Search Results (493)

A piezoelectric ultrasonic transducer has been developed to detect flow rate, occlusion, and bubble formation in a portable peritoneal dialysis system. This transducer works by utilizing the piezoelectric effect to convert electrical energy into ultrasonic waves and detect the reflected waves through the tube wall. In addition, organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) were tested at annealing temperatures of 75 °C, 100 °C, and 125 °C to evaluate the effect of temperature on mobility and on/off ratio. The best results were obtained at 100 °C with a mobility of 0.816 cm²/Vs and an on/off ratio of 1.4 × 10³ correlated with grain size. This study aims to report the fabrication process and initial characterization of the OTFT device as a first step towards the development of a portable biosensor that can be integrated into a point-of-care system. The transducer is designed for use in PeritoCare^® (Bangi, Malaysia), a portable peritoneal dialysis system developed by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). The integration of piezoelectric transducers and OTFTs into the PeritoCare^® system enables the development of a more flexible, efficient, and mobile peritoneal dialysis system for young, active end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. Full article

The capacity of exhibitions to transform a city extends over a long period. The expo area is converted into a unique scenario for architecture, diversity, technology, mobility, and culture during the event itself. After the exhibition is over, work continues with the architectural transformations necessary to reconfigure the place into one that responds to the needs of the city and its inhabitants. The collateral actions of urban development through exhibitions involve the regeneration of different areas of the city, such as emblematic areas, and the reconfiguration of its operational systems such as transport, telecommunications, various networks, etc. Universal Expositions have historically served as catalysts for large-scale urban transformation, leaving behind complex spatial, architectural, and infrastructural legacies. However, the long-term integration of former expo sites into the contemporary city remains uneven and insufficiently documented, particularly in the case of Seville, which hosted both the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition and the 1992 Universal Exposition. This research employs a mixed qualitative methodology combining archival investigation, cartographic and photographic analysis, field observation, and research by design. Based on these findings, the paper presents an original architectural and landscape intervention for the degraded area of Isla de la Cartuja, proposing a multifunctional center and botanical garden, a recreational complex that reactivates an abandoned section of the former American Garden. This study contributes to worldwide discussions on mega-event legacies by offering a structured post-expo evaluation framework, identifying lessons for future regeneration processes, and demonstrating how research by design can support the sustainable transformation of such a former event landscape. Full article

Human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) hold significant promise for regenerative medicine but exhibit immaturity relative to native cardiomyocytes. To make hiPSC-CMs more similar to mature cardiomyocytes, extensive research is being conducted from biochemical, electrochemical, mechanical, and physical perspectives. Quantitatively assessing their maturation is essential to evaluate improvements in cardiac cell function and clarify the impact of previous research. In this study, we present a high-speed sensing system that enables simultaneous, real-time measurement of cardiomyocyte contractile force, and intra- and extra-cellular Ca²⁺ dynamics. To enhance measurement precision, a visualization technique is incorporated to identify individual cardiomyocytes. This simultaneous evaluation system for cardiomyocyte contractility and various ion concentrations has the potential to become an effective and powerful foundational technology for assessing cardiomyocyte maturation and the regenerative medicine applications of IPSC-CMs. The ability to convert cardiomyocyte contractile force into single-cell force implies a more universal evaluation of the mechanical properties. Full article

This article interrogates “enforced silence” in higher education as an active, racialised technology of governance that manages speech, polices dissent, and narrows the horizons of legitimate knowledge. Bringing scholarship on institutional racism, decoloniality, and academic freedom into dialogue with analyses of scholasticide, the systematic destruction of education and intellectual life in Palestine, the paper argues that neutrality and professionalism function as administrative veneers that protect institutional reputation while disciplining racialised scholars and erasing Palestinian epistemologies. Palestine operates here as both an acute site of violence and a diagnostic mirror that illuminates a transnational repertoire of epistemic governance: censorship, securitisation, campus injunctions, and weaponised definitions that chill debate and criminalise solidarity. The article extends the concept of scholasticide beyond material destruction to include ideological and institutional assaults on dissent and critical thought, demonstrating how marketised, securitised universities reproduce racial regimes while disavowing complicity. Against this architecture, the paper advances a praxis-oriented framework drawing on critical pedagogy and the Palestinian ethic of Sumud to envision universities as sites of freedom rather than corporate neutrality. It sets out concrete strategies for scholars and institutions, including protections for dissent, refusal of censorious definitions, divestment from complicit partnerships, cross-border classrooms, and recognition of emotional–political labour, to convert witness into transformative action. The article concludes by insisting that academic responsibility is irreducibly collective: education must commit to liberation, not serve domination. Full article

With the development of distributed electric propulsion aircraft, researching airborne high-efficiency, high-power-density, high-gain, high-dynamic and low-ripple, low-stress DC-DC that meets aviation standards is an urgent and profoundly challenging task (Research Background). We propose a new topology to implement related applications. The new topology consists of an interleaved switched-inductor unit for a high-gain, low-ripple, and high-dynamic response, and a switched-capacitor unit for secondary boosting and low voltage stress. This study first analyzes in depth the operating principle and electrical characteristics of the proposed topology in different modes, showing that the proposed topology can achieve an extremely high voltage gain while maintaining low voltage stress. Moreover, the proposed topology employs interleaved inverse coupled inductors to eliminate right-half-plane zero (RHPZ). We establish a universal design guideline for coupled inductors by deriving the equivalent inductance equations, and we implement an ultra-lightweight switched-coupled inductor using planar thin-film integrated magnetic technology. We conduct small-signal modeling to verify the loop characteristics and stability of the proposed converter. Finally, the correctness of the theoretical analysis and the advantages of the proposed converter were verified through a 5000 W experimental prototype and comprehensive comparative experiments. Full article

The universal need for sustainable and renewable energy sources has accelerated the shift towards bioenergy as a valuable option to fossil fuels. However, a significant challenge remains in the underutilisation of biomass resources and the environmental pollution caused by improper biomass disposal methods. Biochar, a by-product of biomass pyrolysis rich with carbon, serves as a means to convert underused biomass into valuable energy and a tool for environmental remediation. Biochar can be integrated into a biorefinery for improved bioelectricity and biogas production, but there are challenges with regard to its production scalability, quality control, and standardisation. This article provides a comprehensive review of the prospective processes useful in the valorisation of biomass into biochar for bioenergy, co-firing potential with fossil fuels, and in waste biomass transformation. This article also provides insight into business development and policy-making by bioentrepreneurs, bioengineers, and the government, as it identifies grey opportunities for bioenergy production and improvement. The prospect of AI technology in improving the production, quality, and yield of biochar, by identifying the most efficient parameters and conditions, as well as optimising the application of biochar in various industries, is also highlighted. The transition to biofuels in aviation, a step towards a future in the industry that is more sustainable, is also suggested in this review. Full article

Rolling bearings are critical components in rotating machinery, and their performance degrades over time due to operational wear, which may compromise the safety and efficiency of mechanical systems. Therefore, accurate and timely fault diagnosis of rolling bearings is crucial. In real-world industrial environments, such diagnosis remains challenging owing to complex and varying operating conditions. Conventional single-modality deep learning methods often face limitations and fail to satisfy practical demands. To overcome these challenges, this paper proposes a novel fault diagnosis approach based on a Parallel Heterogeneous Deep Network (PHDN-FD). First, the original vibration signals are segmented according to signal pattern similarity. The continuous wavelet transform (CWT) using the Morse wavelet is applied to convert one-dimensional signal segments into two-dimensional time–frequency representations. Subsequently, each signal segment and its corresponding time–frequency representation are paired to form input data for a dual-branch parallel network. One branch, based on the ConvNeXt architecture, extracts spatial features from the time–frequency images, while the other branch employs a 1D-ResNet to capture temporal features from the raw signal segments. The features from both branches are then fused and fed into a three-layer feedforward neural network for final fault classification. Experimental results on the Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) bearing dataset and Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAIST) bearing datasets show that the proposed method achieves high diagnostic accuracy even under adverse conditions, such as noise interference, limited training samples, and variable load levels. Moreover, the model exhibits strong cross-load transferability. By effectively integrating multimodal feature representations, the PHDN-FD framework improves both diagnostic accuracy and model robustness in complex operational scenarios, establishing a solid foundation for industrial deployment and demonstrating significant potential for practical applications. Full article

With increasing wind power penetration in modern grids, high-performance current control of converters is essential for efficient power transfer, harmonic reduction, and system stability. A novel discrete switching sequence control (dSSC) is proposed to ensure power converters universally track current references without steady-state error. A discrete model of the H-bridge converter is developed, together with a detailed, systematic design methodology to realize the dSSC. The resulting controller is applicable to arbitrary current references and guarantees zero steady-state error. Compared with pulse width modulation (PWM), the dSSC accounts for converter switching characteristics and provides a systematic design framework for both dynamic performance and steady-state accuracy. Moreover, the average switching frequency is approximately half that of PWM, which reduces maintenance and improves converter efficiency in wind-turbine applications. Simulation and experimental results validate the proposed method. Full article

Inhibition of respiratory chain complex I (NADH dehydrogenase) is a widely encountered biochemical consequence of drug intoxication and a primary consequence of mtDNA mutations and other mitochondrial defects. In an organ-selective form, it is also deployed as antidiabetic pharmacological treatment. Complex I inhibition evokes a pronounced metabolic reprogramming of uncertain purposefulness, as in several cases, anabolism appears to be fostered in a state of bioenergetic shortage. A hallmark of complex I inhibition is the enhanced biosynthesis of serine, usually accompanied by an induction of folate-converting enzymes. Here, we have revisited the differential transcriptional induction of these metabolic pathways in three published models of selective complex I inhibition: MPP-treated neuronal cells, methionine-restricted rats, and patient fibroblasts harboring an NDUFS2 mutation. We find that in a coupled fashion, serinogenesis and circular folate cycling provide an unrecognized alternative pathway of complete glucose oxidation that is mostly dependent on NADP instead of the canonic NAD cofactor (NADP:NAD ≈ 2:1) and thus evades the shortage of oxidized NAD produced by complex I inhibition. In contrast, serine utilization for anabolic purposes and C₁-folate provision for S-adenosyl-methionine production and transsulfuration cannot explain the observed transcriptional patterns, while C₁-folate provision for purine biosynthesis did occur in some models, albeit not universally. We conclude that catabolic glucose oxidation to CO₂, linked with NADPH production for indirect downstream respiration through fatty acid cycling, is the general purpose of the remarkably strong induction of serinogenesis after complex I inhibition. Full article

This study examines cosmic acceleration in the framework of $f(Q,T)$ gravity and compares it to the standard $\Lambda$CDM model. It considers a generalized nonlinear form of the nonmetricity, expressed as $f(Q,T)=-Q+{\alpha }_0{Q}^2/H_0^2+{\beta }_{0}T+{\eta }_0$, where ${\alpha }_0,{\beta }_0,$ and ${\eta }_0$ are constants, and $H_0$ is the current value of the Hubble constant. In the solution process, we did not rely on any additional conditions to solve the field equations; instead, the field equations were reduced to a time-dependent closed system of nonlinear first-order coupled differential equations for H and $\rho$. Subsequently, these differential equations were converted to the redshift space for numerical integration alongside the Runge–Kutta method. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that the deceleration parameter q changes sign from being positive in an early period of time at high redshift values to a negative value, passing through a transitional redshift $z_t\approx [0.766,0.769,0.771]$ and $z_t\approx [0.521,0.770,1.010]$, reaching their current values at $q_0=[-0.61,-0.60,-0.59]$ and $[-0.455,-0.595,-0.694]$ for different values of ${\beta }_0$ and ${\alpha }_0$, respectively. Similarly, the effective equation of state $w_{eff}$ shifted from the matter-dominated phase $w_{eff}=0$ at high redshift to a quintessence-like behavior at low redshift. Moreover, a super-accelerated or phantom-like regime with $q_0\simeq -1.59$ and $w_{\mathrm{eff},0}\simeq -1.40$ was obtained when ${\alpha }_0=0.55$ and ${\beta }_0=0.60$ were employed. The model analysis reveals that the universe is presently experiencing an accelerating expansion phase, propelled by a quintessence-type and phantom-like dark energy component, as corroborated by the Om(z) diagnostic test. The results obtained were strongly consistent with the concordance $\Lambda$CDM model. Full article

Quantum image transmission is a critical enabler for next-generation communication systems, allowing for the reliable exchange of high-quality visual data over error-prone quantum channels. Existing quantum-encoding schemes, however, often suffer from limited efficiency and reduced robustness under noisy conditions. This work introduces a novel multi-qubit phase-shift keying (PSK) encoding framework to enhance both fidelity and reliability in quantum image transmission. In the proposed system, source-encoded images (JPEG/HEIF) are converted into bitstreams, segmented into varying qubit sizes from 1 to 8, and mapped onto multi-qubit states using quantum PSK modulation. By exploiting multi-qubit superposition and phase modulation, the scheme improves spectral efficiency while maintaining resilience to channel noise. The encoded quantum states are transmitted through noisy channels and reconstructed via inverse quantum operations combined with classical post-processing to recover the original images. Experimental results demonstrate substantial performance improvements, evaluated using peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), structural similarity index (SSIM), and universal quality index (UQI). Compared to superposition-only approaches, the proposed method achieves up to 3 dB SNR gain for higher qubit sizes, while single-qubit encoding remains limited due to reduced phase utilization. Moreover, relative to classical communication systems, the proposed multi-qubit PSK scheme consistently outperforms across all tested qubit sizes, highlighting its effectiveness for reliable, efficient, and high-fidelity quantum image transmission. Full article

One of the sources of risk inherent to construction projects is the quality of spatial data. Damage to buried pipes and cables often causes accidents, delays, or stoppages of construction works. Fuzzy logic is a method for studying the risk. It is employed to describe complex or poorly defined phenomena that can hardly be characterised with probabilistic methods. The article proposes a method for assessing the risk of damaging underground utilities based on a fuzzy inference engine. The author first defined linguistic variables and assigned them values based on risk factors. The membership functions for the linguistic variables were modelled using expert judgement. Then, the author determined qualitative fuzzy sets with the rule base. Finally, the values were converted into crisp values. The defuzzification technique employed was the centre of gravity. The proposed method can assess the risk of damage to underground utilities for spatial data exhibiting diverse quality classes. It will be employed to generate large-scale risk maps. The proposed fuzzy logic solution is an effective and appropriate tool for assessing the risk of damage to underground utilities arising from the quality of subsurface data. It should not be regarded as a universal substitute for PRA (Probabilistic Risk Assessment) but as a complementary methodology that is particularly well-suited to risk assessment in data-poor environments characterised by epistemic uncertainty and reliance on qualitative expert judgement. Full article

Background/Objectives: Occlusal analysis is an important component of oral rehabilitation with a determining role in the prognosis of restorations. Over time, several qualitative and quantitative occlusal analysis methods have been proposed, starting with occlusion wax up to the most advanced digital systems. The objective of the present study was to evaluate and compare the data obtained through dental occlusion analysis using the Medit i700 and Exocad Elefsina v3.2 in a group of subjects, in order to establish the reliability or compatibility between the two occlusal analysis systems. Methods: The study was conducted on 20 subjects, aged between 24 and 53 years, who presented in the Dental Prosthetics Clinic of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova. Digital impressions were acquired using the Medit Link v.3.3.6 intraoral scanner, and the digital files were subsequently uploaded from the Medit i700 into the Medit Occlusion Analyzer application and the Dental CAD Exocad software. For the analysis of occlusion in dynamics, mandibular movements and data acquisition, positions of edge-to-edge in protrusion, edge-to-edge in right laterotrusion and edge-to-edge in left laterotrusion were recorded, using the corresponding print screens. The 2D occlusal contact images generated by the two software programs were converted into .jpeg format and subsequently imported into Adobe Photoshop CS6 (2021) for comparative analysis. The data were statistically processed for each software used and the obtained data were subsequently compared. Results: The occlusal surfaces recorded with the Medit Occlusion Analyzer application represent 94% of the occlusal surfaces recorded with the Exocad software for the maxilla and 90% of the occlusal surfaces recorded for the mandible. In maximum intercuspation, the highest values were recorded by the Medit i700 software, whereas in edge-to-edge protrusion and both right and left edge-to-edge laterotrusion positions, the highest values were reported by the Exocad software. The discrepancy between maxillary and mandibular values arises from the conversion of the data from a three-dimensional to a two-dimensional format during image processing. Conclusions: The occlusal areas recorded by the DentalCAD Exocad software show higher values than those provided by the Medit Link software with the Medit Occlusion Analyzer application. The differences in recorded values, in the case of the digital flow of prosthetic restorations, require the intervention of the dentist to perform clinical adjustments to optimize occlusal relationships after the fabrication and cementation of restorations. Full article

Generative steganography (GS) generates stego-media via secret messages, but existing GS only targets single-type multimedia data with poor universality. The generator and extractor sizes are highly coupled with resolution. Message mapping converts secret messages and noise, yet current GS schemes based on it use gridded data, failing to generate diverse multimedia universally. Inspired by implicit neural representation (INR), we propose generative implicit steganography via message mapping (GIS). We designed single-bit and multi-bit message mapping schemes in function domains. The scheme’s function generator eliminates the coupling between model and gridded data sizes, enabling diverse multimedia generation and breaking resolution limits. A dedicated point cloud extractor is trained for adaptability. Through a literature review, this scheme is the first to perform message mapping in the functional domain. During the experiment, taking images as an example, methods such as PSNR, StegExpose, and neural pruning were used to demonstrate that the generated image quality is almost indistinguishable from the real image. At the same time, the generated image is robust. The accuracy of message extraction can reach 96.88% when the embedding capacity is 1 bpp, 89.84% when the embedding capacity is 2 bpp, and 82.21% when the pruning rate is 0.3. Full article

This paper proposes a battery emulator based on a bidirectional non-inverting buck-boost power electronics converter. With the capability of bidirectional operation, it can emulate both charging and discharging processes. The proposed emulator is controlled with the advanced I² dual current-mode control (I²DCMC) algorithm, combined with a feedforward control, which ensures fast and accurate tracking of the voltage and current characteristics of the batteries. The emulator is universal in terms of the various mathematical models of the batteries, which can be implemented in real time. It has no limitations regarding different battery types. Detailed analysis and the design procedure of the proposed battery emulator are presented. The performances of the emulator are validated with simulation and experimental results for three battery types: polymer Li-ion, conventional Li-ion, and lead–acid battery. Both steady and transient states are analyzed, especially transitions between charging and discharging phases. The possibility of simple time scaling of charging/discharging processes is successfully achieved and demonstrated, which is very important in making tests faster, with preserved battery characteristics. Considering its low-cost and user-friendly operation, the proposed emulator can be a good alternative to the real batteries in experimental tests of different power electronics systems. The prototype, which is developed for the experimental verification of the emulator, is designed for and limited to the research of lower power ratings systems of up to 100 W. It is suitable in education to easily demonstrate the behavior of the batteries in multiple scenarios in controlled laboratory conditions. Full article