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Access status: Open Access ,
A radically simple, ingestible colorimetric biosensor pill for cost-effective, non-invasive monitoring of intestinal inflammation
(Elsevier BV, 2025-11) Zhuang, Zile; Huang, Lucia L.; Seo, Bo Chan; Pandey, Subhashini; Karp, Jeffrey M.; Lee, Yuhan; Maikawa, Caitlin L.
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) affect millions worldwide, necessitating frequent monitoring of intestinal inflammation to optimize treatment strategies. However, current fecal calprotectin tests have low patient adherence, limiting their utility for inflammation monitoring. Here, we developed an ingestible biosensor for simplified at-home detection of a key inflammation biomarker—reactive oxygen species (ROS). Our pill for ROS-responsive inflammation monitoring (PRIM) employs an ROS-responsive polymer that selectively degrades in the presence of ROS. Degradation triggers the release of blue dye into feces for a visually detectable readout without fecal sampling or laboratory analysis. In vitro, PRIM remained stable under healthy conditions and activated only at elevated ROS levels (10–50 mM H2O2). In rats with colitis, the miniaturized PRIM demonstrated a sensitivity of 78% and a specificity of 72% in detecting intestinal inflammation. With further optimization, PRIM has the potential to improve accessibility and patient adherence to inflammation monitoring and enhance personalized disease management for IBD.
Access status: Open Access ,
Experimental Study of Airlift Drainage Process in Airlift-Assisted Vacuum Preloading
(Canadian Science Publishing, 2026-02-05) Shi, Li; Wang, Kang; Xu, Qixiong; Lin, Xinbei; Cai, Yuanqiang; Huang, Zhen
A novel soft ground improvement technique termed airlift-assisted vacuum preloading (AAVP) has recently been proposed. This method cyclically injects pressurized air at the bottom of prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) to lift and expel water from the drain core, thereby achieving nearly lossless transmission of vacuum pressure along the PVDs. Large-scale model tests have shown that AAVP provides significantly higher consolidation efficiency than conventional vacuum preloading, yet the key airlift drainage process that governs water removal from the PVDs, along with the influence of operating parameters, is not fully understood. To address this, 237 airlift tests were conducted on a 6 m-long hollow-core panel. A variety of pressure combinations, initial submergence ratios, airlift connector geometries, and PVD bending deformations were considered. The results show that larger pressure differentials greatly reduced drainage duration. Increasing the airlift pressure ratio improved drainage rates by more than 50%, while optimizing the initial submergence ratio enhanced drainage efficiency by about 51.4%. Importantly, bending of PVDs shortened drainage completion time by 30% with only a minor reduction (1.1%) in total drained mass, and optimized connector geometry further increased both drainage mass and rate. The findings clarify the mechanisms underlying airlift-induced drainage and provide valuable insights for parameter optimization and engineering application of AAVP in soft ground improvement.
Access status: Open Access ,
Mechanism of unloading-induced cracking in shield lining and its countermeasures
(Canadian Science Publishing, 2026-01-30) Dai, Zhiren; Zhang, Shasha; Li, Guoliang; Zou, Wei-lie; Jia, Jianwei
In response to extensive cracking and fracture in the segment lining of an underlying shield tunnel subjected to large-scale ground unloading, this paper adopts a real-world shield tunnel project as a case study. The underlying shield tunnel is experiencing overall heaving deformation, characterized by a decrease in its horizontal diameter. The longitudinal joint at the tunnel vault transitions from opening to crushing at the intrados. This paper presents the stress behavior in the tunnel vault, which is characterized by negligible fluctuations in axial force concurrent with a pronounced decrease in bending moment. This indicates that the ground unloading and the increase of tunnel’s vertical diameter constitute the primary causes of the intrados crushing at longitudinal joint of tunnel vault. And the intrados crushing, in conjunction with segment misalignment observed on-site, results in a transition in the interface behavior to a line-to-surface contact. Consequently, the lining stress near the intrados exceeds permissible limits, thereby resulting in subsequent cracking and fracture. The primary threats to the structural safety of segment lining arise from the increased vertical ovalization, the intrados crushing and uneven line-to-surface contact at longitudinal joint of tunnel vault, rather than from the changes in lining stress.
Access status: Open Access ,
Before Judgment: Legal AI and the Structural Limits of Professional Liability
(2026) Huang, Jim Y.
This paper examines the integration of legal AI into professional practice through the lens of professional liability in common law systems. It argues that the emergence of AI does not alter the doctrinal structure of liability, which remains grounded in the standard of reasonable professional judgment, but instead affects the structural conditions under which judgment is recognized. The analysis develops a minimal structural model of decision-making consisting of three sequential stages: admissibility, routing, and readout. Within this framework, a decision qualifies as professional judgment only if it follows a non-reversible and attributable pathway from admissible materials to conclusion. The paper identifies a structural shift introduced by legal AI, in which traditional reasoning processes are compressed into input–output interactions, creating a separation between judgment ownership and output authorship. Rather than focusing on the accuracy of AI-generated outputs, the paper examines the integrity of the decision pathway. It argues that even where AI-assisted conclusions appear substantively correct, they may fail to meet the structural conditions required for recognizing professional judgment if the underlying reasoning process is not traceable and attributable. On this basis, the paper proposes a functional boundary between retrieval and judgment. Legal AI may operate within the domain of information retrieval, organization, and drafting, but must not displace human control over the formation and endorsement of conclusions. The standard of care, accordingly, shifts in emphasis from outcome correctness to the traceability and structural integrity of the reasoning process.
Access status: Open Access ,
From Tax Sovereignty to AI Sovereignty: Pre-Judgment Entry Conditions in AI-Mediated Institutional Systems
(2026) Huang, Jim Y.
This paper develops a structural interpretation of AI sovereignty by tracing its continuity with tax sovereignty. Rather than treating AI governance as a purely technological or regulatory issue, the analysis focuses on the institutional layer that precedes evaluation: the conditions under which information becomes admissible within decision systems. Building on the logic of tax systems—where jurisdiction is established through entry conditions such as residency, permanent establishment, and nexus rules—the paper argues that AI-mediated systems operate through analogous computational entry gates. These gates determine whether data, model outputs, and algorithmic processes can enter institutional workflows. To analyze this shift, the paper introduces an integrated structural framework consisting of the Pre-Judgment Logic Shell (PJLS), the Cabinet-Drawer Model (CDM), the Institutional Tension Field (ITF), and the 4-3-3-2 grammar of tax law. Together, these components describe how governance operates upstream of evaluation, through admissibility, routing, and structural constraint. The central claim is that AI sovereignty does not replace tax sovereignty but extends its institutional logic into computational environments. Control is exercised not primarily over outputs, but over the entry conditions that determine what becomes visible, processable, and actionable within institutional systems.