Search Results (2,175)

We present a quantitative theory of contraction and expansion cycles within the Quantum Memory Matrix (QMM) cosmology. In this framework, spacetime consists of finite-capacity Hilbert cells that store quantum information. Each non-singular bounce adds a fixed increment of imprint entropy, defined as the cumulative quantum information written irreversibly into the matrix and distinct from coarse-grained thermodynamic entropy, thereby providing an intrinsic, monotonic cycle counter. By calibrating the geometry–information duality, inferring today’s cumulative imprint from CMB, BAO, chronometer, and large-scale-structure constraints, and integrating the modified Friedmann equations with imprint back-reaction, we find that the Universe has already completed $N_{\mathrm{past}}=3.6\pm 0.4$ cycles. The finite Hilbert capacity enforces an absolute ceiling: propagating the holographic write rate and accounting for instability channels implies only $N_{\mathrm{future}}=7.8\pm 1.6$ additional cycles before saturation halts further bounces. Integrating Kodama-vector proper time across all completed cycles yields a total cumulative age $t_{\mathrm{QMM}}=62.0\pm 2.5\mathrm{Gyr}$, compared to the $13.8\pm 0.2\mathrm{Gyr}$ of the current expansion usually described by $\mathrm{\Lambda }$CDM. The framework makes concrete, testable predictions: an enhanced faint-end UV luminosity function at $z\gtrsim 12$ observable with JWST, a stochastic gravitational-wave background with $f^{2/3}$ scaling in the LISA band from primordial black-hole mergers, and a nanohertz background with slope $\alpha \simeq 2/3$ accessible to pulsar-timing arrays. These signatures provide near-term opportunities to confirm, refine, or falsify the cyclical QMM chronology. Full article

The Republic of Turkey established its first match factory in Sinop in 1929 but had to relocate it even before it was in operation due to severe structural damage caused by ground settlement. In July 1930, through his US-based firm the American–Turkish Investment Corporation (ATIC), the Swedish “Match King” Ivar Kreuger signed a contract with the Republic of Turkey to build and operate a factory in Büyükdere, Istanbul. By 1930, Kreuger had already established a match production monopoly in nearly every country in Europe and that year created a similar financial system for Turkey, gaining control of match production for 25 years. This article explains the events surrounding the establishment of his modern production facility in Turkey, with a particular focus on its engineering aspects. It details the strategically chosen location, the engineering solutions for the factory’s construction, its production lines, and what the country gained and lost from it. In order to determine the establishment and production processes of the facility, the authors examined domestic and foreign archival documents, firsthand news reports from the period, articles and theses, and all other available documents. After the contract was terminated by both parties, the Turkish government and ATIC, in May 1943, the factory continued its production and storage activities until May 1989. At that point, the factory and all its equipment were integrated into another existing facility in the İnegöl district of Bursa province. Almost all the buildings of the Büyükdere Match Factory were demolished, and the land was repurposed for a 450-bed regional hospital in 2012. In short, this article deploys the Büyükdere Match Factory as a case study to examine what Turkey gained and lost from the establishment and production processes of a modern industrial factory, enabled by US–Turkish collaboration, and equipped with the most advanced manufacturing and engineering technologies of the time. Full article

This paper introduces a novel scheduling model that integrates weather-based productivity coefficients into multi-unit construction projects, aiming to enhance profit and reduce delays. The method is suitable especially for renewable energy, open-area projects. The authors propose a flow-shop optimization framework that considers key aspects of construction contracts, e.g., contractual penalties, downtime losses, and cash flow constraints. A proprietary Tabu Search (TS) metaheuristic algorithm variant is used to solve the resulting NP-hard problem. Numerical experiments on multiple test sets indicate that the TS algorithm consistently outperforms other methods in finding higher-profit schedules. A real-world wind farm case study further demonstrates substantial improvements, transforming an initially loss-making operation into a profitable venture. By explicitly accounting for weather disruptions within a formalized scheduling model, this work advances the understanding of reliable project planning under uncertain environmental conditions. The solution framework offers contractors an effective tool for mitigating scheduling risks and optimizing resource usage. The integration of weather data and cash flow management increases the likelihood of on-time and on-budget project delivery. Full article

Predefined-time control has been extensively implemented in marine control systems due to its capability to enhance transient performance and achieve superior control specifications. However, inaccurate control execution resulting from faulty actuators can compromise this control strategy and critically undermine system performance. To address this challenge, this paper propose a predefined-time model predictive fault-tolerant control strategy for unmanned surface vessels (USVs) while considering actuator failures and ocean disturbances. Firstly, a novel predefined-time model predictive control (PTMPC) strategy is designed by incorporating contraction constraints derived from an auxiliary predefined-time control system into the proposed optimization framework. This ensures that the resulting control variables guarantee predefined-time convergence of tracking errors when applied to the USV system. Furthermore, a long short-term memory-based neural network for disturbance prediction is integrated into the control strategy, leveraging its exceptional capability in modeling temporal sequences to achieve accurate forecasting of ocean disturbances. Thirdly, the proposed control scheme utilizes its integrated fault observation mechanism to actively compensate for actuator failures through real-time fault estimation, ensuring predefined-time convergence performance while providing rigorous guarantees of closed-loop stability and feasibility. Finally, simulation results demonstrate the efficacy and superiority of the proposed algorithm. Full article

Optimizing the neuromechanical determinants of explosive performance remains a key objective in sports science. This study compared the effects of an eight-week movement-pattern-based training program (MPT) with an isometric strength training protocol (ITG) on countermovement jump (CMJ) mechanics in competitive track and field athletes. Thirty-four athletes (19 men, 15 women) with ≥7 years of training experience were randomly allocated to the MPT or ITG. Pre- and post-intervention assessments were conducted using dual force plates to evaluate jump height, musculotendinous stiffness, concentric and eccentric impulses, contraction time, eccentric-to-concentric force ratio, and rate of force development (RFD). The MPT elicited significant gains in stiffness (Δ = +840.94 ± 1302.21 N/m; p = 0.002), maintained concentric peak force, and reduced contraction time (Δ = –64.53 ± 190.32 ms; p = 0.01), suggesting improved elastic efficiency and neuromuscular timing. Conversely, ITG was associated with reductions in concentric peak force (Δ = –66.18 ± 77.45 N; p = 0.003) and stiffness (Δ = –691.94 ± 1414.41 N/m) and an increase in the eccentric-to-concentric force ratio (Δ = +1.99%; p = 0.006). The RFD changes were inconsistent across both groups. These findings indicate that dynamic multi-joint training confers superior neuromechanical adaptations compared to isolated isometric loading. From a performance perspective, programming strategies should prioritize movement-specific dynamic tasks to enhance the explosive qualities critical for sprinting, jumping, and multidirectional field sports. Full article

Wound healing is impaired under diabetic conditions due to reduced angiogenesis, thereby increasing the risk of wound-healing complications. Studies have shown that inhibition of α- and β-adrenoceptors delays wound healing. This study investigates the effects of topical salbutamol (TS) on STZ-induced diabetic wound healing in rats. The rats were divided into two initial groups: non-diabetic and diabetic. Diabetes mellitus was induced in the second group with STZ (65 mg/kg). Excision wounds were inflicted on the dorsal thoracic region, 1–1.5 cm away from the vertebral column on either side, following anesthesia on all groups. Group 2 was subdivided into untreated diabetic wounds, low-dose-TS-treated diabetic wounds (6.25 mg/mL), medium-dose-TS-treated diabetic wounds (12.5 mg/mL), and high-dose-TS-treated diabetic wounds (25 mg/mL), and were monitored for 14 days. Percentage wound contraction and the time required for complete wound closure were observed and recorded. In addition, oxidative stress and inflammatory markers such as NO, CRP, MPO, TGF-β1, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, NO, and hexosamine were estimated in wound exudates and tissue over 14 days. TS treatment resulted in 100% wound contraction in all treated wounds within 14 days compared to untreated non-diabetic and diabetic wounds. Increased NO, TGF-β1, and hexosamine activity was observed in TS-treated wounds when compared to untreated diabetic wounds. In addition, TS treatment decreased the activity of IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, CRP, and MPO, all of which were elevated in the untreated diabetic wounds. The current study shows that the application of TS significantly improved diabetic wound contraction and aided the healing process. Angiogenic markers, such as TGF-β1 and NO, were prominently increased, supporting the role of sympathetic nerve stimulation in angiogenesis. Full article

Obstruction differential diagnosis involves tumors, “acute abdomen”, and chronic pseudo-obstruction (CIPO). Pediatric CIPO cases have different backgrounds than adults’ and impairs development. The cases are rare; diagnosis and treatment are still not well established. Diagnosis is complex; clinical, radiological, molecular, and manometric pathologic data are essential. The performance of broad radiological investigations and manometry is cumbersome in a small intestine. Herein, we present cases of a 14-year-old girl and 11-year-old boy with visceral myopathies (VMs). Presented cases show unique hardship in the analysis of standing and contrast bedside X-ray images—the colon distension alone speaks to Hirschsprung, and the clinicians could not confirm suspected short-segment disease for a long time. VMs are usually diagnosed up to 12 months of life and accompanied by other organ dysfunctions, which are herein absent. The key features here were also the involvement of the small intestine, lack of distant colon contraction, and for the long-lasting case in the boy, loss of haustration. The initial diagnosis relied on clinical data (vomiting, malabsorption, >6-month obstruction, and uncharacteristic biochemical tests), radiology (lack of tumor, enlargement of diameter, and fluid in small and large intestines), and manometry (presence of propagation wave and of anal inhibitory reflex in recto–anal manometry). Examination of intestinal muscle biopsies involved hematoxylin-eosin, trichrome-Masson staining, and immunohistochemistry. The characteristics were fibrosis, small vacuoles, muscle layer thinning, and decreased expression of smooth muscle actin and desmin. The localization of biopsies was chosen after X-ray examination, due to interruption and with various degree changes. The final diagnosis was put forward after the analysis of all accessible data. The diagnosis of VM underlines the importance of interdisciplinary co-work. An earlier intestine muscle biopsy and well-designed molecular panel might fasten the process of diagnosis. Deeper exploration of phenotype–genotype correlation of various VM presentations in the future is crucial for personalized treatment. Full article

This study examines how the organizational work climate shapes the effectiveness of supervision on employee performance. While traditional management theory assumes supervision universally enhances productivity, we observe a puzzling paradox: facing identical tasks and wage systems, some firms rely heavily on hierarchical supervision while others thrive with minimal oversight. Through a four-month field experiment across two Chinese agricultural enterprises (5851 observations), we test whether the supervision’s effectiveness depends on the alignment between leadership practices and organizational climate. In formal management firms (FMFs) characterized by hierarchical governance and arm’s-length employment relationships, directive supervision significantly reduces task completion times by 0.126 standard deviations, equivalent to approximately 4.3 s or 2.8% of the average completion time, with this effect remaining stable throughout the workday. Conversely, in network-embedded firms (NEFs) operating through trust-based relational contracts and social norms, identical supervisory practices yield no performance gains, as informal social control mechanisms already ensure high effort levels, rendering formal supervision redundant. These findings challenge the “best practices” paradigm in strategic HRM, demonstrating that HR success requires a careful alignment between leadership approaches and the organizational climate—an effective HR strategy is not about implementing standardized practices but about achieving a strategic fit between supervisory leadership styles and existing work climates. This climate–leadership partnership is essential for optimizing both employee performance and organizational success. Full article

Bridge health monitoring is critical for infrastructure safety, especially with the growing deployment of IoT sensors. This work addresses the challenge of securely storing large volumes of sensor data and extracting actionable insights for timely damage detection. We propose BIONIB, a novel framework that combines an unsupervised machine learning approach called the Novelty Index (NI) with a scalable blockchain platform (EOSIO) for secure, real-time monitoring of bridges. BIONIB leverages EOSIO’s smart contracts for efficient, programmable, and secure data management across distributed sensor nodes. Experiments on real-world bridge sensor data under varying loads, climatic conditions, and health states demonstrate BIONIB’s practical effectiveness. Key findings include CPU utilization below 40% across scenarios, a twofold increase in storage efficiency, and acceptable latency degradation, which is not critical in this domain. Our comparative analysis suggests that BIONIB fills a unique niche by coupling NI-based detection with a decentralized architecture, offering real-time alerts and transparent, verifiable records across sensor nodes. Full article

The rise of digital content has made the need for reliable and practical intellectual property (IP) management systems more critical than ever. Most traditional IP systems are prone to issues such as delays, inefficiency, and data security breaches. This paper introduces SmartRegistry-IP, a system developed to simplify the registration, licensing, and transfer of intellectual property assets in a secure and scalable decentralized environment. By utilizing the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) for decentralized storage, SmartRegistry-IP achieves a low storage latency of 300 milliseconds, outperforming both cloud storage (500 ms) and local storage (700 ms). The system also supports a high transaction throughput of 120 transactions per second. Through the use of smart contracts, licensing agreements are automatically and securely enforced, reducing the need for intermediaries and lowering operational costs. Additionally, the proof-of-work process verifies all transactions, ensuring higher security and maintaining data consistency. The platform integrates an intuitive graphical user interface that enables seamless asset uploads, license management, and analytics visualization in real time. SmartRegistry-IP demonstrates superior efficiency compared to traditional systems, achieving a blockchain delay of 300 ms, which is half the latency of standard systems, averaging 600 ms. According to this study, adopting SmartRegistry-IP provides IP organizations with enhanced security and transparent management, ensuring they can overcome operational challenges regardless of their size. As a result, the use of blockchain for intellectual property management is expected to increase, helping maintain precise records and reducing time spent on online copyright registration. Full article

This study aims to identify the key factors contributing to time and cost deviations in educational infrastructure projects in Colombia, using a data-driven approach based on open government datasets. By examining 175 procurement records from Colombia’s public data platform, the research seeks to uncover patterns and variables that influence project performance, offering a transparent alternative to traditional expert-based assessments. The results show an average time deviation of 77.73% and a cost deviation of 22.17%, with a significant correlation between both metrics. Project type, contract value, and process type were significant for both deviations. Additional cost-related factors included initial duration, award growth, and number of bidders, while time deviations were influenced by project intensity and time suspended. These findings highlight the need for integrated planning and procurement strategies to improve efficiency in public infrastructure delivery. Although the methodology ensures robustness, limitations include the focus on finalized educational projects and the exclusion of qualitative factors such as stakeholder behavior and site-specific challenges. The insights are valuable for policymakers, public sector managers, and researchers seeking to enhance infrastructure outcomes through evidence-based decision-making and better resource allocation. Full article

The electronic judicial evidence preservation systems face various challenges including regulatory control, data exchange, poor credibility, etc. To address these issues, a blockchain-based judicial evidence preservation framework, JudicBlock, is proposed in the present study. It combines the scalability of the Interplanetary File System with the transparency and security of public blockchain. By decentralizing data management and using cryptographic integrity, the system ensures reliable chronological tracking of investigative changes. Unlike traditional approaches, JudicBlock incorporates smart contracts and advanced consensus mechanisms to enforce strict access controls with secure collaboration among the stakeholders. The simulation results show that JudicBlock provides better results over traditional ELR (electronic law records) storage schemes in terms of mining cost, query fetching time, block processing IPFS (Interplanetary file systems) throughput, etc. At a USD 6 mining cost, it appends an average of 23,601 transactions. For 25 blocks, the average query fetching time is 0.852 ms with the cache support of 32 KB. The proposed scheme achieves an average ELR uploading latency improvement of 6.79% over traditional schemes. The results indicate the efficacy of the proposed scheme over the conventional schemes. Full article

Background: The relationship between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) remains a topic of ongoing debate. In particular, the intragastric distribution of H. pylori—whether localized in the antrum or corpus—may influence gastric acid secretion and esophageal physiology in different ways. However, its potential effects on esophageal motility and reflux parameters have not been comprehensively evaluated using combined diagnostic tools. This study aimed to assess whether H. pylori positivity, based on its histologically confirmed intragastric localization, is associated with alterations in endoscopic, manometric, and reflux monitoring findings in patients with typical GERD symptoms. Methods: This retrospective study included 213 patients with typical reflux symptoms who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with gastric biopsies, high-resolution esophageal manometry (HREM), and 24 h multichannel intraluminal impedance–pH (MII-pH) monitoring. Based on histopathology, patients were classified into three groups: H. pylori-negative, antrum-predominant infection, and corpus-predominant infection. Clinical symptoms, endoscopic findings, reflux characteristics, and esophageal motility parameters were compared. Results: Of 213 patients, 90 were H. pylori-positive (60 antrum-predominant, 30 corpus-predominant). There were no significant differences between groups in terms of typical GERD symptoms, endoscopic esophagitis, DeMeester scores, acid exposure time, or mean nocturnal baseline impedance (MNBI). Nausea and chronic laryngitis were significantly more frequent in antral H. pylori-positive patients. Notably, contraction front velocity (CFV) was significantly lower in patients with antral H. pylori compared with H. pylori-negative individuals (p = 0.002), indicating subtle slowing of esophageal peristalsis. Although this reduction in CFV did not correlate with symptom severity or bolus clearance, it may represent early functional impairment of esophageal motility. Conclusions: Although H. pylori infection—particularly when antrum-predominant—is not associated with increased reflux burden or esophagitis, it may contribute to extra-esophageal symptoms and minor motility alterations such as reduced CFV. These findings suggest that routine H. pylori eradication in GERD patients may not be necessary solely based on reflux parameters. However, treatment decisions should be individualized based on symptom profiles and endoscopic findings, including the presence of peptic ulcers, premalignant gastric lesions, or a family history of gastric malignancy, in accordance with general H. pylori eradication criteria. Full article

As a reflective display technology, electrowetting displays (EWDs) have the advantages of a paper-like appearance, fast response speed, and full-color capability. However, the use of an overdriving voltage to improve the response speed of EWDs can cause fluctuations in display luminance, which manifest as glitches in the luminance change curve. In order to eliminate this luminance instability phenomenon, a new driving pulse is proposed, which consists of an overdriving phase, a switching phase, and a driving phase. Firstly, a simplified equivalent circuit model is proposed to apply a target voltage in the driving phase without break down of the hydrophobic insulating layer. Secondly, a COMSOL (Version 6.3) two-dimensional model is established to simulate the oil contraction process and conduct comparisons, so as to ensure the effectiveness of the overdriving pulse. Then, the overdriving phase is applied to improve oil response speed, and a linear function is used in the switching phase to alleviate glitch phenomena. Moreover, the influences of overdriving voltage, overdriving time, and linear switching time on the luminance curve are analyzed by charge trapping theory in order to obtain optimal performance. The experimental results show that the glitch phenomenon is eliminated effectively, and the luminance of the EWD is increased by 1.02% and 1.96% compared with the step switching pulse and PWM pulse, respectively, while the response time is shortened by 1.82% and 8.05% compared with the step switching pulse and PWM pulse, respectively. Full article

With the advancement of technologies such as 5G, digital twins, and edge computing, the Internet of Things (IoT) as a critical component of intelligent systems is profoundly driving the transformation of various industries toward digitalization and intelligence. However, the exponential growth of network connection nodes has expanded the attack exposure surface of IoT devices. The IoT devices with limited storage and computing resources struggle to cope with new types of attacks, and IoT devices lack mature authorization and authentication mechanisms. It is difficult for traditional data-sharing solutions to meet the security requirements of cloud-based shared data. Therefore, this paper proposes a blockchain-based multi-authority IoT data-sharing scheme with attribute-based searchable encryption for intelligent system (BM-ABSE), aiming to address the security, efficiency, and verifiability issues of data sharing in an IoT environment. Our scheme decentralizes management responsibilities through a multi-authority mechanism to avoid the risk of single-point failure. By utilizing the immutability and smart contract function of blockchain, this scheme can ensure data integrity and the reliability of search results. Meanwhile, some decryption computing tasks are outsourced to the cloud to reduce the computing burden on IoT devices. Our scheme meets the static security and IND-CKA security requirements of the standard model, as demonstrated by theoretical analysis, which effectively defends against the stealing or tampering of ciphertexts and keywords by attackers. Experimental simulation results indicate that the scheme has excellent computational efficiency on resource-constrained IoT devices, with core algorithm execution time maintained in milliseconds, and as the number of attributes increases, it has a controllable performance overhead. Full article