Search Results (8,856)

This paper presents TALOS, a unified reusable 6G CryptoProcessor architecture for high-assurance symmetric security services under a 256-bit private-key baseline. The design addresses a core hardware challenge in future mobile systems: supporting heterogeneous strong symmetric primitives without duplicating complete cipher cores. TALOS combines a Hierarchical Common Data Path (HCDP) with a three-tier cryptographic encapsulation model spanning AES-256, Snow 5G/SNOW-V-class, and ZUC-256. Tier-1 captures native nonlinear substitutions, Tier-2 compiles bounded arithmetic nonlinearities into exact micro-S-boxes, and Tier-3 consolidates shared permutation, XOR, affine, diffusion, and state-transport fabrics. This decomposition preserves cipher correctness while exposing realistic sharing opportunities across substitution, arithmetic, and linear transport layers. The architecture also supports confidentiality processing and integration with integrity- and authentication-oriented service logic through a common control/resource framework. Compared with monolithic universal-box or loosely aggregated multi-core approaches, TALOS provides a disciplined, RTL-oriented taxonomy for crypto-agile symmetric-core hardware. The proposed framework advances 6G cryptographic hardware design by combining operator-exact reuse, architectural scalability, and implementation-oriented efficiency within a single CryptoProcessor paradigm. Full article

Maritime transportation, a traditionally polluting sector, is engaged in sustainable innovation; advanced detection of marine pollution incidents can help control improvements in this sector. However, coastal and marine environmental governance is increasingly constrained by fragmented monitoring architectures in which environmental, operational, and regulatory datasets remain distributed across institutions and jurisdictions. Comprehensive governance mechanisms that cross the sea–land continuum are limited. Public authorities, port administrations, research institutes, and private operators independently monitor marine pollution, vessel movements, coastal pressures, and urban and ecological risks; however, these data streams remain siloed across organizational, sectoral, and jurisdictional boundaries. The absence of interoperability, real-time exchange, and coordinated analytics generates a gap between monitoring capacity and regulatory effectiveness, resulting in delayed detection of multi-risks, such as pollution incidents. Weak governance and assignment of responsibility and largely reactive enforcement practices further reinforce the problem. Anticipatory interventions are needed to improve coastal and marine sustainability. This paper examines the EMMERA (East Med Cross-border Marine Environmental Risk Assessment through E-Platform Integrated Data Management) platform established by three port authorities as a data-centric intervention designed to address some of these structural limitations. Implemented in port and coastal environments in Cyprus, Greece, and Israel, EMMERA integrates heterogeneous static and dynamic data sources—including satellite observations, administrative records, vessel information, and drone-based monitoring—into a unified operational framework accessible to competent authorities. Through data fusion, cross-validation, and automated anomaly detection combined with targeted drone verification, the platform aims to transform fragmented monitoring streams into coherent, actionable environmental intelligence, strengthening the evidentiary basis for regulatory intervention. The paper presents the platform design and provides a baseline assessment. It argues that EMMERA’s primary contribution lies not in the introduction of additional monitoring tools, but in enabling more effective coastal and marine environmental governance through integrated data infrastructures. EMMERA is proposed as a governance-oriented integrated data infrastructure whose anticipated contribution lies in improving institutional interoperability, risk visibility, and evidence generation for environmental oversight, even as operational effectiveness will require future evaluation following sustained deployment. More broadly, the paper proposes that integrated data architectures can recalibrate environmental governance, shifting emphasis from post hoc documentation toward anticipatory, coordinated, and performance-oriented regulatory practices. Full article

Urban vitality is a key indicator for characterizing the quality of urban space and the operational status of urban functions. However, existing studies still have limitations in multidimensional vitality measurement at the block scale, the representation of hierarchical differences in cultural facilities, and the coupling coordination diagnosis of multidimensional vitality. This study takes 2504 blocks in the central urban area of Nanjing as the basic analytical units and integrates multi-source geospatial data, including VIIRS nighttime light data, Baidu Huiyan population heat data, POIs, road networks, and water systems, to construct a three-dimensional urban vitality evaluation system encompassing economic, social, and cultural vitality. A Composite Nighttime Light Index (CNLI) is constructed by geometrically fusing VIIRS nighttime light data with the kernel density of industry- and consumption-related POIs to reduce the impact of the spatial generalization of nighttime lights on block-scale economic vitality measurement. Meanwhile, population heat data and cultural POIs are used to characterize social vitality and cultural resource supply, respectively, and PCA, a coupling coordination model, and spatial autocorrelation analysis are combined to identify the spatial structure of multidimensional vitality and the dominant factors of disorder. External reference variables are also introduced to conduct convergent validity verification. The results indicate that the comprehensive vitality of Nanjing’s central urban area exhibits a distinct “core agglomeration–multi-node diffusion” structure. High-vitality zones are primarily concentrated in Xinjiekou, Confucius Temple, Hunan Road–Zhongyang Road, Longjiang, and the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center, with localized vitality patches forming at peripheral commercial and transportation nodes. Both comprehensive vitality and coupling coordination degree exhibit significant positive spatial autocorrelation, with Moran’s I values of 0.8089 and 0.8372, respectively. The disorder types show distinct quantitative differences and spatial differentiation. Among these, blocks with lagging cultural vitality are the most numerous; peripheral new towns and newly developed residential areas are more prone to cultural vitality lag; areas surrounding scenic spots, universities, and large ecological spaces tend to exhibit economic vitality lag; and less developed peripheral blocks primarily exhibit comprehensive disorder. Based on accessible multi-source geospatial data, this study constructs a block-scale framework for measuring multidimensional urban vitality and diagnosing coordination status. This framework can provide a reference for vitality identification, functional shortcoming diagnosis, and refined spatial governance in Nanjing’s central urban area, and offer a case reference for historic and cultural cities with similar spatial structures. Full article

The emergence of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) introduces new opportunities for the design of intelligent and flexible transportation systems beyond traditional road-based logistics. This study investigates the integration of UAVs as an alternative transportation mode within industrial environments, focusing on the rapid delivery of critical spare parts in large-scale production facilities. A two-stage optimization framework is developed, combining demand pre-processing with a routing algorithm that determines fleet utilization and delivery schedules under operational constraints. The proposed framework utilizes a data pre-processing stage, which converts enterprise resource planning order records into delivery-ready item data, with a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) routing model that assigns eligible spare parts to UAV trips and determines the use of a fixed fleet under payload, dimensional, service-time, and battery-related constraints. The approach is evaluated using real annual order data from a metal-industry plant, combined with simulated intra-day arrival profiles due to the absence of exact order-placement timestamps in the ERP records. The results indicate that UAV-based transportation can serve a substantial share of internal demand while achieving shorter delivery-response times for the modeled UAV layer under the simulated dispatch instances and significantly lower direct energy-related transportation costs compared with the existing pickup-based process. The results highlight the role of UAVs as a complementary transportation layer in controlled industrial networks, supporting the transition toward more responsive and intelligent future transportation systems. Full article

Saccharomyces cerevisiae, widely used in industrial fermentation, still suffers from inherent problems in the efficient utilization of carbon sources. Here, a strategy for alleviating glucose effect and improving S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) production by deleting Mig1 combined with introducing MetK1 from Leishmania infantum was applied in S. cerevisiae. The deletion of Mig1 improved glucose utilization by increasing the expression levels of genes related to glucose transport and glycolysis, thereby increasing the levels of glycolytic intermediates and increasing both the transcriptional levels of ACS1 and ALD6 and the activity of ADH2, which promotes the conversion of ethanol into acetyl-CoA. The deletion of Mig1 also upregulated the transcripts of genes involved in the metabolism of precursor amino acids of SAM and ultimately responsible for the improvement in SAM synthesis. Finally, MetK1 was introduced into yeast to redirect carbon flux toward SAM biosynthesis. As expected, the SAM production of the mutant YMig1ΔPMetK1 reached 8.91 g/L in a 10 L fermenter, which was 72.3% higher than that of the parent strain S. cerevisiae CGMCC 2842 (5.17 g/L) reported in our previous studies. This study revealed that the strategy of alleviating glucose effect and redirecting carbon flux to nonethanol products by Mig1 deletion combined with heterologous MetK1 introduction possesses great potential for improving SAM synthesis in yeast cells. Full article

In order to solve the bottleneck problems of zinc anode in aqueous zinc-ion batteries, such as dendrite disorder growth, hydrogen evolution corrosion, and interface passivation, lard derivative coating (LDC) was fabricated on zinc anode using a coating–calcination process. The microstructure, surface physical, and chemical properties of LDC and its influence on zinc deposition behavior and interface stability were investigated using a combination of techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The LDC-modified Zn anode (LDC@Zn) delivers stable cycling for over 3500 h at 1 mA·cm⁻²/0.5 mAh·cm⁻². In Zn||Cu asymmetric cells, an average coulombic efficiency of 99.8% is achieved over 2400 cycles, confirming highly reversible Zn plating/stripping behavior. Furthermore, the full cell maintains a reversible capacity of ~400 mAh·g⁻¹ after 800 cycles at 5 A·g⁻¹, demonstrating excellent rate capability and long-term stability. Overall, this work innovatively demonstrates that the LDC interphase integrates hydrophobic suppression of side reactions and zincophilic regulation of Zn²⁺ deposition within a single architecture, enabling a synergistic balance between interfacial stability and controlled ion transport, and providing a scalable strategy for stable Zn anodes and new insights into interfacial engineering. Full article

This study proposes and evaluates an integrated coal-based hydrogen–electricity cogeneration concept that combines oxygen transport membrane (OTM) technology, coal partial gasification (CPG), and pressurized oxy-fuel combustion (POFC) with inherent CO₂ capture. Six system configurations, comprising a no-capture baseline, a conventional cryogenic air separation route, and four OTM-based variants differing in membrane operating mode (4-end vs. 3-end) and feed air heating strategy, are systematically compared through Aspen Plus process simulation coupled with a 4E (energy, exergy, environmental, and economic) assessment. The two leading CCS configurations, namely, Case 1 (CASU benchmark) and Case 2 (heat-integrated 4-end OTM configuration), show comparable thermodynamic performance, with overall efficiencies of approximately 50.9% and exergy efficiencies of approximately 48.6%. Their small efficiency difference falls within the propagated auxiliary load uncertainty, indicating that they should be regarded as thermodynamically comparable rather than strictly ranked by first-law efficiency. In the techno-economic assessment, Case 2 delivers the lowest credit-based levelized hydrogen cost among the CCS routes, while both allocation-based and credit-based costs are reported in the main text for comparison. Sensitivity analysis confirms that the comparative ranking is robust to single-parameter and combined adverse market perturbations, while the absolute economic viability remains contingent on hydrogen price, CO₂ credit availability, and membrane-related assumptions. Full article

This paper investigates the stability of high-dimensional financial portfolios using concentration inequalities, information-theoretic measures, optimal transport metrics, and financial network analysis. Asset returns are generated under both multivariate Gaussian and multivariate Student-t distributions. Equal Weight and Regularized Minimum Variance portfolios are evaluated across alternative portfolio dimensions. The results show that increasing portfolio dimension reduces portfolio risk, tail probabilities, and risk estimation errors, indicating stronger concentration and higher stability in high-dimensional settings. Entropy and mutual information measures reveal improved diversification and weaker dependence structures as portfolio size increases. To assess distributional robustness, a novel Talagrand Stability Index (TSI), combining Wasserstein distance and Kullback–Leibler divergence, is introduced. The results show that TSI decreases with portfolio dimension. Heavy-tailed Student-t returns generate weaker concentration effects, stronger dependence structures, and lower distributional stability than Gaussian returns. Mutual information-based financial networks reveal sparse and moderately interconnected dependence structures. To illustrate the practical applicability of the proposed framework, an empirical application based on daily returns of ten large U.S. equities during 2020–2025 is conducted, showing that the Regularized Minimum Variance portfolio achieves a marginally lower TSI than the Equal Weight portfolio. Robustness checks reported further indicate that this advantage is modest and outcome-dependent rather than decisive. Full article

Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)-based materials are widely studied for functional materials and porous platform applications, yet their stability usually requires energy-intensive thermal curing or toxic chemical crosslinkers, which limit process sustainability. In this work, we present a more sustainable approach for the preparation of CMC-based foams using deep eutectic solvents (DES) as multifunctional structuring agents. CMC hydrogels were prepared with different DES at room temperature, followed by freeze-drying to obtain foams. Among the tested DES, choline chloride:oxalic acid (1:1) combined with glycerol produced foams with the most favorable properties, including high water uptake (288.24 ± 3.02% after 1 h) and water stability for 28 days. Morphological analysis revealed a homogeneous and interconnected porous network (32.2 ± 13.3 µm), while compression tests demonstrated good mechanical recovery (93.29 ± 3.12% over 10 cycles). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy suggests interactions between CMC and DES, especially hydrogen bonds. The foams exhibited pH-dependent behavior, with limited resveratrol release under acidic conditions (22.2 ± 4.0% after 24 h), with significant release at pH 7.4 (85.30 ± 5.75%) and total release at pH 13.0. Drug release kinetics suggest a diffusion-controlled mechanism under acidic pH, transitioning to anomalous transport at higher pH values. This study demonstrates that DES can be used to prepare CMC-based foams, providing a more sustainable route to porous materials. Although biological validation is needed to confirm therapeutic safety, this study provides an initial physicochemical basis for using these matrices as tunable and stimuli-responsive porous materials. Full article

Cancer multidrug resistance (MDR), particularly mediated by ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, can link ABC transporters’ ATP-dependent efflux to Nrf2-driven antioxidant defence. This connection reduces the oxidative threshold in MDR cancer cells. Natural or nature-inspired compounds can target this vulnerability and induce collateral sensitivity (CS) by simultaneously modulating the redox balance and ABC transporters’ activity in MDR cancer cells. Moreover, natural-origin compounds can act on multiple targets by combining efflux inhibition, redox modulation, and immune evasion into a unique therapeutic strategy. However, many challenges should be addressed in their characterisation and preclinical validation to ensure their usefulness for clinical application. These include poor bioavailability, pharmacokinetic interactions, safe toxicity windows, and tumour heterogeneity. In perspective, adaptive trial designs employing biomarker-guided patient stratification can translate natural-origin compounds from preclinical promise to precision partners in clinical oncology. Full article

This study addresses the poorly understood fracture propagation mechanisms in continental shale oil reservoirs with multi-lithologic combinations, specifically those in the lower third member of the Shahejie Formation, Bonan Sag, which exhibit complex lithology, coexistence of bedding planes and natural fractures, and pronounced mechanical anisotropy. We conduct small scale true triaxial hydraulic fracturing physical simulation experiments using limestone mudstone, felsic–lime mixed shale, and their combined rock samples. We innovatively introduce the hydraulic fracture complexity coefficient (F_h), the bedding plane fracture complexity coefficient (F_l), and the comprehensive fracture complexity coefficient (F_T) to enable quantitative evaluation of fracture complexity. The results show that high-viscosity fracturing fluid promotes vertical propagation and improves proppant placement, but yields relatively simple fracture geometry. Low-viscosity fracturing fluid readily activates bedding plane fractures, yet limits fracture height; a combined viscosity strategy can synergistically optimize the overall fracturing performance. The “high–low–high” viscosity sequence achieves the highest comprehensive fracture complexity coefficient (F_T), simultaneously providing large fracture height, high complexity, and effective proppant transport. Although increasing the injection rate significantly reduces the breakdown pressure and increases fracture width, it contributes marginally to vertical fracture growth. For fracturing multi-lithologic shale oil reservoirs, the recommended technical strategy is a “high-low-high” viscosity sequence combined with a moderately increased injection rate” to maximize the stimulated reservoir volume and overall fracturing effectiveness. Full article

Bio-inspired cellular metamaterials manufactured using additive manufacturing technologies provide a promising route for controlling thermal transport properties through architecture rather than through the intrinsic properties of the constituent material. This study investigates steady-state heat transfer in open-cell lattice structures comprising 20 different lattice metamaterial specimens representing various classes of cellular architecture. These include Kelvin, auxetic, BCCZ, BCC, cube, Z-cuboctahedron, diamond, FCC, FBCCXYZ, FCCZ, FBCC, G7, isostructure, octahedron, octet structure, rhombohedral dodecahedron, truncated cuboctahedron and truncated cube, all of which are made from polymer materials. The investigated architectures were inspired by functional principles observed in natural cellular systems, including cancellous bone, wood, coral skeletons, and other biological porous materials, where efficient transport processes are achieved through optimized material distribution and interconnected cellular networks. A theoretical model combining conduction through the lattice skeleton, radiative heat transfer within pores and potential convective contributions was developed using homogenization theory and representative volume element analysis. The experiment confirmed the main hypothesis of this study as described by the mathematical model. Experimental validation also confirmed that the homogenization model correctly predicts the thermal conductivity of open-cell lattice structures in highly porous materials with a porosity of around 0.95. The results demonstrate the potential of biomimetic cellular design for the development of lightweight thermal-management materials with programmable thermal transport properties. Full article

Innovation-oriented productive forces are increasingly concentrated in cities, but the multiscale mechanisms through which the built environment shapes these forces remain insufficiently understood. This study develops a spatial analytical framework linking firm-level new quality productive forces (NQPF) to fine-grained urban spatial structures. Using 89 A-share listed firms in the Xiamen–Zhangzhou–Quanzhou (XZQ) urban agglomeration, we first construct an entropy-weighted NQPF index from eleven financial indicators related to R&D human capital, advanced capital stock, intangible assets, and operational efficiency. Kernel density estimation is then used to transform discrete firm-level NQPF values into a continuous 600 m × 600 m grid surface as the dependent variable. On the explanatory side, 27 built-environment variables are organized into an integrated indicator system covering urban form, natural conditions, jobs–housing structure, and service infrastructures. We combine cross-validated recursive feature elimination (RFE-CV) with multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) to construct two model specifications: a 7-variable parsimonious subset and a 14-variable highest-performing subset. This dual-subset design allows us to distinguish core structural drivers from more context-dependent spatial mechanisms. The results reveal three mechanisms. First, ecological adaptation reflects the scale-dependent enabling and constraining effects of infrastructure and natural-foundation variables. Second, structural coordination shows that mature cores may experience crowding-related suppression when functional and institutional resources become spatially mismatched. Third, boundary activation indicates that transport, public-service, and leisure-related facilities can activate peripheral and cross-jurisdictional interface zones when supported by network connectivity and institutional coordination. By coupling variable-specific bandwidths with local coefficients, this study advances the analysis of spatial heterogeneity and provides evidence for differentiated, innovation-oriented urban regeneration. Full article

Background: Road transport accounts for 73% of transport-related greenhouse gas emissions within the EU, 27% of which are attributable to heavy-duty vehicles. In order to reduce emissions in the area of heavy-duty commercial vehicles, electrifying the fleet offers a perspective. As part of a cooperation between TU Berlin, Siemens and BLG Logistics within the Mobility2Grid research campus, an analysis was carried out to determine how an exemplary BLG depot for regional logistics transport with six diesel trucks can be converted to battery–electric trucks. Methods: This analysis was conducted under a fixed depot schedule with defined dwell times and charging opportunities, with the aim of developing practical recommendations for the acquisition of suitable vehicles and infrastructure. To this end, simulations were carried out using the eFlips consumption and depot simulation software developed at TU Berlin. Results and Conclusions The results show that electrification for regional logistics transport can already be fully implemented with the current state of the art technology and that neither very large batteries nor very high charging powers are required for technically feasible and economically balanced operation. Notably, the cost-optimal battery capacities identified (approximately 200–230 kWh) are currently smaller than those of commercially available 40 t electric trucks, revealing a gap between the model-optimal configuration and present market offerings. Based on the identified optimal configuration, a life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted to evaluate the environmental impact of fleet electrification. Over a 10-year lifetime, the battery–electric fleet reduces cumulative greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 53% compared to the diesel baseline, with operational-phase savings clearly outweighing higher production-related emissions. The combined techno-economic and environmental assessment provides a structured decision basis for depot-centered fleet electrification. Full article

The realization of forest ecological product value has been promoted as an important pathway for reconciling ecological conservation with rural prosperity. However, it remains unclear whether the growth of forest ecological product value has been synchronized with improvements in farmers’ livelihoods. Using panel data from 31 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2022, this study develops an integrated framework combining allometric growth analysis, a Bayesian hierarchical symbiotic coefficient model, a Lotka–Volterra interaction model, a multi-period difference-in-differences design and LightGBM-SHAP interpretation. The results show that 87% of provinces exhibit negative allometric growth, indicating that forest ecological product value has generally grown faster than farmers’ income. The national symbiotic coefficient increased before 2019 but declined thereafter, suggesting a weakening ecological-livelihood synergy. The multi-period DID results indicate that the 2017 Green Finance Reform and Innovation Pilot Policy significantly weakened the symbiotic relationship in pilot provinces. LightGBM-SHAP further shows that financial development, technological progress and transportation infrastructure are key variables associated with symbiotic equilibrium, with substantial regional heterogeneity. These findings suggest that ecological product value realization and green finance do not automatically translate into inclusive livelihood benefits. More targeted benefit-sharing, financial transmission and farmer-participation mechanisms are needed to promote forest-based ecological prosperity. Full article