Search Results (123)

Collagen functional fragments retain selected activities of parent collagens while allowing greater flexibility in sequence design and precision fermentation. Although recent reviews have covered recombinant collagen production technologies, expression platforms, purification strategies, quality control, and biomedical applications, fragment selection, host–process matching, production, and characterization have received less integrated attention. This review focuses primarily on collagen-derived functional fragments, while collagen-mimetic peptides and collagen-like proteins are discussed as related design systems. The biological basis for fragmentation includes receptor-recognition motifs, matrikines and matricryptins, and basement membrane-derived fragments. The review further examines how motif context, Gly-X-Y organization, stabilizing sequence features, protease susceptibility, post-translational modification requirements, and host compatibility influence fragment stability, expression performance, production feasibility, and product integrity. Microbial production using Escherichia coli, Komagataella phaffii, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae is discussed from the perspectives of construct–host matching, secretory or intracellular production, prolyl 4-hydroxylase configuration, fermentation optimization and scale-up, and product characterization. Finally, we discuss AI-assisted, quality-guided design-build-test-learn workflows that integrate computational prediction, curated structural, extracellular-matrix, interaction, and protease resources, two-tier candidate evaluation, and format-appropriate experimental testing to support iterative sequence, host, and process optimization. The development of collagen functional fragments therefore depends on coordinated optimization of biological function, molecular design, microbial host performance, fermentation processes, and product characterization. Full article

The integration of temporary support systems with permanent structural frameworks remains a complex challenge in high-rise construction, where traditional building information modeling (BIM) workflows often lack the coordination needed to optimize both simultaneously. This study addresses that gap through a federated BIM workflow using Tekla Structures, Revit, Navisworks, and Dynamo on a fourteen-story building with a five-level basement. The temporary shoring, permanent concrete frame, and formwork were modeled at Level of Development (LOD) 300–350. A parameter-driven methodology in Dynamo managed large-scale clash detection. Steel cutting-list optimization reduced sheet-cutting waste from 4.5% to below 3% across 18 tons of steel. Clash detection between the truss guard and permanent rebar initially returned over 6000 conflicts; categorizing these via Dynamo made resolution tractable. This data optimized plywood formwork, reducing requirements by 15% (3350 to 2850 square meters), and refined rebar scheduling, recovering 51 of 103 additional tons, 32.8 tons of which are directly attributable to the truss-rebar interaction-zone workflow presented in this study. The study demonstrates that federating temporary and permanent models generates reusable coordination data, yielding savings beyond simple clash avoidance. It offers a transferable workflow for temporary-to-permanent structural integration that the current literature has not yet examined quantitatively. Full article

Mixtapes are a form of autobiography and are a tool for storytelling. Summer Pierre’s graphic music memoir All the Sad Songs uses the mixtape to curate and deconstruct memories. Through a series of mixtapes discarded in her basement, Pierre details her relationships through music. The absence and presence of mixtapes haunt the narrative and create the scaffolding of Pierre’s memoir. This article explores how the hauntological nature of cassette tapes structures narrative in graphic music memoirs. Music memoirs are about identity building for the music memoirist and the reader. The graphic memoir differs from the traditional memoir format as the author must show as well as tell. Pierre’s graphic memoir demonstrates Pierre’s changing music identity through both text and illustrations. Memoir writing is a performative act, and the author, similar to the mixtape creator, is the curator of the narrative the memoir presents. By using a ‘dead media’ to aid life writing, Pierre presents her journey as a musician through a lifetime soundtrack. Full article

Mechanical traps are widely used for urban rat surveillance and management, including the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout). However, relatively few studies have examined the effects of environment, placement, and trap type on trapping outcomes in residential buildings. In this study, we deployed 50 pairs of snap traps and live cage traps for five nights (500 trap nights) in concrete-covered basements in Brooklyn and dirt-covered crawlspaces in Queens, New York City, USA. Capture success differed by site, with Brooklyn yielding higher overall success (38%) than Queens (13%) (p < 0.001). Capture success in Brooklyn was lower in compactor rooms than in other areas (vertical infrastructure, open-floor travel corridors, and burrow entrances). In Queens, success was similar at different placement areas. The two trap types had similar overall capture success (p = 0.090). Cage traps produced more female-biased samples (90% females), while snap traps yielded more balanced sex ratios (53% females) (p < 0.001). In addition, median body mass distributions also differed, with snap traps capturing heavier rats than cage traps at both sites. These findings demonstrate that both placement and trap design are important considerations for urban rat surveillance and urban rat management. Full article

Knowledge of river flood risk in semiarid rural areas is often based on outdated, low-resolution geoinformation. Consequently, identification of exposed settlements, assets and risk-reduction measures remains challenging. This dataset provides up-to-date, fine-grained information for a rural area spanning 931 km² that is exposed to flooding from the Niger River and the Karma Wadi. The dataset includes information on (i) areas exposed to the two flood types that characterise the river’s hydrological regime and flash floods from the wadi, (ii) flood-prone crops, buildings and (iii) measures for risk treatment. Discharge data, a 4 m horizontal-resolution digital elevation model, and two-dimensional hydraulic modelling with BASEMENT were used to identify flood-prone areas. Visual interpretation of high-resolution satellite imagery in Google Earth, together with field inspections, enabled the identification of exposed assets. The Information System on Rural Markets of Niger and house compensation values recognised during resettlement-related works enabled asset valuation. Risk was expressed in monetary terms as the product of flood probability and expected damage. Risk-reduction measures were identified with stakeholders through a SWOT analysis and prioritised using eight criteria. The dataset can support emergency plans, flood early warning systems, rescue and recovery operations and flood risk management. Full article

Large civil infrastructures, including high-rise buildings, bridges, offshore platforms, transmission towers, tall chimneys, basements below the water table, etc., are often supported on pile foundations. Apart from the usual dead loads and live loads imposed by superstructures, these piles are often subjected to significant uplift forces due to overturning moments or hydrostatic pressure resulting from the effects of wind and wave loading, traffic movement, buoyancy, etc. Piles that withstand tensile loads are termed tension piles. Since the soil is unable to resist tensile stress, the pullout loads imposed on tension piles are prevented primarily by downward skin friction at the pile–soil interface, as well as by the self-weight of the piles. In this paper, a numerical model was developed using boundary element analysis, wherein piles were assumed to be made of an elastic–perfectly plastic material, and the soil was modeled using a parabolic model. The developed model was validated with available experimental results, and acceptable agreement was found. An in-depth study by detailed parametric analysis revealed that the parabolic soil model yielded satisfactory results. Extensive full-scale case studies were also performed to study the influence of various factors on tension pile performance. A set of important conclusions was drawn from the entire work. Full article

Post-fire evaluation of reinforced concrete (RC) columns in existing buildings demands reliable non-destructive methods capable of quantifying stiffness loss, identifying damage patterns, and supporting decisions on repair or replacement. This study develops and validates a dynamic NDT methodology that integrates Experimental Modal Analysis (EMA) and sonic testing (ST) based on elastic wave propagation to characterise the mechanical condition of fire-damaged RC columns. The procedure combines global dynamic indicators (natural frequencies and mode shapes) with local measurements of the dynamic Young’s modulus along the column height. A numerical finite element (FE) model is employed to validate the sensitivity and consistency of the proposed dynamic indicators under controlled degradation scenarios. After validation, the methodology is applied to two real fire events affecting basement columns in residential buildings. In the first case, several columns exhibit significant stiffness reductions, with pronounced modulus losses in the most exposed regions, leading to the recommendation of comprehensive strengthening measures. In the second case, results show minimal variations in most elements, allowing targeted intervention on a single moderately affected column. The study demonstrates that the combined EMA–ST approach provides a robust and cost-efficient basis for diagnosing fire-exposed RC columns and for guiding post-fire structural decision-making in practice. Full article

Radon (222Rn) is a naturally occurring radioactive gas. It is colourless, odourless, and tasteless, produced through the spontaneous decay of uranium in soil and rocks. Among school-aged children, exposure to radon is a major public health concern because, during school hours, learners spend an average of 6–8 h daily inside school buildings, often on the ground floor or in basement classrooms, where radon levels tend to be highest. This study aims to contextualize radon exposure among children in educational settings, with a focus on the associated risk factors. A systematic review of the literature on radon exposure in classrooms among schoolchildren was conducted, analysing associated risk factors and methods of radon measurement. A literature search was performed across reputable databases to ensure compliance with systematic review standards. The quality of the evidence was appraised using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) tool. A total of 32 studies met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Radon levels measured in classrooms exhibit variability based on geographic location. Certain classrooms in Continental Europe and North America exceed the WHO reference limit of 100 Bq/m³, as well as regional thresholds, including the European Union limit of 300 Bq/m³ and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limit of 148 Bq/m³. Indoor radon exposure in classrooms is a worldwide concern because children are particularly vulnerable during their formative years. Those attending daycare centers and kindergartens are at greater risk due to their nascent respiratory systems. Full article

Remote sensing enables building-level flood vulnerability assessment without field surveys, yet existing approaches require site-specific calibration or produce categorical outputs without physical interpretability. We present the Global Flood Vulnerability Model (GFVM), integrating six remotely sensed components (elevation, slope, topographic position index, distance to water, building height, and basement depth) through geographic context classification to quantify vulnerability from terrain and structural characteristics across coastal, fluvial, and pluvial settings. Building heights are extracted primarily from the Global Building Atlas, with gaps filled using a ConvNeXt neural network trained on high-resolution Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) ground truth from four cities (within-city MAE 1.35–1.91 m, cross-city MAE 2.05–3.47 m). Terrain metrics are derived from a combination of hierarchical digital elevation models (DEM) (USGS 3DEP 10 m, AHN LiDAR 0.5 m, UK Environment Agency DTM 1 m, Australia 5 m) and global datasets (NASADEM 30 m, Copernicus GLO-30). Hydrographic networks are sourced from OpenStreetMap and Natural Earth. Implementation through Google Earth Engine requires only coordinates as input, returning a five-level vulnerability index with multi-hazard decomposition (fluvial, coastal, pluvial) and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP)-based attribution identifying dominant drivers. Validation across 183 independent locations in Germany, UK, and USA demonstrates robust performance: Area Under Curve 0.855 for separating flooded from non-flooded sites, weighted Cohen’s kappa 0.493 across regulatory zones, and Spearman ρ 0.746 against Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) classifications. Sensitivity analysis across 625 parameter configurations confirms stability, and DEM resolution experiments show that global 30 m elevation data produces category reclassification in only 5.3–8.6% of locations compared to high-resolution sources. Application to the 2024 Kazakhstan floods identifies 118 high-vulnerability locations across 581 assessment points, with vulnerability patterns matching documented inundation. GFVM advances remote sensing applications for disaster risk assessment by demonstrating that multi-source geospatial data fusion enables building-level vulnerability screening without local calibration or field surveys. Full article

With the continuous expansion of building scale and increasingly complex functions, pedestrian congestion within buildings has become increasingly prominent. To identify high-utilization spaces during the architectural design stage, so as to optimize the design at the source and effectively alleviate the risk of oversaturated spatial flow in super high-rise buildings, transportation hubs and other complex buildings, this paper investigates spatial flow estimation methods in the architectural design phase. First, based on detailed data from microscopic pedestrian simulation in buildings, this study conducts an in-depth analysis of the factors influencing spatial flow from the perspectives of spatial structure and pedestrian demand. Then, by incorporating the visual integration degree from space syntax and the proposed Origin-Destination (OD) influence range definition method that accounts for obstacle detours, a spatial utilization intensity index integrating both factors is developed. Furthermore, regression analysis is employed to achieve spatial flow estimation based on the constructed spatial utilization intensity index. Finally, taking the basement 1 floor of the Shenzhen Bay Super Headquarters Base C Tower connected with the metro as an example, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified. The results show that the MAPE is 26%. This study provides an effective estimation method for the prediction of spatial flow in the architectural design stage. Full article

Assembled H-shaped steel strut (AHSS) has been widely applied in deep excavation projects. In this study, the collapse failure of AHSS C1 in a deep excavation project in China was investigated. The collapse of C1 was directly attributed to the settlement of its supporting columns in the mid-span, which was triggered by a nearby pit bottom leakage through an exploration borehole. Then the implementation of the emergency measures and reconstruction works were introduced. Theoretical and numerical pre-assessments confirmed that the reconstructed C1 exhibited adequate safety for strength, in-plane stability and out-of-plane stability, with all steel components and bolts within their safe limits. The good working performance of reconstructed C1 was finally verified through the monitoring results (i.e., strut axial force, soil horizontal displacement, column vertical displacement, road settlement and building settlement) of the foundation pit during the subsequent soil excavation and basement construction. This study is believed to provide references for future excavation projects using AHSS with similar risks. Full article

Methane (CH₄) emissions in urban areas remain a major source of uncertainty in greenhouse gas inventories, particularly in Eastern European cities, where observational studies are limited. This study presents a comprehensive, system-based assessment of CH₄ sources in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, based on high-resolution in situ measurements across five representative urban systems: aquatic environments (AQs), natural gas distribution end-use points (NG), sewer infrastructure (SE), building basements (BSs), and traffic emissions (TEs). Elevated CH₄ concentrations were consistently detected across all investigated systems, confirming the coexistence of both diffuse and point sources within the urban environment. Dissolved methane (dCH₄) in aquatic systems showed strong and persistent oversaturation relative to atmospheric equilibrium, reaching up to 3 × 10⁵% of air–water equilibrium, indicating active microbial methanogenesis enhanced by urban inputs of organic matter and nutrients. Measurements at natural gas end-use points revealed highly localized leaks with concentrations up to 482 ppmv. Sewer infrastructure exhibited extreme variability (up to 1222 ppmv), likely controlled by a combination of microbial production, hydraulic conditions, and potential interactions with adjacent gas distribution networks. Basement environments showed CH₄ accumulation up to 12 ppmv, reflecting the combined effects of gas leakage and limited ventilation. Measurements at vehicle exhausts identified transient CH₄ peaks reaching 162 ppmv during vehicle engine acceleration, with distinct ethane-to-methane ratios, indicative of pyrogenic sources. Overall, these results demonstrate that urban CH₄ emissions are spatially heterogeneous, temporally variable, and derived from multiple coexisting sources. The urban area should, therefore, be understood as a hybrid environment, with natural and anthropogenic CH₄ contributions. Full article

This research examines high-rise hotel buildings located on the Mediterranean coast, focusing on the advantages, in terms of energy consumption and environmental benefits of installing domestic hot water (DHW) storage tanks on upper technical floors instead of in the basement. To this end, the Bali Hotel, the tallest hotel in Europe, is analyzed as a case study. The proposed system achieves a substantial reduction in energy consumption by decreasing heat losses in DHW recirculation pipes (61.3%). Annual energy costs are reduced by €8976.89, corresponding to overall DHW energy savings of 3.69%. In addition, installation costs are reduced by €15,462.18 due to the shorter recirculation pipe lengths required, which must withstand very high pressures exceeding 6 kp/cm², reaching up to 18 kp/cm². Although the initial installation cost is €15,462.18 lower, the elevated placement of the tanks increases maintenance and replacement costs. Therefore, after a 50-year service life, total construction and maintenance costs are €17,366.82 higher. This additional cost is recovered within 1.93 years, yielding cumulative savings of €527,106 over the building’s lifespan. Finally, the study quantifies the associated environmental benefits, demonstrating an annual reduction of 24,335.03 kg CO₂eq in carbon emissions, a novel contribution to the existing literature on this topic. Full article

An increased interest in decreasing the environmental impact of the construction sector and in vertical urbanization has renewed attention to timber as a primary structural material in multi-story buildings. This study investigated whether an existing 10-story reinforced concrete (RC) residential building can be redesigned as an equivalent mass-timber structure while satisfying the same structural performance requirements. It addressed the lack of like-for-like building-scale comparisons that redesigned an existing multi-story RC residential building into a functionally equivalent mass-timber scheme. A real RC building in Gävle, Sweden, was modeled, analyzed, and designed using StruSoft FEM-Design software in accordance with the Eurocodes and the Swedish National Annex, after which all main structural elements were systematically replaced with timber. Through iterative adjustments of member sizes, support conditions, and added reinforcing elements, both the RC and timber schemes were verified with respect to load-bearing capacity, serviceability, and global stability under identical load combinations. The RC and timber buildings reached maximum utilization ratios of 99% and 98%, respectively; displacements were higher in the timber building but remained within serviceability limits, and both systems were classified as globally stable. The timber alternative reduced the total structural weight to about 19% of the RC building and roughly halved the maximum vertical reaction forces, at the expense of additional beams, columns, and basement wall segments. Moreover, this article developed an equivalent-design methodology for material substitution, a bottom-up reinforcing elements logic that resolved serviceability and stability constraints in tall timber, and a performance trade-off map based on structural performance, offering guidance for future mass-timber design. Full article

Microalgae photobioreactors (PBRs) are promising building-integrated biotechnologies for carbon capture and biomass production; however, their high energy requirements for artificial lighting remain a significant energy barrier in cold climates. This study developed an integrated spectral–optical energy modeling framework to evaluate two PBR deployment strategies in State College, PA: rooftop daylight-exposed integration and basement installation with solar-assisted lighting. Results show that fiber-optic daylighting can supply a substantial fraction of photosynthetically useful light without introducing additional internal heat loads, while photovoltaics sized at approximately 0.40–0.55 kWDC per reactor can offset the annual PBR lighting energy use when sufficient roof area is available. Whole-building energy simulations further reveal that rooftop PBR integration reduces total annual space energy consumption by ~21% relative to basement placement due to lower artificial lighting and cooling loads. When combined, PV and fiber systems can fully meet basement PBR lighting demand, whereas rooftop configurations may rely more on grid electricity. Economically, fiber-optic daylighting achieves comparable lighting offsets at roughly half the annualized cost of PV-based systems, subject to surface-area and routing constraints. Overall, solar-assisted lighting strategies markedly improve the operational sustainability of building-integrated PBRs in cold climates, with fiber-optic daylighting offering substantial spectral and thermal advantages, subject to surface-area availability and routing-related design constraints. Full article