Search Results (917)

The mitigation of traffic noise is essential for the development of sustainable and livable urban environments, a goal that is directly contingent on addressing tire-pavement interaction noise (TPIN) as the dominant acoustic pollutant at medium to high vehicle speeds. This comprehensive review addresses a critical gap in the literature by systematically analyzing the damping properties of pavement systems through a unified, multi-scale framework—from the molecular-scale viscoelasticity of asphalt binders to the composite performance of asphalt mixtures. The analysis begins by synthesizing state-of-the-art testing and characterization methodologies, which establish a clear connection between macroscopic damping performance and the underlying viscoelastic mechanisms coupled with the microscopic morphology of the binders. Subsequently, the review critically assesses the influence of critical factors, such as polymer modifiers including rubber and Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene (SBS), temperature, and loading frequency. This examination elucidates how these variables govern molecular mobility and relaxation processes to ultimately determine damping efficacy. A central and synthesizing conclusion emphasizes the paramount importance of the asphalt binder’s properties, which serve as the primary determinant of the composite mixture’s overall acoustic performance. By delineating this structure-property-performance relationship across different scales, the review consolidates a foundational scientific framework to guide the rational design and informed material selection for next-generation asphalt pavements. The insights presented not only advance the fundamental understanding of damping mechanisms in pavement materials but also provide actionable strategies for creating quieter and more sustainable transportation infrastructures. Full article

Large quantities of agricultural waste, particularly rice husk ash (RHA), are generated worldwide each year, and the lack of rational, value-added disposal pathways poses both environmental and resource-utilization challenges. To address this practical problem while improving the freeze–thaw (F–T) durability of cement-based materials in cold regions, this study investigates the effects of replacing silica fume (SF) with finely milled RHA on the hydration behavior, mechanical performance, and durability of cement mortar. From a scientific perspective, the freeze–thaw behavior of RHA-modified cementitious materials and the underlying relationships among hydration kinetics, microstructural evolution, and durability remain insufficiently understood. Mortars with different RHA–SF blending ratios were prepared at a constant water-to-binder ratio. Compressive strength was measured before and after F–T cycling, and the underlying mechanisms were investigated using isothermal calorimetry, water absorption tests, and scanning electron microscopy. Results show that SF significantly enhances pre-F–T compressive strength, with the SF-only mixture reaching 56.8 MPa at 28 d, approximately 28.7% higher than the control. With increasing RHA replacement, pre-F–T strength decreased with a non-monotonic variation (40.1–51.5 MPa). F–T cycling caused severe degradation in the reference mortar, with a strength loss rate of 31.75%, whereas RHA- or SF-modified mortars exhibited substantially lower loss rates (6.30–21.54%). Notably, high-RHA mixtures retained residual strengths of 36.0–38.3 MPa after F–T cycling. Although RHA delayed early hydration and increased water absorption, freeze–thaw resistance was not proportionally reduced. These results demonstrate that freeze–thaw durability is governed primarily by long-term microstructural stability rather than early-age strength, and they provide mechanistic evidence supporting the rational utilization of finely milled RHA as a low-carbon supplementary cementitious material for cold-region applications. Full article

Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) is a major pathogen threatening China’s poultry industry, causing severe economic losses, and clarifying its epidemiology is pivotal for disease control and flock purification. In this study, a total of 3215 chicken samples collected from 643 broiler farms across 15 provinces in China in 2024 were analyzed. PCR detected 14% positivity (450 samples), and 18 isolates obtained from these positive samples (4.0% isolation rate). Multilocus sequence typing (MLST, 7 housekeeping genes) and neighbor-joining phylogenetic analysis (integrating 425 reference sequences from public databases) identified 13 distinct sequence types (STs), demonstrating considerable genetic diversity among circulating MS strains. Pathogenicity assessment of the five isolates revealed that the infected chickens exhibited varying degrees of infectious synovitis, while no respiratory signs were observed. In addition, antimicrobial susceptibility testing against 10 commonly used antibiotics was conducted on the 18 strains, providing urgently needed guidance for rational drug use in the clinical treatment of both breeder and broiler flocks. This large-scale epidemiological study yields crucial insights into the current prevalence and genetic diversity of MS in China and lays a scientific foundation for formulating targeted prevention strategies and optimizing management practices. Full article

Rapid urbanization has significantly affected urban ecological environments, necessitating accurate and scientific quality assessments. In this study, we develop an enhanced remote sensing ecological index (WRSEI) for water network cities using Linyi City, China, as a case study. Key innovations include (1) introducing a water–vegetation index to better represent aquatic ecosystems; (2) incorporating nighttime light data to quantify the intensity of human activity; and (3) employing hierarchical PCA to rationally weight ecological endowment and stress indicators. The model’s effectiveness was rigorously validated using independent land use data. The results show that (1) the WRSEI accurately captures Linyi’s “water–city symbiosis” pattern, increasing the assessed ecological quality of water bodies by 15.78% compared to the conventional RSEI; (2) hierarchical PCA provides more ecologically reasonable indicator weights; and (3) from 2000 to 2020, ecological quality exhibited a pattern of “central degradation and peripheral improvement”, driven by urban expansion. This study establishes a validated technical framework for ecological assessment in water-rich cities, offering a scientific basis for sustainable urban management. Full article

The integration of electric vehicles into urban life is currently being implemented rapidly. However, the excessive integration of electric cars into urban environments creates several risks that impede their sustainable development. In this regard, it is relevant to systematize the integration processes of electric cars supported by smart city tools. This study proposes a methodology for the sustainable development ecosystem of smart cities, enabling the measurement of both positive and negative results from the integration of electric cars, which can inform rational managerial decisions. This study utilized scientific abstraction approaches to establish a management framework for integrating electric vehicles into the smart city ecosystem. Comparative analyses of the impact of counterbalancing factors were conducted, and based on this, methodological approaches for determining the boundaries of the use of electric vehicles in smart cities were proposed. Full article

The representation of atmospheric phenomena and, in particular, clouds was a prominent theme for painters during the transition from the eighteenth to the nineteenth centuries. During this period, under the influence of rationalism and encyclopedism, Luke Howard’s cloud classification (1803) was proposed, gaining followers among scientists and artists of the time. Among the latter, Goethe was instrumental, as he intensely promoted this cloud classification, even dedicating his own poems and drawings to it. From then on, some painters depicted cloud studies following the academic principles recommended by Goethe. Caspar David Friedrich did not adopt these principles and depicted clouds as bodies endowed with freedom and feeling, as fragments of soul. The work of P. H. de Valenciennes played a prominent role in this approach; it was translated into German and became a reference manual for Romantic landscape painting. This paper addresses the scientific and cultural context of that historical moment, studies the importance of the landscape, and its aerial aspect, in the painting of the time and details the role of Friedrich as a singular author of German Romanticism, who did not want to participate in the academic ideas of representing clouds, since the sky was, for this painter, a symbol of the transcendent. Full article

This essay offers a comparative reading of Antonio Di Benedetto’s Los suicidas and Leila Guerriero’s Los suicidas del fin del mundo through the lens of the “suicidal archive.” Drawing on literary criticism, trauma studies, and biopolitical theory, it explores how both works transform suicide into a problem of representation, where writing functions as an aesthetic mediation against the chaos of reality. In dialogue with the ideas of Mbembe, De Martelaere, and Caruth, I argue that Di Benedetto and Guerriero move beyond the rational frameworks of scientific or journalistic discourse to probe the ethical and affective dimensions of suicidal acts. While Di Benedetto’s text renders repetition as a metaphysical and introspective structure, Guerriero’s transforms it into a collective, polyphonic archive of trauma. In both cases, literature emerges as a symbolic space of containment that, rather than closing off meaning, keeps the wound open. Ultimately, the essay concludes that the suicidal archive does not seek to explain or domesticate death but to inhabit its enigma—affirming writing as an act of resistance against silence and disappearance. Full article

Under the combined influence of global climate change and intensified human activities, quantifying ecological compensation (EC) amounts between regions and formulating scientifically sound and rational policies have become critical strategies for addressing the imbalance between economic development and ecological conservation. This study focuses on the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) as the research subject, assesses ecosystem service supply and demand (ESSD) in the years 2000, 2010, and 2020 from the perspective of the water-energy-food nexus (WEF-Nexus), identifies ecosystem service flows (ESF) between supply and demand areas, develops an integrated EC model incorporating ecological, economic, and social dimensions to estimate EC amounts, and ultimately employs the XGBoost-SHAP model to analyze the underlying driving mechanisms. The results indicate the following: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the spatio-temporal variations in the three ESSDs in the YREB were substantial. Additionally, imbalances in ESSDs were observed, predominantly in economically advanced regions. (2) A total of 183 ESFs were identified among cities within the YREB, reflecting relatively active exchanges of ecosystem services (ESs). (3) Over the past two decades, the average annual total EC of the YREB amounted to 46,866.35 million yuan, with EC capital flows occurring in 117 cities. The proportion of water area in each city constitutes the primary driver of the EC amount. The EC model based on the “water-energy-food” ecosystem service flow (WEF-ESF) proposed in this study provides a valuable reference and scientific basis for formulating EC policies among YREB cities. Full article

Nickel allergy remains the most prevalent cause of allergic contact dermatitis worldwide, imposing a substantial socio-epidemiological and economic burden. Beyond its classical cutaneous presentation, systemic nickel allergy syndrome highlights the systemic dimension of Nickel hypersensitivity, wherein dietary nickel intake may provoke both gastrointestinal and cutaneous symptoms through mechanisms involving gut barrier impairment and mucosal immune priming. Recent evidence highlights the contribution of angiogenesis and lymph-angiogenesis to Nickel-induced allergic contact dermatitis, through crosstalk among keratinocytes, mast cells, endothelial cells, and pro-angiogenic mediators such as vascular endothelial growth factor. Against this background, we propose to revisit palmitoylethanolamide, an endogenous ALIAmide with well-documented anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic, and anti-allergic properties. Already studied in pain and inflammatory disorders and employed in veterinary dermatology, palmitoylethanolamide down-modulates mast cell degranulation, suppresses VEGF expression via PPAR-α/Akt/mTOR signaling, and enhances intestinal barrier integrity, acting as a promising “gatekeeper” molecule that reduces gut hyperpermeability characterizing systemic nickel allergy as well as other gut disorders with systemic consequences. This paper is presented as a viewpoint intended to highlight the untapped therapeutic potential of palmitoylethanolamide, suitable for both oral and topical administration, as a candidate to address the multifactorial pathophysiology of Nickel allergic contact dermatitis and systemic nickel allergy. Our purpose is not to provide definitive answers, but to stimulate scientific debate on its rational use within emerging gut–skin therapeutic strategies. We thus encourage future experimental and clinical studies to explore its potential integration within emerging gut–skin therapeutic paradigms. Full article

The rapid growth of electric vehicle (EV) adoption poses significant challenges for the rational planning of charging infrastructure, where economic efficiency and service quality are inherently conflicting. To support scientific decision-making in charging station siting, this study proposes an integrated multi-objective optimization and decision-support framework that combines an improved Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) with an entropy-weighted TOPSIS method. A bi-objective siting model is developed to simultaneously minimize total operator costs and maximize user satisfaction. User satisfaction is explicitly characterized by a nonlinear charging distance perception function and a queuing-theoretic waiting time model, enabling a more realistic representation of user service experience. To enhance convergence performance and solution diversity, the NSGA-II algorithm is improved through variable-wise random chaotic initialization, opposition-based learning, and adaptive crossover and mutation operators. The resulting Pareto-optimal solutions are further evaluated using an improved entropy-weighted TOPSIS approach to objectively identify representative compromise solutions. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed framework achieves superior performance compared with the standard NSGA-II algorithm in terms of operating cost reduction, user satisfaction improvement, and multi-objective indicators, including hypervolume, inverted generational distance, and solution diversity. The findings confirm that the proposed NSGA-II–TOPSIS framework provides an effective, robust, and interpretable decision-support tool for EV charging station planning under conflicting objectives. Full article

In the initial phase of large-scale disasters, delayed external relief supplies make scientific local emergency supply allocation crucial—not only for reducing casualties, but also for advancing sustainable disaster response, a key link in enhancing post-disaster resilience. Existing research mostly focuses on cross-regional material allocation while overlooking local challenges like low resource efficiency and unbalanced supply–demand dynamics. To tackle these limitations in the existing research, this study develops a multi-objective collaborative local emergency supply allocation model centered on sustainability. It uses an improved TOPSIS method to quantify the urgency of needs in disaster-stricken areas, prioritizing material distribution to vulnerable regions in line with the principle of “no vulnerable area left neglected in relief efforts”. The study also integrates the entropy weight method and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to ensure rational indicator weighting, and designs a double-layer encoded genetic algorithm to obtain optimal allocation schemes that balance efficiency, fairness, and sustainability. Validated using the 2013 Ya’an Earthquake case study, the model outperforms traditional local allocation approaches: it boosts resource utilization efficiency by reducing material shortage rates, accelerates post-disaster recovery by shortening response times, and improves allocation fairness. Findings provide empirical support for the establishment of “local–external” collaborative rescue systems and sustainable disaster risk reduction frameworks. Empirical calculations using case-specific data and real-world estimates verify the model’s practical applicability: it meets the requirements for fair and rapid allocation needs, aligns with the goals of sustainable disaster management, and lowers the carbon footprint of relief operations by lessening reliance on long-distance external materials. Full article

Evapotranspiration (ET) data products has greatly facilitated the hydrological research in complex basins, and various ET datasets have been produced and applied. The applicability and reliability of ET dataset is significant for regional studies. Therefore, this study compared ET datasets from multisource remote sensing (GLEAM, MOD16, GLASS, PML-V2, Han, Chen and Ma), machine learning (Jung) and reanalysis products (ERA5-Land, MERRA2) for the Yarlung Zangbo River basin (YZB). ET was estimated using the terrestrial water balance (TWB) and was taken as baseline for comparisons of different ET datasets in terms of spatial distribution and temporal variation. Results indicate that (1) the TWB-based ET estimates are rational with acceptable uncertainties; (2) the multi-source ET datasets exhibit good correlations with TWB-ET across the entire basin (r = 0.78–0.90) in term of annual variation, with GLEAM-ET performing the best (r = 0.88, RMSE = 14.24 mm, Rbias = 18.55%); (3) Spatially, PML-ET and Ma-ET show higher consistency with TWB-ET, and temporally, MOD16-ET and GLASS-ET better capture the changing trend; (4) A comprehensive evaluation using the linear weighted method reveals that GLASS-ET and GLEAM-ET perform relatively well in all aspects and are reliable datasets for ET research in the YZB. These findings provide a scientific basis for ET estimation and data selection in the YZB, offering important references for ET analysis and hydrological research. Full article

Bacteriophage therapy, which employs bacterial viruses to selectively eliminate pathogenic bacteria, has re-emerged as a promising strategy in the face of increasing antimicrobial resistance. However, its widespread clinical implementation is constrained by concerns regarding safety, standardisation, and predictable efficacy. In this review, we examine the key role of genomics in transforming phage therapy from an empirical practice into a standardised and personalised modality of contemporary medicine. We describe how whole-genome sequencing (WGS) provides a basis for safety assessment by enabling systematic screening to exclude virulence factors, antibiotic resistance genes, and markers of lysogeny. WGS also facilitates the prediction of therapeutic efficacy and supports more rational phage selection by identifying receptor-binding proteins and characterising bacterial defence systems. In clinical settings, WGS data are increasingly used to monitor the evolution of bacterial populations and to adapt phage cocktails during treatment, thereby supporting personalised, adaptive phage therapy. Looking ahead, further progress is likely to come from integrating synthetic biology and artificial intelligence to engineer phage-based therapeutics with programmable specificity and predictable properties. Together, these developments are shaping a new paradigm of phage therapy as a scientifically grounded, standardised and controlled strategy to treat infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Full article

This state-of-the-art review provides a comprehensive, critical synthesis of the rapidly expanding field of HECCs, emphasizing the unique scientific challenges that distinguish these materials from conventional ceramics and high-entropy alloys. Key challenges of HECCs include accurately predicting stable phases and quantifying resultant material properties, optimizing complex fabrication and processing techniques, and establishing a robust correlation between the intricate microstructural characteristics and macroscopic performance. Unlike previous reviews that focus on individual ceramic families, this article integrates the novel features, diverse applications, and recent developmental breakthroughs across carbides, nitrides, borides, and oxides to reveal the unifying principles governing configurational disorder, phase stability, and microstructure property relationships in HECCs. A key novelty of this review work is the systematic mapping of fabrication pathways, including CTR, PAS, SPS, and reactive sintering, against the underlying thermodynamic and kinetic constraints specific to multicomponent ceramic systems. The review introduces emerging ideas such as HEDFT, machine-learning-assisted phase prediction, and entropy–enthalpy competition as foundational tools for next-generation HECC design and performance analysis. Additionally, it uniquely presents densification behavior, diffusion barriers, defect chemistry, and residual stress evolution with mechanical, thermal, and tribological performance across the coating classes. By consolidating theoretical intuitions with experimental developments, this article provides a novel roadmap for predictive compositional design, development, microstructural engineering, and targeted application of HECCs in extreme environments. This work aims to support researchers and coating industries toward the rational development of high-performance HECCs and establish a unified framework for future research in high-entropy ceramic technologies. Full article

This article reinterprets the doctrine of iʿjāz al-Qurʾān (the inimitability of the Qurʾān) by shifting the question from what makes the Qurʾān miraculous to how it is miraculous. It argues that the Qurʾān’s primary miracle lies not merely in its content, i.e., its eloquence or correspondence with scientific truth, but in its method: the transformation of the very frameworks through which knowledge, reason, and revelation were understood. Using Muḥammad ʿĀbid al-Jābirī’s tripartite epistemology of bayān (expressive reasoning), burhān (demonstrative reasoning), and ʿirfān (reflective reasoning) together with Gadamer’s “fusion of horizons,” the article argues that the Qurʾān can be read as fusing and transcending these three systems, uniting Arabic eloquence, Greek rationalism, and Persian–gnostic spirituality into a single, holistic discourse. Through close analysis of key passages, such as Abraham’s dialectical reasoning in Sūrat al-Anbiyāʾ and the metaphysics of light in Āyat al-Nūr, the article shows how the Qurʾān integrates poetic language, rational argument, and mystical depth to create an epistemic design that addresses intellect, emotion, and spirit simultaneously. This synthesis allows the Qurʾān to be interpreted, within classical and later exegetical traditions, not only as a linguistic or theological miracle but as a paradigmatic reconfiguration of cognition: one that these traditions understood as teaching readers how to think, reflect, and awaken. Full article