Search Results (12,800)

This article provides an overview of modern surface engineering technologies used in the manufacturing of dental components, with a particular focus on dental implants, abutments, and crowns. The main objective of the study is to critically evaluate selected surface treatment and coating deposition methods applied to materials such as titanium, zirconia, hydroxyapatite, and NiTi alloys, and to discuss their relevance in terms of functionality, biocompatibility, and sustainability. The analyzed technologies include anodic oxidation, alkaline oxidation, electrochemical coating deposition, and other surface modification approaches aimed at improving osseointegration, corrosion resistance, and antibacterial performance. This literature review was conducted as a narrative review supported by the PRISMA framework, using the Scopus and Web of Science databases for the period 2016–2025. The findings highlight the increasing importance of surface treatments as a key factor influencing the durability and clinical success of dental implant systems. At the same time, the results indicate that the environmental aspects and energy efficiency of manufacturing and surface treatment processes are still addressed only marginally or qualitatively in the available literature. The identified research gaps include the lack of quantitative data on the energy demand of individual technologies, the absence of standardized indicators for environmental impact assessment, and the limited number of comparative studies evaluating different surface modification techniques in the context of dental manufacturing. Overall, the results emphasize the need for a more systematic sustainability assessment of surface engineering as an integral part of modern dental manufacturing practice. Full article

Against the backdrop of population aging, community parks are important spaces for older adults’ daily activities, and perceived safety plays a key role in shaping their use and spatial satisfaction. This study selected six typical community parks in central Beijing, constructed an indicator system for safety perception needs, and applied an analytical KANO–IPA (Integrated Kano and Importance-Performance Analysis) approach to identify the demand attributes and optimization priorities of safety elements. The results reveal a clear hierarchy in older adults’ safety perception needs. Basic environmental and facility safety factors, such as pavement conditions and facility reliability, function as must-be needs. Elements related to spatial visibility, circulation, lighting, and wayfinding act as one-dimensional needs that steadily influence satisfaction, whereas features including natural surveillance, spatial enclosure, and activity atmosphere mainly enhance spatial experience as attractive needs. Priority analysis further indicates that circulation conditions and facility safety constitute the most critical aspects for improvement. Overall, older adults’ safety perception in community parks results from the combined effects of multiple spatial factors. Hierarchical spatial optimization can enhance user experience and improve resource allocation efficiency. The findings provide theoretical support and decision-making guidance for safety-oriented planning and age-friendly renewal of urban community parks in aging societies. Full article

The increasing demand for energy and the continued reliance on fossil fuels pose important environmental and social challenges, particularly for rural and isolated communities in developing countries that lack reliable access to the grid. Gravitational water vortex turbines (GWVT) are a run-of-river technology for low-head and moderate-flow sites that can provide decentralized electricity without the construction of large reservoirs. The expected environmental impacts are lower; nevertheless, to increase acceptance by the community, there is a necessity to identify and analyze the potential environmental impacts of GWVT in all its life-cycle phases (installation, operation, maintenance, and dismantling). The present study applies the Conesa cause–effect matrix to identify, classify, and analyze the potential environmental impacts associated with GWVT phases. Key identified impacts include removal of vegetation coverage and site disturbance (−32), sediment dynamics alterations (−39), formation of a depleted stretch (−45), accidental releases of hazardous maintenance products (−42), and remobilization of retained sediments (−46). These impacts can produce habitat alteration and fragmentation and loss of ecological connectivity. The relevant significance of energy generation that can have multiple benefits in the local communities was also identified. Primary mitigation measures include the incorporation of environmental flows in the design, sediment management, and strict protocols for hazardous materials. The findings underscore the necessity to conduct site-specific baseline surveys to preserve environmental, socio-economic, and cultural conditions in the local ecosystem and communities. Full article

The wastewater generated during coffee processing contains high levels of acidity and organic matter, posing substantial environmental hazards, particularly in rural areas where traditional treatment methods are financially infeasible. This research assesses the field-scale effectiveness of Chrysopogon zizanioides (vetiver grass) in phytoremediation of coffee wastewater in Huánuco, Peru, with particular attention to how plant maturity affects treatment outcomes. A comparative analysis was performed on untreated and vetiver-filtered effluent from infiltration ponds at four growth stages (6, 8, 19, and 21 months), with measurements of pH, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅), and suspended solids (TSS, SS) conducted according to standardized methods. The findings indicate notable improvements in water quality, as the pH rose from 4.07 ± 0.32 to 5.82 ± 0.40 (p < 0.001) and organic loads decreased by 39–41% (COD: 38,600 ± 12,100 to 23,000 ± 8500 mg L⁻¹ O₂; BOD₅: 27,700 ± 9400 to 16,500 ± 5600 mg L⁻¹ O₂). Total Suspended Solids (TSS) were reduced by 26%, while the settleable suspended solids fraction (SS) decreased by 69%, indicating strong particulate removal through combined filtration and sedimentation mechanisms. Mature vetiver stands (21 months old) showed better results, underscoring the importance of root development for effective phytoremediation. Strong correlations were observed between COD and BOD₅ (r = 0.92), while pH negatively correlated with organic and particulate parameters. The study presents empirical evidence supporting vetiver-based systems as an economical and sustainable approach to decentralized wastewater treatment in coffee-growing areas. Furthermore, it provides actionable insights for improving phytoremediation by focusing on plant maturity, which can be readily adapted for large-scale implementation in resource-constrained settings. The findings underscore the potential of nature-based technologies to address environmental challenges while supporting local economies dependent on coffee production. Full article

The widespread deployment of service robots in domestic and professional environments demands structural solutions that simultaneously achieve high stiffness, low mass, and intrinsic safety. Traditional metallic structural designs face a fundamental physical conflict: achieving high stiffness typically results in excessive mass, which compromises operational safety and battery life. To solve this, this paper presents a critical review of an integrated lightweighting strategy combining material selection, structural design, and additive manufacturing for Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) service robot structures. Three critical findings are presented. First, specific stiffness is established as the governing criterion for material selection, providing a unified basis to resolve the stiffness–mass conflict. Second, among current 3D printing techniques, Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) with continuous-fiber reinforcement overcomes the geometric constraints of traditional molding, enabling the fabrication of complex, customized structures. Third, to realize the full potential of 3D-printed CFRP, we highlight the importance of integrating material properties (anisotropy), structural design (topology optimization), and manufacturing processes (path planning) into a concurrent framework. This integrated approach is validated through a collaborative robotic-arm case study, achieving a 30% reduction in structural mass. Full article

The increasing impact of climate change and resource scarcity demands energy-efficient and resource-conserving manufacturing strategies. Metal forming offers substantial potential for lightweight construction and material efficiency. Forming-induced ductile damage, particularly void nucleation and growth, is often neglected in component design. Industrial practice still relies mainly on macroscopic mechanical properties and safety factors, while microstructural damage evolution and its influence on fatigue performance are largely disregarded. This study investigates load-path-dependent fatigue behavior and damage mechanisms using axial and combined axial–torsional fatigue tests. Particular attention is given to the phase shift d between axial and torsional loading, which strongly affects fatigue life. The results indicate that axial loading dominates damage evolution, while load path interactions significantly change fatigue performance. A phase shift of d = 90° resulted in a significant increase in the number of cycles to failure, N_f, for different total strain amplitudes with the same rotational angle amplitude of θ = 10°. These findings highlight the importance of considering load-path-sensitive stress states in fatigue assessment of formed components. Fractographic analyses, AI-assisted 3D reconstruction, and confocal laser scanning microscopy support the experimental results. Full article

Hydrologic assessment within the Southeast United States is challenging, particularly in upstream basins, necessitating improved approaches to drought forecasting and water management. Within the Tennessee Valley, dense populations intensify the need for robust hydrologic management and predictive capabilities. This study integrates dendrochronological proxy data, hindcast information, and future climate projections from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to evaluate May–June–July drought regimes. Holistic hydrologic conditions were attained by integrating self-calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index data from the North American Drought Atlas, basin-scale precipitation data from ORNL hindcasts and future predictions, and streamflow data from United States Geological Survey. Development of precipitation and streamflow reconstructions were completed using Stepwise Linear Regression, then bias-corrected and temporally smoothed using five- and ten-year moving windows. The reconstructions demonstrated strong statistical skill across all three basins (Little Tennessee River, Nantahala River, South Fork Holston River). When compared only to the hindcast, future drought is predicted to be the most severe on record, but within the context of the paleo record, while still severe, these future droughts remain inside the natural variability envelope. Findings highlight the importance of novel approaches to long-term drought monitoring, specifically integrating basins where instrumental periods are limited, and water management demands are high. Full article

Educator well-being has become a critical concern in educational psychology, particularly under conditions of sustained job demands. This study, grounded in the JD–R model, examines how workload (job demand) and organizational justice (job resource) shape emotional exhaustion and intrinsic motivation, addressing a key gap in the literature regarding the underdeveloped role of intrinsic motivation as a personal resource capable of buffering the negative effects of chronic stressors. Using a cross-sectional survey of 254 educators in Lebanon, data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results supported the JD–R dual pathways: workload was positively associated with emotional exhaustion, whereas organizational justice was positively associated with intrinsic motivation. Crucially, by confirming its function as a buffer, intrinsic motivation significantly moderated the workload–exhaustion relationship, clarifying the ‘motivation paradox’ in this context by weakening the adverse impact of high workload on burnout. These findings extend the JD–R model by empirically demonstrating a resilience mechanism through which personal motivation mitigates strain. The study underscores the importance of organizational justice in cultivating intrinsic motivation and highlights the need for systemic, resource-oriented interventions to promote sustainable educator well-being in demanding educational contexts. Full article

Pondweeds, an important component of macrophyte vegetation, are influenced by various ecological factors of the aquatic ecosystem. In turn, pondweeds affect the nutrient and sediment dynamics and provide food and shelter for other organisms. As different species have specific environmental preferences and tolerances, they can serve as indicators of the ecological status of water bodies. Here, the ecological preference of the seven most frequent pondweeds in Croatia (Potamogeton berchtoldii, P. crispus, P. lucens, P. natans, P. nodosus, P. perfoliatus and Stuckenia pectinata) for chemical and physical water parameters was studied using 218 vegetation relevés and the accompanying water parameters. CCA revealed the main environmental gradients described by six parameters (chemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen and pH), while ecological responses of the species were further explored by GAMs. Potamogeton berchtoldii, P. lucens, P. natans and P. perfoliatus prefer clean, oxygenated, oligo- to mesotrophic water, and P. crispus and S. pectinata thrived in eutrophic water with low oxygen levels, while P. nodosus is a widespread generalist. The results of this study explain the distribution patterns of Potamogeton and Stuckenia species in Croatia, and add to the general knowledge on their role as bioindicators. Full article

The electricity supply system faces major challenges. The physical and social vulnerability of the monoculture of hierarchical, centralized systems urgently requires radical transformation of their organizational structures as well as their infrastructures. These transformations to low carbon are often characterized as ‘decentralization’. However, decentralization is a process that only signifies a move away from centralized models. This does not necessarily result in a decentralized architecture, but rather a model in which the dominance of ‘commercial private’ combined with ‘monopolistic public’ is replaced by cooperation and community. The research question is: what will be the design of future electricity grids after the transformation? The integration of distributed renewable resources and the growing need for resilience requires great diversity and flexibility from socio-technical smart grids. These involve digitization, enabling the transformation of power grids into networks of clustered, self-healing microgrids with distributed energy systems: generation, storage, transmission, demand response, and internal energy management. Several fundamentals of Common Pool Resources theory (Ostrom) on the analysis of sustainable management of natural resources are reviewed on their relevance: the Socio-Ecological System framework, distinct property regimes, the Polycentricity concept, and the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework. The transformation leads to ‘distributed’ rather than ’decentralized’ models. Governance no longer takes place from a single control point, but from many, spread across multiple levels, similar to ecosystems. End users play a key role and become partly coproducing prosumers. Governance is polycentric rather than decentral. The IAD provides as its most important condition that, at the legislative level, there must be minimum recognition of the right of ‘renewable energy communities’ to organize themselves as microgrids. This is immediately the biggest social acceptance challenge, as the current monoculture incorporates several lock-ins: incumbent powerful actors, centralized hierarchical control legislation, and obstructive market conditions, including taxing systems. Full article

The aim of this study is to identify the factors that shape the ability of producers in short food supply chains in Slovakia to utilize different types of distribution channels and to penetrate higher-demand markets. The analysis was based on a database compiled from a public SFSC platform, comprising 986 agri-food producers, 1434 points of sale, and 1908 producer–point of sale ties. The data were analyzed as a two-mode network using ERGM models. The results show that most producers remain tied to local direct sales, while access to more demanding channels and distant markets is concentrated among a small group of actors. The study shows that the functioning of SFSCs in Slovakia is strongly shaped by producer size, value added, and the form of production organization. Organic certification emerges as a key tool of product differentiation that enhances ability to access distant and urban markets, although its importance in a post-socialist context is highly dependent on market characteristics. Family farms are selectively able to supply distant markets, while cooperatives, despite their expected association with commodity-oriented production, are able to overcome capacity and logistical barriers within SFSCs, indicating the emergence of new collaborative structures and business models. Full article

Residential photovoltaic (PV)–battery systems are increasingly deployed to reduce electricity costs under time-of-use and demand-charge tariffs, yet their economic value depends critically on how storage is operated over time. Effective control must simultaneously address short-term energy costs, peak-demand exposure, and long-term battery degradation, all under substantial uncertainty in load and PV generation. While optimization-based approaches can achieve strong performance with accurate forecasts, they are sensitive to forecast errors, whereas learning-based methods often neglect degradation effects or deplete the battery prematurely, leading to suboptimal peak-shaving behavior. This paper proposes a forecast-free, degradation-aware reinforcement learning (RL) framework for residential PV–battery energy management that jointly addresses demand-charge mitigation and battery aging. The proposed controller internalizes both calendar aging and rainflow-based cycling degradation within its objective and incorporates demand-aware reward shaping with time-varying penalties on on-peak grid imports. In addition, a complementary state-of-charge reserve mechanism discourages premature battery depletion and improves responsiveness to late on-peak demand surges, despite the absence of explicit load or PV forecasts. Physical feasibility is guaranteed through an execution-time safety layer that enforces all device and operational constraints by construction. The proposed framework is evaluated on high-resolution residential datasets and compared against optimization-based baselines, including a day-ahead scheduler with perfect foresight and a receding-horizon MPC controller using short-horizon forecasts. Overall, the results show that the proposed RL controller substantially reduces demand charges and total electricity costs relative to forecast-based MPC while maintaining degradation-aware operation, demonstrating the potential of forecast-free reinforcement learning as a practical control strategy for residential PV–battery systems under demand-charge tariffs. Full article

Wetlands in semi-arid regions are critical for ecological resilience but are increasingly degraded. Ecological water consumption (EWC), reflecting wetland water demand, is essential for understanding wetland sustainability. This study investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of marsh wetland EWC in the Bashang Plateau, China, from 1986 to 2021, and identified its main driving forces. A Random Forest model was used to downscale GLASS evapotranspiration (ET) product from 0.05° to a 250 m monthly resolution, showing good agreement with flux measurements (RMSE = 21.94 mm, R² = 0.83). Marsh wetland EWC was estimated using the downscaled ET and land cover data, and Granger causality analysis was applied to explore driving mechanisms. Results indicate that the marsh wetland area declined by 74% (from 552.81 to 143.69 km²) while forestland expanded by 217%. Correspondingly, marsh wetland EWC decreased by 67.2%, from 125 to 41 million m³. Precipitation and surface water area were identified as direct drivers of marsh wetland EWC decline, whereas groundwater table, forest EWC, and cropland EWC acted as indirect drivers. While cropland water use has been widely reported as an important factor, results suggest that increased forest EWC associated with large-scale afforestation contributed considerably to groundwater table decline, thereby influencing marsh wetland EWC. Full article

Background: Contemporary models of parental burnout conceptualize it as an interplay between parental demands and insufficient resources. Though, research and current models remain sparse in their understanding of these demands and dynamics within the context of managing a child’s sleep wellness and related problems, which constitute a fundamental aspect in early parenting. The present work addresses this gap by examining this issue comprehensively. Methods: 2291 mother–child dyads were recruited from two sources: a random population sample (n = 1409) and a clinical sample (n = 882) of mothers seeking consultation for their child’s sleep issues (0–5 years old). Mothers completed an extensive panel of validated instruments and survey questions covering burnout and psychopathologies, sleep parameters, psychosocial, organizational, and demographic variables. Inferential analyses, regression modeling, cluster analysis, and mediation models were applied. Results: Two distinct profiles of parental burnout emerged: one associated with child sleep disturbances and the other with general parenting stress. The strongest-weighted risk factors pertained to maladaptive beliefs and perceptions (e.g., shame, “I am bad parent”, “My child cries because I do not meet his needs”), as well as additive stressors such as interparental tension and daytime child behavioral problems. The strongest protective factors involved resources that reduced parental demands or facilitated recovery including couple satisfaction, a consistent bedtime routine, greater capacity to take breaks (e.g., additional caregivers, father nighttime involvement, parental cohabitation, and child screen time). Conclusion: The identification of two distinct burnout profiles highlights the importance of incorporating, or placing more centrally, the management of young children’s insomnia in contemporary theoretical models of parental burnout. This research highlights the need for interventions on healthy self-beliefs and perceptions, effective daytime parenting strategies, positive couple dynamics, consistency in bedtime routines, and equitable distribution of caregiving responsibilities between parents to reduce the risk of parental burnout. Full article

As a ferrite material with excellent magnetic and dielectric properties, CoFe₂O₄ is in high demand for applications in areas such as wave absorption and magnetic storage. Effective regulation of its nanoscale morphology is central to improving application performance. Conventional synthesis methods often face challenges including poor particle dispersion and irregular morphology, which limit further optimization of material properties. In this study, a combined approach of microwave hydrothermal synthesis and annealing was employed to systematically investigate the effects of hydrothermal temperature, reaction time, and annealing parameters on the morphology and properties of CoFe₂O₄. The samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and other techniques. Experimental results show that process parameters exert a notable influence on the crystallinity, particle dispersibility, magnetic and wave-absorbing properties of CoFe₂O₄: the sample prepared by microwave hydrothermal treatment at 75 °C for 30 min exhibits relatively better wave-absorbing performance, with a minimum reflection loss of less than −30 dB and an effective absorption bandwidth covering 8~16 GHz; the sample treated at 100 °C for 15 min shows a more balanced magnetic performance, with the saturation magnetization approaching 60 emu/g. The quantitative structure–property relationships of pure-phase CoFe₂O₄ across microwave hydrothermal and post-annealing processes, and achieve stable, reproducible performance enhancements under optimized mild conditions. These results supplement key experimental data for the low-temperature preparation of CoFe₂O₄ and establish a practical, energy-efficient parameter framework for future structural design and process optimization of this important magnetic material. Full article