Search Results (2,392)

Advanced oxidation technology utilizing ozone as the oxidant shows great potential for the efficient purification of wastewater. However, the efficiency of ozone decomposition remains a significant bottleneck limiting the performance of ozone-based advanced oxidation processes. Catalytic ozone decomposition technology is a highly effective approach to enhancing ozone utilization efficiency; nevertheless, the competing adsorption of water molecules results in low catalytic reaction efficiency and catalyst deactivation. In this study, NiFe layered double hydroxide (LDH) was prepared successfully through the hydrothermal method. In situ DRIFTS with isotope labeling revealed that ozone combines with surface H atoms to produce H₂O, whereas the oxidation of high-valence metals destroys H₂O, producing H atoms that return to the surface of NiFe LDH. The unique structure of NiFe LDH allows water to participate in the surface H atom cycle process, and the charge exchange between Ni and Fe atoms accelerates the recovery of surface H atoms, which avoids the deactivation of the active site caused by competitive adsorption of water molecules, achieving a catalytic ozone decomposition efficiency of 99% for 80 h and 59.0% for simulated wastewater containing polyacrylamide as a model pollutant. This work presents a fresh insight into surface H cycling of LDH materials to improve the wet resistance of the catalysts. Full article

Historic cities face a dual challenge of managing waterlogging risks while adhering to strict preservation constraints. Traditional drainage upgrades often require extensive excavation, threatening cultural heritage. This study establishes a quantitative assessment framework for the historic urban district of City B using a 1D-2D-coupled hydrodynamic model (InfoWorks ICM). The model was calibrated using continuous monitoring data, achieving a Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) of 0.91. Its spatial accuracy was subsequently validated against historical waterlogging records, showing a strong consistency between simulated flood-prone areas and observed flood locations. We simulated waterlogging distribution under rainfall events with return periods of 0.5 to 5 years. Results reveal two key deficiencies in the current drainage system under a 0.5-year return period storm event. Firstly, 75.3% of the pipe segments are hydraulically overloaded, failing to meet the design standard. Secondly, this widespread network overload contributes to surface waterlogging, with 9.58 ha (1.80% of the total area) being waterlogged. We evaluated three strategies: Low Impact Development (LID), underground storage tanks, and intercepting sewers. A hybrid grey-green infrastructure (HGGI) system was proposed, integrating source reduction and terminal storage. The HGGI system reduced waterlogged areas by 83.58% (0.5-year event) and 64.87% (5-year event), outperforming single measures. Crucially, this hybrid system achieves minimal intervention in historic street patterns through trenchless construction for intercepting sewers, decentralized LID layout and underground storage tanks, avoiding large-scale road excavation while enhancing flood resilience. This study demonstrates that hybrid strategies can effectively balance flood resilience with environmental and cultural preservation in high-density historic districts. Full article

Braking drag is a typical fault of brake systems, and clarifying the correlation mechanism between vehicular working conditions and braking drag is critical for brake design improvement. Based on fluid mechanics and contact mechanics, this paper establishes a dynamic model for braking drag mechanism analysis, combined with the return mechanism and force-bearing state of brake pistons. Firstly, a commercial vehicle brake system dynamic model is built via Amesim, and piston sliding resistance is identified as the key factor leading to insufficient piston retraction through user operational data analysis. Subsequently, a fluid-structure interaction-based dynamic coupling model of drag mechanism is established, typical braking conditions are extracted via K-means clustering, and piston friction, displacement and drag torque are solved with the system model outputs as inputs. Finally, drag-prone working conditions are determined, and the disc brake drag mechanism is revealed. The results show that piston sliding resistance is the primary factor in braking drag; medium-low speed prolonged braking has high drag susceptibility; and the seal contact area is in mixed lubrication, with contact pressure and friction dominated by asperity shear stress. This work enables accurate identification of drag-prone conditions, providing guidance for brake system optimization. Full article

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) enables controlled gyroid lattices, but mapping both process and design to performance remains challenging when datasets are small and interactions are non-linear. In this study, data-driven models that link energy density and lattice geometry to Young’s modulus and yield strength were established for sheet and network gyroid architectures. To stabilise small-data learning, stacked-autoencoder pre-training was benchmarked against greedy layer-wise pre-training. Compression characterisation data at under-represented energy-density conditions were added to fill data gaps and validate predictions. The models support property-driven design in which given modulus and yield strength targets inform a method that returns feasible combinations of laser powder bed fusion settings and gyroid density and size. Pre-trained models reduced error and captured the relationship between stiffness and density and between strength and density, with yield strength prediction errors of 3.51% for sheet architectures and 8.76% for network architectures. Young’s modulus showed a higher variability that is consistent with sensitivities in LPBF such as surface roughness and thin walls. This work contributes an artificial intelligence method for manufacturing datasets using stacked autoencoder pre-training with fine-tuning, and an inverse-design workflow that maps energy density and gyroid geometry to Young’s modulus and yield strength in titanium lattices. Full article

Additive manufacturing is transforming high-frequency electronics prototyping by offering a sustainable and cost-effective alternative to traditional methods. This work addresses and demonstrates two areas: the use of 3D printing for millimeter-wave (mmWave) antennas, and chip-to-chip or chip-to-PCB interconnects. Both approaches facilitate reduced material waste. A 47 GHz series-fed microstrip patch array was printed on flexible Kapton using aerosol jet technology, showing performance comparable to etched arrays on Roger’s substrates. Crucially, the Kapton film can be peeled off after testing, allowing the reuse of expensive low-loss substrates. Therefore, this method supports rapid, low-waste prototyping. To address future chip-to-chip and chip-to-PCB mmWave interconnect limitations, XTPL’s Ultra-Precise Dispensing (UPD) was used to fabricate 3D-printed micro-interconnects. At 73 GHz, these interconnect structures achieved return loss better than 10 dB and insertion loss under 1 dB—outperforming traditional bondwires. Together, these results show 3D printing’s potential to enable sustainable, high-performance mmWave RF systems. Full article

Background: Return to work (RTW) after acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or acute heart failure (HF) is a pivotal outcome reflecting functional recovery and quality of life (QoL). While survival after cardiac events has improved through reperfusion and guideline-directed pharmacotherapy, sustainable RTW depends on an integrated set of clinical, psychological, social, and occupational determinants. Objective: This study aimed to synthesize and expand the evidence on predictors of RTW, delineate practical workload-matching rules using METs and CPET, and position multidisciplinary cardiac rehabilitation (CR) as the bridge from clinical recovery to durable vocational reintegration. Key findings: Beyond left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), depression, anxiety, illness perceptions, and RTW self-efficacy are robust predictors of vocational outcomes. CPET-guided exercise prescriptions and MET-based job matching ensure adequate metabolic reserve; sustained task demand should remain at ≤35–40% of maximal capacity, with peak capacity ≥2× average job demand. CR (Class IA in the 2023 ESC ACS Guidelines) improves exercise tolerance, medication adherence, psychosocial well-being, and deployment of vocational support, including stepwise reintegration plans and ergonomic adaptations. Telerehabilitation extends monitoring and counseling into the workplace and maintains adherence after RTW. Conclusions: Comprehensive CR that integrates exercise training, psychosocial counseling, lifestyle modification, and vocational interventions offers the most effective pathway to stable RTW, improved QoL, and reduced socio-economic burden. Early identification of vulnerable subgroups and personalized, digitally supported follow-up are essential for long-term job retention. Full article

Despite extensive research on queueing models in flexible manufacturing systems (FMS), few studies have simultaneously considered the heterogeneity of servers and the impact of synchronous working vacations on system performance. To fill this research gap, this study proposes a novel multi-server queueing model that uniquely integrates two-phase heterogeneous services with synchronous working vacation interruptions. The innovation lies in capturing the complex task processing mechanism where the two-phase service is provided by different servers, and they conduct working vacations synchronously when the system is empty and terminate vacations once the system population reaches a specified threshold. Based on the matrix-analytic approach, this research investigates the stability condition and the stationary distribution of the system. A key numerical finding is the diminishing marginal returns of server numbers, where exceeding an optimal count increases congestion, thereby degrading overall performance. The vacation interruption threshold l is also shown to significantly influence server state allocation. A comparative analysis of three different system configurations, demonstrates that dynamic server number or a vacation interruption threshold adjustment effectively mitigates congestion; and in order to enhance the system clearing capability, when vacations are longer, opting for multiple servers is preferable, whereas a single server is more suitable during shorter vacation periods. For cost optimization, three algorithms (CPSO, JAYA, MLS-JAYA) consistently converge to the same robust optimal solution for server count and vacation rate. Furthermore, to simultaneously minimize waiting time, we apply the MOEA/D algorithm to study the bi-objective optimization problem. Full article

Background: Dupuytren’s disease (DD) is a fibroproliferative disorder of the palmar fascia that results in progressive digital flexion contractures. Various treatment strategies have been developed to restore extension, ranging from minimally invasive collagenase clostridium histolyticum (CCH) injection to more invasive surgical procedures such as open selective aponeurectomy. While CCH has gained widespread adoption due to its limited invasiveness and rapid recovery, questions remain about its long-term durability compared with open surgery (OS). This study aims to compare long-term outcomes of CCH injection and OS in patients with stage 2 or higher single-digit DD, focusing on recurrence, patient satisfaction, complications, and return to work at least 10 years after treatment. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on patients treated in 2012 with either CCH injection or OS. All patients had at least stage 2 DD and at least 10 years of follow-up. The primary outcome was to compare recurrence rates between the two patient cohorts. Secondary outcomes included visual analogue scale (VAS) satisfaction, Michigan Hand Questionnaire (MHQ) scores, complications, and time to return to work. Results: A total of 97 patients completed 10-year follow-up (60 OS, 37 CCH). Recurrence at 7 years was relatively similar between groups. However, a pronounced divergence emerged between 7 and 10 years. At 10 years, recurrence occurred in 10 patients in the OS group versus 15 in the CCH group, with statistically significant differences overall (p = 0.0175) and particularly in the PIP subgroup (p = 0.0041). VAS satisfaction at 10 years was higher after OS (7.9 ± 1.5) than after CCH (6.4 ± 1.6), and return to work was significantly faster after CCH. MHQ scores were comparable. Conclusion: Both treatments provided acceptable patient satisfaction at 10 years; however, OS yielded better long-term recurrence rates and fewer complications. Although CCH offers rapid recovery, its durability beyond 7 years appears markedly inferior. These findings reinforce the need for careful patient selection and long-term counseling when considering minimally invasive treatment. Full article

Debris flows are rapid downslope movements of soil and rock (a type of external geodynamic process) typically triggered by extreme rainfall, posing significant threats to infrastructure and human lives. The objective of this study is to assess the relationship between rainfall intensity and debris flow magnitude for different return periods (5, 10, 50, and 100 years) and, ultimately, to establish rainfall thresholds in Chasquitambo (Perú). This work presents numerical simulation results for extreme rainfall scenarios using the open-source software HEC-RAS v6.4.1 (Mud/Debris Flow mode), calibrated with flood marks from the recent extreme Cyclone Yaku event that occurred on 12 March 2023 (considered an approximately 100-year event). The simulations reveal a non-linear relationship between rainfall intensity and hazard, with the most extensive impacts reaching velocities of 4.5 m/s, depths of up to 7.0 m, and affecting an area of ~130,000 m². The study indicates an operational rainfall threshold of 20 mm in 24 h, which is proposed to trigger monitoring protocols, early warning systems, and effective mitigation strategies. The proposed workflow provides a transferable and data-efficient foundation for deriving operational rainfall thresholds and scenario-based hazard metrics, which are useful for early warning systems and land-use planning in similar mountain catchments. Full article

Automating ICD-10 coding from discharge summaries remains demanding because coders analyze clinical narratives while justifying decisions. This study compares three automation patterns: PLM-ICD as a standalone deep learning system emitting 15 codes per case, LLM-only generation with full autonomy, and a hybrid approach where PLM-ICD drafts candidates for an agentic LLM audit to accept or reject. All strategies were evaluated on 19,801 MIMIC-IV summaries using four LLMs spanning compact (Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct, Llama-3.2-3B-Instruct, Phi-4-mini-instruct) to large-scale (Sonnet-4.5). Precision guided evaluation because coders still supply any missing diagnoses. PLM-ICD alone reached 55.8% precision while always surfacing 15 suggestions. LLM-only generation lagged severely (1.5–34.6% precision) and produced inconsistent output sizes. The agentic audit delivered the best trade-off: compact LLMs reviewed the 15 candidates, discarded weak evidence, and returned 2–8 high-confidence codes. Llama-3.2-3B-Instruct, for example, improved from 1.5% as a generator to 55.1% as a verifier while trimming false positives by 73%. These results show that positioning LLMs as quality controllers, rather than primary generators, yields reliable support for clinical coding teams, while formal recall/F1 reporting remains future work for fully autonomous implementations. Full article

The transition towards circular economy is now a key strategy to address the environmental issues we are facing. Within this framework, biochar, a carbon-rich material derived from residual agricultural pyrolysis, can represent a sustainable and circular solution. This paper aims at evaluating the possibility of implementing a local biochar-production system as part of an economic and social strategy of the redevelopment of an abandoned rural site, Borgo di Perolla, in Tuscany, Italy. A cost–benefits analysis (CBA) was conducted to evaluate the economic feasibility of three different scenarios of production and strategies: Scenario 1 considers revenues solely from the production and sale of biochar and wood vinegar; Scenario 2 additionally includes potential income from the sale of voluntary carbon credits; and Scenario 3 incorporates biochar credits within the European Union Emission Trading System (EU ETS). For each scenario, three indicators were calculated: Net-Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), and Breakeven point (BEP). The most evident result that emerged is that the sale of biochar and its by-products alone is not sufficient to ensure the project’s economic sustainability, mainly due to high production costs. Only through carbon-credit-trading markets biochar becomes not only an environmentally strategic tool but also an economically rewarding one. In this sense, market infrastructures, such as the ETS, are essential for the dissemination of circular models, like biochar, that generate both environmental and economic benefits. Previous studies on biochar have largely focused on its application and associated benefits, while cost–benefit analyses have primarily examined its economic feasibility through the commercialization of biochar as a soil amendment, particularly within the United States context. The present work contributes to this literature in three main ways. First, it provides a site-specific and replicable CBA framework applied to a real territorial regeneration project (Borgo di Perolla), grounded in primary data collected through field surveys, stakeholder interviews, and expert validation. Second, the study explicitly compares multiple market-access scenarios within the same analytical framework, ranging from biochar-only sales to voluntary carbon markets, allowing for a clear identification of the economic thresholds at which biochar becomes financially sustainable. Third, and most importantly, the main contribution of this work lies in the explicit modeling of biochar integration into the EU Emissions Trading System. This paper extends the analysis to a regulated carbon market scenario, assuming the recognition of biochar-based carbon removals within the EU ETS framework. From a methodological perspective, the study quantitatively assesses how ETS price dynamics affect the profitability, internal rate of return, and break-even point of a biochar project over a long-term horizon. From a policy perspective, the analysis anticipates recent regulatory developments, such as the EU Regulation 2024/3012, on establishing a Union certification framework for permanent carbon removals, carbon farming, and carbon storage in products, by showing how biochar could function as a fully market-integrated climate technology. Full article

In a period of rapid social and economic change in Saudi Arabia under Vision 2030, increasing numbers of Saudi women undertake international sojourns for study and professional development. This article examines how these temporary migrations serve as sites for renegotiating gender roles, autonomy, and mobility. Using feminist narrative inquiry, we conducted 13 in-depth biographical interviews with Saudi women sojourners (students and spouses) living in Ottawa, Canada, and analyzed data using reflexive thematic analysis. Participants described a liminal autonomy: the startling acquisition of everyday freedoms—driving, unchaperoned mobility, and mixed-gender interaction—contrasted with prior constraints under male guardianship. Yet these freedoms were constrained by two transnational forces: a digital leash of family/community surveillance from home and a racializing gaze in Canada, where Islamophobia and othering complicated daily life and identity work. Women critically assessed a “moving target” of reform in Saudi Arabia, celebrating new mobilities (e.g., driving) while expressing skepticism toward the 2022 Personal Status Law, perceived as codifying patriarchal authority. We argue that sojourner autonomy is fragile, intersectional, and perceived as reversible upon return. The study advances theory by articulating liminal autonomy, showing how polymedia reproduces control across borders and distinguishing lifestyle freedoms from structural autonomy. Implications include intersectional campus supports, culturally attuned counseling, and recognition of returning sojourners as agents of social change. Full article

The decision-making procedure to develop and manage a production strategy is challenging because it requires a high investment and is performed under uncertainty. Heavy-oil reservoirs present low mobility and a high production of water under waterflooding. However, intelligent wells with ICVs (inflow control valves) and polymer flooding can improve the field’s performance. This work proposes a decision analysis to select the best strategy for the development of a heavy-oil field, evaluating and comparing the feasibility of waterflooding, polymers, and ICVs. We complement the nominal optimization accomplished for the base case in previous works by considering a probabilistic procedure with uncertainties, which includes the following: the generation of uncertain scenarios, the initial risk evaluation, the optimization of production strategies, a risk curve analysis, and the selection of the best strategy. A model-based reservoir simulation is used to perform the procedure, with the Expected Monetary Value (EMV) quantifying the economic returns. The case study is a sandstone heavy-oil reservoir (13° API) that represents a real Brazilian offshore field. Based on the EMV, we selected the polymer flooding strategy for this case study. However, since better water management was achieved with small differences to the polymer strategy, the option of using the ICVs in combination with polymer could be attractive depending on the various objectives of an oil field. Full article

Background/Objectives: Choosing the best prosthetic foot for a patient is complicated by the many available options and limited evidence to distinguish them. This work aimed to clarify performance differences in the level-ground walking of K3-functional-level persons with amputations across a variety of prosthetic feet within the energy storage and return class. Methods: This clinical trial assessed 10 subjects fitted with the Ossur ProFlex foot (LP and XC) compared to their original foot after a 30-day adaptation period and careful prosthetic alignment matching. Multivariate data (walking performance, noise/play, balance and satisfaction) were collected in the gait laboratory. Results: Results were mixed across the cohort. MCID and statistical analysis were used to assess the magnitude and importance of the changes observed. Overall, the changes were small and not statistically significant. Conclusions: Our findings support that performance across a variety of measures for K3-level amputees walking over level ground is relatively insensitive to prosthetic foot componentry within the energy storage and return class. While functional performance is not the only metric that contributes to foot choice, it is an important one. This study helps to circumscribe its role in the larger decision-making framework for this class of componentry in persons with transtibial amputation. Full article

Container vessels—characterized by high transport work and energy-demanding operating profiles—constitute one of the most emission-significant fleet segments and a strategically important area for implementing and assessing decarbonization initiatives. Responding to the persistent absence of integrated analytical approaches, this paper introduces a unified techno-economic and environmental assessment framework for evaluating green interventions on operating ships. The framework comprises a set of fuel-consumption, environmental performance, and techno-economic metrics and a transparent and globally applicable assessment procedure enabling the consistent comparison of heterogeneous intervention types towards sustainability. The framework is applied to a representative medium-size container vessel to demonstrate its analytical potential and practical relevance. The results of the specific application reveal the systematic trade-offs between environmental and economic performance of green interventions: operational optimization delivers the strongest carbon-intensity improvements and isolated technical retrofits provide favorable economic returns but limited environmental gains, while integrated technical–operational packages achieve the most balanced overall outcomes. Overall, the paper has both a methodological contribution by suggesting a coherent, regulation-aligned assessment structure, as well as a practical decision-support value for ship operators and policymakers. Full article