Search Results (1,300)

Fiber-reinforced cemented tailings backfill (FTB) has been widely adopted in underground mining operations as an effective solution for mitigating the brittleness of cemented tailings backfill (CTB) and ensuring compatibility with deep mining environments. Understanding the coupled effects of temperature and binder composition on the thermal–hydro–mechanical–chemical (THMC) behavior of FTB is essential for low-carbon mix design and practical application. To address this knowledge gap, this work presents a systematic investigation into the influences of curing temperature, binder type, and cement content on the rheological properties, compressive strength, and THMC-related parameters of FTB. The results demonstrate that elevated temperatures accelerate hydration, reducing flowability while significantly enhancing strength and pore structure refinement. Conversely, low temperatures preserve flowability but impede strength development. The incorporation of slag or fly ash as partial cement substitutes reduces rheological parameters; however, fly ash substitution tends to compromise ultimate strength. Multi-field performance monitoring further reveals the underlying coupling mechanisms among temperature evolution, hydration kinetics, matric suction, and mechanical strength development. Based on these insights, a low-carbon design strategy is proposed, emphasizing dynamic optimization of cement content according to ambient temperature. These findings offer a theoretical foundation for the sustainable proportioning and performance control of mine backfill materials. Full article

An efficient bacteriophage delivery system needs to be developed to overcome the challenges associated with phage instability, rapid diffusion, and loss of infectivity at the infection site. Hydrogels have been found to be potential carriers. Hydrogels have emerged as promising carriers due to their biocompatibility, tunable physicochemical properties and capacity for controlled release. However, the molecular factors that regulate phage–hydrogel interactions remain poorly understood. In this study, we employed an in silico framework combining molecular docking, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, MM/PBSA binding energy calculations, machine learning-based adhesion prediction, and diffusion modeling to explore phage–hydrogel interactions at the molecular level. Surface-exposed bacteriophage proteins, such as capsid and tail proteins, were evaluated against eight different hydrogel polymers. Binding site analysis revealed the presence of multiple solvent-accessible pockets that can interact with the polymer. Docking studies showed favorable and stable interactions, with hyaluronic acid showing strong binding affinity to multiple phage proteins (−5.5 to −5.7 kcal/mol) and GelMA showing high affinity to the capsid gp10 protein (−5.6 kcal/mol). The integrity of the structural complexes was further confirmed by 100 ns MD simulations, stable RMSD and RMSF trajectories, compact structural conformations, and favorable MM/PBSA binding energies. Machine learning classification successfully differentiated high- and low-adhesion systems and identified hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions as key determinants of sustained yet reversible phage retention. Collectively, our findings suggest that the hydrogels enriched with charged and polar functional groups can facilitate stable but non-destructive phage binding, enabling controlled and sustained release. This study provides mechanistic insights into rational hydrogel design for phage delivery systems and highlights the potential of high-throughput computational strategies to accelerate the development of optimized phage therapeutics. Full article

Ixora chinensis Lam. has traditionally been used to treat conditions such as acne, high blood pressure, bleeding, tuberculosis, and rheumatism. This study aimed to investigate the methanolic extract of I. chinensis leaves to determine their bioactive compounds and evaluate their effects on both central and peripheral pain using in vivo and in silico approaches. The GC-MS analysis revealed 41 phytochemicals, including 14 phenolics, 4 esters, 12 terpenoids, 8 alkaloids, and 3 sulfur-containing compounds. In the glucose tolerance test, both the chloroform-soluble fraction (CF) and n-hexane fraction (NHF) exhibited p < 0.05 reductions in blood glucose levels at a dosage of 400 mg/kg with decreases of 51.94% and 46.63%, respectively, compared to the positive control (64.02%). The central analgesic evaluation showed significant (p < 0.001) enhancements in tail-flick latency for the fraction (184.94%) and CF (170.51%) following 90 min. In the pain relief assay, NHF showed inhibition (64.33%, p < 0.001) followed by an aqueous fraction (57.35%). These pharmacological findings were supported by in silico analysis. Concerning activity, 5-(dimethylamino)-1- acid phenyl ester (−8.9 kcal/mol) and 9,9-dimethyl-9H-fluoren-3-ol (−8.4 kcal/mol) displayed the strongest binding affinity to AMPK. Additionally, 2,3-diphenyl-2-cyclopropen-1-one exhibited favorable interactions with α-amylase (−8.0 kcal/mol) and α-glucosidase (−8.3 kcal/mol). Similarly, the central analgesic effect correlated with the strong μ-opioid receptor affinity of s-Triazine, 2-amino-4-(piperidinomethyl)-4-piperidino (−8.8 kcal/mol). N-Methyl-N-(4-toluenesulfonyl)-benzamide (−8.6 kcal/mol) and s-Triazine derivative (−8.9 kcal/mol) demonstrated notable COX-1 and COX-2 inhibition potential. Overall, the findings indicate I. chinensis leaves as a promising source of bioactive compounds with significant antihyperglycemic and analgesic properties. Full article

Large-scale reuse of copper tailings can mitigate environmental hazards and recover strategic elements; this work investigates the feasibility of producing foam glass-ceramics with high copper-tailing content (>70 wt%) by tuning the CaO/SiO₂ ratio to couple melt viscosity and crystallisation. The comprehensive utilisation of these tailings helps mitigate environmental pollution and enhance resource efficiency. In this study, foam glass-ceramics with varying CaO/SiO₂ ratios were synthesised through melt quenching followed by foaming heat treatment. The effects of different CaO/SiO₂ ratios on the foaming behaviour, crystallisation, and microstructure were investigated using DSC, FTIR, viscosity, XRD, SEM, and CT. The results indicate that increasing the CaO/SiO₂ ratio disrupts the three-dimensional network structure of the glass, which lowers the glass viscosity and influences the bubble size and distribution in the foam glass-ceramics. Additionally, the increased CaO content promotes crystal precipitation and enhances the compressive strength of the foam glass-ceramics. At a CaO/SiO₂ mass ratio of 0.22, the foam glass-ceramics exhibited the lower bulk density (240 kg/m³) and thermal conductivity (0.07 W/m·K). The materials also demonstrated good water absorption and compressive strength. This study highlights the potential of using copper tailings in foam glass-ceramics to improve their overall performance, offering promising energy-saving and environmentally friendly solutions. Full article

Oxidative stress is one of the major contributors to DNA damage and genomic instability, emphasizing the importance of identifying natural compounds with antioxidant genoprotective potential. Cedrus atlantica essential oil (EO) has been widely reported to possess antioxidant properties and potential genoprotective effects due to the presence of a cohort of antioxidant compounds, including polyphenols and terpenes. Nevertheless, its effects on DNA integrity remain poorly understood. The present study aimed to evaluate the genotoxic and antigenotoxic effects of C. atlantica EO in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) using the alkaline Comet assay. PBMCs were exposed to increasing concentrations of the EO (0.2–3% w/v) under basal conditions and in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂, 25 µM) as an oxidative DNA-damaging agent. Genetic damage was quantified by visual score, and arbitrary units were converted into a percentage of DNA in the comet tail. The EO was characterized by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The results showed that C. atlantica EO did not induce detectable genotoxic effects under the experimental conditions and within the tested concentration range (0.2–3% w/v). H₂O₂ exposure markedly increased DNA strand breaks, whereas co-treatment with the EO significantly attenuated H₂O₂-induced oxidative DNA damage, particularly at intermediate concentrations. The chemical characterization analysis revealed a sesquiterpene-rich profile dominated by cedrene- and himachalene-type compounds. Overall, these findings indicate that C. atlantica EO exerts antigenotoxic effects against oxidative DNA damage, supporting its genoprotective potential in moderate concentrations. Full article

Alkali-activated solid waste-based geopolymer represents a novel form of inorganic cementitious material, which is one of the key research directions in the building materials field to achieve the targets of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. Therefore, taking solid waste materials as raw materials to prepare the alkali-activated solid waste-based geopolymers with better mechanical properties is of significant importance for expanding the utilization channels of industrial solid waste materials in Hebei Province. In this study, three solid waste materials, slag, iron tailings sand and coal gangue powder, were used as the precursors of geopolymer, and solid sodium silicate was used as the activator to prepare the solid waste-based geopolymer. Response surface methodology was adopted to design the composition of the geopolymer, and the dosages of slag, Na₂O and coal gangue powder were taken as design variables, and the compressive strength of the geopolymer at 7 days and 28 days were taken as response variables. The results show that it is feasible to optimize the composition of solid sodium silicate-activated solid waste-based geopolymer (SSG) by using response surface methodology. The error value of the SSG-mortar compressive strength prediction model is below 2.0%. The slag contents exhibit a positive correlation with the compressive strength of SSG-mortar, but the coal gangue powder contents and Na₂O contents have a negative correlation. The optimized compositions of SSG-mortar are 20% iron tailings sand, 26% coal gangue powder, 54% slag, and 6.41% Na₂O (regulated by 6.23% solid sodium silicate and 6.23% solid NaOH granules), and the corresponding compressive strengths of SSG-mortar at 7 days and 28 days are 37.1 MPa and 44.9 MPa, respectively. In addition, dry shrinkage tests, wet–dry cycling tests, freeze–thaw cycling tests, salt corrosion tests, SEM analysis and XRD analysis were conducted on the SSG-mortar with the optimal composition to evaluate its shrinkage behavior, freeze–thaw resistance, salt corrosion resistance and microstructural strengthening mechanisms. The results show that SSG-mortar has relatively good frost resistance and salt erosion resistance. The mass loss rate value and compressive strength loss rate value of SSG-mortar are 1.67% and 18.7%, respectively, after 100 freeze–thaw cycles. Furthermore, the corrosion resistance coefficient value of SSG-mortar is greater than 92%, and the mass loss rate value is lower than 2.4%. The SEM and XRD test results display that, in an alkaline environment, the interwoven consolidation of hydrated gels (including C-S-H gel, C-A-S-H gel, C-(N)-A-S-H gel and N-A-S-H gel) and the filling effect of solid wastes jointly achieve an improvement in the properties of SSG-mortar. Full article

This study investigates the mechanical behavior of molybdenum tailings (MT) concrete circular specimens under combined chloride salt dry–wet cycling and high-temperature exposure, simulating post-fire conditions in corrosive environments. A total of 50 circular cross-sectional specimens were fabricated with varying concrete strength grades (C30 and C40), MT replacement ratios (0–100%), and exposure conditions (NaCl solutions: 20,000 and 50,000 mg/L; temperature: ambient/400 °C). Axial compression experiments were conducted to evaluate their performance. Analysis of mass change rates and post-cycling phenomena indicated that MT content significantly influenced mass variation, with the 100% MT group having a 2.3 times higher mass increase than the 0% MT group. Especially, under coupled conditions, compared with the 0% MT control group, the 25% MT group showed a 28.6% increase in peak stress, 8.3% reduction in peak strain, 12.1% rise in Elastic modulus, and 13.3% decrease in Poisson’s ratio, confirming that MT incorporation mitigates coupled strength degradation. Two failure modes were identified: end-cone failure and overall splitting failure. Chloride salt corrosion markedly reduced the load-bearing capacity of the specimens, decreasing both their peak displacement and peak strain. Furthermore, peak strain decreased as the molybdenum tailings replacement ratio increased. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that dry–wet cycling prior to high-temperature exposure promoted hydration product densification, indicating a partial enhancement of hydration reactions and consequent strength improvement. Although high-temperature exposure degraded the strength of MT concrete, the incorporation of MT mitigated this weakening effect. The relationship between the peak stress of concrete and its axial compressive strength under the coupled effects of MT replacement ratio and NaCl solution concentration has been established via fitting. This study reveals the coupled damage mechanism, verifying the mitigating effect of MT on coupled chloride-thermal damage, and establishing a validated bearing capacity prediction model, which provides a valuable reference for assessing the behavior of MT concrete circular specimens subjected to salt corrosion and elevated temperatures. Full article

Conducting polymer–metal nanocomposites are widely investigated as tunable photonic and optoelectronic media; however, reported property trends often remain empirical because electronic disorder at the absorption edge, refractive-index dispersion, free carrier dielectric response, and third-order nonlinearity are rarely quantified within a single, composition-controlled film series. This limitation is particularly relevant for electrochemically grown PANI coatings on transparent conductive substrates, where nanoparticle incorporation can simultaneously enhance polarization while introducing aggregation-driven heterogeneity. Here, Ag/PANI nanocomposite thin films were fabricated directly on indium tin oxide (ITO) by potentiostatic electrodeposition from an aniline/camphorsulfonic acid electrolyte containing controlled Ag nanoparticle loadings (5–15 wt.%). This study addresses the research gap by integrating complementary optical-disorder and dispersion formalisms with dielectric and nonlinear analyses to establish a composition structure optics map for device-relevant films. Ag incorporation narrows the indirect optical gap from 1.98 eV (PANI) to 1.81 eV (5 wt.%), 1.38 eV (10 wt.%), and 1.19 eV (15 wt.%), while markedly broadening the Urbach tail (0.377 eV → 1.28–1.64 eV at 5–10 wt.%). Wemple–DiDomenico modeling and Drude-type dielectric dispersion reveal strongly non-monotonic evolution of oscillator energetics and the carrier response, culminating in large bound-electron dielectric constants (ε_∞ up to 469.8) and plasma frequencies (ω_p up to 248 × 10¹² Hz) at 15 wt.% Ag. Third-order nonlinearity is substantially enhanced but composition-sensitive: χ³ increases from 6.73 × 10⁻⁹ esu (PANI) to ~7.6 × 10⁻⁸ esu at 5 and 15 wt.%, whereas the Kerr coefficient peaks at 25.91 × 10⁻⁷ esu for 5 wt.% and is suppressed at intermediate/high loading. These results demonstrate that the optimal nonlinear performance is governed by a disorder–dispersion balance and microstructure-dependent local-field effects rather than the Ag fraction alone. Full article

In many non-tourism historical districts in China, property division has subdivided traditional dwellings into multi-household units. While such subdivision reshapes spatial sequences and connections, its consequences for everyday space use and circulation are rarely documented with continuous in situ evidence, partly because residential behaviour is temporally continuous and difficult to observe directly. This study examines two typical subdivision patterns in Subu Old Street: a longitudinal, single-axis serial dwelling (Case A) and a transversal, courtyard-centred dwelling (Case B). We formalize spatial units, connections, and operational nodes using a semantic ontology and map day-long Ultra-Wideband (UWB) trajectories to quantify occupancy and transition characteristics. Case A concentrates both staying and passing at the entrance-end kitchen, where activities overlap with through-movements and transition durations are short in most events but highly volatile with a long tail. Case B channels most transitions through the courtyard hub, keeping indoor rooms mainly for staying and producing longer but more stable transition durations. This study is positioned as a comparative exploratory case study of two representative subdivision patterns identified in Subu Old Street. Semantic ontology modelling, UWB-based behavioural tracking, and behavioural indicators are used together in a comparative analytical approach for examining how subdivision reorganises spatial structure and everyday residential behaviour. The results reveal pattern-specific differences in occupancy concentration, transition organisation, and movement duration. These findings are analytical observations derived from two representative cases. They provide a basis for spatial adjustment and micro-regeneration in still-inhabited subdivided traditional dwellings. Full article

Liposomes, spherical bilayer lipid-containing vesicles, are promising nanocarriers used for constructing drug delivery systems (DDS). Various strategies can be employed to loosen or break the liposome and release drugs as the tumor cells-targeting DDS made of liposomes reach the targeted sites. One of the most commonly used strategies is to heat the liposomal DDS by letting the gold nanoparticles or other light-absorbing substances that partition in various portions (inner water core, lipid bilayer or outside) of the liposome absorb light irradiation. Then, which portion can lead to the largest liposome structure change due to the same temperature variation? The answer is essential to aid the design of liposomal DDS; thus, wet lab experiments were carried out. However, even though irradiation-absorbing substances in different portions were irradiated for the same time and with the same irradiation intensity, it was impossible to ensure the three portions have the same temperature increase in the experiments. Furthermore, it is impossible to learn the related micromechanism and molecular-level details of the effects of temperature changes on the liposome structure with experimental methods. The molecular dynamics (MD) method is extensively employed by researchers to obtain in-depth molecular-level insights. Most researchers tend to simulate only a planar lipid bilayer structure, but Amărandi et al. demonstrated that such simplification strategy may give wrong simulation results contrary to the experimental results. Though Jämbeck et al. and Zhu et al. established whole spherical liposome systems with a diameter of about a dozen nanometers and simulated the systems with MD simulations, they did not simulate temperature-relevant properties of the liposome. Therefore, currently there is a lack of research on simulating the structure change in a whole spherical liposome due to temperature variations. So, we established the whole spherical structure of the liposome, simulated how it changes with temperatures and obtained molecular-level research results. It is observed that the temperature increase in the lipid bilayer causes the largest increase in lipid strand sway amplitude, the largest changes in lipid positions, the largest decrease in the distribution density of lipids and water around a lipid and the largest decrease in the interactions between lipids and lipids and between lipids and water, leading to the largest change in the liposome structure. We also studied how the degree of lipid tail unsaturation affects liposome structure changes with temperatures. Due to the C3 kinks in the unsaturated lipid tails, the distribution density of unsaturated lipids is not as high as saturate ones, leading to smaller attraction interactions and consequently larger liposome structure change with temperature. The obtained results are useful for the liposomal DDS design for the purpose of improving DDS performances and delivery outcomes. Full article

To facilitate the development of low-cost LTCC substrate materials and the high-value utilization of industrial tailings, α-cordierite glass-ceramics with varying Na₂O additions were prepared from perlite tailings as the main raw material via the melt-quenching method followed by sintering-induced crystallization. The synergistic effects of sintering temperature and Na₂O addition on the parent glass structure, crystallization behavior, and properties were systematically investigated. The results demonstrated that the addition of Na₂O effectively depolymerized the degree of network polymerization of the parent glass, altered the crystallization pathway of cordierite crystal, and promoted the densification of glass-ceramics at lower sintering temperature. The calculations of crystallization kinetics revealed that the crystallization process of α-cordierite was mainly dominated by three-dimensional bulk growth, and its nucleation mechanism changed from “site saturation” to “continuous nucleation” with the increase of Na₂O addition. The α-cordierite glass-ceramics sintered at 850 °C with 0.6 wt.% Na₂O addition exhibited the optimal comprehensive properties, including low dielectric constant (5.82 @ 10 MHz) and dielectric loss (1.80 × 10⁻² @ 10 MHz), high flexural strength (147.3 MPa), a Vickers hardness (9.01 GPa), and suitable coefficient of thermal expansion (2.96 × 10⁻⁶ K⁻¹, close to Si). The glass-ceramics are expected to be an ideal candidate for low-cost LTCC substrate materials. Full article

Ecological restoration is increasingly applied as an effective strategy for mitigating environmental risks associated with tailings impoundments. However, plant establishment and ecological recovery in tailings substrates are often limited by unfavorable physicochemical properties and potential toxicity. This study investigated the changes in soil microbial community structure and diversity under the synergistic remediation of compound organic fertilizer and plants. Field plots subjected to combined organic fertilizer–plant remediation in a tailings impoundment in northern China were selected. The high-throughput sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes and fungal ITS regions was performed alongside analyses of soil physicochemical properties. Compared to the untreated tailings soil, remediated soils showed pH values closer to neutrality, lower electrical conductivity, and significantly higher organic matter content, indicating an overall reduction in environmental stress and potential toxicity. The relative abundance of copiotrophic bacteria, such as Proteobacteria, increased, whereas that of stress-tolerant taxa adapted to extreme environments, such as Firmicutes, decreased. Although slight variations in dominant groups were observed among plots with different plant species, key microbial groups contributing to soil environmental improvement were largely consistent. These findings demonstrate that this combined remediation effectively improves the physicochemical properties and microbial community structure of tailings soil, providing a risk-oriented and ecologically sustainable strategy for the ecological restoration of similar sites. Full article

For projects such as tailings ponds, slopes, and foundations, loose materials such as rock, slag, and sand, which are composed of particles, often have low cohesion and rely mainly on friction to maintain stability. The shear strength parameters, namely, the internal friction angle and cohesion, are the core parameters that describe the mechanical properties of materials and are directly related to the engineering stability of the above projects. The shear strength properties of loose media are related to the geometric morphological characteristics of particles. Particles with high irregularity will increase the bite and friction of the contact interface between particles, thereby affecting the overall peak shear strength of the material. This study takes sand as the research object. Based on the Mask R-CNN algorithm in deep learning, a sand particle image dataset consisting of single, contact, and sand surface particles is established. An image segmentation model that can identify particles on the surface of the sand layer and obtain the corresponding particle mask is trained; a Python 3.11.4 program is written to automatically calculate seven characteristic parameters of particle morphological characteristics parameters, including the Feret major diameter, the particle Feret minor diameter, the particle aspect ratio, the particle roundness, the comprehensive shape coefficient, the roughness, and the convexity through the particle mask. This method can obtain the overall morphological characteristics of sand particles in real time and is a particle processing method that is a prerequisite for the subsequent rapid prediction of the strength properties of granular materials. Full article

In the insurance literature, accurately predicting extreme losses has been a persistent and important problem. Recently, under the modelling framework of weighted distributions, several finite-mixture size-biased distributions, including size-biased Weibull and size-biased truncated log-normal distributions, have gained popularity for modelling heavy-tailed insurance claim data. In this study, unlike existing models, we explicitly account for the individual heterogeneity commonly observed in insurance claims by treating the order of size-biased weighting as a continuous latent variable, thereby constructing a mixed size-biased distribution. In particular, we study the various distributional properties of the mixed log-normal distribution with a truncated normal prior, which serves as a conjugate prior for the size-biased log-normal model. For applications in non-life insurance, we discuss the Bayesian credibility premium and present an estimation of a regression model via the EM algorithm. We further conduct a real-data analysis using insurance loss data, comparing goodness-of-fit and tail risk measures with those of standard heavy-tailed distributions. Full article

We propose Distribution-Preserving Latent Steganography via Conditional Optimal Transport (DPL-COT), a coverless image steganography framework for latent diffusion models. Unlike classical cover-modifying schemes, DPL-COT embeds a bitstream directly into the initialization noise latent ${\mathbf{z}}_T\sim \mathcal{N}(\mathbf{0},\mathbf{I})$ without model retraining. Our primary objective is high recoverability and a low bit error rate (BER) under deterministic inversion, which is inherently imperfect due to numerical discretization and VAE nonlinearity. To maximize decoding stability, we restrict embedding to the natural tails of the latent prior by selecting the largest-magnitude coordinates, thereby increasing the sign decision margin against inversion drift. To preserve distributional stealth, per-bit target values are analytically derived from truncated Gaussians matching the marginal distribution of the selected coordinates. Conditional 1D optimal transport is applied independently for each bit class, mapping every coordinate to its target value while preserving rank order. We generate 5000 stego images using a pretrained diffusion model and demonstrate a favorable capacity–reliability trade-off (e.g., 4916 bits/image with 0.473% mean BER) and strong robustness to JPEG compression (sub-1% mean BER at $Q=60$). Compared with LDStega, a recent LDM-based scheme reporting 99.28% clean-channel accuracy, DPL-COT achieves 99.53% at a comparable operating point and sustains above-99% accuracy under all tested JPEG quality factors. Latent-space tests further confirm negligible cover–stego distribution shift (mean ${\mathrm{KS}}_2<0.003$, mean $W_1<0.003$), a property not formally addressed by prior methods. Full article