Search Results (1,454)

Designers traditionally perform the preliminary sizing of foundations based on engineering judgement, relying on parameters such as superstructure loads and the characteristics of the supporting soil. This process must adhere to strict guidelines for wind turbine foundations to ensure structural stability and compliance with regulatory standards. This study proposes a computational model based on genetic algorithms to optimise the dimensions of wind turbine foundations. The fitness function combines two normalised objectives, namely concrete volume and bending moment, while structural and geotechnical requirements are imposed as constraints. The model was validated using six real-world case studies, achieving consistent reductions in concrete volume compared with the original designs, with an average reduction of 19.5%. Each case was run 10 times to assess the consistency of the solutions obtained. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in identifying more material-efficient foundation geometries while satisfying the adopted design constraints. It should be emphasised that the reported savings refer specifically to concrete volume reduction and should not be interpreted as total foundation cost savings, since reinforcement design and detailing are outside the scope of the present model. This study is restricted to foundations with circular cross-sections, thereby opening avenues for future research aimed at extending the optimisation framework to alternative geometric configurations and incorporating reinforcement design. Full article

Post-conflict reconstruction under prolonged blockade and governance fragmentation has rarely been examined empirically at the neighborhood scale. This qualitative single-case study investigates housing reconstruction in Al-Qubba, Gaza City, following the near-total destruction of the 2014 conflict. A three-dimensional analytical framework- physical quality, community agency, governance, and structural constraints is applied through the cross-cutting lens of Gaza’s blockade ecology. Data were triangulated across semi-structured interviews (n = 25), GIS spatial analysis, Space Syntax assessment (DepthmapX), and institutional document review. On physical quality, reconstruction met the minimum Build Back Better (BBB) threshold: reinforced-concrete roofing replaced pre-war structures, streets were standardized to 10 m and over 75% were paved, while 94.7% of residents expressed satisfaction; however, Space Syntax analysis revealed that Global Integration recovered only to 1.07 against a pre-war baseline of 1.28, indicating functional recovery without spatial optimisation, and public space provision was entirely unrealised. Regarding community agency, the hybrid owner-driven model produced multi-stage participation in 14/20 households (70%), substantially exceeding agency-driven equivalents, with participation depth positively associated with satisfaction through a perceived legitimacy mechanism; however, neighborhood-scale collective participation was absent. On governance, GRM material delays averaged three to six months; approximately 6/20 households (32%) were undercompensated by donor floor-area caps; and only 8/20 respondents (40%) reported concurrence between official and self-assessed damage valuations. The findings characterize Al-Qubba as demonstrating incremental resilience-building rather than transformative regeneration, and contribute four theoretical constructs: a two-tier BBB for siege contexts; blockade ecology as a BBB modifier; incremental resilience under siege; and configurational BBB assessment. As a single qualitative case study, findings are analytically transferable to comparable constrained reconstruction contexts rather than statistically generalizable. Full article

The adoption of the Ecological and Environmental Code of the People’s Republic of China (March 2026) marks the arrival of the codification era. Building upon existing provisions in the Civil Procedure Law, the Code empowers procuratorial organs and qualified social organizations to initiate environmental civil public interest litigation against acts that harm the public ecological interests. Nevertheless, amid growing demands for preventive governance, room remains for systematic adjustment of the supporting rules governing plaintiff standing. From the perspective of risk-society theory, the preventive function of environmental law requires the scope of protected interest-in-litigation to be moderately extended from traditional actual harm to significant environmental risks. This expansion provokes reflections on the representative qualification within risk-sharing communities and the scope of actionable claims, and constitutes the internal driving force for optimising the plaintiff-standing system. Within China’s current normative system, several issues related to plaintiff standing still deserve attention. Rules on preventive public-interest litigation concerning significant risks are stipulated only in judicial interpretations and have not yet been confirmed by higher-rank legislation. Supplementary restrictions on procuratorial organs’ litigation status set out in judicial interpretations are inconsistent with provisions of the Code. Thresholds for social-organisation plaintiffs remain open to improvement. In addition, existing legislation excludes citizens from public-interest-litigation plaintiffs, leaving theoretical room for exploring limited plaintiff standing for citizens. Adopting normative analysis and case-study methods, this paper draws on risk-society theory, domestic legal norms and judicial practice to examine the legal logic and practical dilemmas of plaintiff standing in environmental civil public-interest litigation in the codification era. It develops differentiated institutional arrangements for three categories of litigants. The findings provide ideas for the implementation of supporting rules under the Code and offer theoretical references for institutional evolution oriented toward preventive governance demands in the future. Full article

Silicone elastomers are attractive matrices for transdermal drug delivery systems, but the controlled release of poorly water-soluble drugs from hydrophobic silicone networks remains challenging. Medical-grade silicone elastomers are generally regarded as chemically stable, biologically inert, and highly biocompatible polymer matrices, which supports their use in biomedical and pharmaceutical materials. Here, ibuprofen-loaded silicone/polyol composite films were prepared from hydroxyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS-OH) using glycerol- and 1,2-propylene glycol-derived alkoxysilane cross-linkers and amino-terminated PDMS as a metal-free room-temperature-vulcanising catalyst. The effects of cross-linker composition, glycerol, PEG 200 and selected functional additives on film formation, morphology, apparent ibuprofen release and preliminary Strat-M^® permeation were evaluated. FTIR analysis indicated no covalent reaction between ibuprofen and the silicone network, but suggested hydrogen-bonding interactions with polyol-rich domains, particularly in glycerol-containing systems. Raman mapping supported ibuprofen incorporation within the films, while SEM showed phase-separated microdomains whose morphology depended on the formulation. Apparent release into 0.9% NaCl at 37 °C was formulation-dependent over 72 h. The optimised F-9 film showed approximately 83% cumulative apparent release, whereas the F-10 film containing copper oxide nanoparticles and sea buckthorn oil showed the highest numerical cumulative apparent release, approximately 94%. Kinetic analysis of the apparent release data supported a mainly diffusion-controlled contribution, modulated by hydrophilic microdomains. These results provide preliminary materials-development evidence that silicone/polyol films can be used to tune apparent ibuprofen release and merit further optimisation for local topical or transdermal applications; however, efficient skin permeation and biological performance require dedicated validation. Full article

Atmospheric icing is one of the most critical meteorological hazards for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), whose operation under adverse conditions—high latitudes, elevated altitudes, long-endurance missions without pilot intervention—particularly exposes them to ice accumulation on aerodynamic surfaces and propellers. Unlike manned aviation, where this phenomenon has been extensively studied and regulated, a significant knowledge gap exists in the UAV domain that limits the development of effective protection systems adapted to energy constraints. This article provides an integrative review—conducted with a systematic search strategy following PRISMA reporting guidelines—of atmospheric ice formation mechanisms, their specific effects on UAV propellers, and the two most promising mitigation approaches: electrothermal modelling for the optimisation of electric heating systems and the development of functional surface materials including superhydrophobic coatings (SHC); composites with conductive nanofillers (graphene, carbon nanotubes); and piezoelectric actuators. The analysis demonstrates that hybrid systems combining passive and active strategies managed by intelligent control represent the most viable solution for extending UAV operational envelopes under known icing conditions, with a projected reduction in anti-icing system energy consumption of at least 40% relative to conventional continuous heating. This estimate is based on the most conservative published evidence: pulsed electrothermal de-icing achieves 40–60% savings versus continuous anti-icingSHC-assisted hybrid heating reduces IPS power by more than 80% on static aerofoils; and rotary-wing pulsed systems reduce mean consumption by 60–75% relative to continuous operation. Key research gaps are identified, and a prioritised future research agenda is proposed to support the development of certifiable anti-icing systems for rotary-wing UAV platforms. Full article

Large volumes of solid waste are produced by the winemaking sector, which could be utilised as adsorbents to retain contaminants, providing a beneficial approach in terms of economic recovery and sustainability. The adsorption of nitrate onto biochar produced from grape pomace has not received enough attention, even though biochar-based materials have been thoroughly studied for water treatment applications. This study aims to fill the knowledge gap by assessing a low-cost mildly carbonized biochar derived from winery residues for nitrate retention and optimising the nitrate retention procedures by comprehensive physicochemical characterisation. The mildly carbonized biochar prepared from grape pomace collected from the Dealu Mare wine region (Romania) was characterized using scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM–EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), and thermogravimetric and derivative thermogravimetric (TGA/DTG) analyses. Results revealed a structure enriched with oxygen-containing functional groups that promote nitrate retention through combined physical adsorption and electrostatic interactions. Surface analyses after adsorption confirmed the successful immobilization of nitrate species on the biochar matrix. The adsorption performance was improved by Response Surface Methodology (RSM) method using a Central Composite Design (CCD), studying the influences of the following parameters: solution pH, adsorbent weight, nitrate concentration and time. Among all variables, pH was identified as the dominant factor controlling adsorption efficiency, reflecting the key role of surface charge interactions. The optimized conditions (175 mg/L nitrate, pH 6, 0.3 g adsorbent dosage, and 94 min contact time) resulted in a maximum nitrate removal efficiency (RE) of 86.69%, while the predictive model exhibited excellent accuracy (R²_adj = 0.985). The findings demonstrate that mildly carbonized grape pomace biochar can achieve competitive nitrate removal without chemical surface modification, offering a more sustainable and economically attractive alternative to conventionally biochars. The research highlights that selecting feedstock and utilizing intrinsic surface functionality can create efficient nitrate adsorbents from agro-industrial residues. Full article

In non-linear finite element analysis, the local structural response may exhibit significant sensitivity to spatial discretisation, even when the global structural response remains practically unchanged. Classical h-, p-, and r-adaptive procedures, as well as mesh optimisation and smoothing techniques, are primarily intended to improve mesh quality, solution accuracy, or numerical convergence, rather than to stabilise the local non-linear response while preserving the original computational model. This study presents a Selective Mesh Conditioning (SMC) procedure for selectively stabilising the local non-linear response through conditional nodal relocation without modifying the mesh topology, constitutive models, boundary conditions, contact definitions, or the adopted solution strategy. The procedure is activated by the Percent Error in Structural Energy Norm (SEPC), which identifies regions susceptible to discretisation-induced disturbances, whereas the corrective stage is performed exclusively for admissible nodes using centroid-based nodal relocation. The methodology was evaluated using a three-stage verification framework comprising qualification of the numerical model against four-point bending tests with digital image correlation (DIC) measurements, functional verification using a modified Scordelis–Lo benchmark, and a comparative assessment of the native mesh, classical r-adaptation, and the proposed SMC procedure. The results demonstrate that the proposed procedure selectively modifies discretisation-sensitive local stress and plastic-strain responses while preserving the global structural response. Owing to its non-intrusive implementation, the proposed procedure can be easily incorporated into existing finite element models as a practical tool for stabilising the local non-linear response. Full article

Background/Objectives: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age, characterised by hyperandrogenism, ovulatory dysfunction, and metabolic disturbances. Semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA), has emerged as a promising therapeutic option for weight management and metabolic optimisation in PCOS. This scoping review evaluates the efficacy and safety of semaglutide in women with PCOS, with pre-specified primary outcomes (weight loss, metabolic parameters) and secondary outcomes (menstrual cyclicity, hormonal regulation, ovarian function, safety). Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted across four electronic databases (SciSpace Deep Search, SciSpace Full Text, Google Scholar, and PubMed) from inception through July 2026. Studies were included if they evaluated semaglutide in women with confirmed PCOS and reported outcomes related to weight loss, hormonal regulation, metabolic parameters, ovarian function, or safety. Two independent reviewers screened 356 unique records; 28 reports were assessed for eligibility, of which full-text access was confirmed for 5, and the remaining 23 were assessed using published abstracts or conference summaries. Two additional records were subsequently excluded due to unverifiable source identification, yielding a final corpus of 25 studies. The review adhered to the PRISMA-ScR reporting guidelines. Results: Twenty-five studies met the inclusion criteria. Semaglutide produced clinically relevant weight reduction (mean 7.6–11.5 kg over 3–6 months; ≥5% weight loss in approximately 80% of patients in responsive cohorts) with concurrent improvements in fasting insulin and HOMA-IR, based predominantly on observational and small-sample study designs. Improvements in menstrual regularity were reported by several studies; however, these data derive largely from conference abstracts or small pilot studies and should be interpreted cautiously. Gastrointestinal adverse events were the most frequent side effects, generally mild-to-moderate and transient. Important safety considerations include gallbladder disease, pancreatitis, and the risk of inadvertent pregnancy exposure following the potential restoration of ovulatory function; semaglutide must be discontinued before planned conception. Conclusions: Based on preliminary evidence from heterogeneous and predominantly low-quality studies, semaglutide shows potentially beneficial effects on weight, metabolic health, and menstrual regularity in women with PCOS. Confirmatory data on ovulation rates, reproductive outcomes, and long-term safety from large-scale RCTs with standardised endpoints are needed before definitive clinical recommendations can be made. Full article

The Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) provides a European framework for assessing the capacity of buildings to optimise operation, respond to occupants and interact with energy grids. Its current catalogue covers nine domains: heating, cooling, domestic hot water, ventilation, lighting, dynamic envelope, electricity, electric vehicle charging, and monitoring and control. This Perspective argues that this boundary is too narrow for complex buildings, where services such as lifts, security, fire safety, swimming pools, irrigation, outdoor lighting, kitchens, laundries, refrigeration, laboratories, and information and communication technology (ICT) rooms may significantly affect energy use, water use, safety, resilience, maintenance and user experience. The paper proposes five additional service families for SRI 2.0: mobility and accessibility; safety and security; water and outdoor environmental services; outdoor and site infrastructure; and special energy-intensive and facility services. These should be introduced as optional, building-type-specific modules assessed through familiar SRI functionality levels. This would make the SRI more realistic, actionable and relevant. Full article

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are experiencing rapid growth across diverse sectors, creating an increasing demand for lightweight, high-performance and environmentally sustainable materials. Conventional drone materials offer excellent mechanical properties but pose environmental concerns due to their high carbon footprint, energy-intensive production and limited biodegradability. Kenaf fibre, a renewable natural fibre, presents a promising alternative owing to its low density, high specific strength, cost-effectiveness and eco-friendly characteristics. This review and research proposal explores the current and potential applications of kenaf-based materials in drone manufacturing, including kenaf fibre-reinforced biocomposites, pressed paper, composite pellets and 3D printing filaments for structural, functional and electrical housing components. Kenaf-based materials have demonstrated mechanical strengths approaching 300 MPa, dielectric constants of approximately 2.5 and electrical breakdown strengths exceeding 150 kV/mm, highlighting their potential for lightweight UAV structures and electronic insulation applications. The proposed research focuses on optimising kenaf fibre treatment, fibre–matrix compatibility, hybrid reinforcement strategies and additive manufacturing parameters to develop lightweight, durable and multifunctional kenaf-based UAV components. The framework aims to establish a systematic pathway for the development and validation of kenaf-based materials for next-generation sustainable UAVs. Full article

Black rice wine is a traditional cereal-based fermented beverage valued for its colour, flavour and bioactive constituents. However, product innovation is needed to meet increasing consumer demand for fruit-derived aroma, nutritional quality and functional attributes. To address this demand, we developed an integrated processing strategy combining enzymatic pretreatment of pitaya pulp with stage-specific co-fermentation, an approach that has not been systematically evaluated in rice wine systems. Pitaya pulp was first pretreated with pectinase using an orthogonal design to optimise juice yield and betacyanin retention; the enzymatically pretreated pitaya pulp was then introduced either as pulp or as fermented pitaya wine at the saccharification, tank-flushing or ageing stage. The resulting wines were compared with a pitaya-free control and three commercial black rice wines on the basis of physicochemical indices, phenolic and pigment contents, amino acid composition, mineral composition and fuzzy mathematics-based sensory evaluation. Pitaya pulp added at saccharification (Sample THJ) yielded the strongest functional and nutritional profile, with the highest total phenolic content (629.74 mg/L); high flavonoid content (152.07 mg/L); enrichment in Mg, K and Mn; and a broader taste-active amino acid profile. By contrast, pitaya pulp added during tank flushing (Sample CHJ) achieved the highest sensory score (85.3) and had the highest anthocyanin content. These findings indicate that the timing and form of pitaya addition determine the balance between functional enrichment, pigment retention and sensory quality. Co-fermentation with red-fleshed pitaya, particularly the early addition of enzymatically pretreated pitaya pulp, provides a practical route for the development of fruit-flavoured black rice wine with improved nutritional composition and consumer appeal, suggesting the potential for enhanced functional value. Full article

The management of oligometastatic disease has undergone a significant paradigm shift over the past two decades. Once considered uniformly incurable, selected patients with metastatic disease can now achieve prolonged progression-free survival, durable disease control, and, in carefully selected cases, long-term remission or cure through metastasis-directed therapies. Advances in stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR), surgery, systemic therapies, and the emerging concept of Curative Oligometastatic Radiotherapy (CORT) have challenged the traditional distinction between curative and palliative treatment. Concurrent developments in imaging, including PET/CT, prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET, whole-body MRI, and MR-guided adaptive radiotherapy (MR-linac), together with evolving biomarker research, are improving disease characterisation, refining patient selection, and treatment personalisation. As survival improves, an increasing number of patients are living with durably controlled metastatic cancer and experience long-term physical, psychological, cognitive, functional, and financial consequences of treatment. Despite these challenges, evidence-based survivorship pathways for patients with oligometastatic disease remain poorly defined. Supportive oncology is becoming an essential component of modern radiation oncology rather than an adjunct to cancer treatment. This emerging discipline focuses on optimising symptom control, minimising toxicity, and delivering structured survivorship care. Rather than being limited to end-of-life care, supportive oncology is embedded throughout the patient journey; from diagnosis and treatment selection to prehabilitation, rehabilitation, patient-reported outcome (PRO) monitoring, surveillance for late effects, multidisciplinary follow-up, and long-term survivorship. This review discusses how advances in precision radiotherapy, molecular imaging, biomarkers, and emerging treatment technologies are reshaping the management of oligometastatic disease while simultaneously creating a growing population of long-term survivors with increasingly complex supportive care needs. It highlights the expanding role of supportive oncology in the care of patients with oligometastatic disease, encompassing multidisciplinary symptom management and argues that improvements in disease control must now be matched by the development of evidence-based multidisciplinary survivorship pathways that integrate supportive oncology to optimise quality of life (QoL), functional independence, and patient-centred outcomes. Finally, this review highlights current evidence gaps and proposes future research priorities for developing evidence-based survivorship models for this rapidly expanding patient population. Full article

The growing demand for sustainable and functional packaging has driven the development of biopolymer-based films prepared from food-grade components with potential suitability for edible packaging applications. This study focused on the development and characterisation of furcellaran/xanthan gum/beeswax composite films enriched with Spirulina biomass and prepared using high-shear homogenisation (HSH). The effect of Spirulina incorporation on the structural, physicochemical, mechanical and morphological properties of the films was evaluated. HSH enabled the dispersion of beeswax and Spirulina within the polysaccharide-based matrix. The FTIR spectra showed absorption bands consistent with polysaccharide-associated vibrations, including 3,6-anhydrogalactose (~930 cm⁻¹) and galactose-4-sulfate (~845 cm⁻¹), and indicated changes in selected functional group regions after Spirulina incorporation. XRD revealed ordered beeswax-related domains, including a reflection corresponding to a d-spacing of about 15.27 Å. Spirulina decreased the contact angle, increased WVTR approximately 2.5-fold and reduced the maximum breaking load, whereas tensile strength and elongation at break remained comparable between formulations. SEM showed a more heterogeneous morphology in Spirulina-containing films, with pores, voids and local biomass clusters. The films exhibited approximately 59% (FUR/XAN/BE) and 47% (FUR/XAN/BE/S) water solubility but formed turbid hydrogels during extraction, preventing reliable direct ABTS and CUPRAC determination. The results indicate potential for edible coatings, although further optimisation and validation are required. Full article

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is a major environmental factor contributing to photoaging, oxidative stress, inflammation, DNA damage, and photocarcinogenesis. Conventional UV filters, although widely used in sunscreen formulations, are associated with limitations including photoinstability, photocatalytic ROS generation, potential toxicity, and environmental concerns. In recent years, plant-mediated nanomaterials have emerged as promising multifunctional photoprotective systems, combining UV attenuation with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and biologically adaptive properties. Plant extracts are increasingly used as reducing and stabilising agents in the green synthesis of metal and metal oxide nanoparticles. Among these, ZnO and TiO₂ serve as established inorganic UV filters, whereas Ag and Au nanoparticles have primarily been investigated for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and ROS-modulating properties, which may indirectly enhance photoprotection. In parallel, plant-derived organic nanoparticles and herbal nanocomposites have demonstrated enhanced biocompatibility and multifunctional performance. This review critically examines the current landscape of plant-mediated photoprotective nanomaterials, focusing on the mechanistic interplay among optical UV attenuation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) modulation, and cellular signalling regulation. Particular emphasis is placed on structure–function relationships governing nanoparticle size, surface chemistry, bandgap properties, antioxidant behaviour, and biological interactions. The review further discusses translational challenges, including reproducibility, standardisation, scalability, long-term safety, regulatory classification, and limitations in benchmarking. Importantly, current evidence suggests that no single material system simultaneously optimises UV-blocking efficiency, ROS control, biocompatibility, and industrial scalability, highlighting the need for multifunctional hybrid design strategies. Finally, future perspectives involving predictive nanoengineering, computational modelling, machine learning-guided optimisation, and adaptive photoprotective systems are discussed as emerging directions for next-generation sustainable photoprotective technologies. Full article

The cathode material design is a persistent challenge in the development of next-generation rechargeable batteries. The cathode performance is critically influenced by certain key parameters, i.e., composition, crystal structures, ion transport, and degradation behaviour. Moreover, techno-economic and sustainable considerations also play a pivotal role in the viable cathode material design. In recent years, the integration of static machine learning models with conventional experimental techniques has significantly enhanced the cathode material design. However, the sequential nature of cathode discovery has not been fully captured by these techniques as they do not update their decision strategy based on prior outcomes. In this review, reinforcement learning (RL) as a decision making technique for cathode material design has been evaluated. Firstly, cathode design space, including major cathode families, optimisation objectives, and key material variables have been explored. Afterwards, cathode discovery has been presented in terms of RL states, actions, rewards, policies, environments, constraints, and feedback. The key focus of this review is to analyse how RL can support the composition selection, dopant, and crystal structure optimisation. The review also discusses the current limitations of RL based cathode design including data scarcity, dataset bias, limited cathode specific benchmarks, reward function design, physical validity, and experimental validations. The future directions have been proposed for physics informed and experimentally validated RL infrastructure that integrates the density functional theory, molecular dynamics, artificial intelligence and human expertise. Full article