Search Results (40,831)

The aim of this study was to comprehensively characterize lavender pellets produced from post-distillation residues and evaluate their multifunctional valorization potential. Physicochemical properties, including moisture, ash, heating value, organic matter, total and organic carbon, macro- and micronutrients, potentially toxic heavy metals, polyphenols, microbiological safety, and nutritive composition, were assessed. The pellets demonstrated an energy content comparable to other agricultural residues, with a higher heating value of 18,900 kJ/kg and a lower heating value of 16,603 kJ/kg. High organic matter (87%) and a slightly acidic pH support soil moisture retention, while favorable macronutrient levels enhance their suitability as a soil amendment. Water-based extractions (infusion and decoction) achieved higher yields (15.60–21.66%) than ethanol (13.04%) and more effectively recovered bioactive polyphenols, particularly rosmarinic and chlorogenic acids. Low moisture and water activity ensured storage stability and minimal microbial growth, which was confirmed by microbiological safety tests. Nutritionally, pellets contained moderate protein (9.38%), high cellulose (33.38%), and low fat (2.18%), with total amino acids of 8.91 g/100 g and 36.7% essential amino acids, along with a favorable fatty acid profile rich in polyunsaturated fractions. Overall, these findings highlight lavender pellets as a sustainable resource for energy, soil improvement, bioactive compound recovery, and complementary animal feed within circular economy frameworks. However, future research should focus on investigating whether residual compounds remain in lavender residues that could exert antifeedant or phytotoxic effects. Additionally, the potential for the sequential valorization of lavender residues should be explored, initially through the extraction of bioactive phenols, followed by pellet production for use as fuel or soil amendments. This approach would enable multiple cascading uses and maximize their contribution to comprehensive circular economy strategies. Full article

MXene, as a suitable and alternative 2D nanofiller incorporated into a proton exchange membrane (PEM), has recently received considerable attention because of desired mechanical stability, promising conductivity, and active surface functional groups. However, agglomeration or sedimentation in PEMs, as well as the water retention capacity under low humidity of MXene, are limiting factors in the field of PEMs. In this paper, modified MXene and TiO₂ nanoparticles used as functional nanofillers were incorporated into sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) to prepare novel SPEEK-based composite PEMs. The effects of the nanofiller contents on self-humidifying and protonic conductivity of the composite PEMs were also investigated under different temperatures. When the contents of functionalized MXene and modified TiO₂ are 5 wt.%, proton conductivity, water uptake and methanol permeability of the composite PEMs can be up to 0.143 S/cm, 60% and 2.27 × 10⁻⁷ cm²/s, respectively, which represent increases of about 192%, about 38% and a decrease of 47%, respectively, compared with that of primary SPEEK PEM. Under the synergistic action of functionalized MXene providing a higher number of exchangeable proton sites, modified TiO₂ with inherent hydrophilicity enhancing water retention and Pt providing catalytic sites for the H₂/O₂ reaction to generate water in situ, the self-humidifying capability and proton conductivity of the composite PEMs were improved significantly. Full article

This article addresses a current point of contention in the field of single-molecule/single-particle tracking, as well as the relevant literature, and supplements it with some published cell-based experiments to illustrate our conclusions and known theorems. We attempt to explain the controversy surrounding the differing biophysical and cell biological results of studies on the individual molecule and those “at the single-molecule level” as well as at the level of many molecules in such a way that even readers who are unfamiliar with the subject can understand it without having to read all the mathematical, physical, and biophysical references. Given this abundance of studies in the literature, it is obvious that genuine single-molecule studies are urgently needed, i.e., single-molecule studies that focus on increasing the sensitivity of the temporal resolution of single-molecule measurements and not just on spatial resolution. Full article

Utilizing lignin from agricultural wastes as a partial replacement for asphalt binder used in pavement presents a sustainable option, as it is abundant in nature. The effects of the addition of lignin on the properties and performance of asphalt binder and asphalt mixes were studied. Lignin was produced from rice husks, using a hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) treatment process. The rice husk-derived lignin was then mixed with a PG 67-22 binder at 0%, 5% and 10% of the mass of the total binder. The HTC treatment of rice husks at 250 °C created a powdery substance with an increased acid-insoluble lignin content and a reduced cellulose and hemicellulose content. The addition of 10% lignin was found to produce an unstable modified binder due to phase separation between the lignin and binder, thus requiring continuous stirring before use. Asphalt mixes prepared with 5% lignin exhibited better moisture-induced damage resistance compared to the control mix. Also, an improved rutting resistance of asphalt mixes was observed with the use of a lignin-modified binder. Lignin from rice husks may constitute a sustainable partial substitute for a crude-oil-based binder. Full article

Biopolymer-based packaging films possess outstanding performances and are being developed as the alternatives to traditional petroleum-based plastic packaging films with many non-ignorable shortcomings. In this study, chitosan, succinylated pullulan (SP), and berberine (BBR) were combined to fabricate novel biopolymer-based composite films (CSSPB) via the layer-by-layer assembly method. The effects of the incorporation of BBR on the physicochemical properties of the film were investigated. It was found that after BBR was added, the tensile strength (TS), elongation at break (EAB), hydrophobicity, and antioxidant capacities of the film were enhanced. The chemical bonding, crystalline properties, elemental composition, and thermal stability of the films were also characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively. The in vitro antifungal tests revealed the antifungal activities of the films with a relatively high BBR content against Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (CG). In the preservation experiments, the CSSPB films exhibited preservation effects on fresh-cut apples, which manifested as delaying browning, weight loss, an increase in the soluble solids content, and a decrease in hardness. The new CSSPB composite films were opined to hold application potential in the field of food packaging. Full article

Background: B7-H3, a type I transmembrane glycoprotein belonging to the B7 superfamily, is an attractive target for antitumor therapies. B7-H3 demonstrates aberrant overexpression in various types of solid tumors while showing limited and low expression in normal human organs. Various types of treatment targeting B7-H3 have been reported. Among these treatments, antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) have shown potent activity, and several clinical trials, including DS7300a and MGC018, are currently ongoing. Methods: Here, we constructed CD276-8 ADC, composed of the anti-B7-H3 antibody CD276-8 with moderate affinity, an enzymatically cleavable tetra-peptide-based linker and DXd. Characteristics, including in vitro binding affinity and internalization activity, were assessed by bio-layer interferometry (BLI), flow cytometry and high content analysis (HCA). The cytotoxicity of CD276-8 ADC was evaluated in cell lines expressing B7-H3. Pharmacokinetic profiles and antitumor activity were evaluated in mouse models in vivo. Finally, the developability of CD276-8 ADC was assessed with plasma stability, accelerated stability and freeze–thaw studies using LC-MS and HPLC. Results: Characterization in vitro demonstrated the moderate affinity and acceptable internalization activity of CD276-8 ADC. In addition, CD276-8 ADC exhibited potent antitumor activities in B7-H3-positive cell line-derived xenograft (CDX) models with acceptable pharmacokinetic profiles, although it showed less potent cytotoxicity in various cell lines in vitro, indicating acceptable developability. Conclusions: We developed CD276-8 ADC, a B7-H3-targeting ADC with moderate affinity, which delivers the TOP1 inhibitor DXd. This design combined moderate affinity and acceptable pharmacokinetics, resulting in potent antitumor efficacy in vivo. Our study suggests that affinity optimization could be a useful consideration for enhancing ADC efficacy, positioning CD276-8 ADC as a promising therapeutic for B7-H3-expressing solid tumors. Full article

We investigate whether an ontology-typed knowledge graph (KG) can improve SOAP note generation from clinician–patient encounter transcripts by serving as a structured intermediate representation that organizes clinically salient content while preserving provenance. We introduce Knowledge graph Ontology Supported Medical Output System (KOSMOS), which extracts typed clinical entities with attributes and relationships, grounds entities to UMLS concepts and a schema, and retains links to supporting transcript turns. The resulting graph is provided as context for large language model (LLM)-based SOAP generation either alone (KG-only) or combined with the original transcript (Transcript + Nodes, Transcript + KG). We evaluate these conditions against DocLens and Ambient Clinical Intelligence Benchmark (ACI-BENCH) baselines on their benchmark, claim, and citation analyses. Across all three test sets, transcript-inclusive KOSMOS variants achieve the highest raw scores, numerically exceeding the transcript-only baselines. Claim-level evaluation shows modest, non-significant recall gains for Transcript + Nodes and low hallucination under transcript-conditioned GPT-5.2, while citation analysis shows about a 3% accuracy gain for KOSMOS (Transcript + KG) over DocLens GPT-5.2. Overall, ontology-guided KG structure appears most beneficial as a complementary scaffold paired with transcript access, while relationships provide limited additional benefit under current extraction quality. Full article

This mixed-methods study explores the views and experiences of 55 English-language teacher candidates in Chile who designed gamified project-based lessons aimed at fostering inclusive learning and social justice in culturally diverse classrooms. Data were collected through lesson plans, semi-structured interviews, and a Likert-scale survey, and were analysed using inductive content analysis and descriptive statistics. The findings reveal that participants valued gamification for enhancing student engagement, collaboration, and critical thinking, and they perceived gains in their ability to integrate social justice themes into language teaching. However, discrepancies emerged when participants had to plan lessons that had a social justice orientation because they perceived they did not have enough competence to approach equity-oriented themes. This study adopts a justice lens that foregrounds power, agency, and digital equity in teacher candidates’ lesson-planning skills to examine how they can redistribute voice, recognise situated knowledges, and expand their capacity to act within and against structural constraints. The study underscores the need for teacher education programmes to move beyond technical and motivational uses of gamification and digital tools. From their lesson plans, teacher candidates were not simply adopting digital tools at a technical level but seem to be designing an integrated pedagogical ecosystem that aligned gamification and project-based learning. However, it is inconclusive whether they are able to design gamified PBL environments that do not reproduce existing social and educational inequalities and ensure that access and participation are carefully scaffolded. Full article

Recent studies have shown that a new family of Ni-based superalloys with high Ta and high Hf contents exhibits a promising property profile and may be able to fill the gap between creep-resistant alloys and those processable by PBF-LB/M. The effect of simultaneously high Ta and Hf contents on oxidation resistance has not yet been investigated and is addressed qualitatively in this study. Isothermal oxidation tests were conducted in air at 950 °C for 100 h, 300 h, and 500 h. After cooling, the weight change and cross-sections of the specimens were examined. The study shows that the Hf-free alloy exhibits severe spallation of the Al-oxide and Cr-/Ni-oxide layer. The Hf-containing alloys exhibit improved oxide layer adhesion and a promoted formation of a continuous Al-oxide layer, which is attributed to the early formation of Hf-oxide particles. Furthermore, the addition of Hf influences the morphology of internally oxidized Al, which grows preferentially parallel to the surface rather than perpendicular to it. This behavior leads to effective protection of the alloys by an Al-oxide layer, either external or internal, which is remarkable considering the moderate Al content of only 3 wt.%. Full article

Pinoresinol diglucoside (PDG), one of the major lignans isolated from E. ulmoides Oliver bark, has various pharmacological functions, including antihypertension and prevention of osteoporosis. However, the glycosyltransferase-encoding gene (GT) involved in regulating the glycosylation of pinoresinol to form PDG has not been reported in E. ulmoides. In this study, we screened and cloned the EuGT8 gene from E. ulmoides based on our transcriptome data. The expression pattern of the EuGT8 gene exhibited a strong positive correlation with dynamic changes in the PDG contents in three different organs of E. ulmoides. The expression level of the EuGT8 gene and PDG content were significantly decreased in asODN-EuGT8-treated shoot tips in comparison with the control group. Prokaryotic expression of the EuGT8 gene revealed that the purified EuGT8 protein could catalyze the conversion of pinoresinol into PDG. In addition, we performed transcriptional and metabolomic analyses to compare the differences between transgenic Arabidopsis and WT plants. A total of 1799 DEGs and 294 DEMs were identified in transgenic and WT plants. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the DEGs were mainly enriched in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, secondary metabolite biosynthesis, and starch/sucrose metabolism pathways. The DEMs were mainly enriched in ABC transporters, aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, biosynthesis of amino acids, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and flavone and flavonol biosynthesis pathways. Correlation analysis between DEGs and DEMs identified a total of 231 DEGs associated with 38 DEMs, which were mainly distributed in multiple metabolic pathways. This finding provides both theoretical insights and genetic resources for breeding high-PDG E. ulmoides varieties, facilitating marker-assisted selection (MAS) and promoting sustainable E. ulmoides production in Guizhou. Full article

This study systematically investigated the influence of molecular weight (MW) and protein content (PC) on the interfacial behavior and foaming properties of soluble soybean polysaccharide (SSPS), aiming to elucidate the structure–function relationship for the targeted design of SSPS-based foam stabilizers. The results demonstrated that the low-MW group, particularly the LH sample (low MW, high PC), exhibited the highest foam expansion (FE = 272.5%), attributed to its smallest particle size, lowest zeta potential, and minimal surface tension, which facilitated rapid adsorption at the interface. Interfacial rheology revealed that all SSPS samples formed an elastic-dominated interfacial film (G′ > G″). The HM sample (high MW, moderate PC) showed the most rapid increase in G′ and the highest mechanical strength, while the LH sample (low MW, high PC) exhibited the strongest elastic response within the low-MW group, which contributed to its relatively high foam stability (FS = 69.9%). The interfacial viscoelasticity and foaming performance of SSPS are synergistically governed by its MW and PC. Low MW facilitates rapid adsorption and superior foam expansion, while high PC enhances interfacial film elasticity. Moreover, the long-term stability of foam depends not only on reduced interfacial tension but more critically on the mechanical strength and viscoelasticity of the interfacial film. These findings provide a crucial theoretical basis for optimizing SSPS applications in aerated foods. Full article

Polymer-modified bituminous binders are widely used in road construction due to their enhanced mechanical performance; however, the effectiveness of these materials critically depends on the actual concentration of polymer modifiers, particularly styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS). This study aims to develop and validate a rapid, reproducible Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy—Attenuated Total Reflectance (FTIR-ATR) spectroscopy method for the quantitative determination of SBS content in polymer-modified bitumen (PMB). Since, to date, there is no clearly defined method for controlling the quantitative content of polymers in PMB, this creates difficulties in accepting the roadway into operation. Calibration PMB samples containing 1–4% SBS were prepared, tested for physical and mechanical properties, and analyzed spectroscopically to identify characteristic absorption bands at 966 cm⁻¹ and 699–760 cm⁻¹. A first-order calibration model was constructed to relate peak intensity to polymer concentration. The results demonstrate a clear linear correlation between SBS content and IR absorption features, confirming the suitability of FTIR as an instrumental method for routine laboratory control. Application of the model allowed determination of actual polymer mass fraction with high accuracy and reproducibility. The findings also showed that increased SBS levels improve softening point, elasticity, and low-temperature resistance, with 3–4% representing a performance-optimal range. Overall, the proposed FTIR-based approach provides an objective and efficient tool for quality control of polymer-modified binders and supports broader standardization efforts in the field. Full article

This study investigates how participants conceptualise sustainability and sustainability citizenship, as well as how these conceptualisations relate to perceived agency. Drawing on two open-ended prompts, it analyses participants’ visions of a sustainable future and the roles they would like to play within it. The dataset was based on 1714 coded response segments from 164 participants. Methodologically, the study combines qualitative content analysis, independent human-AI double coding, manual validation, inter-rater reliability assessment, and residual-based co-occurrence analysis within a qualitatively grounded mixed-methods design. The results show that sustainability is predominantly framed in civic, symbolic, and ecological terms, whereas strategic competence and professionally articulated agency remain less visible. Sustainability meanings and role conceptions also vary systematically across disciplinary contexts. In addition, the analyses reveal patterned gaps between participants’ future visions and their self-attributed roles in sustainability transformations. The study contributes empirical insights into sustainability meaning-making and perceived agency and shows how LLM-assisted coding can be embedded in a transparent mixed-methods workflow. For sustainability education, the findings underline the importance of strengthening strategic and systemic dimensions of competence and linking civic engagement more closely to professional pathways of action. Full article

Parasitic infections constitute a common concern for livestock breeders, since they induce animals with various physiological, behavioral, and neurological alterations. Consequently, they negatively affect their health, productivity, and welfare, leading to reduced productivity and increased mortality, and causing severe economic losses to livestock breeders. In the context of recent interest in the development of functional animal feeds and/or feed supplements with potent antiparasitic activity, we exploited the chemical contents and bioactivities of 21 wild and cultivated Fabaceae plant species against Haemonchus contortus and Trichostrongylus colubriformis, two widely prevalent gastrointestinal nematode parasites of small ruminants. The respective results revealed that four wildly grown plants exhibit potent antiparasitic activity, with Lathyrus laxiflorus exerting the most significant protective effect against both parasites tested. This plant was also found to display the highest antioxidant potency and the richest phenolic and tannin contents, with rutin molecules being the most abundant. Moreover, the extracts of 11 cultivated species were found to display potent antiparasitic activity, while Trifolium repens, Medicago sativa, and Lathyrus sativus species were determined to provide higher extraction yields and display the most potent antiparasitic activities. Results herein are indicative of Fabaceae plants’ potential to act against parasitic infections, either as grazing plants in pasture-based systems, or as bioactive dietary supplements in intensive farming systems, eventually contributing to reductions in antiparasitic drug utilization. Full article

Duplex stainless steel is widely used in nuclear power, the chemical industry, coastal infrastructure, and other fields due to its excellent mechanical properties, physical properties, and corrosion resistance. This paper focuses on the narrow-gap groove laser welding with wire filling conducted on 25 mm S32101 duplex stainless steel. It analyzes the microstructural features of various regions within the welded joint and evaluates its mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. Research indicates that the thermal cycle effect during multi-layer and multi-pass welding significantly affects the microstructure and properties of the joint. Austenite in the weld seam area mainly precipitates along the dendrite boundaries; in the overlap area of the weld beads, due to the secondary thermal cycle effect, the austenite content significantly increases to 56.2%, and the grain size is refined; in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) near the seam, austenite appears in stripes, and its content decreases to 39.4%. Mechanical property tests reveal that the welded joint exhibits an average tensile strength of 705 MPa, surpassing that of the base material. The corrosion resistance of the weld zone closely mirrors that of the base material, yet the corrosion resistance of the heat-affected zone (HAZ) is diminished due to the reduction in austenite content and the potential precipitation of harmful phases. Full article