Search Results (190)

This scoping review examines public health communication across nine Eastern European and Central Asian states—Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan—highlighting how these systems have transitioned from Soviet-era legacies to contemporary practices. Eligibility criteria included the English- and Russian-language literature published from 1998 onwards, focusing on nine post-Soviet states. Sources of evidence comprised searches in Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, SSRN, Heliyon, MEDLINE/PubMed, and official government websites. Data were charted by three independent reviewers using a standardized form, with discrepancies resolved by senior reviewers. The review identifies persistent gaps in communication during health crises, with a particular focus on the COVID-19 pandemic, where centralized and hierarchical information flows often undermine transparency and responsiveness, as well as further increased health inequalities between rural and urban health outcomes. Despite ongoing reforms, the communication dimension of healthcare systems remains underdeveloped. Findings reveal that centralized and top-down communication remains a dominant feature across the region, hindering timely dissemination of information and limiting the capacity to counter misinformation, as both misinformation and disinformation sometimes emerge from the government. Ultimately, this review contributes a critical analysis of these systematic communication failures and underscores the need to strengthen public health communication and reduce health inequalities. To do it, governments must prioritize transparency, disclose decision-making processes, and rely on evidence-based messaging to build trust. Effective crisis response requires not only government leadership but also the active engagement of the medical and patient communities, supported by civil society and independent media. This review points out the need for more inclusive, transparent, and trust-oriented communication strategies to enhance public health preparedness and resilience in nine Eastern European and Central Asian contexts. Full article

In typical executive compensation structures, higher corporate ranks are associated with greater pay. However, the reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in China introduced strict salary caps for top executives, while lower-tier managers continued to receive market-based compensation, resulting in a phenomenon of pay-rank inversion—where subordinates earn more than their superiors. Leveraging this anomaly as a quasi-natural experiment, this study investigates the specific impact and underlying mechanism of pay-rank inversion on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) decisions and subsequent value realization within Chinese SOEs, thereby addressing the broad academic discourse on optimal executive compensation design. Employing a difference-in-differences (DID) approach with panel data spanning from 2007 to 2022, our analysis reveals that pay-rank inversion significantly reduces firms’ M&A intentions. Mechanistic analysis suggests that this negative effect arises primarily from diminished executive risk-taking. Furthermore, we find that the adverse impact is attenuated when CEOs possess longer tenures or receive equity-based incentives, but it ultimately undermines the realization of value post-M&A. These findings highlight the unintended consequences of high-level compensation reforms and emphasize the critical role of a well-structured pay hierarchy in sustaining executive incentives for strategic decision-making. Despite providing robust evidence, this study is subject to limitations, including its focus on measuring inversion only between the first and second management tiers. Future research should extend the analysis to the pay inversion between the listed firm and its controlling SOE group and explore alternative causal pathways beyond risk-taking, such as CEO work motivation, to deepen the understanding of high-level executive behavior. Full article

Fotis Kontoglou (1895–1965) was a prominent Greek painter and writer, known primarily for revitalizing byzantine painting in the 20th century and being one of the first artist-conservators in Greece active at this period. The current study represents the first systematic attempt to examine seven (7) icons (i.e., ecclesiastical panel paintings) attributed to Kontoglou, currently located in two famous monasteries in Laconia, Greece. The research utilized exclusively non-destructive analytical techniques, namely digital optical microscopy, UV-induced visible fluorescence photography (UVIVF), and portable X-ray fluorescence (p-XRF) spectroscopy, to identify the materials—particularly pigments—employed in the corresponding paintings. The results are interpreted under the light of Kontoglou’s own writings on painting, in particular his “Ekphrasis” painting manual. Preliminary assessments of surface morphology and state of preservation were achieved through macroscopic and microscopic probing, as well as through inspection under ultraviolet light, while further analysis was performed using portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. The results confirm the employment of both traditional and modern synthetic inorganic components, while comparisons with the pigments listed in Kontoglou’s “Ekphrasis” painting manual suggest his persistent use of a rather limited palette of pigments. Nevertheless, despite the fact that the paintings were executed in a small period of time (1954–1956), data revealed notable differentiation between the studied icons, which probably indicates procurement of materials from various sources. Given the scarcity of technical investigations of modern (20th century) paintings, this study is relevant and reveals some interesting hints, which may pertain to the trends of the mid-20th century Greek paint market, like, e.g., the rather limited distribution of Ti-white. Additionally, the current findings contribute considerably towards understanding Kontoglou’s artistic methods during a highly creative period and can be utilized to support future conservation efforts. Ultimately, the current preliminary study sheds light on some methodological aspects of the pertinent research and assists towards establishing a detailed protocol for future studies. Full article

Rubber materials are widely used in industrial sectors such as petrochemicals and energy due to their excellent elasticity, flexibility, and sealing properties. However, in complex and demanding service environments, rubber is susceptible to swelling or dissolution caused by medium corrosion, leading to seal failure or structural damage and ultimately resulting in safety incidents. To systematically review research progress and trends in this field, this paper employs 729 literature samples from the Web of Science core database (2008–2025) and utilizes VOSviewer and Citespace knowledge mapping tools to conduct a bibliometric analysis of corrosion research on rubber materials. This reveals existing knowledge gaps, technological challenges, hot trends, and future demands. Findings indicate that China, the United States, and India lead in publication volume. Research spans multiple disciplines including multidisciplinary materials science, applied physics, and polymer science, reflecting a cross-disciplinary nature. Current rubber corrosion studies focus on three key areas: fundamental properties and performance of rubber materials, corrosion mechanisms, and protective/corrosion-resistant technologies. Key international challenges include unclear mechanisms of complex media interactions, insufficient multi-scale characterization and life prediction, and limited adaptability to service environments. Future development trends will concentrate on three aspects: systematic research on novel multi-media coupling effects, precision in micro-mechanism and life prediction, and highly reliable advancement in green modification and high-performance protection. Full article

Advances in neuroimaging and intraoperative mapping have transformed brain tumour surgery from anatomy-based resection to function-guided intervention. This review synthesises current evidence on multimodal strategies for maximising tumour removal while preserving cognitive and neurological function. Integrating task-based and resting-state functional MRI (fMRI), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), tractography, and connectomic analysis enables personalised mapping of eloquent and cognitive networks. Intraoperatively, awake craniotomy with direct electrical stimulation (DES) remains the gold standard for real-time functional validation, while adjuncts such as intraoperative MRI (iMRI), 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) fluorescence, and ultrasound-based extended resection accuracy. However, these technologies present unique limitations, including neurovascular uncoupling in fMRI, tract distortion in DTI, and resource constraints in low-income settings. Our review differentiates their application across low-grade and high-grade gliomas, emphasising that tumour biology determines the balance between neuroplasticity-driven mapping and imaging-guided radicality. Key future priorities include validation of multimodal imaging protocols, integration of longitudinal neuropsychological outcomes, and development of interpretable connectomic models. Addressing the technological and ethical challenges of high-field MRI, data standardisation, and cost-effective implementation will be essential for equitable global adoption. Ultimately, the evolution of functional neurosurgery depends not only on new technologies but on integrating multimodal evidence and patient-centred outcome measures to achieve reproducible, safe, and personalised brain tumour surgery. Full article

Defect engineering can effectively regulate the catalytic activity of single-atom catalysts anchored on the graphene substrate. Based on graphene with topological defects consisting of 5,7-membered carbon rings, we designed and investigated twenty transition metal single-atom catalysts TM-N₄-C57 (TM = Sc~Cu, Zr~Mo, Ru, Rh, Hf~Ir) for electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Employing a screening strategy that considers binding energy, N₂ adsorption, catalytic activity, selectivity, and thermal stability, we ultimately screened out two electrocatalysts (Mo-N₄-C57 and W-N₄-C57) with excellent catalytic activity and selectivity. The NRR pathways on these two catalysts proceed through distal and consecutive pathways, with limiting potentials of −0.19 and −0.53 V for Mo-N₄-C57 and W-N₄-C57, respectively. The activity origin was elucidated through the analysis of partial density of states (PDOS) and crystal orbital Hamilton populations (COHP), suggesting that the interaction between Mo and NH₂ in the *NH₂ intermediate is relatively weak. An excellent linear relationship between U_L and ICOHP has been identified, suggesting it as a descriptor. This work provides a theoretical basis for designing efficient NRR catalysts with modified second coordination spheres. Full article

Change detection is a pivotal task in remote sensing information extraction, and leveraging the representation capabilities of large models has emerged as a promising direction in recent research. However, existing large-model-based change detection methods primarily focus on adaptation and fine-tuning strategies, while often overlooking the effective separation of true change information from background content. As a result, these methods still suffer from frequent false alarms and missed detections, especially in complex scenarios. To address these limitations, we propose a SAM fine-tuning adaptation change detection method based on Fourier frequency domain analysis difference reinforcement (SAM-FDN). In this method, we utilize the feature extraction capability of the SAM and adopt a low-rank fine-tuning strategy to construct the feature extraction backbone network of the model, extracting remote sensing image features at different time periods to enhance the model’s cognitive ability towards remote sensing images at different time periods. Furthermore, a Fourier Change Feature Extraction-Separation Module (FCEM) is designed based on Fourier frequency-domain analysis. This module separates high-frequency variation information from low-frequency invariant information, thereby enhancing differential features while suppressing invariant ones, which in turn contributes to more reliable and accurate remote sensing change detection (RSCD). Experiments conducted on three benchmark datasets demonstrate that SAM-FDN consistently outperforms existing state-of-the-art methods across various complex change detection scenarios. Ablation studies further confirm the effectiveness of the proposed coupling strategy between the SAM foundation model and the frequency-domain perception mechanism. In particular, the FCEM significantly improves the separation of meaningful change features and the suppression of irrelevant information, ultimately enhancing the model’s sensitivity to real changes and its overall detection performance. Full article

Chinese lacquer, a natural polymer with exceptional durability and cultural significance, has been widely used since the Warring States period. This review examines recent advances in lacquer identification techniques and their role in cultural heritage conservation. Drawing on five representative case studies—the B54 Japanese armor, Ba lacquerware from Lijiaba, a Qing Dynasty folding fan, Ryukyu lacquerware, and late Joseon objects—we show how integrated analytical approaches combining microscopy, spectroscopy, chromatography, and biochemical methods provide critical insights into composition, degradation, and conservation strategies. Key findings highlight (1) the effectiveness of multi-technique analysis in characterizing complex lacquer–metal interfaces and layered structures; (2) the recognition of regional and chronological variations in lacquer formulations, highlighting the need for standardized authentication protocols and shared databases; and (3) the promise of non-destructive technologies to reduce sampling and improve aging simulations. By critically synthesizing these case studies, the review highlights both methodological successes and persistent challenges, such as ethical constraints of sampling and limited understanding of long-term degradation. Ultimately, lacquer is positioned at the intersection of material science and cultural preservation, offering a transferable framework for global heritage protection. Future directions include hyperspectral imaging, bioinspired consolidants, and computational modeling to advance non-invasive diagnostics and sustainable conservation. Full article

Automatic vehicle detection and tracking are at the core of the latest smart city developments, enhancing mobility services across the globe. Nevertheless, research in this field often suffers from inconsistent results caused by heterogeneity in datasets, methodologies and evaluation metrics. These challenges highlight the need for this systematic review, which comprises the work of 29 peer-reviewed studies extracted from Scopus and ACM Digital Library published between 2020 and 2024, focusing on integrated vehicle detection–tracking systems using fixed top-down imagery. The selected works were critically examined according to their algorithms, methodological practices, dataset characteristics and performance metrics, culminating in a meta-analysis to quantify and fairly compare results. In parallel, the broader ecosystem surrounding vehicle detection and tracking was also explored to provide a complementary perspective, including evaluation standards and dataset diversity, helping to guide future works. The findings reveal that state-of-the-art research lacks standardization of metrics and reporting, heavily relies on datasets that are incompatible with tracking benchmarks and often limited in scenario diversity, and repeatedly exhibit methodological lenience compromising reproducibility and transparency. While the meta-analysis helps contextualize the best-reported implementations, the absence of standardized practices ultimately fragments the experiment. This review consolidates the current knowledge and suggests concrete directions to improve robustness, comparability and deployment of vehicle detection and tracking systems for future smart-cities infrastructures. Full article

Offshore wind turbines are rapidly scaling in size, which amplifies the need for credible integrated load analyses that consistently resolve the coupled dynamics among rotor–nacelle–tower systems and their support substructures. This study presents a comprehensive ultimate limit state (ULS) load assessment for a fixed jack-up-type substructure (hereafter referred to as K-wind) coupled with the IEA 15 MW reference wind turbine. Unlike conventional monopile or jacket configurations, the K-wind concept adopts a self-installable triangular jack-up foundation with spudcan anchorage, enabling efficient transport, rapid deployment, and structural reusability. Yet such a configuration has never been systematically analyzed through full aero-hydro-servo-elastic coupling before. Hence, this work represents the first integrated load analysis ever reported for a jack-up-type offshore wind substructure, addressing both its unique load-transfer behavior and its viability for multi-MW-class turbines. To ensure numerical robustness and cross-code reproducibility, steady-state verifications were performed under constant-wind benchmarks, followed by time-domain simulations of standard prescribed Design Load Case (DLC), encompassing power-producing extreme turbulence, coherent gusts with directional change, and parked/idling directional sweeps. The analyses were independently executed using two industry-validated solvers (Deeplines Wind v5.8.5 and OrcaFlex v11.5e), allowing direct solver-to-solver comparison and establishing confidence in the obtained dynamic responses. Loads were extracted at the transition-piece reference point in a global coordinate frame, and six key components (Fx, Fy, Fz, Mx, My, and Mz) were processed into seed-averaged signed envelopes for systematic ULS evaluation. Beyond its methodological completeness, the present study introduces a validated framework for analyzing next-generation jack-up-type foundations for offshore wind turbines, establishing a new reference point for integrated load assessments that can accelerate the industrial adoption of modular and re-deployable support structures such as K-wind. Full article

Material Extrusion for Metals (MEX/M) has emerged as a cost-effective and versatile Additive Manufacturing technology (AM) for producing complex metal components. Despite its potential, parts realized via MEX/M suffer from significant limitations, primarily poor surface quality due to the intrinsic layer-wise effect from the printing deposition and selected printing conditions. Furthermore, the multi-step nature of the MEX/M process, particularly the sintering stage, can exacerbate roughness along with the printing orientation, thereby affecting part performance and limiting potential applications. In addition to surface defects, MEX parts are characterized by a high content of porosity when compared to other metal AM technologies like Powder Bed Fusion laser-based (PBF-LB) and Directed Energy Deposition laser-based (DED-LB). These defects, both on the surface and within the parts, can compromise the mechanical properties and overall quality of the final parts. In this context, the scientific community has increasingly recognized post-treatment processes as essential for simultaneously improving surface quality and enhancing bulk material properties. This review according to the PRISMA 2020 guidelines provides a comprehensive analysis of the most critical post-treatment processes applied to MEX/M parts. By critically reviewing the state of the art, this paper discusses how these treatments can effectively mitigate outer and inner defects, reduce porosity, and significantly improve mechanical performance, ultimately enabling the broader industrial adoption of MEX/M technology. Full article

Lightweight magnesium alloys are gaining increasing attention as potential structural materials for automotive and aerospace applications due to their high specific strength and excellent recyclability. However, their formability and mechanical performance are often limited by strong basal texture and limited recrystallization during thermomechanical processing. In this context, the present study systematically investigates the effect of post-annealing treatment on the microstructural evolution, recrystallization behavior, and mechanical response of a hot-rolled Mg-3Al-1Zn-1Ca alloy. Detailed microstructural characterization revealed that Al₂Ca precipitates were uniformly distributed along grain boundaries in the as-received (AR) condition, where they contributed to significant pinning of boundary migration. Post-annealing treatment (350 °C, furnace cooling) resulted in non-uniform grain coarsening, driven by the interplay of precipitate pinning and differential stored strain energy, while also facilitating particle-stimulated nucleation (PSN) and recrystallization. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis confirmed a substantial increase in the fraction of high-angle grain boundaries and recrystallized grains in the heat-treated (HT) state, with kernel average misorientation (KAM) and grain orientation spread (GOS) analyses indicating pronounced recovery of lattice distortions. Mechanical testing demonstrated a significant decrease in yield strength (263 MPa to 187.4 MPa) and hardness (65.7 to 54.1 HV) due to dislocation annihilation and stress relaxation, while ultimate tensile strength remained nearly unchanged (~338 MPa) and ductility improved markedly (12.6% to 16.4%). These findings highlight the dual role of Al₂Ca precipitates in promoting recrystallization through PSN while simultaneously restricting excessive grain growth through Zener pinning. Full article

This study presents the design and performance assessment of suction anchor foundations for an integrated offshore wind–solar–aquaculture system located in Jiangsu Sheyang, China. The project represents one of the first practical demonstrations of coupling renewable energy production with large-scale marine aquaculture on a shared floating platform. Using three-dimensional numerical simulations in FLAC3D and ABAQUS, the study evaluates the anchors’ bearing capacity, structural safety, and fatigue performance under ultimate (ULS), accidental (ALS), and fatigue (FLS) limit states. The analysis incorporates site-specific geotechnical conditions, seabed scour, and installation deviations, providing a realistic framework for foundation design in layered coastal sediments. Results confirm that the suction anchor system meets international safety requirements (DNV, CCS) and maintains robust performance throughout its service life. The findings demonstrate that scour depth and installation accuracy are critical factors governing anchor reliability and offer practical insights for updating offshore foundation design standards in future multifunctional renewable–aquaculture developments. Full article

This study focuses on the cooperative formation control problem of six-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) under constraints of limited communication resources and strict time requirements. The core innovation of the proposed framework lies in the deep integration of a dynamic self-triggered communication mechanism (DSTCM) with a prescribed-time control strategy. Furthermore, a fuzzy control strategy is designed to effectively suppress system disturbances, enhancing the robustness of the formation. The designed DSTCM not only retains the adaptive triggering threshold characteristic of dynamic event-triggered communication, significantly reducing communication frequency, but also completely eliminates the need for continuous state monitoring required by traditional event-triggered mechanisms. As a result, both communication and onboard computational resources are effectively conserved. In parallel, a novel time-varying unilateral constrained performance function is introduced to construct a prescribed-time controller, which guarantees that the formation tracking error converges to a predefined residual set within a user-specified time. The convergence process is independent of initial conditions and strictly adheres to full-state constraints. A rigorous Lyapunov-based stability analysis demonstrates that all signals in the closed-loop UAV velocity and attitude system are semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded (SGUUB). Furthermore, the proposed DSTCM ensures the existence of a strictly positive lower bound on the inter-event triggering intervals of the UAVs, thereby avoiding the occurrence of Zeno behavior. Numerical simulation results are provided to verify the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed control scheme. Full article

This paper addresses the challenges of inadequate trajectory tracking accuracy and limited parameter adaptability encountered by hip joints in lower-limb exoskeletons operating across multi-terrain environments. To mitigate these issues, we propose a hybrid control strategy that synergistically combines the slime mould algorithm (SMA) with fuzzy PID control, thereby improving the trajectory tracking performance in such diverse conditions. Initially, we established a dynamic model of the hip joint in the sagittal plane utilizing the Lagrange method, which elucidates the underlying motion mechanisms involved. Subsequently, we designed a fuzzy PID controller that facilitates dynamic parameter adjustment. The integration of the slime mould algorithm (SMA) allows for the optimization of both the quantization factor and the proportional factor of the fuzzy PID controller, culminating in the development of a hybrid control framework that significantly enhances parameter adaptability. Ultimately, we performed a comparative analysis of this hybrid control strategy against conventional PID, fuzzy PID, and PSO-fuzzy PID controls through MATLABR2023b/Simulink simulations as well as experimental tests across a range of multi-terrain scenarios including flat ground, inclines, and stair climbing. The results indicate that in comparison to PID, fuzzy PID, and PSO-fuzzy PID controls, our proposed strategy significantly reduced the adjustment time by 15.06% to 61.9% and minimized the maximum error by 39.44% to 72.81% across various terrains including flat ground, slope navigation, and stair climbing scenarios. Additionally, it lowered the steady-state error ranges by an impressive 50.67% to 90.75%. This enhancement markedly improved the system’s response speed, tracking accuracy, and stability, thereby offering a robust solution for the practical application of lower-limb exoskeletons. Full article