Search Results (1,539)

Staged multi-cluster fracturing in horizontal wells is a key technology for efficiently developing unconventional oil and gas reservoirs. Extreme Limited-Entry Fracturing (ELF) and Temporary Plugging Fracturing (TPF) are effective techniques to enhance the uniformity of fracture stimulation within a stage. However, in fractured reservoirs, the propagation morphology of multiple intra-stage fractures and fluid distribution patterns becomes significantly more complex under the influence of ELF and TPF. This complexity results in a lack of theoretical guidance for optimizing field operational parameters. This study establishes a competitive propagation model for multiple hydraulic fractures (HFs) within a stage under ELF and TPF conditions in fractured reservoirs based on the Displacement Discontinuity Method (DDM) and fluid mechanics theory. The accuracy of the model was verified by comparing it with laboratory experimental results and existing numerical simulation results. Using this model, the influence of ELF and TPF on intra-stage fracture propagation morphology and fluid partitioning was investigated. Results demonstrate that extremely limited-entry perforation and ball-sealer diversion effectively mitigate the additional flow resistance induced by both the stress shadow effect and the connection of natural fractures (NFs), thereby mitigating uneven fluid distribution and imbalanced fracture propagation among clusters. ELF artificially creates extremely high perforation friction by drastically reducing the number of perforations or the perforation diameter, thereby forcing the fracturing fluid to enter multiple perforation clusters relatively uniformly. Compared to the unlimited-entry scheme (16 perforations/cluster), the limited-entry scheme (5 perforations/cluster) yielded a 37.84% improvement in fluid distribution uniformity and reduced the coefficient of variation (CV) for fracture length and fluid intake by 54.28% and 44.16%, respectively. The essence of the TPF is non-uniform perforation distribution, which enables the perforation clusters with large fluid intake to obtain more temporary plugging balls (TPBs), so that their perforation friction can be increased and their fluid intake can be reduced, thereby diverting the fluid to the perforation clusters with small fluid intake. Deploying TPBs (50% of total perforations) at the mid-stage of fracturing (50% time) increased fluid distribution uniformity by 37.86% and reduced the CV of fracture length and fluid intake by 72.54% and 58.39%, respectively. This study provides methodological and modeling foundations for systematic optimization of balanced stimulation parameters in fractured reservoirs. Full article

The thermosphere serves as a pivotal region for Sun–Earth interactions, and thermospheric winds are of great scientific importance for deepening insights into atmospheric dynamics, climate formation mechanisms, and space environment evolution. This study designed and developed a Ground-based Doppler Asymmetric Spatial Heterodyne Interferometer (GDASHI). Targeting the nightglow of the oxygen atomic red line (OI 630.0 nm), this instrument enables high-precision observation of thermospheric winds. The GDASHI was deployed at Gemini Astronomical Manor (26.7°N, 100.0°E), and has obtained one year of nighttime meridional and zonal wind data. To verify the reliability of GDASHI-derived winds, a collocated observation comparison was performed against the Dual-Channel Optical Interferometer stationed at Binchuan Station (25.6°N, 100.6°E), Yunnan. The winds of the two instruments are basically consistent in both their diurnal variation trends and amplitudes. Further Deming regression and correlation analysis were conducted for the two datasets, with the meridional and zonal winds yielding fitting slopes of 0.808 and 0.875 and correlation coefficients of 0.754 and 0.771, respectively. An uncertainty analysis of the inter-instrument comparison was also carried out, incorporating instrumental measurement uncertainties, instrumental parameter errors, and small-scale perturbations induced by observational site differences; the synthesized total uncertainties of zonal and meridional winds are determined to be 20.24 m/s and 20.77 m/s, respectively. This study not only verifies the feasibility and reliability of GDASHI for ground-based thermospheric wind detection but also provides critical observational support for analyzing the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of mid-low latitude thermospheric wind fields and exploring their underlying physical mechanisms. Full article

Magmatic activity is crucial for identification of the tectonic framework of the ancient oceanic crust. In this study, systematic investigation, including a field survey, zircon LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dating, and whole-rock geochemical analysis, has been carried out on the intrusive quartz- and granodiorites within the Meso-Tethyan Shiquanhe Ophiolitic Mélange (SQM), Tibet. Zircon U-Pb dating yields the weighted mean ages of 174.7 ± 1.4 Ma (quartz diorite) and 178.9 ± 1.2 Ma (granodiorite), respectively, demonstrating the Early Jurassic formation age. The quartz diorite samples are metaluminous (A/NKC = 0.77–0.95) (molar/Al₂O₃/(CaO + Na₂O + K₂O)), while the granodiorite samples are weakly peraluminous (A/NKC = 0.95–1.21), and both of them exhibit tholeiitic to calc-alkaline geochemical characteristics and can be classified as I-type granites. The right-dipping rare-earth element (REE) patterns, enrichment in large ion lithophile elements (LILEs: Rb, Ba, Th), and depletion in high-field-strength elements (HFSEs: Nb, Ta, Ti), as well as relatively high (La/Yb)_N ratios, are features compatible with an island arc setting. Combined with previous works, we suggest that the Shiquanhe ophiolitic mélange not only preserves records of mid-late Jurassic island arc magmatic activity but also contains evidence of island arc magmatism from the late Early Jurassic. Full article

Rice paddy fields (referred to below as rice fields) are important not only for food production, but also as habitats for various species. The Nagoya Daruma Pond Frog (Pelophylax porosus brevipodus) is an endangered frog species endemic to Japan, mainly living in and around rice field areas. In July 2018, heavy rainfall caused severe flooding in Mabi Town of Okayama Prefecture, western Japan, submerging numerous rice fields and affecting local frog populations, including P. porosus brevipodus. To clarify whether the population structure of P. porosus brevipodus changed following the flood disaster in the rice fields of Mabi Town, we conducted quantitative field surveys in a rice fallow field in mid-October before (2017) and after (2018, 2020–2022, excluding 2019) the flood. The number of frogs declined sharply after the 2018 flood, reaching only a few individuals by 2020, but showed a substantial recovery in 2021 following the resumption of rice cultivation, although numbers decreased again in 2022. This recovery, despite fluctuations, indicates that habitat restoration through rice farming played a key role in enabling the population to rebound. Our findings underscore the importance of maintaining and restoring rice field environments after natural disasters for the survival and long-term recovery of P. porosus brevipodus. Full article

Mid-sized Philippine cities commonly rely on fixed-time traffic signal plans that cannot respond to short-term, demand-driven surges, resulting in measurable idle time at stop lines, increased delay, and unnecessary emissions, while adaptive signal control has demonstrated performance benefits, many existing solutions depend on centralized infrastructure and high-bandwidth connectivity, limiting their applicability for resource-constrained local government units (LGUs). This study reports a field deployment of TrafficEZ, a lightweight edge AI signal controller that reallocates green splits locally using traffic-density approximations derived from cabinet-mounted cameras. The controller follows a macroscopic, cycle-level control abstraction consistent with Transportation System Models (TSMs) and does not rely on stationary flow–density–speed (fundamental diagram) assumptions. The system estimates queued demand and discharge efficiency on-device and updates green time each cycle without altering cycle length, intergreen intervals, or pedestrian safety timings. A quasi-experimental pre–post evaluation was conducted at three signalized intersections in El Salvador City using an existing 125 s, three-phase fixed-time plan as the baseline. Observed field results show average per-vehicle delay reductions of 18–32%, with reclaimed effective green translating into approximately 50–200 additional vehicles per hour served at the busiest approaches. Box-occupancy durations shortened, indicating reduced spillback risk, while conservative idle-time estimates imply corresponding CO₂ savings during peak periods. Because all decisions run locally within the signal cabinet, operation remained robust during backhaul interruptions and supported incremental, intersection-by-intersection deployment; per-cycle actions were logged to support auditability and governance reporting. These findings demonstrate that density-driven edge AI can deliver practical mobility, reliability, and sustainability gains for LGUs while supporting evidence-based governance and performance reporting. Full article

Chinese rice-field eel rhabdovirus (CrERV), an emerging viral pathogen, causes massive death in rice-field eels (Monopterus albus), thus threatening the industry’s development. There is currently no established treatment strategy for CrERV. This study evaluated the anti-CrERV effects of schisandrin B (Sch B) in vitro and in vivo. The results indicated that Sch B at 20 mg/L could inhibit the expression of the CrERV G protein, with a maximum inhibition rate of 69.5%. Additionally, Sch B mitigated the nuclear damage and mitochondrial membrane potential decline induced by CrERV, thereby preserving cellular morphology. A time-of-addition study suggested that Sch B might exert its antiviral effects during the mid-stage of viral replication. In vivo, Sch B exhibited promising preventive and therapeutic effects against CrERV infection in rice-field eels, enhancing their survival rate by 57% and 51%, when added at 0.075% and 0.025%, respectively. Overall, the natural product Sch B was proven to have excellent anti-CrERV activity, with broad prospects for application in aquaculture. Full article

Climate change increasingly threatens the sustainability of regional water resources; therefore, robust station-scale precipitation projections are essential for basin-level planning. This study aims to develop and evaluate a hybrid, machine-learning-based statistical downscaling framework to generate monthly precipitation projections for the 21st century in the Büyük Menderes Basin, western Türkiye, using the HadGEM3-GC31-LL global climate model from the CMIP6. Monthly observations from 23 rainfall observation stations and ERA5 reanalysis predictors were employed to train station-specific Random Forest (RF) models, with optimal predictor sets identified through a multistage selection procedure (MPSP). Coarse-resolution general circulation model (GCM) fields were harmonized with ERA5 data using a three-stage inverse distance weighting (IDW), Delta, and Variance rescaling approach. The downscaled projections were bias-corrected using Quantile Delta Mapping (QDM) to maintain the climate-change signal. The RF models exhibited strong predictive skill across most stations, with test Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) values ranging from 0.45 to 0.81, RSR values from 0.43 to 0.74, and PBIAS values from −21.99% to +5.29%. Future projections indicate a basin-wide drying trend under both scenarios. Relative to the baseline, mean annual precipitation is projected to decrease by approximately 12.2, 19.6, and 33.7 mm in the near (2025–2050), mid (2051–2075), and late (2076–2099) periods under SSP2-4.5 (Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 2-4.5, a moderate greenhouse gas scenario). Under the high-emission SSP5-8.5 scenario, projected decreases are 25.2, 53.2, and 86.9 mm, respectively. Late-century reductions reach approximately 15–22% in several sub-basins. These findings indicate a substantial decline in future water availability and underscore the value of RF-based hybrid downscaling and trend-preserving bias correction for water resources planning in semi-arid Mediterranean basins. Full article

Monocular depth estimation is a fundamental task with broad applications in autonomous driving and augmented reality. While recent lightweight methods achieve impressive performance, they often neglect the interaction of mid-order semantic features, which are crucial for capturing object structures and spatial relationships that directly impact depth accuracy. To address this limitation, we propose MogaDepth, a lightweight yet expressive architecture. It introduces a novel Continuous Multi-Order Gated Aggregation (CMOGA) module that explicitly enhances mid-level feature representations through multi-order receptive fields. In addition, we present MambaSync, a global–local interaction unit that enables efficient feature communication across different contexts. Extensive experiments demonstrate that MogaDepth achieves highly competitive or superior performance on KITTI, improving key error metrics while maintaining comparable model size. On the Make3D benchmark, it consistently outperforms existing methods, showing strong robustness to domain shifts and challenging scenarios such as low-texture regions. Moreover, MogaDepth achieves an improved trade-off between accuracy and efficiency, running up to 13% faster on edge devices without compromising performance. These results establish MogaDepth as an effective and efficient solution for real-world monocular depth estimation. Full article

This study treats initial building modal planning as the organizing unit for tropical neighborhood design and unifies three pedestrian-scale objectives: perimeter daylight at 1.5 m (S), grey-space wind (W), and ground-plane visibility (V)—within a typology-aware, two-void layout grammars for Haikou. Using α-referenced deviations (|ΔMean| + 0.25|ΔIQR| per metric) and multi-objective simulated annealing over 16 morphotypes plus two VOIDs, we obtained a Pareto archive of 4000 layouts. A thick knee emerges: mid-field paired voids with bar–court compositions consistently suppress W and V deviations while keeping S close to α; the central spine and cross-breath prototypes dominate among the top solutions, and the 80-layout atlas enables direct selection. The configuration and α baselines were fixed for full reproducibility, supporting policy-grade traceability. All evaluations were performed at the human interface with metric-specific aggregation (S over 14 non-VOID blocks; w/v over all 16), coupling building morphotypes, pedestrian-layer analytics, and archive-aware Multi-Objective Simulated Annealing (MOSA). Collectively, these results provide evidence-backed rules—site two voids near the middle, composed of tempered courts and bars, and provide strong support for near-term tropical planning codes and schematic design decisions. Full article

The introduction of Super-High-Density (SHD) olive orchards represents a crucial innovation in modern olive growing, enhancing sustainability. However, the long-term success of these planting systems depends strongly on cultivar selection, combining suitable vegetative and reproductive traits. This three-year field study investigated key floral biology parameters—flowering phenograms, gynosterility, and self-compatibility—of ten olive cultivars grown under irrigated conditions in southern Italy: ‘Arbequina’, ‘Arbosana’, ‘Cima di Bitonto’, ‘Coratina’, ‘Don Carlo’, ‘Frantoio’, ‘Favolosa’ (=‘Fs-17’), ‘I-77’, ‘Koroneiki’, and ‘Urano’ (=‘Tosca’). Flowering phenograms varied significantly across years and cultivars, showing temporal shifts related to chilling accumulation and yield of the previous year. Early blooming cultivars (‘Arbequina’, ‘Arbosana’, and ‘Coratina’) exhibited partial flowering overlap with mid-season ones, enhancing cross-pollination opportunities. Quantitative analysis of flowering overlap revealed that most cultivar combinations exceeded the 70% threshold required for effective pollination, although specific genotypes (‘Coratina’, ‘Fs-17’, and especially ‘I-77’) showed critical mismatches, while ‘Frantoio’ and ‘Arbequina’ emerged as the most reliable pollinizers. Gynosterility exhibited statistical differences among cultivars and canopy positions: ‘I-77’ showed the highest values (71.4%), while ‘Coratina’ and ‘Cima di Bitonto’ showed the lowest ones (7.3 and 8.4%, respectively). The median portions of the canopies generally displayed a greater number of sterile flowers (29.4%), reflecting the combined effect of genetic and environmental factors such as light exposure. In the inflorescence, the majority of gynosterile flowers were concentrated in the lower part, for all canopy portions (modal value). Self-compatibility tests were performed considering a fruit set of 1% as a threshold to discriminate. For open pollination, the fruit set was highly variable among cultivars, ranging from 0.5% in ‘I-77’ to 4.7% in ‘Arbosana’. Apart from ‘I77’, all varieties achieved a fruit set greater than 1%. Instead, for the self-pollination, only ‘Arbequina’, ‘Koroneiki’, ‘Frantoio’, and ‘Cima di Bitonto’ could be identified as pseudo-self-compatible, whereas ‘Coratina’, ‘Fs-17’, and the others were clearly self-incompatible and therefore unsuitable for monovarietal orchards in areas with limited availability of pollen. By integrating self-compatibility and gynosterility data, the cultivars were ranked according to reproductive aptitude, identifying ‘Cima di Bitonto’ and ‘Frantoio’ as the most fertile genotypes, whereas ‘Don Carlo’ and particularly ‘I-77’ showed severe genetic sterility constraints. The findings underline the critical role of floral biology in defining reproductive efficiency and varietal adaptability in SHD systems. This research provides valuable insights for optimizing cultivar selection, orchard design, and management practices, contributing to the development of sustainable, climate-resilient olive production models for Mediterranean environments. Full article

Food production systems associated with livestock management are significant sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Livestock excreta are one of the primary sources of GHG emissions from grazing livestock. Against this context, a field experiment was established in a UK grassland to establish the extent of soil methane (CH₄), carbon dioxide (CO₂), andN₂O fluxes upon the deposition of (i) cattle urine (U), (ii) urine + dicyandiamide (DCD) (U + DCD), (iii) artificial urine (AU), and dung (D), and compared with a (iv) control, where neither urine nor dung was applied. Excreta applications were made at three experimental periods during the grazing season: early-, mid-, and late-season. Soil N₂O emissions data have been published already by co-authors; hence, this paper summarizes the emissions of soil-borne CH₄ and CO₂ emissions, and explores in particular, the effects of the addition of DCD, a nitrification inhibitor used to reduce direct and indirect N₂O emissions from urine patches, on these (carbon) C-GHGs. Soil moisture (p = 0.47), soil temperature (p = 0.51), and nitrate (NO₃⁻) (p = 0.049) and ammonium (NH₄⁺) (p = 0.66) availability, and C (p = 0.54) addition were key controls of both soil CH₄ and CO₂ emissions. The dung treatment stimulated the production and subsequent emissions of soil CH₄ and CO₂, a significantly high net CH₄ and CO₂-based global warming potential (GWP). The findings of the current study lay a foundation for an in-depth understanding of the magnitude and dynamics of soil-borne CH₄ and CO₂ upon urine and dung deposition during three different seasons. This study implies that the use of DCD may have the potential to reduce carbon-based GHGs from the urine and dung of grazing animals. Full article

Understanding how contextual variables shape differences in match demands in youth football is essential for optimising performance and player development. Objective: This study aimed to compare physical and competitive performance according to playing position, match location, match result, and opponent quality in the physical and competitive performance of U21 football players from a professional Chilean club. Methods: Twenty male U21 players (19.2 ± 1.2 years) were monitored during 11 official matches using 10 Hz GPS devices (WIMU Pro™) and post-match Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE). Variables included total distance (TD), high-speed running (HSR > 20 km/h), metres per minute (MM), accelerations/decelerations (N°AC/N°DC > 3 m·s⁻²), player load (PL), and peak velocity (PV). Contextual variables were classified by playing position, home/away, win/loss, and opponent quality (higher vs. lower rank). Results: Significant between-group differences were found across all contextual factors (p < 0.05). Midfielders (MFs) covered greater TD and reported higher RPE, while full-backs (FBs) and wingers (WGs) reached higher HSR and PV. Away and lost matches showed greater RPE, PL, and N°AC/N°DC, alongside more goals conceded. Facing higher-ranked opponents increased RPE and HSR but reduced explosive actions. Conclusions: Physical performance in U21 football is strongly modulated by contextual factors. Coaches should adjust training load and tactical strategies according to match conditions and positional roles to optimise adaptation and competitive readiness in developmental categories. Full article

As shale gas development extends into deeper formations, the unclear brittle-ductile transition (BDT) mechanism and low fracturing efficiency have emerged as critical bottlenecks, posing challenges to the sustainable and economical utilization of this clean energy resource. This study, focusing on the Liangshang Formation shale of Sichuan Basin’s Pingye-1 Well, pioneers a paradigm shift by identifying Poisson’s ratio ($\mathsf{\nu }$) as the master variable governing this transition. Triaxial tests reveal that $\mathsf{\nu }$ systematically increases with depth, directly regulating the failure mode shift from brittle fracture to ductile flow. Building on this, we innovatively propose the Poisson’s Ratio-regulated Energy-based Brittleness Index (PNE-BI) model. This model achieves a decoupled diagnosis of BDT by quantifying how ν intrinsically orchestrates the energy redistribution between elastic storage and plastic dissipation, utilizing ν as the sole governing variable to regulate energy weighting for rapid and accurate distinction between brittle, transitional, and ductile states. Experiments confirm the $\mathsf{\nu }$-dominated energy evolution: Low $\mathsf{\nu }$ rocks favor elastic energy accumulation, while high $\mathsf{\nu }$ rocks (>0.22) exhibit a dramatic 1520% surge in plastic dissipation, dominating energy consumption (35.9%) and confirming that $\mathsf{\nu }$ enhances ductility by reducing intergranular sliding barriers. Compared to traditional multi-variable models, the PNE-BI model utilizes $\mathsf{\nu }$ values readily obtained from conventional well logs, providing a transformative field-ready tool that significantly reduces the experimental footprint and promotes resource efficiency. It guides toughened fracturing fluid design in ductile zones to suppress premature closure and optimizes injection rates in brittle zones to prevent fracture runaway, thereby enhancing operational longevity and minimizing environmental impact. This work offers a groundbreaking and sustainable solution for boosting the efficiency of mid-deep shale gas development, contributing directly to more responsible and cleaner energy extraction. Full article

This study investigates the early-age performance of large-area C30 concrete slabs under different curing regimes using a multi-scale approach combining laboratory experiments, field monitoring, and numerical simulation. The experimental results indicated that standard curing (SC7) maximized the mechanical properties. In contrast, the thermal insulation and moisture retention curing (TC) regime significantly reduced temperature gradients and stress mutation amplitudes by 42% compared to wet curing (WC) by leveraging the synergistic effect of aluminum foil and insulating cotton. This makes TC a preferred solution in situations where engineering constraints apply. Field monitoring demonstrated that WC is suitable for humidity-sensitive scenarios with low-temperature control requirements, while TC is more suitable for large-area concrete or low-temperature environments, balancing early strength development and long-term durability. This multi-field coupled model exhibits significant deviations during the early stage (0–7 days) due to complex boundary interactions, but achieves high quantitative accuracy in the long-term steady state (after 14 days), with a maximum error below 8%. The analysis revealed that the key driving factors for stress evolution are early hydration heat–humidity coupling and mid-term boundary transient switching. The study provides a novel, multi-scale validated curing optimization path for crack control in large-area concrete slabs. Full article

Brown algal forests (Cystoseira sensu lato) are key habitat-forming components of temperate rocky coasts but have experienced widespread decline across the Mediterranean Sea. This study investigates the current distribution and potential future shifts in brown algal forests across the Adriatic Sea under ongoing climate change. We combined non-destructive field-based mapping along the Slovenian coastline with remote-sensing products and spatial environmental predictors to model basin-wide habitat suitability. A multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) framework was applied to account for spatial non-stationarity and to explicitly capture the fact that environmental drivers of habitat suitability operate at different spatial scales—an assumption that global models such as GAM or standard GWR cannot adequately address. Habitat suitability maps were generated for present-day conditions and projected under mid- and late-century climate scenarios. The results reveal pronounced latitudinal gradients, identify areas of ongoing canopy decline in the northern Adriatic, and highlight parts of the southern Adriatic as potential climate refugia. Overall, the study demonstrates a likely north–south contraction of suitable habitat for brown algal forests and underscores the value of multiscale spatial modelling for informing marine spatial planning, conservation prioritization, and climate-adaptive restoration under European policy frameworks. Full article