Search Results (9,425)

Aiming at the problem that strip surcharge in coastal soft soil foundations causes lateral squeezing and endangers the safety of adjacent existing bridge pile foundations, the traditional Boussinesq elastic theory cannot reflect the true elastoplastic characteristics of the soil and tends to underestimate the actual horizontal additional stress. This paper establishes a two-dimensional plane strain finite element model and, based on the calibration of pure elastic theoretical solutions, carries out extensive comparative analyses under elastoplastic foundation conditions. Through Pearson correlation and random forest sensitivity analyses, it is clarified that the internal friction angle, load ratio, and normalized distance ratio are the core control variables affecting the redistribution of horizontal additional stress, thereby demonstrating the limitations of the influence of elastic modulus and cohesion. The study reveals the nonlinear amplification mechanism of horizontal stress transfer caused by the penetration of the deep plastic zone within the foundation, as well as the physical evolution law of the stress correction factor, which initially exhibits a Gaussian peak enhancement and subsequently decays exponentially with spatial distance. Based on these mechanisms, a combined prediction formula for the horizontal additional stress correction factor is proposed, achieving an R² = 0.903, and a safety evaluation chart for the correction factor is constructed to quantify high-risk areas. The results indicate that when the normalized distance ratio is greater than or equal to 4, the elastoplastic squeezing effect essentially dissipates. The proposed modification method effectively delineates the applicable boundary of the elastic solution and provides a theoretical basis for the bearing capacity calculation and safety control of passively loaded pile foundations in soft soil regions. Full article

Over the past few decades, the oil sands mining industry has taken steps to find ways to speed up the filterability and consolidation of their tailings deposits, which would otherwise take decades to settle and reach the required strength. The initiative has led to deposits that are combinations of sands and fines (<44 µm) in proportions whose geotechnical behaviors have not yet been determined by the existing body of knowledge. The purpose of this study is to examine how the quantity of fines and their index characteristics affect the filterability and consolidation of particular deposits. Findings from this research show that these deposits exhibit characteristics of low-plasticity soils. The hydraulic conductivity of these materials is strongly influenced by the fines content. The deposits behave more like sand below a threshold point of about 35 percent fines content, and they exhibit low hydraulic conductivity above this point. Furthermore, the hydraulic conductivity of these deposits is influenced by other factors, including clay properties, sodium adsorption ratio, and effective stress. The results of finite-strain consolidation modeling show that mixtures of sand and fluid tailings with fines within the threshold range exhibit significantly improved consolidation performance. In particular, compared to the performance of traditional fluid tailings deposits, settlement time and depth are reduced by more than 50%, and the time needed for complete pore pressure dissipation is reduced by more than 80%. Findings from this study provide an insight to the industry on the optimal fines–sand blending proportions for best performing deposits. Since these findings are solely laboratory-based, it should be noted that the determined threshold fines content and consolidation behavior may alter in field-scale deposition. Full article

Cod liver oil is a rich source of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) but is highly susceptible to oxidative degradation, limiting its use in topical formulations. This study aimed to develop stable cod liver oil nanoemulsions for topical application and to evaluated the influence of surfactant ratio (lecithin/PEG-15 hydroxystearate: 2.5:1 and 1:1, w/w), emulsification method (ultrasonication or high-pressure homogenization), and vitamin E acetate supplementation on their physicochemical properties and oxidative stability. Eight nanoemulsions were characterized in terms of droplet size, polydispersity, ζ-potential, vitamin E acetate encapsulation efficiency, oxidative stability, film-forming capacity and cytocompatibility. Among the investigated formulations, F4 (2.5:1 lecithin/PEG-15 hydroxystearate, high-pressure homogenization, with vitamin E acetate) exhibited the most favorable characteristics, including a mean droplet size of 67.95 nm, ζ-potential of −63.12 mV and vitamin E acetate encapsulation efficiency of 32.59%. The formulation demonstrated good physicochemical stability under thermal, mechanical and photostability testing, improved oxidative stability, transient film-forming behavior with an initial occlusive effect, and no cytotoxicity toward human dermal fibroblasts. These findings indicate that nanoemulsion performance depends on the combined influence of formulation composition and processing conditions, with F4 representing a promising topical carrier for cod liver oil intended for interaction with the stratum corneum. Full article

Semantic communication has emerged as a promising paradigm for next-generation wireless networks, offering substantial efficiency gains by prioritizing the transmission of task-relevant meaning over bit-level accuracy. However, while its benefits in bandwidth reduction and intelligent data representation are well established, its potential to provide intrinsic reconstruction resistance without relying on conventional cryptographic mechanisms remains largely unexplored. This paper investigates whether semantic communication system architectures themselves can contribute to intrinsic reconstruction resistance for image transmission. We propose an autoencoder-based semantic communication framework in which images are encoded into latent representations and transmitted over a wireless channel, with decoding performed using architecture-specific neural networks. Unlike traditional secure communication approaches that depend on encryption, the proposed method leverages architectural uniqueness and representation-level abstraction to limit unauthorized reconstruction. To systematically analyze this, we evaluate eight adversarial scenarios encompassing variations in encoder–decoder architecture and initialization, including both matched (worst-case) and maximum mismatched (best-case) conditions. The system is modeled using a standard Alice–Bob–Mallory framework, where an adversary attempts to reconstruct intercepted semantic representations without full architectural knowledge. Performance is evaluated using peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and structural similarity index measure (SSIM) for reconstruction quality, alongside semantic accuracy measured via a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based classifier and embedding cosine similarity to assess information leakage. Experimental results demonstrate that architectural mismatches substantially degrade both visual reconstruction and semantic interpretability for unauthorized receivers, while matched configurations enable substantial recovery. It is important to emphasise that the proposed approach does not provide cryptographic confidentiality; rather, it offers architecture-dependent resistance to unauthorised semantic reconstruction under restricted adversarial assumptions. Overall, the results show that semantic communication systems can exhibit intrinsic reconstruction resistance through architecture-dependent latent-space organisation, reducing reliance on additional cryptographic overhead under restricted adversarial assumptions, while also highlighting limitations when adversaries possess full architectural and initialisation knowledge. Full article

Active magnetic bearings (AMBs) require accurate dynamic models for controller design and performance analysis, but their inherent open-loop instability makes modeling difficult under practical operating conditions. This study presents a closed-loop black-box identification method for an AMB system under decentralized control. A pseudo-random binary sequence (PRBS) excitation was injected into the closed-loop system, and the measured input–output data were used to estimate a nonparametric frequency-response model. The effects of excitation amplitude were first examined, and an excitation level of about 10–12% of the saturation current was found to provide a suitable balance among coherence, signal-to-noise ratio, and frequency-response variance. Based on the obtained frequency-domain data, ARX, output-error (OE), and state-space (SS) models were identified and compared. An initial model order range was estimated using the ARX structure and quantitative criteria, including the loss function and Bayesian information criterion. Within this candidate range, different model structures and orders were further evaluated. The 7th-order SS model showed the best overall agreement with the nonparametric frequency response and captured the dominant dynamic features more accurately. Independent time-domain validation and closed-loop reconstruction further confirmed that the selected SS model can represent the practical AMB dynamics with acceptable accuracy. Full article

Background/Objectives: Trabecular bone exhibits brittle behaviour governed by microscale deformation and damage, yet quantifying crack progression is difficult because classical fracture-mechanics approaches do not apply to architecturally discontinuous porous tissue. This pilot study evaluates whether synchrotron X-ray computed tomography (XCT) combined with digital volume correlation (DVC) can provide a practical, geometry-normalised approach for quantifying crack-opening behaviour in human trabecular bone. Methods: Semicylindrical specimens from femoral heads of hip-fracture donors (n = 5) and non-fracture controls (n = 5) underwent stepwise three-point bending during XCT imaging. Full-field displacement maps were used to measure crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD), crack length (a), and their ratio CMOD/a, used here as a geometry-normalised comparative descriptor of brittle response rather than an intrinsic material property. Automated phase-congruency crack detection (PCCD) was compared with manual measurement. Results: XCT–DVC resolved three-dimensional displacement discontinuities during crack initiation and propagation in all specimens. Hip-fracture donors exhibited significantly lower critical crack-opening ratios (CMOD/a)* than Controls (median 0.31 vs. 0.47; p = 0.008) and reached instability at lower applied loads. Total crack extension (Δa*) was similar between groups. Automated crack tracking using phase-congruency-based segmentation showed excellent agreement with manual measurements (r² = 0.98), supporting reliable extraction of crack geometry from DVC displacement fields. Conclusions: In this small pilot sample, XCT–DVC provided a feasible, geometry-normalised approach for comparing crack-opening behaviour where classical fracture-mechanics parameters cannot be applied. The close agreement between automated and manual crack measurements supports the reproducibility of the displacement-based measurement pipeline. The lower critical CMOD/a in hip-fracture specimens may indicate a more brittle comparative response. However, given the small sample, differing sex distribution, and lower bone volume fraction in the hip-fracture group, these findings are preliminary and require confirmation in larger cohorts. Establishing whether the observed difference reflects intrinsic tissue brittleness, architectural factors, or both is an important objective for future work in microstructure-matched cohorts. Full article

Background: Detailed criteria for resuscitation room activation exist for trauma and non-trauma patients in national recommendations and guidelines. By consolidation and grouping these parameters, we developed the modified Moenchengladbach Resuscitation Team Activation (M²-GRETA) criteria to create a unified and simplified activation system for both patient groups. This study evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of M²-GRETA during initial assessment in the emergency department (ED). Methods: This retrospective study (EK 24-135) included 1591 patients treated in the ED of a 754-bed teaching hospital. Patients were assigned either to the resuscitation room group (14 December 2022–28 August 2023) or the observation unit control group (1 January–4 February 2024). Exclusion criteria were age <18 yrs, inter-hospital transfers, or non-resuscitation patients requiring intensive care unit (ICU)/stroke unit admission within 24 h. Both groups were assessed for the presence of M²-GRETA criteria. Results: Mortality was higher in resuscitation patients than controls (22.5% vs. 4.8%, p < 0.001), and 62.3% required ICU transfer. In non-trauma patients, M²-GRETA showed a sensitivity of 96.3% and a specificity of 89.3%. In trauma patients, it showed a sensitivity of 87.5% and a specificity of 75.0%. Positive M²-GRETA criteria were more common in resuscitation room patients than among controls (non-trauma: 96.3% vs. 10.7%; trauma: 87.5% vs. 25.0%). The mean numbers of positive criteria in the resuscitation room groups were as follows: non-trauma 2.9 vs. 0.1; trauma 1.4 vs. 0.3; p < 0.001. Likelihood ratios (LR) indicated higher diagnostic utility in non-trauma patients (LR + 8.92; LR - 0.04) than in trauma patients (LR + 3.50; LR -0.17). Conclusion: The M²-GRETA criteria display a promising diagnostic utility in identifying patients requiring resuscitation room activation, particularly among non-trauma cases, supporting the early recognition of critically ill patients and optimized triage. Yet these preliminary results should be subject to future validation via prospective multicenter studies. Full article

High-frequency ultrasound-assisted activation of peracetic acid (PAA) was investigated as a tunable advanced oxidation process for the removal of organic pollutants from water. Sunset Yellow FCF (SSY), a representative anionic azo dye, was used as a probe contaminant in a 425 kHz sonoreactor to clarify the roles of PAA speciation, acoustic cavitation, dissolved gases, oxidant dose, acoustic power, and initial pH. UV spectroscopic analysis showed that PAA exhibits pH-dependent far-UV absorbance associated with acid-base speciation and peroxide equilibria, while ultrasonication promoted simultaneous PAA activation and H₂O₂ accumulation. Compared with PAA alone and ultrasound alone, the combined US/PAA process markedly enhanced SSY decolorization. Under natural conditions, 5 mg/L SSY and 5 mM PAA were completely decolorized within 210 min, with an initial rate of 0.116 mg/L·min, compared with 0.078 and 0.0086 mg/L·min for ultrasound and PAA alone, respectively. The corresponding synergy ratio and synergy index were 1.5 and 1.34. The process exhibited tunable reaction-pathway control, with two favorable pH windows: a strongly acidic region, where interfacial HO^•-driven sonochemistry and PAA stability are favored, and a mildly alkaline region, where PAA deprotonation promotes peracetate-driven acyl/peroxyl radical-chain propagation. Oxygen saturation improved performance, whereas CO₂ suppressed cavitation-driven activation. Increasing PAA concentration and acoustic power enhanced removal up to practical limits, beyond which radical scavenging and diminishing sonochemical returns became evident. Beyond demonstrating enhanced decolorization, this study distinguishes US/PAA from previously reported UV/PAA, transition-metal/PAA, and ultrasound-only systems by showing how 425 kHz cavitation converts PAA into a tunable hybrid HO^•/acyl–peroxyl radical network. The main contribution is a mechanistic operating map that links PAA speciation, sonochemical peroxide accumulation, dissolved gas chemistry, acoustic power, oxidant dose, and pH to pollutant-removal performance, thereby defining practical windows for sono-activated PAA treatment of anionic dyes and related recalcitrant contaminants. Full article

Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) cooperative object detection enhances environmental perception capabilities in complex traffic scenarios by sharing sensory information among vehicles, but limited transmission bandwidth and wireless channel noise can significantly affect the reliable transmission of cross-vehicle semantic features and lead to a degradation in detection performance at the receiver. Although existing semantic communication methods based on DeepJSCC can alleviate the cliff effect of traditional separated source–channel coding under low signal-to-noise ratio conditions, they typically rely on additional external autoencoder structures, which increase model complexity and the deployment burden on vehicular edge computing platforms. Meanwhile, under high compression ratios, these methods struggle to adequately preserve detection-related fine-grained information, such as object boundaries, spatial locations, and local structures. Motivated by these challenges, we develop Mamba-KGSC as a lightweight knowledge-guided semantic communication framework for robust V2V cooperative object detection. At the transmitter, Mamba-KGSC utilizes the internal time-scale parameters of the Mamba-YOLO-T backbone network to generate spatial semantic masks, realizing the sparse encoding and transmission of task-relevant features while avoiding the introduction of complex external codec networks. At the receiver, a multi-source knowledge base constraint verification module is constructed to refine the initial detection results by combining physical consistency screening with visual–physical spatial joint redundancy suppression, thereby suppressing physically inconsistent misdetections and repeated detections induced by channel noise. The experimental evaluation indicates that, under a 50% compression ratio, multiple SNR settings, and different channel models, the front-end semantic communication branch of Mamba-KGSC improves mAP@0.5:0.95 by an average of 1.90 percentage points over the DeepJSCC baseline. The multi-source knowledge base constraint verification module further reduces abnormal and duplicate candidate bounding boxes. Overall, Mamba-KGSC provides a balanced solution in terms of transmission cost, detection accuracy, model complexity, and physical consistency, offering a lightweight implementation scheme for robust V2V cooperative detection in challenging communication environments. Full article

Sandstone–marble waste powder concrete composite structures serve as common load-bearing systems in tunnels, underground caverns, and similar engineering projects, where the interface roughness characteristics directly govern their overall stability and service safety. To investigate the influence of interface roughness on the failure behavior of the composite, four groups of sandstone–concrete composite specimens made with marble waste powder concrete were prefabricated with different joint roughness coefficients (JRC = 0, 7.84, 17.99, 20.79). The concrete matrix was prepared with marble waste powder incorporated at 25 wt% of the total binder, corresponding to 20.45 wt% of the total mixture, and the water-to-binder ratio was 0.20. Uniaxial compression tests were conducted with synchronous acoustic emission (AE) and digital image correlation (DIC) monitoring to examine the roughness-dependent mechanical response, energy evolution, damage activity, and strain localization of the composites. The results show that the peak stress and elastic modulus of the composite increase continuously with increasing JRC. When JRC increases from 0 to 20.79, the peak stress increases by 170.3% and the elastic modulus increases by 201.1%. The energy evolution mechanism transitions from progressive damage with gradual energy dissipation at low roughness to a three-stage mode at high roughness, characterized by initial frictional energy dissipation, intermediate energy storage, and rapid elastic energy release and dissipated energy increase near failure. DIC results further reveal that increasing interface roughness suppresses interfacial shear slip and promotes tensile-dominated strain localization, whereas excessive roughness may induce local stress concentration around asperities and increase the tendency toward abrupt post-peak instability, the failure mode changes from mixed tensile–shear failure with obvious interfacial slip to tensile-dominated failure. Full article

This study evaluates the economic and carbon footprint impact of using calcium lignosulfonate (CLS) in stabilizing highway subgrade on road pavement. Specifically, the effect of stabilized soil strength on layer thickness, costs, and carbon emissions during the initial construction phase was investigated. Two different soil types (clayey and sandy) were used with varying CLS concentrations. Furthermore, the performance of CLS was evaluated using sodium hydroxide-based alkaline activation (AAS). Standard proctor, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), and California bearing ratio tests were applied to the prepared samples. The experimental results showed that CLS significantly increased the CBR and UCS values of the soil samples. Additionally, it was calculated that the initial construction costs of flexible and rigid road pavements designed on stabilized clayey soil decreased by 14.34% and 25.24%, respectively, while on sandy soils, the decreases were 8.10% and 14.95%, respectively. Meanwhile, it has been determined that CO₂ emissions were reduced by up to 10.76% in flexible pavement designs and by up to 17.88% in rigid pavement designs. Consequently, these findings show that the use of CLS in soil stabilization enables both a reduction in the layer thickness of road pavement designs and a reduction in environmental impacts. Full article

Spaceborne spectrometers are key optical payloads for global and regional greenhouse gas (GHGs) monitoring. With the increasing demands for high-precision and high-efficiency monitoring, spectrometers are required to provide a wide swath, high spatial resolution, and high spectral resolution. However, existing spaceborne grating spectrometers still face a trade-off between swath width and spatial resolution. To address this issue, this paper presents the optical design and fabrication of an immersed-grating spectrometer for GHG monitoring. The proposed spectrometer achieves a swath width of 100 km and a spatial resolution of 3 km × 3 km while providing high spectral resolution. It operates in four channels centered at 0.76, 1.61, 2.06, and 2.30 μm, covering the O₂-A band and the main absorption bands of CO₂ and CH₄, with corresponding spectral resolutions of 0.04, 0.07, 0.09, and 0.10 nm, respectively. The four channels share a common slit, which reduces system volume and inter-channel spatial registration errors. Immersed gratings are used as the core dispersive elements, enabling high spectral resolution in a compact optical configuration. To correct the smile and anamorphic beam compression induced by high-angular-dispersion immersed gratings, a prism-based simultaneous correction method is proposed. Based on this method, the initial parameters of the dispersion module are determined, and the optical design of the spectrometer is completed. Large-sized immersed gratings with high groove density are precisely fabricated using holographic lithography and ion-beam etching, after which the spectrometer is aligned and tested. The test MTF at the Nyquist frequency of the spatial dimension exceeds 0.72, indicating good imaging quality. The test spectral resolution of the four channels is all better than the design value, and the maximum smile and trapezoidal distortion are both within one pixel. This spectrometer provides an effective technical solution for achieving wide-swath, high-spatial-resolution, and high-spectral-resolution GHG monitoring under constraints imposed by detector size, signal-to-noise ratio, and payload size and mass. Full article

Coral sands are critical in the construction of islands and harbors in tropical regions. Studying their dispersal, specifically the movement of ‘sedimentary clouds’ during marine dumping/dredging operations, is essential for optimizing construction efficiency and mitigating impacts on marine ecosystems. This study investigates the evolutionary characteristics of coral sand particles in still water via controlled indoor experiments. By manipulating parameters such as particle size, mass, nozzle diameter, and air release height, this study evaluated the impact of aspect ratio, Stokes number, and initial particle momentum on the movement of coral sand clouds. The results indicate that variations in air release height modulated the cloud’s width and corresponding diffusion angle, but exerted a negligible impact on the cloud front’s velocity and position. Empirical formulas for traditional quartz sand have limitations in reflecting the complex hydrodynamic settling behavior of coral sand. To address this, this paper establishes a modified empirical equation. This equation effectively predicts the width of coral sand plumes across different air release heights and Stokes number ranges. Furthermore, rather than directly quantifying microscopic morphological features, this study interprets these macroscopic transport characteristics from a process-based hydrodynamic perspective. Ultimately, the resulting predictive data and empirical framework provide a practical reference for evaluating sediment dispersion in reef engineering projects. Full article

Reducing reliance on supplemental fish oil is central to sustainable aquaculture, but the molecular consequences of replacing it with vegetable oils remain poorly characterized in the juvenile Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis). We evaluated whether full substitution of the supplemental dietary fish oil (FO) with linseed oil (LO) or soybean oil (SO) compromises hepatic lipid metabolism in Pelodiscus sinensis. Three isonitrogenous and isolipidic diets, sharing identical fish meal and other ingredient bases and differing only in the supplemental lipid (4% FO, LO or SO), were fed to triplicate groups of juvenile turtles (initial body weight 55.0 ± 0.05 g) for 8 weeks. Growth performance, survival, feed conversion ratio, and serum biochemistry were unaffected. However, both vegetable oil diets altered tissue fatty acid composition, raising n-6 PUFA and lowering n-3 LC-PUFA and the n-3/n-6 ratio in liver and muscle (muscle EPA and DHA each decreased by approximately 40%); the SO group additionally exhibited elevated hepatic malondialdehyde, whereas hepatic lipid droplet area and lipid content did not differ significantly among groups. Liver transcriptomic profiling identified 262 (LO vs. FO) and 214 (SO vs. FO) differentially expressed genes, converging on lipid storage and bile acid metabolism. RT-qPCR confirmed the up-regulation of PLIN3, G0S2 and APOF and the down-regulation of CYP7A1. Over 8 weeks, replacement of supplemental FO maintained growth without overt impairment while altering tissue fatty acid profiles and the hepatic expression of key lipid metabolism genes. Full article

Background: Dyslipidemia is a modifiable risk factor and predictive biomarker for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) that necessitates early, aggressive lipid-lowering therapy to achieve target low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels for primary and secondary prevention. In certain patients, this can be difficult to achieve with statins alone. Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitor (PCSK9i) lipid-lowering agents may improve outcomes when introduced early. This review assessed whether early PCSK9i administration (within 3 weeks of AIS) reduced early neurological deterioration (END), recurrent stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA), poor functional outcomes, and mortality. Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis included randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and observational studies. Random-effects meta-analysis and subgroup and sensitivity analyses were used to assess whether effects differed by treatment timing (≤72 vs. >72 h) and study design. Results: Eight studies (three randomized clinical trials) in East Asian cohorts were included. Early PCSK9i initiation significantly reduced END compared with usual care (odds ratio [OR]: 0.39; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.26–0.57). Stroke/TIA recurrence and all-cause mortality within 6 months of stroke were also significantly reduced in the PCSK9i group (OR: 0.47; 95% CI: 0.28–0.77 and OR: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.15–0.72, respectively), and early initiation was associated with a greater likelihood of good functional outcomes at 90 days (OR: 2.28; 95% CI: 1.48–3.51). Sensitivity analyses yielded consistent results. Conclusions: Early PCSK9i initiation within 3 weeks of AIS onset was associated with lower rates of END, recurrent stroke/TIA, and mortality, although the certainty of evidence was limited by the small number of included studies and the predominantly observational data. Outcomes did not differ significantly by initiation timing within this period. Large-scale trials in diverse populations are needed to define the optimal initiation window and long-term clinical effects. Full article