Icing on fiber-reinforced composites poses a critical challenge in cold environments, leading to performance degradation and reduced operational reliability. To address this problem, approaches involving metallic wire stitching and microwave-assisted heating are investigated as a material-level deicing strategy. An optimal stitching geometry for concentrated electromagnetic wave absorption was initially designed using COMSOL Multiphysics simulations. The preliminary stitching design was experimentally validated using a microwave antenna system. The glass fiber-reinforced plastic (GFRP) specimen with a stitching length of 3 cm reached 74.8 degrees C within 300 s under 20 W of microwave heating. For the 1-line stitched GFRP, localized ice removal along the SUS/aramid stitching path was achieved within 15 min, followed by complete deicing within 30 min. The 8line stitched GFRP further reduced the complete deicing time to 25 min. The 1-line stitched GFRP exhibited improved flexural properties while maintaining tensile performance. After deicing, the stitched GFRP retained 91.0% of its original flexural strength, while the flexural modulus was nearly unchanged. Under low-velocity impact (15 J), the impact energy absorption increased slightly, consistent with a comparable impact response after repeated deicing. This research provides material-level insights into microwave-assisted deicing of composite structures.
A novel autoignition-assisted, high-temperature High-Pressure Well-Stirred Turbulent Combustor (HP-WSTC) has been developed for detailed kinetic studies of fuels under gas-turbine conditions that were difficult to obtain with conventional reactors and flame chemistry facilities. It is designed for operations at 1-20 atm, 1200-2200 K, and residence times of 1-100 ms, enabling treatment as a zero-dimensional premixed-combustion system. Methane combustion experiments at 1-10 atm were compared with 0D simulations, showing good agreement for major species across a wide equivalence-ratio range, demonstrating the reliability of the HP-WSTC. Although methane combustion kinetics are well established, NO predictions still show large discrepancies, even at atmospheric pressure. Sensitivity analyses identify CH-pool reactions, including CH2 + O2 = CH2O + O and CH + CO2 = HCO + CO, as key uncertain reactions. The developed HP-WSTC provides a new platform for fuel kinetic investigations and bridges the gap between reactor and flame facilities for high-temperature kinetic studies under gas-turbine conditions.
Research demonstrates that prospective secondary teachers benefit from connections from their advanced tertiary mathematics courses to secondary teaching practice. Less is known, however, about the instructional factors that prospective secondary teachers themselves see as beneficial to their future teaching. To address this gap, we report prospective secondary teachers’ self-reported benefits—in terms of confidence and value—as well as the features of instructional activity that the teachers attribute to these benefits. We draw on survey responses of 70 prospective secondary teachers enrolled in tertiary mathematics courses for teachers using MODULE(S2) materials in one of four content areas. Participants of this study were part of a larger pool of 192 prospective secondary teachers who completed surveys on their perception of instructional practices used in their tertiary course. Through a cultural-historical activity theory lens, findings suggest that simulations of practice and opportunities for class discussion were key activities and mediating factors reported by participants for the benefits gained from their tertiary courses.
Climate adaptation decisions are often made locally, yet evidence remains limited on how rural residents in inland, natural-resource-dependent regions perceive and respond to multiple climate hazards. This study examines multidimensional perceptions of drought, heat, and wildfire and their association with self-reported adaptation among residents of Nevada's Humboldt River Basin. Using an in-person survey of adults across the Upper, Middle, and Lower sub-basins, we measure perceived changes in hazard magnitude, frequency, timing, and duration; classify adaptation responses into ordered categories; and estimate survey-weighted descriptive models and generalized ordered logit models. Results show that residents generally perceive worsening conditions across all three hazards, particularly greater drought and wildfire magnitude and increased hazard frequency. Perceptions vary spatially, with Lower Basin residents reporting stronger perceived worsening than Middle and Upper Basin residents. Adaptation responses are practical and hazard-specific: wildfire responses emphasize property protection, heat responses emphasize cooling and energy efficiency, and drought responses emphasize water and vegetation management strategies. Generalized ordered logit estimates show that higher perceived climate risk, greater hazard salience, and stronger institutional trust are associated with more intensive adaptation. The findings suggest that locally grounded climate information, trusted institutions, and hazard-specific outreach can support adaptation planning in rural river basins, whereas persistent non-adaptation may reflect capacity constraints that information alone cannot overcome.
Urban green landscapes (UGL) influence human health through a wide range of psychological, physiological, social, and ecological pathways, yet research on this issue remains fragmented across disconnected disciplines. This review consolidates evidence from environmental psychology, public health, landscape architecture, urban ecology, as well as fields such as neuroscience and artificial intelligence to clarify how UGL support physical, mental, and social well-being. Using a four-stage methodological approach including literature search and screening, thematic analysis of 25 years of scholarship, structured multidisciplinary expert discussion, and evidence integration, we identify seven cross-cutting issues that define the emerging domain of Healthy Landscapes. These issues include behavior and mobility, social health and connection, health equity and vulnerable populations, pollution mitigation and ecological pathways, climate and spatial morphology, health-supportive planning and design, and interdisciplinary collaboration. We also highlight how landscape morphology, equity considerations, and interdisciplinary collaboration shape health outcomes. Across these themes, we identify priority directions for research and propose a conceptual framework that integrates exposure, perception, behavior, context, and ecological processes. By advancing a more coherent understanding of how UGL influence health, this review provides a foundation for evidence-based landscape planning and design that can support healthier, more equitable, and climate-resilient cities.
