Search Results (23,373)

Patient Blood Management (PBM) has evolved from a transfusion-centered practice to a structured, patient-focused perioperative strategy aimed at improving surgical outcomes while preserving blood resources. In the operating room, where bleeding risk is anticipated and modifiable, PBM requires proactive intervention rather than reactive transfusion. This review synthesizes current evidence on perioperative blood conservation strategies specifically relevant to surgeons and anesthesiologists. Preoperative optimization begins with systematic identification and correction of anemia, most commonly iron deficiency, using appropriately timed oral or intravenous iron therapy and, in selected cases, erythropoiesis-stimulating agents. Careful management of anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapies, early recognition of acquired or inherited coagulopathies, and protocol-driven reversal strategies further reduce perioperative hemorrhagic risk. Intraoperatively, blood conservation depends on meticulous surgical technique, respect for anatomical planes, minimally invasive approaches, and the judicious use of advanced energy devices and topical hemostatic agents. Pharmacologic interventions—particularly tranexamic acid administered with appropriate timing and dosing—have demonstrated consistent reductions in blood loss and transfusion requirements across multiple surgical disciplines. Goal-directed coagulation management guided by viscoelastic testing allows targeted correction of specific hemostatic deficits while minimizing unnecessary blood product exposure. Acute normovolemic hemodilution and intraoperative cell salvage provide additional benefit in selected high-blood-loss procedures. Collectively, these multimodal strategies shift perioperative care from product-driven transfusion toward physiology-based blood conservation. When embedded within institutional protocols and supported by multidisciplinary collaboration, perioperative PBM reduces transfusion exposure, decreases morbidity, shortens hospital stay, and promotes sustainable stewardship of blood resources without compromising patient safety. Full article

Agentic artificial intelligence—systems that reason, plan, and act autonomously within governed workflows—is converging with autonomous electric mobility and urban robotics to reshape how cities govern, move, and manage physical space. We argue that the simultaneous arrival of these three vectors is triggering a transformation comparable in scope to the Industrial Revolution. Cities that deploy across all three domains are becoming the new hubs of innovation: they concentrate talent, accelerate knowledge circulation, enable cross-fertilisation, and generate hybrid proposals that no single vector could produce alone. Just as Manchester, Birmingham, and the Ruhr became the defining centres of industrialisation because steam, textiles, iron, and coal recombined through the proximity of the engineers and entrepreneurs who moved between them, a small number of cities today are pulling ahead because they host the shared talent pool around which agentic governance, autonomous mobility, and urban robotics co-evolve. Conceptually, we extend the mirroring hypothesis in two directions: dynamically, arguing that organisations and urban ecosystems converge toward the configurations new technologies make possible; and ontologically, arguing that agentic AI introduces non-human agents into organisational architectures, requiring hybrid human–AI coordination. We formalise this dynamic as five propositions (P1–P5) of cumulative recursive hybridisation (CRH), operating through four reinforcing feedback loops—data, regulation, infrastructure, and talent. Together, these loops explain why the emerging urban order is path-dependent: early movers accumulate compounding advantages, while latecomers face exponentially rising costs of entry. We demarcate CRH from adjacent frameworks—general-purpose technologies, organisational complementarities, and complex adaptive systems—and test it against counterfactual evidence from failed, stalled, and Global South trajectories (Sidewalk Toronto, the Cruise rollback, Songdo, Bengaluru). We also examine its political-economy, equity, and surveillance limits. Drawing on comparative evidence from public-sector chatbot deployments, autonomous mobility ecosystems in the United States and China, and emerging urban robotics cases, we conclude that what is at stake is not incremental modernisation but the construction of a new urban order. The cities that act as innovation hubs for the agentic AI era will shape global standards, attract global talent, and define the institutional templates that others eventually adopt—much as the industrial cities of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries did. Full article

Surface defects in high-temperature continuous cast billets are critical factors affecting the quality of steel products. Owing to high-temperature radiation, heavy dust contamination, varying billet specifications, and background interference from oxide scales and water stains, existing online surface defect detection technologies for high-temperature continuous cast billets still suffer from limitations including high false-positive rates, inefficient identification of pseudo-defects, and the inability to simultaneously detect three-dimensional (3D) depth information alongside two-dimensional (2D) features. To solve these problems, this paper proposes a multi-dimensional online detection technology for surface defects in high-temperature continuous cast billets based on multi-information fusion. A four-channel multispectral image sensor and a corresponding three-light-source imaging system were developed. Furthermore, a defect sample augmentation method, a deep learning-based 2D recognition method, and a photometric stereo-based 3D reconstruction method were designed to mitigate problems of low detection accuracy and poor robustness caused by sample imbalance among different defect types. Finally, industrial applications were conducted on large-section continuous cast billets, beam blanks, and billets during the grinding process. According to the surface defect detection requirements of different continuous cast billets, multispectral multi-information fusion and traditional 2D defect imaging methods were adopted respectively. The results demonstrate high-precision online detection of surface defects in continuous cast billets, with favorable practical application effects. Full article

We report the synthesis of Fe/N/C ORR electrocatalysts by an original collinear CO₂ laser pyrolysis of liquid aerosol droplets in various configurations and compared them to a catalyst synthesized in the classical perpendicular one. While the precursors were always injected at the bottom side of the reactor, two collinear configurations of the laser entry into the reactor are considered: by the Top Side (T.S.) or by the Bottom Side (B.S.). The two corresponding catalysts sets show significant different ORR performances. An in-depth XPS analysis and fitting of the N1s spectra allowed for drawing the ORR performance as a function of FeN_x sites components. An original approach considering the energy delivered to a quantity of precursors in J.g⁻¹, linked to the flame temperature feature, evidenced very different conditions for perpendicular CO₂ laser pyrolysis and each of the two collinear configurations. This mass-weighted energy delivered in the classical perpendicular configuration is too low to allow for the formation of FeN_x sites and the resulting ORR performance is extremely poor, suggesting a marginal role of nitrogen species without interaction with iron atoms. In contrast, the delivered mass-weighted energies are sufficient in both collinear configurations to produce FeN_x sites. The ORR performance for catalysts produced in these both configurations is positively correlated with the amount of energy deposited on the precursors. The ORR performance in the T.S. laser configuration is positively correlated to the amount of FeN_x sites. The best performing catalysts obtained in the B.S. configuration show an opposite variation. These trends, and the ORR performance degradation of B.S. catalysts under prolonged chronoamperometry are discussed in light of the effect of temperature on the formation of the various kind of FeN_x sites. A tentative explanation is given, considering that N1s XPS fitting with a single FeN_x component may hinder the fact that Pyridinic sites components may contain a part of FeN_x sites, as suggested by theoretical calculation from the literature. The best catalysts obtained in this work by collinear configuration show similar performances to those obtained by double stage perpendicular pyrolysis previously reported with an ORR onset potential of ~860 mV. Full article

Schwertmannite (Sch) is a widespread iron oxyhydroxysulfate mineral in acid mine drainage (AMD) systems, and its transformation strongly influences the environmental fate of chromium (Cr). However, the role of Ca(II), which is commonly introduced during alkaline neutralization of AMD, in regulating the transformation of Cr(VI)-adsorbed schwertmannite (Cr-Sch) and subsequent Cr redistribution remains insufficiently understood. In this study, transformation experiments were conducted under various pH conditions (3.0, 7.0, and 10.0) to investigate the effects of Ca(II) speciation on mineral transformation and Cr behavior. The results demonstrated that the transformation of Cr-Sch was predominantly pH-dependent. Under acidic conditions, Cr-Sch transformed into goethite via dissolution–recrystallization, resulting in transient Cr release followed by partial refixation. The presence of Ca(II) exerted only a minor influence due to weak interactions between Ca²⁺ and positively charged mineral surfaces. Under alkaline conditions, Cr-Sch preferentially transformed into hematite through dehydroxylation and cation rearrangement, leading to the sustained release of adsorbed Cr(VI). In contrast, Ca(II) predominantly precipitated as CaCO₃ precipitate (calcite, aragonite, and vaterite) under alkaline conditions, which coated mineral surfaces and inhibited phase transformation and Cr release. These findings reveal that Ca(II) regulates Cr redistribution primarily through pH-dependent speciation and mineral–surface interactions, highlighting coupled geochemical processes governing iron mineral transformation and contaminant mobility in AMD environments. This study provides mechanistic insights for predicting Cr behavior and optimizing alkaline remediation strategies in mining-impacted systems. Full article

Phosphatic deposits from the Lower Cambrian Pedroche Formation (Sierra de Córdoba, Spain) provide key insights into early diagenetic mineralization processes during the Cambrian radiation. This study applies an integrated multi-analytical approach combining Raman spectroscopy, SEM–EDS, LA-ICP-MS, and ToF-SIMS to investigate mineralogical, elemental, and molecular signatures of phosphatized bioclastic carbonates and associated siliciclastic facies from the Los Lagares-1 borehole. Results reveal a systematic phosphatization gradient from carbonate-dominated skeletal rims to phosphate-rich interiors composed of carbonate fluorapatite with variable carbonate and hydroxyl substitution. Trace-element systematics and REE patterns indicate seawater-influenced phosphogenesis under suboxic porewater conditions, coupled to iron reduction and early diagenetic clay mineral formation. In contrast, the siliciclastic siltstone facies preserves poorly crystalline phosphate phases associated with detrital aluminosilicates and chlorite, reflecting distinct porewater chemistry and crystallization kinetics. ToF-SIMS mapping demonstrates spatial coupling between fluorine and phosphate within fossil structures, confirming fluorapatite formation and localized organic matter entombment. These results highlight the strong control of host lithology on phosphate crystallization pathways and trace-element redistribution, and provide new constraints on microbially mediated phosphogenesis in restricted Early Cambrian reef–lagoon systems along the northern Gondwanan margin. Full article

Autonomous path planning in obstacle-dense environments remains challenging for swarm intelligence methods due to infeasible initialization, insufficient exploration–exploitation balance, and poor trajectory smoothness for real-robot execution. To address these issues, this paper proposes a Kinematic-Aware Improved Hippo Optimization algorithm (KA-IHO) for mobile robot path planning. The proposed method integrates four components: an elite safety pool initialization strategy to improve feasible solution generation in dense maps, a hierarchical elite-scout update mechanism to better balance global exploration and local exploitation, anti-stagnation mechanisms including a Population Stagnation Restart strategy and a 10-Direction Radial Micro-Search to guarantee high feasibility rates across all map complexities, and a late-stage Laplacian Line-of-Sight Ironing Operator to reduce path redundancy and improve trajectory smoothness. Comparative experiments are conducted on five reproducible grid maps with different complexity levels ($40\times 40$ and $80\times 80$), where KA-IHO is evaluated against six representative algorithms, including HO, SBOA, PSO, GWO, ARO, and INFO, over 20 independent runs. The results show that KA-IHO consistently achieves collision-free planning and obtains lower mean fitness values with smaller standard deviations than the compared methods, indicating improved robustness and solution quality. In addition, hardware closed-loop experiments on a differential-drive mobile robot demonstrate that the planned paths can be executed reliably in real environments, with trajectory tracking errors controlled within $\pm 4$ cm. Full article

Flexible textile membranes were prepared by impregnating woven cotton fabrics with silicone oil (SO)-based suspensions containing carbonyl iron (CI) microparticles and iron oxide microfibers ($\mu$Fe). The microfibers were obtained by a microwave-assisted microplasma process and then co-dispersed with CI in SO. In the final membranes, the CI content was kept constant at ${\mathrm{\Phi }}_{\mathrm{CI}}=10$ vol.%, whereas the microfiber fraction was 0, 10 and 20 vol.%. The resulting membranes were used as dielectric layers in planar capacitors and examined at 1 kHz under a static magnetic field of up to 150 mT and compressive pressure up to 10 kPa. In every composition, the capacitance rose with increasing magnetic flux density, but both the zero-field capacitance and the field-induced capacitance change became smaller as the microfiber content increased. A monotonic, nearly linear increase in capacitance was also observed under compression over the tested pressure range. Within a simplified parallel-plate and magnetic-stress analysis, the capacitance data were further used to estimate the apparent relative permittivity, together with capacitance-derived indicators of deformation and stiffness. These estimates suggest field-induced stiffening of the membranes and a higher apparent low-field stiffness at higher microfiber loading. The obtained hybrid CI/$\mu$Fe-based textile membranes can serve as composition-tunable dielectric layers whose electrical response is influenced by both magnetic field and compressive loading, making them relevant for flexible capacitor-based elements. Full article

In this study, a hydrogel was developed based on a chondroitin sulfate–iron complex (CSFe) incorporated into a sodium alginate matrix. The CSFe complex was first prepared through the interaction of chondroitin sulfate (CS) with Fe³⁺ ions, achieving an iron content of 2.06%. Structural characterization confirmed that Fe³⁺ coordinated with the carboxyl, sulfate, and N-acetyl groups of CS, resulting in increased molecular weight and altered physicochemical properties. The CSFe complex exhibited significant antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and was further incorporated into a sodium alginate matrix to form an injectable hydrogel with favorable physicochemical properties such as spreadability, shear-thinning behavior, and a compact porous microstructure. In a mouse model of S. aureus-infected wounds, the CSFe hydrogel significantly accelerated wound closure, reduced the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6), and increased the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10, indicating potent anti-infective and immunomodulatory functions. Overall, this work presents a multifunctional CSFe-incorporated hydrogel system that integrates antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and tissue-regenerative properties, offering a promising strategy for infected wound healing and highlighting the potential of trivalent iron–polysaccharide coordination complexes in the development of advanced biomedical materials. Full article

Background and aim: Celiac disease (CD) is a systemic autoimmune disorder triggered by gluten ingestion, and the only effective treatment is strict adherence to a gluten-free diet (GFD). Many factors, including limited dietary diversity and poor adherence, are associated with an increased risk of specific micronutrient deficiencies and malnutrition. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between adherence to GFD, celiac antibody levels, micronutrient levels, and nutritional status in children with CD. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted on 402 children aged 2–18 years with a diagnosis of CD confirmed positive by anti-tTG IgA and duodenal biopsy, all of whom had been on GFD for at least six months. Demographic, anthropometric, clinical, serological, and biochemical data (including hemogram, serum iron, ferritin, vitamin D, folate, and B12 levels), and GFD adherence were collected from medical records. Results: Most individuals are girls (64.9%), with a mean age of 10.6 ± 4.20 years. Chronic malnutrition was observed in 29.4% of patients. Acute malnutrition was identified in 27.8% of children, and wasting was observed in 6.7%. Iron deficiency anemia was the most frequently encountered micronutrient deficiency among the patients (23.9%). The prevalence of stunting was significantly higher among individuals with positive tTG-IgA levels and poor adherence to the GFD. Conclusions: Poor adherence to the GFD and positive tTG-IgA levels were associated with higher rates of stunting, underlining the need for individualized dietary follow-up and regular monitoring of both nutritional status and serological response in children with CD. Full article

Anaerobic digestion (AD) plays an important role in the circular bioeconomy by converting organic waste into renewable methane and nutrient-rich fertilizer. However, consistent, high-quality biomethane production is hindered by four main factors: hydrolysis limitations, fluctuating feedstock quality, microbial instability, and the high cost/energy demand of purification. This review explores three key areas that improve biomethane production: (i) process intensification (pretreatments and advanced reactors), (ii) microbial regulation through additives, and (iii) biogas upgrading for pipeline use. Anaerobic digestion can be greatly improved by combining thermal or hybrid pretreatments, staged digestion, high-solids technology, and electrochemical systems. These methods speed up hydrolysis and help the system handle higher amounts of organic material more effectively. However, actual performance benefits depend on specific substrate characteristics, heat integration, and control complexity. Optimizing the C:N ratio, buffering capacity, and trace-element supplementation, while simultaneously diluting toxic inhibitors, makes co-digestion an effective and adaptable approach to enhancing anaerobic digestion processes. Additives like carbon, iron nanoparticles, enzymes, and buffers can optimize digestion, but their performance is highly dependent on dosage and substrate. Additionally, they lack validation in long-term, industrial-scale applications. Conventional physicochemical techniques continue to be standard for generating high-quality biomethane, but biological methanation and microalgal systems are playing a growing role in integrating Power-to-Gas technology and using CO₂ efficiently. Critical research needs to focus on four areas: (1) standardized reporting metrics, (2) AI-enabled monitoring and control, (3) coupled techno-economic and life-cycle analysis (TEA-LCA), and (4) long-term pilot or full-scale validation. Overall, comprehensive optimization of the entire flow is more effective than improving isolated parts. Full article

Rivers contaminated with metals and petroleum hydrocarbons, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are still a problem that threatens aquatic ecosystem function. This study describes iron- and sulfate-reducing bacteria, principal drivers of anaerobic organic matter decomposition in aquatic sediments. A polyphasic approach, including culture-dependent, i.e., enumeration by Most Probable Number (MPN), and independent, Sanger and Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) techniques, as well as analytical geochemical analyses, was employed. This study found exceptionally high levels of metals (Al, Mn, Zn, and Pb), PAHs, and sulfates compared to typical freshwater environments, likely due to co-contamination from past petroleum and steel production waste. Microbial communities were dominated by the Thermoproteobacteria. Analysis of the iron-reducing community determined that Geobacter, critical for degrading organic matter using iron, manganese, or arsenic, was the most prevalent genus. Additionally, the presence of diverse groups involved in sulfur cycling, represented by dsrAB genes, high numbers of viable sulfate reducers, a higher abundance of Geobacter, and high levels of sulfate and iron suggests that the cryptic sulfur cycle (CSC) may be operational in this system. In addition, sulfate and iron reducers are known to enhance biodegradation of organic pollutants in the presence of metal oxides and sulfate, and thus warrant further investigation in this co-contaminated system. Full article

Despite increased interest in virus survival on surfaces, data on bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BoHV-1) interactions with metal surfaces remain limited. This study aimed to assess the effects of copper, zinc, and iron on BoHV-1 viability, viral titre, and DNA stability under different conditions. MDBK-adapted BoHV-1 was used to investigate the virucidal effect of copper, zinc and stainless steel surfaces. The virus was exposed for 1 and 24 h under both wet and dry conditions. Inactivation was assessed based on changes in TCID₅₀ log₁₀ values, qPCR Ct results, and calculating half-lives of the virus and its DNA. Virus stability varied depending on surface type, environmental conditions, and duration of exposure. Copper demonstrated the strongest virucidal effect, significantly reducing viral titres and DNA levels under all conditions. After 1 h in wet conditions, copper reduced viral titre to 4.7 log₁₀, while zinc and stainless steel showed minimal impact. Under dry conditions, copper reduced viral titres to the limit of detection after 24 h. Half-life analysis confirmed rapid inactivation on copper, with the shortest persistence observed across all conditions. Zinc showed moderate virucidal activity but required longer exposure times. These findings highlight copper’s superior antiviral properties and suggest its potential application in reducing viral transmission on surfaces. Full article

The paper sector is characterised by high freshwater consumption and a strong need for improved resource efficiency. In this context, industrial digestates derived from short-fibre residues in paper recycling mills represent a promising substrate for water recovery within a circular economy framework. This study investigated the dewatering of short-fibre digestates as a pre-treatment for downstream membrane processes, aiming to maximise the liquid fraction (LF) recovery while minimising dry matter (DM) content. Seven scenarios were studied: sedimentation (S0); pre-sedimentation with chemical addition using iron(III) chloride (FeCl₃) + polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (polyDADMAC) (S1), FeCl₃ + starch (S2), Nanofloc^® (S3), and polyDADMAC (S4); and direct dewatering without pre-sedimentation using polyDADMAC with cloth filtration (S5) and centrifugation (S6). With reference to the sedimentation supernatant, S4 achieved the highest DM separation efficiency of 76%, followed by S1 (64%), whereas S2 and S3 were below 40%. However, LF recovery relative to the initial digestate was limited in scenarios S1–S4 to 17% (170 g/kg_digestate), with DM concentrations of 2.0–4.8 g/kg_LF. In contrast, direct dewatering increased LF recovery substantially, with centrifugation (S6) achieving up to 690 g_LF/kg_digestate and cloth filtration (S5) 420 g/kg_digestate, while maintaining a low DM (1.7 g/kg_LF). Chemical oxygen demand (COD) and phosphorus (Ptot) were largely separated from the liquid fractions in all the scenarios. Nitrogen (Ntot) and ammonium (NH₄-N) in the LF remained more variable, ranging from 22 to 153 and 5 to 22 mg/kg_digestate, respectively. These results indicate that centrifugation with polyDADMAC is the most effective approach, suggesting that mechanical force with a chemical additive can be used for the efficient dewatering of short-fibre digestates. Full article

Background: Iron overload and its associated complications are major concerns in patients with transfusion-dependent β-thalassaemia (TDT). Iron chelation is an important part of TDT therapy with monotherapy or dual iron chelation being the most commonly used strategies. Evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of triple iron chelation therapy remains limited. Case presentation: We present the case of a 21-year-old immigrant from the Middle East with TDT and a history of irregular transfusion management without chelation therapy, leading to clinically significant iron overload. She was successfully treated with the combination of deferoxamine, deferasirox and deferiprone over a course of 8 years. Triple chelation therapy led to sustained reductions in serum ferritin levels and improvement in hepatic and cardiac iron burden on follow-up MRI, with good tolerability. Conclusions: This case highlights the potential role of triple iron chelation therapy as a therapeutic strategy in TDT patients with severe iron overload. Further studies are needed to establish optimal dosing, eligible patients and long-term safety. Full article