In oil production and refining, high-capacity continuous settling tanks are used in wastewater treatment systems. Thin-layer settling tanks have a large settling area and ensure high performance. The small channel size ensures laminar fluid flow at higher fluid velocities, preventing the occurrence of vertical convective currents. Thin-layer settling tanks operating in co-current or counter-current modes are widely used. They have a simple design, are easy to manufacture, and are commercially available. However, they have disadvantages that limit their use. This article examines the development of thin-layer settling units with transverse sludge drainage. The modular design allows for factory fabrication, installation through manholes, and ease of installation, maintenance, and repair. Several internal design options for thin-layer settling tanks and the design of a thin-layer settling unit are discussed. All variants utilize inclined plates with upward and downward-facing edges. The plates form a system of troughs and vertical channels for sludge drainage. The plates are connected to each other using connectors or housed within a spatial frame. A thin-layer settling tank design has been developed and its effectiveness evaluated.

Ilizarov correction of extreme anterior tibial bowing (≈100°) secondary to fibrous dysplasia: a case report from Afghanistan

Monitoring urban subsidence over ultra-long periods using time-series Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) technology is critically important. Conventional approaches, however, face two main limitations: significant atmospheric phase residuals in complex urban settings, and discontinuous temporal time-series with short temporal coverage due to single-platform data constraints. To address these limitations, this study presents a new method for estimating ultra-long-term subsidence time series in urban areas, which combines Interferometric Subset Stacking (ISS) with multi-platform data fusion (DF). The methodology firstly processes TerraSAR-X and Sentinel-1A datasets through differential interferometry and applies ISS for atmospheric phase suppression. Next, bilinear interpolation unifies the spatial resolution and aligns the spatial reference frames of the two datasets. Subsequently, joint modeling derives subsidence velocities. Finally, temporal integration via linear interpolation and moving averaging produces a unified spatio-temporal deformation sequence. Applied to the Beijing region, China, this approach generated a 12-year ultra-long-term subsidence time series result (2012–2024), revealing maximum cumulative subsidence of 1100 mm spatially correlated with groundwater extraction patterns. Validation against Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data showed strong agreement (correlation coefficient: 0.94, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE): 6.3 mm). The method achieved substantial atmospheric reduction—67.7% for Sentinel-1A and 24.1% for TerraSAR-X—representing approximately 15–20% accuracy improvement over conventional Generic Atmospheric Correction Online Service (GACOS) for InSAR. By effectively utilizing multi-platform data, this approach makes fuller use of the available phase information and compensates for the temporal gaps inherent in single-satellite datasets. It thus offers a valuable framework for long-term urban deformation monitoring.

The effects of spatial framing and attribute range on the measurement of nonuse values of biodiversity improvements

The thumb plays a crucial role in hand function, yet its proprioceptive abilities remain poorly understood. Here we quantified dynamic thumb localization ability, as well as how this ability adapts to a perturbation, in unimpaired participants. For this, we developed a novel task in which a robot moved the thumb in a circle and participants pressed a button when they felt their thumb aligning with a target point on a screen, receiving visual error feedback in the form of a ball jumping toward the target after they pushed the button. The task also incorporated a propriovisual rotational perturbation to elicit and measure adaptation. To characterize thumb localization ability, we varied thumb speed and rotation diameter, assessed the effect of the propriovisual rotational perturbation, and compared index finger performance. Following task familiarization, average thumb localization error was relatively consistent, with a constant error (CE) of -5.9°, variable error (VE) of 25.2°, and absolute error (AE) of 29.2°. Errors did not change significantly with speed or circle diameter. Reversing thumb rotation temporarily increased error followed by rapid error adaptation across the next 20 trials, as would be expected if individuals adapted using a body-centered (movement-aligned) frame of reference rather than a world-centered spatial frame. Localization error was comparable for the thumb and the index finger error for the same task and was correlated with a different, robotic assessment of finger proprioception (ρ = 0.61, p = 0.001). These findings indicate that dynamic thumb localization is somewhat inaccurate, although it can leverage visual feedback within a body-centered reference frame to adapt. Further, in unimpaired adults, the dynamic localization abilities of the thumb and index finger are related.

The focus of this work is the parametric analysis of the stability of G and spatial frames with an introduced initial geometric imperfection. It investigates the influence of different types of angle stiffeners (box, diagonal, and combined) and numerical factors (mesh element type and mesh size in Abaqus) on the stability of these structures, with the aim of optimizing their design.

Abstract Lattice structures have a wide range of applications in real structures. For example, concrete buildings can be modeled as flat or spatial frames, while lattice or ribbed slabs can be modeled as grids. Computer programs frequently used for the design of buildings in Brazil allow the design to be carried out in spatial gantry and grid. Also, some include the possibility of applying calculated support settlements or manually introducing an elastic spring to simulate the behavior of the foundation. However, it is not possible to insert geotechnical data together with the structure for the geotechnical evaluation of soil deformation in an integrated way to obtain an analysis of the interaction between the stresses in the structure and the soil deformations, as well as to take into account the overlapping of stresses applied in the soil mass to evaluate settlements. In this context, classical solutions to analyze these domains together have been proposed with the use of the Finite Element Method (FEM) and by the coupling between the Boundary Element Method (SEM) and FEM. Despite being robust, these techniques are not yet commonly used in calculation offices, due to the high computational cost. In this sense, alternative formulations with lower computational cost, such as the one proposed herein, can be a viable alternative for the analysis of the effects of soil-structure interaction in conventional structures without significantly impairing computational performance. Thus, to approximate the computational analysis to the real behavior of structures, this article proposes an efficient and low-cost computational matrix analysis solution for the integration between structural and geotechnical models, considering the soil-structure interaction. Thus, the integrated model considers the compatibility between the forces calculated in the structure and the settlement prediction, carried out, considering the soil deformation caused by the global contribution of stresses, in such a way as to consider in the analysis of the soil, both the tensions arising from the support itself and those transmitted by the other foundation elements. The proposed alternative formulation was verified for isolated structural analyses, geotechnical isolates and finally considering the coupled form with equilibrium in the deformed condition of the soil, paying attention to the robustness of the implementation.

From Distance to Danger: Spatial Framing of Climate Change in COP Negotiations .By, Mona Fathy Mohamed Ramadan El-Sufi PhD researcher, faculty of arts, Suez University

In the context of interconnected crises and shifting geopolitical dynamics, the imperative to reimagine how development is practiced and studied has grown increasingly urgent. This paper advances a methodological intervention in development research by drawing on insights from multisited empirical work that examines development governance through the lens of assemblage thinking. Using illustrative cases from studies from Ukraine and Costa Rica, we demonstrate how assemblage approaches can illuminate development governance as a dynamic, relational, and multi-scalar field of practice. Assemblage thinking pushes analysis beyond fixed spatial, temporal, and institutional frames by foregrounding the contingent configurations through which development interventions are continually assembled and the shifting relations of power and knowledge that underpin decision-making. The paper highlights both the possibilities and methodological tensions of operationalising assemblage thinking in empirical development research. The empirical cases engaged serve to illustrate how assemblage-oriented inquiry can help trace emergent and uneven forms of coordination and cooperation, while bringing issues of positionality, coherence, and contextuality into view. By engaging assemblage thinking as both an analytic and methodological orientation, the paper contributes to ongoing dialogue on advancing more situated, plural, and reflexive methodological approaches to studying development governance.

ABSTRACT Amid the growing influence of visual culture on public perception, cinematic art increasingly shapes how architectural heritage is recognized, emotionally internalized, and socially mobilized. Using The Shadowless Tower (2023) and the White Pagoda of Miaoying Temple in Beijing as a non-touristic focal case, this study proposes and operationalizes a three-stage media impact model – mediated representation, cognitive & affective transformation, and affective mobilization – to explain how film repositions built heritage from scenographic background to a shared cultural anchor. Drawing on a multilingual corpus of 45 long-form reviews (20 Chinese, 20 English, 5 Japanese) and manual coding with keyword matrices, the analysis shows (i) how spatial framing and symbolic imagery enable visibility, (ii) how memory, identity, and affect drive audience – heritage linkages, and (iii) how these linkages trigger discourse and nascent conservation intent. Cross-cultural contrasts clarify where perception and interpretation diverge across linguistic communities. The findings contribute to heritage studies by specifying affective pathways through which film fosters cultural resonance and public awareness, advancing the sustainable safeguarding of historic environments in line with SDG 11.4 and informing assessments related to Outstanding Universal Value (OUV). The model offers actionable implications for heritage communication, policy outreach, and education.

The present work seeks to analyze the dynamics of land use and occupation in seven Indigenous Lands pressured by deforestation in the State of Pará, Kayapó, Munduruku, Trincheira Bacajá, Alto Rio Guamá, Apyterewa, Cachoeira Seca and Ituna-Itatá. The same investigation was carried out regarding their respective Surrounding Zones. The time frame was established in four periods, 1986, 1998, 2010 and 2022. As a spatial frame, some Large Infrastructure Projects were used, such as federal highways and Hydroelectric Power Plants, and used as selection criteria, the Indigenous Lands located within the radius of 20 km of these projects. To analyze land use and occupation, matrix classification data from the Mapbiomas do Brasil platform was used. The results showed two trends; Indigenous Lands with an area greater than 1.5 million hectares present deforestation rates that do not exceed 1.5% of the total area, while Indigenous Lands with less than 1 million hectares present values ​​that exceed 13% of the total deforested area. The Entono Zones, on the other hand, present rates of vegetation loss that vary from 1.71% to 48%.

From Distance to Danger: Spatial Framing of Climate Change in COP Negotiations

Binocular fusion normally relies on a “cyclopean eye” that integrates image disparities between the two eyes into a single coherent percept. When fusion fails, how the brain chooses its spatial reference frame remains unclear. Here, we report a rare case of a 44-year-old man who developed multiple-directions diplopia following surgical resection of a cerebellar vermis hemangioblastoma. Clinical tests showed deficits in several extraocular muscles. Experimentally, in binocular and dichoptic viewing, perception was always anchored to the left eye with the right eye's image misaligned, whereas monocular viewing produced no diplopia. Crucially, the patient could voluntarily switch to the right eye as reference, which was independent of stimulus shape similarity, stimulus exposure order, or participant response demands. This case offers a unique window to understand the relationship between automatic sensory integration and top-down control in binocular vision: When cyclopean fusion breaks down, visual perception adapts to a single-eye reference frame that can be flexibly influenced by attention.

Flexible bars experiencing large displacements and small strains during loading are investigated. The purpose of the study: numerical analysis of the stress-strain state of flexible bars, taking into account geometric nonlinearity in a three-dimensional formulation. The displacement-based finite element method is used as the mathematical framework. The process of shape changing of the bar was modeled by incremental loading in combination with the restructuring of the geometry of the model, taking into account the resulting displacements. The bar was modeled using rectilinear beam finite elements connected at adjacent nodes by linear and rotational combined elements with variable stiffness. To conduct computational experiments, macros in the APDL language, embedded in the ANSYS Mechanical software, were written and verified. Numerical experiments were performed using finite element models with elastic hinges and without hinges. Based on the results obtained, it is established that the proposed direct incremental algorithm for solving geometrically nonlinear problems of structural mechanics is absolutely convergent. The developed method of defining the stiffness of rotational springs can be used in modeling spatial unstable frames.

The paper presents a proposal for a simple method of transforming initial GNSS vectors into a spatial local conventional reference frame. This transformation can serve as an alternative to the complex traditional procedure, which involves projecting coordinates onto a reference ellipsoid, mapping them onto a plane of an official local reference frame, and converting ellipsoidal heights into a system of orthometric heights. Local vectors (increments in horizontal coordinates and height differences) are often used in land surveying to analyse relative ground displacement, for example. The article offers a detailed definition of a local conventional reference frame and discusses its potential value for surveying practice. The proposed computation procedure was verified using a control network established to monitor displacement in a mining area. The calculated values of vector components in the local conventional reference frame were compared with the results of the traditional method for transforming GNSS vectors into official local reference frames (the PL-2000 coordinate system and the PL-EVRF2007-NH vertical reference frame). The results of both methods were verified against reference values from typical terrestrial surveys (electronic distance measurement and high-precision geometric levelling). The analysis demonstrates that the proposed numerical procedure is appropriate for control networks with certain areal limitations (up to about 300 m).

Abstract We extend well-known results on the Newtonian limit of Lorentzian metrics to orthonormal frames. Concretely, we prove that, given a one-parameter family of Lorentzian metrics that in the Newtonian limit converges to a Galilei structure, any family of orthonormal frames for these metrics converges pointwise to a Galilei frame, assuming that the two obvious necessary conditions are satisfied: the spatial frame must not rotate indefinitely as the limit is approached, and the frame’s boost velocity with respect to some fixed reference observer needs to converge.

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation of a thin-walled reinforced concrete slab of complex geometry manufactured using 3D concrete printing (3DCP) technology. The aim of the study was to evaluate the stress–strain behaviour and flexural stiffness of an optimized slab whose internal structure was formed according to the principles of rational cross-sections and topology-based shape design. The tested slab, measuring 2200×2200 mm, incorporated a system of curved ribs printed in 20-mm layers, forming a cellular load-bearing pattern with enhanced material efficiency. The experimental program was carried out on a rigid spatial steel testing frame with full perimeter support. The load was applied incrementally by placing cast-iron calibration blocks (21 kg) and heavy concrete FBS blocks weighing 518 kg, which ensured an equivalent uniformly distributed load. A total of 12 loading stages were performed with a 15-minute stabilization period at each step, reaching a maximum surface pressure of 25.06 kN/m². Vertical displacements were recorded using three high-precision dial gauges (0.01 mm accuracy), while local strains were measured by ten strain gauges with a 20 mm base installed at characteristic locations on the upper and lower surfaces of the slab. The obtained results showed that the slab exhibited linear-elastic behaviour throughout the entire loading range. The maximum central deflection reached 2.06 mm, and after complete unloading decreased to 0.63 mm, confirming a significant proportion of recoverable deformation and the absence of damage. Strain gauge readings indicated a uniform development of compressive and tensile strains consistent with the bending moment distribution, with no evidence of localized stress concentrations. The strain curves contained no sudden jumps or anomalies, indicating the integrity of interlayer bonding and the absence of any signs of structural degradation. The findings confirm the effectiveness of 3DCP technology for manufacturing load-bearing floor slabs with complex internal geometry. The tested element demonstrated high stiffness, reliable structural performance, and highlighted the promising prospects for the development of topologically optimized reinforced concrete structures in modern construction.

ABSTRACTSex differences in cognition are often predicted based on ecological roles, particularly when one sex engages more extensively in specific behaviors that might be subject to selective pressure. In zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), males choose and deposit the majority of the material into the nest and might therefore exhibit enhanced physical cognition. We tested this hypothesis using the trap‐gap task, a modified shape–frame matching paradigm designed to evaluate how animals assess object–hole relationships. In this task birds pulled food‐containing trays attached to strings through gaps in barriers. Birds were trained on either a barrier task (choosing the correct gap size to fit a tray between barriers with different gaps) or a tray task (choosing the correct tray size between barriers with the same gap), then transferred to the alternate task (called the transfer test). Contrary to predictions, males and females showed no differences in the number of trials to reach learning criteria or in the number of errors in the transfer test. Birds required more trials, on average, to learn the barrier task compared to the tray task, and the transfer test was at chance, suggesting birds relied on absolute cue‐based strategies rather than learning the object–gap relationship (relative cue‐based strategies). These findings align with previous research showing no sex differences in learning about material properties in zebra finches, despite males' dominant role in nest building. The lack of sex differences in performance may stem from a mismatch in spatial frames of reference: while nest building relies on an egocentric (body‐centered) frame, the trap‐gap tasks uses an allocentric (object‐centered) frame. Our findings highlight the complexity of linking behavioral sex roles to cognitive specialization and underscore the importance of task design and ecological relevance in comparative cognition research.

Isotropic binary compound semiconductors have been shown to exhibit high optical nonlinearity, which renders them particularly promising for compact optoelectronic and photonic device development through microscale structuring. However, there is a paucity of research tools that provide volumetric imaging of such patterns with high spatial resolution and crystal orientation determination. In this study, the scope of polarization second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy was expanded to encompass the imaging of single crystalline grains from the deep layers of optically isotropic polycrystalline bulk materials such as chemical vapor deposition zinc selenium (ZnSe). It was demonstrated that focal-plane-localized second harmonic generation can be achieved using a short coherence length and tight focusing, and that grain interfaces provide the majority of the nonlinear signal. The imaging of grain arrangement across a 2 mm-thickness ZnSe sample allowed us to investigate the evolution of spatial resolution with depth provided by a high numerical aperture objective. The developed theoretical approach was used to retrieve the three-dimensional (3D) orientations of individual microcrystallites inside the sample. The present study has expanded the use of the inverse pole figure mapping technique to visualize the crystallographic direction orientations of each grain on the image obtained by polarization SHG microscopy. The demonstrated 3D optical diagnostics method was shown to be a viable investigative tool for isotropic polycrystalline semiconductor materials with a face-centered cubic lattice structure, offering a high spatial resolution and frame rate.

In order to further explore the role of infill walls in the progressive collapse resistance of reinforced concrete (RC) spatial frames, based on ANSYS/LS-DYNA finite element analysis software, the refined numerical models of pure RC spatial frames and infilled RC spatial frames were constructed, respectively. By comparing it with the experimental results, the validity and accuracy of the model are verified. Subsequently, the effects of column removal devices and infill wall openings on the progressive collapse resistance of RC spatial frames were studied. The results show that the residual displacement of the model with a complete column removal device is 238.1% higher than that of the model with an incomplete column removal device, and the stiffness is reduced by 68.8%. The results obtained by an incomplete column removal device are often unsafe. The open-hole infill wall will form a diagonal strut in the corresponding area. The strength of the strut near the fixed end has the most significant effect on the structural stiffness after the column is removed and plays a controlling role. The reduction in the effective area of the strut reduces the strength of the strut and weakens the structural stiffness. When the opening is arranged in the mid-span position, the structural stiffness decreases more significantly.