Search Results (10,073)

This study investigates the durability of silicone-based membranes in contact with hempcrete under combined moisture and temperature exposure. Membrane specimens were aged in contact with non-treated and treated hempcrete under dry and wet conditions at temperatures up to 90 °C. The evolution of chemical, thermal, and microstructural properties was characterized using FTIR, TGA, DSC, optical microscopy, and SEM–EDS analyses. Results show that dry exposure does not induce measurable changes in membrane structure or performance, confirming that temperature alone is not a critical degradation factor. In contrast, wet exposure leads to significant chemical, thermal, and microstructural changes in the membrane, including degradation of the siloxane network, reduced polymer chain mobility, and the formation of calcium-rich mineral deposits at the interface. These results indicate that membrane degradation is governed by a coupled moisture–ion mechanism involving ion transport, mineral deposition, and hydrolysis of the polymer network. Fiber treatment slightly reduces the aggressiveness of the leachate but does not prevent degradation under wet conditions. Overall, moisture availability and leachate chemistry are identified as key factors controlling the durability of silicone membranes in contact with bio-based materials. Full article

Coastal environments are becoming more susceptible to enrichment of trace elements from human activities and natural processes. This research presents a detailed assessment of heavy metal pollution and radiological risks in coastal sediments from the Ras Mohamed area, South Sinai, at the northern Red Sea. Fifteen surface sediment samples were examined for nine trace metals and naturally occurring radionuclides (²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K) using ICP-OES and gamma spectrometry techniques, respectively. Geochemical analyses showed the concentration sequence Fe > Ba > V > Cr > Zn > Co > Ni > Cu > Pb, where average levels of Cr, V, and Co were higher than Canadian Soil Quality Guidelines (CSQGs) and global crustal background values. Environmental evaluation using the pollution load index = 2.16 reflected ongoing contamination, and the Geo-Accumulation Index indicated low to moderate polluted sediment conditions. Nevertheless, ecological risk results (PERI = 87.21) together with toxicity indicators pointed to low to moderate biological effects. Human exposure assessments for adults and children revealed no significant non-carcinogenic risk (HI < 1), and the Total Cancer Risk remained below the acceptable regulatory threshold (1 × 10⁻⁴). From the other side, all recorded radiation activities were low, falling below internationally recognized safety limits. An evaluation of radiological hazard indices further confirmed that the sediments present no significant radiation risk, as all measurements remain within the low-level classification of international standards. Overall, the results indicate that although localized sediment transport and tourism-related pressures have increased certain metal levels, the region is radiologically secure and currently presents negligible risk to human health. Full article

Background/Objectives. Country-level evidence on the economic footprint of home care nursing is still scarce, particularly in systems where tariffs for community-based nursing are lacking. In Italy, recent laws have expanded home care; yet planning and funding remain constrained by the absence of robust micro-costing evidence. Objectives. To estimate the accounting cost of home care nursing visits in Italy using a bottom-up micro-costing approach and to identify the main cost drivers influencing expenditure. Methods. A multicentre, cross-sectional study was conducted. Data were collected in two phases: (1) a national survey of 3949 home care nurses from 70 Local Health Authorities (April–October 2023), describing workload, travel time, and the most frequently performed activities; and (2) a time-and-motion study of 527 consecutive home visits performed by 83 nurses in three Local Health Authorities (March 2024). Direct costs were estimated from the Italian National Health Service perspective and included nursing time, travel time and transportation, back-office activities, and materials. Personnel costs were derived from national collective labour agreements and inflation-adjusted. A base-case scenario estimated accounting costs directly measured in the study. An extended, illustrative scenario explored the economic value of nursing activities by applying existing outpatient tariffs. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses (10,000-iteration Monte Carlo simulation) were performed. Results. The mean accounting cost of home care nursing was €27.78 per patient per day. At the provider level, the corresponding daily cost per nurse was €190.00, assuming a mean caseload of 6.84 patients per nurse per shift. In the extended scenario, the imputed economic value of nursing activities increased the estimated daily cost to €120.81 per patient and €826.32 per nurse. Sensitivity analyses identified organizational factors (particularly the number of patients per shift and the number of activities per visit) as the dominant cost drivers, while material and transportation costs had a comparatively limited impact. Conclusions. Home care nursing in Italy appears to be delivered at a relatively low accounting cost, with organizational factors playing a greater role than unit prices in determining expenditure. The absence of a dedicated reimbursement framework for nursing activities may result in a substantial under-recognition of the economic value of home-based nursing care. These findings provide preliminary evidence to support workforce planning, reimbursement policies, and the sustainable development of territorial care services. Full article

Traffic flow forecasting remains challenging because raw traffic flow observations often contain mixed temporal patterns, including slowly varying trends and fast local fluctuations. To address this issue, this paper proposes a Multivariate Empirical Mode Decomposition (MEMD)-guided dual-branch recurrent framework for multistep point forecasting. Specifically, MEMD is used as an alignment-preserving multivariate decomposition mechanism to obtain frequency-aligned components, which are then reconstructed into low-frequency trend and high-frequency residual components. The trend component is modeled by a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) branch to capture smooth long-term evolution, while the residual component is learned by a Bidirectional Gated Recurrent Unit (Bi-GRU) branch to characterize short-term oscillatory dynamics. A lightweight fusion head is then used to integrate the two branch-specific representations for final prediction. Experiments on PeMS04 and PeMS08, two traffic datasets derived from the California Department of Transportation Performance Measurement System, show that the proposed method achieves competitive performance across mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), reaching 19.67/31.59/12.95% on PeMS04 and 15.51/24.43/9.86% on PeMS08. Compared with representative recent baselines, the proposed method achieves competitive results, with relative gains reaching 5.89% on PeMS04 and 5.35% on PeMS08 in selected metric-wise comparisons. These results indicate that MEMD-guided trend–residual representation learning can improve multistep traffic flow forecasting. Full article

More than one million adults in Mississippi have hypertension. We examined the association between a summary measure of social determinants of health (SDOH) and health equity (SDOH/HE) and hypertension prevalence among Mississippi adults. Using data from 3867 respondents to the 2023 Mississippi Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System SDOH/HE Module, we performed multivariable logistic regression analyses to examine the association between hypertension prevalence and a summary SDOH/HE measure. The SDOH/HE summary measure score was created using responses to 10 questions assessing employment/economic and housing stability, receipt of food assistance, access to quality food and transportation, utilities security, social isolation, social and emotional support, life satisfaction, and mental well-being of the participants. The likelihood of experiencing 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 or more SDOH/HE risk factors was 38.6, 22.9%, 13.7%, 7.9%, and 16.8%, respectively. Mississippi adults experiencing one (adjusted odds ratio, AOR, 1.47) and four or more (AOR, 2.62) of SDOH/HE risk factors had higher odds of hypertension compared to those experiencing no SDOH/HE risk factors. Associations between presence of two or three SDOH/HE risk factors and hypertension were not significant. Mississippi adults with one and at least four SDOH/HE risk factors had significantly higher odds of hypertension risk than those with no SDOH/HE risk factors. These findings highlight an association between SDOH/HE factors and the burden of hypertension and underscore the need for targeted inventions among Mississippi adults with multiple SDOH/HE risk factors. Full article

This study investigates the development and performance of polyolefin-based packaging materials reinforced with industrial mineral residues, specifically slate powder (SP) and bivalve shell powder (BSP). High-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) matrices were compounded with these fillers and processed by extrusion blow moulding to produce final prototypes. Thermal analyses (TGA and DSC) showed that incorporating SP and BSP does not compromise the thermal stability of the polymer matrices and increases stiffness in the filled formulations. Accelerated ageing (QUV, 200 h) revealed distinct photo-oxidative behaviours. PP and PP + BSP (30%) exhibited increased fragility and moderate colour changes, whereas PP + SP (10%) retained flexibility, indicating a partial protective effect of SP. HDPE-based formulations showed higher intrinsic UV resistance, with HDPE + BSP (30%) displaying excellent colour stability. Tensile tests before and after QUV exposure confirmed that fillers increase stiffness with limited influence on tensile strength. Air permeability results indicated that neat PP and HDPE were below the detection limit. At the same time, filled formulations exhibited measurable permeability, suggesting that filler incorporation may influence gas transport through interfacial effects. Overall, the results show that SP and BSP act as reinforcing additives and can modify functional properties such as stiffness and ageing resistance. However, their influence on barrier performance depends on the formulation and permeation mechanism. Full article

This paper examines the evolution of urban transport policy in Saudi Arabia from a car-dependent paradigm toward sustainability-oriented planning and early implementation between 2000 and 2025. Using a longitudinal qualitative analysis of national strategies, municipal plans, and giga-project documents, this study traces shifts in policy discourse, governance arrangements, and delivery evidence across three phases: an expansionist phase (2000–2015), a vision transition phase (2016–2020), and a sustainability implementation phase (2021–2025). These phases were selected to capture the transition from pre-Vision 2030 automobile-oriented planning to the early implementation of sustainability-oriented transportation reforms. The findings reveal a clear transition from road-expansion-oriented planning—characterized by highway development, fuel subsidies, and limited public transport—toward system performance, decarbonization, and multimodal integration. Recent years have seen the rollout of metro and bus networks, expansion of rail systems, early electrification of vehicles and public transport, and fuel price rationalization. However, persistent behavioral lock-in, low-density urban forms, climatic constraints, and complex multi-level governance arrangements continue to limit modal shift and equitable mobility outcomes. The findings suggest that infrastructure investment alone cannot achieve substantial modal shift without integrated land-use planning, feeder systems, and demand-management measures. By linking policy ambition to implementation pathways over time, this study provides transferable insights for sustainable mobility transitions in oil-dependent and arid urban contexts. Full article

Polymeric membranes are widely investigated for CO₂ separation; however, their performance is often limited by the permeability–selectivity trade-off. Incorporating metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and designing composite membrane architectures are promising strategies to overcome these limitations. This study aims to evaluate the effect of incorporating MOF-74 (Cu and Ni variants) into a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) selective layer supported on a polysulfone (PSF) membrane for enhanced CO₂/N₂ separation performance. Dual-layer PDMS/PSF composite membranes were fabricated via phase inversion for the PSF support, followed by solution casting of the PDMS/MOF layer. The developed membrane architecture introduces a synergistic design that combines the mechanical robustness of PSF with the selective transport capability of PDMS and the strong CO₂ affinity of MOF-74, offering an effective strategy for improving gas separation efficiency. Gas permeation performance was assessed using single-gas CO₂ and N₂ measurements at feed pressures of 2–5 bar. The incorporation of MOF-74 improved CO₂ transport properties, with the 1 wt.% Cu-MOF-74 composite membrane achieving a CO₂ permeance of 912.5 GPU and a CO₂/N₂ ideal selectivity of 94.75. The dual-layer configuration significantly enhanced permeance compared with unsupported mixed-matrix membranes while maintaining selectivity. Additionally, the composite membranes exhibited improved mechanical strength due to the PSF support layer. The findings demonstrate that dual-layer PDMS/PSF composite membranes incorporating MOF-74 provide a promising proof-of-concept approach for improving CO₂ separation performance. Further studies involving mixed-gas testing and long-term stability are required to assess their practical applicability. Full article

Nourishment grain size is a key parameter in beach nourishment projects, directly determining beach stability under extreme hydrodynamic environments. Taking Xiaoshizui Beach on Wailingding Island as the study area, this paper establishes a coupled typhoon storm surge–wave–sediment model based on the MIKE 21 HD-SW-ST coupled model. This model has been systematically verified through the measured data of tide levels, waves, and beach profiles, and the verification results are satisfactory. Four scenarios with nourishment grain sizes of 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 mm were established to quantify the morphological evolution patterns of the beach under strong typhoons. The results indicate that during the typhoon, the beach exhibits a cross-shore sediment transport pattern characterized by erosion of the backshore dune, accretion of the upper-middle foreshore, and erosion of the lower foreshore. The influence of nourishment grain size shows significant spatial variability: increasing grain size enhances the erosion resistance of the backshore and berm, reducing the erosion extent; however, within the breaker zone, coarse sand tends to form a steep profile, intensifying wave breaking, which increases the scour depth in this region. This study elucidates the regulatory mechanism of grain size under extreme conditions, providing scientific reference for grain size selection in beach restoration projects. Full article

Flat leather belts were the first to be used in drive and transport technology and were later replaced by plastic belts. Recently, there has been a return to hybrid designs, where belts are constructed as a “sandwich” with a technical leather outer layer and a polyamide or TPU inner core. This study analyses the thermal behavior of a modern leather belt transmission as a function of braking torque at different rotational speeds of the active pulley. A linear temperature response was observed, with temperature differences between the passive and active belts of 4 °C at 500 rpm (R² = 0.93), 5.4 °C at 1000 rpm (R² = 0.96), and 4 °C at 1500 rpm (R² = 0.98). Due to the specific structure of the outer layer, non-contact surface measurement methods were applied. Surface topography analysis showed only minor changes in average roughness, with Sq = 37.8 µm (new belt) and 37.9 µm (used belt) and Sa decreasing from 26.5 µm to 25.1 µm. However, clear morphological changes were observed: Ssk decreased from 2.63 to 2.00, Sku from 14.3 to 8.19, Sp from 449 µm to 308 µm, and Sz from 557 µm to 400 µm, indicating reduced peak sharpness after wear. Profile parameters increased after operation, with Ra rising from 18.6 µm to 21.9 µm, Rq from 26.7 µm to 30.7 µm, and Rz from 116 µm to 143 µm. Microscopy confirmed wear-related smoothing and fragmentation of surface asperities. The results demonstrate that the applied methods are effective for evaluating thermal response and wear mechanisms in modern leather composite belts. Full article

Critical infrastructure restoration (CIR) is a disaster-management and sustainability challenge because prolonged disruption of energy, water, transport, communications, healthcare, and public-administration services can amplify social, economic, and environmental losses. This PRISMA 2020-reported systematic review synthesizes post-2016 scientific literature and official policy, legal, standards, and technical documents on CIR and AI decision support. The review identified 55 records, removed 1 duplicate, excluded 1 ineligible record, and retained 53 core sources for qualitative synthesis, including 31 scholarly publications and 22 official documents. Manual screening was used; no automated screening or AI-assisted exclusion tools were applied. The results are organized around four research questions covering regulatory frameworks, recovery practices, supporting systems, and AI model families. The synthesis shows that CIR is shaped by layered governance through NIS2, the CER Directive, the AI Act, and national measures; by operational recovery practices such as continuity planning, cyber crisis coordination, interdependency mapping, and model-supported restoration; by digital platforms including SCADA/ICS, IoT sensing, GIS/common operating pictures, decision-support systems, simulation environments, and digital twins; and by AI methods ranging from classical machine learning and computer vision to reinforcement learning and generative assistants. However, evidence maturity remains uneven, with many AI applications still simulation-based, sector-specific, or weakly validated in real restoration settings. The review contributes an integrated CIR-oriented framework showing that AI creates practical value when embedded in interoperable, human-supervised, regulation-aware, and empirically validated restoration architectures that support sustainable service continuity rather than isolated automation. Full article

The expansion of the transport sector in Thailand has resulted in a continuous increase in greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. Therefore, promoting the adoption of commercial electric vehicles (EVs) has become an important approach to mitigating environmental impacts and enhancing sustainability. This study integrates the TAM, TPB, and 7Ps frameworks to examine factors influencing the intention to adopt EVs among freight transport operators in Thailand. A total of 876 freight operators were surveyed, and the data were analyzed using a random parameters probit model with heterogeneity in means. The results indicate that environmental motivation, perceived safety, ease of use, reductions in operational costs, social benefits, dealership credibility, and perceived quality-of-life improvement positively influence the intention to adopt EVs. In contrast, gaps between EV attitudes and purchasing readiness, along with over-reliance on promotional and online channels, negatively affect EV adoption intention. Furthermore, perceptions of price appropriateness show heterogeneous effects across respondents, reflecting hidden costs and operational uncertainties. Based on these findings, the study proposes an integrated set of policy measures to support a sustainable transition toward EV adoption in the freight transport sector. These results provide useful guidance for policymakers and freight transport operators in developing strategies and policies that encourage the long-term adoption of electric vehicles in freight transportation. Full article

Hardy-type averaging operators arise in real analysis, rearrangement theory, weighted inequalities, and Volterra integral equations. This paper develops a distribution-function transport on $(0,\infty )$ equipped with an atomless Borel measure $\mu$, showing that the cumulative map $\Phi \left(x\right)=\mu \left(\right(0,x\left]\right)$ implements a measure isomorphism onto Lebesgue measure under transparent support and continuity hypotheses. Under this transport, the Hardy averaging operator relative to $\mu$ is conjugate to the classical Hardy operator on $(0,\infty )$ with Lebesgue measure. The main contribution is the systematic transport principle: classical constants, extremizing sequences, weighted criteria, endpoint estimates, and resolvent information are transferred exactly to the $\mu$-scale. We establish sharp $L^p\left(\mu \right)$ bounds, sharp power-weight extensions in $L^p\left({\Phi }^{\gamma }d\mu \right)$ for $-1<\gamma <p-1$, a transported one-weight Hardy class beyond powers, endpoint weak and strong estimates, spectral interpretation of the Volterra threshold, and numerical illustrations for the transported constants and a Volterra feedback equation. Full article

The development of cost-effective and resource-rich materials is crucial for the practical application of microwave absorbers. This study demonstrates the successful fabrication of core-shell Fe and TiC nanoparticles encapsulated within carbon shells using the arc discharge method. The samples are designated as Fe3Ti1 and Fe1Ti3, where the numbers indicate the Fe-to-Ti mass ratio in the precursor (e.g., Fe1Ti3 = 1:3 by mass). In the arc discharge synthesis mechanism, the mass ratio of Fe to Ti in the raw material was adjusted from 3:1 to 1:3 to optimize the Fe/TiC/C interfaces under a CH₄ forming gas atmosphere. TEM analysis reveals spherical and polyhedral nanoparticles with diameters of 30–50 nm and a uniform carbon shell thickness of 3–4 nm. Raman spectroscopy shows that the Fe1Ti3 sample has a higher defect density (I_D/I_G = 1.13) compared to Fe3Ti1 (0.87), indicating a more disordered carbon structure. Magnetic measurements yield saturation magnetization values of 87 emu/g for Fe3Ti1 and 50 emu/g for Fe1Ti3, with coercivities of 190.72 Oe and 203.65 Oe, respectively. When composited with paraffin at 50 wt% loading, the Fe1Ti3 sample exhibits superior microwave absorption performance, achieving a minimum reflection loss (RL) of −25.22 dB at 8.23 GHz and an effective absorption bandwidth (RL ≤ −10 dB) of 4 GHz (6.5–10.5 GHz) at a thickness of 2.5 mm. This enhanced performance is attributed to the synergistic effect of multiple loss mechanisms, including conduction loss within the three-dimensional core-shell architecture, interfacial polarization at the heterojunctions between the core and the carbon shell, and magnetic loss induced by ferromagnetic behavior associated with defects in both the shell and carbon atomic layers. The magnetic loss in the (Fe/TiC)@C nanocomposites primarily arises from the natural resonance (at ~6.5 GHz) and exchange resonance (at ~12 GHz) of the Fe cores. The dielectric loss is primarily attributed to dipole, interfacial, and space charge polarization from TiC and the carbon shell, as well as multiple scattering effects between nanoparticles. Furthermore, far-field radar cross-section simulations substantiate that the Fe/TiC@C nanocomposite demonstrates excellent radar wave attenuation capability. Further, first principles simulations reveal that introducing Fe at the C/TiC interface induces strong charge redistribution and orbital hybridization, transforming a localized dielectric interface into a highly conductive and electronically coupled C/Fe/TiC system. This interfacial modulation enhances both dielectric loss (via charge transport and polarization) and magnetic loss (via Fe-induced magnetic interactions), thereby enabling optimized dielectric-magnetic synergy for broadband microwave absorption in (Fe/TiC)@C nanocomposites. Full article

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly used for remote dimensional inspection in transportation monitoring and infrastructure control. In such applications, measurement results are often interpreted relative to regulatory thresholds, making the reliability of inspection decisions strongly dependent on measurement uncertainty. This study presents a probabilistic framework for evaluating measurement uncertainty and decision risk in UAV-based dimensional inspection tasks. A measurement model describing uncertainty scaling with observation geometry is formulated, and the probability of exceedance relative to a regulatory limit is derived. The framework integrates probabilistic measurement modeling with a risk-based decision formulation that accounts for false-positive and false-negative inspection outcomes. The resulting integral inspection risk is analyzed for representative sensing modalities commonly used in UAV platforms, including vision-based systems, LiDAR, and radar sensors. The results demonstrate that uncertainty scaling with flight altitude significantly influences exceedance probability and decision reliability. Sensors with lower intrinsic dispersion maintain sharper threshold transitions and therefore provide more stable regulatory decisions. Sensitivity analysis further confirms that moderate variations in measurement uncertainty can substantially affect inspection risk. The proposed framework provides a quantitative tool for evaluating sensing technologies in UAV-based inspection missions and supports the design of reliable drone-assisted dimensional compliance monitoring systems. Full article