Search Results (12,125)

This work evaluates the CO₂-adsorption relevance and cycling stability of graphene oxide–silica (GO-SiO₂) and reduced graphene oxide–silica (rGO-SiO₂) gels after amine functionalization, demonstrating high-capacity retention under repeated adsorption–desorption cycles: rGO-SiO₂-APTMS retains ≈96.3% of its initial uptake after 50 cycles, while GO-SiO₂-APTMS retains ≈90.0%. The use of surfactants to control the organization of inorganic and organic molecules has enabled the development of ordered mesostructures, such as mesoporous silica and organic/inorganic nanocomposites. Owing to the outstanding properties of graphene and its derivatives, synthesizing mesostructures intercalated between graphene sheets offers nanocomposites with novel morphologies and enhanced functionalities. In this study, GO-SiO₂ and rGO-SiO₂ gels were synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TG), mass spectrometry (MS), N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherms, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The resulting materials exhibit a laminar architecture, with mesoporous silica domains grown between graphene-based layers; the silica contents are 83.6% and 87.6%, and the specific surface areas reach 446 and 710 m²·g⁻¹, respectively. The laminar architecture is retained regardless of the surfactant-removal route; however, in GO-SiO₂ obtained by solvent extraction, a fraction of the surfactant remains partially trapped. Together with their high surface area, hierarchical porosity, and amenability to surface functionalization, these features establish amine-grafted graphene–silica gels, particularly rGO-SiO₂-APTMS, as promising CO₂-capture adsorbents. Full article

This study aims to analyse the effect of partially clogged inlets on the behaviour of urban drainage systems at the city scale, particularly regarding intercepted volumes and flood depths. The main challenges were to represent the inlet network in detail at a rather large scale and to avoid the effect of sewer network surcharging on the draining capacity of inlets. This goal has been achieved through a 1D/2D coupled hydraulic model of the whole urban drainage system in La Almunia de Doña Godina (Zaragoza, Spain). The model focuses on the interaction between grated drain inlets and the sewer network under partial clogging conditions. The model is fed with data obtained on field surveys. These surveys identified 948 inlets, classified into 43 types based on geometry and grouped into 7 categories for modelling purposes. Clogging patterns were derived from field observations or estimated using progressive clogging trends. The hydrological model combines a semi-distributed approach for micro-catchments (buildings and courtyards) and a distributed “rain-on-grid” approach for public spaces (streets, squares). The model assesses the impact of inlet clogging on network performance and surface flooding during four rainfall scenarios. Results include inlet interception volumes, flooded surface areas, and flow hydrographs intercepted by single inlets. Specifically, the reduction in intercepted volume ranged from approximately 7% under a mild inlet clogging condition to nearly 50% under severe clogging conditions. Also, the model results show the significant influence of the 2D mesh detail on flood depths. For instance, a mesh with high resolution and break lines representing streets curbs showed a 38% increase in urban areas with flood depths above 1 cm compared to a scenario with a lower-resolution 2D mesh and no curbs. The findings highlight how inlet clogging significantly affects the efficiency of urban drainage systems and increases the surface flood hazard. Further novelties of this work are the extent of the analysis (city scale) and the approach to improve the 2D mesh to assess flood depth. Full article

Predictive maintenance strategies in wind turbine operations have risen in popularity with the growth of renewable electricity demand. The capacity of the strategy to predict system health, especially for the wind turbine gearboxes, is critical in reducing wind turbine operation and maintenance cost. Driven by the emergence of the application of large language models (LLMs) in diverse domains, this work explores the potential of LLMs in the development of wind turbine gearbox prognosis. A comparative analysis is designed to investigate the capability of two state-of-the-art LLMs—GPT-4o and DeepSeek-V3—in proposing machine learning (ML) pipelines to classify gearbox conditions based on a labelled SCADA dataset. The LLMs were prompted with the context of the task and detailed information about the SCADA dataset investigated. The outputs generated by the LLMs were evaluated in terms of pipeline quality and prediction performance using the confusion metric. Baseline ML models were developed and fine-tuned as benchmarks using Python 3.12 libraries. Among the baseline models, the random forest and XGBoost models achieved the highest cross-validated average F1-scores. The results have shown that the ML pipeline proposed by DeepSeek-V3 was significantly better than both GPT-4o and baseline models in terms of data analytical scope and prediction accuracy. Full article

Field workers require expeditious and pertinent access to information to execute their duties, frequently in arduous environments. Conventional document search interfaces are ill-suited to these contexts, while fully automated approaches often lack the capacity to adapt to the variability of situations. This article explores a hybrid approach based on the use of specialized small language models (SLMs), combining natural language interaction, context awareness (static and dynamic), and structured command generation. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the feasibility of providing contextualized assistance for mobile agents using an intelligent conversational agent, while ensuring that reasonable resource consumption is maintained. The present case study pertains to the supervision of illumination systems on a university campus by technical agents. The static and the dynamic contexts are integrated into the user command to generate a prompt that queries a previously fine-tuned SLM. The methodology employed, the construction of five datasets for the purposes of evaluation, and the refinement of selected SLMs are presented herein. The findings indicate that models of smaller scale demonstrate the capacity to comprehend natural language queries and generate responses that can be effectively utilized by a tangible system. This work opens prospects for intelligent, resource-efficient, and contextualized assistance in industrial or constrained environments. Full article

Amphibian populations have experienced a severe decline over the past 40 years, driven primarily by environmental pollution, habitat destruction, climate change, and disease. This work reports, for the first time, saprolegniosis in Pelophylax perezi egg masses and saprolegniosis in amphibians in Portugal. After isolation and phylogenetic analysis, the pathogen was identified as Saprolegnia australis. Following this, the present work intended to screen a collection of P. perezi skin bacteria for the existence of bacterial strains with inhibitory action against the newly identified S. australis SC1 and two other species, Saprolegnia diclina SAP 1010 UE and Saprolegnia australis SAP 1581 UE. The results showed that various bacterial species could inhibit the growth of these three species of oomycetes. Bacteria with the most significant antagonistic action against Saprolegnia spp. predominantly belonged to the genus Bacillus, followed by Serratia, Pseudomonas, and Aeromonas. Despite variations in bacterial diversity among frog populations, the present study also demonstrated the presence of bacteria on frogs’ skin that were capable of inhibiting Saprolegnia spp., as evidenced by in vitro challenge assays. These findings highlight the protective function of bacteria present in amphibian skin. The observed bacterial diversity may contribute to the metabolic redundancy of the frog skin microbiome, helping to maintain its functional capacity despite shifts in the community composition. Additionally, the study found that, when providing a more advantageous environment for pathogen growth—in this case a peptone–glucose (PG) medium instead of R2A—the percentage of bacteria with moderate-to-strong antagonistic activity dropped by 13% to 4%. In conclusion, the presence of bacteria capable of inhibiting Saprolegnia spp. in adult individuals and across different environmental conditions may contribute to lowering the susceptibility of frog adults towards Saprolegnia spp., compared with that in the early stages of development, like the tadpole or egg stages. Full article

Prolonged exposure to landfill leachate can weaken the impermeability of liner systems, leading to leachate leakage and the contamination of surrounding soil and water. To improve loess impermeability to enable its use as a liner material, this study uses synthetic landfill leachate to investigate its effects on loess permeability via a series of laboratory tests. This study focused on the influence of varying dosages of calcium lignosulfonate (CLS) on loess permeability, along with its capacity to adsorb and immobilize heavy metal ions. Microscale characterization techniques, including Zeta potential analysis, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), were employed to investigate the impermeability mechanisms of CLS-modified loess and its adsorption behavior toward heavy metals. The results indicate that the permeability coefficient of loess decreases significantly with increasing compaction, while higher leachate concentrations lead to a notable increase in permeability. At a compaction degree of 0.90, the permeability coefficient was reduced to 8 × 10⁻⁸ cm/s. In contrast, under conditions of maximum leachate concentration, the permeability coefficient rose markedly to 1.5 × 10⁻⁴ cm/s. Additionally, increasing the dosage of the compacted loess stabilizer (CLS) effectively reduced the permeability coefficient of the modified loess to 7.1 × 10⁻⁵ cm/s, indicating improved impermeability and enhanced resistance to contaminant migration. With the prolonged infiltration time of landfill leachate, the removal efficiency of Pb²⁺ gradually decreases and stabilizes, while the Pb²⁺ removal efficiency of the modified loess increased by approximately 40%. CLS-modified loess, through multiple mechanisms, reduces the fluid flow pathways and enhances its adsorption capacity for Pb²⁺, thereby improving the soil’s protection against heavy metal contamination. While these results demonstrate the potential of CLS-modified loess as a sustainable landfill liner material, the findings are based on controlled laboratory conditions with Pb²⁺ as the sole target contaminant. Future work should evaluate long-term performance under field conditions, including seasonal wetting–drying and freeze–thaw cycles, and investigate multi-metal systems to validate the broader applicability of this modification technique. Full article

The global community remains significantly off track in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), prompting calls for not only stronger political commitments but also more effective and credible expert guidance. This paper contributes to this discourse by examining a critical form of global environmental expertise: the conduct of global environmental assessments. Such expertise has become a foundational component of the institutional architecture underpinning global sustainability governance. Focusing on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), one of the most prominent and widely recognized international expert bodies, this study examines the challenges that researchers face when synthesizing research findings and making them policy-relevant within the IPCC’s assessment work. The empirical material consists of an interview study (N = 18) conducted with experts involved in the IPCC, from its first assessment (1990) to the most recent one (2023). The data were analyzed thematically using NVivo. The analysis reveals four key internal challenges that the IPCC must address to enhance its advisory capacity: epistemic hierarchies, leadership and management dynamics, the complexities of formulating recommendations, and inequities in recognition and reward systems. By identifying and analyzing these challenges, the paper contributes to ongoing discussions about the IPCC’s future development and offers broader insights into the evolving role of scientific expertise in global environmental governance. Full article

This work develops a novel phosphate-functionalized extraction resin (HEHEHP + Cyanex272)/SiO₂-P via the vacuum impregnation method for efficient separation of light rare earth element impurities from lanthanum (La³⁺) in nitric medium through synergistic extraction. Batch experiments have demonstrated superior adsorption selectivity toward impurity ions over La³⁺ in a pH 4 nitric acid solution. Column studies confirmed exceptional performance under ambient conditions, achieving a lanthanum treatment capacity of 120.6 mg/g and over 98% impurity removal, which surpasses most reported values. Notably, this purification process enables direct production of purified La³⁺ solutions through a single-column system without desorption, significantly enhancing efficiency and reducing costs. Mechanistic insights revealed combined ion exchange and coordination interactions between metal ions and P-OH/P=O groups, corroborated by advanced characterization and density functional theory calculations. These findings indicate a higher binding affinity of light rare earth compared with La³⁺. This strategy provides a scalable approach for ultra-high-purity lanthanum compound production in advanced optical and electronic applications. Full article

With the rapid expansion of global maritime transportation, infrared ship detection has become increasingly critical for ensuring navigational safety, enhancing maritime monitoring, and supporting environmental protection. To address the limitations of conventional methods in handling small-scale targets and complex background interference, in this paper, we propose an improved approach by embedding the convolutional block attention module (CBAM) into different components of the YOLOv5 architecture. Specifically, three enhanced models are constructed: the YOLOv5n-H (CBAM embedded in the head), the YOLOv5n-N (CBAM embedded in the neck), and the YOLOv5n-HN (CBAM embedded in both the neck and head). The comprehensive experiments are conducted on a publicly available infrared ship dataset to evaluate the impact of attention placement on detection performance. The results demonstrate that the YOLOv5n-HN achieves the best overall performance, attaining the mAP@0.5 of $86.83\%$, significantly improving the detection of medium- and large-scale maritime targets. The YOLOv5n-N exhibits superior performance for small-scale target detection. Furthermore, the incorporation of the attention mechanism substantially enhances the model’s robustness against background clutter and its discriminative capacity. This work offers practical guidance for the development of lightweight and robust infrared ship detection models. Full article

Caffeic acid (CA), a plant-derived phenolic compound, is emerging as a promising natural feed additive for sustainable aquaculture. Its growth-promoting, immunomodulatory, and antimicrobial activities suggest utility as an alternative that diminishes antibiotic use in fish farming. Evidence across multiple species indicates improvements in innate immune responses, enhanced antioxidant capacity, and increased survival during pathogen challenge. Nevertheless, adoption remains limited by unresolved questions regarding optimal inclusion levels, species-specific physiological responses, interactions with other dietary components, and effects on the gut microbiota. This review synthesizes current research on CA, critically evaluates its functional roles in aquaculture, and assesses its relevance to sustainable production. Priorities for future work include elucidating mechanisms of action, conducting cross-species dose–response studies, standardizing dosing protocols, clarifying microbiome effects, and evaluating economic feasibility for large-scale use. Addressing these gaps will be essential to realize the full potential of CA as a functional feed additive in sustainable aquaculture systems. Full article

The construction of buildings using shipping containers (SCs) is a way to extend their useful life. They are constructed by modifying the structure, thermal, and acoustic conditioning by improving the envelope and creating openings for lighting and ventilation purposes. This study explores the architectural adaptation of SCs to sustainable residential housing, focusing on structural, thermal, and acoustic performance. The project centers on a case study in Madrid, Spain, transforming four containers into a semi-detached, multilevel dwelling. The design emphasizes modular coordination, spatial flexibility, and structural reinforcement. The retrofit process includes the integration of thermal insulation systems in the ventilated façades and sandwich roof panels to counteract steel’s high thermal conductivity, enhancing energy efficiency. The acoustic performance of the container-based dwelling was assessed through in situ measurements of façade airborne sound insulation and floor impact noisedemonstrating compliance with building code requirements by means of laminated glazing, sealed joints, and floating floors. This represents a novel contribution, given the scarcity of experimental acoustic data for residential buildings made from shipping containers. Results confirm that despite the structure’s low surface mass, appropriate design strategies can achieve the required sound insulation levels, supporting the viability of this lightweight modular construction system. Structural calculations verify the building’s load-bearing capacity post-modification. Overall, the findings support container architecture as a viable and eco-efficient alternative to conventional construction, while highlighting critical design considerations such as thermal performance, sound attenuation, and load redistribution. The results offer valuable data for designers working with container-based systems and contribute to a strategic methodology for the sustainable refurbishment of modular housing. Full article

Sea–rail intermodal transport offers high efficiency and environmental benefits, yet its development in China remains limited. Existing studies have mainly assessed the macro-level benefits of sea–rail intermodal transport policies, but rigorous evidence on whether incentive policies work and how their effects differ across policy types remains scarce, which limits evidence-based policy design and efficient allocation between subsidies and capacity expansion. To address this gap, a dual-policy identification framework was established that combines a multi-period difference-in-differences model with event study analysis and used station–month data from China to assess the independent effects, underlying mechanisms, and spatiotemporal heterogeneity of railway freight price subsidies and freight train expansion on container throughput. The results indicate that both policies significantly increased container throughput. Railway freight price subsidies exhibited stronger and more persistent effects with a certain lag, whereas freight train expansion produced rapid but short-lived responses. The impacts of both policies were more pronounced in short-distance transport, but weakened or even turned negative over longer distances. Moreover, the number of participating entities served as a key mediating pathway, while information sharing positively moderates policy impacts. This study makes theoretical contributions to the identification of heterogeneity, mechanism analysis, and spatiotemporal characterization of SRIT incentive policy effects, while offering refined and actionable guidance for SRIT policy optimization. Full article

Polymer binders are crucial components in providing both mechanical support and chemical stability to the structure of porous Li-ion electrodes. Particularly in silicon anodes, the active material undergoes substantial volume expansion of up to 275%. Due to the mechanical constraint of the current collector, these silicon materials tend to expand in the normal direction while exhibiting substantial particle rearrangement and plastic deformation. Conventional rigid binders such as polyacrylic acid (PAA) and polyimide (PI), while providing satisfactory initial capacity, do not eliminate diminished long-term performance. Our research attempts to develop binder formulations that can accommodate sufficient flexibility for the substantial volume changes of silicon particles. Specifically, we explore the use of short-chain polymer binders and a strategic blend of binders with different molecular weights. Experiments have demonstrated that cells combining both long- and short-chain PAA binders delivered an initial capacity of 2200 mAh/g at a 0.1C rate, compared to 1700 mAh/g for pristine PAA cells. Initial work indicated that shorter polymer chains might compromise the adhesion to the current collector, so we developed a multilayer anode (MLA) structure to mitigate this issue. Nevertheless, at this early stage of development, there was no observed increase in cycling performance for the MLA electrodes. Full article

This study presents a plant-fabricated nanoparticle system of zirconia (ZrO₂) using Sonchus asper plant extract, compared with conventionally synthesized ZrO_2, for their efficacy in Cr(VI) removal from aqueous solutions. The nanoparticles were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) for elemental composition, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis. The plant-fabricated ZrO₂ exhibited mesoporosity and enhanced surface functionality, attributed to bioactive compounds from Sonchus asper, which improved adsorption performance via increased surface area and residual organic functional groups. Batch adsorption experiments showed that Cr(VI) removal was optimized at 100 mg/L Cr(VI), 300 mg/L adsorbent dosage, pH 5, and 30 min reaction time at 25 °C. Adsorption followed the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetics models. According to Langmuir model fitting, the maximum adsorption capacity (qmax) reached 142.24 mg/g for PF-ZrO₂ NPs and 133.11 mg/g for conventional ZrO₂ NPs, indicating the superior adsorption performance of the green-synthesized material. This work highlights the sustainable potential of plant-fabricated ZrO₂ nanoparticles as cost-effective and environmentally friendly nano-adsorbents for heavy metal remediation, contributing to the achievement of UN SDG No. 6 by providing clean water solutions. Full article

Wound healing in oral surgery is influenced by systemic conditions (aging, diabetes) and habits (smoking, alcoholism), which can hinder the natural regenerative capacity of the oral mucosa. The human amniotic membrane (hAM), long recognized for its wound-healing properties, has gained attention as a valuable biomaterial in regenerative dentistry. Its biological composition—including epithelial and mesenchymal stem cells, collagen, growth factors, cytokines, and proteins with anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties—supports anti-inflammatory, angiogenic, immunomodulatory, and pro-epithelializing effects. These elements work synergistically to enhance tissue repair, reduce scarring, and promote rapid healing. The hAM can be preserved through cryopreservation, dehydration, or freeze-drying, maintaining its structural and functional integrity for diverse clinical uses. In oral surgery, the hAM has been applied with significant success to surgical wound coverage, treatment of periodontal and bone defects, and implant site regeneration, as well as management of complex conditions like medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ). Clinical studies and meta-analyses support its safety, efficacy, and adaptability. Despite its proven therapeutic benefits, the hAM remains underutilized in dentistry due to challenges related to its preparation and storage. This review aims to highlight its potential and encourage broader clinical adoption in regenerative oral surgical practices. Full article