Search Results (5,121)

This prospective study investigated the association of dog ownership with the onset of disabling dementia and mortality using propensity score weighting based on the physical, social, and psychological characteristics of dog owners, and then examined the potential causality of this relationship using an instrumental variable model. Additionally, we examined the costs and effects of dog ownership using cost-effectiveness analysis. Overall, 11,224 older adults selected using stratified and random sampling strategies in 2016 were analyzed. Dog ownership was defined as current, past, and never. Disabling dementia was defined according to a physician rating under the long-term care insurance system in Japan and mortality was ascertained by the Japanese national vital statistics during the approximately 7.5-year follow-up period. Current and past dog owners had an odds ratio (OR) of 0.53 (95% CI: 0.43–0.66) and 0.97 (0.86–1.09) of the onset of disabling dementia compared to never owners. ORs for mortality were 0.63 (0.51–0.79) in current dog owners and 0.88 (0.78–0.99) in past dog owners. Causal analysis showed that current dog owners (OR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.27–0.98) and past dog owners (OR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.55–1.03) had low ORs for incident dementia compared to never dog ownership. Corresponding values for mortality showed low ORs, but no significant effect on current dog owners (OR = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.35–1.01) and past dog owners (OR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.60–1.00) compared to never owners. Results of cost-effectiveness analysis showed that dog ownership produced small but positive gains in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and was dominant (cost-saving and QALY-increasing) from the public payer perspective, reducing publicly financed medical and long-term care costs while increasing QALYs; when private dog-ownership costs were included in a scenario analysis, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was ¥6,744,174 per QALY compared with no-dog status. This prospective study shows that dog ownership has a potential protective effect against the onset of disabling dementia in older adults. The study also revealed the potential of dog ownership to reduce public spending with regard to long-term care and medical expenditures. Full article

The high-value utilization market for crop straw renders the development of stubble management technology crucial. This study aims to reduce the energy consumption of L-shaped rotary blades during stubble-breaking. Based on a theory analysis of the rotary-cutting operation process, this study involved the burial of the in situ maize root–soil composite in an indoor soil bin, and investigated the effects of rotary speed (275, 330, 385, 440 rpm) and working depth (50, 85, 120 mm) on torque, power, and energy. Field verification yields an overall average relative error of 2.76% across six replicates, verifying that the indoor test method can reliably reproduce field cutting conditions. As the high-speed video images show, a reduction in rotary speed coupled with an augmentation in working depth has the potential to result in residue entanglement and secondary cutting, thereby leading to an escalation in consumption. As the working depth increased, peak torque appeared at a deeper penetration position. The analysis of the computer-aided geometric model section of the root–soil composite indicated that the diameter of the branching root was the primary factor influencing peak torque. At a working depth of 85 mm, the average power savings ranged from 2.26% to 24.8% compared to 50 mm and 120 mm. Despite the increase in average power, peak power, and specific energy requirements at all operational depths with increasing rotary speed, torque reached its minimum at 385 rpm. At 385 rpm, average torque hits its minimum to mitigate component wear, though power and specific energy rise monotonically with rotational speed. The multi-index evaluation balancing mechanical load, energy loss, and residue delivery identifies 385 rpm paired with 85 mm depth as the optimal parameter set. The optimized parameter combination delivers a quantifiable sustainable residue management scheme that balances ecological residue treatment and economic machinery operation costs, supporting low-carbon, sustainable production. Full article

Organic production systems (OPSs) for almond crops are rapidly expanding in Mediterranean regions due to the crops’ high adaptation to water-limited conditions and the environmental and economic benefits associated with these farming strategies. However, the response of almond trees to regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) under OPS remains insufficiently understood. Unlike conventional orchards, organic farming operates under stricter limitations regarding nutrient management and the control of pests and diseases, factors that may modify crop resilience and alter the physiological and productive responses to water deficit. Consequently, it remains unclear how ecophysiological adjustments under organic management translate into yield performance and water productivity, and which cultivars are best adapted to these production conditions. This study evaluated the combined effects of irrigation regime (full irrigation (FI) and RDI), soil management (mulching cover (MC) and incorporated cover (IC)), and cultivar (Guara, Marta, Lauranne, and Marcona) on almond physiology and productivity over two consecutive growing seasons (2024–2025) in a Mediterranean environment. Net photosynthesis (A_n), stomatal conductance (g_sw), transpiration (E), intercellular CO₂ concentration (C_i), and stem water potential (Ψ_stem) were monitored throughout key phenological stages, together with yield components. According to our findings, the phenological stage was the main driver of physiological variability, followed by irrigation doses, whereas cover crop management had negligible effects. The RDI significantly affected Ψ_stem and E, but not A_n, indicating that the imposed water deficit did not severely constrain the photosynthetic machinery. As a consequence, yield response was largely insensitive to the imposed treatments, the cultivar being the dominant factor in terms of production, with cvs. Marta and Lauranne showing, on average, the highest and most stable kernel yields (1092 and 1164 kg ha⁻¹, respectively) in comparison to Guara (600 kg ha⁻¹) and Marcona (442 kg ha⁻¹). Overall, the results indicate a partial decoupling between physiological responses and yield performance, suggesting that almond productivity under RDI in OPS is primarily governed by genotype rather than by short-term physiological adjustments, supporting the viability of RDI strategies in with water savings of up to 45% without substantial yield penalties under Mediterranean conditions. Full article

Saudi Arabia is a water-stressed nation and meets much of its daily demand through desalination, an energy-intensive process with a significant carbon footprint. As a Muslim-majority country, residents perform ablution before five daily prayers, making this activity a substantial yet under-quantified component of residential water use. This study focuses on household-level ablution water savings across 13 regions for both Saudi and non-Saudi households by replacing standard taps with a flow rate of 5.7 L/min with a proposed Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO)-compliant ultra-low-flow tap (1.9 L/min). Moreover, this study evaluates this ultra-low-flow tap as an environmental technology capable of reducing ablution water consumption and found that per capita savings are identical for both demographic segments, but the total household savings differ because Saudi households are larger, supporting sustainable water management. Results show that under the stated assumptions, full national adoption of the proposed tap would reduce monthly ablution water use from 27 million m³ to 9 million m³, conserving 212.14 million m³ annually with 67% efficiency and offsetting 702,198 tonnes of desalination-related carbon emissions. This highlights the effectiveness of deploying a simple water-saving technology in a water-stressed environment. Conservation potential is concentrated in Riyadh, Makkah, and the Eastern Province due to their high household counts. A four-year phased implementation roadmap is proposed, beginning with 25% adoption in year one (53.01 million m³ annual savings), expanding to moderate-impact regions in year two, and reaching 75–100% adoption nationwide by years three and four. The findings demonstrate how simple and commercially available water-efficient technology can contribute to sustainable resource management by simultaneously reducing water demand, energy consumption associated with desalination, and related greenhouse gas emissions. This study supports Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 water strategy and can potentially support UN-SDGs 6, 7, and 13 by demonstrating the substantial water, carbon, and economic benefits of a simple, commercially available tap of 400 SAR. In addition, the study develops a regionally prioritized technology deployment framework that can support decision makers in planning large-scale implementation. The analysis assumes that household members perform ablution five times daily for approximately one minute, based on field measurements, and they require validation of projected gains through actual implementation. Full article

With contemporary advancements in additive manufacturing (AM), it has become possible to obtain hull structures for spacecraft made of relatively cheap materials. The possibility of substituting super-austenitic stainless steel Avesta SMO 254 X1NiCrMoCuN20-18-7 (EN 10088) for that already used in the Starship SpaceX 304 L-Modified is focused on achieving better thermal stability and durability in extreme conditions. The Directed Energy Deposition Arc (DED-Arc) method for AM has enabled the production of high-strength-to-weight ratios. The aim is to engage low-cost material with treatment optimization to provide greater corrosion resistance and high yield and tensile strength. For the DED-Arc, a filler wire was selected for the welding source, Fronius TPS 400i. A simulation via the RoboDK Robot Development Kit for the FANUC ARC Mate 100ID10L is provided. Additional shot pining/vibration treatment is proposed for the finished structure, which can be a substitute for the cold-worked initial metal. A comparison is made for stainless steel that has already been tested for space travel. Regimes for the manufacturing process are proposed, with representative samples of Avesta SMO 254 obtained and tested using microhardness measurements, microcracking detection, porosity measurements, interface zone assessment, and microstructural analysis. The DED-Arc process can be applied to large-space shell manufacturing. A comparison is made with a focus on the mechanical and corrosion advantages. For Avesta SMO 254, microhardness measurements ranged from 235 to 246 HV1 and increased after treatment. The controlled parameters provided a maximum heat input of 0.7 KJ/mm, no defects, and a fine microstructure. The successful use of stainless steel with AM increases the potential for multiple space missions. The advanced method shows high quality, allows cost savings and provides extended service life. Full article

Tendon profile geometry is a structural design variable whose effects on prestressed concrete beams have, until now, been studied separately for shear, ductility, and stiffness response. This paper unifies those threads through a single nonlinear finite element investigation of eight tendon profiles (B0–B7) across two beam depths (300 × 600 mm, L/d = 13.33; and 300 × 900 mm, L/d = 8.48), comprising 16 validation beam models plus an 82-simulation parametric sweep of tendon inclination angle (0–20°). Part A characterizes cracking, yield, and ultimate loads, three-stage stiffness (Ki → Kpc → Ku), ductility index, and deflection serviceability. Ductility is quantified as the peak-displacement-based index μΔ = Δu/Δy; post-peak plateau behavior is additionally quantified through a failure-displacement ductility index (μΔ,f) and an absorbed-energy index (μE), recovered from the full descending load–deflection branch of each model. Key findings: the trapezoidal beveled profile (B6) achieves the highest ductility overall (μΔ = 3.83 in deeper beams, +99.5% over straight); the hybrid parabolic–straight profile (B5) leads ductility in shallow beams (μΔ = 2.16, +14.9%); the five-row distributed trapezoidal profile (B7) achieves the highest post-cracking stiffness in deeper beams (Kpc = 61.93 kN/mm, +7.6%) and highest yield load, but at a ductility cost; and all 16 models satisfy ECP 203-2020 and ACI 318-19 deflection limits at service load. Part B develops and validates a dimensionless shear-inclination efficiency index ηv, calibrated by nonlinear regression on the 82-simulation database: ηv = 1 + 0.14·μps·λps·(d/h)^0.6·θ^0.9, achieving R² = 0.93 and RMSE < 5%, with a mean conservative safety margin of 6% across the 16 validation configurations. Sensitivity analysis identifies inclination angle θ as the dominant variable, ahead of depth ratio d/h and distribution index λps. A step-by-step design procedure with a profile-specific compliance table allows ηv to be applied directly to ACI 318-19 or ECP 203-2020 shear predictions: at a sub-minimum stirrup ratio of 0.14%, ηv enables five of eight profiles in shallow beams and three in deeper beams to achieve full code compliance, numerically indicating potential stirrup savings of up to 40%, pending experimental verification and reliability-based calibration before design use. Read together, the two parts show that tendon geometry simultaneously governs shear efficiency, post-cracking stiffness, and ductility—three previously disconnected performance axes—and that the optimal profile choice is depth-dependent and objective-dependent, a distinction current codes do not address. The finite element procedure is validated against six post-tensioned specimens for the global load–deflection response and peak-load agreement (R² = 0.97 and 0.95, respectively); cracking load, yield point, post-peak plateau behavior, and the shear-governed failure mode of the deeper beams were not independently observed in the same experimental dataset, so the ductility, stiffness-degradation, and shear-governed-failure findings reported here should be read as numerically-derived results requiring further experimental confirmation, distinct from the peak-load response that is directly validated. Full article

Urban sewer sediments represent an underexplored reservoir of recoverable organic resources, yet conventional disposal practices, landfilling and incineration perpetuate greenhouse gas emissions and irreversible carbon loss. This study establishes a pH-regulated pretreatment strategy (pH 4, 6, 10, and 12) for selective release of organic matter from sewer sediments under simulated hydraulic conditions (solid-to-liquid ratio of 10 g/L, 1154 rpm). Pronounced non-linear release response across the pH revealed a crucial window at pH 10, where COD release attained 1488.68 mg/L (42.6% enhancement over controls) with a 93.70% organic dissolution rate, while total phosphorus release was simultaneously suppressed by 22.4%. The resulting liquid-phase carbon-to-nitrogen and carbon-to-phosphorus ratios of 62.9 and 320.8, respectively, markedly surpassed control values of 46.0 and 174.5, highlighting the potential for high-quality external carbon source recovery. The mechanistic underpinning integrates mineral surface deprotonation, EPS disintegration, and calcium–phosphorus precipitation. Extrapolated to China’s national sewer network, this strategy could potentially mitigate methane emissions by approximately 1.73 × 10⁷ t/yr and save wastewater treatment plants USD 794.83 million/yr in carbon procurement, while inorganic residues retain potential for construction material reuse. This study offers a feasible pathway toward integrated pollution control and high-value waste valorization, aligning with circular economy objectives in urban water systems. Full article

As Large Language Models (LLMs) increasingly operate in agentic environments communicating via the Model Context Protocol (MCP), the structured JSON-RPC message traffic is growing rapidly. Yet the current MCP specification does not include any compression mechanism, leaving potential bandwidth optimizations unaddressed. This paper presents the first empirical energy measurement study of lossless compression applied to MCP payloads on embedded ARM hardware. Four production codecs are evaluated at a single, consistent real-time operating point per codec (LZ4 L0, Zstd L3, gzip L6, Brotli Q4). Across two different datasets, our results show that compression is counterproductive below approximately 50–200 bytes depending on the codec, while savings of up to 50% are achievable for larger payloads. Brotli achieves the highest compression ratio (49.9% combined savings) but incurs the greatest CPU and energy cost. Zstd offers the best practical trade-off, delivering approximately 47% bandwidth reduction with low overhead. Message size is the dominant predictor: below a per-codec break-even of approx. 200 B for LZ4, compression expands rather than shrinks the payload. The apparent per-message-type penalties reflect the prevalence of short messages, not the codec. Message size is identified as the primary predictor of compression benefit, and codec selection guidelines are provided for latency-critical, general-purpose, and bandwidth-constrained MCP deployments on resource-constrained devices. Full article

Background: Inequitable access to clinical trials persists in blood cancers despite ongoing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) efforts. Despite the critical role of clinical trials in improving survival and outcomes, recruitment remains suboptimal, limiting patient access to potentially life-saving therapies. Practical and scalable approaches are therefore needed to address the non-medical barriers that hinder patient readiness upstream of enrolment. Methods: Myeloma Canada led a national, multi-phase initiative using human-centred design (HCD) to operationalize EDI in clinical trials. Following an initial systems level workshop, the two-day Phase 0 workshop used a HCD approach that convened a purposively selected multidisciplinary group of stakeholders to co-design operational solutions for non-medical barriers affecting trial participation for patients. Given the use of purposive sampling, the results should be interpreted as reflecting a balanced range of diverse, informed perspectives across the Canadian clinical trial ecosystem. Results: Participants identified persistent cultural, logistical, financial, and linguistic barriers, along with fragmented awareness of available supports. Across diverse personas and care settings, all groups independently converged on a human-centred, equity-focused pre-trial navigation model supported by simple digital tools, including AI-enabled infrastructure drawing on curated resources from validated sources with appropriate governance, privacy, and oversight. Digital tools were proposed to support, rather than replace, human support and to align with existing health system realities. Conclusions: This hypothesis-generating work proposes a feasible, sustainable, and scalable equity-embedded, protocol-agnostic navigation framework. Its external hub-and-spoke structure can reduce non-medical barriers, strengthen trial access and accrual, and enhance representativeness. Pilot implementation that assesses feasibility, uptake, workflow impact, equity effects, and implementation burden is warranted. Full article

Urban agglomerations concentrate activities that generate both PM2.5 pollution and carbon emissions, but the economic basis for governing them jointly remains unclear. Taking the Yangtze River Delta as a case, this study evaluates pollution–carbon co-governance from a marginal abatement cost (MAC) perspective. Using panel data for 41 cities from 2011 to 2023, we estimate shadow prices and MACs under joint and single-objective abatement scenarios with a non-radial directional distance function dual model. We then construct carbon-reduction and pollution-reduction cost-saving effects, classify synergy types, and examine their temporal, spatial, and nonlinear transition patterns. The results show that joint abatement generally lowers the MACs of both carbon mitigation and PM2.5 reduction, with stronger cost-saving on the pollution side. Under the baseline classification, the share of balanced synergy increases over time, and the balanced state shows high persistence in Markov transitions. Core cities show weaker measured cost-saving effects, which may reflect limited remaining low-cost co-abatement potential rather than weak governance. Semiparametric evidence further indicates that industrial upgrading, openness, and urbanization are nonlinearly associated with MACs and synergy balance. These findings suggest that urban pollution–carbon coordination should be guided by local cost structures and development stages. Full article

This article examines the comprehensive assessment of the environmental and economic performance and social significance of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), using a company in Western Kazakhstan as an example. During the analysis of the treatment plant’s performance, the potential for using activated sludge as an alternative energy source was explored. Initially, it was found that activated sludge could be used as boiler fuel at the treatment plant. In the future, after drying the sludge, it could be used to replace coal at combined heat and power plants (CHPs) when production is set up. The article analyzes international research and modern approaches to sustainable water use and municipal and industrial wastewater treatment. The paper examines the role of wastewater treatment facilities in minimizing anthropogenic impacts on ecosystems and reducing production costs. It also assesses the prospects for greening protected areas and the social impact of modernizing the region’s infrastructure. The research aims to optimize wastewater treatment facilities through the conservation of resources, water reuse and the use of energy-saving technologies. Practical recommendations have been developed to improve the efficiency and sustainability of wastewater treatment plants, taking into account the climatic conditions of Western Kazakhstan. Water conservation is a goal of sustainable development. Conserving water resources through high-efficiency treatment plants will save natural water, which is also the goal of this study. The article’s materials may be useful for specialists in water management, environmental policy, environmental design, and regional planning. Full article

Smart public lighting systems are increasingly evolving from energy-efficiency technologies into distributed urban data infrastructures. This study examines an IoT-based smart public lighting pilot implemented on a university campus in southern Quito, Ecuador, with the objective of quantifying its informational capacity, storage requirements, and scalability potential. The analysis was based on 11 smart luminaires and 49 days of real operational data. Measurements were recorded every 10 min, considering 10 variables per record, including measured consumption, reference consumption, active power, accumulated energy, operating hours, operational status, events, faults or alarms, energy savings, and avoided CO₂ emissions. The results show that each luminaire can generate 1440 data values per day. Under the same acquisition configuration, a network of 10,000 luminaires would generate approximately 5.256 billion data values per year, while a network of 100,000 luminaires would generate approximately 52.56 billion data values per year, requiring an estimated 1051.2 GB/year of storage. These values are interpreted as scalability scenarios rather than definitive city-wide predictions, given the limited scale and observation period of the pilot. As a methodological contribution, the study proposes the Smart Lighting Informational Capacity Index (SLICI) to estimate the daily data intensity generated by smart lighting networks. The findings demonstrate that the expansion of smart public lighting requires not only efficient luminaires, but also robust digital architectures for data storage, processing, interoperability, cybersecurity, and analytics. The study positions smart public lighting as a strategic platform for urban energy management, predictive maintenance, and data-driven sustainable planning, while highlighting the need for future validation over longer periods and across different urban typologies. Full article

This review presents an up-to-date summary of AI impacts on energy utilization in a broad spectrum of modern robotic platforms, solutions in the scope of AI employment in different robotics areas, and the crucial role AI plays in energy requirements of robotic stations. Notably, among the multitude of references devoted to robotics, energy, and AI technologies, most of the “early AI” approaches are either excluded from examination or serve as auxiliary components of the full-fledged AI robotic systems. Instead, this research reveals solutions for stationary and mobile robotics, the competent application of which can make the greatest impact on energy savings. The work reveals two interconnected directions contributing to reducing losses and improving energy recovery. The first one concerns platforms for AI-assistive process-level design and programming of robotic cells. The second way covers so-called AI robots, whose behavior is not only fully controlled by AI but also results in an obvious energy-saving effect. Thus, the study demonstrates how AI can provide robot management, thereby unlocking their potential to decline energy consumption in industry, agriculture, transport, household and other areas of vital activity. Full article

Green remodeling projects for public buildings in South Korea aim to improve the energy performance of aging facilities, with a policy target of achieving at least 30% energy savings. Because the 30% saving rate functions as a key policy benchmark, it is necessary to identify why some projects achieve higher savings while others remain below the target. This requires a comparative analysis of energy-saving levels in relation to baseline energy-use composition and retrofit measure applications. This study analyzes the 1954 preliminary investigation and ECO2-OD-based assessment cases of public building green remodeling projects to examine energy-saving levels, baseline energy-use composition, end-use contributions, and retrofit measure applications. Pre- and post-retrofit primary energy demand for heating, cooling, domestic hot water, and lighting were used to calculate energy-saving rates. Based on the 30% policy target, the cases were classified into Low-saving, Target-achieving, High-saving, and Very-high-saving levels. The average energy-saving rate was 36.02%, but 39.61% of cases remained below the 30% target. Higher-saving groups showed greater baseline heating energy shares, increasing from 53.38% in the Low-saving group to 66.18% in the Very-high-saving group, suggesting an association between pre-retrofit energy-use structure and predicted retrofit potential under the ECO2-OD assessment framework. Heating was also the dominant contributor to total savings, with its contribution rising from 17.07 to 44.94 percentage points. Higher-saving cases tended to involve more comprehensive retrofit packages combining envelope, system, and lighting improvements. These findings suggest that energy-saving targets and retrofit strategies should consider baseline end-use energy composition and establish differentiated saving targets according to building characteristics, rather than relying only on uniform policy targets and average project performance. Full article

Sustainable water management has become one of the main concerns in Europe, with water reuse practices as a key strategy for it. In this framework STREAM was developed, an open-access decision support tool (DST) designed to assess the hydrological, chemical, and agricultural implications of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent reuse in a real context. The DST simulates the interaction between WWTP effluent composition and the receiving water body in terms of hydrological balance, chemical composition and implications for agriculture. The outputs provide the effects on the ecological status of the river and the potential saving in fertilizers. To generalize system behaviour, a dimensionless ratio between river flow and WWTP discharge (R) is introduced, enabling the interpretation of reuse scenarios in terms of hydrological dominance. The DST was applied to three case studies in Luxembourg representing a range of WWTP capacities and river conditions. Results show that reuse feasibility is governed by the interaction between R and baseline water quality conditions, rather than by flow magnitude alone. Systems characterized by high R values exhibit greater dilution capacity and lower ecological risk, while systems with low R are more sensitive to effluent inputs. These findings position STREAM as a screening-level analytical framework that complements existing techno-economic DSTs, supporting early-stage decision-making in water reuse planning, particularly in contexts with limited data available. Full article