Search Results (539)

Teff [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] is attracting growing interest in Europe due to its nutritional qualities, gluten-free nature, and drought tolerance; however, its cultivation is hindered by its limited yield potential and the lack of authorised herbicides. This study evaluated chemical and mechanical weed-control strategies using two sowing methods to identify effective and sustainable solutions under central Italian conditions. Two field trials were conducted in 2023 and 2024 using a randomised block design. Post-emergence herbicides and mechanical control (split-hoe and finger-weeder) were assessed for weed suppression, crop selectivity, biomass production, and grain yield, comparing broadcast and wide-row sowing. The results showed that chemical control was the most effective option. The florasulam + fluroxypyr + pyroxsulam mixture achieved a nearly complete weed suppression with only mild and temporary phytotoxicity. Mechanical control provided a moderate and variable efficacy. The sowing pattern significantly influenced the crop performance: broadcast sowing reduced the weed competition and resulted in higher yields, whereas wide-row sowing led to a higher weed density and lower productivity. Despite the varying levels of infestation between years, teff maintained a remarkable competitive ability, with untreated plots often achieving acceptable yields. Integrating selective herbicides with appropriate sowing practices supports the development of efficient and sustainable weed-management strategies for teff cultivation. Full article

Rapid-hardening concrete is widely used for rapid repairs but can suffer from accelerated hydration, shrinkage-related cracking, and durability concerns. This study evaluates the feasibility of replacing cement with OLED waste glass powder (0–30%) in CSA-type rapid-hardening concrete as a low-impact repair material. Mixtures were prepared at a constant binder content (400 kg/m³) and water-to-binder ratio (0.425), and fresh properties (slump, air content, setting time) and mechanical performance (compressive and bond strength) were tested from 4 h to 56 d. Mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) and TG/DTG were additionally used to interpret changes in pore structure and hydration-related thermal indices. Increasing glass powder replacement improved workability but delayed setting. A 10% replacement (O-GP10) maintained 4 h compressive strength and showed slightly higher long-term strength and consistently higher long-term bond strength than the control, whereas 20–30% replacement caused pronounced strength loss due to dilution. MIP results indicated that O-GP10 suppressed large pores (>0.1 μm) and promoted a refined pore structure dominated by finer pores. TG/DTG trends were interpreted using temperature windows as comparative indicators, suggesting age-dependent bound-water development and a reduced apparent contribution in the Al-bearing-hydrate-related region for O-GP10. Overall, roughly 10% OLED waste glass powder is suggested for CSA rapid-hardening concrete to ensure early functioning while enhancing long-term bonding and microstructural stability. Full article

This work numerically examines the premixed combustion of partially cracked ammonia/air in a cavity-stabilized micro-combustor. Effects of the equivalence ratio (Φ) and inlet temperature (T_in) on the combustion features, flame–wall heat transfer and nitrogen-containing emissions are investigated quantitatively at a cracking ratio of 0.6. Results show that increasing Φ from 0.8 to 1.2 shifts the high-temperature region downstream and causes it to elongate axially. This spatial expansion decreases peak temperatures and distributes heat release over a longer distance. Mean wall temperature and overall heat loss are thus decreased due to weakened near-wall thermal interaction. NO formation closely follows the high-temperature and OH-rich zones. However, at Φ = 1.2, oxygen limitation suppresses NO production and redirects fuel-bound nitrogen towards N₂O, enhancing its outlet emissions. As T_in increases from 300 K to 500 K, the improved reactivity of the mixture promotes an upstream shift of the main reaction zone. The reaction zone becomes more concentrated within the cavity. Such structural changes intensify NO formation but simultaneously compress the high-temperature zone, which reduces the wall-averaged temperature and overall heat loss. In the extended downstream post-flame region, lower temperatures and limited radical activity suppress NO₂ formation and N₂O decomposition. As a result, NO₂ emissions decrease monotonically, while N₂O emissions exhibit a gradual increase. These findings provide useful insights into the effects of operating parameters on combustion stability, heat transfer and nitrogenous pollutant evolution in microscale partially cracked ammonia flames. Full article

Soil–steel interface shear governs load transfer and long-term serviceability in piles, retaining systems, and buried infrastructure; yet the large-displacement interface mechanics of fibre-reinforced sands remain poorly resolved, limiting sustainable design. This study couples large-displacement ring-shear testing with physics-guided hybrid AI to quantify and predict the peak and residual resistance of sand–polypropylene fibre mixtures sliding on smooth and rough steel. Two quartz sands with contrasting particle morphology were tested under 25–200 kPa normal stress and 0–1.0% fibre content, producing a design-oriented database that captures post-peak evolution and residual states. The experiments reveal a strongly nonlinear reinforcement law: an optimum fibre range enhances dilation, stabilises the shear band, suppresses post-peak softening, and increases residual strength, whereas excessive fibres disrupt the granular skeleton and reduce mobilisation efficiency. Roughness and confinement act as amplifiers, intensifying fibre-driven dilation and asperity interlock. To translate mechanisms into prediction, three strategies were benchmarked: a deep neural network (DNN), the Physics-Guided Neural Additive Model (PG-NAM++), and the physics-anchored Residual-DNN that learns only the correction to a mechanical baseline. Residual-DNN achieved the tightest agreement and the highest physical consistency for both peak and residual strength, enabling robust parameter selection with reduced uncertainty and overdesign. The combined experimental–AI framework advances the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by supporting SDG 9 through resilient, innovation-led infrastructure design and contributing to SDG 12 by enabling optimised (rather than maximal) use and reuse of reinforcement materials within circular ground-improvement practice. Full article

Wind noise is a pervasive and non-stationary form of interference in outdoor audio recordings, posing a significant challenge for speech enhancement systems. To address this problem, this paper proposes a speech separation-based wind noise reduction framework termed Dual-mask permutation-invariant training (DMPIT). Building upon the dual-masking concept, the key contribution of DMPIT lies in embedding the dual-mask structure within a permutation-invariant training (PIT) framework and reformulating the loss function to better align with speech-oriented noise reduction objectives. Specifically, two supervised masks are jointly optimized: a speech mask that directly estimates the target speech from the mixture and a noise mask that isolates the wind noise component. Assuming that the mixture consists solely of speech and wind noise, the training process computes the loss using both estimated components and the corresponding clean speech. Since wind noise is not a signal of interest, the estimated noise is subtracted from the mixture to obtain a residual speech signal, which is then used to refine the direct speech estimate. The final enhanced speech output is produced by fusing the direct and residual speech estimates through a weighted combination. The experimental results demonstrate that DMPIT consistently outperforms conventional single-mask and single-channel wind noise reduction methods in terms of speech quality and noise suppression. Full article

Formaldehyde (H₂CO) is a hazardous volatile organic compound widely present in indoor and industrial environments, and its real-time, highly sensitive detection is essential for environmental safety. However, existing detection techniques often face challenges in simultaneously achieving high sensitivity and long-term stability, and many conventional photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) systems rely strongly on low gas flow rates to suppress flow-induced noise, which limits their applicability for continuous online monitoring. In this work, an ultraviolet photoacoustic spectroscopy (UV-PAS)-based H₂CO detection system operating in a nitrogen (N₂) background is developed. The system integrates a compact differential photoacoustic cell (PAC) with a 320 nm ultraviolet laser source, in which the resonator length and buffer configuration are carefully optimized to enhance acoustic resonance and effectively suppress flow-related disturbances. Notably, a key innovation of this study is that the system maintains a stable photoacoustic response even under relatively high gas flow conditions. Experimental results demonstrate that at a flow rate of 250 sccm, the photoacoustic signal amplitude remains stable, and the noise level is well controlled, significantly reducing the dependence of conventional PAS systems on low-flow operation. The photoacoustic cell exhibits a resonant frequency of 1767 Hz and a quality factor of 46. Calibration using a 47.31 ppm H₂CO:N₂ gas mixture shows a good linear response with a correlation coefficient of R² = 0.98844. The minimum detection limit reaches 2.50 ppm at a 1 s integration time and is further improved to 88.1 ppb at an integration time of 2202 s based on Allan–Werle deviation analysis. These results demonstrate that the proposed UV-PAS system provides a sensitive, stable, and cost-effective solution for real-time trace H₂CO detection while retaining robust performance at elevated gas flow rates, highlighting its strong potential for practical applications. Full article

Non-thermal plasma is a promising technology for odor abatement from agricultural and domestic waste. However, its widespread application is often limited by the inherent trade-off between energy efficiency and processing capacity in conventional reactors. To address this challenge, we propose a novel multi-needle-to-cylinder dielectric barrier discharge reactor integrated with a deflector ring. By synergistically optimizing the electrode topology and modulating the flow field, this reactor achieves enhanced removal of complex ammonia–sulfur odor mixtures. The underlying mechanisms were elucidated through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations coupled with systematic performance evaluation. Experimental results demonstrate that an 8-needle electrode configuration provides the optimal balance between discharge density and energy efficiency. CFD simulations further reveal that the deflector ring effectively suppresses gas bypass and promotes recirculation vortices downstream, thereby extending the residence time significantly. Mechanistic studies indicate that the removal of recalcitrant inorganic sulfides (e.g., CS₂ and H₂S) follows a synergistic mass-transfer–reaction controlled process, which is markedly improved by flow field optimization. In contrast, organic sulfides are governed primarily by chemical kinetics and show little dependence on flow variations. Under an extremely short residence time of 0.57 s (corresponding to a flow rate of 2.0 m³/h) and an ultra-low specific energy input of 6.26 J/L, the system achieved nearly complete removal of organic sulfides. Even for challenging inorganic sulfides, removal efficiencies reached 80.9% for H₂S and 45.3% for CS₂, while O₃/NO_x/SO₂ byproducts were quantified. For industrial deployment, these byproducts can be managed by standard downstream polishing. By effectively coordinating discharge characteristics with flow dynamics, this study provides both theoretical insight and technical support for the development of next-generation, energy-efficient, high-throughput industrial odor control systems. Full article

Gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs), which combine the safety of solid electrolytes with the high ionic conductivity of liquid electrolytes, have long been regarded as ideal electrolyte materials. This study proposes a polymer/ceramics composite gel electrolyte aimed at improving the performance of lithium-ion batteries. A nanofiber membrane was fabricated by electrospinning a mixture of polyacrylonitrile and lithium-salt-grafted helical mesoporous silica nanoparticles, followed by plasticizer absorption to obtain the composite gel electrolyte film (PAN/SiO₂-Li). Experimental results indicate that this gel electrolyte membrane possesses high thermal stability, a wide electrochemical window (>5.3 V vs. Li/Li⁺), high room-temperature ionic conductivity (~4.4 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹), and a good lithium-ion transference number (0.72). In symmetric Li||Li cells, this electrolyte suppresses lithium dendrite growth and maintains stable lithium deposition/stripping. This work presents a practical electrolyte design strategy for developing GPEs with enhanced safety and performance. Full article

Surface defect detection is essential for industrial quality control, but obtaining reliable labeled data remains costly due to the need for expert annotation. Semi-supervised object detection (SSOD) mitigates this need by leveraging unlabeled data through pseudo-labeling. However, industrial surface imagery presents specific challenges, including texture-ambiguous, low-contrast backgrounds that cause foreground–background confusion and strong class-dependent detection difficulty, which renders global confidence thresholds ineffective, often yielding noisy and imbalanced pseudo labels. To overcome these limitations, we propose TaDP-Det, a semi-supervised detector that improves pseudo-label quality through dual enhancements in feature representation and label filtering. We first introduce a Texture Enhance Module (TEM), designed as a texture-aware patch-level mixture-of-experts applied at shallow backbone stages, which amplifies discriminative low-level texture cues to generate more reliable pseudo labels in ambiguous regions. Second, the class-wise dynamic pseudo-label filtering (CDPF) scheme uses lightweight 1D Gaussian mixture models to adaptively determine per-class thresholds, preserving challenging defects and suppressing spurious predictions. Comprehensive evaluations on the NEU-DET, GC10-DET, and PCB-DEFECT datasets show that TaDP-Det consistently outperforms state-of-the-art SSOD baselines in mean average precision (mAP) with only modest computational overhead. The results underscore the effectiveness of our method for robust semi-supervised defect detection in industrial applications. Full article

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous hematological malignancy with poor prognosis, frequent relapse, and treatment-related toxicity. The discovery of novel anti-leukemic agents with improved selectivity remains an urgent clinical need. In this study, rhizomes of Angiopteris evecta, a medicinal plant used in Thai traditional medicine, were collected from twelve locations in Thailand and extracted using solvents of increasing polarity. Among thirty-six crude fractional extracts, the ethyl acetate crude fractional extract from source No. 003 (AE EtOAc No. 003) exhibited the strongest cytotoxic activity against KG-1a and EoL-1 leukemic cell lines, with low toxicity toward normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Bioactivity-guided fractionation yielded the ternary mixture, a furanone-rich mixture dominated by 5-(1-hydroxyethyl)-dihydro-2-furanone. The ternary mixture inhibited leukemic cell proliferation by inducing apoptosis, causing cell cycle arrest, and downregulating WT1 expression in EoL-1 cells. Network pharmacology and molecular docking analyses implicated AKT1, MAPK signaling, apoptosis-related pathways, and WT1 as key molecular targets. In addition, AE EtOAc No. 003 and the ternary mixture suppressed TNF-α and IL-6 production in LPS-stimulated macrophages. Collectively, A. evecta-derived furanone compounds represent promising lead candidates for anti-leukemic drug development. Full article

Candida albicans is a major fungal pathogen associated with vulvovaginal candidiasis, and rapid, sensitive detection remains challenging, particularly in amplification-free formats. Here, we report NaPddCas, a microfluidic-free, droplet-based CRISPR/Cas12a detection strategy for qualitative identification of Candida albicans DNA. Unlike conventional bulk CRISPR assays, NaPddCas partitions the reaction mixture into vortex-generated polydisperse droplets, enabling spatial confinement of Cas12a activation events and effective suppression of background fluorescence. This compartmentalization substantially enhances detection sensitivity without nucleic acid amplification or microfluidic devices. Using plasmid and genomic DNA templates, NaPddCas achieved reliable detection at concentrations several orders of magnitude lower than bulk CRISPR/Cas12a reactions. The assay further demonstrated high specificity against non-target bacterial and fungal species and was successfully applied to clinical vaginal secretion samples. Importantly, NaPddCas is designed as a qualitative or semi-qualitative droplet-dependent digital detection method rather than a quantitative digital assay. Owing to its simplicity, sensitivity, and amplification-free workflow, NaPddCas represents a practical approach for laboratory-based screening of Candida albicans infections. Full article

Reducing fuel costs, maximizing waste utilization, and improving energy efficiency are critical challenges in agricultural thermal processes. This study addresses these issues by developing and evaluating a mixed-fuel burner and furnace system for steaming mushroom substrate cubes using crude glycerol and recycled vegetable oil as low-cost alternative energy sources. The experimental investigation assessed boiler thermal efficiency, combustion efficiency, exhaust-gas composition, temperature distribution, steam generation, and combustion-gas dispersion within the furnace. In parallel, analytical modeling of pressure, temperature, and gas-flow behavior was performed to validate the experimental observations. Five fuel compositions were examined, including 100% used vegetable oil, 100% crude glycerol, and blended ratios of 50/50, 25/75, and 10/90 (glycerol/vegetable oil), with all tests conducted in accordance with DIN EN 203-1 standards. The results demonstrate that blending used vegetable oil with glycerol significantly improves flame stability, increases peak combustion temperatures, and suppresses incomplete-combustion byproducts compared with pure glycerol operation. Combustion efficiencies of 90–99% and boiler thermal efficiencies of 72–73% were achieved. Among the tested fuels, the optimal balance between combustion stability, efficiency, and cost was achieved with a 25% glycerol and 75% used vegetable oil mixture. Economic analysis revealed that the proposed mixed-fuel system offers superior viability compared with LPG, reducing annual fuel costs by approximately 50%, shortening steaming time by 2 h per batch, and achieving a payback period of only 3.26 months. These findings confirm the feasibility of the proposed waste-to-energy system for small- and medium-scale agricultural applications. To further enhance sustainability and renewable fuel utilization, future work should focus on improving air–fuel mixing for higher glycerol fractions, scaling the system for larger farms, and extending its application to other agricultural thermal processes. Full article

The escalating threat of antibiotic resistance, particularly from Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), has become a critical challenge in both public health and animal husbandry. The extensive use of conventional antibiotics in livestock production accelerates the emergence of resistant strains, heightening risks to food safety and human health. Although plant-derived bioactive compounds are increasingly recognized as promising alternatives to synthetic antimicrobials, the mechanisms underlying their efficacy—and the potential for synergistic action among different plant parts—remain poorly understood. In particular, the antibacterial interactions among extracts from different tissues of Cyperus esculentus L. (C. esculentus), a plant rich in flavonoids and phenolics, have yet to be systematically evaluated. Here, we investigated the antibacterial properties and mechanisms of ethanol extracts from the tubers, stems–leaves and their mixture of C. esculentus against S. aureus. Using Oxford cup diffusion assays, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), bacterial growth kinetics, and untargeted metabolomics, we assessed both phenotypic inhibition and metabolic disruption. The mixed extract exhibited the strongest antibacterial effect, producing a 26.15 mm inhibition zone—approximately 7% greater than that of single-part extracts—and induced cell wall rupture and disintegration as observed by SEM. Growth curve analyses revealed time-dependent bacterial suppression, while metabolomic profiling identified 845 differential metabolites, indicating disturbances in amino acid, lipid, and nucleotide metabolism. Flavonoids such as acacetin, diosmetin, naringenin, and silybin A were identified as principal active compounds contributing to these effects. Full article

Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation was performed using the eddy-dissipation concept coupled with detailed hydrogen oxidation kinetics and a reduced two-step methane mechanism for a newly proposed W-shaped radiant tube burner (RTB). The effects of the hydrogen volume fraction (0–100%) and excess air ratio (0%, 10%, 20%) on the flame morphology, temperature distribution, and NO_X emissions are systematically analyzed. The results deliver three main points. First, a flame-shape transformation was identified in which the near-injector flame changes from a triangular attached mode to a splitting mode as the mixture reactivity increases with the transition occurring at a characteristic laminar flame speed window of about 0.33 to 0.36 m/s. Second, NO_X shows non-monotonic behavior with dilution, and 10% excess air can produce higher NO_X than 0% or 20% because OH radical enhancement locally promotes thermal NO pathways despite partial cooling. Third, a multi-parameter coupling strategy was established showing that hydrogen enrichment raises the maximum gas temperature by roughly 100 to 200 K from 0% to 100% H₂, while higher excess air improves axial temperature uniformity and can suppress NO_X if over-dilution is avoided. These findings provide a quantitative operating map for balancing stability, uniform heating, and NO_X–CO trade-offs in hydrogen-enriched industrial RTBs. Full article

The tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), is one of the most destructive pests of tomato crops worldwide. Its high reproductive potential and increasing resistance to conventional insecticides have made the development of sustainable management strategies essential. Biological control using entomopathogenic fungi (EPF), particularly when established as endophytes, has emerged as a promising approach. This study investigated the endophytic colonization capacity and greenhouse performance of three commercially available EPF formulations: Beauveria bassiana (Velifer^®), Lecanicillium lecanii (Lecan^®), and a Beauveria bassiana–Metarhizium anisopliae mixture (Metab^®), for the suppression of T. absoluta in tomato. Our experiment was conducted under commercial greenhouse conditions using soil drench applications at manufacturer-recommended doses. Endophytic colonization was assessed through surface-sterilized leaf assays, while pest suppression was evaluated via weekly measurements of larval mine length, infestation incidence, and survival dynamics. B. bassiana (Velifer^®) exhibited the highest endophytic colonization frequency and consistently reduced mine length and infestation levels compared with untreated plants. Survival analysis using Cox proportional hazards revealed significant reductions in infestation risk for Velifer^® (hazard ratio, HR = 0.420), Metab^® (HR = 0.480), and Lecan^® (HR = 0.599), relative to the negative control, whereas the chemical positive control provided the strongest overall suppression (HR = 0.287). Our findings demonstrate that commercial EPF formulations can significantly reduce T. absoluta infestation under greenhouse conditions and represent a valuable component of integrated pest management programs. Full article