Search Results (15,793)

Hospital gardens are increasingly recognized as therapeutic environments; however, many Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) studies remain limited to perception-based assessments without explicitly linking spatial characteristics to user experience. This study develops an evidence-based evaluation framework integrating spatial analysis with user-centered data. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining systematic observations, spatial mapping, and a structured short-form questionnaire administered to 350 users. The study area was classified into three micro-climatic zones—hot, moderate, and cool/shaded—based on solar exposure, vegetation density, and surface characteristics. User experience was evaluated through composite indices of comfort, satisfaction, and perceived restorativeness (Cronbach’s α = 0.83). The results indicate a clear spatial gradient: mean comfort scores increased from 2.8 in hot zones to 3.5 in moderate zones and 4.2 in cool/shaded areas. These differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05) and supported by meaningful effect sizes (Cohen’s d). Furthermore, multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that natural components—specifically mature vegetation and clean air—are strongly associated with psychological recovery (β = 0.54, p < 0.001). Spatial analysis also revealed a mismatch between design configuration and environmental performance. The findings provide a transferable, spatially grounded framework for optimizing therapeutic landscapes in healthcare settings. Full article

Agricultural intensification has led to landscape homogenization and the widespread loss of semi-natural habitats, contributing to biodiversity decline in agroecosystems. Semi-natural areas embedded within croplands may mitigate these effects by acting as reservoirs and steppingstones for species providing ecosystem services such as pollination. We assessed the role of remnants of semi-natural habitats in sustaining the diversity and abundance of nocturnal Lepidoptera within a Mediterranean vineyard landscape (southern Italy) using monthly light trap sampling over almost one year. Assemblages were compared between vineyards and adjacent semi-natural patches. Multivariate analyses revealed marked differences in community composition between semi-natural habitat types. Species richness was consistently higher in semi-natural habitats, even when represented by small residual patches. Vineyard assemblages were characterized by reduced richness and a predominance of generalist species with high dispersal ability, indicating a simplified community structure. Nevertheless, some taxa of biogeographical interest were recorded. These findings demonstrate the importance of semi-natural habitats in maintaining nocturnal Lepidoptera diversity in vineyard-dominated landscapes and support their integration into sustainable agricultural management to enhance biodiversity conservation and the provision of ecosystem services. Full article

Capacitive sensing offers a low-power, non-optical route for automated insect monitoring, but architecture-level benchmarking under shared geometry remains limited. Rather than presenting a general framework, this study proposed a configuration-specific laboratory benchmark comparing four sigma-delta and charge-transfers in a 6 mm dual-arc conduit at 25 °C, targeting six adult terrestrial arthropod species spanning a 25-fold range of the body cross-sectional area. Static measurements showed a strong linear relationship between ΔC_static and body cross-sectional area (17.96 fF/mm², r = 0.995), supporting first-pass conduit sizing and detectability screening. In contrast, transit amplitudes were not monotonic with body size because posture, motion, and gap occupancy affected waveform shape. Under chamber conditions, static sensitivity degraded by less than 3.2% across all architectures from RH 40% to 80%. However, under the deployment-oriented noise model, SNR_FR degradation was substantially higher for charge-transfer devices (64.8–66.8%) than for Σ–Δ devices (≤35.5%), because the composite noise floor amplifies the effect of humidity-induced baseline drift. These results generated a conduit-specific reference dataset for preliminary capacitance-to-digital converter (CDC) selection within the tested 6 mm dual-arc geometry. In addition, the experimental validation focused on laboratory baseline noise characterization, long-term drift, and trap-integrated testing in temperature-controlled environments and natural-locomotion trials, providing critical information on configuration-specific architectures and body-size-scaling reference. This study serves as an initial step toward real-world capacitive insect sensing. Future studies will investigate additional conduit geometries and insect species to improve the robustness of the proposed framework. Full article

Turnera subulata is traditionally used to treat inflammatory and infectious conditions; however; its biological activities remain incompletely characterized. In this study, aqueous (AETS) and hydroethanolic (HETS) extracts obtained from the aerial parts (leaves, stems, and flowers), as used in traditional infusions, were compared regarding physicochemical composition, redox behavior, cytotoxicity, immunomodulatory, and antimicrobial activities. HETS showed significantly higher phenolic content (2555.96 ± 43.55 mg GAE/100 mL) compared to AETS (1269.54 ± 20.60 mg GAE/100 mL) and exhibited stronger DPPH (83.05 ± 0.05%) and ABTS (85.1 ± 1.5%) radical scavenging activity. In contrast, AETS showed greater antioxidant capacity in the TRAP assay from 50 µg/mL (p < 0.0001). Both extracts displayed dose-dependent pro-oxidant behavior in the deoxyribose/Fenton system. In vitro assays demonstrated that both extracts exhibited dose-dependent cytotoxicity in SH-SY5Y cells, with no significant cytotoxic effects observed at concentrations ≤ 50 µg/mL. HETS significantly increased IL-10 levels (p < 0.05), indicating immunomodulatory activity. In antimicrobial assays, HETS showed selective activity against Staphylococcus aureus, with MIC values ranging from 0.625 to 1.25 mg/mL, while no relevant inhibition was observed against Escherichia coli. No synergistic interaction with vancomycin was detected. Overall, the results indicate that the extraction solvent strongly influences the phenolic enrichment and biological activity. The hydroethanol extract showed the most consistent bioactivity, highlighting its potential for applications as a natural antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and anti-staphylococcal agent. Future studies should focus on compound isolation, mechanistic validation, and evaluation in in vivo models to support potential commercial and therapeutic applications. Full article

Injecting CO₂ into gas reservoirs is a crucial approach for enhancing natural gas recovery and achieving CO₂ geological storage, where the gas–gas diffusion behavior between CO₂ and CH₄ directly influences gas mixing efficiency. Direct observation of the spatiotemporal evolution of concentration fields during diffusion remains insufficient. In this study, a gas–gas diffusion experimental system capable of multi-time and multi-space stratified sampling within a high-temperature high-pressure PVT cell was established based on real reservoir fluid compositions. Non-equilibrium diffusion experiments were conducted under different pressures, different initial CO₂ mole fractions, and different diffusion times. A diffusion model was developed according to Fick’s second law. The results suggest that the gas column can be divided into a natural gas zone, a transition zone, and a CO₂ zone by the dimensionless concentration gradient threshold. At 5 MPa, the transition zone width expands rapidly within the first 4 h (dimensionless width increases from 0 to 0.6902), after which growth slows. Increasing pressure significantly inhibits diffusion, reducing transition zone width and prolonging equilibration time. Rising initial CO₂ concentration also suppresses diffusion mixing, particularly in the later stage. Component profile analysis confirms that, under high pressures and high CO₂ concentrations, the diffusion flux across the interface is weakened. Compared to CH₄, the diffusion equilibration time of CO₂ is shorter and more sensitive to pressure changes. The obtained diffusion coefficients (CH₄: 2.92 × 10⁻⁸ to 4.79 × 10⁻⁸ m²/s; CO₂: 3.91 × 10⁻⁸ to 6.08 × 10⁻⁸ m²/s) are on the order of 10⁻⁸ m²/s, consistent with bulk-phase PVT literature data, validating the reliability of the experimental method and inversion model. This study lays an experimental foundation for predicting multi-component gas mass transfer under conditions of CO₂-enhanced gas recovery and CO₂ geological storage. Full article

To enhance the interfacial bonding between bamboo and the polymer matrix in natural fiber composites (NFCs), vacuum heat treatment was applied to moso bamboo strips at temperatures ranging from 140 to 180 °C with holding times of 4 and 6 h. The effects of treatment conditions on the surface characteristics and chemical composition of bamboo were systematically investigated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle measurements, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were employed to evaluate the changes in microstructure, surface wettability, and the main functional groups including α-cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. The results indicate that the severity of heat treatment (temperature–time combination) significantly influences the physicochemical properties of bamboo. Hemicellulose, which exhibited the lowest thermal stability, underwent pronounced degradation above 140 °C and showed the most substantial compositional variation. Although the relative contents of α-cellulose and lignin increased with increasing treatment severity, their absolute contents decreased. The vacuum environment was found to retard the degradation of α-cellulose to some extent. At 180 °C, severe disruption of the cell wall structure was observed, accompanied by the deformation and collapse of cell lumens. In addition, heat treatment increased the surface contact angle, indicating enhanced hydrophobicity, with temperature exerting a more pronounced effect than treatment time. FTIR analysis revealed a marked reduction in the intensity of the C=O stretching vibration of hemicellulose (~1730 cm⁻¹) and the O–H stretching vibration (~3400 cm⁻¹), while the aromatic structure of lignin remained relatively stable. Overall, vacuum heat treatment effectively enhanced the surface hydrophobicity of bamboo, providing a theoretical basis and technical support for the development of bamboo-reinforced natural fiber composites. Full article

Multiple myeloma (MM) develops through asymptomatic precursor stages characterized by progressive remodeling of the bone marrow (BM) immune microenvironment and disruption of bone homeostasis. To delineate changes in natural killer (NK) cell states during disease evolution, we investigated coordinated immune-tumor remodeling by integrating NK cell functional states with plasma cell-intrinsic susceptibility programs derived from CRISPR-based screens across healthy donors (HD), monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), smoldering MM (SMM), and newly diagnosed MM patients. The integration of NK cell state-associated gene signatures with plasma cell transcriptional programs revealed stage-specific co-variation between immune and tumor compartments. Public single-cell RNA sequencing datasets were interrogated to resolve NK cell heterogeneity, identifying cytotoxic CD56^dim and regulatory CD56^bright subsets. NK cell dynamics displayed stage-dependent changes, with early expansion followed by the contraction of CD56^dim cells in BM, whereas CD56^bright cells showed predominantly compositional remodeling. Within the CD56^bright subset, transcriptional changes included an increased expression of KLRC1 (encoding NKG2A), subsequently validated by multiparametric flow cytometry. In parallel, plasma cell programs associated with NK sensitivity progressively decreased along disease stages, supporting tumor adaptation to immune pressure. The NKG2A ligand HLA-E displayed selective expression within CD16⁺ monocytes and followed a distinct variable pattern across disease stages, highlighting a microenvironmental contribution to NK cell regulation. Collectively, these findings indicate a coordinated process of immune-tumor co-evolution, characterized by dynamic remodeling of NK cell states and plasma cell susceptibility, with the NKG2A–HLA-E axis emerging as a central interface during MM progression. Full article

Ecosystem service assessment provides a critical basis for optimizing regional ecological management and promoting sustainable development. From the water–land–carbon coupling perspective, this study established a technical framework for quantifying individual services, coupling a composite index, and analyzing multidimensional driving mechanisms. The InVEST model was applied to quantify three core ecosystem services: water yield, habitat quality, and carbon storage. A Composite Ecosystem Service Index (CESI) was constructed through normalization and weighted summation. Multidimensional driving factors were identified using the Optimal Parameter-Based Geographical Detector. Taking Ningxia during 2004–2024 as the study area, the results showed that the CESI exhibited a fluctuating upward trend with significant spatial heterogeneity, characterized by a south–high and north–low pattern. Land use transitions were dominated by bidirectional conversions between cropland and grassland, while impervious area expanded rapidly and barren land decreased overall. The spatial differentiation of CESI was jointly controlled by natural and anthropogenic factors, with land use type, precipitation, and digital elevation model showing the strongest explanatory power, and all two-factor interactions displaying pronounced enhancement effects. This study provides a reproducible framework for ecosystem service assessment in arid and semi-arid regions, supporting ecological restoration, land use optimization, and the coordinated development of ecology and economy under water–land–carbon synergy. Full article

The cosmetics industry continually seeks innovations that deliver ever-higher performance while meeting growing sustainability requirements. Although numerous plant-derived surfactants have recently emerged, achieving performance levels comparable to synthetic benchmarks remains challenging. In this study, we aimed to design a natural polyglycerol-10 ester (PG-10 ester) capable of stabilizing demanding systems such as high-internal-phase nano-emulsions (nano-HIPE) and mineral oil-in-water sunscreens. We investigated the key parameters governing surfactant efficiency: fatty acid composition from C12 to C22 or their blends, the presence of partial glycerides, and reaction parameters. Various polyglycerol esters were synthesized and characterized through chromatographic analysis and HLB determination, and then incorporated into formulations to assess their performance. This work made it possible to identify four parameters as essential for achieving high surfactant efficiency: (i) grafting multiple fatty acids onto a single polyglycerol backbone, (ii) combining short/medium-chain (<C16) and long-chain (≥C16) fatty acids, (iii) including partial glycerides within the surfactant, and (iv) allowing the reaction medium to reach full equilibrium. Achieving full equilibrium results in synthesis medium clarity, which allows the HLB value to rise from 6 to 7 to 11–12 and ensures complex emulsion stability. This rational design approach led to a natural PG-10 ester whose performance equals that of conventional synthetic benchmarks, providing a significant advancement toward sustainable high-performance surfactant technologies. Full article

Verbascum species have long been recognized for their medicinal properties; however, detailed studies on the endemic species Verbascum wiedemannianum Fisch. & C.A. Mey. remain limited. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the antioxidant and anti-tyrosinase activities of essential oil (EO) and methanol extract (ME) derived from V. wiedemannianum, an endemic species from Türkiye. The EO was obtained by hydrodistillation, and its chemical composition was characterized using GC-FID and GC/MS. The principal constituents of the EO were palmitic acid (27.3%), myristic acid (11.9%), 1-octadecanol (13.0%), and pentacosane (6.6%). LC-MS/MS analysis of the ME identified luteolin and chrysoeriol derivatives as the predominant compounds. The antioxidant potential of both the EO and ME was evaluated using three assay systems based on electron transfer reactions: the Folin–Ciocalteu reagent, the Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity assay, and the cupric ion (Cu²⁺) reducing antioxidant capacity assay. The potential skin care effects of the EO and ME were further evaluated using a tyrosinase inhibition assay. Across all the assays, the ME consistently showed notable activities, whereas the activity of the EO was less clearly defined. These findings indicate that the ME of V. wiedemannianum contains bioactive compounds with potential applications in natural antioxidant and skin care formulations. Further studies are warranted to clarify its therapeutic uses. Full article

Dactylis glomerata, a perennial forage grass widely distributed in Mediterranean areas, is recognized for its adaptability and nutritional quality. This study aimed to assess the chemical composition and fiber components of ten natural populations of Dactylis glomerata in order to characterize genetic variability in nutritional and fiber traits among populations. Seeds of all populations were established in a randomized complete block design with four replicates and cultivated for two consecutive years. Forage was collected at the boot stage, and analyses were conducted for crude protein, ash, crude fiber, neutral and acid detergent fibers, acid detergent lignin, hemicellulose, cellulose, digestible dry matter, dry matter intake, and relative feed value. Combined ANOVA indicated that genotypic effects were highly significant for all traits (p ≤ 0.001), with additional significant contributions from environmental and genotype × environment interactions. Crude protein ranged from 11.74% to 14.98%, neutral detergent fiber from 56.31% to 58.43%, and relative feed value from 100.1 to 106.4 among populations. Stability index analysis identified Kefalopotamos and Filyra as the most environmentally stable populations, whereas Kori and Xyloparoiko exhibited relatively higher values in selected forage quality traits. Broad-sense heritability values were high for the majority of traits (H² between 93.3% and 99.9%, except for hemicellulose), suggesting a strong genetic influence. Correlation analysis also revealed inverse relationships between protein content and fiber fractions and positive relationships with digestibility-related indices. Multivariate analyses revealed a clear separation between nutritional quality traits and structural fiber components, indicating consistent differentiation among populations. Overall, these results highlight the potential of local Dactylis glomerata populations as genetic resources for further evaluation in breeding and conservation programs under Mediterranean conditions. Full article

Silk fabrics and caftans preserved in the Topkapı Palace Museum collection constitute a distinguished group of cultural heritage objects reflecting the advanced weaving technologies, refined metal-thread use, and sophisticated natural dyeing practices of Ottoman court textile production. In this study, selected ceremonial caftans attributed to five Ottoman sultans were examined through a multidisciplinary and multi-analytical approach to characterize their structural, chromatic, and chemical properties. Color characteristics were evaluated in the CIE L*a*b* color space, while yarn properties, weave structures, and production techniques were investigated by optical microscopy. The morphology and elemental composition of the metal threads were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM–EDX), and dyestuffs were identified by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection (HPLC–DAD). The results show that compound silk weaving structures were widely used in Ottoman court textiles, metal threads were predominantly silver-based and often gold-gilded, and dyestuffs with high fastness properties were preferentially selected. The revised manuscript situates these findings within a broader international literature on historical textile analysis and natural dye characterization, while using only a limited number of directly relevant studies from the authors’ previous work. The present study therefore provides new, object-specific and comparable data for the scientific documentation, material characterization, and conservation-oriented understanding of Ottoman textile heritage. Full article

To clarify the hydrocarbon-generation potential of deep source rocks in the Qingyang Gas Field, this study focuses on the Shanxi and Taiyuan Formation source rocks at burial depths of 4000–5000 m. Integrated organic geochemical analyses were conducted to investigate organic matter abundance, kerogen type, thermal maturity, hydrocarbon-generation conditions, and their significance for natural gas accumulation. The TOC values of the 12 valid mudstone samples range from 0.07% to 2.53%, with an average of 0.77%, indicating generally poor to fair organic matter abundance. Rock-Eval results show that S2 values range from 0.0681 to 6.2797 mg/g, with an average of 1.5946 mg/g, whereas S1 + S2 values range from 0.0948 to 6.9066 mg/g, with an average of 1.8582 mg/g, indicating generally limited Rock-Eval hydrocarbon-generating capacity, with local improvement. The kerogen assemblage is heterogeneous and is generally dominated by Type III humic kerogen, with subordinate Type II components and minor Type I components in some samples, indicating mixed organic-matter input but an overall gas-prone character. Tmax values range from 420 to 482 °C; however, because Tmax may be unreliable in samples with very low S2 values, thermal maturity was evaluated mainly using vitrinite reflectance and natural gas geochemical evidence. R_o values range from 2.03% to 2.22%, with an average of 2.11%, indicating that the source rocks have reached a high- to overmature stage. The natural gas is methane-rich, with an average methane content of 91.73% and an average heavy hydrocarbon content of only 0.16%, indicating a typical dry-gas composition. The carbon isotope values of methane and ethane are both negative, with δ¹³C₁ values ranging from −35.59‰ to −20.65‰ and δ¹³C₂ values ranging from −37.82‰ to −28.44‰, consistent with high-maturity coal-derived gas generated from humic organic matter. The formation water is mainly medium- to high-salinity CaCl₂ type, indicating a relatively closed hydrologic environment favorable for natural gas preservation. Clay mineral assemblages dominated by kaolinite and illite provide supplementary evidence for depositional conditions, burial diagenesis, and fluid–rock interaction. Overall, although the Rock-Eval hydrocarbon-generating capacity of the Shanxi and Taiyuan Formation source rocks is generally limited, the Type III-dominated mixed kerogen, high- to overmature R_o values, methane-rich dry-gas composition, and carbon isotope characteristics collectively indicate that these source rocks experienced effective natural gas generation during geological evolution and are genetically related to the present deep natural gas accumulation. This study provides fundamental geochemical constraints for further integrated exploration and evaluation of the deep coal-measure gas system in the Qingyang Gas Field. Full article

A lightweight and high-efficiency microwave-absorbing material was developed via an in situ solvothermal pyrolysis strategy by anchoring sphere-like Fe₃O₄ nanostructures onto bamboo-derived porous carbon (BPC). The resulting composites preserve the intrinsic anisotropic honeycomb architecture of bamboo while introducing uniformly distributed magnetic nanoparticles, enabling synergistic dielectric–magnetic loss. Electromagnetic parameters, alongside impedance matching, were successfully modulated through the optimization of precursor concentrations. Of the evaluated materials, BPC-0.9 stood out for its intense attenuation, recording an RL_min of −45.17 dB at a 1.8 mm thickness. Furthermore, a significant effective absorption bandwidth of 6.65 GHz was attained by the BPC-0.6 sample at only 2.2 mm. Several factors contribute to the boosted efficiency, starting with conductive and interfacial polarization losses paired with multiple scattering events. Furthermore, magnetic loss components, encompassing eddy current effects as well as natural and exchange resonances, play a pivotal role in optimizing the material’s response. Furthermore, radar cross-section (RCS) modeling reveals a substantial reduction of 19.9 dB·m², verifying the material’s viability for real-world stealth technologies. Our findings offer a straightforward methodology for fabricating magnetic carbon structures from biomass with adjustable dielectric responses, underscoring their potential in high-performance energy conversion and low-density microwave absorption. Full article

In the contemporary field of geographic information, place name services serve as a core application support in geographic information science, widely applied in public services, cultural tourism, emergency management, and other scenarios. Place name service composition is a critical link in the integration of spatiotemporal knowledge and intelligent services for place names, determining the ability to rapidly solve complex place name problems. Traditional case-based reasoning methods are primarily rule-driven, making it difficult to deeply integrate semantic and graph structural features, and they also lack precision in measuring the similarity of multi-type place name service cases. To address this, this paper integrates knowledge graphs and case-based reasoning to propose a place name service composition method that balances semantic and graph structural similarity, aiming to enhance the response efficiency and recognition accuracy of complex natural language queries. The method consists of two steps: the first is constructing a knowledge graph case base. Semantic feature extraction is performed on the standard geographic question-answering standard dataset GeoQuery corpus to build a place name service knowledge graph case base that integrates semantic associations and spatial attributes. The second step is constructing a similarity model. The method combines four similarity measures—DeBERTa, TF-IDF, SimHash, and maximum common subgraph—and employs the Analytic Hierarchy Process for weighting to develop a novel similarity evaluation model for case-based reasoning. Experiments demonstrate that this method achieves a 21% improvement in F1-score compared to traditional rule-based methods. Furthermore, the developed prototype system for the intelligent recommendation of place name service composition achieves a recommendation accuracy of 92.64%. This research holds significant practical implications and application value for advancing the geographic information field toward intelligent and precision-based development. Full article