Search Results (98,428)

Stabilization/solidification (S/S) is a crucial technology for the engineering reuse of oil-contaminated soil. A key challenge, however, is preventing the migration of residual oil under varying hydraulic conditions. This study investigates the efficacy of a lime and fly ash binder in treating oil-contaminated soil. We systematically compared the performance of untreated (UOCS) and treated (TOCS) soils under different aqueous environments (humidity injection, water injection, and permeation). We evaluated oil migration, water-holding capacity, and permeability characteristics. The results demonstrate that the lime–fly ash treatment effectively adsorbed and immobilized oil contaminants, restricting their mobility to a remarkably low range of 0.54% to 4.90%. Furthermore, the S/S treatment significantly improved the soil’s hydraulic properties: it enhanced the water-holding capacity, reduced the soil-water characteristic curve hysteresis, and counteracted the oil-induced hydrophobicity. Consequently, the effective permeation channels were restored, leading to a higher permeability coefficient in TOCS compared to UOCS. Crucially, the hydro-mechanical performance of the treated soil met the criteria of the Solidification/Stabilization Resource Guide, confirming its suitability for engineering applications. Full article

In order to verify the feasibility of in situ repair of underwater local dry laser welding (ULDLW) on nuclear power reactor components, this work investigates the microstructure and mechanical properties of 304L austenitic stainless steel repaired by ULDLW using ER308L filler metal. Comprehensive comparison would be made between the ULDLW and conventional in-air laser welding to evaluate their applicability. The results demonstrate that the rapid cooling rate inherent to the underwater environment significantly influences solidification behavior and microstructural evolution. The weld metal (WM) solidifies in the ferritic–austenitic (FA) mode, with an increased proportion of lathy δ-ferrite at the expense of skeletal morphology compared to the in-air welds. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis reveals the substantial grain refinement in underwater welds, with average grain sizes of 39.4 μm versus 47.3 μm for in-air weld bead, accompanied by a higher fraction of low-angle grain boundaries (LAGBs). These microstructural modifications yield superior mechanical properties: underwater weld bead exhibits ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 685.6 MPa, elongation of 57.5%, and impact toughness of 22.6 J, significantly exceeding the corresponding values for in-air welds (663.9 MPa, 51.8%, and 18.6 J, respectively). Fractographic analysis confirms ductile fracture mechanisms in both conditions. The enhanced performance is attributed to grain refinement strengthening via the Hall–Petch relationship and the increased LAGBs fraction, which impedes dislocation motion and crack propagation. Full article

Throwing velocity is a key performance factor in handball and may be enhanced through strength training. The aim of the present study was to quantify improvements in throwing velocity in handball players and to compare the effects of a free-weight strength training programme (FW; n = 14; 18.07 ± 1.27 years; 86.19 ± 9.67 kg; 1.85 ± 0.08 m) and a flywheel-based eccentric overload training programme (FLYW; n = 13; 17.77 ± 1.17 years; 85.5 ± 8.38 kg; 1.85 ± 0.06 m). A total of 27 elite male youth handball players (n = 27; 17.93 ± 1.21 years; 85.86 ± 8.90 kg; 1.85 ± 0.07 m) participated in the study. Participants were allocated to groups using a stratified randomisation approach based on team and playing position. Of these, 14 performed the FW training program and 13 completed the FLYW training protocol. The FW group performed 3 sets of 6 repetitions at 80% of 1RM, with 3 min of rest between sets, using the exercises half squats, bench presses and pullovers. The FLYW training group trained with flywheel devices, executing 3 sets of 6 repetitions using four inertial loads, performing each repetition at maximal intended velocity, with 3 min of rest between sets, using the exercises unilateral press, overhead elbow extension, and trunk rotation. Both groups trained twice per week for 8 weeks, in combination with regular handball-specific training. Pre- and post-intervention assessments included the indirect estimation of one-repetition maximum (1RM) in the half squats, bench presses, and pullovers, as well as throwing velocity. The FW group showed significant improvements in all variables (bench press, half squat, pullover, and throwing velocity; all p < 0.05). In contrast, the FLYW group showed significant improvements only in half squats (p = 0.034) and throwing velocity (p = 0.008). An 8-week strength training program using free weights and flywheel methods improved throwing velocity in elite youth handball players; however, neither method demonstrates clear superiority when throwing velocity is the primary outcome. Full article

With the rapid development of public digital cultural resources, the lack of cross-lingual information retrieval (CLIR) services catering to multilingual users in practical applications has created significant language barriers. This hinders the promotion of public digital culture and results in the underutilization of relevant resources. To address this need, this paper constructs M-APE, a shared semantic model that operates without reliance on parallel corpora. Through a three-step process comprising the generation, fine-tuning, and optimization of a shared semantic space, M-APE establishes a common semantic framework for diverse languages. The model utilizes a Chinese semantic space, transferred and trained on authentic public cultural corpora, as its input. Evaluation based on bilingual dictionary induction quality demonstrates that M-APE significantly enhances semantic sharing performance between Chinese and Indo-European languages, represented here by English and French, achieving an average cross-family transformation accuracy of 56.6%. Furthermore, focusing on the CLIR needs of multilingual users within China’s public cultural engineering projects, this study develops a Chinese-English-French cross-lingual information retrieval framework by integrating M-APE into public cultural domain tasks. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method achieves superior cross-lingual retrieval performance in terms of average metrics. Full article

Ventilation air methane (VAM) has an extremely low concentration, making its abatement exceptionally challenging. Catalytic oxidation offers a promising route for VAM treatment, but industrial application requires integrated catalysts with high activity and efficient mass transfer. In this study, a novel straight-channel NiO/CeO₂ ceramic reactor was fabricated via mesh-assisted phase inversion, with NiO content systematically optimized to screen the optimal ratio. The 60 wt% NiO was the optimal composition, exhibiting excellent VAM oxidation performance. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis confirmed that this optimal ratio yielded the largest specific surface area. Furthermore, H₂-temperature-programmed reduction (H₂-TPR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed that this optimal ratio facilitated the formation of abundant NiO–CeO₂ active interfaces, effectively inducing surface Ce³⁺ species and oxygen vacancies. These merits significantly enhanced the reactor’s oxygen adsorption capacity and redox properties, thus realizing efficient methane activation in catalytic oxidation. Moreover, the optimal reactor successfully passed 10 thermal cycle tests, further verifying the thermal stability of the catalytic structure. In addition, it exhibited outstanding long-term stability during a 100 h test, with no carbon deposition or active phase sintering observed. This work develops an optimized straight-channel NiO/CeO₂ ceramic reactor and offers a practical and scalable design strategy for VAM oxidation. Full article

Wollastonite is a natural meta-silicate mineral material with fibrous characteristics. In this paper, wollastonite with different aspect ratios obtained after grinding was used as a mineral admixture to replace cement for preparing ultra-high-toughness cement-based composites (UHTCCs). The effects of wollastonite on the fluidity, compressive strength, flexural strength, and tensile properties of UHTCCs were investigated, and the crack morphology and micro-topography of the tensile specimens after fracture were observed. The experimental results show that when the wollastonite replacement ratio exceeds 4%, it exerts a negative effect on the fluidity of UHTCCs, and wollastonite with a larger aspect ratio has a more significant negative impact. Relying on the bridging effect, replacing cement with wollastonite can significantly improve the flexural strength and compressive strength of UHTCCs. However, when the replacement ratio exceeds 6%, the strength enhancement effect of wollastonite with a larger aspect ratio begins to decrease. When the cement replacement ratio of wollastonite is up to 6%, it can increase the initial cracking strength, tensile strength and tensile strain of UHTCCs. At the same replacement ratio, wollastonite with a larger aspect ratio shows a better reinforcing effect. According to the observation of post-fracture crack morphology, the cracks of UHTCCs change from the original smooth cracks to tortuous ones after cement is partially replaced by wollastonite. Replacing a part of cement with wollastonite optimizes the performance relationship among PE fibers, the matrix, and the PE fiber–matrix interface, and it enhances their synergistic effect. This not only raises the initial tensile cracking strength of UHTCCs but also improves its tensile strain. In particular, wollastonite with a larger aspect ratio exhibits a more pronounced reinforcing effect. Full article

Nanotechnology has emerged as a key driver in radioisotope batteries, which offer unique advantages for long-term, maintenance-free energy supply in deep space exploration, medical implants, and nuclear waste utilization. This review summarizes recent progress in applying nanomaterials and nanostructures to overcome the limitations of nuclear batteries, including low energy conversion efficiency and poor stability. The main content focuses on the three primary conversion mechanisms of thermoelectric, radio-voltaic, and radio-photovoltaic batteries, discussing high-performance thermoelectric nanomaterials such as SiGe alloys, wide-bandgap semiconductors including diamond and SiC for enhanced carrier collection, and nanoscale radionuclide ources to mitigate self-absorption losses. This review further elaborates on how nanostructure regulation and interface engineering have significantly improved carrier collection efficiency and device stability. These advances have enabled notable civilian applications, such as the BV100 and “Zhulong No.1” nuclear batteries. Despite this progress, challenges remain in ensuring long-term material stability under extreme environments, maintaining performance consistency during macroscopic device integration, and addressing the high fabrication costs. The review concludes by outlining future research directions, including the development of novel nanomaterial systems, innovative nanostructure designs, scalable manufacturing processes, and enhanced device stability and safety, to further advance next-generation radioisotope batteries. Full article

The multi-finger robotic hand offers great potential for precise control due to its high degrees of freedom. Yet, manipulating objects forms a closed-chain kinematic system, which compounds the dimensionality and computational complexity of trajectory tracking. To tackle this challenge, and inspired by the widespread application of the zeroing neurodynamics (ZND) in robotic control, this study proposes a novel direct-discrete robust neurodynamics (DDRN) algorithm. The proposed algorithm advances the ZND methodology by employing a direct discretization design strategy. This strategy is crucial for two reasons. First, it fits naturally with the discrete-time nature of digital systems, enabling practical implementation. Second, it enhances precision by avoiding the integration errors inherent in continuous-to-discrete transformations. By simultaneously integrating this direct discretization with explicit noise suppression mechanisms, the DDRN algorithm efficiently solves the high-dimensional tracking problem formulated as a constrained time-varying quadratic programming (CTVQP) problem. Theoretical analyses demonstrate that under various noise environments, the steady-state residuals (SSRs) achieve global convergence, guaranteeing the algorithm’s strong robustness and high accuracy. Furthermore, comprehensive numerical simulations substantiate its superior performance. Practically, this DDRN algorithm enables more reliable and precise real-time control of dexterous robotic hands, with potential benefits for advanced manufacturing, prosthetic hands, and automated assembly where accurate trajectory tracking under sensor noise is critical. Full article

Background: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains a leading cause of cancer-related mortality, and although PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint blockade has improved outcomes in some patients, therapeutic responses remain heterogeneous. Tumor-intrinsic heterogeneity within malignant epithelial populations is increasingly recognized as a critical determinant of disease progression and therapy response. Methods: Here, we constructed a comprehensive single-cell atlas of NSCLC by integrating 650,461 cells from 216 tumor and normal samples. Tumor-derived epithelial cells were reclustered to identify transcriptionally distinct subpopulations. Pseudotime analysis, functional experiments, and in vivo validation using a humanized xenograft model were performed to investigate the role of COL3A1. Results: Reclustering of tumor-derived epithelial cells revealed 25 transcriptionally distinct subpopulations. Among these, a high-risk cluster exhibited coordinated activation of epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and angiogenesis programs and was associated with poor patient survival. Within this aggressive subpopulation, Collagen type III alpha 1 (COL3A1) emerged as a tumor-intrinsic gene associated with extracellular matrix remodeling and angiogenic signaling. Pseudotime analysis indicated that COL3A1⁺ cells represent a late-stage, poorly differentiated malignant state. Functional experiments demonstrated that COL3A1 knockdown impaired NSCLC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Virtual knockout further suggested that COL3A1 may be associated with transcriptional programs involved in PD-L1 upstream signaling pathways, indicating a potential indirect link between tumor-intrinsic states and immune regulatory networks. Consistently, in vivo silencing of COL3A1 enhanced the antitumor efficacy of PD-L1 blockade. Conclusions: Collectively, our study identifies COL3A1 as a tumor-intrinsic gene enriched in malignant epithelial cells with mesenchymal features and a potential therapeutic target. These findings provide a rationale for exploring combinatorial strategies integrating tumor-intrinsic pathway inhibition with immune checkpoint blockade in NSCLC. Full article

Objectives: This study evaluated the diagnostic performance of the lateral flow immunochromatographic assay (RESIST-ACINETO, Coris BioConcept) for the rapid detection of the major carbapenemases in Acinetobacter baumannii. Methods: Blood culture isolates collected between 2014 and 2024 with meropenem MIC ≥ 4 mg/L were retrieved, re-identified by MALDI-TOF MS, and susceptibility was confirmed by broth microdilution. Carbapenemase genes (bla_OXA-23, bla_OXA-40, bla_NDM) were detected using multiplex PCR, which served as the reference standard. All isolates were tested using the RESIST ACINETO assay, and diagnostic accuracy parameters were calculated. Results: A total of 114 isolates were recovered and confirmed as A. baumannii. Among 93 carbapenem-non-susceptible isolates, 97.8% (91/93) were correctly identified by the assay. The test showed 99.1% sensitivity and 99.1% specificity, with most positive results appearing within 3–10 min. Two discrepant results were observed (one false positive, one false negative), while all meropenem-susceptible isolates tested negative. Conclusions: The RESIST ACINETO assay provides rapid, accurate detection of carbapenemases in A. baumannii, significantly reducing turnaround time compared with conventional workflows. Its performance supports integration into routine diagnostics to enhance timely resistance confirmation and infection-control interventions. Full article

The limited self-starting capability of H-type Darrieus Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) remains one of the main obstacles to their deployment in low-power and urban applications, where wind conditions are typically weak and intermittent. Although several passive geometric modification strategies have been proposed to enhance initial torque generation, most available studies rely predominantly on numerical simulations, with limited systematic experimental validation under low tip-speed ratio (TSR) conditions. In this work, the influence of passive blade modifications on self-starting performance is assessed through a combined numerical–experimental approach. An integrated numerical–experimental framework was used to systematically compare passive blade configurations under equivalent low-wind conditions. Two modified configurations, a biomimetic profile incorporating passive trailing-edge devices and an asymmetric J-type geometry, were optimized using transient CFD simulations of the first rotation cycle and a Design of Experiments (DOE) framework. Additively manufactured full-rotor test blades were then manufactured via additive manufacturing and tested in a controlled wind tunnel at 3.0 m/s and 2.25 m/s. Start-up time, azimuthal robustness, tip-speed-ratio evolution, and static start-up torque (interpreted through its corresponding torque coefficient) were measured and compared against a baseline NACA0018 profile. The biomimetic configuration consistently produced higher start-up torque and shorter acceleration times, achieving self-starting in 66.7% of the evaluated azimuthal positions at 2.25 m/s, compared to 22.2% for the baseline profile. Within the investigated operating range, this configuration emerged as the most robust passive strategy. The agreement between CFD predictions and experimental measurements supports the use of first-cycle maximum torque as a representative indicator of self-starting performance. These findings highlight the comparative value of first-cycle maximum torque as a practical metric for passive self-starting design assessment in low-TSR Darrieus turbines. These findings provide direct experimental evidence to guide the rational design of Darrieus turbines intended for marginal wind conditions. Full article

The effect of A-site substitution on the morphological and electrochemical properties of La_1-xSr_xMnO₃ (x = 0, 0.25, 0.50) perovskites was investigated to evaluate their potential as electrode materials for supercapacitors. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the formation of the perovskite structure, with minor peak shifts and distortion of crystal structure induced by Sr substitution. Scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed irregularly shaped particulate morphology across all perovskite compositions. The increasing amount of Sr as in La_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ (LSM-50) favored the formation of nanosized particles, and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis confirmed the presence of all constituent elements; EDX elemental mapping also showed a uniform distribution of all elements in the various perovskite compositions. Among all compositions, La_0.75Sr_0.25MnO₃ (LSM-25) possessed the highest specific capacitance (C_sp) of 483 Fg⁻¹ at 1 Ag⁻¹ current density in 3 M KOH electrolyte, as determined by electrochemical analysis. This perovskite material also exhibited a capacitance retention of 87.8% after 5000 charge–discharge cycles. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy revealed that LSM-25 showed the lowest solution resistance (0.68 Ω*cm²) and charge transfer resistance (1.52 Ω*cm²), indicating strong electrode–electrolyte interaction. Detailed analysis of cyclic voltammetry data revealed that the predominant charge storage mechanism was diffusive in nature, with 88% of the diffusive contribution registered for LSM-25. These findings demonstrate that Sr substitution at the A-site significantly enhances the energy storage performance of LaMnO₃, making it a promising candidate for supercapacitor applications. Full article

With the rapid advancement of autonomous driving in modern society, dense pedestrian detection technology has encountered performance bottlenecks. To address this, we propose a robust and lightweight pedestrian detection algorithm, RMP-YOLO, designed to efficiently detect small, occluded, and low-light objects. Firstly, RFAConv is utilized as the core component of the backbone network, combining standard convolution with attention mechanisms and using group convolution to extract features from the spatial receptive field. Secondly, MobileViTv3 is introduced into the backbone to combine CNNs with Transformers. The model is further enhanced by adjusting feature fusion, introducing residual connections, and optimizing local representation with deep convolutional layers. Finally, the PIoUv2 loss function is employed for bounding-box regression, significantly reducing detection errors for small-scale pedestrians in crowded environments. Experimental results demonstrate that RMP-YOLO improves mAP@0.5 by 1.3% on a custom dataset and 0.91% on the WiderPerson dataset. Crucially, it maintains high efficiency with only 3.71 million parameters and 6.29 GFLOPs, meeting the deployment requirements for low computational power and high precision. Full article

Developing an ultrasensitive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) detection platform remains challenging due to the limited enrichment efficiency of ECL emitters and co-reactants at the electrode interface, as well as the insufficient catalytic enhancement of co-reactant conversion. Moreover, simultaneous in situ analyte enrichment and efficient anti-interference capability are often difficult to achieve in a single sensing interface. Herein, a new ECL platform was developed based on nanocatalyst-supported nanochannel-confined surfactant micelle (SM) system, which integrates an enhanced luminol-dissolved oxygen (DO) ECL response for the ultrasensitive detection of antibiotic rifampicin (RIF). A nanocomposite comprising nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots and a molybdenum disulfide nanosheet (NGQDs@MoS₂) was modified on an indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode. This nanocomposite layer catalyzed the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), boosting the co-reactant efficiency of DO. Vertically ordered mesoporous silica film filled with surfactant micelles (SM@VMSF) was subsequently grown in situ on the NGQDs@MoS₂ surface. The hydrophobic micelles enable the simultaneous enrichment of luminol, DO, and RIF. Integrating the triple-enrichment effect of surfactant micelles with the high electrocatalytic effect of NGQDs@MoS₂ nanocomposite results in significant ECL enhancement of the luminol–DO. SM@VMSF also provides an excellent molecular sieving effect, endowing the sensor with high anti-interference capability and stability. RIF quenches the ECL signal by consuming superoxide anion radicals, enabling sensitive detection. Detection of RIF was established with a high sensitivity (2927 a.u. per nM) wide linear range (10 pM to 10 μM) and a low limit of detection (LOD, 2.5 pM). The fabricated sensor exhibits good selectivity and high fabrication reproducibility (relative standard deviation, RSD, of 1.9%). Additionally, the determination of RIF in eye drops and seawater samples was realized. This work offers new insights for the design of high-performance ECL sensing interfaces and sensitive detection of RIF. Full article

Event cameras are bio-inspired vision sensors offering low latency, low power consumption, and high dynamic range, capturing motion with microsecond-level precision via a per-event triggering mechanism. Despite these advantages, the inherent sparsity and lack of color in event data hinder direct analysis, necessitating advanced deep learning approaches. To achieve low-latency and high-precision motion segmentation for indoor robotic applications, this paper introduces a dual-branch decoupled CNN framework. Specifically, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is utilized to project 3D event point clouds into 2D motion trend maps, capturing local motion priors while suppressing ambiguity in structured environments. Concurrently, an Event Leaky Integration (ELI) model, inspired by biological membrane potentials, is designed to enhance the structural representation of sparse events. Within this framework, separate branches respectively perform motion validation and shape extraction and are fused via a Spatial Gated Fusion (SGF) module to suppress static background interference. It is demonstrated experimentally that with an input window of only 10 ms, the proposed method achieves a 77% average mIoU across five indoor test scenarios from the EV-IMO dataset with an inference latency of 10 ms per frame. Compared to state-of-the-art methods like MSRNN and GCN, which required 30–300 ms event slices, our framework achieves a favorable trade-off between computational efficiency and segmentation accuracy, maintaining competitive performance under ultra-short time windows for indoor event-based motion processing. Full article