Search Results (256)

Urban mobility plays a vital role in shaping sustainable cities, yet the effectiveness of public transportation is often undermined by poor last-mile connectivity (LMC). In the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi, despite the Delhi Metro Rail serving as a key transit system, limited integration with surrounding areas hinders accessibility, which particularly affects women, elderly adults, and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. This study evaluates LMC performance at two key metro stations, Nehru Place and Botanical Garden, using a mixed-methods approach that includes user surveys, spatial survey, thematic analysis, and infrastructure scoring across five critical pillars: accessibility, safety and comfort, intermodality, service availability, and inclusivity. The findings communicate notable contrasts. Botanical Garden exhibits strong intermodal linkages, pedestrian-friendly design, and supportive signage, while Nehru Place indicates a need for infrastructural improvements, safety advancement and upgrades, and strengthened universal design features. These disparities limit effective metro usage and discourage a shift from private to public transport. The study highlights the importance of user-centered, multimodal solutions and the need for cohesive urban governance to address LMC gaps. By identifying barriers and opportunities for improvement, this research paper contributes to the formulation of more inclusive and sustainable urban transport strategies in Indian metropolitan regions. Full article

Aluminum polyoxocations were introduced into a lamellar zirconium phosphate (α-ZrP) via ion exchange. The Al polyoxocation pillars transformed into Al₂O₃ particles within the interlayer zone after calcination at 673 K. The resulting Al₂O₃-α-ZrP exhibited a large BET surface area and medium-strength acidity. Pt-supported Al₂O₃-α-ZrP was used as a catalyst for hydrocracking squalene and Botryococcus braunii oil in an autoclave batch system. In a one-step squalene hydrocracking process, the yield of jet-fuel-range hydrocarbons was 52.8% on 1 wt.% Pt/Al₂O₃-α-ZrP under 2 MPa H₂ at 623 K for 3 h. A two-step process was designed with the first step at 523 K for 1 h and the second at 623 K for 3 h. During the first step, the squalene was hydrogenated to squalane without cracking, and in the second step, the squalane was hydrocracked. This two-step catalytic process increased the yield of jet-fuel-range hydrocarbons to 65% in squalene hydrocracking. For algae oil hydrocracking, the jet-fuel-range hydrocarbons occupied 66% of the total products in the two-step reaction. Impurities in algae oil, mainly fatty acids, did not affect the yield of jet-fuel-range hydrocarbons because they were deoxygenated into hydrocarbons during the reaction. The activity of Pt/Al₂O₃-α-ZrP remained unchanged after four reuses through simple filtration. Full article

Evaluating and enhancing system resilience is essential to strengthen the regional ability to external shocks and promote the synergistic development of environment, economy and society. Taking the Upper Yellow River (UYR) as an example, this paper constructed a resilience evaluation index system for the environment—economy—society (EES) composite system. A three-dimensional space vector model was built to calculate the resilience development index (RDI) of three subsystems and the composite system from 2009 to 2022. Pathways supporting high resilience levels of the composite system were examined using the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method from a configuration perspective. The results revealed that (1) the RDI of three subsystems and the composite system in the UYR showed an increasing trend; relatively, the environment and economy subsystems were lower, and their RDI fluctuated between 0.01 and 0.06 for most cities. (2) The emergence of high resilience is not absolutely dominated by a single factor, but rather the interaction of multiple factors. To achieve high resilience levels, all the cities must prioritize both environmental protection and economic structure as core strategic pillars. The difference is that eastern cities need to further consider social development and life quality, while western cities need to consider social development, life quality, and social security. Other cities including Lanzhou, Baiyin, Tianshui, and Ordos should focus on social construction and social security. Exploring the interactive relationship between various influencing factors of the resilience of the composite system from a configuration perspective has to some extent promoted the transformation from a single contingency perspective to a holistic and multi-dimensional perspective. These findings provide policy recommendations for achieving sustainable development in the UYR and other ecologically fragile areas around the world. Full article

Digital Entrepreneurial Capability (DEC) is the integrated and learnable capacity that equips individuals, or founding teams, to sense, evaluate, and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities within digitally intermediated, platform-centric markets. The construct synthesises four interlocking elements. First, it requires technical dexterity: mastery of data engineering, AI-driven analytics, low-code development, cloud orchestration, and cybersecurity safeguards. Second, it draws on accumulated human capital—formal education, sector experience, and tacit managerial know-how that ground vision in operational reality. Third, DEC hinges on an opportunity-seeking mindset characterised by cognitive alertness, creative problem framing, a high need for achievement, and autonomous motivation. Finally, it depends on calculated risk tolerance, encompassing the ability to price and mitigate economic, technical, algorithmic, and competitive uncertainties endemic to platform economies. When these pillars operate synergistically, entrepreneurs translate digital affordances into scalable, resilient business models; when one pillar is weak, capability bottlenecks arise and ventures falter. Because each pillar can be intentionally developed through education, deliberate practice, and ecosystem support, DEC serves as a practical roadmap for stakeholders. It now informs scholarship across entrepreneurship, information systems, innovation management, and public-policy disciplines, and guides interventions ranging from curriculum design and accelerator programming to due-diligence heuristics and national digital literacy initiatives. Full article

Background: This article presents an international comparative review of involuntary psychiatric care, Community Treatment Orders (CTOs), and forensic mental health services, with operational implications for Italy. Italy has a community-based model inspired by the “Basaglia Law” (Law No. 180/1978), emphasizing deinstitutionalization and continuity of care. Nevertheless, risk governance gaps persist for high-complexity patients, imposing a disproportionate legal and clinical burden on mental health professionals. This group includes individuals who refuse treatment despite meeting criteria for compulsory admission, patients at elevated risk with substantial management complexity, and offenders with a current or suspected psychiatric disorder. Methods: We conducted a comparative legal and policy review across seven jurisdictions (Italy, England and Wales (UK), France, Germany, Spain, the United States, and Canada) to map frameworks for involuntary treatment, forensic services, CTOs (or equivalents), and community-based risk management. We also extracted procedural safeguards, duration and renewal limits, and interfaces with forensic services. Results: CTOs are available in five of the seven jurisdictions (England and Wales, France, Spain, the United States, and Canada) but are absent in Italy and Germany. We propose a three-pillar framework: (1) enforceable outpatient measures, including CTOs; (2) Forensic Psychiatry Units within Local Health Authorities; and (3) oversight boards with judicial, clinical, and social representatives. These components aim to redistribute responsibility, ensure continuity of care, and provide proportional oversight within a least restrictive, graduated system. Conclusions: When narrowly targeted, time limited, and paired with robust safeguards and service-quality standards, CTOs can support adherence and continuity for patients who repeatedly disengage from care. For Italy, integrating this instrument within the three-pillar framework and under independent oversight could strengthen patient rights and public safety, reduce revolving-door admissions, and improve outcomes. Full article

The conversion of legacy missile engines into space propulsion systems represents a strategic opportunity to accelerate Europe’s access to orbit while advancing sustainability and circular-economy goals. Rather than discarding decommissioned hardware, repurposing missile propulsion can reduce development timelines, retain valuable materials, and leverage proven architectures for new applications. This perspective outlines the potential of the Soviet-era Isayev S2.720 engine as a representative case, drawing on historical precedents of missile-to-launcher conversions worldwide. A three-pillar methodology is proposed to frame such efforts: (i) the adoption of cleaner propellants such as LOX–LCH₄ in place of toxic hypergolics; (ii) remanufacturing and upgrading of key subsystems through additive manufacturing, AI-assisted inspection, and digital twin modelling; and (iii) validation supported by dedicated testing, life-cycle assessment (LCA), and life-cycle costing (LCC). Beyond the technical aspects, the paper discusses retrofit applicability, cost considerations, and the role of standardization in enabling future certification. By positioning the S2.720 as a model, this study highlights the broader strategic value of adapting decommissioned propulsion systems for modern orbital use, providing insight into how Europe might integrate legacy assets into a more sustainable and resilient space transportation framework. Full article

This work aimed to address the severe deformation and uncontrollable instability of surrounding rocks in gob-side roadways of ultra-thick coal seams under intense mining disturbances. Theoretical analysis, numerical simulation, and field practice were used to investigate the reasonable width of deteriorated coal pillars and surrounding rock control technology. The following items were clarified, including the structural characteristics of the overlying strata, the fracture location of main roof, and the stress, failure, and deformation patterns of surrounding rocks based on coal pillar width. In terms of the load-bearing characteristics of coal pillars, the reasonable width of deteriorated coal pillars in roadways was determined. According to the differential deformation characteristics of roadway roof and sides, an adaptive and targeted asymmetric control scheme was proposed for surrounding rocks. Key strata above the ultra-thick coal seam working face formed a structure of low-level cantilever beam and high-level articulated rock beam. The fracture position of the main roof cantilever beam was located 15.4 m from the coal wall of the goaf. When the pillar width reached 8 m during roadway excavation, the internal stress exceeded the original rock stress. The lateral deterioration range of the coal seam extended to 25 m from the coal wall after mining the upper working face. The protective coal pillars within the reasonable width range were all in a fully plastic failure state. The plastic-bearing zone within the deteriorated coal pillar occupied a high proportion when the coal pillar width ranged from 8 to 10 m, demonstrating convenient load-bearing capacity. Considering economic and safety factors, the reasonable width for deteriorated coal pillars was determined to be 8 m. The deformation of roof and side on the coal pillar side of the roadway was greater than that on the solid coal side, showing obvious asymmetric characteristics. A targeted asymmetric support scheme using truss anchor cables was proposed for surrounding rocks. This scheme formed an effective prestress field in the surrounding rocks, enabling enhanced control of severely deformed areas. Field practice has verified the rationality of the designed deteriorated coal pillar width and support system, ensuring safe production in the working face. This provides reference and inspiration for the reasonable width and surrounding rock control technology of deteriorated coal pillars under similar geological conditions. Full article

This study investigates the structural and cyclical determinants of tropical hardwood exports among member countries of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) over the period 1995–2022—a sector historically characterized by persistent value imbalances. The central research issue addresses the enduring asymmetries in the global value chain, shaped by unequal industrial capacities, limited access to environmental certifications, and entrenched North–South trade relations. The study pursues three main objectives: (1) to develop a typology of exporting countries; (2) to estimate heterogeneous trade elasticities; (3) to propose a policy framework that reconciles equity with sustainability. The empirical findings identify four export profiles: (i) raw producers with minimal local processing; (ii) marginal players with weak trade integration; (iii) high-value-added re-export platforms (notably in Asia); (iv) major consumer markets. Trade effects vary across regions. In the short term, imports boost exports (+0.33%), particularly in re-export models seen in Asia, the USA, and the EU, while local production remains limited in Africa due to weak industrial capacity. In the long term, both domestic production and imports have a positive impact (+0.38% and +0.37%), but only countries with strong industrial bases fully benefit. Population size (+1.29%) also reinforces the advantage of large markets like China and India, supported by short-term economic growth elasticity (+1.1%), likely driven by improved logistics or rising demand from importing countries. In response, the policy implications converge around the proposal of a “Fair and Digital Timber Trade Model” (F&DTTT), structured around three pillars: (a) specialized economic zones aligned with SDGs 8, 12, and 15; (b) blockchain-based traceability systems to enhance supply chain transparency; (c) South–South cooperation strategies aimed at commercial, regulatory, and institutional rebalancing, including potential cartelization initiatives among Southern countries. Supported by a robust methodological framework, this study provides a forward-looking pathway for transforming the tropical timber trade into a vector of equity and sustainability. Full article

Water pollution continues to pose a critical global challenge, largely due to the unregulated discharge of industrial, agricultural, and municipal effluents. Among emerging solutions, enzymatic bioremediation stands out as a sustainable and environmentally friendly approach, offering high specificity and efficiency under mild conditions. Nonetheless, the practical application of free enzymes is hindered by their inherent instability, poor reusability, and susceptibility to denaturation. To address these limitations, the immobilization of enzymes onto solid supports, particularly clay minerals, has garnered increasing attention. This review presents a detailed analysis of clay minerals as promising carriers for enzyme immobilization in wastewater treatment. It explores their classification, structural characteristics, and physicochemical properties, highlighting key advantages such as a large surface area, cation exchange capacity, and thermal stability. Functionalization techniques, including acid/base activation, intercalation, grafting, and pillaring, are discussed in terms of improving enzyme compatibility and catalytic performance. Various immobilization methods such as physical adsorption, covalent bonding, entrapment, crosslinking, and intercalation are critically evaluated with regard to enhancing enzyme activity, stability, and recyclability. Recent case studies demonstrate the effective removal of pollutants such as dyes, pharmaceuticals, and heavy metals using enzyme–clay composites. Despite these advances, challenges such as enzyme leaching, mass transfer resistance, and variability in clay composition persist. This review concludes by outlining future prospects, including the development of hybrid and magnetic clay-based systems and their integration into advanced water treatment technologies. Overall, enzyme immobilization on clay minerals represents a promising and scalable approach for the next generation of wastewater bioremediation strategies. Full article

New trends in industry emphasize green and sustainable production on the one hand and personalized or individualized production on the other hand. Introducing new manufacturing technologies and materials to integrate the customer’s specific requirements into the product, while keeping the focus on environmental footprint, becomes a serious challenge. As a result, new production paradigms are developed to keep up with new trends. The most known Industry 4.0 paradigm is oriented towards new technologies and digitalization. Recently, Industry 5.0 appeared as a supplement to the existing Industry 4.0 paradigm, oriented to sustainability and the worker. A multidisciplinary approach is necessary to address these challenges. The Industry 5.0 paradigm’s main pillars—human centricity, resilience, and sustainability—are also pillars of the multidisciplinary approach used in this research. A human-centric approach includes workforce reskilling and acquiring new technologies to ensure that technology serves to enhance human work, while creating a supportive and inclusive work environment and prioritizing employee engagement and wellbeing. Resilience as a second pillar is related to the ability of manufacturing systems and processes to adapt to changing conditions to remain robust and flexible, and sustainability is an important and long-term requirement of this multidisciplinary approach. Based on the research part of the Erasmus+ ExCurS project, particularly research focused on application and training related to digital twins, an advanced concept of organizational sustainability is presented in this paper. The concept of organizational sustainability is realized through the usage of key digital twin technologies aligned with human-centric approaches. A new prototype of a digital twin that optimizes an assembly system based on a developed algorithm and humanoid decision-making is provided as a proof of concept. The human-centric digital twin for industrial application is presented through a case study of personalized products. Full article

This study develops and operationalizes a multi-dimensional framework for sustainable building retrofit that aligns with national 2050 net-zero objectives. First, we conduct a scoping review of international standards (e.g., ISO), sustainability reporting guidelines (GRI G4), and peer-reviewed studies to define an indicator system spanning three pillars—environmental (carbon neutrality, resource circulation, pollution management), social (habitability, durability/safety, regional impact), and economic (direct support, deregulation). Building on this structure, we propose a transparent 0–3 rubric at the sub-indicator level and introduce the Sustainable Building Retrofit Index (SRI) to enable cross-case comparability and over-time monitoring. We then apply the framework to seven countries (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, and South Korea), score their retrofit systems/policies, and synthesize results through radar plots and a composite SRI. The analysis shows broad emphasis on carbon neutrality and habitability but persistent gaps in resource circulation, pollution management, regional impacts, and deregulatory mechanisms. For South Korea, policies remain energy-centric, with relatively limited treatment of resource/pollution issues and place-based social outcomes; economic instruments predominantly favor direct financial support. To address these gaps, we propose (i) life-cycle assessment (LCA)–based reporting that covers greenhouse gas and six additional impact categories for retrofit projects; (ii) a support program requiring community and ecosystem-impact reporting with performance-linked incentives; and (iii) targeted deregulation to reduce uptake barriers. The paper’s novelty lies in translating diffuse sustainability principles into a replicable, quantitative index (SRI) that supports benchmarking, policy revision, and longitudinal tracking across jurisdictions. The framework offers actionable guidance for policymakers and a foundation for future extensions (e.g., additional countries, legal/municipal instruments, refined weights). Full article

In order to enable safe pillarless mining in a deep, thick coal seam with a hard roof, an integrated approach combining presplitting roof blasting and a flexible formwork concrete support system was implemented and evaluated via theoretical analysis, numerical simulation, and field trials. The limit-equilibrium analysis indicated a minimum gob-side coal pillar width of approximately 6 m. A pumpable C40 flexible-formwork concrete was developed, achieving its design compressive strength within 28 days, to serve as a roadside support. Field implementation of the presplitting and composite support effectively controlled roadway deformation: total roof–floor convergence was limited to 340 mm (floor heave accounted for 65%), and support loads remained within safe ranges, with no structural failures observed. These results demonstrate that the proposed gob-side entry retaining technique maintains roadway stability without a coal pillar, offering a practical and economic solution for deep coal mines with hard roofs. Full article

Digital twins represent a transformative innovation for battery energy storage systems (BESS), offering real-time virtual replicas of physical batteries that enable accurate monitoring, predictive analytics, and advanced control strategies. These capabilities promise to significantly enhance system efficiency, reliability, and lifespan. Yet, despite the clear technical potential, large-scale deployment of digital twin-enabled battery systems faces critical governance barriers. This study identifies three major challenges: fragmented standards and lack of interoperability, weak or misaligned market incentives, and insufficient cybersecurity safeguards for interconnected systems. The central contribution of this research is the development of a comprehensive governance framework that aligns these three pillars—standards, market and regulatory incentives, and cybersecurity—into an integrated model. Findings indicate that harmonized standards reduce integration costs and build trust across vendors and operators, while supportive regulatory and market mechanisms can explicitly reward the benefits of digital twins, including improved reliability, extended battery life, and enhanced participation in energy markets. For example, simulation-based evidence suggests that digital twin-guided thermal and operational strategies can extend usable battery capacity by up to five percent, providing both technical and economic benefits. At the same time, embedding robust cybersecurity practices ensures that the adoption of digital twins does not introduce vulnerabilities that could threaten grid stability. Beyond identifying governance gaps, this study proposes an actionable implementation roadmap categorized into short-, medium-, and long-term strategies rather than fixed calendar dates, ensuring adaptability across different jurisdictions. Short-term actions include establishing terminology standards and piloting incentive programs. Medium-term measures involve mandating interoperability protocols and embedding digital twin requirements in market rules, and long-term strategies focus on achieving global harmonization and universal plug-and-play interoperability. International examples from Europe, North America, and Asia–Pacific illustrate how coordinated governance can accelerate adoption while safeguarding energy infrastructure. By combining technical analysis with policy and governance insights, this study advances both the scholarly and practical understanding of digital twin deployment in BESSs. The findings provide policymakers, regulators, industry leaders, and system operators with a clear framework to close governance gaps, maximize the value of digital twins, and enable more secure, reliable, and sustainable integration of energy storage into future power systems. Full article

This article provides an in-depth review of the concepts of interpretability and explainability in machine learning, which are two essential pillars for developing transparent, responsible, and trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) systems. As algorithms become increasingly complex and are deployed in sensitive domains, the need for interpretability has grown. However, the ongoing confusion between interpretability and explainability has hindered the adoption of clear methodological frameworks. To address this conceptual ambiguity, we draw on the formal distinction introduced by Dib, which rigorously separates interpretability from explainability. Based on this foundation, we propose a revised classification of explanatory approaches structured around three complementary axes: intrinsic vs. extrinsic, specific vs. agnostic, and local vs. global. Unlike many existing typologies that are limited to a single dichotomy, our framework provides a unified perspective that facilitates the understanding, comparison, and selection of methods according to their application context. We illustrate these elements through an experiment on the Breast Cancer dataset, where several models are analyzed: some through their intrinsically interpretable characteristics (logistic regression, decision tree) and others using post hoc explainability techniques such as treeinterpreter for random forests. Additionally, the LIME method is applied even to interpretable models to assess the relevance and robustness of the locally generated explanations. This contribution aims to structure the field of explainable AI (XAI) more rigorously, supporting a reasoned, contextualized, and operational use of explanatory methods. Full article

The integration of electric vehicles (EVs) into smart grids (SGs) is reshaping both energy systems and mobility infrastructures. This review presents a comprehensive and cross-disciplinary synthesis of current technologies, methodologies, and challenges associated with EV–SG interaction. Unlike prior reviews that address these aspects in isolation, this work uniquely connects three critical pillars: (i) the evolution of energy storage technologies, including lithium-ion, second-life, and hybrid systems; (ii) optimisation and predictive control techniques using artificial intelligence (AI) for real-time energy management and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) coordination; and (iii) cybersecurity risks and post-quantum solutions required to safeguard increasingly decentralised and data-intensive grid environments. The novelty of this review lies in its integrated perspective, highlighting how emerging innovations, such as federated AI models, blockchain-secured V2G transactions, digital twin simulations, and quantum-safe cryptography, are converging to overcome existing limitations in scalability, resilience, and interoperability. Furthermore, we identify underexplored research gaps, such as standardisation of bidirectional communication protocols, regulatory inertia in V2G market participation, and the lack of unified privacy-preserving data architectures. By mapping current advancements and outlining a strategic research roadmap, this article provides a forward-looking foundation for the development of secure, flexible, and grid-responsive EV ecosystems. The findings support policymakers, engineers, and researchers in advancing the technical and regulatory landscape necessary to scale EV–SG integration within sustainable smart cities. Full article