Search Results (141,452)

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in adults is extremely common worldwide, but only a small fraction of these patients harbor clinically significant intracranial injuries. Computed tomography (CT) of the head is the standard diagnostic tool to detect traumatic brain hemorrhages or lesions, yet indiscriminate CT scanning of all mTBI patients is inefficient, costly, and exposes patients to ionizing radiation. To optimize patient care, numerous clinical decision rules and guidelines have been developed internationally to identify which adult patients with mTBI should undergo head CT. This review provides a global perspective on the indications for head CT in adult mTBI, comparing key decision rules including the Canadian CT Head Rule, New Orleans Criteria, UK NICE Head Injury Guidelines, and others. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive analysis of major international guidelines and decision rules for head CT in adult mTBI, focusing on their inclusion criteria, risk factors, and diagnostic performance. Results: All the examined rules prioritize near-100% sensitivity for identifying patients who need neurosurgical intervention, but they differ greatly in specificity and recommended CT utilization rates. North American rules such as the New Orleans Criteria tend to favor higher sensitivity, scanning almost all patients with any symptom, whereas the Canadian CT Head Rule and certain European guidelines (NICE, Scandinavian) are more selective, significantly reducing CT usage while maintaining safety. Discussion: We discuss how these variations reflect different healthcare settings and risk tolerances, and we examine the implications for neurosurgical practice. We also highlight challenges in guideline implementation, the impact on global CT utilization, and emerging approaches (such as biomarker-assisted triage) that may further refine decision-making. In conclusion, appropriate use of clinical decision rules for head CT in mTBI can safely minimize unnecessary imaging, but local adaptation and clinician judgment remain crucial to ensure that no significant injuries are missed while avoiding over-scanning. Full article

Buildings account for a substantial share of global energy use, yet the adoption of advanced optimal control strategies remains limited due to high computational costs and the difficulty of safe deployment. This paper presents a fully Python-based, data-driven deep reinforcement learning (DRL) supervisory control framework that leverages gray box surrogate modeling and Imitation Learning to overcome these barriers. The novelty of this work lies in the integration of an ontology-based Twin4Build surrogate model with Imitation Learning and Deep Reinforcement Learning, enabling efficient training of building control policies in a low-cost environment before transfer to a high-fidelity BOPTEST emulator. Results demonstrate that the trade-off of using a lower-accuracy surrogate accelerates training by a factor of 11 compared to high-fidelity models. Furthermore, the RL agent successfully learned load-shifting and peak-shaving strategies, eliminating start-up power spikes and achieving energy savings of up to 28.9%. Beyond substantial energy reductions, this pipeline yields a calibrated digital twin suitable for ongoing building services like anomaly detection, presenting a scalable path for real-world smart building optimization. Full article

Zoonotic diseases account for approximately one billion cases of illness and millions of deaths globally each year. Increasing contact between humans and competent wildlife hosts elevates the risk of zoonotic spillover. Synanthropic bird species are key players in the transmission of zoonotic pathogens, including flaviviruses such as West Nile virus (WNV) and influenza A viruses like Avian Influenza Virus (AIV). Active surveillance of sentinel birds inhabiting urban areas allows for early detection of emerging pathogens before they cause zoonotic outbreaks. Despite nesting in close proximity to humans, the role of the house martin (Delichon urbicum) in the circulation of flaviviruses and AIV remains poorly understood. Here, we analyzed the presence of antibodies against flaviviruses and AIV in a colony of house martins from southwestern Spain. In addition, we aimed to detect amplicons of the matrix and nucleoprotein genes of AIV using RT-qPCR. While none of the samples tested positive for AIV by RT-qPCR, we observed an AIV seroprevalence of 2.13% based on non-subtyped ELISA. Notably, this is the first report of AIV-seropositive D. urbicum individuals captured in Spain. Moreover, we detected a flavivirus-group seroprevalence of 24.34%, similar to rates reported in the same house martin population between 2018 and 2020, suggesting widespread circulation of flaviviruses within this synanthropic species. These results support the hypothesis that house martins may participate in the transmission of these viruses between wild bird populations and humans in urban environments. Full article

Background: Reduced quality of life, cancer-related fatigue, and functional impairment are common during and after oncologic treatment. Although therapeutic exercise is effective, evidence on brief, supervised programs of moderate to vigorous intensity remains limited, despite their greater clinical feasibility. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a six-week multimodal Therapeutic Exercise Program (TEP) in patients with cancer. Methods: A randomized controlled clinical trial (NCT05816187) was conducted with 110 patients with cancer (stages I–III), assigned to either an intervention group (supervised TEP, three sessions per week for six weeks) or a control group (usual care). The program included cardiorespiratory and strength training with intensity monitored using the Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE), as well as stretching exercises. Quality of life (QoL) was assessed using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30), fatigue using the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue scale (FACIT-F), functional capacity using the Six Minute Walk Test (6MWT), and muscle strength using the 30 Second Sit to Stand Test (30s-STST) and handgrip dynamometry (HGT). Analyses of covariance (ANCOVA), responder analyses based on the Minimal Clinically Important Difference (MCID), and effect sizes (ηp²) were performed. Results: The intervention group showed significant and clinically meaningful improvements in fatigue (FACIT-F: +4.53; p < 0.001; ηp² = 0.135), global QoL (+9.22; p = 0.006), physical function, functional capacity (+24.16 m in the 6MWT; p = 0.006), and muscle strength (30s-STST: +2.71 repetitions; handgrip: +3.32 kg; p < 0.001). A total of 63.3% of participants were responders for fatigue compared with 13.3% in the control group (NNT = 2.00). Functional improvements showed moderate correlations with fatigue and global health status. Among symptoms, only insomnia demonstrated a significant reduction. Conclusions: A brief, supervised, multimodal TEP of moderate to vigorous intensity appears to be an effective, safe, and clinically relevant intervention to improve fatigue, QoL, and functional capacity in patients with cancer, with potential applicability in multidisciplinary oncologic care. Full article

As a critical hydraulic component of pumped storage power stations, the side inlet/outlet directly affects unit efficiency, flow stability, and system safety. This study investigates the side inlet/outlet of a pumped storage power station using three-dimensional numerical simulations, focusing on the influence of the diffuser length L on hydraulic performance, and further analyzes the underlying mechanisms of energy loss based on entropy production theory. The results indicate that, with increasing diffuser length L, the flow rates in individual channels gradually deviate from the design values, leading to an aggravated imbalance in flow distribution. In contrast, the velocity non-uniformity coefficient C_V at the trash rack decreases, accompanied by a pronounced attenuation of recirculation and local flow separation, resulting in a more uniform and stable flow field. Moreover, increasing L improves the streamwise velocity uniformity within each channel, while the extent and intensity of the top recirculation zone are reduced, suppressing local flow separation. Quantitative analysis shows that when L increases from 65 m to 85 m, the total turbulent dissipation entropy production rate in the diffuser section increases linearly from 2732.32 W/K to 2842.32 W/K, whereas the direct dissipation entropy production rate increases from 0.41 W/K to 0.59 W/K. This indicates that turbulent dissipation entropy production plays a dominant role in the overall energy loss. Shorter diffusers tend to induce high-intensity local dissipation, whereas longer diffusers reduce local peak dissipation but increase the overall entropy production within the diffuser, reflecting a trade-off between local optimization and global energy loss. This study reveals the sensitivity and governing effects of diffuser length on the hydraulic characteristics of side inlet/outlets, providing a reference for geometry optimization and engineering design of similar hydraulic components. Full article

Under the global trend of population aging, providing a safe and reliable living environment for the elderly who live at home has become a major social issue. This study reports a monitoring technology for elderly-friendly residential buildings based on distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) and distributed temperature sensing (DTS), which is used to monitor and identify the physical behaviors of residents and temperature changes at different locations in the space. The results show that the distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) system can initially identify typical behavioral states such as walking, squatting, and falling. The fiber DTS technology can not only monitor the temperature distribution at different locations indoors, but also be used for the monitoring and early warning of local fires in different areas of the room. The sensing probes of the monitoring system proposed in this paper are linear optical cables, which have the advantages of easy installation, strong anti-interference ability, intrinsic explosion-proof, less likely to leak residents’ privacy, all-weather operation, precise event location, and low cost for large-scale distributed measurement systems. By integrating the sensing optical cables, fiber signal processing systems, and application software introduced in this paper, an intelligent management and early warning platform for elderly-friendly residential buildings can be established, providing a new solution for remote supervision of the living safety of the elderly. Full article

The Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) remains a central benchmark in combinatorial optimization, with applications in logistics, manufacturing, and network design. While exact solvers and classical heuristics offer strong performance, they rely on handcrafted design and show limited adaptability. Recent advances in deep learning have introduced a new paradigm: learning heuristics directly from data, with Transformers standing out for capturing global dependencies and scaling effectively via parallelism. This survey offers a component-wise analysis of Transformer-based TSP models, serving as both a structured review and a tutorial for new researchers. We classify solution paradigms—including constructive autoregressive and non-autoregressive models, local-search refinement, and hyperheuristics—and examine state representations, architectural variants (pointer networks, efficient attention, hierarchical or dual-aspect designs), and resolution strategies such as decoding heuristics and integrations with classical refiners. We also highlight hybrid models combining Transformers with CNNs, GNNs, or hierarchical decomposition, alongside training methods spanning supervised imitation and reinforcement learning. By organizing the literature around these building blocks, we clarify where Transformers excel, where classical heuristics remain essential, and how hybridization can bridge the gap. Our goal is to provide a critical roadmap and tutorial-style reference connecting classical optimization with modern Transformer-based methods. Full article

The Earth’s lithosphere, the rigid outermost layer of the planet, is composed of numerous tectonic plates of varying sizes that move over the underlying asthenosphere. The motion and interaction of these plates give rise to a wide range of geodynamic processes. Accurate monitoring of these processes is essential for maintaining a stable, up-to-date, and reliable terrestrial reference frame. This study investigates the horizontal and vertical motions of the Antarctic Plate resulting from its interactions with adjacent plates. Tectonic plate movements can be determined using several space-geodetic techniques, including Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). Among these methods, GNSS is currently the most widely used, as plate motions can be derived from continuous observations recorded at permanent stations and processed using scientific or commercial software. Within the scope of this research, GNSS data collected between 2020 and 2023 were processed using the GAMIT/GLOBK V.10.7 software package to estimate the coordinates and velocities of stations located on the Antarctic, South American, African, and Australian Plates in the ITRF14 reference frame. Furthermore, plate-fixed solutions were generated to analyze the relative motion of the Antarctic Plate with respect to neighboring plates. The results indicate that the Antarctic Plate moves at an average velocity of approximately 4–18 mm/year in the ITRF14 frame. The plate diverges from both the African and Australian Plates and exhibits predominantly strike-slip motion relative to the South American Plate. A comparison with existing global plate motion models demonstrates that the obtained velocities are consistent within 0–5 mm/year. Full article

Objectives: The study’s objective was to assess ten diphtheria–tetanus–pertussis (DTP) vaccination program indicators globally and in World Health Organization (WHO) regions in 2024, and compare the values in 2024 and 2019. Methods: Global and regional values for routine DTP vaccination performance indicators were assessed in 2024. Means and percentages in 2024 and 2019 were compared using the t-test and Chi-square test, respectively, considering p < 0.05 as statistically significant. High-priority countries for DTP vaccination coverage increase were identified in each WHO region based on the indicators assessed in this study. Results: The global mean vaccination coverage for DTP1, DTP3 and three DTP doses were 90.7%, 86.6% and 72.8%, respectively, in 2024. Eight of the ten indicators assessed in this study worsened and two improved globally from 2019 to 2024. The differences between 2019 and 2024 were statistically significant for the three-dose DTP coverage decrease in the European WHO region (88.1% vs. 82.5%, p < 0.05), and the decrease in the global percentage of countries with ≥90% three-dose coverage (34% vs. 21%, OR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.33–0.81, p < 0.005). This study identified 27 (13.8%) high-priority countries for DTP vaccination coverage increase due to DTP1 coverage lower than 80%; 47 (24.1%) countries due to DTP3 coverage lower than 80%; and 48 (24.6%) countries due to three-dose coverage lower than 60%. Conclusions: Global and regional DTP vaccination performance indicators in 2024 did not recover to pre-pandemic levels, although the differences between 2024 and 2019 were statistically significant only for two regional indicators. Full article

Background and Objective: Despite advances in operative techniques and perioperative care, complications following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) remain an important cause of postoperative morbidity and organ dysfunction. This study aimed to evaluate the association between preoperative epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) thickness measured using computed tomography and postoperative morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing isolated CABG, and to explore whether EAT thickness may serve as a potential imaging-based risk marker for postoperative complications. Materials and Methods: The study was a retrospective single-center observational cohort study. Patients who underwent isolated coronary artery bypass grafting between 1 January 2019 and 2 January 2023, and had available preoperative computed tomography (CT) imaging were retrospectively reviewed. Epicardial adipose tissue thickness was measured on CT images at three predefined anatomical regions, yielding two parameters: total EAT thickness and right ventricular EAT thickness. Postoperative complications were evaluated using established definitions, with atrial fibrillation (AF) assessed according to European Society of Cardiology (ESC) criteria and acute kidney injury defined based on Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) guidelines. Results: Patients who developed postoperative complications after coronary artery bypass grafting tended to have thicker epicardial adipose tissue. Increased total epicardial adipose tissue thickness was associated with postoperative paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, whereas greater right ventricular epicardial adipose tissue thickness was associated with postoperative acute kidney injury. Multivariable analysis confirmed that both total and right ventricular epicardial adipose tissue thickness were independently associated with postoperative complications (total EAT: OR 1.74, 95% CI 1.10–2.76; right ventricular EAT: OR 2.03, 95% CI 1.31–3.15). ROC analysis showed modest discrimination for postoperative atrial fibrillation (AUC 0.69) and acceptable discrimination for acute kidney injury (AUC 0.79). No association was observed between epicardial adipose tissue measurements and postoperative mortality. Conclusions: Increased preoperative epicardial adipose tissue thickness was associated with several early postoperative complications following coronary artery bypass grafting, including atrial fibrillation, acute kidney injury, and in-hospital infection. Preoperative epicardial adipose tissue thickness measured by computed tomography may represent a potentially useful imaging-based risk marker for early postoperative complications following isolated CABG, although confirmation in larger prospective studies is required. Full article

Accurate registration of multi-temporal LiDAR point clouds is essential for reliable monitoring of mining subsidence. Systematic errors in point clouds acquired at different times can arise from GNSS/INS positioning drift, sensor calibration bias, and differences in observation geometry. These errors typically manifest as global reference shifts or gradual distortions. When such errors are superimposed on real terrain changes, they can mask subsidence signals and introduce observational pseudo-differences, thereby increasing the difficulty of separating actual subsidence from artifacts. To address this issue, this study proposes Robust-Registration-Based Systematic Error Correction for Time-Series Point Clouds (RR-SEC), which establishes a consistent reference framework across epochs. The method does not assume that stable areas remain strictly unchanged. Instead, it identifies regions whose local change patterns are more temporally consistent using an information entropy analysis of multi-temporal differences. Under complex terrain, the method selects points with lower difference entropy as stable control points and uses them to constrain the registration process. It then performs Generalized Iterative Closest Point (GICP) rigid registration under these constraints to estimate the overall three-dimensional translation and rotation between point clouds from different periods. The estimated transformation is applied to the entire point cloud to correct inter-epoch reference mismatches and unify the coordinate reference across all epochs. Comprehensive validation using simulated complex terrain data containing rigid reference biases and non-rigid deformations, as well as UAV LiDAR data collected from the MuduChaideng Coal Mine, shows that, compared with the baseline GICP method, RR-SEC reduces alignment errors. It decreases the mean residual in stable areas by approximately 85%. The subsidence values computed from the corrected point clouds are more consistent with measured values, and the spatial deformation patterns are easier to interpret. RR-SEC demonstrates robust performance and can serve as a practical approach to improve the accuracy of deformation monitoring in mining areas and potentially other geoscientific applications. Full article

The escalating global waste crisis necessitates sustainable valorization strategies, with biochar production emerging as a promising solution for converting organic residues into a carbon-rich material. This study evaluated biochar derived from corncob and khat waste pyrolyzed using allo-thermal and auto-thermal multi-purpose stoves. Biochar was fractionated into four particle sizes (>2 mm, 1–2 mm, 0.6–1 mm, and <0.6 mm) and characterized for ash content, pH, and electrical conductivity (EC). Results demonstrated that the auto-thermal stove, operating at higher temperatures (up to 800 °C), consistently produced biochar with greater ash content (khat: 12–19%; corncob: 11–14%), alkaline pH (9.2–10.0), and significantly higher EC compared to the allo-thermal stove (maximum 350 °C). EC values ranged from 0.38 mS/cm (coarse allo-thermal corncob) to 6.6 mS/cm (fine auto-thermal khat), with auto-thermal biochar exhibiting EC values 5–10 times higher than their allo-thermal counterparts. khat waste consistently yielded biochar with higher ash content, pH, and EC than corncob, reflecting its richer mineral composition. Particle size fractionation revealed that pH and EC increased progressively with decreasing particle size across all treatments, with the finest fraction (<0.6 mm) showing the highest values. For auto-thermal khat, EC increased from 2.43 mS/cm (>2 mm) to 6.6 mS/cm (<0.6 mm). This study demonstrates that decentralized biochar production using multi-purpose stoves can yield materials with tunable properties, and that khat waste—an underutilized regional resource—shows particular promise for producing high-ash, high-EC biochar suitable for acidic soil amendment. Full article

With accelerating urbanization and a global emphasis on quality of life, the effects of the built environment on individual physiological and psychological well-being have become a critical research focus. However, existing studies remain fragmented in terms of theoretical perspectives, spatial scales, and methodological approaches, and a comprehensive synthesis of the physiological and psychological effects of the built environment is still lacking. This review adopts an interdisciplinary approach, integrating architecture, urban planning, landscape architecture, geography, and psychology to systematically review the literature on the health impacts of the built environment. Its findings indicate that the scope of the built environment has expanded from natural settings to residential areas, streets, and public spaces. Research scales have progressed from macro-level districts to streets and public spaces and further to micro-level physical environments. The impacts have extended from emotional responses to broader health and well-being outcomes, with increasing attention being given to specific population groups. Technological advances have shifted research paradigms from traditional surveys to approaches incorporating big data, machine learning, virtual reality, and physiological monitoring, enabling more precise analyses of links between spatial perception and emotional responses. This review identifies gaps in interdisciplinary integration, long-term monitoring, and the consideration of individual differences, highlighting the need for future studies to integrate multimodal data with theory-informed practice to support more human-centered, health-promoting built environments. Full article

Load monitoring is essential in football to optimise training prescription and reduce injury risk, yet the internal and external demands of common possession drills such as rondos remain insufficiently described. Rondo formats are widely used across levels, but changes in player configuration may substantially alter their load profile. This study examined how three rondo configurations (5vs2, 6vs2 and 8vs2) affect internal load (RPE) and external load (GPS-derived metrics) in semi-professional football players. Twenty-one Spanish players (mean age = 28.9 years) from the same team participated in the study. All players completed three rondo formats (5vs2, 6vs2 and 8vs2) across four separate weeks. Each format consisted of three 3-min bouts with 1 min of recovery, and players were restricted to one touch. Internal load was assessed using players’ rating of perceived exertion (RPE), while external load was measured using a global positioning system (GPS). The results showed a significantly higher perceived exertion in the 5vs2 rondo compared with the other formats (p < 0.001). Regarding external load, significantly greater values (p < 0.001) were observed in the 6vs2 rondo for distance covered at 12.1–18.0 km·h⁻¹ (DZ2) and 18.1–21.0 km·h⁻¹ (DZ3) compared with the other rondo formats. In contrast, 6vs2 also elicited a significantly lower number of accelerations above 3 m·s⁻² and decelerations below −3 m·s⁻² than the other formats (p < 0.001; p < 0.006). Finally, 5vs2 produced significantly higher maximum speed than 8vs2 (p = 0.016). In conclusion, the 6vs2 rondo may be the most suitable option to target DZ2 and DZ3 compared with 5vs2 and 8vs2. Conversely, 5vs2 induced the greatest acceleration and deceleration demands, followed by 8vs2. Therefore, coaches can select the rondo format according to the desired external load requirements. Full article

Against the backdrop of increasingly scarce global arable land resources, the remediation and resource utilization of saline–alkali soils have become a critical issue in circular agriculture. This study proposes micro-nano bubble (MNB) irrigation technology as a green, low-carbon strategy for saline–alkali soil remediation, highlighting its multi-level driving mechanism through pot experiments at different aeration frequencies. Results indicated that MNB irrigation significantly enhanced salt leaching and acid-base neutralization by reducing the soil pH (11.75%) and electrical conductivity (53.41%). Meanwhile, soil organic matter, cation exchange capacity, and available nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium increased to normal soil levels. MNBs also strongly activated native enzymes (urease and alkaline phosphatase), raising the total enzyme activity by 68.54%, which is linked to carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus metabolism. These results were also validated by microbial analysis, which indicated that MNBs shifted the community structure from one dominated by salt-tolerant taxa (i.e., Pseudomonadota) to a more functionally beneficial composition (i.e., Bacillota). Through these changes, the microbial diversity and network connectivity were enhanced, with Qipengyuania and Psychrophilus identified as critical nodes. This study reveals the multi-level driving mechanism of MNB technology, providing new technical pathways and theoretical support for the remediation, resource recovery, and circular utilization of agricultural waste soils. Full article