Search Results (32,373)

Cracks serve as a critical indicator of tunnel structural degradation. Manual inspections are difficult to meet engineering requirements due to their time-consuming and labor-intensive nature, high subjectivity, and significant error rates, while traditional image processing methods exhibit poor performance under complex backgrounds and irregular crack morphologies. To address these limitations, this study developed a high-quality dataset of tunnel crack images and proposed an improved lightweight semantic segmentation network, LiteSqueezeSeg, to enable precise crack identification and quantification. The model was systematically trained and optimized using a dataset comprising 10,000 high-resolution images. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model achieves an overall accuracy of 95.15% in crack detection. Validation on real-world tunnel surface images indicates that the method effectively suppresses background noise interference and enables high-precision quantification of crack length, average width, and maximum width, with all relative errors maintained within 5%. Furthermore, an integrated intelligent detection system was developed based on the MATLAB (R2023b) platform, facilitating automated crack feature extraction and standardized defect grading. This system supports routine tunnel maintenance and safety assessment, substantially enhancing both inspection efficiency and evaluation accuracy. Through synergistic innovations in lightweight network architecture, accurate quantitative analysis, and standardized assessment protocols, this research establishes a comprehensive technical framework for tunnel crack detection and structural health evaluation, offering an efficient and reliable intelligent solution for tunnel condition monitoring. Full article

Background/Objectives: Obesity imposes a significant and growing burden on healthcare systems worldwide. Bariatric surgery remains the most effective long-term treatment for morbid obesity, but its success depends heavily on the quality of perioperative management and institutional expertise. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of 14 years of bariatric surgical activity in a university-based Center of Excellence, emphasizing complication rates and safety outcomes. Methods: A cohort analysis was performed on a prospectively collected database including all bariatric procedures conducted between June 2012 and June 2025 in an Obesity Center, located in ‘Saint Spiridon’ Hospital’ in Iasi, Romania. Eligibility was determined according to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (IFSO) guidelines. All patients underwent standardized preoperative evaluation by a multidisciplinary team. Results: Over a 14-year period, 1010 patients underwent surgery and had a mean age of 39 years and 72% of them were females. A total of 68 patients (6.73%) experienced complications, including 28 (2.77%) within 30 days and 40 (3.96%) after first month. No postoperative fistulas or deaths were recorded during the entire study period. Conclusions: The long-term data from over one thousand consecutive bariatric cases confirm the high safety and effectiveness of a multidisciplinary, protocol-driven approach. The absence of postoperative fistulas and mortality underscores the value of institutional experience and standardized perioperative care. Full article

Accurate scene understanding from 3D point cloud data is fundamental to intelligent transportation systems and geospatial digital twins. However, point clouds acquired from lidar sensors in urban environments suffer from incompleteness due to occlusions and limited sensor resolution, presenting significant challenges for precise object localization and geometric reconstruction—critical requirements for traffic safety monitoring and autonomous navigation. To address these point cloud processing challenges, we propose a Center-guided Feature Fusion Completion Network (CFFCNet) that enhances vehicle representation through geometry-aware point cloud completion. The network incorporates a Branch-assisted Center Perception (BCP) module that learns to predict geometric centers while extracting multi-scale spatial features, generating initial coarse completions that account for the misalignment between detection centers and true geometric centers in real-world data. Subsequently, a Multi-scale Feature Blending Upsampling (MFBU) module progressively refines these completions by fusing hierarchical features across multiple stages, producing accurate and complete vehicle point clouds. Comprehensive evaluations on the KITTI dataset demonstrate substantial improvements in geometric accuracy, with localization mean absolute error (MAE) reduced to 0.0928 m and length MAE to 0.085 m. The method’s generalization capability is further validated on a real-world roadside lidar dataset (CUG-Roadside) without fine-tuning, achieving localization MAE of 0.051 m and length MAE of 0.051 m. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of geometry-guided completion for point cloud scene understanding in infrastructure-based traffic monitoring applications, contributing to the development of robust 3D perception systems for urban geospatial environments. Full article

The study investigates the influence of atmospheric pressure fluctuations on methane emissions in a decommissioned coal mine in Poland (SRK S.A., KWK “Krupiński”). Continuous measurements of methane concentrations and atmospheric pressure were analyzed to identify periods of dynamic pressure drops, which were then correlated with recorded methane levels. Strong linear relationships were observed, with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.88 to 0.97 and determination coefficients exceeding 0.85, indicating that pressure changes are a primary factor influencing methane release. Individual regression models for each identified case showed the lowest mean absolute errors compared to generalized models, highlighting the impact of atypical cases on predictive performance. Key findings align with previous studies, confirming that both the magnitude and the gradient of pressure decline directly affect the rate and scale of methane release and that threshold effects may limit further concentration increases despite continued pressure drops. The results suggest the potential to develop a predictive model linking atmospheric pressure variations to methane emissions, which could support forecasting of methane capture in decommissioned mines or ventilation methane levels in active mines. Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for both occupational safety and for effective methane emission reduction strategies in the mining sector. Full article

Glycemic control disorders, including insulin resistance (IR) and type 2 diabetes (T2D), represent a major global health challenge. Although existing therapeutic strategies demonstrate effectiveness regarding glycemic control and reduction in diabetes-associated mortality, they are often associated with limited patient tolerance and adherence. Consequently, there is growing interest in natural bioactive compounds that may support glycemic regulation while potentially posing a lower risk of adverse effects in ongoing therapy. The objective of this review is to evaluate the potential of selected natural substances in the context of blood glucose regulation. The analysis encompasses data from in vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies on compounds such as mannoheptulose, β-carotene, resveratrol, steviol glycosides, and curcumin. These agents have demonstrated the ability to modulate key metabolic pathways, enhance tissue insulin sensitivity, reduce oxidative stress, and support pancreatic β-cell function. Particularly promising effects have been observed when some of these compounds are combined with conventional antidiabetic medications, such as metformin. The review also highlights relevant molecular mechanisms, including activation of the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway, increased expression of glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4), and modulation of gene expression related to insulin sensitivity. Despite encouraging findings, further clinical research is necessary to determine optimal dosages, therapeutic protocols, and the long-term safety of these substances in human populations. Natural bioactive compounds may thus represent a valuable adjunct to current strategies for managing glycemic disorders. Full article

Background: The management of acute pulmonary embolism (PE) in the Emergency Department (ED) remains challenging, particularly in hemodynamically and respiratory stable patients with minimal symptoms. Diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties are further compounded when the condition is complicated by a mobile right atrial (RA) thrombus, representing an extreme-risk phenotype. Case Presentation: We report the case of a 65-year-old male with a single known venous thromboembolism risk factor-chronic venous insufficiency-who presented to the ED following a transient episode of severe dyspnea at home. On admission, he was hemodynamically and respiratory stable, without the need for oxygen supplementation. Arterial blood gas analysis revealed a metabolically compensated acidosis with elevated lactate, while cardiac biomarkers were moderately increased. Emergency point-of-care transthoracic echocardiography (POCUS-TTE) demonstrated severe right ventricular (RV) dysfunction and a large, mobile intracardiac thrombus prolapsing through the tricuspid valve. Computed Tomography Pulmonary Angiography confirmed pulmonary embolism and revealed a massive and extensive bilateral thrombotic burden (Qanadli score 32 points). Given the extreme risk for fatal embolization, immediate full-dose systemic thrombolysis with Alteplase (100 mg over 2 h) was initiated in the ED. Thrombolysis was completed without hemorrhagic complications. Follow-up POCUS-TTE at 2 h showed complete resolution of the intracardiac thrombus and significant improvement of RV function (RV/RA gradient reduced from 40 mmHg to 28 mmHg). Conclusions: This case highlights the effectiveness and safety of early systemic thrombolysis guided by ED POCUS-TTE in PE with a massive thrombotic burden, complicated by a mobile intracardiac thrombus, even in the absence of shock. Such prompt intervention may reduce mortality risk in intermediate-to-high-risk PE subsets, despite limited guidance in current clinical recommendations. Full article

To assess UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) flight stability in urban wind fields, this study conducted numerical simulations of urban scene and logistics UAV models and developed a wind field safety level evaluation model for UAV flight paths. First, urban wind field structures were analyzed with simulations of typical building clusters. Second, the UAV’s aerodynamic characteristics under vertical balance were elaborated. Third, sideslip angles and wind speeds were adjusted based on the UAV’s maximum wind resistance to explore aerodynamic performance variations across conditions. Finally, a safety level calculation method was proposed to determine the wind field safety distribution along target paths. The results show that building layouts significantly affect urban wind fields, forming wind acceleration zones beside high-rises and between some buildings. The acceleration effect at 25 m is stronger than at 10 m and 50 m. UAV aerodynamic moments vary greatly with wind sideslip angles, with the dangerous angle being around 150°. Flight stability and wind field structures differ notably by path and height. This evaluation method enables UAVs to avoid high-risk areas, improving urban flight stability. Full article

This review examines data-driven road traffic safety modeling, aiming to provide a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art and persistent research gaps. The study is structured around data sources, influencing factors, reactive and proactive modeling approaches, and key challenges. Data sources, including crashes, trajectories, traffic, roadway geometry, and environmental data, are first reviewed in the context of reactive and proactive safety analysis. To address the substantial heterogeneity across studies, a vote-counting strategy is adopted to aggregate directional evidence reported in the literature. The synthesis indicates that traffic demand variables exhibit consistently positive associations with crash occurrence, while speed-related effects are strongly context-dependent. Road geometry and surface conditions have largely consistent directional impacts on safety outcomes. From a methodological perspective, reactive approaches remain dominant, while proactive approaches exhibit potential for early risk identification but remain insufficiently validated due to data quality constraints. In addition, empirical evidence on conflict–crash relationships is still limited. Notably, model performance varies substantially across safety tasks, with algorithm effectiveness primarily driven by data structure, outcome definition, and aggregation level, rather than by the intrinsic superiority of any single approach. Overall, this review highlights challenges related to data integration, spatio-temporal modeling, interpretability, and transferability, and provides practical guidance for model selection in operational road safety analysis. Full article

Zearalenone (ZEN) is a thermostable, lipophilic, non-steroidal estrogenic mycotoxin produced by Fusarium spp. that persistently contaminates food and feed. Its strong estrogenic activity and resistance to conventional detoxification strategies pose significant threats to food safety and human and animal health. Conventional physical and chemical degradation methods often compromise nutritional quality and leave toxic residues. Here we report the engineering of a novel Clonostachys rosea lactone hydrolase, Cr2zen, for efficient ZEN degradation in Pichia pastoris under mild conditions. Native Cr2zen exhibited a protein concentration of 0.076 mg/mL, achieving a degradation rate of approximately 17.9% within 30 min, with kinetic parameters of K_m 75.9 µM and V_max 0.482 µmol/L/s at 30 °C and pH 8.0. By integrating signal peptide screening and codon optimization, we identified Ser-Cr2 as the most effective variant, achieving a rapid 81.53% degradation of 10 ppm ZEN under mild conditions. Fed-batch cultivation in a 7.5 L bioreactor resulted in high cell densities of OD₆₀₀ 332.8 for Ser-Cr2 and 310.8 for Oser-Cr2, with extracellular protein concentrations of 0.62 and 0.79 g/L, respectively. The results demonstrate that signal peptide engineering and codon optimization substantially improved the production of lactone hydrolase in P. pastoris. This study establishes a scalable ZEN degradation under mild conditions in P. pastoris and outlines a strategy to integrate protein and process engineering for enhanced enzymatic mycotoxin degradation. Full article

To investigate the performance of horizontally reinforced composite foundations in resisting surface rupture of normal faults, this study designed and conducted a series of physical model tests. A systematic comparative analysis was performed on the fracture resistance of sites with three-layer sand, five-layer sand, and three-layer clay geogrid horizontally reinforced composite foundations under 70° normal fault dislocation. The results indicate that significant changes in earth pressure serve as a precursor indicator of fault rupture, and their evolution process reveals the internal energy accumulation and release mechanism. Increasing the number of geogrid layers significantly enhances the lateral confinement of the foundation, resulting in a narrower macro-rupture zone located farther from the structure in sand sites, and promotes the formation of a step-fault scarp deformation mode at the surface, which is more conducive to structural safety. Under identical reinforcement conditions, the clay site exhibited comprehensively superior fracture resistance compared to the sand site due to the soil cohesion and stronger interfacial interaction with the geogrids, manifested as more significant deviation of the rupture path, and lower microseismic accelerations and structural strains transmitted to the building. Comprehensive analysis confirms that employing geogrid-reinforced composite foundations can effectively guide the surface rupture path and improve the deformation pattern, representing an effective engineering measure for mitigating disaster risk for buildings spanning active faults. Full article

Exploring green organic solvents is a global demand. Most of the currently used solvents pose some concerns regarding environmental sustainability and occupational health risks. In this work, propylene glycol was employed for the first time as a green solvent for mobile phase preparation in the reversed phase chromatographic separation of a mixture of two antioxidants, glutathione and ascorbic acid. The slight viscosity of propylene glycol was manipulated by using water as a co-fluidizing agent to facilitate pumping. Method optimization was performed using factorial design experimental Expert 13^® Software (Minneapolis, MN, USA) to achieve the maximum resolution and the minimum run time. The reported method was properly validated according to the International Conference on Harmonization criteria at the linearity range of 1–500 µg/mL, with acceptable accuracy and precision for both drugs. The method was effectively applied for the quantification of both drugs in their commercial pharmaceutical formulation. The proposed method was assessed for environmental and operator safety by means of global tools like AGREE and MoGAPI and has proved high degrees of greenness. Propylene glycol has several benign properties, such as low volatility, less toxicity, compatibility with UV detectors and very low flammability, that will soon assemble it as a promising alternative for the conventionally used solvents. Full article

Diarrheic shellfish toxins (DSTs), especially okadaic acid (OA) and its related compounds, are lipophilic marine biotoxins mainly synthesized by dinoflagellates of the genera Dinophysis and Prorocentrum. These compounds bioaccumulate in filter-feeding shellfish like mussels and clams, posing a considerable public health risk due to their strong gastrointestinal effects when contaminated seafood is consumed. This review offers a thorough overview of the current understanding of OA-group toxins with a focus on the molecular mechanisms of toxicity, including cytoskeletal disruption, apoptosis, inflammation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Additionally, their ecological impacts on aquatic organisms and patterns of bioaccumulation are explored. Recent advances in detection methods and regulatory frameworks are discussed, highlighting the necessity for robust monitoring systems to safeguard seafood safety. Enhanced knowledge of the toxicity, distribution, and fate of DSP (diarrheic shellfish poisoning) is essential for improving risk assessment and managing marine biotoxins. Despite methodological advances, gaps remain regarding chronic exposure and species-specific detoxification pathways. Full article

Rigid pavements in marine airports are subjected to severe surface degradation due to the combined effects of salt erosion and repeated aircraft impact loading, which significantly reduces service life and operational safety. This study investigates the degradation behavior and underlying mechanisms governing the surface wear resistance of C40 concrete under simulated marine environmental and mechanical conditions. Specimens were first subjected to repeated drop-weight impact loading, after which abrasion tests were performed to quantify surface wear resistance. Microstructural evolution and corrosion products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses. The results show that repeated impact loading significantly accelerates surface deterioration: after 60 abrasion cycles, cumulative mass loss increased by up to 23.6 g for specimens subjected to 80 impacts, while long-term water absorption rose by up to 7.52% due to impact-induced microcracking. In contrast, moderate salt-fog exposure initially enhanced wear resistance, as cumulative mass loss decreased from 18.1 g (unexposed) to 9.4 g after 30 cycles, attributable to pore filling by CaCO₃ and Friedel’s salt. However, prolonged exposure (40 cycles) reversed this trend, leading to strength loss. Under combined impact of salt-fog conditions, the wear resistance deteriorated more rapidly, and the transition from strengthening to weakening occurred earlier than under salt exposure alone, indicating a coupled degradation effect. These findings clarify the coupled chemical–mechanical deterioration mechanism of marine airport pavements and provide a scientific basis for durability design and maintenance optimization. Full article

During the mid-to-late stages of oilfield development, reservoir energy depletion and declining formation pressure coefficients are prevalent challenges. To address the issues of severe fluid loss and extended post-workover fluid recovery periods during conventional operations such as thermal wax removal and pump inspection in low-pressure, waxy wells within a specific block of the Xinjiang Oilfield, a dynamic loss analysis model for workover fluids was developed. Additionally, a wash pressure control valve was engineered to meet the requirements for squeeze killing under abnormal conditions, and an integrated anti-leakage tubing string was designed. This system effectively isolates the workover fluid from the reservoir during interventions, thereby significantly reducing fluid loss and enhancing operational safety. Field applications demonstrate that this technology reduces workover fluid loss by 96% during thermal wax removal and shortens the average post-workover fluid recovery period by 8.7 days after pump inspection. This technology enables rapid restoration of well productivity, lowers operational costs for thermal wax removal and pump inspection, and provides an effective solution for maintaining low-pressure, waxy wells. Full article

Lateral passing distance (LPD) when motor vehicles overtake cyclists is a key safety metric, yet infrastructure-aware evidence remains limited. This study analyses 11,399 overtaking measurements from Austria’s OpenBikeSensor (OBS) project, spatially linked to the national road graph (GIP), with urban and rural networks examined separately. LPD was treated as a continuous dependent variable, and bivariate relationships were tested using nonparametric methods: Spearman’s rho/Kendall’s tau for metric predictors (speed limit, lane width, number of lanes) and Kruskal–Wallis tests with Dunn–Holm post hoc adjustments for categorical factors (Functional Road Class, Road Configuration, Infrastructure Type). Effect sizes and confidence intervals supported substantive interpretation. LPD was higher in rural than urban contexts, with compliance to Austria’s 2023 legal thresholds averaging 40% in cities (≥1.5 m) and 19% in rural areas (≥2.0 m). Positive correlations were found between LPD and lane width, speed limit, and functional class. The findings highlight infrastructure-sensitive patterns in sensor-generated LPD and emphasise the importance of clear cyclist allocation or physical separation, especially where high speeds or spatial constraints increase close-passing risk. Full article