Search Results (658)

This paper presents the design and implementation of an IoT-based automation system for indoor hydroponic plant cultivation using the Nutrient Film Technique. The system employs an ESP32-based controller with multiple sensors and actuators. These enable real-time monitoring and control of pH, TDS, temperature, humidity, light, tank level, and flow conditions. A modular five-layer architecture was developed. It combines the MING stack, which includes MQTT communication, InfluxDB time-series storage, Node-RED flow processing, and Grafana visualization. The system also includes a Flutter-based mobile app for remote access. Key features include temperature-compensated calibration, hysteresis-based control algorithms, dual-mode operation, TLS/ACL security, and automated alarm mechanisms. These features enhance reliability and safety. Experimental results showed stable pH/TDS regulation, dependable actuator and alarm responses, and secure long-term data logging. The proposed open-source and low-cost platform is scalable. It provides a solution for small-scale producers and urban farming, bridging the gap between academic prototypes and production-grade smart agriculture systems. In comparison to related works that mainly focus on monitoring, this study advances the state of the art. It combines continuous time-series logging, secure communication, flow verification, and integrated safety mechanisms to provide a reproducible testbed for future smart agriculture research. Full article

Amid growing “nature deficit” associated with urbanization and indoor living, flowering plants are increasingly used to support psychological restoration. Yet evidence on how floral color and structural morphology jointly shape restorative outcomes remains limited. This study employed a within-subjects, repeated-measures design, utilizing physiological instruments and psychological questionnaires to investigate the physiological and psychological restorative benefits of Hydrangea macrophylla and to quantify the differences in restorative effects across five colors (blue, pink, white, mauve, red), two inflorescence types (mophead, lacecap), and two petal structures (single, double). Twenty-eight healthy young adults viewed 15 live hydrangea stimuli under controlled laboratory conditions. Multimodal outcomes combined objective measures—eye-tracking and single-channel EEG—with subjective measures (SD; POMS). Hydrangea exposure significantly reduced negative mood, and color and structure exerted distinct and interactive effects on visual attention and arousal. Red and mauve elicited larger pupil diameters than white and pink, while lacecap inflorescences were associated with lower cognitive load and improved attentional recovery relative to mophead. Double-petaled forms showed greater attentional dispersion than single-petaled forms. Interactions indicated that morphology modulated color effects. The mauve lacecap double-flowered cultivar (M02) showed the strongest observed restorative potential within this sample. These findings highlight the importance of integrating color and structural cues when selecting flowering plants for restorative environments and horticultural therapy, and they motivate field-based replications with broader samples and higher-density physiology. Full article

The present study systematically explored the purification effects and response of submerged plants, Ceratophyllum demersum and Myriophyllum spicatum, on toxic and non-toxic strains of Microcystis aeruginosa via indoor co-culture experiments. The results showed that: (1) Both plants significantly inhibited the growth of Microcystis and reduced the concentration of chlorophyll-a (Chla) in the water by rapidly absorbing nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, with no significant differences in the inhibition between toxic and non-toxic strains, indicating that nutrient competition might be the dominant mechanism for algal suppression. (2) C. demersum had higher nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiency than M. spicatum, but the microcystins (MCs) released by toxic M. aeruginosa inhibited the nutrient removal capacity of both plants. (3) The plants promoted cell lysis of toxic M. aeruginosa and reduced extracellular MCs in the water while accumulating MCs internally, with C. demersum showing stronger MC accumulation and removal ability. (4) Microcystis stress activated the plants’ antioxidant defense systems, increased activities of SOD (Superoxide Dismutase) and CAT (Catalase), and caused membrane lipid peroxidation, increased content of MDA (Malondialdehyde), with toxic M. aeruginosa inducing stronger oxidative stress, and M. spicatum being more severely affected. (5) Plant species and algal toxicity jointly drove changes in the attached microbial community structure. The rhizosphere of M. spicatum specifically enriched Bdellovibrionota, suggesting a potential microbial predation pathway for algal suppression, while C. demersum was more associated with Bacillus and other microbes with allelopathic potential. In summary, C. demersum performed better in nutrient removal, toxin accumulation, and physiological tolerance. This study provides further theoretical support for using submerged plants to regulate cyanobacterial blooms and remediate eutrophic water bodies. Full article

Accurate cooling load forecasting in high-efficiency chiller plants with ice storage systems is essential for intelligent control, energy conservation, and maintaining indoor comfort. However, conventional forecasting methods often struggle to model the complex nonlinear dependencies among influencing variables, limiting their predictive performance. To address this, this paper introduces Time-LLM, a novel time series forecasting framework that leverages a frozen large language model (LLM) to improve the accuracy and generalization of cooling load forecasting. Time-LLM extracts features from historical data, reformulates them as natural language prompts, and uses the LLM for temporal sequence modeling; a linear projection layer then maps the LLM output to final predictions. To enable lightweight deployment and improve temporal feature prompting, we propose ETime-LLM, an enhanced variant of Time-LLM. ETime-LLM significantly reduces deployment costs and mitigates the original model’s response lag during trend transitions by focusing on possible turning points. Extensive experiments demonstrate that ETime-LLM consistently outperforms or matches state-of-the-art baselines across short-term, long-term, and few-shot forecasting tasks. Specifically, in the commonly used 24 h forecasting horizon, compared with the original model, ETime-LLM achieves an approximately 17.3% reduction in MAE and a 19.3% reduction in RMSE. It achieves high-quality predictions without relying on costly external data, offering a robust and scalable solution for green and energy-efficient HVAC system management. Full article

Climate change or even the natural occurrence of periods of low suitability for the production of forage species are obstacles to maintaining adequate animal nutrition. Indoor green fodder production is an alternative to this problem; however, advances in technologies capable of improving this system still need to be studied in depth. The objective of this study was to evaluate the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of hydroponic green fodder production of millet and sorghum under varying monochromatic light supplementation and nicotinamide application. Eight treatments were defined by lighting (LS—Led Full Spectrum; LS + Ultraviolet LED; LS + Red LED; LS + Blue LED), and combined with the application of nicotinamide (with and without) at a concentration of 200 mg L⁻¹. Cultivation under conditions of light supplementation with UV radiation or monochromatic lights results in increased light intensity by modifying the wavelength spectrum received by the plant, modification of the quality of photons received in relation to the energy level that leads to luminous stress and, consequently, lower green fodder development concerning height and fresh mass. Nicotinamide acts as a bioprotectant, attenuating the stressful effects and enabling greater productive efficiency in the production of hydroponic green fodder, particularly in vertical cultivation, which provides increased height and fresh mass for millet and sorghum green fodder. In contrast, the stress resulting from light supplementation can be used as a tool to increase carotenoid levels in plants and may be indicated for production systems that have this objective for biofortification of forages with bioactives with antioxidant effects. Full article

This paper presents the design of an autonomous robot guide for a museum-like environment in a motorcycle assembly plant. The system integrates Industry 4.0 technologies such as artificial vision, indoor positioning, generative artificial intelligence, and cloud connectivity to enhance the visitor experience. The development follows the Design Inclusive Research (DIR) methodology and the VDI 2206 standard to ensure a structured scientific and engineering process. A key innovation is the integration of mmWave sensors alongside LiDAR and RGB-D cameras, enabling reliable human detection and improved navigation safety in reflective indoor environments, as well as the deployment of an open-source large language model for natural, on-device interaction with visitors. The current results include the complete mechanical, electronic, and software architecture; simulation validation; and a preliminary implementation in the real museum environment, where the system demonstrated consistent autonomous navigation, stable performance, and effective user interaction. Full article

Ultraviolet-A light-emitting diode (UVA-LED) irradiation is an emerging technology for biofortifying plants with enhanced nutraceuticals. This study firstly investigated effects of various doses (0-control, 16, 32, 48 J/cm²) on Chinese cabbage microgreens (CCM) quality, identifying 32 J/cm² as the suitable dose for improving total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of CCM. Based on this dosage, the following two irradiation patterns were compared: single irradiation (SI, single pulse of 32 J/cm²) and fractionated irradiation (FI; four pulses of 8 J/cm² each). Both FI and SI significantly enhanced CCM quality, though through distinct mechanisms. FI effectively promoted accumulation of biomass and vitamin C, with increases by 9.25% and 13.20%, respectively. Meanwhile, SI markedly enhanced 20.90% higher TAC than FI. This was achieved by elevating enzymatic (7.71% superoxide dismutase-SOD, 9.03% peroxidase-POD, 40% catalase-CAT, and 52.17% ascorbate peroxidase-APX) and non-enzymatic (18.89% total phenolics-TPC, 10.04% total flavonoids-TF, and 18.99% carotenoids) antioxidants. Additionally, both FI and SI significantly reduced the nitrate content. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate the effect of UVA-LED irradiation pattern on microgreens quality. These findings provide basic information for UVA-LED application in indoor agriculture and the food industry, emphasizing the importance of strategically selecting irradiation patterns to achieve specific production goals. Full article

Industrial workplaces, especially in vulnerable, hot, and arid developing countries, face major challenges in maintaining indoor comfort conditions due to the escalating problem of global temperature rise. This study investigates passive scenarios of adaptive retrofitting for a case study carpet and rug industrial plant in Cairo, Egypt to achieve indoor comfort conditions and energy efficiency. The research method included a Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) for the operational phase of individual work units through measurements and simulations to investigate indoor thermal, visual, and acoustic comfort conditions as well as air quality concerns. Thus, the study presents a set of recommendations for building unit(s) and collectively for the entire facility by applying integrated application of building envelope enhancements; optimized opening design, thermal wall insulation and high-albedo (reflective) exterior coatings for wall and roof surfaces. Comparing the modified case to the base case scenario shows significant improvements. Thermal comfort achieved a 16% to 33% reduction in discomfort hours during peak summer, primarily through a 33% increase in air flow velocity and better humidity control. Visual comfort indicated improvements in daylight harvesting, with Daylighting Autonomy increasing by 47% to 64% in core areas, improving light uniformity and reducing glare potential by decreasing peak illuminance by approximately 25%. Thus, the combined envelope and system modifications resulted in a 60 to 80% reduction in monthly Energy Use Intensity (EUI). The effectiveness of the mitigation measures using acoustic insulation was demonstrated in reducing sound pollution transferring outdoors, but the high indoor sound levels require further near-source mitigation or specialized acoustic treatment for complete success. Eventually, the research method helps create a mechanism for measuring and controlling indoor comfort conditions, provide an internal baseline or benchmark to which future development can be compared against, and pinpoint areas of improvement. This can act as a pilot project for green solutions to mitigate the problem of climate change in industrial workplaces and pave the way for further collaboration with the industrial sector. Full article

Food security and supply networks are becoming an ever-increasing concern requiring innovative practices to deal with the contributing factors. Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) offers an alternative to conventional cropping systems for increasing the yields of certain produce types. Crop yields (tons/hectare/year) in CEA are reported to range between 10 and 100 times higher than open-field agriculture, and the water use in CEA is typically about 4.5–16% of that from conventional farms per unit mass of produce. However, these systems can be energy intensive due to temperature regulation requirements, compromising their environmental and economic viability. Energy is the second largest overhead cost in CEA with carbon footprints being reported as 5.6–16.7 times and 2.3–3.3 times greater than that of open-field agriculture for indoor vertical farms and greenhouses, respectively. This can be offset, in part, by reducing the reliance on cooling systems. However, high temperature stress negatively impacts crops at morphological, cellular, metabolic, and molecular levels, reducing produce quality and quantity. Biostimulants are additives which can benefit plant growth through ameliorating stress. This review considers recent research on the effects of heat stress on a variety of crops commonly grown in CEA and the categories of biostimulants that have known thermoprotective qualities. Seaweed extracts, chitin/chitosan, protein hydrolysates and amino acids, inorganic compounds, beneficial microorganisms, and humic substances are explored, alongside the known benefits, limitations, and knowledge gaps. Full article

Climate change poses significant threats to forest ecosystems, with drought stress being a major factor affecting tree growth and survival. The accurate and early diagnosis of plant water status is, therefore, critical for advancing climate-smart forestry. However, traditional monitoring approaches often rely on single-sensor data or manual field surveys, limiting their capacity to comprehensively capture the complex physiological and structural dynamics of plants under water deficit. To address this gap, this study developed an indoor multi-sensor phenotyping platform, based on a three-axis mobile truss system, which integrates a hyperspectral camera, a thermal infrared imager, and a LiDAR scanner for coordinated high-throughput data acquisition. We further propose a novel hybrid model, the Whale Optimization Algorithm-based Multi-Kernel Extreme Learning Machine (WOA-MK-ELM), which enhances classification robustness by adaptively fusing hyperspectral and thermal features within a dual Gaussian kernel space. We use Perilla frutescens as a model species, achieving an accuracy of 93.03%, an average precision of 93.11%, an average recall of 94.04%, and an F1-score of 0.94 in water stress degree classification. The results demonstrate that the proposed framework not only achieves high prediction accuracy but also provides a powerful prototype and a robust analytical approach for smart forestry and early warning systems. Full article

The indoor environment of buildings is of fundamental importance for the health of people and other living organisms residing in them. From this perspective, key factors include indoor temperature, relative humidity and the concentration of CO₂ or other pollutants. These healthy indoor conditions are typically maintained through functional heating and ventilation systems. However, in the case of indoor humidity, increasing moisture levels when they are low can be relatively challenging. There are more energy-efficient solutions that can be combined with ventilation systems. These include, for example, placing plants and green walls in the interior, which have a significant impact not only on microclimatic and acoustic conditions of the interior, but also on the overall psychological well-being of occupants. Green elements contribute to the effective regulation of CO₂ and certain other harmful substances within the indoor environment. Another possible solution involves the use of sorption-active materials in the form of cladding panels—elements capable of functioning as indoor regulators, i.e., absorbing moisture and releasing it back into the indoor environment when necessary. This study investigates the moisture behavior of natural composites based on montmorillonite clay and straw fibers, as well as their possible integration with green elements to create healthy indoor conditions for their inhabitants. The developed clay composite can be classified as water and steam absorption class WSIII according to DIN 18948—the moisture buffering capacity value was 152.73 g/m² after 12 h. Based on the research results, it can be stated that these composites could serve as interior cladding elements in synergy with green elements (Chlorophytum comosum, Epipremnum aureum), ideally regulating the indoor microclimatic conditions, especially as an effective solution for short-term humidity changes. The maximum difference in relative humidity between the reference testing chamber (without green elements and clay plates) and the chamber containing plant Chlorophytum comosum and three clay composite plates was 23.04%. Full article

This study examines the morphological growth and metabolic responses of two Camassia leichtlinii cultivars, ‘Alba’ and ‘Caerulea’, cultivated under three contrasting systems: open field, outdoor pots, and greenhouse (indoor pots). Morphological parameters, including leaf number, scape development, and bulb biometric traits, were assessed over two consecutive growth seasons. Parallel GC–MS metabolite profiling identified 38 major compounds encompassing sugars, fatty acids, amino acids, and organic acids. Principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering (HCA) effectively discriminated samples by cultivation condition, cultivar, and plant maturity. Environmental factors accounted for the largest share of metabolic variation (61%), followed by genotype (28%) and plant age (6%). The cultivar ‘Caerulea’ exhibited greater biomass accumulation and broader metabolic variability under greenhouse conditions, while ‘Alba’ maintained consistently high sucrose and glutamine levels across environments. Notably, the greenhouse environment, although strongly promoting primary metabolite accumulation, suppressed scape initiation and flowering in both cultivars, indicating a trade-off between metabolic enhancement and reproductive development under controlled conditions. These findings highlight differential adaptive strategies among Camassia cultivars and provide molecular insights into their carbohydrate metabolism, environmental responsiveness, and potential nutritional and phytochemical applications under diverse horticultural conditions. Full article

Straw return is a potential practice for adsorbing salt and retaining moisture in saline–alkali soils. However, adverse climate conditions such as prolonged drought and cold winters shorten the effective structural turnover of returned straw biomass in soils. Furthermore, the rigid crystalline cell walls and recalcitrant lignin components of undecomposed plant residues lower the adsorption capacity towards salt. Here, we report the pretreatment of neutral oxalic acid to destroy the dense crystalline structure of cotton straw cellulose. Through laboratory experiments, combined with the changes in the structural and chemical properties of cotton straw, the optimal oxalic acid pretreatment (OAC) conditions were determined. Subsequently, the application effectiveness of OAC was evaluated via pot experiments and field trials. The optimal conditions of OAC were 0.2% dosage, 60 °C, and 24 h, displaying a maximum increase in salt absorption and water retention capacities of cotton straw materials, through exposing the hydroxyl network of cellulose and chemically hydrolyzing recalcitrant lignin. In the indoor potted plant experiments, the feasible application of oxalic acid pretreatment can be regarded as an active barrier, increasing soil moisture by 16–43% and reducing total salts by 23–26% in the topsoil (0–20 cm) within a 45-day laboratory incubation. Additionally, the OAC pretreatment had negligible adverse impacts on soil microbial communities. Moreover, some plant-beneficial microbes (e.g., Sphingomonadaceae and Gemmatimonadaceae) were stimulated, with their relative abundance increasing by 26–40% and 27–63%, respectively. Ultimately, under the pretreatment of oxalic acid-modified cotton straw salt-absorbing water-retention agent (OAC-SR), cotton seedling emergence rates, plant height, and biomass all increased to varying degrees across different concentrations of saline–alkali soil (0.05–1.0%) in the field. Then OAC-SR can be potentially applied to the process of cotton straw return to facilitate the turnover of straw structure in soil, enhance the salt-adsorption and water-retention capacities of returned straw, and provide a low-salt microenvironment for crop growth. This study demonstrates a further low-carbon and in situ applicable route to accelerate the destruction of cotton straw structure, thereby alleviating crop salt damage and promoting the green circular development of saline–alkali soil remediation. Full article

This study examined residents’ perceptions, preferences, and experiences of urban green spaces in four regional units of the Region of Attica—West Athens, Central Athens, South Athens, and Piraeus—demonstrating how demographic diversity, urban morphology, and external stressors—such as extreme heat and the COVID-19 pandemic—shape green space use. The results show that, while green spaces are essential for health, well-being, and social cohesion, their distribution is uneven, which limits their availability (27.3%) and access (21.8%) to residents. Main concerns expressed by residents when visiting green spaces and open green spaces are poor maintenance (50.7%), lack of security (36.7%), and socially irresponsible behaviour (e.g., littering, vandalism) (32.8%). Extreme heat emerged as a major constraint on outdoor activities, particularly affecting women and the elderly. Household-associated outdoor areas (balconies, courtyards, and verandas) were highly valued (59.8%), highlighting the role of private green spaces in dense urban environments. Major metropolitan parks were the most visited and valued by residents for providing contact with nature (23.0%) and benefiting from stress relief (54.0%) while practicing their favourite activity, though their use was limited during heatwaves (30.3% of the residents do not visit). Most activities during and after the COVID-19 pandemic were reported unchanged, though reported increases in walking (34.3%) and park visits (28.3%) demonstrate the importance of green spaces in fostering urban resilience. However, the reported lack of engagement in gardening (48.0%), indoor plant care (41.2%) and bird/wildlife watching (58.3%) suggest missed opportunities for ecological and cultural enrichment. Overall, the study underscores the urgent need for integrated planning strategies to improve accessibility, maintenance, and equity in green space provision. By aligning with the sustainable development goals, the four regional units of the Region of Attica can transform its green infrastructure into an inclusive, resilient system that supports public health, social inclusion, and climate adaptation. Full article

Airport environment often exposes passengers to stress, negatively impacting health and wellbeing. This study links plant visibility to passenger stress in Jakarta Terminal 3, applying the Stimulus-Organism-Response model to address a gap in airport research. The mixed methods included a combination of questionnaires (N = 104) and field observations. Statistical and behavioural analyses triangulated the findings. Respondents exhibit positive attitudes towards plants: 78% prefer lush images and 88% agree that seeing plants reduces stress. At the stimulus stage, awareness is high (86%), but visibility varies by zone. Stress levels peak at baggage claim (49%) and other processing areas. At the organism level, visibility is linked to stress only at arrival, with results suggesting that passengers who did not see plants are 4.57 times more likely to have high stress. At the response stage, results suggest that stress is not associated with dwell time, activities, or plant demand. However, those who see plants are 2.21 times more likely to request planting. The findings suggest prioritising plant visibility over volume, highlighting the need for broader scope and diverse data types in future research to yield more robust conclusions. Full article