Search Results (3,818)

Background/Objectives: The objective of this study was to ascertain whether photon-counting CT angiography (PCD-CTA) can optimize image quality for the visualization of perforating arteries for planning fibular transplant procedures in comparison to energy-integrating CT angiography (EID-CTA). Methods: In this retrospective single-center study, all patients who underwent preoperative CT of the peripheral runoff for planning between October 2021 and July 2023 were consecutively included. PCD-CTA was performed in standard resolution mode as 55 keV images with 90 mL of iodine-containing contrast agent or alternatively, an EID-CTA as a low-kV scan with 110 mL of contrast agent. The raw data were reformatted using comparable soft vascular and sharp regular convolution kernels, slice thickness/increment, and field of view. Contrast-to-noise ratio was calculated for objective image quality. Subjective evaluation was based on a rating by three radiologists using a five-point Likert scale (criteria: overall image quality, luminal attenuation, vessel sharpness, and perforator depiction). Results: Of the 26 patients who were screened, 9 could be included in each group, while 8 were excluded due to incomplete reconstructions. The reduction in contrast agent dose resulted in a non-significant decrease in luminal attenuation on PCD-CTA (452.5 ± 53.6 HU vs. 465.5 ± 99.6 HU; p = 0.375). The image noise was considerably lower for PCD-CTA (21.1 ± 1.0 HU vs. 32.9 ± 1.6 HU; p < 0.001). This resulted in a significantly higher contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) for sharp kernel reconstructions (22.4 ± 3.5 vs. 14.5 ± 3.8; p < 0.001). No significant differences were observed for the soft vascular kernel. Subjective evaluation revealed a significant enhancement in overall image quality, vascular sharpness, and perforator depiction for PCD-CTA with sharp reconstructions. In contrast, soft kernel reconstructions and luminal attenuation demonstrated no substantial difference. Interrater agreement was good to excellent. Conclusions: PCD-CTA with sharp kernel reformatting has been demonstrated to yield superior image quality and perforator delineation of the fibular artery in comparison to standard EID-CTA. Full article

The drive of the bucket-wheel on SRs1200 excavators is realized by a 400 kW electric motor and a multi-stage gearbox through which power and torque are transmitted from the drive motor to the bucket-wheel. The gearboxes used on these excavators are of a conventional extended design with parallel shafts and pairs of helical cylindrical gears, equipped with a main and an auxiliary drive. The main drive is used during bucket wheel operation, while the auxiliary drive is applied during overhaul activities and inspection. From the input shaft of the main drive to the output shaft, a four-stage gear transmission is formed. In previous designs, the gear on the output shaft was manufactured by casting, while the gearbox output shaft is hollow, allowing the bucket wheel shaft to be mounted through it. The objective of the research is the implementation of two different methods, one theoretical and one practical, for diagnosing the behavior and vibrations occurring in the drive group, with the aim of determining the most optimal approach to operation, maintenance, and necessary reconstruction of the gearbox. The basic diagnostic parameters are vibration values measured at characteristic locations throughout the drive group and its supporting structure. These measurements show good agreement with a mathematical 3D model developed using the Inventor software package, based on the finite element method, the theory of elasticity, and machine dynamics. Testing was performed prior to installation, followed by inspection after a certain number of operating hours, reconstruction of the gear teeth, and testing after reconstruction. A reduction in drive group vibrations of approximately 30% was achieved. The scientific contribution lies in the potential for future development of gearbox condition analysis models based on measured vibration parameters. Full article

Automotive vision systems depend critically on front-view cameras, whose image quality frequently degrades under adverse conditions such as rain, fog, low illumination, and rapid motion. To address this challenge, we propose VMESR, a variable mamba-enhanced super-resolution network that integrates a selective state-space model into a lightweight super-resolution architecture. By serializing 2D feature maps and applying variable-depth mamba blocks, VMESR captures long-range dependencies with linear complexity. A multi-scale feature extractor, enhanced residual modules equipped with a convolutional block attention module, and dense fusion connections work together to improve the recovery of high-frequency details. Extensive experiments demonstrate that VMESR achieves competitive performance in both objective metrics and perceptual quality compared to state-of-the-art methods, while significantly reducing parameter counts and computational cost. VMESR provides a practical balance between efficiency and reconstructive accuracy, offering a deployable super-resolution solution for embedded automotive sensors and enhancing the robustness of autonomous driving perception pipelines. Full article

To address the high-dimensional design optimization of an adaptive cycle fan (ACF), this paper proposes a new multi-objective optimization (MOO) method based on explainable artificial intelligence (XAI)-driven feature selection. The proposed method integrates a neural network surrogate model, Shapley additive explanation (SHAP) analysis, and a genetic algorithm. By considering Pareto front quality, surrogate model accuracy, and optimization preference, a composite evaluation metric, Q, is defined to guide a bidirectional feature selection process based on SHAP analysis, thereby establishing a dynamic, closed-loop process of simultaneous feature selection and MOO. The results indicate that the proposed method significantly enhances global search capability, accurately identifying 66 optimal features from 119 initial features. A further comparison with results without forward selection confirms the necessity of dynamically adjusting the feature space during optimization. Under the same condition, the optimal design increases the core pressure ratio from 2.71 to 2.81 and core efficiency from 80.80% to 82.92%. The flow mechanism analysis reveals that the performance gains mainly result from the reconstruction of shock structures and the suppression of shock–boundary layer interactions and secondary flows. The XAI-enhanced surrogate-assisted evolutionary algorithm (SAEA) proposed in this paper provides a promising methodology for high-dimensional MOO of aeroengines and other complex systems. Full article

A large number of architectural drawings have historically existed in paper form or as non-editable raster images, which makes them difficult to directly support information reuse and digital management, while manual CAD reconstruction is time-consuming and inefficient. This paper proposes a hybrid deep learning and rule-based method for architectural drawing vectorization and CAD reconstruction, which automatically converts scanned raster images into editable CAD vector files while preserving geometric structure and scale consistency. The proposed method consists of four modules: axis grid and dimension detection, text recognition and scale recovery, architectural line topology reconstruction, and CAD geometric rectification and reconstruction. The method utilizes object detection and OCR technologies to extract key semantic information from the drawings. By extracting semantic information, the method constructs a line topology structure and applies architectural drawing constraints to parameterize and normalize geometric results, thereby achieving the recognition and vectorization of raster drawings. Experimental results and engineering case studies demonstrate that the proposed method can effectively extract typical architectural elements, and generate directly editable CAD vector drawings. The method achieves favorable geometric accuracy and topological consistency in architectural drawing digitization and automatic CAD reconstruction tasks, providing a technical solution for the automatic vectorization of existing architectural drawings. Full article

The identification of lithology and fluids in reservoirs is the key to the quantitative characterization of gas reservoirs. However, the Ma5₄¹ Member of the Majiagou Formation in the Ordos Basin is characterized by strong reservoir heterogeneity, variable lithologic components and complex gas–water relationships. This leads to severe overlapping of conventional logging responses, posing significant challenges to detailed reservoir evaluation. Taking the Ma5₄¹ Member in the central Shaanbei Slope of the Ordos Basin as the research object, this study adopts the logging curve superposition and reconstruction method to quantitatively identify reservoir lithology and fluid properties, and establishes a set of identification standards for lithology-fluid logging curve superposition and reconstruction. The results show that the lithology identification plate constructed by introducing new parameters eliminates dimensional differences and effectively highlights the response characteristics of different lithologies. It can rapidly and effectively identify limestone, limy dolomite, dolomite, argillaceous dolomite, and mudstone with an identification accuracy exceeding 90% and an average accuracy of over 92%. In terms of fluid identification, the constructed ΔΦ₃–ΔΦ₄–ΔΦ₅ 3D plate successfully achieved the stereoscopic differentiation of gas layers, gas-bearing water layers, water layers, and dry layers. The gas layer identification accuracy reached 93.9%, which is significantly superior to the traditional 2D crossplot method. Applying this model to the plane prediction of lithology in the Ma5₄¹ Member of the study area, it was found that the lithology distribution features “pure in the east and mixed in the west.” The central-eastern and southeastern parts of the study area mainly develop high-quality dolomite and limy dolomite reservoirs, making them favorable areas for natural gas exploration. This study provides effective technical support for the quantitative identification of lithology and fluids in non-cored well sections and improves regional exploration and development efficiency. Full article

This article investigates how intuition operates when its referent is structurally absent or non-objectifiable. While phenomenology has traditionally linked intuition to fulfilment and object-givenness, a growing range of contemporary experiences, such as climate change, future generations, and technologically mediated processes, resist such modes of presentation in principle. Their absence is not contingent but structural. The article argues that phenomenology can nonetheless account for these experiences by articulating a mode of intuition that does not depend on presentable objects, but arises through mediation, temporal articulation, and responsiveness. Drawing on Husserl’s analyses of intuition and temporality, the first part identifies the limits of object-centred accounts of evidence in contexts characterized by mediation and diachronic dispersion. The second part turns to Levinas, whose account of diachrony and responsibility discloses a relation to the future that is ethically binding without being anticipable or reciprocable. The third part elaborates this insight through Waldenfels’s phenomenology of the alien and of responsiveness, showing how experience is structured by pathos, delay, and asymmetry. Here, intuition without objects appears not as a lack of evidence, but as a specific mode of experiential articulation grounded in interruption and answerability. The article concludes by showing how this phenomenological reconstruction clarifies central problems in contemporary climate ethics, particularly those concerning intergenerational responsibility. It suggests that what is often described as a motivational or institutional deficit can also be understood as a failure to recognize a distinctive intuitive relation to the future, i.e., one that binds without presenting and calls for response despite structural absence. In doing so, the notion of intuition without objects contributes to broader reflections on temporality, responsibility, and ethical agency under conditions of deep temporal asymmetry. Full article

The objective of this article is to examine how alternative digital platforms can be designed and governed as public-interest infrastructures capable of supporting democratic deliberation in the contemporary digital public sphere. Drawing on deliberative democratic theory, the article develops a normative framework for evaluating participatory digital infrastructures and applies it to a qualitative, theory-driven case study of Decidim, an open-source participatory platform originally developed by the Barcelona City Council. Methodologically, the study combines normative analysis with qualitative documentary analysis of official platform documentation, peer-reviewed academic literature, and the institutional and technical features of the platform. The analysis shows that Decidim operationalises key deliberative principles—such as inclusion, publicity, reason-giving, transparency, traceability, and participatory governance—through its institutional design, governance model, and deliberative affordances. The findings demonstrate that algorithmic systems and digital infrastructures are not inherently incompatible with democratic values, but can be intentionally engineered to support public deliberation and democratic will-formation. The article concludes that the reconstruction of participatory digital infrastructures as public goods constitutes a democratic imperative, requiring sustained institutional commitment, political will, and a reconceptualisation of platform design as a domain of democratic governance. Full article

The objective of this research is to determine whether levels of road accessibility in urban, peri-urban, and sub-urban localities within the municipalities of Mexicali and San Felipe, in Baja California, Mexico, can be associated with processes of territorial expansion, population growth, and changes in urban marginalization levels. This is assessed through a methodology that combines ex-ante and ex-post analysis, the use of the Urban Marginalization Index (UMI) at the AGEB scale, and a hierarchical accessibility classification (Levels A, B, and C), thereby contributing a replicable tool for analyzing socio-spatial impacts derived from road infrastructure. To this end, modernization, maintenance, and reconstruction works, as well as the construction of an interchange carried out between 2006 and 2017 along Federal Highway No. 5—specifically the Mexicali–San Felipe section—were examined in relation to the accessibility they provide to ten nearby localities. UMI values were estimated for 134 AGEB using data from 2000, 2010, and 2020, which enabled the assessment of changes in quality of life before, during, and after the execution of these works. The results show significant population growth in six localities, accompanied by territorial expansion processes. Localities with direct connection to the study corridor tended to exhibit middle to low marginalization levels, while those with indirect accessibility or direct access through another federal highway section tended toward middle to high levels, with some shifting to middle to low. It is concluded that road accessibility constitutes a relevant factor in the progressive improvement in socioeconomic conditions and quality of life in urban, peri-urban, and sub-urban areas. Full article

Background/Objectives: Trochanteric pressure ulcers represent a challenging reconstructive problem due to their depth, frequent infection, and tendency for recurrence. Durable coverage with well-vascularized tissue capable of effective dead-space management is essential for long-term stability. The pedicled musculocutaneous anterolateral thigh (ALT) flap offers substantial soft-tissue volume with reliable regional vascularity. Methods: A retrospective review was performed of consecutive patients with Stage IV trochanteric pressure ulcers who underwent reconstruction using musculocutaneous pedicled island ALT flaps between January 2020 and August 2023. Ulcers were classified according to the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel, National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel, and Pan Pacific Pressure Injury Alliance International Guidelines. Patients with a minimum follow-up of 24 months were included. Demographic characteristics, ulcer etiology, prior flap history, comorbidities, flap dimensions, postoperative complications, and recurrence rates were analyzed. Results: Eight patients (4 males, 4 females; mean age 46.4 years, range 35–63) were included. Six ulcers (75%) were related to prolonged immobilization, and two (25%) developed following entrapment during the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquake. All donor sites were closed primarily. Minor recipient-site complications, including seroma and limited suture dehiscence, occurred in two cases. No partial or total flap necrosis was observed. During a mean follow-up of 42.4 months (minimum 24 months), no recurrence occurred. Conclusions: Musculocutaneous pedicled ALT flaps incorporating a substantial portion of the vastus lateralis muscle allowed effective dead-space obliteration and durable soft-tissue coverage in Stage IV trochanteric pressure ulcers. Primary donor-site closure was achievable without major morbidity. These findings support the use of the pedicled ALT flap as a consistent regional option in complex trochanteric defects, including both chronic immobilization-related and acute compression-related cases. Full article

Background and Objectives: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction (ACLR) is widely performed to restore knee stability and facilitate return to activity. However, recovery of muscle strength, balance, functional performance, and patient-reported outcomes does not occur uniformly over time. The longitudinal recovery trajectory across various functional areas during the first year after ACLR remains insufficiently characterized. Materials and Methods: We included 107 patients who underwent isolated unilateral ACLR using a hamstring autograft. Isokinetic knee extensor and flexor strength, postural stability, Y-Balance Test (YBT) performance, and subjective knee function scores were assessed post-injury (approximately six weeks after ACL injury and prior to ACLR) and at 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively. All patients followed a standardized postoperative rehabilitation protocol. Results: Knee extensor strength deficit worsened at 3 months and remained present at 12 months. In contrast, knee flexor strength deficit decreased progressively and reached near-symmetrical values by 12 months. Sway path length decreased significantly over time in both limbs. In the operated limb, improvements plateaued after 6 months, and limb symmetry indices approached symmetry by 12 months. YBT limb symmetry indices demonstrated a non-linear recovery pattern. Anterior, posterolateral, and composite scores decreased at 3 months, recovered to post-injury levels by 6 months, and showed significant improvement at 12 months. Posteromedial reach did not decline at 3 months and improved significantly only at 12 months. Subjective knee function scores (Lysholm and IKDC) did not differ significantly between post-injury and 3-month assessments, but improved significantly from 6 months onward. Tegner activity scores gradually increased and returned to pre-injury levels by 12 months. Conclusions: Recovery after ACLR is prolonged and non-synchronous. Quadricep strength remains incompletely restored at 12 months, whereas hamstring strength recovers more favorably. Balance, functional performance, and subjective outcomes improve mainly after 6 months. These findings support the need for prolonged rehabilitation and serial, multidimensional functional assessments beyond time-based criteria. Full article

Flood change detection from remote sensing data can be used to identify post-disaster flooded areas, providing decision support for emergency rescue and post-disaster reconstruction. Although the combination of SAR and optical images effectively addresses obscuration by clouds and rain, the inherent difference in their imaging mechanisms poses a challenge to improving the accuracy of flood area change detection. Furthermore, existing flood inundation change detection methods based on heterogeneous remote sensing imagery struggle to distinguish small ground objects within the background from the actual inundated regions. Therefore, a pseudo-Siamese hybrid dilation spiral feature network (PSiam-HDSFNet) is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the feature extraction pipeline progressively processes optical and SAR images through five-layer Enhanced Deep Residual Blocks and five-layer Residual Dense Blocks, respectively. A Hybrid Dilated Pyramid (HDP) module based on a sawtooth wave-like dilated coefficient is designed to enhance multi-scale semantics of deep features in order to selectively reinforce semantic features in flood areas and weaken the noise semantics from small ground objects. Then, a Spiral Feature Pyramid (SFP) module is designed to make the deep features of SAR and optical images more consistent in spatial structure and numerical distribution patterns, so that the features of flood areas become more prominent while the noise semantics from small ground objects are further suppressed. After that, the Galerkin-type attention with linear complexity is introduced to the decoder, rapidly reconstructing the abstract semantic information of floods into interpretable flood features. Finally, the Align OPT-SAR (AlignOS) method is designed to align SAR and optical image features, enabling subsequent flood area detection. Seven metrics are adopted in the comparison between PSiam-HDSFNet and the other 14 methods. The results indicate that PSiam-HDSFNet improves change detection accuracy by extracting and processing depth features of these two images without image domain translation, and its F1 scores are improved by 7.704%, 7.664%, 4.353%, and 1.111% in the four flood coverage categories detection tasks compared to the suboptimum. Full article

Background/Objectives: The Mitrofanoff appendicovesicostomy (MAV) is the gold standard for creating a continent catheterizable channel in children unable to perform clean intermittent catheterization (CIC) through the native urethra. Minimally invasive surgery has progressively replaced open techniques in pediatric urology, offering improved recovery and favorable cosmetic outcomes, and robotic-assisted Mitrofanoff has gained popularity in recent years. However, the high costs and limited availability of robotic systems create disparities in access to pediatric urologic reconstruction, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In this context, the laparoscopic Mitrofanoff (MAV-L) and the laparoscopic-assisted Mitrofanoff (MAV-LA) represent practical, cost-effective alternatives, valuable in institutions without robotic platforms or in resource-limited settings. Recent evidence demonstrates that advanced laparoscopic approaches remain feasible even for complex urological procedures, supporting their continued relevance in the robotic era. Methods: We conducted a retrospective case series including seven male children (aged 9–12 years) who underwent MAV between 2018 and 2023. Peri-operative data included demographics, operative time, length of hospitalization, and complications. Functional and aesthetic outcomes were assessed during long-term follow-up. Statistical analysis accounted for the small sample size by using non-parametric tests where appropriate. Results: Three patients (43%) underwent MAV-L and four (57%) MAV-LA. Mean operative time appeared longer in MAV-L (273.3 ± 20.5 min) than in MAV-LA (203.8 ± 24.3 min; exploratory p = 0.019). Hospital stay was 9 ± 0.8 days vs. 7.5 ± 0.5 days (p = 0.026). During follow-up (43.3 ± 10.9 vs. 26.3 ± 5.4 months; p = 0.034), two complications occurred, both in the MAV-L group (stomal stenosis and channel leakage). All patients reported excellent continence, ease of catheterization, and high cosmetic satisfaction. Conclusions: Both laparoscopic and laparoscopic-assisted Mitrofanoff techniques are safe, feasible, and effective in children. Favorable cosmetic satisfaction was reported in the fully laparoscopic subgroup, based on subjective assessment. Importantly, these laparoscopic techniques are sustainable alternatives to robotic surgery, offering accessibility and high-quality reconstructive care even in centers with limited financial and technological resources. Full article

Background/Objectives: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is biologically heterogeneous, and immune-linked variation may be associated with differences in tryptophan–kynurenine pathway (KP) metabolism. Here, we report a targeted urinary profile of KP metabolites, NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide), and neopterin in a Bulgarian pediatric ASD cohort to describe within-cohort patterns and associations. Methods: Second-morning, acid-stabilized spot urine was collected from 73 children with ASD in Bulgaria (3–13 years; 57 males; 16 females). No contemporaneous neurotypical control group was enrolled; therefore, laboratory-provided reference limits are reported only as contextual benchmarks and are not interpreted as ASD-specific abnormalities. Tryptophan (TRP), kynurenine (KYN), kynurenic acid (KYNA), 3-hydroxykynurenine (3-HK), quinolinic acid (QUIN), NAD, and neopterin were quantified and derived indices were computed (KYN/TRP × 1000; QUIN/KYNA). Non-parametric statistics, Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR) correction, and Spearman correlation analyses were applied. Results: Neopterin was strongly associated with QUIN and KYN in creatinine-normalized data (QUIN: ρ = 0.59, q36 = 2.64 × 10⁻⁷; KYN: ρ = 0.54, q36 = 3.69 × 10⁻⁶); these associations persisted when reconstructed as absolute concentrations (e.g., QUIN_abs: ρ = 0.68, q36 = 2.69 × 10⁻¹⁰) and after partial Spearman correlation controlling for spot creatinine (partial ρ = 0.46, q = 2.52 × 10⁻⁴). One NAD value was <LOQ and was imputed as ½LOQ; sensitivity analyses did not materially change inference. Conclusions: In this ASD-only cross-sectional dataset, urinary neopterin levels co-varied with urinary KYN and QUIN and with KP indices. Clinical interpretation and causal inference require controlled and longitudinal studies with richer covariate capture. Full article

Background and Clinical Significance: Traumatic brain injuries (TBI), most frequently caused by falls, represent a major source of morbidity and mortality and pose significant challenges in forensic investigations, especially when events are unwitnessed or testimonies conflict. Despite advances in imaging and autopsy, reconstructing the mechanism of head trauma often remains impossible. The objective of this study is to assess how biomechanical modeling can support forensic practitioners by narrowing the range of plausible scenarios and strengthening evidence-based interpretation in complex medico-legal contexts, without seeking to establish legal causality or certainty. Case Presentation: This case report investigates forensic biomechanics as a decision-support tool using a combined multibody and finite element (FE) modeling approach. An initial set of twenty-five scenarios, derived from witness statements and investigative data, was reconstructed to simulate potential fall- and assault-related mechanisms. Multibody simulations with the human facet model were first performed to estimate head impact velocities and orientations. These parameters were then applied to an FE head model to evaluate tissue response. Conclusions: Skull fracture patterns and intracerebral von Mises stress distributions were analyzed and systematically compared with clinical, radiological, and autopsy findings. Although simulated stress magnitudes were generally lower than injury thresholds reported in the literature, several scenarios reproduced fracture propagation and intracerebral stress patterns consistent with the documented lesions, including corpus callosum involvement. This multidisciplinary approach highlights the growing role of biomechanics in forensic investigations and forensic anthropology. Full article