{"title":"Supply-demand mismatch causes substantial deterioration in prehospital emergency medical service under disasters.","authors":"Weiyi Chen, Hui Qian, Limao Zhang, Yue Pan, Zongao Li, Paolo Gardoni","doi":"10.1038/s44172-025-00481-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44172-025-00481-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Floods severely disrupt prehospital emergency medical services (EMS), which dispatch medical personnel to deliver on-scene treatment, by hindering ambulance mobility and increasing medical demand. Here, we proposes a simulation-based framework that integrates flood inundation, EMS facility data, and population-weighted medical demand to assess regional EMS performance under different flood scenarios. Applied to Zhengzhou, China, the framework evaluates system responses during normal conditions, 1-in-50-year, 1-in-100-year floods, and the extreme \"7.20\" rainfall disaster. Results show dramatic increases in response times during \"7.20\", with resource shortages identified as a key delay factor. Three mitigation strategies are evaluated: adding ambulances, inter-subcenter ambulance sharing, and a hybrid approach. The results demonstrate that ambulance sharing outperforms limited ambulance additions, increasing 10-min and 30-min population coverage by 15.2% and 22.7%, respectively, while the hybrid approach achieves optimal improvement. The findings offer policy guidance for improving EMS resilience in flood-prone regions and support global urban disaster preparedness.</p>","PeriodicalId":72644,"journal":{"name":"Communications engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"145"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12331904/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144801086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Oskar Grabowski, Michal Krajewski, Magdalena Winkowska-Struzik, Andrzej Czerwinski
{"title":"Solution-combustion synthesis of Na<sub>3</sub>(VO<sub>1-x</sub>)<sub>2</sub>(PO<sub>4</sub>)<sub>2</sub>F<sub>1+2x</sub> as a positive electrode material for sodium-ion batteries.","authors":"Oskar Grabowski, Michal Krajewski, Magdalena Winkowska-Struzik, Andrzej Czerwinski","doi":"10.1038/s44172-025-00471-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44172-025-00471-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sodium-vanadium fluorophosphates (NVPF) comprise a family of highly potent positive electrode materials for sodium-ion batteries, combining high energy density due to their high operating potential and good high-rate performance provided by NASICON structure. In this study, a self-combustion approach to synthesise Na<sub>3</sub>(VO<sub>1-x</sub>)<sub>2</sub>(PO<sub>4</sub>)<sub>2</sub>F<sub>1+2x</sub> (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) is reported. The method described here is based on a citrate-nitrate combustion process. As a result of the synthesis, phase-pure NVPF with uniform morphology and average grain size of 98 nm is obtained. Moreover, the self-combustion method implemented in this study results in the acquisition of a powder with excellent performance in Na-ion systems, showing high capacity (ca. 111 mAh g<sup>-1</sup>), cyclability (ca. 94% of capacity retention), and high-rate performance (ca. 91% of capacity retention). The self-combustion technique described in this paper shows a promising approach to synthesising fluorinated polyanion compounds for Na-ion batteries.</p>","PeriodicalId":72644,"journal":{"name":"Communications engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"143"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12325671/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144790835","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"World model-based end-to-end scene generation for accident anticipation in autonomous driving.","authors":"Yanchen Guan, Haicheng Liao, Chengyue Wang, Xingcheng Liu, Jiaxun Zhang, Zhenning Li","doi":"10.1038/s44172-025-00474-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44172-025-00474-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Reliable anticipation of traffic accidents is essential for advancing autonomous driving systems. However, this objective is limited by two fundamental challenges: the scarcity of diverse, high-quality training data and the frequent absence of crucial object-level cues due to environmental disruptions or sensor deficiencies. To tackle these issues, we propose a comprehensive framework combining generative scene augmentation with adaptive temporal reasoning. Specifically, we develop a video generation pipeline that utilizes a world model guided by domain-informed prompts to create high-resolution, statistically consistent driving scenarios, particularly enriching the coverage of edge cases and complex interactions. In parallel, we construct a dynamic prediction model that encodes spatio-temporal relationships through strengthened graph convolutions and dilated temporal operators, effectively addressing data incompleteness and transient visual noise. Furthermore, we release a new benchmark dataset designed to better capture diverse real-world driving risks. Extensive experiments on public and newly released datasets confirm that our framework enhances both the accuracy and lead time of accident anticipation, offering a robust solution to current data and modeling limitations in safety-critical autonomous driving applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":72644,"journal":{"name":"Communications engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"144"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12325990/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144790836","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Peng Zhou, Alexander J Edwards, Frederick B Mancoff, Sanjeev Aggarwal, Stephen K Heinrich-Barna, Joseph S Friedman
{"title":"Neuromorphic Hebbian learning with magnetic tunnel junction synapses.","authors":"Peng Zhou, Alexander J Edwards, Frederick B Mancoff, Sanjeev Aggarwal, Stephen K Heinrich-Barna, Joseph S Friedman","doi":"10.1038/s44172-025-00479-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44172-025-00479-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Neuromorphic computing aims to mimic both the function and structure of biological neural networks to provide artificial intelligence with extreme efficiency. Conventional approaches store synaptic weights in non-volatile memory devices with analog resistance states, permitting in-memory computation of neural network operations while avoiding the costs of transferring synaptic weights from memory. However, the use of analog resistance states for storing weights in neuromorphic systems is impeded by stochastic writing, weights drifting over time through stochastic processes, and limited endurance that reduces the precision of synapse weights. Here we propose and experimentally demonstrate neuromorphic networks that provide high-accuracy inference thanks to the binary resistance states of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), while leveraging the analog nature of their stochastic spin-transfer torque (STT) switching for unsupervised Hebbian learning. We performed an experimental demonstration of a neuromorphic network directly implemented with MTJ synapses, for both inference and spike-timing-dependent plasticity learning. We also demonstrated through simulation that the proposed system for unsupervised Hebbian learning with stochastic STT-MTJ synapses can achieve competitive accuracies for MNIST handwritten digit recognition. By appropriately applying neuromorphic principles through hardware-aware design, the proposed STT-MTJ neuromorphic learning networks provide a pathway toward artificial intelligence hardware that learns autonomously with extreme efficiency.</p>","PeriodicalId":72644,"journal":{"name":"Communications engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"142"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12322246/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144786077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jinming Sun, Yanqiu Huang, Wanli Yu, Alberto Garcia-Ortiz
{"title":"Recursive regulator: a deep-learning and real-time model adaptation strategy for nonlinear systems.","authors":"Jinming Sun, Yanqiu Huang, Wanli Yu, Alberto Garcia-Ortiz","doi":"10.1038/s44172-025-00477-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44172-025-00477-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Adaptive modeling is imperative for analyzing nonlinear systems deployed in natural dynamic environments. It facilitates filtering, prediction, and automatic control of the target object in real time to respond to unpredictable and non-repetitive sudden physical impairment caused by ambient impacts, such as corrosion, thermal drift, interference, etc. Existing nonlinear modeling approaches, however, are too complex for online training or fall short in rapid model recalibration under such conditions. To address this challenge, here we present a strategy that applies a regulator to the Koopman operator, enabling real-time model adaptation for nonlinear systems. In our approach, the regulator is directly implemented in nonlinear state-space without disrupting the pre-trained black-box predictor. The proposed technique demonstrates efficacy in capturing a broad spectrum of nonlinear dynamics and exhibits rapid adaptability to system changes without requiring offline retraining. Furthermore, its lightweight implementation and high-speed performance make it well-suited for embedded systems and applications demanding fast model recalibration and robustness.</p>","PeriodicalId":72644,"journal":{"name":"Communications engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"140"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12316969/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144765859","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Guangze Liu, Erzhen Pan, Wei Sun, Shihua Wang, Wenfu Xu, Lei Yan
{"title":"Agile manoeuvrable flight via collaborative wing-tail adjustment of a flapping wing robot.","authors":"Guangze Liu, Erzhen Pan, Wei Sun, Shihua Wang, Wenfu Xu, Lei Yan","doi":"10.1038/s44172-025-00480-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44172-025-00480-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In nature, raptors exhibit remarkable hunting abilities through their adept use of rapid aerial maneuvers. The key to achieving such exceptional maneuverability lies in the dynamic adjustment of the distance between the center of gravity (COG) and aerodynamic center (AC) over a wide range. Here, we report a biomimetic flapping-wing robot with agile flight capabilities. By coordinating adjustments in wing-tail distance and tail attitude, we can effectively manipulate the relative positioning of the robot's COG and AC, as well as modulate wing and tail moments relative to COG, thereby influencing climbing and descending characteristics. This enhanced agility allows us to define and achieve 13 Dynamic Flying Primitives (DFPs). Furthermore, by combining different DFPs, nine highly challenging longitudinal agile maneuvers were achieved. Finally, outdoor flight tests have validated that our biologically inspired flapping-wing robot equipped with a self-adjustment strategy for wing-tail coordination can achieve agile maneuverability.</p>","PeriodicalId":72644,"journal":{"name":"Communications engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"141"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12316963/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144765858","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Blake R Smith, Ryan T Flynn, Alonso N Gutiérrez, Daniel E Hyer
{"title":"Range-compensated pencil beam scanning proton Arc therapy: a feasibility study.","authors":"Blake R Smith, Ryan T Flynn, Alonso N Gutiérrez, Daniel E Hyer","doi":"10.1038/s44172-025-00460-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44172-025-00460-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Proton arc therapy is a conceptual treatment technique in proton therapy that delivers a scanned proton pencil beam simultaneously as the gantry is rotated around the patient, exploiting the geometric advantages of a continuous arc with the dosimetric advantages of protons to maximize healthy tissue sparing. Here we propose an alternative approach to deliver pencil beam scanning (PBS) proton arc therapy using a beam-modifying device called a SpeleoFilter. SpeleoFilters can improve the treatment efficiency of proton arc by reducing the number of beam energies and beam spots while preserving the plan quality as compared to traditional multifield intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT). The proposed SpeleoFilter framework was validated within a state-of-the art PBS collimator and IBA Dedicated Nozzle PBS system at the Miami Cancer Institute. The Monte Carlo methods developed in this work showed great agreement with experimental measurements and matched depth dose profiles within a 1-2%/1 mm gamma criteria. Proton arc treatments utilizing a SpeoleFilter resulted in comparable healthy tissue sparing and an order-of-magnitude reduction in the number of energy layers compared to IMPT for both phantom and patient datasets. Further work is necessary to fully demonstrate its application and clinical integration for multiple treatment sites.</p>","PeriodicalId":72644,"journal":{"name":"Communications engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"139"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12313954/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144762472","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Michael C Drews, Daniela Pfrang, Felix Schölderle, Kai Zosseder
{"title":"Assessment criteria and risk mitigation of hydrogeothermal energy portfolios for district heating.","authors":"Michael C Drews, Daniela Pfrang, Felix Schölderle, Kai Zosseder","doi":"10.1038/s44172-025-00478-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44172-025-00478-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In heating-intensive areas, low-to-intermediate temperature hydrogeothermal energy (depth >1500 m below ground level, temperature <200 °C) has the potential to replace fossil fuels in the heating sector. One of the biggest obstacles to the wide-spread implementation of hydrogeothermal energy is the exploration risk, the probability of finding geological conditions, which do not yield long-term economic thermal power. Here, we develop and investigate different assessment criteria of potential hydrogeothermal projects to minimize this exploration risk and the associated economic consequences in an inventory-portfolio approach. To do so, we combine a simplified inventory-portfolio approach with uncertain and spatially varying subsurface parameters and a cost model in a Monte Carlo simulation framework. We use an established hydrogeothermal energy play in SE Germany as an example and evaluate the performance of the tested assessment criteria vs. average exploration risk, total produced energy, total cost and cost of failure due to non-discoveries. Our results demonstrate that careful selection of formalized assessment criteria is key to mitigate exploration risk. We conclude that a holistic top-down planning approach, which combines the comprehensive and standardized characterization of geological and economic conditions on geothermal play-scale, is necessary to effectively employ hydrogeothermal energy as a replacement of fossil fuelled heating.</p>","PeriodicalId":72644,"journal":{"name":"Communications engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"138"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12310931/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144755199","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"On-site quantitative analysis of As(III) and As(V) in aqueous phase using portable laser-induced fluorescence platform.","authors":"Lixia Feng, Qilong Bian, Shujun Wu, Tianyu Gao, Pei Zhang, Shujian Dai, Zebing Zeng, Sheng Xie","doi":"10.1038/s44172-025-00473-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44172-025-00473-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Arsenic contaminants exist in different chemical forms with varying toxicity and mobility, making on-site analysis challenging. Here, a fluorogenic method is developed for the efficient detection of arsenite and arsenate ions using a portable platform directly in an aqueous phase. During sensing, the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) probe TPE-Cys/TPE-2Cys exhibits low fluorescence when dissolved, but reacts with the As(III) to form organic arsenic complexes with low solubility, inducing a turn-on fluorescence for quantitative analysis. Using a prior reduction strategy, the As(V) can be converted to As(III) and further analyzed in a sequential detection. Using a specialized laser-induced fluorescence instrument, this strategy allows on-site analysis of As(III) and As(V) species with sensitivity down to 0.14 ppb in environmental samples, showing that As(III) dominates while the As(V)/As(III) ratio varies in a constitutional equilibrium. The system has potential for the practical analysis of complex arsenic, revealing the dynamic arsenic transformations in the environment.</p>","PeriodicalId":72644,"journal":{"name":"Communications engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"137"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12310942/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144755200","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bio-inspired acoustic metamaterials for traffic noise control: bridging the gap with machine learning.","authors":"Jia-Hao Lu, Siqi Ding, Yi-Qing Ni, Shu Li","doi":"10.1038/s44172-025-00470-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44172-025-00470-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Acoustic metamaterials (AMMs) represent a transformative approach to sound manipulation, capable of controlling acoustic waves in ways that are not possible with traditional materials. These materials, often inspired by biological structures, leverage complex geometries and innovative designs to enhance sound absorption and control. This review outlines the fundamentals of bio-inspired AMMs, discusses their design and performance characteristics, and highlights the challenges in translating these innovations into practical applications. We also explore the integration of machine learning (ML) techniques with bio-inspired design to optimize AMM for practical implementation. Finally, we propose future research directions aimed at developing broadband AMMs that effectively address the pressing issue of traffic noise, thereby enhancing the overall efficacy of noise control solutions.</p>","PeriodicalId":72644,"journal":{"name":"Communications engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"136"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12307771/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144746323","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}