Author(s): Khaled Touati

Effective brine management remains a major challenge for the desalination industry, particularly as plants encounter increasingly high-salinity waste streams. This study presents a comparative performance assessment of advanced reverse osmosis-based technologies, low-salt-rejection reverse osmosis (LSRRO), high-pressure reverse osmosis (HPRO), osmotically ...

Article GUID: 41389752

Author(s): Plante C; Datta Gupta S; Bandara T; Beland D; Blaser C; Camillo CA; Villa E; Dutton D; Fuller D; Hasselback J; Lix LM; Marouzi A; Muhajarine N; Notten G; Reimer B; Wolfson M; Young M; Concha DY; Neudorf C;

Background: Two decades of research have highlighted persistent income-related health inequities in Canada across municipal, provincial, and national levels. While there is broad consensus among researchers, advocates, and health professionals that social determinants are the primary drivers of h ...

Article GUID: 41313634

Author(s): Bellemare-Pepin A; Jerbi K;

Background: The Biotuner Toolbox is an open-source Python toolbox for biosignals that integrates concepts from neuroscience, music theory, and signal processing. It introduces a harmonic perspective on physiological oscillations by applying musical constructs such as consonance, rhythm, and scale construction. Methods: The core biotuner_object processes ...

Article GUID: 41269470

Author(s): Gao W; Zhang P; Wang H; Yang X; An C;

Microplastics (MPs) have become major contaminants in freshwater ecosystems. While numerous studies have characterized MPs in reservoirs, a comprehensive synthesis focusing on in-reservoir variations and dam-related influences is still lacking. This study investigates the spatial distribution of MPs in reservoir water and sediment based on data synthesize ...

Article GUID: 41215774

Author(s): Wang Z; Tian X; Zhao S; Zhang P; An C;

The increasing demand for lithium-ion batteries has raised concerns about resource scarcity, battery accident risks, and end-of-life battery management. All-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) are emerging as a promising alternative due to their higher energy density and thermal stability. However, the large-scale production of ASSBs necessitates the developmen ...

Article GUID: 41073076

Author(s): Hassanzadeh-Samani S; Pirayesh Z; Motie P; Ghorbanimehr MS; Farzan A; Mohammad-Rahimi H; Behnaz M; Motamedian SR;

Background: Facial soft tissue analysis plays a vital role in orthodontics, orthognathic surgeries, and forensic anthropology. This study aimed to determine a standardized midline to assess the reliability of symmetry analysis in frontal view photographs. Additionally, it evaluated the consistenc ...

Article GUID: 40975629

Author(s): Dehbanipour R; Maleki VTZ; Ghalavand Z;

The heteroresistance phenotype refers to the presence of bacterial subpopulations with reduced antibiotic susceptibility compared with the main population. Mathematical modelling and computer simulations suggest that heteroresistance can lead to negative treatment outcomes and finally, treatment failure. Due to the low frequency and resistance level of re ...

Article GUID: 40949035

Author(s): Zou H; Wang Y; Huang A;

Fine-grained aspect-based sentiment analysis requires language models to identify aspect entities and the corresponding sentiment information in the input text content. Transformer-based pre-trained large language models have demonstrated remarkable performance on various challenging natural language processing tasks. However, large language models face l ...

Article GUID: 40876298

Author(s): Wang Z; Lyu L; Huang G; An C;

The increasing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is widely recognized as a pivotal strategy for mitigating climate change. However, the surge in EV usage brings significant challenges regarding the end-of-life management of lithium-ion batteries, particularly in geographically isolated islands, such as Vancouver Island, Canada. This study addresses the ...

Article GUID: 40795495

Author(s): Corran C; Morin AJS; Hendershot CS; O' Connor RM;

Background: Alcohol use and problems increase during adolescence and peak in early adulthood. Tension reduction theory points to anxiety sensitivity as a risk factor for alcohol misuse, and the theory of planned behavior suggests that injunctive norms (i.e., perceived approval of risky drinking) may be central to this risk trajectory. Methods: This study ...

Article GUID: 40667852

Author(s): Delaire É; Vincent T; Cai Z; Machado A; Hugueville L; Schwartz D; Tadel F; Cassani R; Bherer L; Lina JM; Pélégrini-Issac M; Grova C;

Significance: Understanding the brain's complex functions requires multimodal approaches that combine data from various neuroimaging techniques. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) offers valuable insights into hemodynamic responses, complementing other modalities such as electroenc ...

Article GUID: 40375973