Search Results (560)

Thin-walled parts are widely used in the automotive manufacturing industry due to their lightweight characteristics and high structural efficiency. However, it is difficult to accurately measure machining errors in key regions due to the feature deformation. To improve the online measurement accuracy of complex thin-walled parts, a machining error measurement approach based on multi-constraint point cloud registration is proposed. To address the low overlap and complex geometric features among multi-segment measured point clouds, a point cloud stitching method based on hole boundary features is developed to acquire complete measured point clouds. Meanwhile, a point cloud surface extraction method based on normal neighborhood searching is developed to acquire model point clouds. Since different regions of thin-walled parts require different geometric tolerances, a registration model integrating multiple locating and assembly constraints is proposed to satisfy the requirements for optimal point cloud registration. A measurement system composed of a line-structured light sensor and a six-axis robotic arm is developed to validate the proposed method. Experimental results show that the proposed approach reduces the overall dimensional error of point cloud stitching by approximately 70–86% and decreases the point number deviation between upper and lower surfaces by more than 98%. Furthermore, the measurement accuracy in locating holes and key assembly regions is improved to 0.05 mm and 2 mm, representing improvements of approximately 96.3% and 23.9% compared with registration methods without multi-constraint conditions, and approximately 95.3% and 14.5% compared with commonly used multi-constraint registration methods. Full article

Conventional antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) primarily assesses planktonic bacteria. However, the three-dimensional architecture and barrier properties of biofilms mean that the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for planktonic cells is typically far lower than the antibiotic exposure required for biofilm eradication. In this study, gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) microspheres were used to create a three-dimensional biofilm microenvironment for the quantitative evaluation of biofilm tolerance. Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655 was immersed in GelMA microspheres and subjected to a series of antibiotic concentration gradients. Bacterial viability was inferred from time-dependent changes in microsphere diameter. The results demonstrated substantial tolerance of the resulting biofilms to ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, and ceftriaxone, with biofilm antibiotic tolerance values exceeding 200 μg/mL, 10–50 μg/mL, and 20–50 μg/mL, respectively. Relative to planktonic MICs, these tolerance levels are elevated by one to two orders of magnitude and surpass the standard clinical breakpoint thresholds. This methodology includes a high-throughput platform, involving only several hundred microspheres and achieving completion within 24 h, thereby offering a useful platform for investigating biofilm resistance mechanisms and guiding antibiotic treatment strategies. Full article

The inherent limitations of conventional polyolefin separators, particularly their poor thermal stability and insufficient mechanical strength, pose significant safety risks for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) by increasing susceptibility to thermal runaway. In this study, we developed a novel multilayer separator through sequential coating of a commercial polyethylene (PE) substrate with aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), para-aramid (PA), and polyethylene wax microspheres (PEWMs) using a scalable micro-gravure process, denoted as SAPEAS, signifying a PE-based asymmetric structure separator with enhanced thermal shutdown and dimensional stability. The SAPEAS separator exhibits an early thermal shutdown capability at 105 °C, maintains structural integrity with negligible shrinkage at 180 °C, and demonstrates comprehensive performance enhancements, including enhanced mechanical strength (tensile strength: 212.3 MPa; puncture strength: 0.64 kgf), excellent electrolyte wettability (contact angle: 12.8°), a high Li⁺ transference number (0.71), superior ionic conductivity (0.462 mS cm⁻¹), outperforming that of commercial PE separators. In practical LFP|Gr pouch cells with ampere-hour (Ah) level capacity, the SAPEAS separator enables exceptional cycling stability with 97.9% energy retention after 1000 cycles, while significantly improving overcharge tolerance compared to PE. This work provides an effective strategy for simultaneously improving the safety and electrochemical performance of LIBs. Full article

Real-time monitoring of hazardous gas emissions in open environments remains a critical challenge. Conventional spectrometers and filter wheel systems acquire spectral and spatial information sequentially, which limits their ability to capture multiple gas species and dynamic dispersion patterns rapidly. A High-Resolution Snapshot Multispectral Imaging System (HRSMIS) is proposed to integrate high spatial fidelity with multispectral capability for near real-time plume visualization, gas species identification, and concentration retrieval. Operating across the 7–14 $\mathsf{\mu }$m spectral range, the system employs a dual-path optical configuration in which a high-resolution imaging path and a multispectral snapshot path share a common telescope, allowing for the simultaneous acquisition of fine two-dimensional spatial morphology and comprehensive spectral fingerprint information. Within the multispectral path, two $5\times 5$ microlens arrays (MLAs) combined with a corresponding narrowband filter array generate 25 distinct spectral channels, allowing concurrent detection of up to 25 gas species in a single snapshot. The high-resolution imaging path provides detailed spatial information, facilitating spatio-spectral super-resolution fusion for multispectral data without complex image registration. The HRSMIS demonstrates modulation transfer function (MTF) values of at least 0.40 in the high-resolution channel and 0.29 in the multispectral channel. Monte Carlo tolerance analysis confirms imaging stability, enabling the real-time visualization of gas plumes and the accurate quantification of dispersion dynamics and temporal concentration variations. Full article

This paper proposes a dual path mixed coupling wireless power transfer (DPMPT) coupler as a four-port structure for near-field wireless power transfer in drone and unmanned aerial vehicles. The DPMPT coupler integrates orthogonal double-D coils and 8-plates to realize mixed inductive–capacitive coupling at 6.78 MHz without additional lumped matching networks. A four-port equivalent model is developed by classifying the mutual networks into three coupling types and representing them with a transmission-matrix formulation fitted to three-dimensional full-wave simulations. The model is used to identify the main coupling paths and to evaluate the effect of rotation and lateral/diagonal misalignment on power-transfer characteristics. Simulation results at a transfer distance of 70 mm show a maximum transmission coefficient of about 0.82 at 6.78 MHz and high robustness against rotation. When switch-based port selection is applied on the transmit side, blind spots associated with pose variations that cause an abrupt drop in transmission characteristics are significantly reduced, demonstrating that the DPMPT coupler with switch control provides an effective structural basis for enhancing alignment tolerance in mixed coupling wireless power transfer systems. Full article

Drought and salt stresses are major abiotic factors limiting maize yield. Lignin, a key cell wall component, plays a crucial role in boosting plant stress resistance. Cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) is a vital enzyme at the late stage of lignin biosynthesis; however, a systematic study of its functions in abiotic stress responses and its potential for genetic improvement in maize remains lacking. In this study, we conducted the first comprehensive, multi-dimensional analysis of the maize ZmCAD gene family, including gene identification, evolutionary relationships, protein interaction networks, and stress-responsive expression patterns. We identified 9 ZmCAD members that showed significant functional divergence in evolution, structure, and expression patterns. Expression analysis revealed complex, tissue-specific responses of ZmCAD genes to drought and salt stress, with ZmCAD6 strongly induced by drought. Importantly, through haplotype analysis of 157 waxy maize inbred lines, we successfully identified an elite haplotype (H3) of ZmCAD6 that is significantly associated with improved drought tolerance in maize. This study not only clarifies the functional differentiation mechanisms of the ZmCAD gene family but also provides the identified elite ZmCAD6-H3 haplotype as a valuable genetic resource and precise target for molecular breeding aimed at enhancing drought tolerance in maize. Full article

Chemotherapy resistance in colorectal cancer (CRC) represents a critical clinical challenge leading to treatment failure and poor patient prognosis. Artemisinin is a natural product isolated from Artemisia annua, and its clinically relevant derivatives include dihydroartemisinin (DHA) and artesunate. Beyond their established antimalarial efficacy, both artemisinin and its derivatives—collectively referred to as artemisinin-derived compounds (ADs)—have been increasingly recognized for their unique potential to reverse multidrug resistance in cancer. Unlike previous reviews focusing on isolated mechanisms, this review systematically constructs a multidimensional, synergistic attack network centered on ADs to elucidate their integrated actions against chemotherapy-resistant CRC. Mechanistically, ADs suppress cancer stem cell (CSC)-associated resistance phenotypes while concurrently reshaping the tumor immune microenvironment, highlighting a functional coupling between stemness inhibition and immune remodeling. In parallel, this review presents apoptosis reactivation and ferroptosis induction as complementary, dual-track cell death strategies that collectively circumvent apoptosis resistance. Moreover, ADs exert “one-strike–multiple-effects” through coordinated regulation of pro-survival signaling networks and immune-related pathways, including the induction of immunogenic cell death (ICD) and the modulation of immunosuppressive macrophage subsets. Beyond mechanistic insights, this review integrates emerging translational considerations, including clinical pharmacokinetics, safety and tolerability, formulation and delivery strategies, and rational combination therapy paradigms in CRC. Collectively, these findings position ADs as multi-dimensional modulators rather than a single-agent cytotoxic, providing a coherent mechanistic and translational rationale for their further development in chemotherapy-resistant CRC. Full article

B-cells and plasmablasts have emerged as central organizers of autoimmune pathogenesis, extending far beyond their classical role as antibody-producing cells to orchestrate immune circuits, tissue microenvironments, and therapeutic trajectories. Advances in single-cell technologies, high-dimensional cytometry, and B-cell receptor sequencing have uncovered a dynamic continuum of B-cell differentiation programs that drive clinical heterogeneity across systemic autoimmune diseases. Plasmablasts, in particular, have gained recognition as highly responsive sensors of immune activation: they expand during flares, encode interferon-driven and extrafollicular responses, and correlate with disease severity. Autoantibody profiles, long viewed as static diagnostic signatures, are now understood as durable molecular footprints of distinct B-cell pathways. In this review, we propose an endotype-based framework integrating B-cell circuits with clinical phenotypes, illustrate therapeutic decision-making through mechanistic case vignettes, and outline future strategies combining immunomonitoring, multi-omics, and precision therapeutics. We further address translational challenges and discuss complementary approaches, including T-cell modulation, FcRn inhibition, and antigen-specific tolerization. Full article

Background/Objectives: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a three-dimensional deformity of the spine with multifactorial etiology. Its treatment is conservative and/or surgical. The most commonly used conservative method is a full-time brace. However, nighttime braces have recently gained prominence, offering improved tolerance and a positive impact on health-related quality of life. The main objective of this study was to conduct a narrative review of published articles comparing the effectiveness of Providence nighttime versus full-time brace use to determine whether nighttime use is an effective option for improving therapeutic adherence, health-related quality of life, and psychosocial impact. Methods: A scientific literature search was conducted using the Scopus and PubMed databases. We searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs), meta-analyses, systematic reviews and retrospective comparative studies reported in English from 2019 to 2024. The literature search was conducted from October to April 2024. Different combinations of the terms and MeSH terms “adolescent”, “idiopathic”, “scoliosis”, “Providence”, “full-time” and “brace” connected with various Boolean operators were included. Results: Overall, 70 articles were reviewed from the selected database. After removing duplicated papers and title/abstract screening, 10 studies were included in our review. The results showed that nighttime brace use has similar results in terms of effectiveness to full-time brace use in mild to moderate curves. However, nighttime brace use improves therapeutic adherence, health-related quality of life and psychosocial impact. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of night braces depends on factors such as curve type, magnitude, and bone maturity. So, in patients with moderate-severe curves and high growth velocity, it is important to reconsider the type of brace, as in these cases night braces alone may be ineffective in slowing the progression of the curve. Conclusions: Providence nighttime brace could be an effective treatment and better tolerated alternative to full-time brace in specific cases. This approach could improve therapeutic adherence. Nevertheless, more controlled and homogeneous studies are needed to establish definitive recommendations. Full article

The rapid growth in demand for diverse network application services has driven the continuous development and expansion of data centers. BCubes was proposed by Microsoft Research Asia for designing modular data centers, and it is a multi-layer recursively constructed network with many advantages. This article shows that BCube is the existence of two edge-disjoint Hamiltonian cycles, abbreviated as two EDHCs, which provide two significant benefits in data center operations: (1) parallel data broadcast and (2) edge fault-tolerance in network communications. We present the following results in this paper: (1) By utilizing the network topology characteristics, we first provide construction algorithms for two EDHCs on low-dimensional BCubes. (2) Based on the algorithm and the recursive structure of BCubes, we prove that two EDHCs exist for all BCubes. (3) Considering all-to-all broadcasting using two EDHCs as transmission channels, we evaluate the performance of all-to-all broadcasting through simulations on low-dimensional BCubes. Full article

Coalbed methane development is constrained by reservoir characteristics including high gas adsorption, high salinity, and high closure pressure, which impose significant limitations on conventional polymer fracturing fluids regarding viscosity enhancement, proppant transport, and fracture maintenance. In this study, a novel polymer fracturing fluid system, Z-H-PAM, was designed and synthesized to achieve strong salt tolerance, low adsorption affinity, and high elasticity to withstand closure pressure. This was accomplished through the molecular integration of a zwitterionic monomer ZM-1 and a hydrophobic associative monomer HM-2, forming a unified structure that combines rigid hydrated segments with a hydrophobic elastic network. The results indicate that ZM-1 provides a stable hydration layer and low adsorption tendency under high-salinity conditions, while HM-2 contributes to a high-storage-modulus, three-dimensional physically cross-linked network via reversible hydrophobic association. Their synergistic interaction enables Z-H-PAM to retain viscoelasticity that is significantly superior to conventional HPAM and to achieve rapid structural recovery in high-mineralization environments. Systematic evaluation shows that this system achieves a static sand-suspension rate exceeding 95% in simulated flowback fluid, produces broken gel residues below 90 mg/L, and results in a core damage rate of only 10.5%. Moreover, it maintains 88.8% of its fracture conductivity under 30 MPa closure pressure. Notably, Z-H-PAM can be prepared directly using high-salinity flowback water, maintaining high elasticity and sand-carrying capacity while enabling fluid recycling and reducing reservoir damage. This work clarifies the multi-scale mechanisms of strongly hydrated and highly elastic polymers in coalbed methane reservoirs, offering a theoretical and technical pathway for developing efficient and low-damage fracturing materials. Full article

Elastic wavefield decomposition into quasi-compressional (qP) and quasi-shear-vertical (qSV) modes is essential for elastic imaging and inversion in VTI media, but becomes computationally expensive when polarization vectors vary strongly in space. I propose a tensor-train (TT) representation of mixed-domain decomposition projectors, constructed via TT-cross with a single user-specified tolerance and applied efficiently using FFT-based operations. A residual-orthogonal strategy extracts qSV from the residual wavefield after qP removal to suppress mode leakage. The method is implemented in Python/PyTorch with GPU acceleration. Numerical experiments on three 2D VTI models (a two-layer benchmark, a BP 2007 benchmark subset, and an Overthrust-based structurally complex model) demonstrate reconstruction errors of 0.094–0.89% for TT, compared to 1.67–6.44% for a conventional CUR low-rank approach (4–46× improvement), with consistently lower cross-talk and near-unity energy ratios. Time-domain receiver traces further confirm that TT yields smaller reconstruction residual spikes and reduced cross-mode leakage than CUR. Runtime tests show that CUR can be faster on smaller grids, whereas TT with GPU acceleration becomes competitive and can outperform CUR for larger models. The TT representation scales linearly with tensor $\mathcal{O}\left(d N_s r^2\right)$—enabling practical extension to higher-dimensional projector tensors where conven-tional methods become impractical. Full article

Background: Several minimally invasive techniques have been introduced to augment horizontal ridge volume for prosthetically driven implant placement, utilizing different biomaterials to enhance regenerative outcomes. This article presents two clinical cases illustrating a tunneling approach for horizontal alveolar ridge augmentation using a combination of xenogeneic bone graft, hyaluronic acid, and an acellular dermal matrix. Methods: A single vertical incision was made mesial to the bone defect and a dermal matrix was suitably shaped and positioned into the subperiosteal tunnel. Subsequently, the bone graft was inserted between the dermal matrix and the buccal bone plate. Primary wound closure was achieved. After six months, implants were placed. For each patient, an optical scan was performed at baseline (T₀), at six months post-operative ridge augmentation surgery (T₁) and at two months post-implant insertion (T₂). A digital measurement of the horizontal ridge thickness was performed at each inserted implant site. Clinical parameters and patient postoperative morbidity were recorded. Results: The procedure was well tolerated by the patients. No postoperative clinical complications were observed. The mean tissue thickness achieved at T1 was recorded to be 13.3 mm. The same value was recorded at T2. Conclusions: This technique allowed the placement of prosthetically guided implants, with minimal morbidity and no observed complications. Further studies analyzing the histology of newly formed bone and performing three-dimensional radiological examinations to confirm the effectiveness of the surgical technique are warranted to validate these preliminary findings. Clinical Trial Number (NIH): NCT06424223 Full article

Investigation and quality assessment of veterinary orthopaedic implants are seldom undertaken, despite their critical role in clinical outcomes. Dimensional accuracy is particularly important for screw–bone interface stability. This study aimed to evaluate the dimensional consistency of commonly used veterinary bone screws. Sixty unused stainless steel cortical screws (2.0 mm and 3.5 mm) were randomly selected from larger batches. Each screw was examined microscopically, and six measurements were obtained from three distinct regions along the screw length. Major (outer) diameter and pitch were recorded and compared against standard tolerance ranges. For 2.0 mm screws, 28.6% of major diameter and 75% of pitch measurements were outside the tolerance range. For 3.5 mm screws, only 56% (major diameter) and 26% (pitch) of measurements fell within tolerance. With the exception of the major diameter of the 2.0 mm screws, most screws exhibited dimensional variation along their length. This study demonstrates considerable variability in screw dimensions within and between individual screws of the same classification. While tolerance ranges are expected between different screws, dimensional uniformity is essential along the length of a single screw. The observed variability indicates suboptimal manufacturing quality, which may compromise screw–bone interface integrity and clinical performance. These findings highlight the need for improved quality control in the production of veterinary orthopaedic implants. Full article

Dynamic heterogeneous redundancy (DHR) architectures combine heterogeneity, redundancy, and dynamism to create security-centric frameworks that can be used to mitigate network attacks that exploit unknown vulnerabilities. However, conventional DHR architectures rely on centralized control modules for scheduling and adjudication, leading to significant single-point failure risks and trust bottlenecks that severely limit their deployment in security-critical scenarios. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a decentralized DHR architecture based on the Raft consensus algorithm. It deeply integrates the Raft consensus mechanism with the DHR execution layer to build a consensus-centric control plane and designs a dual-log pipeline to ensure all security-critical decisions are executed only after global consistency via Raft. Furthermore, we define a multi-dimensional attacker model—covering external, internal executor, internal node, and collaborative Byzantine adversaries—to analyze the security properties and explicit defense boundaries of the architecture under Raft’s crash-fault-tolerant assumptions. To assess the effectiveness of the proposed architecture, a prototype consisting of five heterogeneous nodes was developed for thorough evaluation. The experimental results show that, for non-Byzantine external and internal attacks, the architecture achieves high detection and isolation rates, maintains high availability, and ensures state consistency among non-malicious nodes. For stress tests in which a minority of nodes exhibit Byzantine-like behavior, our prototype preserves log consistency and prevents incorrect state commitments; however, we explicitly treat these as empirical observations under a restricted adversary rather than a general Byzantine fault tolerance guarantee. Performance testing revealed that the system exhibits strong security resilience in attack scenarios, with manageable performance overhead. Instead of turning Raft into a Byzantine-fault-tolerant consensus protocol, the proposed architecture preserves Raft’s crash-fault-tolerant guarantees at the consensus layer and achieves Byzantine-resilient behavior at the execution layer through heterogeneous redundant executors and majority-hash validation. To support evaluation during peer review, we provide a runnable prototype package containing Docker-based deployment scripts, pre-built heterogeneous executors, and Raft control-plane images, enabling reviewers to observe and assess the representative architectural behaviors of the system under controlled configurations without exposing the internal source code. The complete implementation will be made available after acceptance in accordance with institutional IP requirements, without affecting the scope or validity of the current evaluation. Full article