Search Results (622)

The surgical management of rectal cancer has evolved from open resection to laparoscopic and, more recently, robotic minimally invasive approaches. Laparoscopy established the short-term benefits of minimally invasive rectal surgery but is limited within the confines of the bony pelvis, prompting adoption of the robotic platform with its three-dimensional visualization, wristed instruments, and tremor filtration. Whether these refinements translate into measurable clinical benefit remains debated. This narrative review compares the two approaches across oncologic, perioperative, functional, and economic domains. Pathologic outcomes are broadly equivalent, though contemporary evidence—most notably the REAL trial—suggests a possible emerging robotic advantage, although further study is necessary in this regard. Robotic surgery offers potential advantages in conversion rates, blood loss, and postoperative urinary and sexual function, while laparoscopy retains advantages in operative time and cost. At present, platform choice should be guided by patient anatomy, tumor characteristics, and surgical expertise, with robotic surgery likely most valuable in anatomically challenging cases where laparoscopy is most limited. Full article

Vietnam’s domestic gold price has persistently exceeded the world price by a wide margin, even as recent reforms have begun to relax the state’s historical monopoly over gold-bar production and imports. This paper asks why the gap persists, and whether it is confined to normal market conditions or extends into periods of extreme price movement. Using daily data spanning 2 January 2019 to 31 July 2026 (1856 trading days), covering the reform introduced by Decree No. 232/2025/ND-CP we decompose the domestic premium into a currency component and a pure physical-gold component, and use a copula-based framework to separately assess average price linkage and tail (extreme-event) co-movement between the domestic and world markets. Domestic gold bars traded at an average premium of 16.0% over import-parity world prices, of which 13.8 percentage points reflect the physical-gold component driven by constrained arbitrage, while currency factors account for only about 2 percentage points. The average linkage between the two markets is weak, indicating persistent segmentation, and this segmentation extends into the tails of the distribution for most of the sample. The premium itself carries substantial latent risk: a reversion to price parity would imply a one-off loss of about 9.6% of value, roughly eight to ten times the historical one-day 5% Value-at-Risk. Following the reform’s effective date, however, we find early evidence of emerging co-movement specifically in extreme upside price movements, even though the physical premium itself has not yet narrowed—consistent with a reform that has been enacted in law but remains at an early stage of operational implementation. The results indicate that administrative restrictions on the physical gold supply chain, rather than currency controls, are the principal source of Vietnam’s persistent gold-price gap, with direct implications for how the ongoing liberalization process should be sequenced. Full article

Preclinical models play a critical role in the development of PSMA-targeted radiopharmaceuticals for prostate cancer. However, many existing models have practical limitations, including slow tumor growth, low engraftment rates, and restricted availability, and all human PSMA-positive lines are confined to immunodeficient hosts. We developed and characterized a novel PSMA-expressing transgenic cell line, CT26-PSMA, as a practical tool for preclinical screening of PSMA-targeting agents. The CT26-PSMA cell line was established by stable transfection of the murine colon carcinoma CT26 cell line with human PSMA using the Sleeping Beauty transposon system. PSMA expression was confirmed by RT-qPCR (reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction), flow cytometry, and radioligand saturation binding on intact cells. Two [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-labeled radioconjugates—the well-established PSMA-617 and a newly synthesized conjugate (Conjugate-1)—were used to validate the functionality of the model through in vitro binding, uptake and internalization studies, and through ex vivo biodistribution in CT26-PSMA tumor-bearing athymic male nu/nu mice. The CT26-PSMA cell line demonstrated high and stable PSMA expression, with approximately 95% of cells expressing the biomarker and no measurable loss over 16 passages in antibiotic-free medium. Saturation binding gave a receptor density of ∼3.5 × 10⁶ sites per cell, approximately four-fold higher than that of LNCaP cells (∼0.8 × 10⁶), with dissociation constants that were indistinguishable between the two radioconjugates and between the two cell lines (K_d 9.0–11.6 nM). Subcutaneous tumors reached ~300 mm³ within 8–10 days of inoculation, with a take rate of 10/10 versus 1/10 for LNCaP (Fisher’s exact test, p = 1.2 × 10⁻⁴). Both radiotracers showed saturable, 2-PMPA-blockable binding and uptake in CT26-PSMA cells, confirming the functional activity of the recombinant receptor. Biodistribution studies revealed accumulation of both conjugates in CT26-PSMA tumors, with generally comparable tumor-to-background profiles. The CT26-PSMA cell line represents a robust, rapid, and reproducible platform for preclinical evaluation of PSMA-targeting radiopharmaceuticals, and its murine BALB/c origin permits engraftment in immunocompetent or minimally immunosuppressed hosts, whereas existing human PSMA-positive lines do not. It is intended as a screening platform rather than as a model of prostate cancer biology. The validation data obtained with [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-labelled conjugates confirm the suitability of this cell line for future studies of PSMA-directed compounds. Full article

This study investigates the time-dependent seismic fragility of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge piers exposed to the harsh saline–alkali environments of Northwest China. A comprehensive analytical framework was developed by integrating quasi-static cyclic tests, nonlinear finite element modeling, and incremental dynamic analysis (IDA). Four pier specimens were subjected to accelerated corrosion in a composite sulfate–chloride solution for up to 90 days. Experimental results reveal a critical threshold: once the actual mass loss of the longitudinal reinforcement reaches approximately 12.05% (corresponding to a stirrup mass loss of approximately 21.45%), the severe loss of core confinement triggers a fundamental failure mode transition from ductile flexural yielding to brittle flexural-shear failure. Traditional displacement-based parameters are fundamentally inadequate for capturing this brittle shift; therefore, the Krätzig hysteretic energy dissipation index was adopted to rigorously quantify structural damage. Subsequently, a time-dependent Probabilistic Seismic Demand Model (PSDM) was constructed, explicitly incorporating the experimentally calibrated reinforcement degradation laws. The fragility analysis demonstrates a distinct biphasic degradation mechanism: while short-term sulfate attack temporarily enhances initial stiffness via a “pore-filling effect,” prolonged composite exposure drastically amplifies seismic vulnerability. Notably, under a severe earthquake intensity of 1.0 g (PGA), the exceedance probability for Severe Damage reaches 50.24% after 90 days of exposure, representing a 2.7-fold increase compared to the uncorroded baseline This research provides a robust, energy-based quantitative methodology for the lifecycle seismic evaluation and maintenance of transport infrastructure in aggressive composite environments. Full article

Water-mist curtains act as thermal barriers to longitudinal smoke propagation in confined-space fires, but their downstream cooling remains difficult to predict with reduced-order models. This study develops a calibrated semi-analytical model that uses the incident temperature at the curtain’s upstream face and combines a one-dimensional droplet residence-time solution with a Stefan-flow heat-transfer reduction. A lumped closure coefficient, k = Aeq/A0, collectively accounts for the simplified initial velocity and trajectory, spray nonuniformity, ensemble shielding, representative properties, and boundary inputs. The coefficient is inferred from 5 MW FDS cases with D₃₂ = 400–700 μm and is not interpreted as breakup or coalescence, which were absent from the monodisperse simulations. Cases at 2, 4, and 6 MW provide within-domain blind tests, whereas 1, 3, and 7 MW provide supplementary assessment; the maximum reconstructed relative deviation in exit temperature is 13.4%. A 1:5 experiment supplies a cross-scale trend comparison, but its geometry differs from the full-scale FDS domain, and only the 3 MW-equivalent fire has an archived mass-loss calibration. The model is therefore limited to the present calibration domain and should not be transferred directly across geometries, nozzles, or ventilation conditions. Full article

With the rapid development of recycling and secondary utilization of end-of-life battery materials, it is crucial to clarify the impact of full-lifecycle degradation on the thermal safety limits of lithium-ion batteries. This study focuses on a 16 Ah NCM613|graphite pouch battery. First, it analyzes the evolution of capacity decay, thickness expansion, and internal resistance during cycling at room temperature (25 °C) and high temperature (45 °C). Furthermore, an adiabatic accelerated calorimeter (ARC) is employed to investigate the influence of different states of health (SOH) levels (95% and 85%) on the battery’s thermal runaway characteristics. The findings indicate that, macroscopically, batteries in all states follow similar voltage–temperature failure pathways, with mass loss rates confined to a narrow range of approximately 16%, emphasizing the low catastrophic potential of mid-nickel chemistry. However, the microscopic kinetic mechanisms exhibit significant anisotropy: although thickness and internal resistance display no apparent abrupt increase during the late stage of room temperature aging, the capacity exhibits a highly nonlinear plunge behavior. The severe internal lithium plating side reaction triggered by this phenomenon causes the self-heating onset temperature to drop rapidly from 130.0 °C in the fresh state to 79.7 °C. Concurrently, the activation energy of the exothermic side reaction, fitted using a simplified Arrhenius equation, exhibits a non-monotonic variation with aging progress. In the early stages of aging at 95% SOH, due to high temperatures promoting more significant growth of the interfacial film or moderate film formation at room temperature enhancing interfacial thermal stability, the activation energies for both aged batteries increase, and the energy barrier at high temperatures is slightly higher than at room temperature; however, during the deep aging stage at 85% SOH, due to the degradation of active material components and the emergence of lithium plating characteristics, the energy barrier significantly decreases, with high-temperature-aged batteries exhibiting a greater reduction, highlighting the cumulative negative impact of prolonged high-temperature exposure on thermal safety. The research provides a core scientific basis for establishing a battery safety early warning and dynamic health management system covering the entire lifecycle. Full article

Flexible capacitive humidity sensors are pivotal for next-generation wearable electronics and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. However, conventional devices suffer from severe salt leaching and delamination of hygroscopic sensing materials, alongside poor interfacial adhesion and mechanical fragility of metallic electrodes. Herein, an innovative in situ strategy is reported for constructing LiCl-CH₃COOK/laser-induced graphene (LIG) composite flexible electrodes via single-step laser direct writing. This approach simultaneously patterns three-dimensional (3D) porous LIG interdigitated networks on polyimide substrates and drives deep infiltration of the LiCl-CH₃COOK hygroscopic phase within the graphene pores. The 3D interconnected LIG skeleton not only provides abundant physical anchoring sites and rapid water vapor transport channels but also effectively suppresses the physical loss and leaching of the deliquesced salts through micro-nanoscale spatial confinement, yielding remarkable interfacial stability and cycling lifetime. Benefiting from the synergistic deliquescence of the composite salts, the sensor delivers an exceptional sensitivity of 65,570% (ΔC/C₀), moderate response/recovery times of 75/90 s, and ultralow hysteresis of 0.981%. Furthermore, the streamlined laser-scribing route replaces conventional costly microfabrication sequences, enabling low-cost, high-precision customization. Demonstrations in human respiration monitoring and smart agriculture validate the sensor’s superior reliability and practical applicability, establishing a novel pathway for miniaturized, highly integrated, and robust flexible humidity detection systems. Full article

Environmental risks associated with climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainability transitions extend beyond the allocation of financial losses. Research recognises insurance’s role in environmental risk management and sustainable finance. It also considers climate adaptation and governance, but remains fragmented across disciplines and analytical levels. This study develops an integrative conceptual framework distinguishing risk transfer, established insurance incentive and portfolio effects, and risk transformation. Drawing on a theory-informed synthesis of the literature, it connects insights from environmental economics and principal–agent theory. Signalling and institutional theory provide complementary perspectives. Risk transformation is defined as an outcome in which insurance-related mechanisms make a demonstrable contribution to sustained and independently verifiable reductions in underlying environmental risk or its alterable drivers. Such transformation may occur within a single insured organisation; cross-level transmission may broaden or amplify its effects but is not a defining condition. The framework identifies four potential economic, behavioural, informational, and institutional pathways, which may operate separately or jointly, with capital allocation incorporated into the economic pathway. A context-specific operational protocol specifies ex ante magnitude, persistence, attribution, and verification criteria without imposing a universal scale across heterogeneous risks. The framework also identifies pathway complementarity, conflict, and single-path failure and specifies the boundary conditions that determine whether the pathways generate substantive risk reduction. It explains when effects remain confined to compensation, conventional incentives, insured-loss reduction, risk selection, portfolio de-risking, or symbolic compliance. The study concludes by formulating categorised research propositions and corresponding empirical strategies. Full article

This study investigates the shear behavior and failure mechanisms of innovative hybrid structural beams fabricated by filling pultruded glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) box sections with waste rubber-reinforced concrete (RuC). Environmentally friendly concrete was produced by replacing natural aggregate with recycled tire-rubber fibers at proportions of 0%, 5%, 10%, and 15%. Twelve hybrid beam specimens were tested to evaluate the synergistic effects of rubber content and stirrup spacings of 16, 20, and 27 cm on shear capacity, ductility, and crack propagation. The experimental results revealed that the reference specimen (S16-0%) exhibited the maximum shear capacity of 154.41 kN and a brittle failure mode, while an increase in rubber content to 15%, combined with wider stirrup spacing, significantly reduced this capacity to a minimum of 96.89 kN (S27-15%). However, the 5% rubber replacement ratio achieved an optimal performance balance by preserving sufficient load-carrying capacity while enhancing flexural deformation and ductility, particularly in specimens with 16 cm stirrup spacing. Damage analysis demonstrated that longitudinal splitting cracks initiated in the mid-span tension zone at the bottom of the pultruded profiles, with final localized damage concentrated at the geometric corners of the box section. Crucially, the outer pultruded GFRP profiles provided substantial structural confinement, effectively mitigating the strength loss associated with high rubber incorporation and controlling the progression of sudden brittle failure. These findings highlight that combining pultruded GFRP profiles and optimized RuC offers a structurally viable and sustainable solution for modern infrastructure applications. Full article

This paper proposes a single-stage common-ground series-capacitor-compensated buck–boost inverter (CG-SCC-BBI) for wide-input DC–AC applications. Featuring a common-ground neutral and a series-blocking film capacitor, the topology inherently suppresses high-frequency common-mode leakage-current excitation and blocks the structural DC offset. To counteract frequency-dependent voltage attenuation caused by the output network, a fundamental-frequency equivalent model is derived to pre-scale the modulation reference and fully restore output voltage amplitude. The four-switch power stage operates with single-active-leg PWM, confining high-frequency switching to a single half-bridge at any instant to significantly reduce the switching-loss budget. Furthermore, by eliminating the conventional line-frequency output filter choke and utilizing film capacitors exclusively, the topology completely avoids electrolytic capacitors, thereby enhancing long-term operational reliability and lifespan. The proposed inverter supports seamless transition between boost and buck operating modes across the entire input-voltage range. Its operating principles are validated through time-domain simulations, and these were experimentally verified on a 300 W SiC MOSFET standalone laboratory prototype. Experimental results confirm correct operation from 95 V to 400 V DC input, achieving maximum measured efficiencies of 96.79% at the rated 300 W under low-input operation and 97.66% at the rated 300 W under high-input operation, while maintaining an output-current total harmonic distortion (THD) below 2.5%. Full article

Zoledronic compounds are widely used as antiresorptive and antitumor agents to prevent bone loss and treat multiple myeloma; however, their pharmacokinetic limitations motivate the search for alternative delivery systems capable of improving their controlled release and bioavailability. In this work, we investigate the stability, structural behavior, and adsorption properties of zoledronic acid (ZOL) and its Ca²⁺ and Zn²⁺ salts confined within the interlayer space of the smectite clay mineral montmorillonite by combining empirical force field (FF), density functional theory (DFT), and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the suitability of montmorillonite as a potential drug delivery system (DDS). Specifically, crystal polymorph structures of zoledronic acid [1-(2-hydroxy-2-phosphonate-2-phosphonoethyl)-1H-imidazol-3-ium)] (ZOL) and its Ca²⁺ and Zn²⁺ salts were analyzed. Our calculated crystal structures obtained by both methods (FF and DFT) agree well with the known experimental data. Furthermore, the intercalation of ZOL into the confined interlayer space of montmorillonite is energetically favorable. Several interlayer cations (Na⁺, Ca²⁺, and Zn²⁺) were also evaluated. MD simulations showed that ZOL adopts stable confined configurations within the interlayer space of montmorillonite, exhibiting small torsions of the imidazole group. Additionally, the desorption of ZOL in a modelized acidic medium is energetically favorable. Our calculations predict that this clay mineral holds strong potential for the controlled delivery of zoledronic compounds. Full article

Climate change and human activities are widely recognized as major drivers of global biodiversity loss. The Brown Eared Pheasant (Crossoptilon mantchuricum), a ground-dwelling avian species unique to China, is confined to a highly fragmented range and faces persistent long-term threats. To devise robust and site-specific preservation strategies, it is imperative to elucidate the species’ sensitivity to climate change and pinpoint high-priority protection areas. In this study, we integrated field surveys, ensemble species distribution modelling, Marxan systematic conservation planning, and GAP analysis to assess habitat suitability changes under future climate scenarios and identify conservation gaps for the Brown Eared Pheasant. Our results demonstrate that the species’ distribution is primarily driven by annual temperature range, precipitation in the coldest and wettest quarters, and elevation, underscoring its highly restricted climatic niche. Based on current climatic conditions, highly suitable habitats are primarily distributed across specific mountainous regions: Hebei Province (Xiaowutai Mountains), Shanxi Province (the Taihang, Lvliang, and Taiyue mountain systems), Shaanxi Province (Huanglong Mountains), and northwestern Beijing (the Donglingshan area). Simulations conducted across prospective climatic scenarios suggest a continued decline in suitable habitat, which becomes increasingly restricted to higher latitudes and mountainous regions. According to our GAP analysis, current protected area networks fail to encompass 72.27% of the priority conservation zones identified, with significant gaps in the southern Lvliang, Taiyue, and Huanglong Mountains. The outcomes of this research establish a robust empirical foundation with which to inform prospective preservation strategies and habitat stewardship for the Brown Eared Pheasant. Full article

Ultra-deep Ordovician carbonates in the Tarim Basin are a major target for oil and gas exploration in China. Localized overpressure, however, creates substantial well-control risks and impairs drilling safety and exploration performance. This study investigates the Fudong Block of the Fuman Oilfield using drilling, seismic, and well-test data. We develop a high-resolution, layer-specific formation-pressure prediction workflow that integrates well and seismic data through a stress–fracture-pressure framework. The workflow combines geomechanical modeling, prediction of the in situ stress field and fracture distribution, stress-fracture matching, Biot-theory-based pressure prediction, and iterative calibration against drilling observations. The results show that: (1) overpressure is concentrated near secondary faults, branch faults, and NW-trending faults. It is jointly controlled by tectonic compression, pressure retention within fracture–vug bodies, and fluid charging. Multiple vertically separated pressure systems are common, and their marked heterogeneity is closely related to secondary-fault development and fracture–vug connectivity; (2) drilling disturbance can generate apparent overpressure and lead to erroneous pressure interpretation. Overpressured wells commonly exhibit a kick followed by lost circulation or simultaneous kick and loss. Drilling-fluid invasion into confined fracture–vug bodies causes pressure buildup; and (3) formation pressure is a key parameter in integrated geological and engineering sweet-spot evaluation and is closely linked to wellbore stability. Field applications confirm the accuracy of the proposed workflow. The method strengthens integrated geology-engineering evaluation and provides a practical basis for the safe and efficient development of ultra-deep carbonate reservoirs. Full article

Background: Distribution shift is one of the most pervasive data-related challenges for time-series classification. In sensor-based Human Activity Recognition (HAR), a model trained on one population of subjects often degrades substantially when deployed on another, even with identical hardware and activity labels. This paper addresses that setting specifically: cross-subject distribution shift. Methods: We propose FTDA (Frequency–Time Domain Alignment), an unsupervised domain-adaptation method that processes raw signals and their FFT-magnitude spectra through a dual-branch encoder, combines a Gradient-Reversal adversarial loss on the joint feature with a Multi-Kernel MMD on the frequency branch, and applies a symmetric-KL time–frequency consistency loss on unlabeled target data. Results: On UCI HAR, over four cross-subject transfer tasks and 10 random seeds ($n=40$ paired observations), FTDA reaches 95.01% target accuracy against 92.46% for Source-only, 92.29% for DANN and 93.32% for a RAINCOAT-style baseline. Because the tasks share subjects and two of them are mirror configurations, no pooled significance test is offered; inference is confined to within-task paired tests (10 seeds each, Holm-corrected), under which FTDA is ahead of every single-view baseline on all four tasks, while the difference from the two dual-view competitors ($+1.69$ pp against RAINCOAT-style, descriptive task-level interval $[-0.40,+3.78]$) is not established. Over a common set of seeds, controls widened to FTDA’s parameter and multiply-accumulate budgets shifted accuracy by at most $+0.35$ pp against DANN (intervals including zero), where FTDA gains $+2.97$ pp on the same runs, so added capacity alone does not appear to explain the improvement, and a target-only reference model, which is optimistic because it is evaluated on the windows it was trained on, sits 0.70 pp above FTDA. An ablation shows that the frequency branch is useful chiefly because it enables a coupled mechanism of cross-view consistency and auxiliary source supervision ($+2.02$ pp for that final step) rather than concatenated features ($+1.53$ pp); for the frequency MMD term, no measurable benefit was detected ($-0.57$ pp, 95% CI $[-1.28,+0.13]$), and it can be removed. On a second dataset, HHAR, the cross-subject advantage does not reproduce under cross-device shift: we detect no difference from time-only adversarial baselines (paired difference $+0.48$ pp against DANN, 95% CI $[-1.20,+2.16]$; exploratory, since all device pairs share the same subjects), so the benefit of the spectral view does not appear to carry across shift types. Conclusions: Under cross-subject shift, the operative ingredient is not the spectral view as an extra set of features but the coupled consistency-and-auxiliary mechanism that the second view makes possible; the alignment objectives themselves contribute little, and no measurable benefit was detected for the frequency MMD term. FTDA realizes this view at a modest 0.31 M/7.55 MMAC footprint with no OT solver in the training loop and no hyper-parameter that requires target labels. Transfer across devices and operating environments is not evaluated here and remains open for future work. Full article

Improving the flame-retardant performance of asphalt is particularly important for tunnel pavements, where confined environments can intensify fire hazards and smoke accumulation. This study prepared different modified asphalt binders to investigate their flame-retardant performance and rheological properties. The limiting oxygen index and smoke density rating were first used to evaluate the flame-retardant and smoke-suppression performance. Frequency sweep tests were then conducted to analyze the rheological behavior, aging characteristics, and low-temperature cracking resistance of the binders. Finally, microscopic tests were performed to reveal the thermal decomposition behavior and modification mechanism. Results showed that the incorporation of FR02 increased the limiting oxygen index of the warm-mix modified binders by more than 47%. Among the investigated binders, 13% fast-melting warm-mix flame-retardant composite modifier (SBS-WZ) exhibited the highest limiting oxygen index of 30.95% and the lowest smoke density rating of 57.73, indicating the best experimentally measured flame-retardant and smoke-suppression performance. At a reduced frequency of approximately 10⁻² rad/s, the unaged 13%SBS-WZ binder exhibited a complex modulus of approximately 2.0 × 10⁵ Pa, nearly one order of magnitude higher than those of the conventional 4%SBS- and 4%fast-melting SBS modifier (SBS-T), while its phase angle was approximately 6–10° lower. At −24 °C, the creep stiffness and creep rate of the unaged 13%SBS-WZ binder were approximately 654 MPa and 0.246, respectively. After Pressure Aging Vessel (PAV) ageing, these values changed to approximately 720 MPa and 0.237. Moreover, the onset decomposition temperature of 13%SBS-WZ was 392.1 °C, which was 17.2 °C higher than that of 4%SBS-T. Together with its higher residual mass, this result suggests enhanced thermal stability and residue-forming potential, which may partly explain the measured improvements in flame-retardant and smoke-suppression performance. However, the increased complex modulus and reduced creep rate indicate a concurrent loss of low-temperature flexibility. The findings can provide theoretical guidance and technical support for the application of this material in tunnel asphalt pavements. Full article