Search Results (612)

The rapid expansion of wind energy into complex and extreme environments has renewed interest in vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) due to their omnidirectional operation, compact footprint, and potential resilience under harsh operating conditions. However, the current understanding of VAWT performance remains fragmented across aerodynamic, structural, operational, and application-specific studies. This systematic review aims to synthesize and critically evaluate VAWT research with environmental stressors as the central organizing framework, addressing performance behavior, adaptation challenges, and future research pathways. Literature searches were conducted in the Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus, IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, and SpringerLink databases, with Google Scholar used as a supplementary source, covering publications from 2000 to January 2026. Eligible studies focused on VAWTs operating under non-standard or extreme conditions, including icing, offshore, desert, high-turbulence, and thermally severe environments. A systematic quality assessment was applied to evaluate methodological rigor and environmental characterization, and the findings were synthesized using a qualitative–quantitative hybrid approach; no formal meta-analysis was performed. The review reveals substantial advances in unsteady aerodynamics, numerical modeling, and control strategies, but also identifies persistent discrepancies between high-fidelity simulations and real-world performance due to simplified modeling assumptions and limited full-scale experimental validation. Quantitative findings indicate that high turbulence can decrease the power output of large VAWTs by 23–42%, dust and sand in arid environments can reduce torque and power by ~25%, and air temperature increases from 15 °C to 60 °C can reduce the power coefficient of VAWTs by about 38%. Emerging approaches, including artificial intelligence-assisted design, adaptive turbine architectures, and climate-aware methodologies, show promise in addressing these limitations. The findings highlight the urgent need for coordinated long-term field measurements, improved multi-physics modeling, and interdisciplinary research to enhance the reliability and scalability of VAWTs in extreme environments. This review was not registered. Full article

Ultra-weak fiber Bragg grating (UWFBG) sensors are increasingly applied in asphalt pavement monitoring; however, the quantitative criteria for their vertical placement based on deformation coordination remain insufficient. This study investigates the deformation coordination mechanism between UWFBG sensors and the asphalt mixture under different vertical embedding positions. Three mesoscale finite element beam models with sensors embedded at the top (T), middle (M), and bottom (B) positions were established to simulate the lateral strain field evolution, core lateral tensile strain response of the UWFBG sensor, and interfacial mechanical behavior under three-point bending loading. To quantitatively evaluate the deformation compatibility, a weighted deformation coordination index was constructed by integrating the lateral tensile strain change rate of the UWFBG core (representing strain response sensitivity), the interface damage degree, and the interface opening displacement. A weight sensitivity analysis was performed to ensure the consistency of the result ranking. The results demonstrate that the vertical embedding position of the UWFBG sensor not only affects its own lateral tensile strain response, but also alters the lateral strain redistribution within the asphalt mixture beam, the migration of the neutral surface, and the damage development at the UWFBG sensor–asphalt mixture interface. The UWFBG sensor embedded at the bottom (B) position induces the most pronounced tensile strain amplification and neutral surface migration in the surrounding asphalt mixture, whereas the sensors embedded at the middle (M) and top (T) positions exhibit faster degradation of the UWFBG sensor–asphalt mixture interface or limited strain amplification, resulting in lower deformation coordination levels. Overall, the bottom-embedded configuration exhibits the strongest strain amplification, with the highest peak lateral tensile strain of the UWFBG core. The deformation coordination index (I_c) of the bottom configuration at the later loading stage is approximately 0.42, which is higher than that of the middle (0.37) and top (0.31) configurations. The consistent ranking under different weight combinations confirms the robustness of the evaluation work and identifies the bottom-embedding configuration as the most favorable arrangement for strain monitoring. Full article

Emerging contaminants (ECs) comprise diverse pollutant classes that are increasingly detected in remote environments due to their persistence and long-range transport potential. In cold regions, atmospheric cold-trapping processes favour their accumulation in high-altitude and high-latitude snow and ice, which act as sensitive archives and secondary sources of contamination. While previous studies have addressed individual environmental compartments (e.g., snowpack, glacier ice, meltwater), focusing on specific contaminant classes, a systematic review integrating the occurrence, behaviour and impacts of major EC groups in polar and alpine snow and ice is still lacking. To fill this gap, this work synthesised current knowledge on the environmental fate of three key EC categories in the cryosphere: metals and metalloids (MMs), industrial chemicals and by-products (ICBs), and pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). PRISMA guidelines were accurately followed for research, which was based on a Google Scholar search combining keywords on cryospheric matrices (snow, firn, ice cores), geographical regions (Arctic, Antarctic, Alps, high mountains), and contaminant classes. Of 350 records initially identified, 300 met the eligibility criteria (post-industrial snow, firn, or ice cores studies) after excluding studies focused on aerosol or meltwater-only, method-focused papers, pre-industrial datasets, urban-only investigations, and duplicates. Risk of bias was qualitatively assessed through manual screening, evaluating matrix eligibility, temporal consistency, analytical methods, detection limits, and duplicate data, with particular attention to inconsistencies in ECs classification. Strict operational definitions were therefore applied to ensure methodological coherence. Concentration data were harmonised into a standardised database, and findings were synthesised through a structured narrative supported by tabulated datasets organised by matrix and site. Overall, the evidence indicates widespread occurrence of ECs in the global cryosphere, with spatial variability linked to emission sources, long-range transport pathways, and snow physicochemical properties. Climate-change-driven alterations of snow dynamics, glacier retreat and permafrost thaw are expected to modify partitioning equilibria and enhance the secondary release of legacy and contemporary contaminants. However, significant limitations persist, including geographical gaps, variability in analytical sensitivity, lack of long-term monitoring for certain EC classes, and inconsistencies in contaminant classification frameworks. Despite these constraints, the synthesis highlights consistent emerging patterns and underscores the need to strengthen existing environmental protocols to mitigate potential risks to ecosystems and human health. Full article

The shallow-buried abandoned Yellow River Delta (893–1855 AD) exhibits a distinctive geomorphic system shaped by coupled fluvial sediment reduction, climatic transition, and relative sea-level fluctuations, with its intact deposits recording key temperate delta evolution during climate change. Using four sediment cores, we applied optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, sedimentary facies analysis, and grain-size techniques (C-M diagram, end-member modeling), integrated with geomorphic interpretation and historical data, to reconstruct the delta’s evolutionary sequence and clarify storm surge-driven geomorphic reworking and its diagnostic indicators. Results indicate that the delta’s evolution was governed by abrupt fluvial sediment loss, intensified storm dynamics, and relative sea-level rise. The 893 AD Yellow River avulsion triggered delta abandonment (893–1482 AD), driving a shift from a fluvially dominated muddy coast to a wave-controlled sandy system. Sandy deposits initially formed at M04A and prograded landward to M03A. During the Little Ice Age (1482–1855 AD), frequent storm surges further expanded and elevated these sandy accumulations, while weak sedimentation persisted in the inland depression (B03). This differential process generated a unique plain lowland–coastal highland system, a rare geomorphic type among large river deltas that differs from classic island–continent and barrier–lagoon systems. This study elucidates the phased response of temperate monsoon abandoned deltas to millennial-scale climate change, advances theories of multi-factor coupled delta evolution, and provides scientific support for coastal protection, stability assessment, and evolutionary prediction under global warming. Full article

This manuscript presents the synthesis of eight novel noracronycine derivatives containing 1,2,4-triazine moiety and evaluates their anticancer activity in vitro. The obtained compounds exhibit activity in the micromolar range and show selectivity towards glioblastoma A172 and breast cancer Hs578T cells. Compounds incorporating a dihydrotriazine moiety demonstrate an enhanced anticancer profile when compared to a noracronycine derivative lacking a triazine substituent. Furthermore, introducing a pyridyl group into the triazine core increases selective cytotoxicity toward cancerous cells. The lead compound exhibits an IC₅₀ value of 3.4 μM for glioblastoma A172, with a selectivity index of 7.59. Mechanistic studies reveal that the obtained compounds slow down cell division, while no significant apoptosis was detected. Full article

The increasing functional complexity and high-density integration of integrated circuits (ICs) present formidable routing challenges for printed circuit boards. Specifically for components utilizing high-density Ball Grid Array and other Grid Pin Array (GPA) packages, achieving efficient and reliable ordered escape routing is critical. This routing must strictly satisfy non-crossing and channel capacity constraints, which often become the bottleneck determining design success. Traditional manual or heuristic methods are increasingly inadequate for meeting the complexity and optimization demands of modern high-density designs. To address this challenge, this study proposes an innovative, automated routing strategy that leverages the robust search and optimization capabilities of the genetic algorithm (GA). We formulate the ordered escape routing problem on BGA/GPA as a rigorous combinatorial optimization problem. Through the GA mechanism, the core research objective is to explore the vast solution space and achieve the minimization of the total routing cost. This research establishes an automated routing framework capable of providing cost-effective escape routing solutions for high-density BGA, while strictly satisfying the non-crossing and single-capacity constraints. The proposed methodology not only significantly enhances routing efficiency and success rates but also provides essential technical support for the design and manufacturing processes of complex electronic products. For instance, in the simulation case of Case 7 (a 25 × 26 array with 60 active pins), this method achieved a routing compression ratio of 0.8230, equivalent to a 17.70% reduction in the total routing length, fully demonstrating the superior performance of the proposed algorithm in optimizing the routing cost. Full article

We discovered that the chloroform extracted from Sophora alopecuroides L. exhibited the capacity to counteract multidrug resistance in breast cancer significantly. However, the precise active ingredients and their underlying mechanisms of action remain to be elucidated, necessitating the urgent undertaking of in-depth studies. In this study, an extract of Sophora alopecuroides L. was obtained through ethanol extraction and chloroform solvent extraction. Subsequent isolation and multi-round screening using MCF-7/ADR cells yielded the highly active chloroform derivative SaL-30. The active compound group of Sophora alopecuroides L. (SACG), consisting of 13 compounds, was confirmed by HPLC-QTOF-MS/MS and compositional screening. Network pharmacological analysis and molecular docking technology demonstrated that SACG reversed breast cancer resistance through an intricate multi-component (flavonoids/alkaloids), multi-target (AKT1/TNF/CDK2), and multi-pathway (PI3K-AKT/FoxO/MAPK) synergistic mode of action, with the PI3K-AKT pathway acting as the core regulator. Cell experiments further demonstrate that SaL-30 has strong toxicity against MCF-7/ADR by cellular assay, with an IC₅₀ value of 8.941 ± 0.327 µg/mL and a synergistic index of CI = 0.3258, exhibiting a strong synergistic anti-breast cancer effect when co-administered with Adriamycin. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for elucidating the anti-drug resistance mechanism of Sophora alopecuroides L. Full article

Ice cores retrieved from the Third Pole provide invaluable information about past and present environmental changes. Here we present, for the first time, a continuous tritium and plutonium isotope profile of the Puruogangri ice field, Tibetan Plateau, China, for the last 70 years. The age-depth profile has been composed by different time anchors such as the onset of thermonuclear weapon tests, the so-called bomb peak of tritium, the Chernobyl event, and the time of ice coring. The accumulation rate of ice calculated from the age-depth relation shows a decrease after 1963. It was 57, 15, and 22 cm/year in the periods of 1954–1963, 1963–1986, and 1986–2023, respectively. The concentrations of plutonium isotopes (²³⁹Pu: up to 2.7 fg/g) are slightly lower than those of the Belukha ice core, Siberian Altai, Russia, and almost the same as the Miaoergou glacier, eastern Tien Shan, China. Contrary to this latter ice core profile, the Puruogangri plutonium profile reflects that the Chinese weapon test started in 1966. This is confirmed by the tritium time series as well. ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu atomic ratios vary between 0.14 and 0.23, with an average of 0.177 ± 0.024. The overall obtained local fallout of ²³⁹Pu and ²⁴⁰Pu is 13.2 and 9.0 Bq/m² (4.0 and 1.1 ng/m²), respectively. Full article

High-temperature superconducting (HTS) conductor on round core (CORC) cables possess the combined features of high current-carrying capacity, strong mechanical properties, and excellent isotropic flexibility. The current relative research on the electromagnetic properties of straight CORC cables has been exceedingly mature. In high-field magnets, CORC cables are typically bent into coils to meet the compactness requirement. Evaluating the bending characteristics of CORC cables, particularly their post-bending electromagnetic properties, holds great scientific significance. In this paper, CORC cables with different sizes of central formers were fabricated to explore the impacts of the bending process and strain on their transport AC loss characteristics. A mapping method was proposed to couple mechanical and electromagnetic models. Results show that the cable sample with a 4 mm outer diameter of the central former exhibits a superior bending characteristic. The bending process on the transport AC loss of CORC cable lies in the redistribution of the magnetic field, while strain mainly affects AC loss by leading to local critical current (Ic) degradation. CORC cables with small bending diameters require electromagnetic–mechanical-coupling simulation to predict their electromagnetic characteristics accurately. Conclusions drawn from this paper will provide invaluable guidance for the fabrication of bent CORC cables. Full article

A typical Tamarix nebkha was studied in the southern Qaidam Basin, China. K-feldspar pIRIR dating was applied to establish a reliable chronological framework, and an Undatable age–depth model was constructed. Accumulation rates (AR) declined in stages: rapid (~1.33 cm/a; ~370–260 yr BP), slower (~0.75 cm/a; ~260–130 yr BP), and slowest (~0.31 cm/a; ~130 yr BP-present). This dynamic pattern is likely influenced by a combination of regional aeolian activity variations, geomorphological evolution, and the intrinsic growth dynamics of the nebkha itself. To further understand the relationship between nebkha development and climatic conditions, a δ¹³C sequence was reconstructed using Tamarix plant remains preserved within the sediments. Based on shifts in leaf-level δ¹³C values, which indicate changes in water use efficiency, water availability over the past 370 years was inferred and divided into three main phases: relatively sufficient from 1650 to 1690, gradually decreasing during 1690–1870, and increasing again after 1870. The δ¹³C trend closely correlates with temperature variations derived from δ¹⁸O records of the Malan ice core. This suggests that in this hyper-arid region, the development of Tamarix nebkhas is primarily controlled by glacial meltwater and snowmelt runoff from the Kunlun Mountains, rather than by local precipitation. Full article

Variance-driven decomposition based on the singular spectrum analysis of the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) δD, CO₂, and CH₄ records allowed a novel quantitative structural interpretation of all glacial/interglacial cycles and glacial terminations of the last 800 kyr. This bottom-up approach used the response components of EPICA stacked records to reconstruct the envelope of the thermal response through a physical interference model. The aim was to improve understanding of the intensity, amplitude, and asymmetry features of 73 marine isotope stages/substages (MISs) and seven glacial terminations. The Antarctic stack record can be described by a variance-weighted superposition of ten thermal waves of different origins (mid-term oscillation, orbitals, and suborbitals) that stochastically interfere at a given time according to their relative differences in frequency, amplitude, and polarity. Interglacial/glacial stages resulted from constructive interference and bipolar amplification of warming/cooling responses, respectively. The low-intensity MISs (including 90% of substages) and the unbiased-dated terminations fell in the low-interference regions, where dominant destructive patterns minimize the thermal envelope. The positive skewness of the EPICA stack resulted from constructive interference with a strong bias in the warming direction, especially after the Mid-Brunhes Event. Duration analysis of short eccentricity hemicycles exhibited an intrinsic unexpectedly prolonged mean cooling in the nominal solution (5.8 kyr) and its EPICA response as well (8.6 kyr), along with an interference-induced asymmetry (21.1 kyr). The overall effect has led to the saw-tooth shape of glacial cycles, which was strongly induced by interference. Full article

Industrial Control Systems (ICSs), critical to infrastructure, face escalating cyber threats under Industry 4.0, yet existing intrusion detection methods are hindered by attack sample scarcity, spatiotemporal heterogeneity of industrial protocols, and resource constraints of embedded devices. This paper proposes a four-stage closed-loop intrusion detection framework for ICSs, with its core innovations integrating the following key components: First, a protocol-conditioned Conditional Generative Adversarial Network (CTGAN) is designed to synthesize realistic attack traffic by enforcing industrial protocol constraints and validating syntax through dual-path discriminators, ensuring generated traffic adheres to protocol specifications. Second, a three-tiered sliding window encoder transforms raw network flows into structured RGB images, capturing protocol syntax, device states, and temporal autocorrelation to enable multiresolution spatiotemporal analysis. Third, an Efficient Multiscale Attention Visual State Space Model (EMA-VSSM) is developed by integrating gate-enhanced state-space layers with multiscale attention mechanisms and contrastive learning, enhancing threat detection through improved long-range dependency modeling and spatial–temporal correlation capture. Finally, a lightweight EMA-VSSM student model, developed via hierarchical distillation, achieves a model compression rate of 64.8% and an inference efficiency enhancement of approximately 30% relative to the original model. Experimental results on a real-world ICS dataset demonstrate that this lightweight model attains an accuracy of 98.20% with a False Negative Rate (FNR) of 0.0316, outperforming state-of-the-art baseline methods such as XGBoost and Swin Transformer. By effectively balancing protocol compliance, multi-resolution feature extraction, and computational efficiency, this framework enables real-time deployment on resource-constrained ICS controllers. Full article

Phorbazoles are bioactive marine alkaloids whose development is hampered by limited supply. We report a concise synthesis of the deschloro-phorbazole core via an optimized iodine-catalyzed oxazole annulation (56% yield). This route enabled efficient access to the scaffold and the preparation of analog B1. B1 showed nanomolar cytotoxicity (IC₅₀ = 0.04 µM) against MV4-11 leukemia cells by inducing G0/G1 arrest (via cyclin D1/CDK6 downregulation) and apoptosis. As a multi-kinase inhibitor, B1 also potently inhibited endothelial network formation and migration, demonstrating anti-angiogenic activity. This work provides an efficient synthetic strategy and identifies B1 as a promising dual-function anticancer lead compound. Full article

Fe-Ni-based alloys have attracted attention due to their potential for applications such as transmission line de-icing, where the core requirements include a Curie temperature near the freezing point and sufficient saturation magnetization. Accordingly, this study designed an Fe-29Ni-2Cr-1.5Mn (at.%) alloy with a Curie temperature around the freezing point, aiming to investigate the correlation between microstructural evolution and magnetic properties after cold rolling and annealing. The alloy was cold-rolled by 65% and subsequently annealed at 873 K for 0 to 60 min. The study reveals systematic evolutions in the alloy’s microstructure and magnetic properties. During the initial annealing stage, recovery substructures predominantly formed within the deformed grains, accompanied by a reduction in dislocation density and lattice constant. In the later annealing stage, the recrystallized fraction increased, although complete recrystallization was not achieved. Texture analysis indicates that the intensity of the Cube texture strengthened from 0.48 to 1.13. Correspondingly, the saturation magnetization and Curie temperature increased by approximately 9.76% and 10.25%, respectively, in the early annealing period, and then stabilized thereafter. The early-stage improvement in properties is likely related to stress relief and lattice distortion relaxation during the recovery stage. The calculated magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant of this alloy at 273 K is K₁ = 126 ± 18 J/m³, indicating that the <100> direction is its easy magnetization axis. This study provides insights into optimizing the magnetic properties of this alloy through controlled annealing. Full article

New arylbenzofuran derivatives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated as potential inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE). Five hybrid compounds (31–35) feature a 2-phenylbenzofuran core linked via a heptyloxy spacer to an N-methylbenzylamine moiety, to enhance interactions within the active site of BChE. Biological evaluation revealed that brominated derivatives 34 and 35 showed the highest cholinesterases (ChE) inhibition compared to their chlorinated analogs, with compound 34 showing the highest activity for both AChE (IC₅₀ = 27.7 μM) and BChE (IC₅₀ = 0.7 μM). These compounds proved to be non-cytotoxic and demonstrated significant antioxidant activity in SH-SY5Y cells exposed to hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), highlighting their potential to mitigate oxidative stress: a key pathological factor in Alzheimer’s disease. Structural activity analysis suggests that bromine substitution at position 7 and the presence of a seven-carbon linker are critical for dual ChE inhibition and selectivity towards BChE. ADMET prediction indicates favorable pharmacokinetic properties, including drug-likeness and oral bioavailability. Overall, these findings highlight the potential of the 2-arylbenzofuran as a promising scaffold for multitarget-directed ligands in Alzheimer’s disease therapy. Full article