Artiles
Open Access
Article
05 June 2026Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Construction Materials for Drywall Application: Plastic Waste and Natural Fiber Composite Versus Conventional Gypsum Board
Metallized biaxially oriented polypropylene (met-BOPP) is a flexible packaging material whose aluminium layer hinders mechanical recycling. This study presents a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a met-BOPP composite reinforced with cellulosic fibers, comparing its environmental performance to that of gypsum plasterboard, a conventional material widely used in drywall systems. The functional unit was defined as the production of 1 m2 of board. Primary data were obtained experimentally, and secondary data were sourced from the Ecoinvent 3.6 database, using OpenLCA 2.5 software and the ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (H) impact assessment method. The results revealed substantially lower potential environmental impacts for the composite board compared to the gypsum plasterboard across several categories, with net environmental credits equivalent to 208% of the gypsum impact in Global Warming Potential, 460% in Marine Ecotoxicity, and 207% in Non-carcinogenic Human Toxicity. The environmental gains of the composite alternative result from the recycling of the post-consumer plastic waste used. A sensitivity analysis using a pure cut-off modelling, in which the met-BOPP waste enters the system burden-free and no valorization credits are granted, confirmed the environmental advantage of the composite in terms of GWP, showing a 90.8% reduction in GWP compared with gypsum plasterboard. These findings support met-BOPP composite panels as a promising low-carbon alternative for the construction sector, aligned with circular economy principles.
Open Access
Review
05 June 2026Mitochondrial Fatty Acid Oxidation Dysfunction in Tubulointerstitial Fibrosis: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Advances
Tubulointerstitial fibrosis is a central pathological basis for the persistent progression of chronic kidney disease. Its initiation and progression involve multiple mechanisms, including disordered energy metabolism, lipid accumulation, inflammatory responses, and abnormal extracellular matrix deposition. As a major energy source for renal tubular epithelial cells, mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation (FAO) is essential for maintaining tubular metabolic homeostasis. Impaired FAO leads to insufficient ATP production, aggravated lipotoxicity, and mitochondrial homeostasis disruption, thereby further activating oxidative stress, inflammatory pathways, and profibrotic signaling, which, in turn, promote tubular injury and the progression of interstitial fibrosis. This review summarizes the basic physiological processes of mitochondrial FAO and its pathological role in tubulointerstitial fibrosis, with particular emphasis on the mechanisms by which FAO impairment drives metabolic reprogramming, lipotoxicity, and abnormalities in mitochondrial quality control. It also outlines recent advances in therapeutic strategies aimed at restoring FAO, improving mitochondrial function, and alleviating lipotoxicity and secondary profibrotic responses. Current evidence suggests that targeting FAO impairment may offer a promising therapeutic approach for delaying the progression of renal fibrosis; however, further efforts are needed to strengthen clinical translation.
Open Access
Article
04 June 2026Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping of Stakeholder Governance Perceptions: A Causal Architecture for Managing Pinctada radiata in the Eastern Mediterranean
Understanding how governance systems respond to ecological complexity requires analytical approaches that capture both biophysical interactions and stakeholders’ interpretations of causal relationships within socio-ecological systems. In the Eastern Mediterranean, the Indo-Pacific pearl oyster, Pinctada radiata, poses a governance challenge because it is simultaneously perceived as a non-indigenous species, an ecosystem engineer, and a livelihood resource. This study develops the Causal Cognitive–Institutional Architecture (CICA) for marine governance. Using Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (FCM), it formalises stakeholder reasoning and socio-economic interactions. Stakeholder-specific causal maps were constructed for fishers, scientists, and government officials. The resulting models reveal distinct but complementary causal logics: fishers emphasise stewardship, collaboration, and livelihood security; scientists prioritise ecological stability, environmental change sensitivity, and habitat impacts; and government officials primarily emphasise regulatory coherence and enforcement. These stakeholder-specific maps were then integrated into a unified governance model using a weighted linear fusion procedure. The unified FCM identifies collaboration, community education, and environmental change sensitivity as highly influential cross-domain concepts, while institutional trust emerges as a fragile but consequential governance variable. Scenario simulations indicate that interventions targeting collaborative and learning-oriented mechanisms generate broader stabilising responses across the system than enforcement-centred interventions alone. The CICA–FCM framework provides a transparent diagnostic approach for identifying governance bottlenecks, integrating heterogeneous stakeholder reasoning, and supporting adaptive management of P. radiata under ecological uncertainty.
Open Access
Review
04 June 2026Three-Dimensional Topography Prediction in Milling Medically Difficult-to-Process Materials: Mechanism, Modeling and Evaluation
Milling serves as the core manufacturing process for medical, difficult-to-process materials. The three-dimensional topography of machined surface directly determines the service performance, biocompatibility, and service life of medical implants. This work targets unclear formation mechanism, incomplete modeling factors, and insufficient verification methods of three-dimensional topography in milling medical difficult-to-process materials. It systematically reviews the research progress of three-dimensional topography modeling and prediction. The core generation mechanism is analyzed by coupling the tool-workpiece relative motion with the material dynamic response, with a focus on the deformation features of difficult-to-process medical materials. The three-dimensional topography modeling methods of side milling, end milling, and five-axis ball-end milling are elaborated. Model characteristics considering material properties, cutting conditions, and dynamic factors are compared. Validation and evaluation methods are summarized from two-dimensional contour, three-dimensional topography, and texture fractal features. Limitations of existing models in adaptability, multi-factor coupling, and accuracy-efficiency balance are pointed out. Future research directions of hybrid modeling driven by physics and data for medical, difficult-to-process materials are prospected. This review offers a theoretical framework for precision machining and quality control of medical key components.
Open Access
Review
03 June 2026A Comprehensive Survey and Reference Architecture for AI-Powered Autonomous Drone Systems in Smart Cities
Despite a rapid rise of AI-powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) deployments in smart city environments, current surveys and frameworks lack a unified, protocol-level reference architecture that integrates multi-domain applications, edge AI perception, cognitive reasoning through Large Language Models (LLMs), and regulatory compliance within a single deployable specification. This study presents a comprehensive cross-domain review of AI-powered drone systems for traffic management, delivery, infrastructure inspection, disaster response, and environmental monitoring. The study introduces COMPASS (Cognitive Operations Model for Programmable Autonomous Smart-city Systems), a novel seven-layer technical reference architecture that describes communication protocols (MAVLink 2.0, ROS2/DDS, MQTT 5.0, and NGSI-LD), edge computing hardware recommendations for five drone payload tiers, and quantified performance requirements for safety-critical operations. The key feature of COMPASS is its LLM-based Semantic Middleware Layer, which allows for context-aware decision-making, natural human-drone interaction, and regulatory compliance verification. Comparing COMPASS to many other frameworks reveals that it is the only architecture to simultaneously provide multi-domain coverage, protocol-level specifications, hardware recommendations, LLM integration, and empirically verified benchmarks.
Open Access
Communication
02 June 2026Effect of Carbon Source on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Silicon Carbide Fabricated by Two-Step Reaction Sintering
Reaction-bonded silicon carbide (RBSC) ceramics prepared by gel casting and two-step sintering were investigated. Three active carbon sources of petroleum coke (PC), carbon microspheres (MC), and nano-carbon black (CB) were compared in terms of slurry rheology, preform characteristics, sintered microstructure, and mechanical properties. With the active powders of PC and MC, the large particle size resulted in low density of the preform and un-uniform distribution of active carbon. CB addition yielded the highest slurry viscosity, the highest preform density, and the highest carbon density of 1.00 g·cm−3. The higher carbon density and more uniform active carbon translated into the highest SiC phase content and the lowest residual Si after sintering, attributed to the uniform active carbon distribution. A high-performance RBSC ceramic with a density of 3.12 g·cm−3, bending strength of 512 MPa, and Vickers hardness of 2386.6 HV was achieved. The corresponding phase composition was 94.28 vol.% SiC, only 2.22 vol.% residual Si, which is significantly lower than that of conventional RBSC. These results highlight the critical role of active carbon source selection in optimizing RBSC performance through microstructural refinement and residual phase control.
Open Access
Article
01 June 2026Regional Inequalities in Age at First Marriage: Evidence from Rural and Urban Howrah, India
The present study aimed to examines regional inequalities in age at first marriage among Bengali-speaking women in Howrah district, West Bengal, It hypothesized that women in urban areas were more likely to marry after 18 years compared to rural women. The analysis draws on cross-sectional data collected from 665 ever-married women, of whom 60.15% resided in urban areas and 39.85% in rural areas. Bivariate analysis, independent sample t-tests, and binary logistic regression were employed, complemented by qualitative in-depth interviews from each region. The mean age at marriage was 22.25 years (±4.4), with a pronounced rural–urban regional difference: rural women married significantly earlier (19.83 years) than urban women (23.85 years) (t = 12.80; p < 0.001). Nearly 48.30% of rural women were married at or below 18 years, compared to only 7.25% of urban women (p < 0.001). Logistic regression results reveal strong and persistent regional disparities. In the unadjusted Model I, urban women had significantly higher odds of marrying after 18 years than rural women (OR = 11.95; p < 0.001). After adjusting for socio-demographic, familial, and economic factors in Model II, the association remained robust (OR = 9.67; p < 0.001). Generational patterns were non linear: women from Generation II were more likely to marry after 18 years (OR = 1.09; p < 0.01), while those from Generation III had significantly lower odds (OR = 0.39; p < 0.01). Higher education of respondents (OR = 1.66; p < 0.01), respondents’ fathers (OR = 3.12; p < 0.01), and mothers (OR = 3.58; p < 0.01) substantially increased the likelihood of delayed marriage. Respondents (OR = 1.51; p < 0.05) and respondents’ fathers (OR = 1.92; p < 0.05) with white-collar jobs significantly increase the likelihood of being delayed in marriage. Respondents belonging to the upper wealth quintile (OR = 1.92; p < 0.05) were more likely to marry at later ages. Respondents with ≥3 siblings(OR = 0.65; p < 0.05)and those whose husbands had 1–2 siblings (OR = 0.37; p < 0.01) and ≥3 siblings (OR = 0.39; p < 0.01) were significantly less likely to marry after 18 years compared to the reference category. The qualitative findings reveal the intersection of socio-cultural and kinship obligation in marital timing. The finding underscores that delaying marriage requires interventions beyond legal enforcement and schooling alone, highlighting the need for rural-specific, intergenerational, and economically grounded policy strategies.
Open Access
Review
01 June 2026Next-Generation Immunotherapy Strategies Driven by Tumor Microenvironment Modulation
Next-generation cancer immunotherapy increasingly recognizes the tumor microenvironment (TME) as a decisive regulator of therapeutic efficacy and durability. While immune checkpoint blockade and other immunotherapies have achieved remarkable clinical success, sustained benefit remains limited to a subset of patients, underscoring the insufficiency of immune activation alone. Accumulating evidence reveals that the TME functions as a dynamic immune ecosystem that shapes immune cell infiltration, metabolic fitness, spatial organization, and effector function. Static or reductionist biomarker frameworks fail to capture the temporal and functional heterogeneity of TME states that govern immunotherapy sensitivity and resistance. Importantly, immunotherapeutic interventions themselves induce adaptive TME remodelling, frequently triggering compensatory immunosuppressive circuits and acquired resistance. In this review, we synthesize recent advances in understanding functional and evolving TME states and discuss how strategic modulation of the microenvironment can enable more durable and context-dependent immunotherapy responses. By reframing immunotherapy as a process of TME state management rather than isolated immune stimulation, this perspective outlines guiding principles for designing adaptive, TME-driven immunotherapeutic strategies.
Open Access
Review
01 June 2026Machine Learning Approaches to Identify and Classify ADHD: A Narrative Review with Tabular Performance Synthesis and Human–AI Mapping
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) presents diagnostic challenges due to heterogeneity, comorbidity rates, and reliance on subjective, phenomenological criteria, resulting in misdiagnosis or treatment delays. This structured narrative review with quantitative tabular synthesis, conceptual mapping, and clinical workflow integration employed a sunflower life-cycle metaphor to bridge clinical expertise and machine learning (ML) technologies, while surveying recent empirical studies (2017–2023) to capture methodological variation in ADHD assessment workflows. Ten studies were selected based on relevance to ML applications for ADHD identification and classification, with deliberate representation of diversity in study design, sample characteristics, data modalities, and ML model-type. The method comprised (a) broad interpretive literature searches, (b) extraction of study-level data, and (c) mapping of ML approaches onto a standardized evidence-based ADHD assessment workflow. Analyses included qualitative synthesis of sample characteristics (youth-focused, N = 38–238,696), data modalities (behavioral surveys, EHR, neuroimaging, genetics), ML models (RF, SVM, DNN), performance metrics, phenotype- and genotype-based distinctions; quantitative aggregation of reported performance metrics (accuracy 66–93%, AUC 0.66–0.94); cross-validation practice, and model-level considerations; and tabular summarization of limitations and multidimensional predictors. Syntheses produced comparative tables, a human–AI diagnostic workflow diagram, and explicit alignment of ML applications with each clinical stage to highlight integration points and gaps.
Open Access
Article
01 June 2026Optimizing Material Selection for Hydrogen Storage Tanks Using Finite Element Analysis for Sustainable Energy Applications
This study deals with optimizing material selection for hydrogen storage tanks using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) for sustainable energy applications. A cylindrical tank with hemispherical ends was modelled in Fusion 360 and evaluated in ANSYS 2024 R1 under a uniform internal pressure of 70 MPa. Four candidate materials (carbon fibre, titanium alloy, stainless steel, and aluminum alloy) were comparatively assessed through structural, thermal, and modal analyses. Results show that carbon fibre exhibited the lowest von Mises stress of 85 MPa with moderate deformation of 1.2 mm, indicating high stress efficiency but limited stiffness. Titanium alloy demonstrated a balanced response of 201 MPa stress and 1.8 mm deformation, while stainless steel recorded the highest stress of 320 MPa with controlled deformation of 2.1 mm. Aluminum alloy showed the largest deformation of 2.8 mm, reducing its suitability for standalone high-pressure use. Thermal analysis confirmed carbon fibre’s superior insulation performance, whereas metallic materials exhibited higher heat flux. Overall, titanium alloy emerged as the most structurally reliable material, while carbon fibre is better suited for insulation or hybrid reinforcement. The findings provide a comparative design framework for safe and sustainable hydrogen storage applications.
