Search Results (205)

Timely fault detection, classification, and localization are fundamental to enabling fast service restoration in modern distribution networks, and are especially vital for maintaining the reliability and resilience of smart city electricity infrastructures. A new AI-based method for classifying and localizing fault types is presented in this paper, which enhances situational awareness in smart distribution grids that supply dense urban loads and critical smart city services. The proposed approach targets various fault conditions, which include three-phase-to-ground, three-phase, two-phase-to-ground, two-phase, and single-phase-to-ground faults. The proposed method utilizes a wavelet-based signal processing technique to analyze the feeder’s current data captured by waveform measurement units (WMUs) and extracts features for fault analysis. As a result of these features, a multi-stage machine learning architecture incorporating deep learning components is developed to accurately determine the occurrence, type, and location of faults. To evaluate the performance of the proposed approach, simulations were conducted on a 16-bus distribution network. Results show a high level of accuracy in fault detection, classification, and localization. This indicates that the method can be a valuable tool for enhancing the resilience and intelligence of future power grids, as well as supporting self-healing and fast service restoration in smart city services. Full article

Photovoltaic (PV) arrays frequently operate under non-uniform environmental conditions, including partial shading, dust accumulation, and temperature differences across the array. These factors introduce an electrical mismatch among PV modules, considerably reducing overall power output. This study proposes a self-healing reconfiguration strategy that mitigates mismatch losses by dynamically redistributing PV modules across array strings based on irradiance levels. The main goal is to balance the current generation among strings and demonstrate performance improvements within scenarios characterised by highly uneven irradiance patterns under non-uniform operating conditions. The effectiveness of the proposed method is evaluated through simulations conducted using MATLAB R2025b (MathWorks, Natick, MA, USA) under several environmental scenarios. Deterministic shading patterns—including row shading, column shading, diagonal shading, and irregular dust distributions—are first analysed to investigate the behaviour of the PV array under regulated conditions. In addition, a statistical analysis of 100 randomly generated irradiance scenarios is carried out to assess the method’s robustness. Finally, realistic desert-dust patterns representative of environmental conditions in Saudi Arabia are used to evaluate the practical usefulness of the proposed approach. Simulation findings show that the self-healing reconfiguration strategy reduces mismatch effects and improves current balance within the PV array, enabling operation closer to the optimal power point under non-uniform irradiance conditions. These results indicate that the proposed method boosts current balance among PV strings and increases power extraction under strongly non-uniform irradiance scenarios. Full article

Articular fractures require precise anatomical reduction and rigid fixation to heal appropriately. In veterinary cases that involve fracturing of the lateral humeral condyle, cortical bone screws inserted in lag fashion with Kirschner wire are the preferred method for surgical fixation. However, relatively high complication rates associated with cortical lag screws (CLSs) highlights the need to investigate alternate screw designs. Variable-pitch headless compression screws (VPHCSs) are unique as they advance beneath the cortical surface. Although the use of VPHCSs are widely utilised in human orthopaedics, the current use in veterinary orthopaedics is limited. This study aimed to evaluate the peak interfragmentary force (PIF) and area of compression (AOC) generated by a 3.5 mm self-tapping cortical screw placed in lag fashion and a 3.5 mm VPHCS inserted to four depths. PIF and AOC were measured using a pressure-sensitive film placed between two blocks of polyurethane foam (0.24 g/cm³), simulating a transverse fracture. CLSs were inserted by hand into predrilled 2.5 mm pilot holes. PIF and AOC were measured at full insertion. VPHCSs were placed into predrilled 2.5 mm pilot holes, followed by a 3.5 mm tapered countersink. The screw was inserted until the head was level with the surface. PIF and AOC were measured between the two blocks. The screw was continued until the head was at a depth of 2, 5, and 9 mm below the surface, and the PIF and AOC were measured again at each stage. There was no detectable difference in PIF and AOC between CLSs and VPHCSs countersunk to −2 mm (PIF–CLS: Mean = 12.886, SD = 2.370; 2 mm: Mean = 17.301, SD = 8.858, p = 0.319; AOC–CLS: Mean = 0.936, SD = 0.291; 2 mm: Mean = 0.925, SD = 0.447, p = 0.872). VPHCSs countersunk to −5 mm and −9 mm produced significantly greater PIF compared to CLSs (5 mm: Mean = 16.086, SD = 6.799, p = 0.002; 9 mm: Mean = 34.987, SD = 4.015, p < 0.001). VPHCSs countersunk to −5 and −9 mm produced significantly greater PIF and AOC compared to CLSs in this model. Further investigation is required to produce recommendations for clinical use. Full article

Background/Objectives: Wound repair-associated processes and the antioxidant properties of natural products play critical roles in skin wound healing and barrier restoration. Wound healing is a complex process characterized by a series of interconnected events that facilitate the self-repair of the skin following injury. Methods: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of Quercus acuta acorn bran extract (QAABE) on wound healing using human dermal fibroblast (HDF) cell cultures treated with QAABE. Additionally, in vivo experiments were conducted using a mouse model of skin injury to assess the wound-healing potential of the extract. Results: The results indicated that QAABE enhanced wound healing in vitro by upregulating extracellular matrix-related markers, including vimentin, Col1a1, Col3a1, endothelin, fibronectin, and VEGF at the mRNA level, and increasing the protein expression of vimentin, COL1A1, endothelin, and α-SMA. QAABE also exhibited reactive oxygen species (ROS)-scavenging activity. In the mouse skin injury model, QAABE treatment accelerated wound closure and was associated with reduced inflammatory responses. Conclusions: These findings suggest that QAABE may promote wound-healing-related responses in both in vitro and in vivo models, supporting its potential as a candidate for further investigation in wound-healing research. Full article

The electricity supply system faces major challenges. The physical and social vulnerability of the monoculture of hierarchical, centralized systems urgently requires radical transformation of their organizational structures as well as their infrastructures. These transformations to low carbon are often characterized as ‘decentralization’. However, decentralization is a process that only signifies a move away from centralized models. This does not necessarily result in a decentralized architecture, but rather a model in which the dominance of ‘commercial private’ combined with ‘monopolistic public’ is replaced by cooperation and community. The research question is: what will be the design of future electricity grids after the transformation? The integration of distributed renewable resources and the growing need for resilience requires great diversity and flexibility from socio-technical smart grids. These involve digitization, enabling the transformation of power grids into networks of clustered, self-healing microgrids with distributed energy systems: generation, storage, transmission, demand response, and internal energy management. Several fundamentals of Common Pool Resources theory (Ostrom) on the analysis of sustainable management of natural resources are reviewed on their relevance: the Socio-Ecological System framework, distinct property regimes, the Polycentricity concept, and the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework. The transformation leads to ‘distributed’ rather than ’decentralized’ models. Governance no longer takes place from a single control point, but from many, spread across multiple levels, similar to ecosystems. End users play a key role and become partly coproducing prosumers. Governance is polycentric rather than decentral. The IAD provides as its most important condition that, at the legislative level, there must be minimum recognition of the right of ‘renewable energy communities’ to organize themselves as microgrids. This is immediately the biggest social acceptance challenge, as the current monoculture incorporates several lock-ins: incumbent powerful actors, centralized hierarchical control legislation, and obstructive market conditions, including taxing systems. Full article

In this work, compatibilized poly(lactic acid)/poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PLA/PBAT) blends were developed and characterized, to be potentially utilized as biodegradable self-healing matrices for composite laminates. Blends containing 10, 20 and 30%wt of PBAT and 0.5 phr of an epoxy-based compatibilizer were prepared by melt compounding and hot pressing. Rheological measurements showed that moduli and complex viscosity generally increased with PBAT content, while maintaining viscosity levels suitable for conventional melt-processing operations. FT-IR and FESEM analyses confirmed the formation of an immiscible but well-compatibilized morphology, characterized by a homogeneous dispersion of PBAT domains within the PLA phase. Mechanical tests revealed a decrease in tensile modulus (up to 44%), strength (up to 45%) and fracture toughness (up to 40%) with a PBAT content up to 30%wt. Self-healing was evaluated by measuring the fracture toughness (K_IC) recovery after thermal treatment at 140 °C. After healing, the blend containing 20%wt of PBAT exhibited a self-healing efficiency of 64% under impact conditions, which was attributed to the smoother fracture surface generated at an elevated strain rate that facilitated a more effective flow of the molten PBAT phase across the crack interface during healing. The formulation containing 20%wt of PBAT featured the best balance between mechanical performance and self-healing efficiency. Full article

Current Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) swarm designs prioritize physical reliability over network security, leaving systems vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated cyber threats in complex environments. Existing defense methods are mostly limited to peripheral network security technologies, such as encryption, authentication, and firewalls. Consequently, they lack deep integration at the formation architecture level. This separation results in a disconnect between system reliability design and security protection mechanisms, making it difficult to effectively deal with high-level security threats such as internal backdoor vulnerabilities. To this end, this paper proposes an endogenous security architecture for UAV swarm based on dynamic heterogeneous redundancy (DHR) and cooperative supervision. Firstly, a theoretical model of DHR system for UAV swarm was constructed, and discrete nodes are abstracted as dynamic heterogeneous resource pools. Through the formal definition of the heterogeneous executor space, redundancy adjudication mechanism, and dynamic scheduling method, we demonstrate how this architecture suppresses common mode failures by introducing internal and external uncertainties, thereby realizing the coordination and unification of safety and security. Secondly, a distributed security control strategy based on cooperative supervision is proposed, which uses cross-validation between neighbors to replace the centralized adjudication of traditional DHR, solves the problem of anomaly detection in a decentralized environment, and combines reactive cleaning and periodic disturbance scheduling to give the system the ability to self-heal against unknown threats. Simulations in various attack scenarios demonstrate the proposed method’s superiority over traditional architectures. Especially in the simulated dormant multi-mode Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) scenario, the system can still maintain availability of more than 81%, which effectively verifies the key role of the coordination mechanism of heterogeneity, redundancy and dynamics in enhancing the safety and security of UAV swarms. Full article

Thermosetting polyurethane (PU) has recently been introduced as an asphalt modifier to improve the mechanical strength and durability of pavements. However, the permanent crosslinked network of thermosetting PU makes the material difficult to repair once damage accumulates. In contrast, self-healing asphalt technologies rely on either extrinsic healing agents or intrinsic dynamic bonds to restore stiffness and delay cracking. Dynamic disulfide bonds are a promising class of reversible covalent bonds that can rearrange at moderate temperatures and have been widely used to build self-healing polyurethane networks. This study investigates a disulfide-crosslinked polyurethane-modified asphalt binder (DP10) and compares its fatigue and healing performance with base asphalt (BA), thermosetting PU-modified asphalt (P10), and styrene–butadiene–styrene (SBS)-modified asphalts (S3 and S10). A dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) was used to conduct time sweep fatigue tests, linear amplitude sweep (LAS) tests, and fatigue–healing–fatigue protocols. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was employed to confirm the formation of polyurethane and disulfide structures. Results show that DP10 significantly increases fatigue life at small to medium strain levels compared with BA and P10 and performs competitively with SBS-modified binders. More importantly, DP10 exhibits a much higher healing index than P10 and maintains strong healing capability over repeated fatigue–healing cycles, approaching the intrinsic healing level of base asphalt. These findings demonstrate that incorporating dynamic disulfide bonds into thermosetting PU networks provides a practical route to binders that combine high strength with recoverability, which is attractive for long-life, self-healing pavement design. Full article

The Internet of Things (IoT) is increasingly embedded in critical infrastructures across healthcare, energy, transportation, and industrial automation, yet its pervasiveness introduces substantial security and resilience challenges. This paper presents a comprehensive review of recent advances in IoT resilience, focusing on developments reported between 2022 and 2025. A layered taxonomy is proposed to organize resilience strategies across hardware, network, learning, application, and governance layers, addressing adversarial, environmental, and hybrid stressors. The survey systematically classifies and compares more than forty representative studies encompassing deep learning under adversarial attack, generative and ensemble intrusion detection, hardware and protocol-level defenses, federated and distributed learning, and trust and governance-based approaches. A comparative analysis shows that while adversarial training, GAN-based augmentation, and decentralized learning improve robustness, their evidence is often confined to specific datasets or attack scenarios, with limited validation in large-scale deployments. The study highlights challenges in benchmarking adaptivity, cross-layer integration, and explainable resilience, concluding with future directions for creating antifragile IoT systems that can self-heal and adapt to evolving cyber–physical threats. Full article

Background: Persistent pain following orthopaedic trauma is common, often disproportionate to structural healing, and increasingly interpreted as reflecting centrally mediated pain mechanisms. However, the mechanisms, clinical features, diagnostic approaches, prognostic indicators, and management strategies relevant to trauma-related central sensitisation (CS) remain poorly understood. Objective: To map and synthesise existing evidence on CS following orthopaedic trauma, addressing mechanistic pathways, clinical manifestations, epidemiology, assessment methods, management approaches, and health system implications. Methods: A scoping review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA-ScR. Twenty-one studies met the eligibility criteria, comprising nine primary trauma cohorts and 12 contextual mechanistic or review studies relevant to trauma-associated CS. Data were charted across six prespecified domains of mechanistic processes, clinical presentation and diagnostic features, epidemiology and prognosis, assessment tools and outcome measures, interventions, and health system and care delivery considerations. Results: Mechanistic studies demonstrated trauma-induced neuroimmune activation, altered cortical and spinal excitability, and molecular pathways consistent with sensitisation. Clinical studies have identified neuropathic features, widespread pain, and heightened sensory responsiveness following fractures and other injuries. Neurophysiological evidence has indicated early cortical disinhibition following upper limb trauma, whereas epidemiological cohorts have reported persistent pain and disability years after major trauma. Measurement studies have highlighted the limited reliability and specificity of current tools in trauma populations, including quantitative sensory testing and self-report instruments. Early predictors of adverse trajectories include severe acute pain, neuropathic descriptors, psychological distress, and opioid-dominant analgesia. Evidence regarding early intervention, rehabilitation strategies, and system-level screening pathways remains limited. Conclusions: Central sensitisation (CS)–consistent mechanisms after orthopaedic trauma are suggested by convergent mechanistic, neurophysiological, and clinical findings. However, trauma-specific diagnostic criteria, prognostic models, and management frameworks remain underdeveloped. High-quality longitudinal research is needed to clarify early trajectories, refine assessment methods, and establish targeted interventions to reduce long-term pain and disability. Full article

Fluorinated colloidal nanosystems have attracted significant attention for their advantageous properties and potential applications in the biomedical field, especially in ¹⁹F magnetic resonance imaging. These nanosystems are known for their high specificity, excellent biocompatibility, and ease of functional modification. Furthermore, they offer unique advantages for functional surface coating due to their surface performance and chemical resistance. This paper discusses recent developments in fluorinated colloidal nanosystems, including applications in biological detection (such as enzymes, proteins, pH levels, ions, reducing environments, and reactive oxygen species) and surface coating (such as self-cleaning, self-healing, antibacterial properties, anti-fogging, antifouling, and oil–water separation). This article also highlights current challenges and provides suggestions for future research directions in the field of fluorinated colloidal nanosystems. Full article

The growing environmental effect of asphalt pavements has fueled interest in sustainable alternatives including the application of recycled materials and self-healing systems. This research investigates the synergistic possibilities of steel slag aggregates and steel wool fibers in hot-mix asphalt compositions to increase sustainability and let crack healing via electromagnetic induction heating. Using either recycled steel slag or natural porphyritic aggregates, two kinds of AC16 Surf S mixtures with 35/50 bitumen were created incorporating two levels of steel fiber content (2% and 4%). Based on repeated semi-circular bending (SCB) testing following regulated induction heating and confinement, a committed self-healing evaluation plan was developed. The results verified that combinations including recycled steel slag met or outperformed traditional mixes in terms of mechanical behavior. Induction heating successfully set off partial recovery of fracture toughness, with more fiber content and repeated heating cycles producing better healing values. Recovery levels ran from 14.6% to 40%, therefore proving the practicality of this approach. These results encourage the creation of asphalt mixtures with improved endurance and environmental advantages. The research offers both an approved approach for assessing healing and real-world recommendations for the construction of low-maintenance, round pavements utilizing induction-based techniques. Full article

Background: Parents of youth with chronic health conditions face several challenges in supporting their children across contexts. Involvement of parents in a child’s pain management approach is accepted as best practice, yet there is little guidance on how to best parent the child with chronic pain. Prior studies have shown that parents require support and education to effectively care for their children and themselves. This quality improvement program evaluation aimed to evaluate group-level: (1) feasibility of the Creating Bonds program, (2) acceptability and perceived effectiveness of the program, and (3) suggestions for program improvements. Methods: In this quality improvement program evaluation, parents (N = 40) of youth with chronic pain from the United States and Europe were recruited online to participate in a virtual peer-support and educational program, Creating Bonds, offered through the nonprofit organization, Creative Healing for Youth in Pain. Creating Bonds is an 8-week, virtual, supportive, and educational program for parents and caregivers of youth with chronic pain led by a licensed clinical psychologist. A mixed methods approach evaluated the impact of and suggestions for improving the program. Independent samples t-tests were used to examine quantitative items related to understanding of pain, isolation, confusion, distress, relationships, and self-care. Qualitative responses were evaluated for common themes through an inductive thematic analysis. Results: Results indicated that Creating Bonds significantly improved parents’ level of understanding of chronic pain, relationships with others, and self-care, and significantly reduced confusion about parenting a child with chronic pain, stress, and anxiety levels (ps < 0.05). Levels of isolation moderately decreased. Parents qualitatively described the experience as validating, connecting, and educational, with both emotional relief and practical strategies emerging as benefits. Conclusions: Quantitative results and qualitative themes capture the dual role of the Creating Bonds program in providing tangible parenting tools alongside education and critical psychosocial support. Parents entered with uncertainty, a desire for strategies, and hope for connection, and they came away with validation, practical parenting tools, and a community facing similar experiences. Full article

Fascia research suffers from definitional fragmentation, with no universal agreement about what fascia actually is, why it matters, or how to define it. Researchers often pursue lines of inquiry based on their existing expertise, yet traditional and newer approaches that might resolve these issues frequently conflict. To address this challenge, the authors use a hermeneutic framework to integrate their combined half century of anatomical experience with a narrative literature synthesis. They propose that fascia functions as a stochastic morphogenetic field rather than a discrete anatomical system, a stochastic process displaying opportunistic dynamics at atomic, molecular, and cellular scales that produces deterministic mechanical properties at macroscopic tissue levels. Four key conclusions emerge: (1) anatomical “virtual spaces” are hyaluronic acid (HA)–tissue manifolds tightly coupled with calcium coordination; (2) fascia functions as a stochastic morphogenetic field where clinically and educationally relevant deterministic patterns emerge; (3) a conceptual framework for context-flexible fascial nomenclature; (4) hermeneutic approaches enable synthesis across theoretical domains. The conclusions support the understanding of HA-mediated EMT/MET plasticity and its “Go or Grow” phenotypes as central conduits for both healing and cancer progression. Understanding the stochastic nature of fascia is thus essential for physicians as well as clinicians in the allied health setting. Optimal fascia-aware movement and manual therapy interventions are those that recognize fascia as a self-adapting morphogenetic field. Full article

Disease progression in multiple sclerosis (MS) is now known to affect many patients, even those not diagnosed with progressive subtypes. Progressive and neurodegenerative aspects of MS are poorly treated by currently available therapies. Research on new therapeutic options is needed to improve health outcomes in people with MS. This review highlights the potential for treatment using an engineered T cell receptor–regulatory T cell (TCR-Treg) therapy targeting the presynaptic protein beta-synuclein. Tregs respond to self-antigens presented on human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II with anti-inflammatory and pro-neural healing effects, but this response is impaired in MS patients. Since the HLA-DRB1*15:01 allele is known to contribute to MS pathogenesis, a TCR specific to a known antigen presented on DRB1*15:01 can be transduced into Tregs to direct them to activate within the inflamed brain tissue. Beta-synuclein is released from neurons at a high level after neural damage, may be presented on HLA, enables homing of specific T cells to the grey matter, and is immunogenic in progressive MS patients. This review presents beta-synuclein as a disease-relevant antigen to target for therapeutic development. Full article