Search Results (471)

Fungal decay poses a significant threat and causes substantial economic losses worldwide. Graphene is a nanomaterial with positive results in improving paints and finishes, eventually protecting the substrates from damages, including fire and wood-decay fungi. This study investigated the effectiveness of graphene in an acrylic paint to protect unheated and thermally modified wood substrates from Trametes versicolor. Three commercial wood species were coated with either plain or graphene-enriched paints; a separate set of specimens was prepared for thermal modification at 185 °C. Exposure to T. versicolor was carried out for four months, and the impact of fungal degradation was evaluated through mass loss and a mechanical property. Incorporation of graphene markedly reduced mass loss in both unheated and thermally modified specimens; it also improved the compression strength compared with the controls, demonstrating its dual protective and reinforcing effects. These results highlighted the potential of graphene as an efficient and practical additive in acrylic paints, offering a viable and easy-to-apply method for protection of hardwood and softwood substrates against fungal biodeterioration. Full article

Liquid crystal (LC) is a key enabling technology for continuously phase-reconfigurable microwave devices, offering analogue-tuning capabilities distinct from discrete alternatives such as MEMS and p-i-n diodes. However, the insertion loss of LC-based phase shifters is inevitably influenced by conductor surface roughness—a factor often neglected in idealised simulations. This paper presents, for the first time, a rigorous numerical quantification of how metal surface roughness affects the insertion loss and phase shift of a 60 GHz LC-filled coaxial delay line (0–180° phase shifter) with radial conductor surfaces instead of conventional planar ones. Using full-wave finite-element simulations incorporating Groisse’s phenomenological model and Huray’s snowball model, four surface configurations are analysed at 54–66 GHz: perfectly smooth conductors, roughness on both inner and outer conductors simultaneously, and roughness applied to each conductor individually. Results show that roughness induces a measurable increase in insertion loss—worst when both conductors are rough—but its impact on differential phase shift remains minimal (<0.32°). Huray’s model predicts conductor losses 1.77 times higher than Groisse’s model, yielding more conservative metrics. For the insertion loss evaluation in Case 2 at 60 GHz under the reference isotropic LC state, Groisse’s model predicts 1.90921 dB, while Huray’s model predicts 2.16319 dB, a 0.25 dB discrepancy (12% uncertainty relative to the mean). The inner conductor dominates roughness-induced losses due to concentrated current density, suggesting prioritised surface finishing of the core line. This study isolates loss mechanisms in a coaxial LC structure, providing insights into low-loss reconfigurable devices. Practical PCB copper foil fabrication methods are also evaluated with quantitative analysis of non-ideal cylindrical geometries. Full article

This article examines the extent to which it is possible to reconstruct part of the technical knowledge employed in pre-Hispanic Andean constructions. Drawing on chronicles, colonial representations, linguistic studies, ethnography and direct architectural analysis, it demonstrates that Andean societies possessed specialised trades and a wider repertoire of tools than is commonly recognised. A central finding is the identification of gaveras—wooden moulds for making adobe bricks—whose recognition here shows that carpentry techniques were more developed than has been assumed. The poor documentation of these objects—several of them miscatalogued in Peruvian museums—has reinforced the mistaken assumption that complex construction tools were not used in ancient Peru. The study combines three approaches: direct observation of the built fabric (marks, imprints and textures that reveal construction processes), review of the Quechua vocabulary associated with tools and trades—drawn from three sixteenth- and seventeenth-century dictionaries consulted in the Langas repository of the CNRS—and comparison with current practices in Andean communities. This is complemented by a comparison with records from other cultures and a systematic search of the database of the Ministry of Culture of Peru, where plumb bobs, floats, shovels, axes, chisels and other instruments rarely analysed from a constructive perspective were located. Taken together, the article demonstrates that pre-Hispanic architecture was neither intuitive nor improvised, but the outcome of a technical tradition carried out by specialists, tools that are little known today, and construction methods based on measurement, alignment control, mortar transfer and careful surface finishing. Full article

Corner cleaning is a critical sub-stage of finishing and is used to remove residual material left by previous machining operations, thereby ensuring the designed dimensional precision and surface quality. Although essential in CNC machining, many current industrial CAM software like UG NX, PowerMill systems were largely developed based on early-stage theoretical frameworks. Meanwhile, the geometric shapes of machined workpieces are becoming increasingly complex, making such software gradually unable to meet the growing requirements for tool path quality. This paper establishes a rigorous mathematical framework to bridge the gap between industrial practice and theoretical modeling. Based on this framework, an enhanced Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method is proposed to generate an optimal drive curve by integrating geometric variance maximization with vector field guided directional optimization. Furthermore, a robust offset strategy is presented, incorporating self-intersection detection, critical-point trimming, and segment connection mechanisms to ensure path continuity and smoothness. Experimental results and real machining cases demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the widely used commercial software in terms of robustness and path smoothness, validating its effectiveness and practical applicability. Full article

Life cycle assessment (LCA) studies of polypropylene (PP) processing commonly rely on generic secondary databases, while primary industrial inventories for plastic conversion processes remain scarce. This study addresses this gap by quantifying the cradle-to-gate carbon footprint of polypropylene processing using anonymised primary industrial data collected in 2024 from four European polypropylene processing facilities. Unlike previous studies relying mainly on generic secondary inventories, the proposed approach combines primary industrial data with sensitivity and scenario analyses to identify practical priorities for emission reduction. The baseline carbon footprint was estimated at 1.44 tCO₂e per tonne of finished product, with material production and energy-intensive processing identified as the major emission hotspots. One-Factor-at-a-Time (OFAT) sensitivity analysis showed that polypropylene type, process efficiency, renewable electricity use, and process waste management were the most influential parameters, whereas water consumption and additive use had only a minor effect on overall emissions. Scenario analysis indicated that combining recycled polypropylene, improved process efficiency and renewable electricity reduced emissions by 45.8%, while reducing process waste and fully recycling production residues achieved a 42.2% reduction compared with the baseline. By integrating primary industrial inventory data with sensitivity and scenario analyses, this study provides a more representative assessment of real industrial polypropylene processing conditions than approaches based solely on generic databases and identifies practical priorities for industrial carbon mitigation. Full article

Fungal-derived compounds are attracting increasing interest in cosmetic science because of their chemical diversity, multifunctional biological activity, and suitability for controlled biotechnological production. Macrofungi produce a wide range of bioactive metabolites, including polysaccharides, phenolic compounds, terpenoids, sterols, and pigments, many of which exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, moisturizing, photoprotective, and barrier-supporting properties relevant to skin health. However, current research is largely limited to isolated metabolites and simplified in vitro models, whereas comparatively little attention has been paid to the performance of fungal-derived compounds in finished cosmetic formulations. In practice, cosmetic efficacy depends not only on biological activity but also on extraction methods, physicochemical stability, formulation compatibility, and delivery efficiency. This review examines fungal-derived bioactive compounds from the perspective of cosmetic formulation and industrial applicability. It discusses how cultivation conditions, extraction procedures, and formulation design influence stability, bioavailability, and cosmetic performance, and critically evaluates extraction technologies, fermentation systems, encapsulation strategies, lipid carriers, hydrogels, and nanoscale delivery platforms. The review also addresses major limitations, including oxidative instability, variability in metabolite composition, limited penetration of high-molecular-weight compounds, and insufficient standardization and clinical validation. Although fungal-derived compounds show considerable promise for multifunctional cosmetic formulations, their broader industrial application will require improved standardization, optimized formulation strategies, and robust clinical evaluation of efficacy and safety. Full article

Although non-structural walls do not determine the structural safety of a building, they are responsible for its functionality by serving as acoustic, thermal, and fire-resistant partitions. They may be freely located and relocated and are typically constructed during the finishing stage of building works. Reliable performance of non-structural walls depends on appropriate connections to floors and adjacent walls. Connections to walls are most commonly achieved using traditional masonry bonding or sufficiently durable wall connectors, usually made of steel. An alternative to steel connectors may be connectors made of polymer-based materials or meshes. This paper proposes an innovative method for connecting non-structural masonry walls using a spatially arranged mesh, which serves not only as reinforcement of the wall connection but also as reinforcement of the bed joints. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of this method in comparison with other connection techniques, including traditional solutions. Experimental investigations were carried out using an original test setup on 12 specimens made of AAC masonry units, divided into three series: series P—traditional connection (reference series), series H—connection with mesh placed in bed joints, and series SHP—connection with spatially arranged mesh. Silica Glass Mesh (SGM), intended for reinforcement of bed joints in AAC masonry, was used in the study. The experiments focused on the analysis of connection behavior and load-bearing capacity, with particular emphasis on maximum load values and failure mechanisms. Individual stages of the behavior of mesh-reinforced connections were identified, and empirical relationships enabling estimation of maximum loads were developed. The results confirmed that the traditional connection achieved the highest load-bearing capacity. However, as expected, the mesh-reinforced connections—particularly those with the spatial mesh arrangement—exhibited a more stable response and a greater ability for progressive load transfer. The SHP series connections with spatially arranged meshes exhibited significantly lower load-bearing capacity compared to the reference unreinforced connections, while at the same time demonstrating substantially greater deformability. The stiffness degradation in the mesh-reinforced connections did not occur abruptly, as observed in the reference models, which makes them an effective alternative for practical applications. Technical models for predicting forces and displacements of connections reinforced with spatially arranged meshes and meshes placed in bed joints were also developed. Full article

In this study, an exploratory transcriptomic investigation was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of using feather transcriptomics to detect sex differences and gene responses to physiological changes in chickens. Feathers represent a promising non-invasive biological source of RNA, as the feather pulp of growing feathers contains living cells capable of active transcription. Growing feathers were collected from 150-day-old male and female chickens (Bionda Piemontese, a slow-growing breed) raised under a free-range system and fed two finisher diets differing in lipid content: low-lipid (LL, ether extract 3.6%) and high-lipid (HL, ether extract 9.3%) diets. RNA was extracted from feather pulp, and 12 pools were subjected to whole RNA-Seq analysis. The study was designed as 2 × 2 factorial experiments investigating the effects of diet and sex on gene expression. A total of 17,360 transcripts were detected and used for downstream analyses. Differential gene expression and functional enrichment analyses were performed. The main effects of diet and sex were estimated with an additive design using the DEseq2 package, while for the sex-specific diet analyses, subgroup comparisons were conducted on the RaNA-Seq platform. The analysis of the main effect of diet reveals that three genes associated with ether lipid metabolism (PLA2G10, PLA2G4F, and ENPP6) were upregulated in chickens fed the HL diet. In roosters, HL feeding significantly altered the expression of APOA1 and SLC27A4, suggesting an effect on lipid transport and metabolic regulation within the PPAR signaling pathway. In contrast, hens showed differential expression primarily in pathways related to apelin signaling, extracellular matrix remodeling, and cardiovascular function, rather than classical lipid metabolism pathways; additionally, gene set enrichment analysis indicated a limited enrichment of linoleic acid metabolism, suggesting secondary involvement of lipid metabolic processes. These findings are consistent with those in the literature reporting sex-related differences between males and females. The results further suggest that transcriptomic responses to dietary lipid supplementation can be investigated through the expression of selected candidate genes in feather pulp. Among the genes identified, PLA2G10, PLA2G4F, ENPP6, APOA1, and SLC27A4 emerged as potential molecular markers associated with dietary treatment, and the importance of sex-dependent transcriptional responses was highlighted. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the potential of feather pulp as a viable source of RNA for transcriptomic analyses in live chickens, providing a minimally invasive alternative to conventional tissue sampling. These preliminary results also support the hypothesis that feathers represent a practical and ethically favorable tissue for future nutrigenomic and genetic improvement studies, ultimately supporting more sustainable poultry production. Full article

In recent years, artificial intelligence has brought significant changes in architectural practice. The possibilities associated with generating forms on various scales have prompted reflection on the role and contribution of the architect to the design process. An important element of these considerations is the quality of the results provided by algorithm that generate formal and design solutions, in this case apartment plans. This article aims to determine whether artificial intelligence design software, PlanFinder version from February 2026, which is significantly faster and more efficient in delivering finished plans than even the most skilled designers, can achieve a quality comparable to that of professional architects. Based on selected parameters that allow for an objective assessment of apartment plans, a comparative analysis was conducted between the designer’s work and the results of generative algorithm of the mentioned above software. Using case studies of completed residential projects, an assessment was made of whether and to what extent artificial intelligence can provide reliable support in automating the process of creating apartment layouts, whether it can be assigned specific tasks, or a hybrid approach involving post-production and correction of the results is required. The article which is an exploratory evaluation of early-stage PlanFinder outputs shows that, in spite of generating rapidness there are still significant flaws regarding building-code compliance. Full article

2-Ethylhexyl-4-methoxycinnamate (EHMC) is among the most widely adopted organic UVB filters in commercial sunscreens. Nevertheless, its practical application potential is limited by unfavorable formulation compatibility and safety risks stemming from systemic exposure after topical administration. In this study, an oil-continuous structured gel matrix consisting of EHMC, disteardimonium hectorite (DDH) and dextrin palmitate (DP) was constructed to enhance UVB photoprotection and modulate the plasma exposure profile of EHMC following topical application. Comprehensive characterizations including rheology, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, TGA and SEM collectively revealed that the combined incorporation of DDH and DP facilitates matrix structural rearrangement, enables EHMC to bind within the structured network, and promotes the formation of more intact continuous surface films. In vitro SPF assays demonstrated that the finished topical formulation SC-4 delivered superior UVB blocking efficacy compared with the EHMC-only control SC-1; furthermore, SC-4 exhibited improved short-term physical stability under the preset thermal and centrifugal acceleration test conditions. Follow-up skin safety assessments, mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) and pharmacokinetic assays verified that SC-4 elicited no remarkable acute skin irritation across all experimental conditions. Relative to SC-1, the reference formulation with EHMC as the sole UV filter, SC-4 displayed weaker EHMC-related distribution signals in skin tissues, accompanied by lower early plasma EHMC concentrations and a slightly lower AUC_0–48h trend. Collectively, these findings indicate that DDH/DP co-assembly serves as a viable matrix-structuring strategy to modulate EHMC-related skin distribution and early plasma exposure. Further research into UVA blocking performance, photostability, skin retention and transdermal permeation profiles, as well as long-term storage stability, is required to advance the development of broad-spectrum sunscreen formulations built on this novel matrix platform. Full article

This study evaluates regulated deficit irrigation (IR) and post-harvest dehydration (DH) as complementary strategies to mitigate extreme thermal stress on the red grape variety Avgoustiatis during the hot 2024 vintage. Analysis of the berries reveals that while IR significantly expanded vine productivity to 2.75 kg/vine compared to 1.32 kg/vine recorded in control vines (CO), it successfully maintained berry weight (240 g). Conversely, DH induced controlled water loss, reducing berry weight to 93 g and concentrating must sugars to 27.3 ^°Brix, relative to the 23.2 ^°Brix observed in IR. Crucially, both IR and DH prevented the thermal degradation of total acidity (6.73 g/L and 7.25 g/L respectively) which caused by heat stress in CO samples (6.21 g/L). In the finished wines, both practices increased colour intensity by lowering anthocyanin extractability. However, chemical profiling clearly differentiated the treatments with DH maximized skin tannins (164.7 mg/L), yielding highly structured, astringent wines characterized by plum aromas driven by elevated nerol content (492.91 μg/L). Conversely, IR wines presented a more complex volatile profile, boosting fruity and floral notes. In conclusion, as irrigation becomes increasingly restricted by water scarcity under climate change, post-harvest dehydration offers an effective alternative for producing premium, structurally dense red wines. Full article

Public health emergencies require spatial crowdsourcing platforms to finish urgent tasks while limiting unnecessary movement across regions. Most online task assignment studies focus on profit, travel distance, latency, task coverage, or service quality. However, isolation sensitive scenarios need a different assignment goal. In such scenarios, regional crossings should be directly controlled during worker–task matching. This paper studies an isolation sensitive online task assignment problem in spatial crowdsourcing. The service space is modeled as a regional adjacency graph. The matching objective combines cross-region movement cost, an urgency reward for delayed task completion, and a dummy no-assignment cost for carry-over decisions. To handle dynamic arrivals, a time-sliced online process is used. Unfinished tasks are carried over to later time slots, and the priority of each carried-over task increases with waiting time. Based on this framework, we design two algorithms. OnlineKM serves as the basic priority-aware online matching algorithm. OnlineKM builds a matching problem in each time slot and applies KM-based partial matching with the information currently available. OnlineARC further uses δ-balanced adaptive regional coarsening. OnlineARC merges adjacent regions according to recent supply–demand balance before matching. This step adjusts the regional granularity used for movement cost evaluation and helps keep assignments close to local regions when regional merging is suitable. Experiments are conducted using a real-world task locations dataset from a 2022 COVID-19-related scenario in Changchun, with simulated worker availability and online arrivals. The results show that the proposed methods usually reduce the combined assignment objective value under the tested settings. The service quality and movement control metrics show that OnlineARC reduces the cross-region assignment ratio and average hop distance while maintaining a high task completion rate under the representative setting. OnlineKM improves running efficiency through time-sliced matching, while OnlineARC provides a trade-off between adaptive coarsening cost and locality-aware movement cost evaluation. These results suggest that adaptive regional coarsening can serve as a practical heuristic for locality-aware online task assignment in isolation sensitive spatial crowdsourcing under suitable worker–task distributions. Full article

This study presents a simulation-assisted engineering framework intended to support comparative machining parameter selection for quartz sintered materials. The approach integrates CAD/CAM-based analysis, an illustrative Design of Experiments (DOE) framework, and preliminary experimental validation to improve process planning and machining quality. The analysis focuses on key technological parameters, including cutting speed (vc), feed rate (f), and depth of cut (ap), evaluated across cutting, milling, and finishing stages. The results indicate that feed rate is the dominant parameter influencing process stability, surface quality, and edge integrity. A practical transition region of approximately 1200 mm/min was identified, above which increased vibration, defect formation, and surface degradation occur. The complementary DOE analysis confirms the relative importance of process parameters and reveals interaction effects, particularly between feed rate and depth of cut, which significantly influence defect formation under high-load conditions. Preliminary industrial observations provide trend-oriented support for the simulation-predicted process behavior. Based on the integrated analysis, a preliminary technological operating region was identified (vc = 1080–1320 m/min, f = 800–1200 mm/min, ap = 0.5–1.0 mm), suggesting a practical compromise between machining efficiency and surface integrity. The proposed methodology provides preliminary engineering support for comparative process planning and defect-reduction-oriented parameter selection in the machining of brittle materials. The novelty of this work lies in the integration of CAD/CAM simulation, DOE-based interaction analysis, and experimental validation for supporting the identification of a practical technological operating region for machining brittle materials. The presented results should therefore be interpreted as engineering-oriented comparative process-planning guidelines rather than statistically generalized machining laws. The presented study should be interpreted as an exploratory simulation-assisted engineering investigation intended to support comparative process planning rather than as a fully experimentally validated machining model. Full article

The study aimed to determine the effect of blue lupin seeds (BLS) and rapeseed meal (RM) as substitutes for soybean meal (SBM) in feed mixtures for growing pigs on the quality of meat and health-promoting indices, and the quality of a model meat product. The experiment was performed with 20 growing pigs. The animals were divided into two groups (C—SBM; E—17.5% BLS and approx. 6.0% RM). In the first fattening period, the share of SBM was 2.0%, and in the second fattening period, its share was completely eliminated. The conducted experiment demonstrates no adverse effect of the feed mixtures containing BLS and RM on the chemical and physical parameters of pork and the finished product, which indicates their practical usability as feedstuff materials in the feeding of pigs. The improvement in dietary quality of pork, manifested in the slightly lower positive value for the meat color index L*, decrease in TI values (p = 0.093), and increased DFA:OFA value (p = 0.167), makes BLS and RM viable components of feed mixtures. Additionally, we found higher n-3 PUFA content (p = 0.001) in the meat from animals from group E, as well as lower cooking losses (p = 0.001). The satisfactory results of chemical analyses and consumer assessment prove the advisability of the use of protein substitutes for SBM in fattener feeding. Full article

Surface defects in additively manufactured internal channels limit their practical applications. Conventional post-processing methods suffer from limited accessibility and a tendency toward over-polishing, whereas magnetic abrasive finishing (MAF) offers high adaptability and precise process controllability. This study systematically investigates the material removal mechanisms in magnetic abrasive polishing and clarifies the distinctions and transitions between two-body and three-body wear modes. Based on these findings, a rolling removal model grounded in rough surface contact theory and a sliding removal model incorporating correction factors are established. Experiments were conducted on AlSi10Mg internal channels fabricated via selective laser melting (SLM) using a composite magnetic field polishing apparatus. The results verify the accuracy of the proposed models and demonstrate that the process effectively reduces surface defects and surface roughness. Although some deviations arise from model idealization and non-uniform magnetic field distribution, this study establishes a systematic theoretical framework for material removal in additively manufactured complex internal channels. Full article