Search Results (9)

In recent years, there has been a fast expansion in the usage of renewable energy sources (RESs) in power distribution systems. Numerous advantages result from this advancement, such as environmental friendliness, cost-effective power generation, easier maintenance, and energy sustainability and reliability. Reducing reliance on fossil fuels, which are of significant environmental concern, and increasing energy efficiency are two benefits of integrating RESs into maritime systems, such as port microgrids. As a result, ports are implementing several programs to increase energy efficiency using various RESs that are supported by power electronic converters. To highlight the most recent developments in seaport electrification and infrastructure, this work conducts a systematic review. It addresses important issues like energy efficiency enhancements, environmental concerns, the integration of renewable energy sources, the Internet of Things (IoT), and regulatory and legal compliance. The study also discusses technology strategies like digitization, electrification, onshore power supply systems, and port energy storage options. Operational tactics, including peak-shaving methods and energy-efficient operations, are also covered. Additionally, an infrastructure framework—which includes port microgrids and smart seaport microgrids—that is intended to enhance energy efficiency in contemporary ports is examined. Full article

Conflicts between humans and Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) have intensified due to urban and agricultural expansion, reducing natural habitats and pushing macaques into human settlements. This review examines strategies for managing human–macaque coexistence in Japan. Since the 1970s, urbanisation and deforestation have led to increased macaque migration into populated areas, resulting in property damage, crop loss, and, in some cases, aggressive encounters. The growing macaque population underscores the urgency of effective management programmes. Strategies include preventive measures, such as weeding to limit food sources, habitat modification, and community-based interventions to reduce attractants. Non-lethal deterrents, including visual and auditory scare tactics, trained guard animals, and electric fences, have been implemented to discourage macaques from entering human spaces. Physical barriers, such as fences and buffer zones, provide long-term mitigation but require maintenance and community cooperation. Fertility control, including sterilisation and hormonal contraception, offers a long-term population management solution but presents logistical challenges. Lethal control and capture-relocation, though controversial, remain options for particularly problematic individuals. Additionally, integrating One Health and One Conservation approaches into macaque management allows for a holistic strategy that considers disease risks, ecological balance, and ethical implications. A balanced management plan that incorporates multiple strategies, community participation, and continuous monitoring is crucial for mitigating conflicts and fostering sustainable coexistence between humans and macaques. Full article

This study investigated the spatial and temporal variations of macrobenthos community structure in the Yuqu River Basin during the dry and wet seasons due to environmental factors. This study quantified the independent and interactive contributions of hydrophysical, hydrochemical, and climatic factors to the community structure through a variance decomposition analysis (VPA). The study findings indicate that during May (the dry season), factors such as water depth, flow velocity, dissolved oxygen, and air temperature exhibit relatively minor fluctuations, rendering the aquatic environment more stable than in the rainy season. This stability is particularly conducive to the maintenance of the macrobenthic community structure and species diversity, which is especially evident in aquatic insects with nesting habits, such as those belonging to the Trichoptera order (including genera like Glossosoma, Glossosomatidae, and Georodes). In contrast, during August (the rainy season), substantial precipitation alters the thermal conditions of the river, increases flow velocity, raises water levels, and introduces a significant influx of organic matter through sedimentation. This distinctive ecological environment fosters unique adaptive strategies among macrobenthic organisms. Notwithstanding a notable decline in species diversity during this particular phase, there is a concurrent increase in the abundance of individual organisms, which is indicative of the populations’ remarkable capacity to swiftly adapt to environmental heterogeneity. Research has demonstrated that macrobenthic communities within the Yuqu River Basin adopt pronounced adaptive tactics that vary significantly between seasons. During the dry season, these macrobenthic fauna rely heavily on the stability of their physical habitat. In stark contrast, they are compelled to navigate and cope with the more intricate and dynamic changes in hydrological and chemical conditions that characterize the rainy season. The presented results uncover the sensitive responsiveness of the macrobenthic fauna to seasonal hydrological and environmental fluctuations in high-altitude river systems and their adaptive strategies under diverse ecological stressors. Arthropods, in particular, exhibit a marked sensitivity to seasonal hydrological and environmental changes. This study delves into the biodiversity of high-altitude river ecosystems, analyzing the ecological environment and the distribution patterns and seasonal variation characteristics of macrobenthic communities. This study aims to examine how diverse seasons and hydroclimatic conditions modulate the composition of macrobenthic assemblages within the tributaries and principal channels of high-altitude river systems, thereby establishing a foundational reference for future water ecosystem assessments in such regions. Full article

Background/Objectives: As cells divide, telomeres shorten through a phenomenon known as telomere attrition, which leads to unavoidable senescence of cells. Unprotected DNA exponentially increases the odds of mutations, which can evolve into premature aging disorders and tumorigenesis. There has been growing academic and clinical interest in exploring this duality and developing optimal therapeutic strategies to combat telomere attrition in aging and cellular immortality in cancer. The purpose of this review is to provide an updated overview of telomere biology and therapeutic tactics to address aging and cancer. Methods: We used the Rayyan platform to review the PubMed database and examined the ClinicalTrial.gov registry to gain insight into clinical trials and their results. Results: Cancer cells activate telomerase or utilize alternative lengthening of telomeres to escape telomere shortening, leading to near immortality. Contrarily, normal cells experience telomeric erosion, contributing to premature aging disorders, such as Werner syndrome and Hutchinson–Gilford Progeria, and (2) aging-related diseases, such as neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. Conclusions: The literature presents several promising therapeutic approaches to potentially balance telomere maintenance in aging and shortening in cancer. This review highlights gaps in knowledge and points to the potential of these optimal interventions in preclinical and clinical studies to inform future research in cancer and aging. Full article

The digital twinning concept stands as a remarkable opportunity to integrate sophisticated mathematical models within the context of existing manufacturing systems. Such models may provide shipyard management with predictive analytics, improving the final results at the strategic, tactical, and operational levels. Therefore, the possibility of integrating the Markovian-framework-based finite-state method into the context of ship production is presented in this study, including its outline, digital thread, and factory-floor data reliance. First, the predictive analytics problem is addressed by the finite-state method in the case of the shipyard’s fabrication line, and the obtained results are validated afterward using a numerical model through discrete-event theory. The predictive analytics indicate an almost ideal balancing of the fabrication line, except for the buffers storing stiffeners before the coat-dying and marking operations. In addition, the improvability analysis of the shipyard’s fabrication lines extended the scope of the predictive analytics using bottleneck identification and affecting the key performance indicators through a digital thread, as well as by improved maintenance strategies. Full article

Prefabricated buildings (PBs) are vigorously promoted for their many advantages. However, obvious regional differences exist in the development of PBs in China, and underdeveloped areas significantly lag behind other areas. Regional “tactics” have a more direct effect on the development of PBs than national “strategies”. A targeted analysis of PB policies in underdeveloped areas in China is lacking in current research. Therefore, the aim of this study was to construct a comprehensive policy framework to help underdeveloped areas improve PB policies to develop PBs. In this study, we constructed a three-dimensional policy framework based on the content analysis method and policy instrument theory. Through a comparative analysis of 137 PB policies in three representative regions, 547 policy content codes were obtained, and reliability and validity tests were completed. The results indicate that (1) underdeveloped areas should focus on improving the number of policies rather than the accuracy in the early stages of development of PBs; (2) underdeveloped areas should focus on mandatory policy instruments (MPIs) supplemented by incentive policy instruments (IPIs) and social policy instruments (SPIs) rather than a balanced use of various policy instruments; and (3) underdeveloped areas should adjust the policy layout of the whole life cycle, and stakeholders should pay attention to the construction willingness of developers and the demands of consumers and seek policy support in the operation and maintenance stages, as well as during the demolition and recovery stages. In this study, we systematically analyzed the focus of PB policies for different stages and stakeholders and proposed an application strategy of policy instruments, contributing to the improvement of the PB policy system and the narrowing of regional development gaps with respect to PBs. Full article

The current necessity of the scientific and industrial community, for reduction of aircraft maintenance cost and duration, prioritizes the need for development of innovative nondestructive techniques enabling fast and reliable defect detection on aircraft fuselage and wing skin parts. Herein, a new low-cost thermographic strategy, termed Pulsed Phase-Informed Lock-in Thermography, operating on the synergy of two independent, active infrared thermography techniques, is reported for the fast and quantitative assessment of superficial and subsurface damage in aircraft-grade composite materials. The two-step approach relies on the fast, initial qualitative assessment, by Pulsed Phase Thermography, of defect location and the identification of the optimal material-intrinsic frequency, over which lock-in thermography is subsequently applied for the quantification of the damage’s dilatational characteristics. A state-of-the-art ultra-compact infrared thermography module envisioned to form part of a fully-automated autonomous nondestructive testing inspection solution for aircraft was conceived, developed, and tested on aircraft-grade composite specimens with impact damages induced at variable energy levels and on a full-scale aircraft fuselage skin composite panel. The latter task was performed in semi-automated mode with the infrared thermography module mounted on the prototype autonomous vortex robot platform. The timescale requirement for a full assessment of damage(s) within the sensor’s field of view is of the order of 60 s which, in combination with the high precision of the methodology, unfolds unprecedented potential towards the reduction in duration and costs of tactical aircraft maintenance, optimization of efficiency and minimization of accidents. Full article

The history of modern oncology started around eighty years ago with the introduction of cytotoxic agents such as nitrogen mustard into the clinic, followed by multi-agent chemotherapy protocols. Early success in radiation therapy in Hodgkin lymphoma gave birth to the introduction of radiation therapy into different cancer treatment protocols. Along with better understanding of cancer biology, we developed drugs targeting cancer-related cellular and genetic aberrancies. Discovery of the crucial role of vasculature in maintenance, survival, and growth of a tumor opened the way to the development of anti-angiogenic agents. A better understanding of T-cell regulatory pathways advanced immunotherapy. Awareness of stem-like cancer cells and their role in cancer metastasis and local recurrence led to the development of drugs targeting them. At the same time, sequential and rapidly accelerating advances in imaging and surgical technology have markedly increased our ability to safely remove ≥90% of tumor cells. While we have advanced our ability to kill cells from multiple directions, we have still failed to stop most types of cancer from recurring. Here we analyze the tactics employed in cancer evolution; namely, chromosomal instability (CIN), intra-tumoral heterogeneity (ITH), and cancer-specific metabolism. These tactics govern the resistance to current cancer therapeutics. It is time to focus on maximally delaying the time to recurrence, with drugs that target these fundamental tactics of cancer evolution. Understanding the control of CIN and the optimal state of ITH as the most important tactics in cancer evolution could facilitate the development of improved cancer therapeutic strategies designed to transform cancer into a manageable chronic disease. Full article

Wind power generation has been the fastest-growing energy alternative in recent years, however, it still has to compete with cheaper fossil energy sources. This is one of the motivations to constantly improve the efficiency of wind turbines and develop new Operation and Maintenance (O&M) methodologies. The decisions regarding O&M are based on different types of models, which cover a wide range of scenarios and variables and share the same goal, which is to minimize the Cost of Energy (COE) and maximize the profitability of a wind farm (WF). In this context, this review aims to identify and classify, from a comprehensive perspective, the different types of models used at the strategic, tactical, and operational decision levels of wind turbine maintenance, emphasizing mathematical models (MatMs). The investigation allows the conclusion that even though the evolution of the models and methodologies is ongoing, decision making in all the areas of the wind industry is currently based on artificial intelligence and machine learning models. Full article