Search Results (38)

The extensive use of antiviral substances (SASs) during and after the COVID-19 pandemic has increased their release into wastewater systems, raising concerns regarding their persistence and potential ecotoxicological effects. The primary objective of this study was to isolate bacterial strains from activated sludge (AS) that possess the ability to biodegrade SASs. From the AS sample, three bacterial species, Comamonas testosteroni (I2), Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (I3) and Bacillus mycoides (I4), were successfully isolated and identified. These strains were subsequently applied in biodegradation experiments targeting seven SASs: daclatasvir (DCV), darunavir (DRV), favipiravir (FAV), lopinavir (LOP), remdesivir (REM), ritonavir (RIT), and umifenovir (UMI). During the experiments, residual SAS concentrations, microbial growth parameters, physicochemical indicators and ecotoxicity were monitored. All three strains demonstrated substantial biodegradation potential, achieving reductions exceeding 90% for most tested compounds, with particularly low toxicity observed in experiments conducted with AS and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. These findings highlight the relevance of AS-derived bacteria as promising candidates for enhancing SAS removal in wastewater treatment processes. Full article

The biological control of SWD using entomopathogenic viruses offers a sustainable alternative to chemical insecticides; however, viral instability under environmental and digestive conditions limits their application. Here, we present a chitosan–TPP encapsulation system designed to protect and control the release of Drosophila C virus (DCV) and La Jolla virus (LJV). Physicochemical characterization by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and zeta potential measurements confirmed successful encapsulation and indicated that stable electrostatic complexes form within a narrow pH range where chitosan is positively charged and the virion surface is negatively charged. The encapsulated viruses remained intact under acidic conditions but were rapidly released under alkaline conditions mimicking the posterior midgut of SWD. Encapsulation efficiency increased with decreasing chitosan molecular weight and higher stirring speed, reaching up to 90%. Bioassays demonstrated that both formulated viruses caused high mortality in adult flies, with no adverse effects from the carrier matrix. These findings establish chitosan–TPP formulations as an effective strategy for virus stabilization and targeted release in biological pest control. Full article

This paper presents a study that investigates the operational reliability of directional control valves used in hydraulic press systems by applying the Taguchi method and regression analysis. The research focuses on key hydraulic parameters—kinematic viscosity, internal leakage, pressure, and temperature—to identify their influence on valve reliability. Three valves (DCV1–DCV3) were tested under identical conditions using an L8 orthogonal array to optimize the experimental design while maintaining statistical validity. The Taguchi analysis revealed that internal leakage is the dominant factor affecting valve reliability, consistently confirmed across all statistical evaluations, including signal-to-noise (S/N) ratios and ANOVA results. Regression models were developed for each valve to quantify the effect of each factor and showed excellent predictive accuracy (R² > 98%). The study concludes that minimizing internal leakage, maintaining lower temperatures, and applying higher operating pressures significantly enhance valve reliability, while viscosity had negligible effect within the tested range. Valve DCV2 demonstrated the highest predicted reliability. These findings offer valuable insights for the optimization of hydraulic valve design and maintenance strategies, contributing to the improved performance and longevity of industrial hydraulic systems. Full article

This study examines how Business Intelligence (BI) capabilities influence environmental performance (EP) in manufacturaing supply chains, with a focus on the mediating roles of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) and Supply Chain Integration (SCI) and the moderating role of Blockchain Integration (BCI). Addressing a critical research gap in digital sustainability, particularly in emerging markets, this study integrates the Resource-Based View (RBV) theory, Natural Resource-Based View (NRBV) theory, and Dynamic Capabilities View (DCV) theory to develop a theoretically grounded framework. Data were collected via a cross-sectional survey of 231 managers in 65 firms in Jordan and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings reveal that while BI does not directly enhance EP, it significantly improves GSCM and SCI, which in turn mediate its influence on EP. GSCM fully mediates this relationship, while SCI provides partial mediation. BCI did not demonstrate a significant moderating effect. These results suggest that BI must be embedded within green and integrative operational systems to drive sustainability outcomes. This study contributes novel insights into how digital capabilities translate into environmental gains in underrepresented contexts and provides actionable guidance for firms and policymakers aiming to align digital transformation with environmental objectives. Full article

As the demand for energy-efficient homes continues to rise, the importance of advanced mechanical ventilation systems in maintaining indoor air quality (IAQ) has become increasingly evident. However, challenges related to energy balance, IAQ, and occupant thermal comfort persist. This review examines the performance of mechanical ventilation systems in regulating indoor climate, improving air quality, and minimising energy consumption. The findings indicate that demand-controlled ventilation (DCV) can enhance energy efficiency by up to 88% while maintaining CO₂ concentrations below 1000 ppm during 76% of the occupancy period. Heat recovery systems achieve efficiencies of nearly 90%, leading to a reduction in heating energy consumption by approximately 19%. Studies also show that employing mechanical rather than natural ventilation in schools lowers CO₂ levels by 20–30%. Nevertheless, occupant misuse or poorly designed systems can result in CO₂ concentrations exceeding 1600 ppm in residential environments. Hybrid ventilation systems have demonstrated improved thermal comfort, with predicted mean vote (PMV) values ranging from –0.41 to 0.37 when radiant heating is utilized. Despite ongoing technological advancements, issues such as system durability, user acceptance, and adaptability across climate zones remain. Smart, personalized ventilation strategies supported by modern control algorithms and continuous monitoring are essential for the development of resilient and health-promoting buildings. Future research should prioritize the integration of renewable energy sources and adaptive ventilation controls to further optimise system performance. Full article

Background/Objectives: Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is a reliable and potent technique for managing primary tumors; however, significant efforts are being made to characterize and improve the systemic immune response, which is crucial for metastasis prevention. Current evidence suggests that the advancement of ECT will depend on its integration with complementary immunomodulatory methods. Methods: In this study, we examined the combined effects of calcium-based electrochemotherapy (CaECT, 1.3 kV/cm × 100 µs, eight pulses delivered at 1 Hz repetition frequency) with dendritic cell vaccination (DCV). Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC1) was used as a tumor model. We characterized the effects of CaECT alone and in combination with DCV therapy on tumor growth, analyzed the changes in immune cell subpopulations, and studied the humoral immune response dynamics on day 10, 20, and 30. Given the limited effect of DCV, additional experiments were conducted with the chemotherapeutic drug cyclophosphamide (CP), known for its immunomodulatory properties. Results: Although CaECT demonstrated potent antitumor activity and induced a significant immune response, its combination with DCV did not result in enhanced therapeutic efficacy. The combination of CP also failed to improve median survival. Conclusions: It is concluded that CaECT is a promising alternative to standard ECT involving bleomycin or cisplatin. However, further optimization is necessary to enhance the therapeutic synergy of CaECT when combined with DCV. Full article

This study investigates the performance of different demand-controlled ventilation strategies for improving indoor air quality while optimizing energy efficiency. The experimental research was conducted at the Indoor Live Lab at the University of Coimbra using a smart window equipped with mechanical ventilation boxes, occupancy sensors, and a real-time CO₂ monitoring system. Several occupancy-based and CO2-based ventilation control strategies were implemented and tested to dynamically adjust ventilation rates according to real-time indoor conditions, including (1) occupancy period-based control, (2) occupancy level-based control, (3) ON-OFF CO₂-based control, (4) multi-level CO₂-based control, and (5) modulating CO₂-based control. The results indicate that intelligent control strategies can significantly reduce energy consumption while maintaining indoor air quality within acceptable limits. Among the CO₂-based controls, strategy 5 achieved optimal performance, reducing energy consumption by 60% compared to the simple ON-OFF strategy, while maintaining satisfactory indoor air quality. Regarding occupancy-based strategies, strategy 2 showed 58% energy savings compared to the simple occupancy period-based control, but with greater CO₂ concentration fluctuation. The results demonstrate that intelligent DCV systems can simultaneously reduce ventilation energy use by 60% and maintain compliant indoor air quality levels, with modulating CO₂-based control proving most effective. The findings highlight the potential of integrating sensor-based ventilation controls in office spaces to achieve energy savings, enhance occupant comfort, and contribute to the development of smarter, more sustainable buildings. Future research should explore the integration of predictive analytics and multi-pollutant sensing to further optimize demand-controlled ventilation performance. Full article

Climate change and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have made energy efficiency in modern building operations more critical than ever. This study presents an improved damper control strategy for VAV systems, combined with techniques like DCV and duct static pressure adjustments, to optimize fan energy consumption. Using energy simulations and mathematical models, the research evaluates traditional HVAC operating methods against the proposed novel control approach across diverse climates. Findings show that the refined control integrations effectively adjust ventilation air volumes during low occupancy and achieve up to 47% savings in fan energy, cost, and CO₂ savings annually. While DCV alone had minimal impact on fan energy, it significantly reduced the amount of outdoor air that required conditioning, thereby lowering cooling and heating demands. This research highlights the importance of integrating an advanced control strategy in building mechanical systems to reduce operational costs and environmental impact, contributing to sustainability and carbon reduction goals. Full article

This paper explores innovative approaches to reducing energy consumption in building ventilation systems through the implementation of adaptive control strategies. Using a publicly available high-resolution dataset spanning a full year, the study integrates real-time data on occupancy, CO₂ levels, temperature, window state, and external environmental conditions. Notably, occupancy data derived from computer vision-based detection using the YOLOv5 algorithm provides an unprecedented level of granularity. The study evaluates five energy-saving strategies: Demand-Controlled Ventilation (DCV), occupancy-based control, time-based off-peak reduction, window-open control, and temperature-based control. Among these, the occupancy-based strategy achieved the highest energy savings, reducing power consumption by 50%, while temperature-based control yielded a significant 37.27% reduction. This paper’s originality lies in its holistic analysis of multiple dynamic control strategies, integrating diverse environmental and operational variables rarely combined in prior research. The findings highlight the transformative potential of integrating real-time environmental data and advanced control algorithms to optimize HVAC performance. This study establishes a new benchmark for energy-efficient building management through offering practical recommendations and laying the groundwork for predictive models, renewable energy integration, and occupant-centric systems. Full article

Background: We generated a CD103⁺DC vaccine using K7M3 OS cell lysates (cDCV) and investigated its ability to induce regression of primary tumors, established lung metastases, and a systemic immune response. Methods: A bilateral tumor model was used to assess cDCV therapy efficacy and systemic immunity induction. K7M3 cells were injected into mice bilaterally. Right-sided tumors received PBS (control) or cDCV. Left-sided tumors were untreated. Tumor growth was compared between the vaccine-treated and untreated tumor on the contralateral side and compared to the control group. The immune cell profiles of the tumors, and tumor-draining lymph nodes (TdLNs) and spleen were evaluated. To determine the efficacy of systemic cDCV therapy against established lung metastases, K7M3 cells were injected intratibially. Leg amputation was performed 5 weeks later. Mice were treated intravenously with PBS or cDCV and euthanized 6 weeks later. Lungs, TdLNs and spleen were collected. The number and size of the lung nodules were quantified. The immune cell profile of tumor, and lymph nodes and spleen were also evaluated. Using this same model, we evaluated the effect of cDCV + anti-CTLA-4. Results: cDCV therapy inhibited the treated and untreated tumors and increased the number of T-cells in these tumors and the lymph nodes compared to control-treated mice. Systemic cDCV therapy administered following amputation decreased the size and number of lung metastases, and increased T-cell numbers in the tumor and lymph nodes. Combining anti-CTLA-4 with cDCV therapy increased cDCV efficacy against lung metastases. Conclusions: Intratumor cDCV generated a systemic immune response inhibiting the growth of both the treated and untreated tumors, with increased T-cells in the tumor and lymph nodes. Systemic cDCV was effective against established lung metastases. Efficacy was increased by anti-CTLA4. cDCVs may provide a novel therapeutic approach for relapsed/metastatic OS patients. Full article

There are many different factors affecting indoor air quality: environmental ones such as temperature, humidity, human activities within the building, smoking, cooking, and cleaning, but also external pollutants such as particulate matter, biological contaminants, and viruses or allergens. This study investigated the indoor air quality (IAQ) of a primary-school classroom in Cracow, Poland, based only on CO₂ concentration levels exhaled by occupants. In the 1960s, over a thousand schools were built in Poland using similar technology. Most of them are still in use, and in many cases, modernization works are being carried out to improve their building envelope and the comfort of their use. The analyzed school is one of several hundred similar ones in southern Poland. Therefore, analyzing the possibilities of improving IAQ is an important topic, and the results can be used in the modernization process for many other buildings. Measurements indicated that the CO₂ levels significantly exceeded acceptable standards, signaling poor air quality during usage time. This problem was connected mainly with the low efficiency of the natural ventilation system being used in the classroom. It is worth emphasizing that this type of ventilation system is the most commonly used ventilation solution in Polish schools. To address this problem, the classroom environment was simulated using CONTAM software, and the model was validated by comparing the simulated measurement data against the collected measurement data. Next, simulations for the entire heating season in Cracow were conducted, revealing that the IAQ remained consistently poor throughout this period. These findings highlight the persistent problem of inadequate ventilation in the classroom, which can have adverse effects on the health and performance of students and teachers. This article shows the usefulness of CONTAM for modeling not only gravity ventilation but also the window-opening process. The validated CONTAM model will be subsequently utilized to simulate annual IAQ conditions under various ventilation strategies in order to identify the most effective methods for maintaining acceptable IAQ while minimizing energy consumption. In our future analysis, the validated model will be used to test the following systems: demand-controlled ventilation (DCV), exhaust ventilation, and DCV/balanced ventilation with heat recovery. Full article

One of the technical solutions to improve indoor thermal comfort and reduce energy consumption in buildings is the use of demand-controlled ventilation (DCV) systems. The choice of the control method becomes more important when the walls in the room are finished with moisture-buffering materials. This study explores the impact of four DCV system control scenarios (control of temperature, relative humidity, and carbon dioxide concentration for two different supply airflows to the room) combined with various indoor moisture-buffering materials (gypsum board and cement–lime plaster) on the variability of indoor air quality parameters, thermal comfort, and energy. The analysis was performed by computer simulation using WUFI Plus v.3.1.0.3 software for whole-building hydrothermal analysis. Control-based systems that maintain appropriate relative humidity levels were found to be the most favourable for localised comfort and were more effective in terms of energy consumption for heating and cooling without humidification and dehumidification. This research also revealed that the moisture-buffering effect of finishing materials can passively contribute to enhancing indoor air quality, regardless of the room’s purpose. However, higher energy consumption for heating was observed for better moisture-buffering materials. Full article

Continuous power management for a decentralized DC microgrid (DCMG) is proposed in this study to achieve power balance and voltage regulation even under system uncertainty and voltage sensor failure. The DCMG system achieves continuous power management through only the primary controller to reduce the computational burden of each power agent. To enhance the reliability and resilience of the DCMG system under DC bus voltage (DCV) sensor failure, a DCV sensor fault detection algorithm is suggested. In this algorithm, DCV sensor failure is detected by comparing the measured DCV with the estimated DCV. If power agents identify the failure of the DCV sensor, it changes the operation properly according to the proposed control mode decision algorithm to guarantee the stability of the DCMG system. When uncertain conditions like sudden grid disconnection, DCV sensor failure, electricity price change, power variation in distributed generations, and critical battery status occur, the DCMG system is changed to transitional operation modes. These transitional operation modes are employed to transmit the power agent information to other agents without digital communication links (DCLs) and to accomplish power sharing even under such uncertain conditions. In the transitional operation modes of the DCMG system, the DCV levels are temporarily shifted to an appropriate level, enabling each power agent to detect the uncertainty conditions, and subsequently to determine its operation modes based on the DCV levels. The reliability and effectiveness of the proposed control strategy are confirmed via various simulation and experimental tests under different operating conditions. Full article

Cancer immunotherapy modulates the immune system, overcomes immune escape and stimulates immune defenses against tumors. Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional promoters of immune responses against tumor antigens with the outstanding ability to coordinate the innate and adaptive immune systems. Evidence suggests that there is a decrease in both the number and function of DCs in cancer patients. Therefore, they represent a strong scaffold for therapeutic interventions. DC vaccination (DCV) is safe, and the antitumoral responses induced are well established in solid tumors. Although the addition of checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs) to chemotherapy has provided new options in the treatment of cancer, they have shown no clinical benefit in immune desert tumors or in those tumors with dysfunctional or exhausted T-cells. In this way, DC-based therapy has demonstrated the ability to modify the tumor microenvironment for immune enriched tumors and to potentiate systemic host immune responses as an active approach to treating cancer patients. Application of DCV in cancer seeks to obtain long-term antitumor responses through an improved T-cell priming by enhancing previous or generating de novo immune responses. To date, DCV has induced immune responses in the peripheral blood of patients without a significant clinical impact on outcome. Thus, improvements in vaccines formulations, selection of patients based on biomarkers and combinations with other antitumoral therapies are needed to enhance patient survival. In this work, we review the role of DCV in different solid tumors with their strengths and weaknesses, and we finally mention new trends to improve the efficacy of this immune strategy. Full article

Nighttime Thermal InfraRed (NTIR) image colorization, also known as the translation of NTIR images into Daytime Color Visible (DCV) images, can facilitate human and intelligent system perception of nighttime scenes under weak lighting conditions. End-to-end neural networks have been used to learn the mapping relationship between temperature and color domains, and translate NTIR images with one channel into DCV images with three channels. However, this mapping relationship is an ill-posed problem with multiple solutions without constraints, resulting in blurred edges, color disorder, and semantic errors. To solve this problem, an NTIR2DCV method that includes two steps is proposed: firstly, fuse Nighttime Color Visible (NCV) images with NTIR images based on an Illumination-Aware, Multilevel Decomposition Latent Low-Rank Representation (IA-MDLatLRR) method, which considers the differences in illumination conditions during image fusion and adjusts the fusion strategy of MDLatLRR accordingly to suppress the adverse effects of nighttime lights; secondly, translate the Nighttime Fused (NF) image to DCV image based on HyperDimensional Computing Generative Adversarial Network (HDC-GAN), which ensures feature-level semantic consistency between the source image (NF image) and the translated image (DCV image) without creating semantic label maps. Extensive comparative experiments and the evaluation metrics values show that the proposed algorithms perform better than other State-Of-The-Art (SOTA) image fusion and translation methods, such as FID and KID, which decreased by 14.1 and 18.9, respectively. Full article