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Experimental and numerical investigation of longitudinal ventilation velocity and heat release rate on temperature distribution in highway tunnel fires
Abstract Although tunnel fires are relatively infrequent, the unique, elongated, and nearly enclosed structure of tunnels exacerbates fire hazards, and their occurrence can result in catastrophic losses, necessitating effective fire safety management. This study examines the characteristics of smoke spread and temperature attenuation in highway tunnel fires under varying heat release rates and longitudinal ventilation velocities, specifically focusing on conditions of traffic congestion. By utilizing a combination of scaled-model experiments and analytical modeling, the research highlights that smoke generated in tunnel fires travels along the tunnel length, with its dispersion heavily influenced by both heat release rates and the presence of congested vehicles. In scenarios without ventilation, smoke ascends to the tunnel crown and propagates symmetrically toward both ends, while the movement of congested vehicles does not significantly affect smoke transport. The introduction of longitudinal ventilation significantly mitigates upstream smoke movement, leading to reduced maximum temperatures near the fire source and preventing smoke recirculation, especially critical during traffic congestion when evacuation routes may be limited. The study identifies critical wind speeds necessary for effective smoke management, revealing that these speeds increase with higher heat release rates. Initial increases in ventilation velocity may temporarily elevate temperatures due to enhanced combustion; however, further increases result in a predominant cooling effect that lowers overall tunnel temperatures. Additionally, the temperature distribution is asymmetrical, with downstream temperatures rising as heat release rates increase. A temperature decay model for tunnel crowns was developed, demonstrating a strong correlation with experimental data and underscoring the effectiveness of longitudinal ventilation in managing high temperatures and controlling smoke flow during tunnel fire incidents, particularly in congested traffic conditions.
Optimization model of tunnel construction machine groups configuration based on neural optimization machine
An elastic–plastic model considering the dilatancy behavior of granular materials under proportional stress paths
Prognostic value of serum anion gap in pulmonary embolism independent of lactate: evidence from a natural experiment of missing lactate data
A fused Cuckoo Search Algorithm and African Vultures Optimization for optimising the patch of wearable microstrip patch antenna
Association of platelet to highdensity lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (PHR) with stroke and its subtypes: a large prospective cohort study
Utility and safety of a self-developed patent chest strap in endoscopic transaxillary thyroid surgery: a prospective comparative effectiveness study
Abstract A novel patent chest-strap was developed for use in endoscopic transaxillary thyroid surgery. We conducted a phase prospective study in China to evaluate its utility and safety. This phase 1 study evaluates the utility, safety, and effectiveness of a novel patent chest-strap in a real-world clinical patient population. This single-center, open-label, prospective, randomized study was conducted from July 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026, to evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of a patented chest strap (PCS) in patients undergoing endoscopic transaxillary thyroidectomy. Patients older than 18 years who underwent the procedure with or without the chest strap were enrolled. The primary endpoints included postoperative drainage outcomes and total usage of the PCS, which served as measures of effectiveness. Secondary endpoints focused on strap-related complaints, assessed in comparison with traditional bandages (TB), to evaluate safety. A total of 108 patients were included in the PCS group and 126 in the TB group. In the PCS group, the mean age was 43.5 ± 16.2 years, and 61 patients (56.48%) were female. Compared with the TB group, the PCS group showed statistically significant differences in height (1.67 ± 0.03 m vs. 1.73 ± 0.04 m; P < 0.00001), weight, and body mass index ( P < 0.0001). The mean postoperative drainage volume on the first day was 50 mL in the PCS group and 48.5 ± 9.19 mL in the TB group. Drainage volumes differed significantly between groups on the second day (36 ± 8.49 mL vs. 44 ± 12.73 mL; P < 0.001) and the third day (35 ± 7.07 mL vs. 25 mL; P < 0.001). The total postoperative drainage volume was lower in the PCS group than in the TB group (111.92 ± 13.44 mL vs. 122.5 ± 24.75 mL). Complications were more frequent in the TB group. Skin allergy occurred in 40 patients (31.75%) in the TB group compared with 9 patients (8.33%) in the PCS group. The patent chest-strap has the postoperative benefits for patients with endoscopic transanxillary thyroidectomy, and suffered fewer ratio of complications. This phase real-world study performed a positive feedback for a self-developed clinical patent transformation achievement in China. Registration : Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ( https://www.medicalresearch.org.cn/ ) ChiCTR2500107867 (Registered data: 15 August, 2025)
Normal CURE and RURE values for displacement encoding with stimulated echoes (DENSE) at 1.5 Tesla MRI
Abstract Assessment of left ventricular (LV) dyssynchrony is important for diagnosing and guiding therapy in heart failure. Displacement encoding with stimulated echoes (DENSE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) quantifies myocardial dyssynchrony but lacks robust reference values. Forty healthy Caucasian volunteers (18–60 years) with no history of cardiac diseases underwent CMR at 1.5T MRI scanner using 2D spiral cine DENSE research sequence. Three short-axis slices (basal, mid-ventricular, apical) were acquired from the LV. Phase images were processed with open-source DENSEanalysis software to measure circumferential (E cc ) and radial (E rr ) strains, from which circumferential uniformity estimate (CURE) and radial uniformity estimate (RURE) were computed. Participants were categorized by sex and age into groups (18–30, 31–41, and 42–60 years). DENSE-derived strain values were also compared to those obtained using MRI feature tracking (FT). Males and females differed in average E cc (− 18 ± 4 vs. − 19 ± 5%, p = 0.01) and E rr (44 ± 20 vs. 36 ± 22%, p = 0.001), with no differences due to age. The apical segment of RURE was higher in males ( p = 0.04), and age did not affect RURE. CURE showed no sex‑ or age‑related variation. The lower limit of normal was 0.80 for CURE and 0.64 for RURE. When FT was compared to DENSE, mean E cc was similar (− 20% vs. − 19%), though patient-level agreement was moderate (Intra class correlation (ICC) = 0.588, p = 0.013); FT showed lower E rr (mean 34% vs. 42%; ICC 0.304, p = 0.062). CURE demonstrated stable values across age and sex in healthy volunteers, supporting its use as a robust marker of LV dyssynchrony with a normal threshold of ≥ 0.80. In contrast, RURE showed greater variability, although a lower reference limit of ≥ 0.64 was established.
Development and internal evaluation of a composite electrophysiological criterion for the diagnosis of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation
Individual variability in hydrogen-producing microbes influences the response to hydrogen supplementation on sleep quality: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel study
Abstract Hydrogen has been reported to exert antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, and its potential health benefits have been investigated. However, to our knowledge, evidence regarding its impact on sleep quality in healthy individuals remains extremely limited. In addition, the influence of inter-individual variability in the gut microbiota on hydrogen efficacy has seldom been studied. In this study, we aimed to assess the impact of hydrogen-rich jelly on sleep quality and examine the influence of gut microbiota on this effect. A total of 44 healthy adults with poor sleep quality were randomized to receive either hydrogen-rich jelly or placebo jelly. No significant differences were observed between the intervention groups in the changes in sleep-related outcomes, including OSA-MA, VAS, PSQI, and STAI scores, in the overall analysis. Notably, when participants were stratified by the mean change in the VAS score for sleep quality, gut microbiota β-diversity showed apparent clustering in the hydrogen group but not in the placebo group. This cluster was explained by the differences in the relative abundance of hydrogen-producing bacteria, such as Bacteroides . Linear mixed-effects model analyses revealed significant interaction effects in the group × H 2 -producers in the VAS for sleep quality and mental stress, with greater improvement in participants with a lower abundance of hydrogen-producing bacteria. In conclusion, these exploratory findings raise the hypothesis that baseline gut microbiota composition, particularly microbial hydrogen-producing capacity, may modify individual responses to hydrogen supplementation. This hypothesis warrants confirmation in larger studies to explore its implications for microbiome-informed stratification in future hydrogen intervention research. Clinical trial registration : This clinical trial was registered with the University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trial Registry on 27/12/2023 (UMIN-CTR, UMIN000053237).
Development of a facial expression database covering diverse emotional states using large language models and an android robot
Abstract Facial expression databases are fundamental resources in many research areas. However, conventional databases built from human images are often limited in emotional diversity, with additional challenges such as high creation costs and difficulty in reproducing the expressions. In this study, we present a novel approach for constructing a wide-range facial expression database using large language models and an android robot. By leveraging the generative capabilities of large language models, our approach links semantic emotion descriptions to controllable robotic facial actuation, enabling the systematic exploration of diverse affective states. In addition, human-in-the-loop evaluation is incorporated to improve the alignment between generated facial expressions and emotion labels. The resulting database consists of 672 facial expressions corresponding to 75 emotion labels. Analyses of the database characteristics showed that the database captures a wider range of affective states that are broadly consistent with general emotional tendencies. It is expected to serve as a useful resource for future research in many fields, including information science and psychology.
Automatic deep learning-based tumor segmentation for PET-CT in mice with an uncertainty quantification module
Strain-level heterogeneity in Vibrio parahaemolyticus limits the predictive value of baseline planktonic gene expression for surface-associated phenotypes
Abstract Vibrio (V.) parahaemolyticus is a ubiquitous marine bacterium that persists in dynamic marine environments through adaptive behaviors including motility and biofilm formation. Gene expression data obtained under planktonic conditions are widely used to infer surface-associated phenotypes, implicitly assuming that such measurements are informative of these behaviors. However, the extent to which this assumption holds across genetically diverse strains remains unclear. This study systematically assessed whether baseline transcriptional profiles provide predictive value for surface-associated phenotypes across a diverse panel of V. parahaemolyticus strains. Phenotypic traits and gene expression patterns varied substantially across individual strains. Correlation analyses revealed no robust associations between transcriptional levels and phenotypes after multiple-testing correction, and predictive modeling further demonstrated that transcriptional profiles do not reliably predict surface-associated phenotypes across strains (leave-one-out cross-validation R 2 < 0). Principal component analysis (PCA) further confirmed strong strain-dependent transcriptional variation, with no distinct clustering among strains (PC1 and PC2 explaining 44.5% of total variance). These findings demonstrate that strain-level heterogeneity dominates both phenotypic and transcriptional variation and limits the use of baseline planktonic transcription as a predictor of surface-associated traits, highlighting the need to account for strain-level heterogeneity and condition-specific regulation in predictive frameworks.
Process optimization of deep eutectic solvent mediated interfacial polymerization for high performance nanofiltration membranes
Theory of planned behaviour determinants mediate association between time since last training and resuscitation intention in Chinese lay-rescuers: a cross-sectional survey
Abstract Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillation (AED) rates remain low in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) crises in Hong Kong. Despite the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) based ‘Intention-focused’ training approach being advocated to boost lay-rescuers’ willingness to perform Basic Life Support (BLS), local refresher courses still focus on revisiting resuscitation knowledge and skills. Few studies have explored the underlying mechanisms by which refresher training boosts resuscitation willingness. This article aimed to investigate the association between time since last training and BLS intention, and the potential mediating role of knowledge and the three TPB determinants, namely, attitude, subjective norms (SN), and perceived behavioural control (PBC). A cross-sectional online survey of 678 non-healthcare adult lay-rescuers was conducted in 2022 using snowball sampling. Participants were categorised by years since last training: trained within 1 year (n = 289), 1–2 years (n = 141), 3–5 years (n = 129), and > 5 years (n = 119). The Intention to Deliver BLS scale was used. Mediation analysis was conducted using SPSS PROCESS Macro (Model 81). Controlling for demographics, years since the last training were negatively associated with knowledge (B = − 0.54, P < 0.001), attitude (B = − 0.07, P = 0.001), SN (B = − 0.14, P < 0.001) and PBC (B = − 0.24, P < 0.001). Higher BLS intentions were associated with attitude (B = 0.36; P < 0.001), SN (B = 0.24; P < 0.001), and PBC (B = 0.45; P < 0.001), but not knowledge (B = 0.02, P = 0.328). Mediation analysis revealed significant indirect effects of years since last training on BLS intention via attitude (B = − 0.02, 95%CI − 0.04 to − 0.01), SN (B = − 0.04, 95% CI − 0.06 to − 0.02), and PBC (B = − 0.11, 95% CI − 0.15 to − 0.08). Knowledge alone was not a significant mediator (B = − 0.01, 95% CI − 0.04 to 0.01), but the three serial mediation paths through knowledge and the TPB determinants were significant (B ranged from − 0.01 to − 0.03). The direct effect was insignificant (B = − 0.02, P = 0.502). Resuscitation intention was negatively associated with time since the last training through TPB determinants, but not knowledge. Comprehensive reviews of the current knowledge- and skill-focused refresher strategy are warranted. Future research should focus on developing culturally-adapted ‘Intention-focused’ refresher pedagogies that address these psychobehavioural factors.