Artiles
Open Access
Perspective
08 June 2026Acoustic Resonance Weapons for Drone Interdiction
Acoustic waves can affect two important components of multi-rotor drones, more formally called multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The first is located in the electronic board, the so-called IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), which can be influenced by intense sound waves at resonant frequency. The second is the motor-propeller unit of drones. Multi-rotor drones generate low-frequency acoustic emissions during flight; if external acoustic waves achieve resonance with these blade-induced vibrations, they can cause structural fatigue or mechanical failure in the motor-propeller unit. The paper addresses the following issues: first, the influence of resonant frequency sound waves on these two design elements and their performance evaluation; second, the feasibility of an integrated counter-UAV system comprising acoustic Direction of Arrival (DoA) estimation and Blade Passage Frequency (BPF) detection; and third, a new solution for a long-range directional sound effector. This proposed solution includes determining the operating frequency as the 3rd to 5th harmonics of the BPF. Furthermore, it introduces a new concept that, instead of using a standard array of sound drivers, utilizes a limited quantity of powerful drivers arranged skeletally according to a Vicsek fractal topology. This configuration generates a powerful, needle-like acoustic beam capable of delivering effective mechanical disruption multi-rotor drones at long ranges.
Open Access
Review
08 June 2026Beyond Barrier Function: Tight Junctions as Dynamic Signaling Hubs Orchestrating Tumor Plasticity, Microenvironment Remodeling, and Metastatic Evolution
Tight junctions (TJs), once viewed as static paracellular seals, are now recognized as dynamic master regulators of tumor plasticity, microenvironment remodeling, and metastasis. This comprehensive review synthesizes emerging knowledge redefining TJs as versatile signaling and mechanobiological hubs. Beyond simply facilitating EMT through barrier dissolution, TJs coordinate every stage of the metastatic cascade. The review highlights how critical proteins like ZO-1 form liquid-liquid phase-separated (LLPS) condensates to nucleate junctional assembly, which is a well-characterized biophysical event, while also evaluating the proposed, yet less empirically validated, roles of these condensates in broader mechanosensing and signaling cascades. The review also evaluates classic transmembrane-to-nuclear relays, such as the ZO-1-ZONAB axis, and discusses the emerging concept of TJ-NR cross-talk, in which claudin-mediated adhesion has been proposed to modulate SFK activity and subsequent nuclear receptor phosphorylation in specific oncogenic contexts, linking cell adhesion to transcriptional plasticity. Furthermore, TJs orchestrate organotropic colonization, support the survival of circulating tumor cell clusters by resisting hemodynamic stress, and engage in mechanical cross-talk to remodel the stiffened tumor extracellular matrix. This shifting concept transforms TJs into promising clinical targets for precise network-level interference and overcoming therapeutic resistance in advanced malignancies.
Open Access
Review
08 June 2026Zoonotic Microsporidia: Host Regulation and Pathogenesis
Microsporidia are a group of obligate intracellular fungal pathogens with extremely wide host ranges. Among these, zoonotic microsporidia such as Encephalitozoon hellem, Encephalitozoon cuniculi, and Enterocytozoon bieneusi can infect humans as well as other animals, causing recurrent diarrhea, hepatitis, and even death in immune-compromised individuals. The abilities of zoonotic microsporidia to regulate their hosts are essential to their survival and thriving within hosts. The manipulations of zoonotic microsporidia on hosts are employed in multiple ways, including metabolic modulation, immune suppression, signaling pathway regulations, and epigenetic modification. This review focuses on pathogen-host interactions between zoonotic microsporidia and their hosts, and compares their regulatory characteristics with those of typical fungal pathogens such as Candida albicans. In summary, unraveling the regulatory strategies of zoonotic microsporidia not only deepens our understanding of microsporidia pathogenesis but also provides potential targets for therapeutic intervention against these emerging pathogens. Comparative studies with typical fungal pathogens further highlight the unique and sophisticated host-manipulating mechanisms evolved by microsporidia from the fungal kingdom.
Open Access
Perspective
08 June 2026Holdiversity (和多样性): An Integrative Concept Toward Sustainability
Facing the multiple challenges brought about by global change and social development, this paper proposes the conceptual framework of “Holdiversity (和多样性)”, which defines human diversity, biological diversity, and environmental diversity as an interdependent, co-evolving, coupled system. This approach aims to systematically comprehend the synergistic mechanisms between humans and nature, facilitating the construction of trade-off strategies for sustainable development. Furthermore, this paper proposes that the watershed can serve as a fundamental operational unit for Holdiversity research. Its distinct natural boundaries and hierarchical structure enable it to effectively carry the spatial superposition and feedback coupling of multiple diversities. This concept aims to provide an integrated framework for interdisciplinary research and to offer a novel perspective on implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Open Access
Article
05 June 2026Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Construction Materials for Drywall Application: Plastic Waste and Natural Fiber Composite Versus Conventional Gypsum Board
Metallized biaxially oriented polypropylene (met-BOPP) is a flexible packaging material whose aluminium layer hinders mechanical recycling. This study presents a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a met-BOPP composite reinforced with cellulosic fibers, comparing its environmental performance to that of gypsum plasterboard, a conventional material widely used in drywall systems. The functional unit was defined as the production of 1 m2 of board. Primary data were obtained experimentally, and secondary data were sourced from the Ecoinvent 3.6 database, using OpenLCA 2.5 software and the ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (H) impact assessment method. The results revealed substantially lower potential environmental impacts for the composite board compared to the gypsum plasterboard across several categories, with net environmental credits equivalent to 208% of the gypsum impact in Global Warming Potential, 460% in Marine Ecotoxicity, and 207% in Non-carcinogenic Human Toxicity. The environmental gains of the composite alternative result from the recycling of the post-consumer plastic waste used. A sensitivity analysis using a pure cut-off modelling, in which the met-BOPP waste enters the system burden-free and no valorization credits are granted, confirmed the environmental advantage of the composite in terms of GWP, showing a 90.8% reduction in GWP compared with gypsum plasterboard. These findings support met-BOPP composite panels as a promising low-carbon alternative for the construction sector, aligned with circular economy principles.
Open Access
Review
05 June 2026Mitochondrial Fatty Acid Oxidation Dysfunction in Tubulointerstitial Fibrosis: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Advances
Tubulointerstitial fibrosis is a central pathological basis for the persistent progression of chronic kidney disease. Its initiation and progression involve multiple mechanisms, including disordered energy metabolism, lipid accumulation, inflammatory responses, and abnormal extracellular matrix deposition. As a major energy source for renal tubular epithelial cells, mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation (FAO) is essential for maintaining tubular metabolic homeostasis. Impaired FAO leads to insufficient ATP production, aggravated lipotoxicity, and mitochondrial homeostasis disruption, thereby further activating oxidative stress, inflammatory pathways, and profibrotic signaling, which, in turn, promote tubular injury and the progression of interstitial fibrosis. This review summarizes the basic physiological processes of mitochondrial FAO and its pathological role in tubulointerstitial fibrosis, with particular emphasis on the mechanisms by which FAO impairment drives metabolic reprogramming, lipotoxicity, and abnormalities in mitochondrial quality control. It also outlines recent advances in therapeutic strategies aimed at restoring FAO, improving mitochondrial function, and alleviating lipotoxicity and secondary profibrotic responses. Current evidence suggests that targeting FAO impairment may offer a promising therapeutic approach for delaying the progression of renal fibrosis; however, further efforts are needed to strengthen clinical translation.
Open Access
Article
04 June 2026Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping of Stakeholder Governance Perceptions: A Causal Architecture for Managing Pinctada radiata in the Eastern Mediterranean
Understanding how governance systems respond to ecological complexity requires analytical approaches that capture both biophysical interactions and stakeholders’ interpretations of causal relationships within socio-ecological systems. In the Eastern Mediterranean, the Indo-Pacific pearl oyster, Pinctada radiata, poses a governance challenge because it is simultaneously perceived as a non-indigenous species, an ecosystem engineer, and a livelihood resource. This study develops the Causal Cognitive–Institutional Architecture (CICA) for marine governance. Using Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (FCM), it formalises stakeholder reasoning and socio-economic interactions. Stakeholder-specific causal maps were constructed for fishers, scientists, and government officials. The resulting models reveal distinct but complementary causal logics: fishers emphasise stewardship, collaboration, and livelihood security; scientists prioritise ecological stability, environmental change sensitivity, and habitat impacts; and government officials primarily emphasise regulatory coherence and enforcement. These stakeholder-specific maps were then integrated into a unified governance model using a weighted linear fusion procedure. The unified FCM identifies collaboration, community education, and environmental change sensitivity as highly influential cross-domain concepts, while institutional trust emerges as a fragile but consequential governance variable. Scenario simulations indicate that interventions targeting collaborative and learning-oriented mechanisms generate broader stabilising responses across the system than enforcement-centred interventions alone. The CICA–FCM framework provides a transparent diagnostic approach for identifying governance bottlenecks, integrating heterogeneous stakeholder reasoning, and supporting adaptive management of P. radiata under ecological uncertainty.
Open Access
Review
04 June 2026Three-Dimensional Topography Prediction in Milling Medically Difficult-to-Process Materials: Mechanism, Modeling and Evaluation
Milling serves as the core manufacturing process for medical, difficult-to-process materials. The three-dimensional topography of machined surface directly determines the service performance, biocompatibility, and service life of medical implants. This work targets unclear formation mechanism, incomplete modeling factors, and insufficient verification methods of three-dimensional topography in milling medical difficult-to-process materials. It systematically reviews the research progress of three-dimensional topography modeling and prediction. The core generation mechanism is analyzed by coupling the tool-workpiece relative motion with the material dynamic response, with a focus on the deformation features of difficult-to-process medical materials. The three-dimensional topography modeling methods of side milling, end milling, and five-axis ball-end milling are elaborated. Model characteristics considering material properties, cutting conditions, and dynamic factors are compared. Validation and evaluation methods are summarized from two-dimensional contour, three-dimensional topography, and texture fractal features. Limitations of existing models in adaptability, multi-factor coupling, and accuracy-efficiency balance are pointed out. Future research directions of hybrid modeling driven by physics and data for medical, difficult-to-process materials are prospected. This review offers a theoretical framework for precision machining and quality control of medical key components.
Open Access
Review
03 June 2026A Comprehensive Survey and Reference Architecture for AI-Powered Autonomous Drone Systems in Smart Cities
Despite a rapid rise of AI-powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) deployments in smart city environments, current surveys and frameworks lack a unified, protocol-level reference architecture that integrates multi-domain applications, edge AI perception, cognitive reasoning through Large Language Models (LLMs), and regulatory compliance within a single deployable specification. This study presents a comprehensive cross-domain review of AI-powered drone systems for traffic management, delivery, infrastructure inspection, disaster response, and environmental monitoring. The study introduces COMPASS (Cognitive Operations Model for Programmable Autonomous Smart-city Systems), a novel seven-layer technical reference architecture that describes communication protocols (MAVLink 2.0, ROS2/DDS, MQTT 5.0, and NGSI-LD), edge computing hardware recommendations for five drone payload tiers, and quantified performance requirements for safety-critical operations. The key feature of COMPASS is its LLM-based Semantic Middleware Layer, which allows for context-aware decision-making, natural human-drone interaction, and regulatory compliance verification. Comparing COMPASS to many other frameworks reveals that it is the only architecture to simultaneously provide multi-domain coverage, protocol-level specifications, hardware recommendations, LLM integration, and empirically verified benchmarks.
Open Access
Communication
02 June 2026Effect of Carbon Source on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Silicon Carbide Fabricated by Two-Step Reaction Sintering
Reaction-bonded silicon carbide (RBSC) ceramics prepared by gel casting and two-step sintering were investigated. Three active carbon sources of petroleum coke (PC), carbon microspheres (MC), and nano-carbon black (CB) were compared in terms of slurry rheology, preform characteristics, sintered microstructure, and mechanical properties. With the active powders of PC and MC, the large particle size resulted in low density of the preform and un-uniform distribution of active carbon. CB addition yielded the highest slurry viscosity, the highest preform density, and the highest carbon density of 1.00 g·cm−3. The higher carbon density and more uniform active carbon translated into the highest SiC phase content and the lowest residual Si after sintering, attributed to the uniform active carbon distribution. A high-performance RBSC ceramic with a density of 3.12 g·cm−3, bending strength of 512 MPa, and Vickers hardness of 2386.6 HV was achieved. The corresponding phase composition was 94.28 vol.% SiC, only 2.22 vol.% residual Si, which is significantly lower than that of conventional RBSC. These results highlight the critical role of active carbon source selection in optimizing RBSC performance through microstructural refinement and residual phase control.
