter. The procedure involved freeze-drying the muscle tissue, thereafter extracting polar metabolites using designated solvents (methanol, water, and chloroform), and analyzing them using a 600 MHz spectrometer. As a result, 23 metabolites related to degradation biomarkers, essential metabolites, energy expenditure, and muscle structure were identified. The statistical analysis demonstrated a distinct separation between the geographical origins (RJ vs. SC), mostly influenced by variations in the concentrations of lactate, histidine, threonine, phenylalanine, and ornithine. Factors like fish size and seasonal variations did not markedly affect the overall metabolic profile, underscoring the reliability of these chemicals as stable origin indicators. The Principal Component Analysis identified two distinct groups of metabolites, establishing a profile for each geographical origin. The developed protocol can be applied to the processes of geographical identification. Thus, the ¹H NMR tool was efficient in determining metabolites that can be considered biomarkers in analyses for seafood traceability. Full article

In modern reliability and survival analysis, modeling bounded-lifetime data under complex sampling mechanisms remains a challenging yet practically significant problem, particularly in biomedical and engineering applications where experimental time and cost constraints are critical. This study develops a comprehensive inferential framework for the unit-Lindley (ULind) distribution under the improved adaptive progressive Type-II censoring (I-AP-CT2) strategy, a flexible design that ensures bounded test duration while accommodating progressive removal of experimental units. The proposed approach integrates both classical and Bayesian paradigms to enable robust estimation of the model parameter, reliability function, and hazard rate function. Maximum likelihood estimators are derived, and their asymptotic properties are established, with interval estimation constructed via normal approximation and log-transformed techniques. To address analytical intractability, a Bayesian framework via MCMC-based is formulated with a gamma prior, yielding credible and highest posterior density intervals. An extensive Monte Carlo simulation study is conducted to evaluate estimator performance under diverse censoring scenarios, demonstrating that Bayesian procedures consistently outperform their frequentist counterparts in terms of accuracy, stability, and interval efficiency. The practical relevance of the proposed methodology is illustrated through two real-world applications involving kidney dialysis survival data and petroleum engineering reliability data, representing critical domains where accurate modeling of failure behavior directly impacts clinical decision-making and industrial risk management. The findings highlight the flexibility of the ULind model in capturing complex hazard rate shapes and confirm the effectiveness of the I-AP-CT2 mechanism as a realistic and efficient experimental design. Full article

Monitoring progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 8 (SDG 8) requires analytical tools that enable flexible and transparent assessment of multiple indicators. However, existing monitoring approaches are usually based on predefined indicator sets and static analytical frameworks, which limit their adaptability. This study develops and demonstrates a computer-assisted system for monitoring SDG 8 achievement. The system integrates automatic data retrieval from Eurostat, flexible selection of indicators, countries, and years, procedures for handling missing data, and alternative options for constructing a synthetic index. The system was tested in an illustrative case study for European Union countries using Eurostat data for 2015–2023. The empirical application initially covered 19 indicators (11 core SDG 8 indicators and 8 supplementary indicators) for 27 EU countries, while the final analytical sample included 24 countries after data-based exclusions. The results showed substantial differences in SDG 8 achievement trajectories across countries: some countries maintained relatively stable high positions over time (e.g., Italy, Estonia, Germany, and Austria), whereas others recorded marked improvement (e.g., Ireland, Denmark, Cyprus, Lithuania, and Latvia). These findings confirm the practical usefulness of the proposed tool for data processing, comparative assessment, and evidence-informed monitoring of SDG 8 progress. Full article

Accurate determination of cobalamin vitamers in foods remains analytically challenging because conventional cyanidation-based methods convert native cobalamins into cyanocobalamin (CNCbl) and may distort their original distribution. In this study, a cyanide-free UHPLC-MS/MS workflow was developed for the analysis of major cobalamin vitamers in foods, with particular emphasis on preserving native forms during sample preparation. Light, temperature, and cleanup procedures were systematically evaluated. Methylcobalamin (MeCbl) and adenosylcobalamin (AdoCbl) showed pronounced light sensitivity, whereas red-light handling better preserved vitamer integrity during pre-analytical operations. A tandem cleanup procedure combining immunoaffinity and Oasis HLB solid-phase extraction improved extract cleanliness in complex food matrices. The workflow showed good chromatographic separation and excellent linearity (R² > 0.999). The validated limits of detection were 0.5 μg/kg for CNCbl, 1.0 μg/kg for AdoCbl, and 0.75 μg/kg for MeCbl. Application to food samples showed no detectable target cobalamins in the tested plant-derived foods, whereas animal liver and oyster samples showed comparatively high levels of the target cobalamin vitamers, with AdoCbl predominating in liver. The proposed workflow may serve as a practical cyanide-free option for exploratory or comparative native-vitamer analysis of CNCbl, AdoCbl, and MeCbl in foods within the current validation scope, particularly when full sets of matched isotope-labeled standards are not readily available. Full article

Existing methods for selecting the number of teeth in complex planetary gear systems are often methodologically demanding. They do not always ensure all conditions required for proper operation and assembly. This paper presents an analytical methodology for determining gear tooth numbers. The method is demonstrated on a Ravigneaux planetary gear set with seven kinematic links and two degrees of freedom. It ensures the simultaneous satisfaction of all meshing and assembly conditions. Starting from the known transmission ratios, the number of teeth of one central gear, and the selected angular displacement of the outer planet gear, analytical relationships are derived. These allow the determination of the tooth numbers of all remaining gear elements. The procedure is implemented in Python 3.13. This enables a systematic evaluation of predefined input ranges and an automatic verification of geometric constraints, including interference and undercutting conditions. The proposed method yields six feasible configurations. Compared with the Borg-Warner M85 automatic transmission, deviations in individual gear ratios reach up to 10%. Significantly lower tooth numbers are achieved for several gears. These results suggest that the proposed methodology can achieve comparable kinematic performance while offering more compact gear designs and a potential weight reduction. The developed model also provides a basis for extension to more complex configurations and integration with optimisation and dynamic criteria in planetary gear synthesis. Full article

Never has the analysis of bus travel times been so essential to transit planning: travelers complain about a decline in service quality, urban congestion is on the rise, and public transport companies struggle with a structural driver shortage. This research paper aims to address the urgent need to explore new tools to increase commercial speed on transit lines while avoiding costly, potentially inefficient technological investments. A data-driven, cost-neutral, and replicable methodological framework is proposed to provide a first-order estimation of the potential benefits of Transit Signal Priority (TSP) at signalized intersections. The approach is based on Automatic Vehicle Monitoring (AVM) data analysis, which is underpinned by a lean network representation logic built from origin/destination pairs of stops located upstream and downstream of signalized intersections. Bus travel inter-times across network arcs are compared between peak and off-peak periods through a two-level analytical process that progressively refines the estimation of recoverable delay. The methodology is applied to the urban bus network of Pavia (Italy), operated by Autoguidovie S.p.A. (one of the most important Local Public Transport companies in Italy), with a specific focus on the high-frequency PV3 line. Results indicate a potential reduction of up to approximately 6 h and 45 min of operating time per day at the line level (−13.5% of total driving time), and up to 2 min per trip along a 2 km corridor (−6% along the single corridor selected). The procedure integrates both infrastructural and operational perspectives, supporting preliminary decision-making on TSP implementation using only data already collected by transit agencies. Full article

Public participation in planning, though a foundational democratic principle, faces persistent implementation challenges across diverse planning systems. This paper examines participatory planning practice in Ireland and Serbia—two countries representing distinct planning traditions (discretionary and conformance-based, respectively) yet confronting shared structural pressures. Through comparative analysis of four local land use planning instruments (the Development Plan and Local Area Plan in Ireland; the Municipal Spatial Plan and General Regulation Plan in Serbia), the study investigates how institutional design and legislative frameworks shape the depth and quality of participatory practice. Methodologically, the research triangulates statutory regulations, public hearing documentation, and non-statutory participation records across two planning scales (county/municipal and local/sub-municipal). A four-dimensional analytical framework—informing, consultation, collaboration, and monitoring—guides the systematic comparison of participatory mechanisms across the selected cases. Findings reveal that, while both systems remain predominantly at the informing and consultation levels, critical differences emerge in how participation is structured and documented in institutional practice. Ireland’s discretionary system enables multi-channel information dissemination, feedback-oriented consultation, and non-statutory collaborative experimentation beyond legal minimums. Serbia’s conformance-based system confines participation largely to statutory procedures, with objection-based consultation and limited collaborative mechanisms, though distinctive features, such as the public hearing session, provide direct opportunities for deliberation absent in the Irish context. The study contributes to European comparative planning scholarship by demonstrating that participatory depth is shaped less by the formal existence of legal provisions than by the interplay between institutional design, procedural arrangements, transparency, and responsiveness. Full article

Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) remain time-critical clinical emergencies in which early diagnosis and accurate risk stratification determine management and outcomes. Although symptoms, electrocardiography, and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) provide a reliable framework for detecting myocardial injury, they offer limited insight into plaque instability, thromboinflammatory activity, vascular repair, and post-infarction remodeling. In this narrative review, we examine the biological rationale and current clinical evidence supporting brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) as a candidate biomarker in ACS, with particular attention to pre-analytical, analytical, and phenotypic sources of heterogeneity. Available studies show that circulating BDNF concentrations vary substantially according to biological matrix, timing of sampling, ACS subtype, and assay methodology, which likely contributes to inconsistent findings across cohorts. Overall, current evidence does not support BDNF as a diagnostic alternative to hs-cTn in rule-in or rule-out pathways. However, BDNF may have value in biological phenotyping and risk stratification by reflecting platelet activation, endothelial dysfunction, inflammatory signaling, and remodeling processes after ACS. Further progress will require standardized pre-analytical procedures, separate assessment of mature BDNF and proBDNF, serial sampling, and validation in large multicenter studies. Full article

Prestressed concrete railway sleepers are key structural components that determine the safety, durability, and serviceability of modern railway infrastructure. This study presents a comprehensive investigation of the design, testing, and acceptance of prestressed concrete sleepers in accordance with EN 13230, with particular reference to the requirements applied on the Polish railway network. The analysis integrates normative provisions, analytical calculations, finite element modeling, and experimental verification, including static, dynamic, and fatigue load tests. Special attention is given to the k_t coefficient, which accounts for prestress losses, fatigue degradation, and the development of concrete strength throughout the service life. This coefficient plays a critical role in the acceptance criteria for sleepers during mandatory product testing. The influence of concrete age on the variability of k_t is examined, showing that the highest variability occurs within the first 180 days of curing. Full-scale laboratory tests performed on PS-94 sleepers confirm compliance with standard requirements regarding cracking loads, crack width limits, and ultimate load capacity under both exceptional and fatigue loading conditions. Numerical simulations provide additional insight into stress and displacement distributions in critical cross-sections, supporting the experimental findings. The results indicate that most of prestressing force losses occur during the early service period. This observation supports the application of age-dependent acceptance criteria, which may improve conformity assessment procedures for prestressed concrete railway sleepers in contemporary railway engineering practice. Full article

This paper presents the toolset, methodology and procedure followed to create a dataset from battery electric vehicle trajectories, called DEVRT—Dataset of Electric Vehicle Real Trips. Understanding the behaviour of electric vehicles and their battery consumption under real-life conditions and journeys is required in the shift towards the electrification of transport of people and goods. This paper aims to contribute with the provision of real measurements in different types of routes and environmental contexts at the time of driving to support data analytics and modelling techniques, essential for extracting actionable insights from electric vehicle battery consumption. The preparation, on-route and post-processing steps of the followed methodology are depicted. The outcome dataset consists of probe data collected over 4 days following heterogeneous routes performed by four different drivers using two electric vehicles (one more suitable to city usage and the other one more suitable for longer trips). This probe data is complemented with associated road network characterisation information, traffic flow measurements and weather extracted from auxiliary data sources. The paper presents a comprehensive description of the geographical characteristics of the trajectories, qualitative and quantitative characterisation of planned routes to create these trajectories, and criteria used to select them. Full article

With the rapid expansion of rural tourism in China, high-quality development has become a key concern for academics and policymakers. Existing studies have focused primarily on economic and industrial growth, with limited attention paid to development quality from the perspective of resident well-being. Using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2012 to 2022, this study establishes a multidimensional evaluation framework for high-quality rural tourism. We employed the entropy weight method, Theil index, and quadratic assignment procedure analysis to examine its level, regional differences, and driving factors. The findings revealed that: (1) the overall level of rural tourism development remained relatively low but rose steadily from 0.064 (2012) to 0.150 (2022) (134.38% cumulative growth), driven by supply-side improvements and demand-side expansion. (2) Pronounced regional inequalities existed: eastern provinces had higher overall levels but larger internal gaps, whereas central/western provinces had lower overall levels but smaller internal differences, with intra-regional disparities accounting for over 66% of the national inequality. (3) The tourism market and transportation were universal key drivers, but the underlying mechanisms differed: the ecological environment exerted greater influence in the east, while public services and living standards were more critical in the central/western regions. By incorporating resident well-being into a systemic analytical framework, this study reconceptualizes high-quality rural tourism as an adaptive socio-ecological system shaped by multilevel interactions among the economy, society, and the environment. The results provide empirical evidence and systemic governance insights for promoting balanced and sustainable rural tourism development. Full article

This paper presents an integrated assessment of aircraft noise in flight and ground operations within the EFACA project, supporting the roadmap toward ACARE Flightpath-2050 noise goals. It summarizes required reductions, evaluates current technology readiness, and analyzes contributions from advanced propulsion concepts, propeller-noise modeling, and operational procedures. New seven-bladed propeller designs, validated through semi-empirical, analytical, and CAA methods, demonstrate substantial tonal-noise improvements, influencing the aircraft noise reductions by 2–4 dB depending on the fight stage, and during the ground operation by up to 5 dB. Full article

Fibrin gel, a protein-based polymer naturally generated during coagulation, has garnered attention in the biomedical field for applications such as fibrin glue, due to its specific physical and biological properties. Despite it, low mechanical strength and rapid degradation limited its utilization for biomedical applications. This study presents a reproducible protocol for the synthesis of pure fibrin hydrogels, aimed at achieving predictable structural properties through the precise calibration of fibrinogen and thrombin concentrations. By examining the mechanical and morphological characteristics, as well as the relationship between reagent concentrations and structural integrity, this research assesses impacts on swelling behavior, water absorption, and overall stability. Through a comprehensive analytical approach, we identified an optimal formulation, specifically 2.25 mg/mL fibrinogen and 1.375 U/mL thrombin, that effectively balances structural integrity with high cytocompatibility. The results demonstrate that this calibrated approach ensures high procedural reproducibility and a well-defined hydrogel architecture without the need for exogenous chemical cross-linkers. This work provides a robust methodological framework to overcome the common lack of reproducibility in fibrin-based hydrogel studies, positioning these materials as highly reliable candidates for advanced 3D in vitro models and biomedical applications. Full article