Search Results (104)

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) prioritizes infrastructure investment to enhance regional connectivity and foster sustainable economic development. Therefore, this empirical study aims to examine the impact of the BRI, specifically through Chinese foreign direct investment (CFDI) on sustainable growth in Bangladesh. The study employs the Mann–Kendall trend analysis and the generalized method of moments (GMM). For the Mann–Kendall trend analysis, sectoral FDI and output data from four major industrial sectors, obtained from Bangladesh Bank and CEIC for the period 1996–2020, are used to analyze trends in industrial development. Additionally, to assess the BRI’s role in sustainable development, this study compares green gross domestic product (GGDP) and gross domestic product (GDP) using a GMM analysis of CFDI inflows across 16 industrial sectors from 2013 to 2022, sourced from various databases. Findings reveal that CFDI significantly contributes to domestic industrial growth, particularly in the manufacturing and construction sectors. Although Bangladesh joined the BRI in 2016, a notable surge in CFDI appears from 2011–2012, partially driven by Bangladesh’s economic liberalization policies, and reflects early strategic investment consistent with China’s expanding economic diplomacy, which was later formalized under the BRI framework. The two-step system GMM results demonstrate that CFDI has a stronger impact on GGDP (0.0350) than on GDP (0.0146), with GGDP showing faster convergence (0.6027 vs. 0.1800), highlighting more robust and rapid sustainable growth outcomes. This underscores the significant Chinese investment in green sectors in Bangladesh. The study also demonstrates that the BRI supports the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 7 (green energy) and 9 (sustainable infrastructure). These insights offer valuable direction for future research and policy, suggesting that Bangladesh should prioritize attracting green-oriented CFDI in sectors like energy, manufacturing, and construction, while also strengthen. Full article

Ultra-high strength steel (UHSS) contributes significantly to lightweight design, environmental compatibility and lower fuel consumption. However, it is essential to maintain excellent mechanical properties in terms of structural integrity, strength and ductility after the applied welding process. In this study, the effect of post-welding heat treatments on the welding of UHSS S1100MC was investigated in order to compensate for the deterioration in toughness that occurred as a result of joining by electron beam welding. Electron beam welding (EBW) provides high energy density and therefore relatively low heat input compared to arc welding. However, the narrow fusion zone (FZ) and heat-affected zone (HAZ) may have insufficient toughness values due to rapid cooling of the joint. In order to protect the relationship between strength and toughness, both the material and the joint were subjected to heat treatment at 500, 650 and 750 °C temperatures for 2 h and were cooled in the furnace. Microstructural characterization and mechanical testing, namely hardness, Charpy impact and tensile tests, were performed to correlate the influence of post-weld heat treatment on the microstructural formation and the corresponding mechanical properties. While the material and the joint maintained their hardness values at 500 °C of around 412 ± 15 HV_0.2, there was an approximately 8% decrease in hardness to 378 ± 18 HV_0.2 at 650 °C. At 750 °C, it dramatically lost its high hardness properties, resulting in a low 178 ± 9 HV_0.2. However, direct quenching from the austenitic temperature resulted in fresh martensite, which provided both the required strength and toughness values in the EBW joint. With a hardness of 437 HV_0.2, a tensile strength of 1345 MPa and a fracture elongation of more than 9%, superior mechanical properties could be achieved. Full article

Inconel 600 alloy has gained consideration as a favourable material for heat and power applications, particularly in turbine blades, due to its superior mechanical behaviour encompassing strength, toughness, oxidation resistance, and ductility. Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding is one of the preferred techniques for joining these alloys. Therefore, the investigation of the mechanical behaviour after the welding process is crucial for selecting the appropriate technique for joining Inconel 600 sheets. This research focuses on investigating the microstructure and mechanical behaviour of TIG-welded Inconel 600 through a series of tests, such as tensile, fatigue, creep, and hardness evaluations. In addition, microstructural analysis is combined with these mechanical evaluations to simulate the operating conditions experienced by turbine blades. Key parameters such as yield strength, tensile strength, and elongation have been evaluated through these analyses. The Ramberg–Osgood relationship has been investigated using the engineering and true stress–strain curves obtained from the welded specimens. The results of the fatigue test illustrate the relationship between strain amplitude and the number of cycles to failure for single and double-edge notched specimens. The test was performed at two different loads including 400 MPa and 250 MPa at a constant temperature of 650 °C, and the corresponding strain-time curves were recorded. The results showed rapid creep failure at 650 °C, suggesting that TIG welding may need to be optimized for high temperature applications. Full article

Friction stir welding (FSW) is a solid-state joining technique widely used for aluminum alloys in aerospace, automotive, and shipbuilding applications, yet the prediction of fatigue fracture locations within FSW joints remains challenging for structural-life assessment. In this study, we investigate fatigue fracture location prediction in 7075-T651 aluminum alloy FSW joints by applying four machine learning methods—decision tree, logistic regression, a three-layer back-propagation artificial neural network (BP ANN), and a novel Quadratic Classification Neural Network (QCNN)—using maximum stress, stress amplitude, and stress ratio as input features. Evaluated on an experimental test set of eight loading conditions, the QCNN achieved the highest accuracy of 87.5%, outperforming BP ANN (75%), logistic regression (50%), and decision tree (37.5%). Building on QCNN outputs and incorporating relevant material property parameters, we derive a Regional Fracture Prediction Formula (RFPF) based on a Fourier-series quadratic expansion, enabling the rapid estimation of fracture zones under varying loads. These results demonstrate the QCNN’s superior predictive capability and the practical utility of the RFPF framework for the fatigue failure analysis and service-life assessment of FSW structures. Full article

In recent years, negative electricity prices have ceased to be a rare phenomenon and are becoming a new reality in markets with a high share of renewable energy sources. This introductory article examines the increasing frequency of negative prices—particularly in Germany—as a consequence of the rapid expansion of solar and wind power plants. It highlights the sharp decline in the so-called capture rate for renewable producers and outlines technical, market-based, and regulatory solutions to this challenge. As the energy transition accelerates, key questions emerge concerning grid flexibility, market design, and investment returns. This article also serves as a call to researchers, analysts, and energy professionals to join the ongoing discussion by contributing their insights, case studies, and innovative solutions to this Special Issue of Energies. Are negative prices merely a transitional side effect of decarbonization or a warning sign of deeper systemic inefficiencies? Join the debate and help shape the future of sustainable energy. Full article

A distance range join query (DRJQ) is a fundamental and critical operation in spatial database queries. It identifies geographic elements within specified distance ranges. This technique has a wide range of applications in multiple domains, including Geographic Information Systems (GISs), urban planning, and environmental monitoring. However, performing a DRJQ on large-scale spatial data remains a challenging problem, as the computational complexity of existing techniques escalates rapidly with increasing volumes of data. We propose PixelQuery, an efficient DRJQ method specifically optimized for visualization analysis. PixelQuery integrates spatial indexing with visualization-oriented strategies. It directly computes the display values of query results within the viewport, substantially lowering computational costs. Experiments conducted on datasets of varying scales demonstrate that this method can handle visualization queries involving tens of millions of elements on a standard laptop, with a maximum processing time of only 7.64 s. This technology provides a robust solution for rapid DRJQ processing and the visualization of large-scale vector data, offering promising potential for a diverse range of applications. Full article

Bats are the only mammals with the ability to fly and are the second largest order after rodents, with 20 families and 1213 species (over 3000 subspecies) and are widely distributed in regions around the world except for Antarctica. What makes bats unique are their biological traits: a tolerance to zoonotic infections without getting clinical symptoms, long lifespans, a low incidence of tumors, and a high metabolism. As a result, they are receiving increasing attention in the field of life sciences, particularly in medical research. The rapid advancements in sequencing technology have made it feasible to comprehensively analyze the diverse biological characteristics of bats. This review comprehensively discusses the following: (1) The assembly and annotation overview of 77 assemblies from 54 species across 11 families and the transcriptome sequencing overview of 42 species from 7 families, focused on a comparative analysis of genomic architecture, sensory adaptations (auditory, visual, and olfactory), and immune functions. Key findings encompass marked interspecies divergence in genome size, lineage-specific expansions/contractions of immune-related gene families (APOBEC, IFN, and PYHIN), and sensory gene adaptations linked to ecological niches. Notably, echolocating bats exhibited convergent evolution in auditory genes (SLC26A5 and FOXP2), while fruit-eating bats displayed a degeneration of vision-associated genes (RHO), reflecting trade-offs between sensory specialization and ecological demands. (2) The annotation of the V (variable), D (diversity), J (joining), and C (constant) gene families in the TR and IG loci of 12 species from five families, with a focus on a comparative analysis of the differences in TR and IG genes and CDR3 repertoires between different bats and between bats and other mammals, provides us with a deeper understanding of the development and function of the immune system in organisms. Integrated genomic, transcriptomic, and immune repertoire analyses reveal that bats employ distinct antiviral strategies, primarily mediated by enhanced immune tolerance and suppressed inflammatory responses. This review provides foundational information, collaboration directions, and new perspectives for various laboratories conducting basic and applied research on the vast array of bat biology. Full article

An important element of sustainability is food security, related to ensuring access to suitable food. Despite having an intensive agricultural economy and a developed food industry, European Union (EU) countries import some products. Within the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), so-called border rejections are reported, which accounted for 38.7% of all notifications submitted in 2008–2023. The purpose of this study was to analyse border rejections reported in the RASFF in 2008–2023, considering hazards, hazard categories, product categories, notifying country, and country of origin. The data were pre-processed in Microsoft Excel and then subjected to two-way joining cluster analysis in Statistica 13.3. Taking into account the quantity of imports and the hazards, the greatest attention should be paid to fruits and vegetables from Turkey (presence of ochratoxin A, pesticides, and sulphites), nuts from Turkey (aflatoxins), poultry and spices from Brazil (Salmonella spp.), fish from China and Morocco (poor temperature control), and feed and fruits and vegetables from Ukraine (moulds). Through border rejections, the common European market is protected from hazards in food from outside the EU, which contributes to sustainability. However, ensuring safety in this regard requires close cooperation between border posts of all member countries. Full article

The combined use of laser beam and electric arc for welding thick clad steel plates in a single pass has been developed to solve the issues concerning the individual applications of the heat sources, such as the low filling efficiency of conventional electric arc methods and the drawbacks concerning laser beam defects due to rapid cooling and solidification. This work was addressed to the weldability assessment of ferritic steel plates, clad with austenitic stainless steel, under the laser-leading configuration, testing the effects of two different values of the inter-distance between the laser beam and the electric arc. Specimens of the welded zone were investigated by metallographic observations and EDS measurements; mechanical properties were characterized by the Vickers microhardness test and by the FIMEC instrumented indentation test to obtain the local values of the yield strength. Welding simulations by theoretical modelling were also carried out to outline the differences in the thermal fields generated by the two heat sources, their interaction, and their effect on the configurations of the weld pool and the thermal profiles to which the materials are subjected. The welding setup with higher inter-distance was more suitable for joining clad steel plates, since the action of the deep keyhole mode is substantially separated from that of the shallower electric arc. In this way, the addition of alloying elements, performed by melting the filler wire, concentrated in the cladding layer, helping maintain the austenitic microstructure, while the laser beam acts in depth along the thickness, autogenously welding the base steel. Full article

The European Green Deal attaches great importance to sustainability, including food security, which is also linked to food safety. This is particularly relevant in such a sensitive region as the Mediterranean. The goal of this study was to investigate Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) notifications of hazards reported in 1997–2021 (a 25-year period) in products from northern Mediterranean countries considering products and other variables. A two-way joining cluster analysis was used. The most notable hazards in the latter years of the reported period were as follows: ochratoxin A and pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables imported from Turkey and ethylene oxide in various products, as well as Salmonella in chicken, Listeria in cheese, Escherichia coli in cheese and mussels from France, mercury in swordfish from Spain, and Anisakis in seafood from France and Morocco. The increasing number of notifications of ochratoxin A and pathogenic micro-organisms in recent years may be caused by climate change. This also results in the need to use more pesticides and the appearance of related hazards, i.e., residues of such compounds in food products. It is, therefore, vitally important that border posts and control authorities in particular European Union countries are vigilant. Full article

To achieve carbon neutrality, a reduction in car body weight is essential. Multi-material structures that use lightweight materials such as carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP) and aluminum (Al) alloy are used to replace parts of steel components. This multi-material method requires specific joining techniques for bonding dissimilar materials. Friction stir spot welding (FSSW) is one of the joining techniques used for joining dissimilar materials, enabling rapid and strong joints. FSSW for bonding A5052 Al alloy and carbon fiber-reinforced thermosetting resin (CFRTS) utilizing composite laminates with integrally molded thermoplastic resin in the outermost layer has been developed. However, joints using this method cause pyrolysis due to excessive frictional heating at the tool’s bottom, which may affect joint strength and promote corrosion in Al alloy. Therefore, this study developed new tools, a concave-shaped tool without a probe, a concave-shaped tool with a probe and a conventional FSSW tool, and investigated the influence of heat distribution and joint strength using the three new tools. The newly developed concave-shaped tool with a probe suppressed 7% of maximum heat input, decreased the pyrolysis area of epoxy resin by 47%, and increased joint strength by 4%. Finite element analysis also showed the suppression of heat input through the newly developed concave-shaped tool with a probe, achieved by reducing the contact area between the tool and Al alloy. Full article

Despite multiple advances in treatment and prevention, cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Chemotherapy remains the most effective method for cancer treatment. However, commercial chemotherapeutic drugs have limited efficacy, severe side effects, and acquired resistance. Therefore, the scientific community has devoted a great effort to designing new, more effective, and cheaper drugs. In this sense, copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition reactions (CuAAC) provide 1,4-disubstituted 1H-1,2,3-triazoles in high yields without forming by-products. This reaction allows the easy, efficient, functional, ordered, rapid, selective, and specific joining of small molecules, giving rise to more complex molecules. The CuACC reaction simplifies the synthesis processes, accelerating the discovery of new chemotherapeutic agents by allowing the joining of commercial platinum drugs, slightly altering their structure, or creating new molecules with improved properties. This work shows the importance of CuAAC reactions in the search for new metallodrugs with possible anticancer activity. Full article

Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications are rapidly growing, and more applications are joining the market competition. As a result, the AI-as-a-service (AIaaS) model is experiencing rapid growth. Many of these AIaaS-based applications are not properly optimized initially. Once they start experiencing a large volume of traffic, different challenges start revealing themselves. One of these challenges is maintaining a profit margin for the sustainability of the AIaaS application-based business model, which depends on the proper utilization of computing resources. This paper introduces the resource award predictive (RAP) model for AIaaS cost optimization called RAP-Optimizer. It is developed by combining a deep neural network (DNN) with the simulated annealing optimization algorithm. It is designed to reduce resource underutilization and minimize the number of active hosts in cloud environments. It dynamically allocates resources and handles API requests efficiently. The RAP-Optimizer reduces the number of active physical hosts by an average of 5 per day, leading to a 45% decrease in server costs. The impact of the RAP-Optimizer was observed over a 12-month period. The observational data show a significant improvement in resource utilization. It effectively reduces operational costs from USD 2600 to USD 1250 per month. Furthermore, the RAP-Optimizer increases the profit margin by 179%, from USD 600 to USD 1675 per month. The inclusion of the dynamic dropout control (DDC) algorithm in the DNN training process mitigates overfitting, achieving a 97.48% validation accuracy and a validation loss of 2.82%. These results indicate that the RAP-Optimizer effectively enhances resource management and cost-efficiency in AIaaS applications, making it a valuable solution for modern cloud environments. Full article

In the present study, the feasibility to achieve localized induction heating and debonding of multi-material composite structures is assessed in testing coupons prepared by Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) and extrusion-based additive manufacturing (AM) technologies. Nano-compounds of Polyether-ketone-ketone (PEKK) with iron oxide nanoparticles acting as electromagnetic susceptors have been processed in a parallel co-rotating twin-screw extruder to produce filament feedstock for extrusion-based AM. The integration of nanocomposite interlayers as discrete debonding zones (DZ) by AFP-AM manufacturing has been investigated for two types of sandwich-structured laminate composites, i.e., laminate-DZ-laminate panels (Type I) and laminate-DZ-AM gyroid structures (Type II). Specimens were exposed to an alternating magnetic field generated by a radio frequency generator and a flat spiral copper induction coil, and induction heating parameters (frequency, power, heating time, sample standoff distance from coil) have been investigated in correlation with real-time thermal imaging to define the debonding process window without compromising laminate quality. For the optimized process parameters, i.e., 2–3 kW generator power and 20–25 mm standoff distance, corresponding to magnetic field intensities in the range of 3–5 kA m⁻¹, specimens were effectively heated above PEKK melting temperature, exhibiting high heating rates within the range of 5.3–9.4 °C/s (Type I) and 8.0–17.5 °C/s (Type II). The results demonstrated that localized induction heating successfully facilitated debonding, leading to full unzipping of the debonding zones in both laminate structures. Further insight on PEKK nanocomposites debonding performance was provided by thermal, morphological characterization and non-destructive inspection via X-ray micro-computed tomography at different processing stages. The developed framework aims to contribute to the development of rapid, on-demand joining, repair and disassembly technologies for thermoplastic composites, towards more efficient maintenance, repair and overhaul operations in the aviation sector and beyond. Full article

We examine the distribution, habitat association, morphometrics, meristics, and reproductive attributes of Amblyraja radiata over much of its Canadian range, Grand Banks to Arctic waters. It is distributed widely on the shelf and upper slope between 30 and 1288 m, reaching highest density in 100–400 m and occupying most available temperatures, between −1.0 and 8.8 °C, but concentrating in 1.6–3.5 °C. The maximum (and average) size decreases with increasing latitude in a continuum from 102 cm (55 cm) in the south, to 45 cm (20 cm) in the north. The proportion of mature fish increases with depth (40% at 0–50 m to 80% at 1150–1200 m) and temperature (35% at <0 °C to 55% at 5+ °C). The size at maturity decreases south to north; size at onset of maturity in males—43 (south) to 19 (north) cm, in females—49 to 23 cm; length at 50% maturity in males—74 to 44 cm, in females—66 to 40 cm. A. radiata maturity is also reflected in the rapid increase in the size of secondary sexual characteristics. Some meristics were consistent over the entire study area (spines near the spiracles and shoulders) while others varied with latitude (teeth rows, midline spines, spines near the eyes, % dorsal fins joined, spines between dorsal fins) or by fish length/maturity; the tail length/total length as a proportion of total length decreased during Stage 1 then increased at onset of maturity. Full article