Search Results (132)

Risk assessment of safety-critical software relies heavily on expert reviews prone to high epistemic uncertainty and conflicting judgments. While evidence theory is widely used for information fusion, classical rules often yield counter-intuitive results in high-conflict scenarios. To address this, we propose an uncertainty-driven risk evaluation model based on a dual-dimensional evidence fusion approach. The framework integrates an improved Belief Entropy (BE) and an Evidence Conflict Coefficient (ECC) to quantify reliability from two perspectives: (1) Internal Dimension, using BE to measure inherent uncertainty within individual judgments; and (2) External Dimension, using ECC to measure divergence among multiple sources. By adaptively modifying Basic Probability Assignments (BPAs) with these dual-dimensional weights, the model effectively harmonizes data prior to fusion. Validated through an avionics software airworthiness case study, the methodology significantly enhances fusion stability and accuracy. Results confirm it effectively suppresses extreme deviations and raises the performance floor, providing a robust decision-support tool for safety-critical engineering. Full article

Background/Objectives: Identifying the causes of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) failure in early-stage oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) is essential for refining surgical protocols and optimizing patient selection. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance, predictors of false-negative (FN) results, and long-term oncological outcomes of SLNB in patients with early-stage OCSCC. Methods: A retrospective, single-centre cohort study was conducted on 220 patients with cT1–cT2 N0 M0 OCSCC who were surgically treated between 2017 and 2024. Preoperative lymphatic mapping was performed using ^99mTc-nanocolloid and SPECT/CT. All sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) underwent an ultrastaging protocol involving serial sectioning and immunohistochemistry. Diagnostic accuracy, survival outcomes, and clinicopathological predictors of FNs were analysed. Results: The SLN identification rate was 99.1%. Metastatic involvement was detected in 49 patients (22.3%), preventing 77.7% of the cohort from undergoing unnecessary neck dissection. Bilateral lymphatic drainage was observed in 55.9% of floor of the mouth tumours. During a median follow-up of 36 months, the diagnostic performance showed a sensitivity of 81.7%, a negative predictive value of 93.6%, and an overall accuracy of 95.0%. Analysis of the 11 FN cases showed that both depth of invasion (DOI) (6.0 mm vs. 3.0 mm; p = 0.010) and maximal tumour dimension (25 mm vs. 15 mm; p = 0.0008) were significant predictors of diagnostic failure. The five-year overall survival rate was significantly superior in patients with negative SLNs compared to the SLN-positive group (82% vs. 61%; p < 0.001). Conclusions: SLNB is an accurate and reliable staging tool for early-stage OCSCC, providing personalised lymphatic mapping that harmonizes oncological efficacy with the avoidance of overtreatment. However, an increased DOI and a larger tumour size significantly raise the risk of FN events, indicating the need for close postoperative surveillance in these high-risk subgroups. Full article

The effects of three metabolizable energy (ME) levels and the use of guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) were evaluated on broiler performance and nutrient digestibility from 1 to 35 d of age. In total, 1944-d-old Ross AP95 male broilers were randomly distributed to six treatments (12 replicates/treatment). Diets were formulated to contain three ME levels (standard energy [SE], −50 kcal/kg reduced energy [−50 RE] and −100 kcal/kg reduced energy [−100 RE]) in all feeding phases with or without GAA inclusion. For the nutrient-metabolizable analysis, 960-day-old male broilers were separately raised in floor pens until 14 d of age and randomly distributed to six treatments (16 replicates/treatment). Data were analyzed with ANOVA and Tukey’s test at p ≤ 0.05. There was a significant interaction for the feed conversion ratio (FCR) at 21 days, in which the PC diet showed better FCR when GAA was included. In the evaluation of the main effects, an effect of metabolizable energy (ME) was observed on body condition score (BCS) at 7 and 21 days, feed intake (FI) at 21 and 35 days, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) at 21 days, with the PC diet showing better FCR and lower FI. An effect of GAA was observed on feed conversion ratio at 21 days, with the inclusion of GAA in the diet showing better FCR. In conclusion, broilers fed SE diets with GAA, beyond better performance, had improved AME and AMEn compared to broilers fed RE diets without GAA in starter diets. Full article

The rapid development of medical technologies requires architects to implement a future-proofing approach while designing medical facilities, despite the inherent uncertainty of long-term change. This challenge is particularly visible within hospital emergency departments (HEDs), which play a critical role as first-contact units and life-saving infrastructures. Due to their specific function, HEDs are a challenging environment for implementing new solutions, as they rely on proven frameworks designed to ensure continuity of care and operational efficiency. This raises the key question: how can modern technologies and architectural strategies streamline workflows in HEDs without overwhelming medical staff? Considering current challenges, an equally important factor in the development of emergency departments is their preparedness for crisis situations, such as pandemics, war threats and natural disasters. How can architectural design enable the implementation of given design strategies, aiming to ensure opportunities for development while simultaneously preparing for all-hazard scenarios? The authors gathered existing trends and solutions aimed at preparing hospital emergency departments for future challenges: positive/neutral, such as technological development, but also negative, such as currently ongoing war threats or risk of the next pandemic. Despite the apparent thematic extremity, certain systematic architectural solutions using a transdisciplinary approach may be the answer to these occurrences. The mentioned architectural solutions and factors were synthesized and subjected to design-oriented review based on existing case studies of a few Polish hospitals, which are simultaneously studied as case studies for broader doctoral research in the field of effectiveness assessment. The selected Polish hospital emergency departments are used as an illustrative, analytical reference to support the interpretation and synthesis of the reviewed literature. The contextual analysis enables the identification of transferable, design-oriented strategies relevant to broader emergence medicine architecture and applicable within European units. Examples from Polish units in particular are used as reference and background for discussion, rather than as empirical case studies. The study provides an overview of contemporary and future-oriented solutions in hospital architecture, focusing on the impact and feasibility within the hospital emergency departments. The synthesis highlights the importance of designing flexible spaces prepared for future technological advances, such as oversized service shafts, increased floor heights, and modular layouts. Additionally, the study focuses on the spatial connotations of emerging technologies like medical robotics, their maintenance areas and possible challenges. All of this is interrelated to social, demographic, and economic trends. These include the development of hospital networks, the evolving patient profile, inter-hospital information flow, and the growing role of highly specialized medical units. In terms of rapid challenges like wars or armed threats, factors revealed within the review indicate levels of HED readiness to face the conflict, mainly in terms of surge capacity but also structural durability and reserve resources. The post-pandemic context, in turn, assumes rapid expansion of the hospital into temporary and flexible structures and reversible zoning allowing for patient segregation and separation. Together, these insights outline pathways for creating resilient, adaptable, and efficient emergency care environments resilient to unforeseen challenges. Considering future scenarios of emergency departments, two main scenarios were identified: “the hospital of the future”, continuing overall development and adapting to rapid technological innovations, and “the crisis-resilient hospital”, resistant to various crisis scenarios, such as pandemics or war threats. The optimal development of the unit assumes both openness to technological changes and preparation of key zones for all-hazard scenarios. This review aims to synthesize architectural implications of technological and socio-demographic changes, not to provide a full empirical study. Adopting an exploratory framework, the review refers to technological innovations and crisis preparedness as external drivers shaping the spatial organization of hospital emergency departments and their adaptability to future challenges. Because of various inhibitors (economic, political, hierarchical), not all hospitals can introduce the described improvements, but the synthesis may serve as a knowledge source for future investments. The review was also conducted to support design decisions under conditions of uncertainty. The choice to address all the external factors collectively was induced to provide transferability of solutions and coherence of possible scenarios, which may happen simultaneously. Full article

This study experimentally evaluated the performance of a wall confluent jet (WCJ) cooling system in a greenhouse under real summer and autumn weather conditions. It examined the effects of indoor air temperature setpoint (T_spt), number of nozzle rows (n) on the WCJ diffuser, and external wall shading on WCJ’s cooling performance. Thermocouples and constant-current anemometers measured air and surface temperatures and air velocity, while pyranometers measured solar radiation. The WCJ system dynamically regulated inlet air temperature between 14 °C and 25 °C to counter solar and conductive heat gains, maintaining indoor air temperature within ±1.5 °C of the setpoint. Increasing T_spt by 4 °C reduced inlet cooling demand by 25% but increased indoor air temperature by 20–25% and raised ceiling, wall, and floor surface temperatures by 17%, 20%, and 16%, respectively. Increasing n reduced surface temperatures by up to 8% and indoor air temperature by 6%. External wall shading reduced solar heat gain, lowering interior surface temperatures by 10–30%, peak and mean indoor air temperatures by up to 35% and 15%, and net power peaks by 40%. Autumn conditions reduced cooling loads by 50% relative to summer. Overall, WCJ cooling demonstrates strong potential as an alternative or complementary system for greenhouse thermal regulation without increasing primary energy demand. Full article

Following the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) process at the Rio+20 Summit, China has progressively strengthened sustainability-oriented considerations in development target setting and administration cadre performance assessment, which provides an institutional window to examine how the transformation of development goals reshapes urban land supply patterns. This study develops a spatial general equilibrium model and uses panel data for 286 prefecture-level cities in China from 2007 to 2021 to examine how the transformation of development goals affects urban land supply patterns. The results show that higher economic growth targets significantly expand total land supply, raise the ratio of industrial to residential land supply, and tighten floor-area-ratio (FAR) regulation. “Soft constraint” wording dampens the effect on land supply scale but strengthens the effects on land supply structure and FAR regulation, while the degree of vertical and horizontal target escalation generates substantial heterogeneity in these relationships. Moreover, after governance shifted from growth-oriented to sustainability-oriented objectives, the marginal effectiveness of using land supply structure and FAR regulation to deliver predetermined growth targets declined significantly. This study provides empirical evidence and policy-relevant insights for improving sustainability-oriented target accountability systems and urban governance incentive mechanisms. Full article

Sensory mapping in architecture lacks a guiding theoretical model, leaving practitioners without a clear way to relate spatial design to embodied experience. This study introduces a structured methodology that links phenomenological observation with affordance theory and sensory semiotics, framing sensory data within architectural contexts. Fieldwork in fourteen courtyard houses of Damascus had residents trace their movements on simplified floor plans, switching colors as sight, sound, touch, smell and taste became dominant. The analysis reveals that visitors pass through a narrow entry corridor, enter the courtyard, and converge at the central fountain, which emerges as a focal point for multiple senses. Residents consistently trace tactile interactions along the fountain’s stone rim and at raised benches in the liwan (open space). Gustatory (taste-related, food-linked) markers appear along the route from kitchen thresholds toward the fountain, suggesting how food preparation and communal gathering overlap. Using 28 sensory maps and a three-level analytical process, comparison, synthesis, and spatial interpretation, the study produced a unified sensory map of the Damascene courtyard house. This pattern highlights how sequential spatial arrangements shape sensory engagement and suggests conservation strategies that preserve these experiential pathways. Architects and conservators can reinforce welcome gestures at thresholds and design water features and planting schemes that invite lingering. The proposed methodology fills the theoretical gap and offers clear guidelines for crafting spaces that respond to human perception. Full article

Residential buildings on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau face persistent thermal discomfort due to high-altitude climatic extremes. This study investigates how building morphology—including aspect ratio (AR), orientation, and area scaling—affects indoor thermal comfort. Field surveys in Xinghai County informed representative dwelling reconstructions, which were simulated using Ladybug 1.8.0 and Honeybee 1.8.0. Thermal performance was evaluated using PMV, SET, Winter solstice apparent form factor (WSAFF), and surface-to-volume ratio (S/V). Results indicate that compact, near-square forms enhance seasonal thermal stability, with higher WSAFF improving winter solar gains but raising summer overheating risk. South-facing orientations (0° to −30°) optimize summer comfort, while geometric scaling (0.4–2.0) stabilizes indoor temperatures and improves summer PMV and SET, though winter benefits are limited. Comparison of prototype layouts shows that elongated footprints increase vertical variation in comfort, highlighting upper-floor sensitivity to geometry. The study provides a climate-specific framework linking building form with indoor thermal performance. These insights offer practical guidance for sustainable settlement planning and adaptive building design in cold, high-altitude regions. Full article

In the face of increasing global temperatures, this study aims to explore ventilation strategies that could provide passive cooling to mitigate overheating in studied low-energy school buildings, in particular those that use ventilative cooling. This study utilises building modelling calibrated with field data to tackle the challenge of maintaining indoor thermal comfort and cognitive performance levels during increasingly warm seasons. The calibrated building model is used to evaluate the vulnerability of classrooms, identifying and addressing risks based on standardised overheating and resilience criteria. Two primary school classrooms were simulated in three main cities across Ireland to assess the possibility of natural ventilative cooling for maintaining indoor thermal conditions without sacrificing energy efficiency. The study highlights the critical need to enhance natural ventilation strategies to protect against projected future overheating, with peak indoor temperatures reaching 29 °C to 31 °C during May, June, and September. Implementing a maximum natural ventilation strategy during occupied times, with a 9.6% opening-to-floor area ratio, can reduce peak indoor temperatures by up to 2.5 °C. Findings show Irish classrooms in low-energy buildings equipped with hybrid ventilative cooling can act as potential climate shelters during July and August under extreme weather conditions, underlining their capacity to provide a comfortable environment for vulnerable people during heatwaves and reduce overheating risk by 42–48% compared to natural ventilation. Additionally, projections show that cognitive performance loss in students may rise to 23% by 2071 due to raised indoor temperatures; however, this can be reduced to below 10% in 2021 and 2041 with maximum natural ventilation. The novelty of this work lies in its systematic evaluation of ventilative cooling resilience under future climate scenarios across multiple Irish city contexts, providing a robust evidence base for designing climate-resilient, energy-efficient learning environments. Full article

A major danger that significantly raises the possibility of deep coal mining accidents is the delayed water influx from the bottom plate, which is brought on by the activation of tiny faults brought on by mining at the working face of the restricted aquifer. This study develops 17 numerical models utilizing FLAC3D simulation software 6.00.69 to clarify the activation and water inburst mechanisms of minor faults influenced by various parameters, incorporating fluid–solid coupling effects in coal seam mining. The developmental patterns of the stress field, displacement field, plastic zone, and seepage field of the floor rock layer were systematically examined in relation to four primary factors: aquifer water pressure, minor fault angle, fracture zone width, and the distance from the coal seam to the aquifer. The results of the study show that the upper and lower plates of the minor fault experience discontinuous deformation as a result of mining operations. The continuity of the rock layers below is broken by the higher plate’s deformation, which is significantly larger than that of the lower plate. The activation and water flow into small faults are influenced by many elements in diverse ways. Increasing the distance between the coal seam and the aquifer will make the water conduction pathway more resilient. This will reduce the amount of water that flows in. On the other hand, higher aquifer water pressure, a larger fracture zone, and a fault that is tilted will all help smaller faults become active and create channels for water to flow into. The gray relational analysis method was used to find out how sensitive something is. The sensitivities of each factor to water influence were ranked from high to low as follows: distance between the aquifer and coal seam (correlation coefficient 0.766), aquifer water pressure (0.756), width of the fracture zone (0.710), and angle of the minor fault (0.673). This study statistically elucidates the inherent mechanism of delayed water instillation in minor faults influenced by many circumstances, offering a theoretical foundation for the accurate prediction and targeted mitigation of mine water hazards. Full article

For several years, Infantis was the most common Salmonella serovar circulating in the Belgian broiler sector and persisting on broiler farms. To gain insight into its prevalence and circulation on broiler farms in Belgium, five farms (14 flocks) with a S. Infantis contamination history were monitored during two consecutive production rounds. In total, ten sampling events were conducted using moist sponge sticks after cleaning and disinfection, during the delivery of the one-day-old chicks and during production until slaughter or until positive for S. Infantis. Salmonella presence on samples was determined based on the ISO 6579:2017 standard, and the isolated strains were typed using PFGE. The results showed that current cleaning and disinfection practices were unable to completely remove S. Infantis from the farms. Cleaning equipment (3 out of 9 sample times) and the floor (5 out of 10 sample times) were particularly contaminated. Furthermore, external environmental samples were also frequently contaminated (e.g., mortality containers, concrete driveway). During production, 12 of the 28 sampled flocks were colonized with S. Infantis after one week, indicating that S. Infantis quickly spreads throughout the broiler house, which raises the hypothesis that feeding and/or drinking water systems play a critical role in the circulation of the bacteria. This study gives insights into the circulation and difficulty of controlling S. Infantis in persistently contaminated broiler farms, highlighting the importance of thorough cleaning and disinfection and biosecurity. Full article

Acoustically, Baroque theatres have prove remarkably appropriate for opera, and, in the past, little distinction was drawn in design between drama and opera use, except for the inclusion of an orchestra pit, because both music and words were audible and balanced, reverberation times being shorter than in concert halls but longer than in speech auditoria. In a drama configuration, scenery is set in the fly tower on stage, while for opera pieces, in most cases, the orchestra pit platform raises to the main floor level of the stalls to set additional seats rows. Considering the characteristics of the Opera di Roma (IT), the case study, the main physical parameters that contribute to the sound quality are evaluated and compared in relation to the pit position level, in order to understand the possible merits of the covering seats on the pit surface for drama representations and, more generally, for speech activities. Eight different configurations are compared and, to evaluate the acoustic parameters’ sensitivity, the JND (just noticeable difference) is analyzed. The parameters’ trend is described. Full article

Background/Objectives: The growing population of women aged ≥ 80 years poses a new challenge for urogynecology. Advanced age, comorbidities, and polypharmacy raise concerns regarding the safety of procedures in the management of pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) such as pelvic organ prolapse (POP), stress urinary incontinence (SUI), and overactive bladder (OAB). Individualized, frailty-based assessment is essential in this group. The aim of the study was to evaluate the safety profile of urogynecological surgical procedures among women aged ≥ 80 years at a single tertiary center. Methods: In a retrospective observational single-center study, we analyzed the medical documentation of 774 hospitalizations of women aged ≥ 80 years admitted between 2014 and 2023. The analysis included indications, comorbidities, treatment types, anesthesia, and complications. Comorbidity and surgical risk were evaluated using the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and Clavien–Dindo classification. Results: A total of 720 admissions with complete medical records were analyzed, of which 65% were for urogynecological conditions. In this group, the mean age was 83.0 years and mean BMI was 27.2 kg/m². Most patients (92.9%) had comorbidities, mainly hypertension (84.2%) and diabetes (21.1%). POP was the leading indication (52%), followed by SUI (35%) and OAB (27%). Surgical management was performed in 95% of POP cases, predominantly via vaginal native tissue repair (80%), especially LeFort colpocleisis (20%). The transobturator sling (TOT) was the most frequent SUI surgery. Intraoperative complications occurred in 1.5% of cases and postoperative ones were mainly minor (Clavien–Dindo I–II). No procedure-related deaths were recorded. Conclusions: In this cohort, surgical treatment of urogynecological problems in women ≥80 years was associated with a low rate of major complications, suggesting that it can be safely offered to elderly patients. Careful preoperative assessment based on frailty and comorbidity rather than chronological age remains essential. Full article

Currently, there remains a lack of systematic quantitative analysis of the acoustic impact mechanism of ancestral temple theatres in relation to their core function of opera performance. This paper takes the Zhaomutang—a typical ancestral temple theatre in northeast Jiangxi—as an example, and comprehensively uses on-site mapping, impulse response testing, and ODEON three-dimensional sound field simulation to conduct acoustic sensitivity analysis on five key spatial elements of the theatre. The results show that the theatre has a hierarchical sound field pattern along its depth, characterized by “high in the front, low in the rear, stronger on the sides and weaker in the middle”. The front patio and the Xiangtang support the clarity of Gan opera dialogue and the fullness of singing through early lateral reflections and moderate reverberation (EDT of 0.8–1.1 s, C₈₀ of 3.2–6.1 dB). However, the rear patio and the Qintang show apparent loudness deficiency (G of −1.5–3.2 dB) and lack of spatial immersion (LF₈₀ below 0.23). The most effective optimization comes from the reconstruction of the geometric relationship between performers and audience: moving the performers forward and appropriately raising the stage and audience area floor can significantly shorten the rear area EDT and increase C₈₀ and G; in contrast, the improvement in sound quality brought about by adding a patio cover and raising the gables is minimal, and the changes in various parameters are generally less than 1 JND. Based on this, the “schedule priority—reversible intervention” acoustic maintenance strategy for living heritage is proposed, and it is suggested that reversible reflective components be set in the side corridor to specifically enhance the sense of immersion in the rear area sound field. The study constructs a quantitative correlation framework of space, materials, and sound field, providing methodological support and parameter basis for the acoustic assessment and protective utilization of ancestral temple theatres. Full article

Background: Pelvic floor dysfunctions, congenital anomalies, and acquired defects of the female genital, urethral, and anal tract represent complex conditions requiring multidisciplinary management. This review synthesizes current evidence and aims to evaluate reconstructive surgical techniques, prosthetic use, and cosmetic approaches with a focus on functional and aesthetic outcomes. Methods: A structured literature search of PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library was performed for the period from January 2000 to May 2025 (last search: 31 May 2025). Eligible studies included randomized controlled trials, prospective or retrospective clinical studies, and case series in English or Italian, enrolling women aged ≥18 years with a minimum follow-up of 6 months. Primary outcomes were anatomical restoration, continence, sexual function, and quality of life; secondary outcomes included patient satisfaction, wound complications, donor-site morbidity, and recurrence. Recent high-quality studies published after 2018 were prioritized to ensure an updated and evidence-based synthesis. Results: Out of 532 records, 94 full texts were assessed and 41 studies met the eligibility criteria, comprising a total of 1862 women. Flap-based reconstruction (gluteus maximus, VRAM, gracilis, ALT) remained the cornerstone for large or irradiated defects, while prosthetic meshes improved anatomical outcomes but raised concerns of erosion and chronic pain, leading to a shift toward autologous tissue. Cosmetic gynecology procedures (labiaplasty, vaginoplasty, perineoplasty) showed high patient satisfaction, although the evidence was limited and heterogeneous. Across studies, improvements were observed in continence, sexual function, quality of life, and self-image when reconstructive and aesthetic principles were integrated. Conclusions: Reconstructive and cosmetic pelvic surgery significantly impacts functional recovery and psychological well-being. Standardized outcome reporting, prospective multicenter trials, and the integration of plastic surgery, physiotherapy, and psychological support are needed to optimize patient-centered care. The findings highlight the growing role of personalized surgical planning, with reconstructive decisions increasingly guided by patient-specific anatomy, functional goals, and validated patient-reported outcome measures. Full article