Search Results (1,006)

Heat stress is a major constraint on poultry productivity in tropical environments, where persistent high temperature and humidity intensify its negative effects on production traits. In this study, we quantified the relationship between thermal load and monthly egg production in black-boned and Thai native chickens and developed a refined temperature–humidity index intended to improve the assessment of heat stress under tropical conditions. A large dataset comprising 136,816 monthly egg production records from 11,530 birds was analyzed using regression models and seven THI equations. The results confirmed that heat stress significantly reduces monthly egg production, while conventional indices showed only moderate explanatory power. In contrast, the refined index consistently improved model performance, providing modest improvements in model fit compared with the original formulation. Notably, genotype-specific responses were identified, with Thai native chickens exhibiting greater tolerance to elevated thermal conditions. Distinct heat stress thresholds were also established, with values of 72 for black-boned and 74 for Thai native chickens. These findings highlight the environmentally sensitive nature of monthly egg production traits and demonstrate that targeted refinement of thermal indices enhances the detection of heat stress effects. This study provides a practical framework for integrating environmental indicators into management and breeding strategies aimed at improving thermal resilience in poultry systems. Full article

This paper examines building performance under extreme conditions by treating thermal resilience as a process-based and time-dependent property. Existing approaches remain fragmented: resentation, extreme event definition, resilience metrics, passive strategies, and energy systems are typically handled in isolation, leaving current methods with limited capacity to explain how buildings respond to prolonged disruptions such as heatwaves or power outages. The study offers a cross-domain synthesis of thermal resilience research, drawing together climate modelling, indoor thermal response, resilience metrics, passive design strategies, distributed energy systems, and regulatory constraints. Building on this synthesis, a trajectory-based framework is developed that links climate inputs, event definition, indoor thermal response, and performance metrics within a unified structure. This integration is extended into architectural design through a decision-oriented framework that interprets resilience as the outcome of a hierarchy of decisions structured by reversibility and operational dependence. Early design decisions define the constraints and the range of achievable performance within which subsequent optimisation occurs. Building performance emerges from the interaction of passive strategies and energy-supported systems under constrained conditions. The results establish that thermal resilience cannot be inferred from conventional indicators; it must be understood through the temporal evolution of indoor conditions. The proposed framework provides a consistent basis for linking resilience assessment with design decision-making, supporting a unified approach to resilience-oriented design. Full article

Contemporary post-war cities increasingly require adaptive urban systems capable of addressing climate vulnerability, infrastructural instability, environmental degradation, and human well-being simultaneously. This study develops an interdisciplinary framework for adaptive biophilic infrastructure and resource governance within the context of sustainable post-war reconstruction in Ukraine. The research combines literature analysis, comparative urban assessment, and experimental evaluation of eco-modified construction materials. Particular attention is given to vertical greening systems, adaptive underground infrastructure, daylight-integrated public environments, multifunctional urban systems, and environmentally responsive concrete composites incorporating porous minerals and plant-based biomass. Comparative examples from Montreal, New York, Seoul, and Singapore are examined alongside differentiated Ukrainian urban contexts, including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Odesa, Kherson, Lviv, and Uzhhorod. The findings demonstrate that adaptive biophilic infrastructure may improve urban microclimates, strengthen thermal and acoustic regulation, enhance infrastructural adaptability, and support psycho-emotional comfort within dense and post-conflict urban environments. The study further indicates that underground and layered urban systems increasingly function as multifunctional socio-ecological infrastructures integrating mobility continuity, environmental regulation, public accessibility, emergency protection, and human-centered spatial resilience. The experimental assessment demonstrates that eco-modified materials contribute to moisture stabilization, thermal buffering, acoustic moderation, and passive environmental regulation within adaptive urban systems. The incorporation of porous mineral additives and plant biomass improved the environmental responsiveness of the investigated composites while supporting more resource-efficient construction approaches. The study concludes that sustainable post-war reconstruction requires a transition from fragmented technological interventions toward integrated socio-ecological urban frameworks capable of combining environmental regulation, infrastructural resilience, resource efficiency, adaptive governance, and human-centered spatial design within long-term urban sustainability strategies. Full article

This study critically addresses the challenge of selecting optimal insulation materials for contemporary, energy-efficient building envelopes, a decision with profound environmental, structural, and occupational health consequences. The paper responds to the growing demand for sustainable, resilient solutions by comparing wool, a bio-based, regenerative material, and expanded polystyrene (EPS), a synthetic polymer widely implemented in the construction industry, and advanced laboratory testing (thermal conductivity, moisture buffering, freeze–thaw resistance) is discussed in a comprehensive synthesis of the recent literature. Also, field evaluations from European retrofits and pilot projects (UK, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Germany and France) further contextualize performance outcomes, and life cycle impacts are considered. Recent results reveal that wool insulation achieves a moisture buffering value (MBV) between 1.8 and 2.7 (g/m²) % RH, minimal vapor resistance (mvr = 1–2), and preserves functional and structural integrity through more than 100 freeze–thaw cycles, leading to significant stabilization of the interior microclimate and enhanced durability. In contrast, EPS delivers lower thermal conductivity (0.032–0.037 (W/mK), critical for reducing heating/cooling demand, but exhibits limited vapor permeability (lvp = 60–150 MN·s/(g·m)), increased risk of condensation and mold, and reduced compressive strength (<22% after 30 cycles), especially when ventilation details are inadequate. Hybrid envelope systems leveraging both EPS and wool are demonstrated to optimize energy efficiency (up to 23% seasonal savings) and reduce interior humidity fluctuations, while lifecycle and recycling assessments show wool panels to be markedly superior in carbon footprint reduction and circularity. The stratification of insulation layers incorporating wool for vapor and moisture control, and EPS for pure thermal resistance is emerging as best practice in sustainable retrofit and new-build projects. Recommendations highlight the necessity for rigorous laboratory validation, international standards alignment, and integrated material design for robust hygrothermal comfort and environmental performance. The review also covers wool- and EPS-based hybrid composites, showing how natural fibers can improve key mechanical properties without compromising thermal insulation performance or environmental benefits. Full article

This study addresses the technical, environmental, economic, and systemic role of multi-apartment residential buildings as hydrogen consumption nodes within urban energy systems. A representative five-story building comprising 30 apartments and 2400–2800 m² of heated floor area, located in a cold European climate, was modelled with an annual heat demand of approximately 185,000 kWh. Four heating configurations were assessed: a conventional natural gas/biomethane boiler (baseline), a hydrogen boiler, a hydrogen-fuel-cell combined heat and power (CHP) system, and a hybrid heat-pump–hydrogen solution. Dynamic simulations indicate that all hydrogen-based systems can fully satisfy space heating and domestic hot water demand without modifications to the internal hydronic distribution network. The fuel cell CHP achieved an overall efficiency of 93%. It generated approximately 54,000 kWh/year of on-site electricity, while the hybrid configuration reached a seasonal efficiency of 108% and the highest primary energy reduction (46%). Operational CO₂ emissions decreased from 37,800 kg/year (gas baseline) to 1900 kg/year (green hydrogen boiler), 1200 kg/year (fuel cell CHP), and 900 kg/year (hybrid system), corresponding to reductions of up to 98%. Peak-load analysis demonstrated improved operational stability in CHP and hybrid systems, characterised by reduced cycling frequency and enhanced thermal resilience through hydrogen storage integration. Capital expenditure (CAPEX) ranged from 41,000 EUR (gas baseline) to 101,000 EUR (fuel cell CHP), reflecting additional storage, safety, and control requirements. Over a 20-year lifecycle (5% discount rate), the hybrid system achieved the lowest levelized cost of heat (0.076 EUR/kWh), followed by fuel cell CHP (0.081 EUR/kWh), compared to 0.087 EUR/kWh for gas. Payback periods ranged between 9 and 13 years, depending on configuration and hydrogen pricing assumptions. Sensitivity analysis identified a break-even hydrogen price of approximately 0.085 EUR/kWh, while carbon pricing above 100 EUR/t CO₂ significantly improves economic competitiveness. District-scale aggregation modelling suggests that hydrogen-equipped multi-apartment buildings can reduce grid electricity imports by 30–40% through on-site generation and seasonal storage. The findings confirm that multi-apartment buildings offer structural and economic advantages for early hydrogen deployment compared to dispersed housing typologies. By combining high demand density, centralised infrastructure, and compatibility with sector-coupling strategies, such buildings can function as distributed energy hubs within decarbonized urban systems. Full article

Demand-side management (DSM) is a security-critical function in residential smart grids. The same communication and sensing infrastructure that enables fine-grained load flexibility also exposes schedulers to corrupted measurements, price manipulation, and delayed control signals. Conventional DSM formulations generally treat cyber and communication impairments as external disturbances, which are addressed only after the schedule has already been calculated. This study proposes and evaluates Cyber-Resilient and QoS-Aware Demand-Side Management (CQ-DSM) as a hierarchical optimization framework that embeds cyber-risk likelihood and communication quality-of-service (QoS) directly into the scheduling objective. Local home energy management systems (HEMSs) solve mixed-integer linear programs at the appliance level, and central aggregators broadcast compact coordination signals based on real-time prices, measured QoS, and a sliding-window GRU-feature MLP risk estimator. The key intuition is to convert uncertainty about trust and actuation reliability into scheduling prices: high cyber risk discourages exposed loads during vulnerable periods, whereas poor QoS increases the value of locally preserving thermal flexibility. Under the simulation conditions (NYISO August pricing, P = 50 prosumers, Seed 42), CQ-DSM reduces overall system costs by 5.75% and imbalance procurement costs relative to an attack-unaware baseline under normal operation, limits the FDI-induced cost increase to 0.46% versus 0.83% (44% reduction in cost overrun), and reduces thermal-violation penalties by 81% under degraded QoS. The ablation results are consistent with cyber-risk pricing and QoS-aware fallback being complementary rather than redundant under the scenarios tested. Full article

Introduction: Marine heatwaves are increasing in frequency and intensity, posing major challenges for fishes inhabiting shallow coastal ecosystems. Short-term exposure to extreme warming can alter metabolic performance and thermal tolerance, with potential consequences for species persistence and school composition in thermally variable habitats. Understanding the capacity of coastal fishes to withstand acute warming events is therefore essential for predicting ecological responses to climate change. Objective: We aimed to determine the effects of simulated marine heatwaves on thermal tolerance and metabolic performance in juvenile grey mullets, Chelon labrosus and Chelon aurata, two abundant sympatric species inhabiting the Ria Formosa lagoon (southern Portugal). Methodology: Juvenile mullets acclimated at 17 °C were exposed to simulated heatwave treatments of 23, 27, or 33 °C and sampled either at peak temperature or after 48 h and 1-week recovery at 17 °C. Critical thermal maximum (CTmax, using a 1 °C/min thermal ramp), static oxygen consumption (MO2), and intermittent respirometry parameters were measured. Standard metabolic rate (SMR), maximum metabolic rate (MMR), and aerobic scope (AS) were derived from intermittent respirometry. A complementary temperature-ramp (>3 h at each temperature step 17, 23, 27 and 33 °C) was performed to evaluate routine metabolic rate and estimate Q10 values across increasing temperatures. Additional plasma and tissue analyses are being conducted to assess energetic substrate mobilization and cellular responses to thermal and oxidative stress. Results: CTmax increased significantly with warming in both treatment modes, demonstrating rapid heat hardening in juvenile mullets. Fish exposed to 27 and 33 °C exhibited higher CTmax than control fish, and this elevated tolerance persisted after recovery. Chelon labrosus showed slightly higher CTmax values than C. aurata. Oxygen consumption increased with temperature, with the strongest responses occurring at 33 °C. SMR increased markedly with warming, particularly in heatwave-exposed fish, while MMR increased mainly at the highest temperature treatment. In contrast, AS showed no clear thermal optimum or decline across treatments. Routine metabolic rate increased non-linearly with temperature in the complementary ramp experiment, with a mean Q10 of 2.28, confirming strong thermal dependence of metabolism. Conclusions: Juvenile mullets possess substantial short-term thermal plasticity and can rapidly increase heat tolerance during marine heatwaves but this enhanced tolerance is accompanied by elevated metabolic costs under extreme warming, indicating potential energetic trade-offs near upper thermal limits. Differential physiological responses between species may influence school composition and ecological performance across thermal landscapes. Ongoing plasma and tissue analyses will further clarify the energetic and cellular mechanisms underlying thermal and oxidative stress resilience in coastal fishes. Full article

The construction sector is undergoing a rapid transition toward more resilient, sustainable, and digitally connected systems, creating increasing demand for materials capable of providing functions beyond conventional structural performance. In this context, smart materials have emerged as promising solutions due to their ability to respond to mechanical, thermal, chemical, or electromagnetic stimuli through adaptive behaviors such as self-healing, structural sensing, energy regulation, vibration control, and reversible deformation. Despite growing scientific interest, available knowledge remains fragmented across specific material families and isolated application domains. Therefore, this study presents a PRISMA-based systematic review of smart materials in construction using peer-reviewed journal literature indexed in Scopus during the 2021–2026 period. The review examines the principal smart material families currently applied in construction, including self-healing concretes, self-sensing cementitious systems, Shape Memory Alloys (SMA), piezoelectric materials, phase change materials, adaptive coatings, conductive nanocomposites, and multifunctional geopolymers. Their engineering functions, structural and architectural applications, reported performance characteristics, sustainability contributions, digital integration potential, and implementation barriers are comparatively discussed and qualitatively synthesized based on the reviewed literature. The findings indicate that smart materials can improve durability, structural health monitoring, seismic resilience, thermal efficiency, lifecycle performance, and carbon reduction when properly integrated into buildings and infrastructure. However, large-scale adoption remains constrained by high initial costs, manufacturing scalability, regulatory uncertainty, long-term durability validation, and limited market confidence. The review further shows that the greatest future potential lies in combining material intelligence with IoT platforms, artificial intelligence, BIM environments, and digital twins. Overall, smart materials are positioned as strategic enablers of next-generation low-carbon, adaptive, and intelligent construction systems. Full article

Taiwan’s subtropical climate poses substantial heat stress challenges to poultry production. This study compared four red-feathered rooster lines (n = 10 per line, BB homozygous HSP70 genotype)—three commercially bred lines (F, T, K) selected for maximum body weight, and one native trial line (TLRI-09) developed through marker-assisted selection targeting the HSP70 BB genotype—during a one-hour acute heat challenge at 42 °C. A pre-specified statistical decision tree was applied: normality was assessed by the Shapiro–Wilk test for each group’s change score (Δ = post − pre); one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s HSD was used when all groups were normally distributed; Kruskal–Wallis with Dunn’s post hoc test (Bonferroni correction) was used otherwise. Within-group pre-to-post changes were assessed by paired t-test. TLRI-09 showed a substantially lower body weight (909 ± 102 g vs. 2039–2226 g) and zero mortality, whereas each commercial line experienced one death (10%). Cloacal temperatures in F, T, and K groups exceeded the thermometer’s upper limit (>44 °C) within one hour; TLRI-09 reached only 42.8 ± 0.1 °C. Respiratory rate increment was highest in TLRI-09 (Δ = 82.0 ± 8.4 breaths/min) and differed significantly among lines (p < 0.001). Plasma T₃ change differed among lines (p = 0.006); post hoc analysis identified a significant K vs. T contrast only (p = 0.019). These results indicate that, despite sharing the same HSP70 genotype, breeding objective is an important determinant of acute thermal resilience—an observation that warrants further validation under chronic and commercial production conditions. Full article

The rapid development of high-density cities has triggered severe ecological challenges, including habitat fragmentation, urban heat island (UHI) effects, and conflicting demands for public recreation. Traditional ecological networks (ENs) often focus only on “source” landscapes while neglecting degraded “sink” areas. This bias limits the ability of planners to resolve complex spatial conflicts. Therefore, the primary aim of this study is to develop a robust spatial planning framework that mitigates urban ecological conflicts and enhances regional resilience. To achieve this, we constructed a composite ecological network (CEN) for the high-density city of Guangzhou that harmonizes bird habitat conservation, thermal regulation, and cultural recreation. We combined the MaxEnt model, morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA), and circuit theory to identify functional “sources” and “sinks” across these three dimensions. Next, using complex network theory, we optimized the CEN and evaluated its structural robustness using low degree addition (LDA) and low betweenness addition (LBA) strategies. The results indicate the following: (1) The CEN effectively captured the complex mosaic landscape of the city. (2) Single-objective networks displayed distinct spatial differences—the recreational network formed a dispersed web of 242 corridors, while habitat and climate networks remained highly clustered. (3) The integrated CEN generated 1137 multi-layered corridors, creating a vital green skeleton to support species dispersal, mitigate UHI effects, and improve cultural access. (4) Optimization simulations verified that the LBA strategy provided the highest stability against targeted attacks by balancing network connectivity with local aggregation. Ultimately, this framework offers a highly adaptable planning tool for dense cities, providing precise spatial guidance to overcome ecological bottlenecks and harmonize urban growth with ecosystem resilience. Full article

Rapid urbanization, climate change, and biodiversity loss are intensifying environmental pressures on arid coastal cities through extreme heat, water scarcity, salinity intrusion, and increasing flood risks. Despite substantial investment in urban green spaces across the Gulf region, many public parks provide limited ecological functionality and climate adaptation benefits. This study evaluated the ecological performance of three coastal parks in Muscat, Oman Sarooj Beach Park (23,080 m²), Ghubrah Beach Park (34,818 m²), and Al Athaiba Beach Park (17,370 m²), to identify opportunities for more resilient landscape design. The assessment revealed that although green space occupied 76.8–82% of park areas, tree canopy cover remained low (8–12%), limiting thermal comfort, habitat provision, and ecological performance. Based on these findings, a Functional and Climate-Responsive Planting Strategy (FCRPS) was developed by integrating the 10–20–30 biodiversity guideline with performance-based planting criteria tailored to arid and saline environments. The framework was applied to the proposed Majis Beach Ecological Park in Sohar, Oman, to demonstrate the implementation of ecological urbanism and nature-based solutions in a hyper-arid coastal environment. The resulting design incorporates biodiversity-enhancing planting, blue–green infrastructure, wetland restoration, and climate-responsive spatial planning. The study demonstrates how multifunctional landscapes can enhance biodiversity, improve thermal comfort, strengthen stormwater management, and support community well-being while providing a transferable framework for resilient public park design in arid coastal cities. Full article

Against the backdrop of increasingly stringent environmental regulation and increasing uncertainty in supply chain operations, this study examines how environmental penalties affect corporate supply chain resilience. Using Chinese A-share listed firms from 2009 to 2024, this paper constructs a firm-level panel dataset and employs a two-way fixed-effects model to estimate the relationship between environmental penalty intensity and supply chain resilience. Environmental penalty intensity is measured by the annual penalty amount imposed on each firm, while supply chain resilience is captured through an entropy-weighted index reflecting both resistance and recovery capacities. To alleviate endogeneity concerns, this study further uses an instrumental-variable approach based on the interaction between a firm’s one-year lagged penalty amount and city-level thermal inversion days. The results show that environmental penalties reduce corporate supply chain resilience. This negative effect is heterogeneous across firm characteristics and is partially mediated by reduced operational efficiency and crowded-out R&D investment. This conclusion remains robust after replacing the dependent variable, changing the clustering level of standard errors, and excluding observations from the COVID-19 pandemic period. Mechanism tests suggest that environmental penalties weaken supply chain resilience partly by reducing operational efficiency and crowding out R&D investment. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the negative effect is more pronounced among young firms, non-high-tech firms, and firms located in regions with lower environmental regulation intensity. This study contributes to the literature by distinguishing environmental penalties from broader environmental regulation and by examining their implications for supply chain resilience. The findings also suggest that environmental enforcement should maintain deterrence while improving transparency, predictability, and targeted compliance guidance. Full article

A chimeric RNase A inhibitor (SUMO-RI) was produced by fusing a SUMO domain to the N-terminus of the murine Rnh1 protein. Functional assays demonstrated that SUMO-RI effectively protects RNA from RNase A-mediated degradation under conditions mimicking real-time RT-PCR, with performance comparable to that of commercial RNase inhibitors. The primary advantage of the chimeric design is its improved technological suitability: SUMO-RI exhibits markedly enhanced storage stability relative to the recombinant Rnh1 inhibitor. However, this benefit comes with a trade-off—SUMO fusion reduces thermostability at temperatures above approximately 47 °C. Together, these findings establish SUMO fusion as a rational engineering strategy for RNase inhibitors, offering improved practical handling at the expense of thermal resilience. Full article

Predicting forest fire occurrence is essential for proactive disaster preparedness and environmental protection. We introduce a machine learning-based system that forecasts next-day fire probability at high spatial resolution using satellite-derived, multi-modal geospatial data. In contrast to existing reactive systems that rely on thermal anomaly detection (e.g., MODIS or VIIRS-SNPP), our approach is fully predictive, generating pixel-wise fire risk maps a day in advance. Our study focuses on Uttarakhand, India, which is an ecologically sensitive region that experiences frequent and severe forest fires. We curated a domain-specific geospatial dataset spanning 1 April to 29 May 2016. It includes daily 30 m GeoTIFF images with 10 bands comprising weather (e.g., temperature, wind, precipitation), topography (slope, aspect), fuel map, and fire mask. We constructed this dataset from diverse sources and aligned all bands spatially and temporally. To demonstrate the usefulness of this dataset, we implement a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) using the ResUNet-A architecture, chosen for its robust performance in the semantic segmentation of high-resolution remote sensing data. Our model is trained from scratch to produce high-resolution fire probability maps and classify fire/no-fire pixels. Our solution helps with planning and decision-making for early intervention, especially in areas with high risk. It supports the UN’s SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SDG 15 (Life on Land) by enhancing resilience and conserving ecosystems. The presented dataset and methodology can serve as a benchmark for future research on wildfire risk prediction using Earth observation data. Full article

Marine application of electrical assets can be challenging considering the upgraded targets in terms of increasing voltage, power, temperature, specific weight, dynamics, reliability and resilience. Research work has restarted, based at least on recent literature publications, on the investigation of electrothermal aging phenomenology, whose understanding would be fundamental for the design of modern and high-performance electrical and electronic asset components. There is, however, a seeming lack of remembrance on the topic, since most of these issues were already faced decades ago. This paper reconnects to past work, proposing an innovative general approach to aging rate and life modeling under combined thermoelectrical stress and showing experimental data that support the proposed models and parameters with the purpose of quantifying the extent of stress synergy. The use of aging rate additive or multiplicative models is developed, introducing a corrective coefficient whose value is an indication of the extent of synergism and of the feasibility to perform accelerated aging tests by applying electrical and thermal stress separately, rather than simultaneously. Insulating materials typically used in ship technologies, such as synthetic paper, polyamide and cross-linked polyethylene, are considered to support the proposed models. Eventually, the contribution of partial discharges to aging rate is experimentally exploited, discussed and also modeled in order to expand the electrothermal aging phenomenology to extrinsic aging (e.g., partial discharge aging). Full article