Search Results (1,112)

This study investigates the microstructural evolution and wear behaviour of aluminium 7075-based metal matrix composites (MMCs) reinforced with high-entropy alloy (HEA) particles and fabricated via friction stir processing (FSP). A detailed characterisation of the grain refinement in the 7075 matrix was conducted, revealing significant dynamic recrystallization and grain size reduction induced by the severe plastic deformation inherent to FSP. The interaction between the matrix and HEA particles was analysed, showing strong interfacial bonding, which was further influenced by post-processing heat treatments. These microstructural modifications were correlated with the wear performance of the composites, demonstrating enhanced resistance due to the synergistic effect of precipitates and particle reinforcement. The findings highlight the potential of FSP as a viable route for tailoring surface properties in advanced MMCs for demanding tribological applications. Full article

Background/Objectives: Subcondylar mandibular fractures represent a challenging subset of maxillofacial trauma due to their proximity to the temporomandibular joint and the facial nerve. The retromandibular approach can be performed through either an anteroparotid or a transparotid route, but comparative clinical data remain limited. This study aimed to evaluate clinical outcomes, complication profiles, and operative parameters associated with the retromandibular anteroparotid versus transparotid approach for open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of subcondylar fractures. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 80 consecutive patients treated for subcondylar mandibular fractures at the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Umberto I General Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, between 2018 and 2025. All patients underwent ORIF via a retromandibular approach (anteroparotid or transparotid) with a minimum follow-up of 6 months. Demographic data, trauma etiology, fracture morphology (classified as simple or complex), associated fractures, surgical approach, fixation details, operative time, hospital stay, and postoperative complications were collected. Facial nerve function was clinically assessed and graded using the House–Brackmann scale. Associations between fracture type, surgical approach, number of plates, and complications were evaluated using Chi-square or Fisher’s exact tests, while operative time was compared using one-way ANOVA and Kruskal–Wallis tests (p < 0.05). Results: The cohort had a mean age of 41.9 years and was predominantly male (67.5%). The anteroparotid route was used in 54 patients (67.5%) and the transparotid route in 26 (32.5%). Overall, 10 patients (12.5%) developed postoperative complications, including transient facial nerve weakness, malocclusion, visible scarring, and sialocele. All cases of sialocele occurred in the transparotid subgroup, whereas no salivary complications were observed after the anteroparotid approach. No permanent facial nerve deficits, temporomandibular joint ankylosis, or long-term facial asymmetry were recorded at 6 months. No significant association was found between surgical approach and overall complication rate, but complex fracture patterns were significantly associated with increased operative time. Conclusions: The retromandibular approach is a safe and effective option for ORIF of subcondylar mandibular fractures. Both anteroparotid and transparotid routes provided reliable exposure and stable fixation with low complication rates. The anteroparotid route appears to minimize parotid-related complications, such as sialocele, while maintaining comparable functional outcomes. These findings support the retromandibular anteroparotid approach as a valuable alternative in the surgical management of subcondylar fractures. Full article

This study investigates flooding and erosion impacts and human responses in Aoraki Mount Cook and Westland Tai Poutini national parks in Aotearoa New Zealand. These fast-eroding landscapes provide important test cases and insights for considering the public access dimensions of climate change. Our objectives were to explore and characterise the often-overlooked role of public access as a ubiquitous concern for protected areas and other area-based conservation approaches that facilitate connections between people and nature alongside their protective functions. We employed a mixed-methods approach including volunteered geographic information (VGI) from a park user survey (n = 273) and detailed case studies of change on two iconic mountaineering routes based on geospatial analyses of digital elevation models spanning 1986–2022. VGI data identified 36 adversely affected locations while 21% of respondents also identified beneficial aspects of recent landscape changes. Geophysical changes could be perceived differently by different stakeholders, illustrating the potential for competing demands on management responses. Impacts of rainfall-triggered erosion events were explored in case studies of damaged access infrastructure (e.g., roads, tracks, bridges). Adaptive responses resulted from formal or informal (park user-led) actions including re-routing, rebuilding, or abandonment of pre-existing infrastructure. Three widely transferable dimensions of public access management are identified: providing access that supports the core functions of protected areas; evaluating the impacts of both physical changes and human responses to them; and managing tensions between stakeholder preferences. Improved attention to the role of access is essential for effective climate change adaptation in parks and reserves. Full article

European and national maritime regulations, aimed at promoting navigation powered by alternative fuels, highlight the need to explore the adoption of various alternative fuel options for maritime transport. This assessment should consider both technical and practical aspects, particularly for freight and passenger services, within the national context in which the sector operates. This document provides a detailed analysis of what is available on the market and the expected results between 2030 and 2050 for the conversion of routes using alternative fuel vessels, both in terms of investment and operational costs. Assessments of vessel fuelling needs were conducted, identifying the potential of different fuels on several key Italian routes, reconstructing their technical characteristics and considering the uncertainty associated with potential changes in fuelling costs (over the life of the vessels) and technological progress. Full article

Access to large-scale public transport journey data is essential for analysing accessibility, equity, and urban mobility. Although digital platforms such as Google Maps provide detailed routing for individual users, their licensing and access restrictions prevent systematic data extraction for research purposes. Open-source routing engines such as OpenTripPlanner offer a transparent alternative, but are often limited to local or technical deployments that restrict broader use. This study evaluates the feasibility of deploying a publicly accessible, open-source routing platform based on OpenTripPlanner to support large-scale public transport route simulation across multiple cities. Using Australian metropolitan areas as a case study, the platform integrates GTFS and OpenStreetMap data to enable repeatable journey queries through a web interface, an API, and bulk processing tools. Across eight metropolitan regions, the system achieved itinerary coverage above 90 percent and sustained approximately 3000 routing requests per minute under concurrent access. These results demonstrate that open-source routing infrastructure can support reliable, large-scale route simulation using open data. Beyond performance, the platform enables public transport accessibility studies that are not feasible with proprietary routing services, supporting reproducible research, transparent decision-making, and evidence-based transport planning across diverse urban contexts. Full article

In this work, a comprehensive literature review on power-routing devices is presented, outlining their current design principles and potential uses. Additionally, a comprehensive loss model for Modular Multilevel Converters (MMCs) in the context of power routers (PRs), a promising technology for enhancing flexibility and efficiency in future smart and hybrid AC–DC grids. Despite their potential, large-scale PR deployment is still limited by the lack of accurate and validated loss models. To address this gap, a detailed analytical model based on the Marquardt approach is proposed, capturing both conduction and switching losses in converter-based PRs. The model is validated through analytical comparison and PLECS simulations, showing strong agreement with theoretical and experimental data. Four case studies are presented to assess the effect of parameters such as power factor, active and reactive power, and the number of submodules on the overall converter losses. The results demonstrate that PR efficiency improves with optimized converter design and proper parameter selection. Full article

The use of resource-constrained Low-Power and Lossy Networks (LLNs), where the IPv6 Routing Protocol for LLNs (RPL) is the de facto routing standard, has increased due to the Internet of Things’ (IoT) explosive growth. Because of the dynamic nature of IoT deployments and the lack of in-protocol security, RPL is still quite susceptible to routing-layer attacks like Blackhole, Lowered Rank, version number manipulation, and Flooding despite its lightweight architecture. Lightweight, data-driven intrusion detection methods are necessary since traditional cryptographic countermeasures are frequently unfeasible for LLNs. However, the lack of RPL-specific control-plane semantics in current cybersecurity datasets restricts the use of machine learning (ML) for practical anomaly identification. In order to close this gap, this work models both static and mobile networks under benign and adversarial settings by creating a novel, large-scale multiclass RPL attack dataset using Contiki-NG’s Cooja simulator. To record detailed packet-level and control-plane activity including DODAG Information Object (DIO), DODAG Information Solicitation (DIS), and Destination Advertisement Object (DAO) message statistics along with forwarding and dropping patterns and objective-function fluctuations, a protocol-aware feature extraction pipeline is developed. This dataset is used to evaluate fifteen classifiers, including Logistic Regression (LR), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Decision Tree (DT), k-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), Random Forest (RF), Extra Trees (ET), Gradient Boosting (GB), AdaBoost (AB), and XGBoost (XGB) and several ensemble strategies like soft/hard voting, stacking, and bagging, as part of a comprehensive ML-based detection system. Numerous tests show that ensemble approaches offer better generalization and prediction performance. With overfitting gaps less than 0.006 and low cross-validation variance, the Soft Voting Classifier obtains the greatest accuracy of 99.47%, closely followed by XGBoost with 99.45% and Random Forest with 99.44%. Full article

Building extraction underpins land-use assessment, urban planning, and disaster mitigation, yet dense urban scenes still cause missed small objects, target adhesion, and ragged contours. We present High-Resolution-Mamba (HR-Mamba), a high-resolution semantic segmentation network that augments a High-Resolution Network (HRNet) parallel backbone with edge-aware and sequence-state modeling. A Canny-enhanced, median-filtered stem stabilizes boundaries under noise; Involution-based residual blocks capture position-specific local geometry; and a Mamba-based State Space Models (Mamba-SSM) global branch captures cross-scale long-range dependencies with linear complexity. Training uses a composite loss of binary cross entropy (BCE), Dice loss, and Boundary loss, with weights selected by joint grid search. We further design a feature-driven adaptive post-processing pipeline that includes geometric feature analysis, multi-strategy simplification, multi-directional regularization, and topological consistency verification to produce regular, smooth, engineering-ready building outlines. On dense urban imagery, HR-Mamba improves F1-score from 80.95% to 83.93%, an absolute increase of 2.98% relative to HRNet. We conclude that HR-Mamba jointly enhances detail fidelity and global consistency and offers a generalizable route for high-resolution building extraction in remote sensing. Full article

Existing 3D reconstruction algorithms commonly struggle with modeling specific local objects within large-scale scenes, often resulting in a lack of local detail and incomplete geometric structures. While current mainstream point cloud completion methods can restore these missing structures to some degree, they are fundamentally based on generative in-filling, a process that relies on geometric priors learned from large-scale datasets. Consequently, the physical realism and geometric accuracy of the results cannot be guaranteed. To address these limitations, this paper proposes a novel, data-driven framework for point cloud completion. Our core method involves the high-precision, heterogeneous data registration and seamless fusion of an object-level point cloud—reconstructed with high-fidelity appearance and geometry by our optimized Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF) framework—with our target large-scale scene point cloud. By using high-precision, physically based data as a strong prior for geometric completion, we offer an alternative route to conventional generative completion methods. Concurrently, we employ unsupervised evaluation metrics to assess the intrinsic quality of the final results. This work provides a robust and high-fidelity solution to the problem of completing local objects within large-scale scenes. Evaluated on our self-constructed UAV-Recon dataset, the proposed method achieved a Structural Plausibility ≥ 0.995, Geometric Smoothness ≤ 0.19, and Distribution Uniformity ≈ 1.2, offering a robust solution for the high-fidelity completion of local objects within large-scale scenes. Full article

The high yield ratio remains a critical challenge restricting the widespread application of ultra-high-strength steels. This study investigates a direct quenching and aging (DQA) route without solution treatment in a Cu-precipitation-strengthened steel, aiming to achieve high strength combined with a low yield ratio, and compares it with the conventional solution treatment plus aging (SQA) process. The DQA sample exhibits an excellent yield strength of 1205 MPa, a low yield ratio of 0.93, and an impact energy of 105 J at −20 °C. Microstructural analysis reveals that the high dislocation density and refined grain structure generated during rolling provided numerous nucleation sites for fine, dense Cu precipitates during DQA treatment, thereby enhancing precipitation strengthening. The reduced yield ratio is primarily attributed to the high initial dislocation density and deformation substructure, which enhance work-hardening capacity and consequently lower the yield ratio. The toughness mechanisms of both processes are also discussed in detail. These findings offer valuable insights into optimizing the strength–toughness balance of ultra-high-strength steels. Full article

Soft pneumatic glove actuators for hand rehabilitation require compact, accurate models that can be evaluated in real time. At the same time, high-fidelity finite element (FE) simulations are too slow for iterative design and control. We develop a finite element-based calibration pipeline that combines a dependency-constrained human finger kinematic model with a segmented pseudo-rigid-body (PRB) description of ribbed-bellow soft pneumatic actuators sized to individual fingers. FE models with symmetry and contact generate pressure–pose data for the MCP, PIP, and DIP spans, from which we extract per-segment bending angles and axial elongations, fit simple pressure–kinematics relations, and identify PRB parameters using basin-hopping global optimization. The calibrated PRB reproduces FE flexion–extension trajectories for index and little finger actuators with millimetric accuracy (mean segment positioning errors of approximately 2.3 mm and 0.7 mm), preserves finger-like bending localized in the bellows, and maintains negligible compression of inter-joint links (below 1.2%). The pressure–bend and pressure–elongation maps achieve near-unity adjusted $R^2$, and the PRB forward kinematics evaluates complete pressure trajectories in less than half a millisecond, compared with several hours for the corresponding FE simulations. This pipeline provides a practical route from detailed FE models to controller-ready reduced-order surrogates for design-space exploration and patient-specific control of soft rehabilitation actuators. Full article

A cobalt-containing zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-67) was carbonized by different routes to composite materials (cZIFs) composed of metallic Co, Co₃O₄, and N-doped carbonaceous phase. The effect of the carbonization procedure on the water pollutant removal properties of cZIFs was studied. Higher temperature and prolonged thermal treatment resulted in more uniform particle size distribution (as determined by nanoparticle tracking analysis, NTA) and surface charge lowering (as determined by zeta potential measurements). Surface-governed environmental applications of prepared cZIFs were tested using physical (adsorption) and electrochemical methods for dye degradation. Targeted dyes were methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO), chosen as model compounds to establish the specificity of selected remediation procedures. Electrodegradation was initiated via an intermediate reactive oxygen species formed during oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on cZIFs serving as electrocatalysts. The adsorption test showed relatively uniform adsorption sites at the surface of cZIFs, reaching a removal of over 70 mg/g for both dyes while governed by pseudo-first-order kinetics favored by higher mesoporosity. In the electro-assisted degradation process, cZIF samples demonstrated impressive efficiency, achieving almost complete degradation of MB and MO within 4.5 h. Detailed analysis of energy consumption in the degradation process enabled the calculation of the current conversion efficiency index and the amount of charge associated with O₂^•−/^•OH generation, normalized by the quantity of removed dye, for tested materials. Here, the proposed method will assist similar research studies on the removal of organic water pollutants to discriminate among electrode materials and procedures based on energy efficiency. Full article

The incorporation of drugs into nanostructured silica has proven to be an effective strategy for delaying drug release, protecting against enzymatic degradation, and enhancing therapeutic efficacy. Specifically, crotoxin, a component derived from the venom of Crotalus durissus terrificus, exhibits notable analgesic and immunomodulatory properties. Previous studies have demonstrated that encapsulating crotoxin within SBA-15 nanostructured mesoporous silica not only reduces its toxicity and enhances its analgesic effects but also enables effective oral administration. Given its promising efficacy and the expanding interest in its application across various experimental models and potential therapeutic uses, this study aimed to conduct a detailed analysis of the physicochemical properties of crotoxin when incorporated into SBA-15 silica. Following characterization, the crotoxin–SBA-15 complex was orally administered to mice in an experimental model of ulcerative colitis (UC). The most widely adopted experimental model for studying UC involves the administration of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) in drinking water to induce colonic inflammation in susceptible animals. In this study, we hypothesized that crotoxin incorporated into ordered mesoporous silica (SBA-15) could modulate DSS-induced UC. Crotoxin was successfully incorporated into SBA-15 and administered orally, as its physicochemical properties supported this route of delivery. Mice received the crotoxin–SBA-15 complex either at the onset of UC induction or on days 1 and 4 after DSS exposure. Seven days after the start of DSS administration, we observed a substantial reduction (approximately 50%) in Disease Activity Index (DAI) scores, accompanied by marked improvements in the histopathological features of the colon. These findings indicate for the first time that crotoxin incorporated into SBA-15 exhibits significant therapeutic potential in the treatment of experimentally induced ulcerative colitis. Full article

In this study, material and energy losses were systematically assessed, together with a comprehensive economic and environmental evaluation, for an industrial expanded polystyrene (EPS) recycling process implemented under a circular economy framework at a company located in Medellín, Colombia. The system boundaries were clearly defined, and detailed mass and energy balances were performed using operational data collected over a six-month period. The process achieved a yield of 78.09 percent in the production of densified polystyrene from post-consumer EPS, with the main material losses attributed to solid residues and water losses during processing. The total energy consumption was 7350.34 kWh, of which 55.46 percent corresponded to energy losses, predominantly thermal losses associated with the EPS melting stage. Techno-economic evaluation indicated that the process is financially viable over a twelve-year operational horizon. Furthermore, the environmental assessment demonstrated a 68.44 percent reduction in carbon footprint, underscoring the strong potential of this recycling route as a sustainable and effective alternative for the management of recyclable solid waste. Full article

As one of the most intensively researched reaction systems in the field of multiphase catalysis, the technological breakthrough of CO oxidation is of great significance in addressing the health hazards and environmental pollution caused by high CO concentrations. Catalytic oxidation technology has become a core means of eliminating CO pollution due to its high efficiency and energy saving. This paper provides an in-depth analysis of various types of metal-catalyzed CO oxidation reactions and explores in detail the characteristics of the action of different mechanisms. On this basis, optimization strategies are proposed, including metal doping and controllable oxygen vacancy construction to enhance reaction selectivity and stability. In addition, the influence mechanisms of common gas components such as H₂O and SO₂ on the catalytic reaction of CO are analyzed, and targeted optimization strategies are proposed. The reaction mechanisms of CO on the metal catalyst surface are then examined. Finally, the development direction of catalysts in the field of CO deep purification is prospectively discussed, which provides theoretical support and technical routes for the construction of an efficient and stable industrialized CO oxidation system. Full article