First systematic evaluation of anthropogenic debris dynamics in Sri Lankan fishery harbors: Spatial and temporal trends of macroplastic accumulation in the Western Province.

DRIFT-EM enables direct wafer retrieval of ultrathin serial sections for large-volume electron microscopy.

A Study and Development of Natural Ventilation Opening Design Guidelines for Single-Sided Residential Units to Improve Indoor Ventilation Quality in High-Rise Buildings in Chiang Mai

Fab labs and makerspaces support circular economy practices through community engagement and knowledge-sharing, shaping sustainable and inclusive futures thanks to open design principles. Using materials from waste, scraps, and by-products represents an emerging design practice in these contexts, focusing on embedding circular economy principles into new products by retaining resources. Nevertheless, the strategies adopted to disseminate their use remain unexplored in similar bottom-up contexts. This work investigates the dissemination of circular materials knowledge toward circular economy adoption within fab labs and makerspaces. Starting from fab lab and makerspace repositories, 35 case studies were selected and analyzed, considering their activities, connections to the circular economy, dissemination approaches, and user engagement. Sharing the knowledge about circular materials represents an emerging practice for fab labs and makerspaces, transferring their experience and know-how. By working with practitioners and designers, they make materials knowledge accessible through bottom-up learn-by-doing activities, enabling circular economy practices in local communities.

Current equations used to predict the capture efficiency of curb inlets in green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) are mostly based on design equations created by the Federal Highway Administration (HEC-22), as this is the standard in roadway drainage design. These equations were determined using experiments and models based on curb opening sizes traditionally found on highways, which are usually much larger than curb openings found in urban infrastructure. The problem this presents is that urban street curb openings, particularly leading to GSI systems, are specified to be oversized when designing with these equations. There is limited guidance on how a municipality should set its guidance for the construction of curb openings for GSI. The present work set out to measure the capture efficiency of typical curb opening combinations (i.e., opening size and shape) using a physical model. The experimental observations were compared to capture efficiencies calculated using existing design equations. Findings show that the existing design equations can overestimate the expected flow capture and also identify the range of curb opening designs in which the design equations may be accurate.

As artificial intelligence and digital technologies increasingly shape higher education, educators are required to deliberate about designing learning experiences that are both technologically enhanced and pedagogically grounded in openness, critical engagement and student agency. This article presents the CoDiCri ACAD Toolkit, an adaptation of the Activity-Centred Analysis and Design (ACAD) framework, developed within the Spanish project Critical Digital Competence: Towards Agency for Learning through Open Educational Practices. Through a qualitative, collaborative and design-based process, the toolkit integrates theoretical insights from critical digital competence (CDC), open educational practices (OEP) and learning design. It comprises a set of cards and a design canvas to support analysis and (re)design of learning activities. We report the toolkit’s development and structure, and illustrate its use for analysis and (re)design of learning activities oriented to openness, agency and CDC. The CoDiCri ACAD toolkit offers an open, adaptable resource for promoting critical and participatory digital pedagogy.

In this work, we design and fabricate a ventilated acoustic energy harvester based on Friedrich–Wintgen bound state in the continuum (BIC), whose operating frequency can be programmed by tuning the geometry of a bridging coupling tube. By intentionally breaking the symmetry-protected BIC condition, the structure supports quasi-BIC that converts propagating sound into a strongly confined resonant state with a high quality factor, enabling efficient acoustic energy localization. We achieve acoustic-to-electric conversion by placing a piezoelectric composite sheet (PCS) at the location where the acoustic energy is localized. Meanwhile, the acoustic fields on the two sides of a PCS are out of phase, producing a push–pull excitation that enhances acoustic-to-electric conversion. Numerical simulations and experimental results consistently show peak output voltages of 217.2 mV at 1204 Hz and 314.0 mV at 1301 Hz under an incident sound pressure of 1 Pa. The proposed open and fabrication-friendly design provides a simple and effective solution toward ventilated acoustic energy harvesting, with potential for deployment in ventilation-demanding environments.

The crypt-villus axis of the small intestine provides essential structural and biochemical cues that govern epithelial renewal, barrier function, and lineage specification. However, most existing invitro models rely on flat monolayers or villus-only hydrogels, limiting their ability to capture stem cell niches and spatial organization. Here, we report silk fibroin scaffolds engineered with physiologically scaled crypt-villus topography through a combination of 3D-printed molds, vacuum-assisted silk infiltration, and water annealing. This approach reproducibly generated scaffolds with well-defined crypt and villus features and an open design that permitted visual inspection prior to seeding. When seeded with human intestinal organoid-derived monolayers, the scaffolds supported polarized epithelia with apical ZO-1, organized F-actin, and E-cadherin localization along villus axes. Differentiation protocols yielded all major intestinal lineages, including enterocytes, goblet cells, Paneth cells, and enteroendocrine cells, confirmed by immunostaining and qRT-PCR. Ultrastructural analysis further revealed dense brush-border microvilli on villi, indicative of absorptive maturation. Incorporation of L-WRN feeder cells within the scaffold bulk sustained Ki-67 positive proliferative zones and increased LGR5 transcript expression, consistent with prolonged proliferative activity. Collectively, these results establish silk-based crypt-villus scaffolds as a reproducible and versatile platform for generating spatially organized human intestinal epithelium, with potential applications in epithelial biology, host-microbe studies, and intestinal disease modeling.

Abstract - The routing of wavelength division multiplexed optical networks still constitutes the basis of high-capacity communication infrastructures in the modern world, but the complexity of their operation has grown significantly as networks in size, heterogeneity in traffic, and resiliency demands. Routing, protection, and wavelength assignment strategies, in this case, are critical in shaping the throughput, blocking likelihood, and recovery performance during steady and failure induced environments. This literature review presents a designative and to a certain extent, critical synthesis of three inseparable research directions in large scale WDM optical networks: performance- based routing and wavelength assignment, protection and survivability measures, and new paradigms of hybrid models that introduce classical algorithmic processes together with machine learning-based decision support. The research papers under survey are arranged initially based on the static and dynamic traffic models, and the impact of assumptions of demand predictability on the computation routes and wavelength utilization are emphasized. The protection strategies described as dedicated, shared, and pre-planned backup schemes are then reviewed keeping in mind recovery time, signaling overhead, and spectrum efficiency trade-offs witnessed in real world deployments. Special focus is given to hybrid methods combining offline optimization with learning-based backup path prediction, in which systems that have learned models based on past failures, make the effort, though not necessarily conclusive, to minimize connection disruption without necessarily over-reserving resources. In the analyzed sources, similar issues arise, such as scalability in the context of dense wavelength grids, the non-stationarity of results under non-stationary traffic, and a lack of reproducibility of the results related to using the ML-centric framework owing to the data limitations. The paper summarizes these findings to establish open research directions and design concerns that, based on the argument, are underutilized to date in the research on WDM network and provide a basis on which researchers and practitioners can explore the emerging world of resilient and wavelength-efficient optical networking. Meanwhile, the review has deliberately not presented any novelties in terms of algorithms, but rather given a comparative insight, methodological shortcomings, and practices of evaluation which impact on the realistic evaluation of future routing and protection structures in large-scale experimentation and operational WDM settings in contexts of worldwide investigations carried out in the present day. Key Words: WDM optical networks, routing and wavelength assignment, protection and survivability, failure-resilient optical routing, hybrid machine learning approaches

Production and usage of organophosphate esters (OPEs) as primary substitutes for brominated flame retardants have surged in recent decades and exacerbated health risks in both indoor and outdoor environments. This study systematically explores the geospatial distribution, dynamic indoor-outdoor exchange fluxes, and health risks of the OPEs in China by a novel model framework combining an atmospheric transport model and an indoor exposure model. The results indicate that coastal urban clusters in Eastern and Southern China, characterized by intensive industrial activities and high population density, are core areas of OPE contamination by both indoor and outdoor sources with total outdoor concentration of five major OPE homologues peaked above 240 ng/m3 in 2019. Indoor-outdoor OPE transport exhibits significant spatial heterogeneity in urban areas, revealing strong contribution of indoor OPE pollution to its outdoor contamination in Northern China and weak contribution in Southern China, driven by indoor and outdoor emissions and levels, physical-chemical properties, and climate conditions determining the frequency of ventilation and open architectural designs.

HIV testing is crucial for prevention and treatment, yet barriers may disproportionately affect men in some sub-Saharan African settings. HIV self-testing (HIVST) may offer a promising solution, but its uptake remains under-explored. This study examines sex-specific barriers, HIV testing trends, and HIVST uptake in Manicaland, Zimbabwe, across three survey rounds pre-, during-, and post-COVID-19. We conducted longitudinal surveys 2018–2019 (pre- COVID-19), 2021 (during COVID-19), 2022–2023 (post-COVID-19), across six socio-economic zones (tea estates, rural villages, forestry areas, towns, roadside settlements, and urban areas) in eastern Zimbabwe. The study employed an open cohort design with repeated cross-sections, complemented by a sub-analysis among repeat participants to assess robustness. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, HIV testing, perceived barriers, and HIVST awareness and usage were analysed using generalized linear mixed-effects models. Men consistently had lower odds of HIV testing than women (2022–2023, aOR=0.74, 95% CI:0.67–0.81, P < 0.001). Barriers to HIV testing peaked during COVID-19 (2021), with men reporting three to five times higher barriers than women, including “judgmental staff” (24.5% vs. 4.7%, P = 0.005) and “lack of privacy” (21.5% vs. 5.1%, P = 0.032). Rural residents had reduced testing odds post-COVID-19 (aOR=0.82, 95% CI:0.69–0.99, P = 0.034). Although HIVST awareness increased, particularly among men compared to women, (66.7% vs 58.5%, aOR=2.21, 95% CI:2.09–2.33, P < 0.001), usage remained low (5.9%, vs 9.8%). Men report substantially greater barriers to HIV testing in Zimbabwe, exacerbated during the COVID-19 and are now further threatened by cuts to HIV funding. Although HIVST awareness expanded, its low uptake among men highlights the need for improved linkage-to-care mechanisms and tailored outreach such as peer-led distribution models.

Small dwelling units in urban multi-storey buildings often suffer from inadequate ventilation due to single-sided openings, which negatively impacts thermal comfort and indoor air quality. This study investigated solutions to enhance cross ventilation, adopting a typical studio-unit layout of a Bangkok apartment as a case study. CFD simulations were conducted for 48 scenarios, varying by the internal opening design, wind direction, and unit location. Each scenario was evaluated using the average indoor velocity coefficient at occupied level (Cvi) and the product of the velocity coefficient at openings and inlet area (Cvo × A). It was found that the base case unit (BC) provided the poorest performance (mean Cvi = 0.01; Cvo × A = 0.02). The improved unit with a transom window (C1) exhibited higher mean Cvi and Cvo × A values (0.09 and 0.26, respectively), while the unit improved with a louvre door (C2) achieved the highest values (0.20 and 0.76, respectively). The most significant parameter for improving mean Cvi and Cvo × A was found to be the opening design, followed by wind direction in relation to building orientation, and unit location, respectively. Further analysis based on Bangkok’s climate indicated that the ventilation rate of most BC unit scenarios failed to meet the recommended criterion (5.0 ACH). In comparison, the C1 unit and C2 unit achieved ACH ranging from 12.6 to 173.7, consistently meeting the recommended criterion throughout the year across all building orientations and unit locations. Moreover, several scenarios of the C2 unit can provide occupied-level air velocities that pass the recommended criterion for thermal comfort throughout the year. The findings revealed both the potential and limitations of using internal openings for cross ventilation in compact units to improve indoor air quality and thermal comfort, providing practical solutions for architects and policymakers to enhance sustainable residential design.

In intensive commercial pig production systems, the spatial distribution of elimination and lying behaviors plays a crucial role in pen hygiene, management efficiency, and animal welfare. Pen partition design and the provision of hiding facilities are key structural factors that may influence pigs' spatial preferences; however, systematic evaluations of their combined effects remain limited. A total of 108 growing-finishing pigs were used in a 3 × 2 factorial design to assess the effects of different partition types and hiding facility configurations, as well as their interaction, on the spatial distribution of elimination and lying behaviors. Behavioral data were analyzed using non-parametric statistical methods. The results showed that partition type and hiding facilities significantly influenced the spatial patterns of elimination and lying behaviors (p < 0.05), whereas no significant effects were observed on total daily elimination duration, elimination frequency, or lying posture distribution (p > 0.05). Elimination behavior was predominantly concentrated in the slatted floor area. The combination of a front-closed partition with a hiding facility significantly increased the proportion of disturbed elimination events (16.2 ± 14.3%), which was higher than that observed in the open partition combined with a hiding facility (7.9 ± 7.6%, p < 0.05). In contrast, the rear-closed partition design was associated with atypical elimination occurring on the solid floor area. Overall, pigs showed a clear preference for lying on the solid floor. The front-closed partition combined with a hiding facility significantly reduced the proportion of lying on the solid floor (64.6 ± 8.5%), whereas the open partition combined with a hiding facility resulted in a higher-than-average proportion of solid-floor lying behavior (80.6 ± 8.9%). These findings indicate that an open partition design combined with a hiding facility is more effective in maintaining functional separation between elimination and resting areas while reducing disturbed elimination events. This study provides experimental evidence to support structural optimization of growing-finishing pig housing, contributing to improved pen hygiene and enhanced animal welfare.

This paper proposes a measurement technology of complex permittivity based on split resonant cavity and hybrid field solution. Compared to closed cylindrical resonant cavity, the split resonant cavity with an open design does not require samples to be fabricated into specific sizes, thus enabling non-destructive testing. In this paper, the split resonant cavity operates in TE01p (p = 1, 3, 5) mode, with a frequency range of 2-7GHz and a highest quality factor of 7×104, which provides a good frequency selectivity and testing sensitivity. In addition, a simple hybrid field solution was designed for the split resonant cavity to solve the complex permittivity of the sample. In the cavity region, the electromagnetic field is modeled according to the field of a cylindrical resonant cavity, while in the sample region, the electromagnetic field is analyzed using the eigenmode expansion method. Subsequently, the mode-matching method is employed to determine the complex permittivity of the planar sample. Finally, through both simulation and experimental validation, the measurement technology proposed in this paper demonstrates high measurement accuracy and is well suited for non-destructive characterization of the complex permittivity of planar materials.

Design and techno-economic assessment of an industrial-scale polyvalent clostridial vaccine production process.

Scientific progress is held back by the high cost of proprietary equipment and the restrictive nature of patents, which slow innovation and limit scientific novelty. Free and open-source hardware offers a proven alternative, reducing costs generally by more than 90% for equivalent or lesser proprietary hardware while accelerating technological development through collaborative design and distributed digital manufacturing as well as commercial pathways. Despite these benefits, funding for scientific hardware development predominantly follows the antiquated proprietary model, creating a gap between scientists’ ability to purchase proprietary equipment and their inability to finance lower-cost open source alternatives. This article analyzes four financial models for open hardware development: (1) philanthropy model, where funders (non-profits or governments) shoulder all design risks; (2) standard investor model, where investors assume risk for design and sales in order to earn a return on investment (ROI); (3) crowd-sourced model, where the scientific community funds development and shares risk; and (4) a new decoupled risk investor model, which separates open hardware design risk from risk of an ROI by introducing a guarantor. A case study demonstrates that the decoupled risk investor model provides success for conventional science funders at marginally higher cost while enabling global access to low-cost designs and healthy ROIs with lower risk for investors. Comparative analysis highlights advantages and limitations of each approach, providing actionable recommendations for science funders. This work aims to derisk open hardware design financing, expand adoption, and democratize access to scientific tools globally while fostering innovation and cost savings across research disciplines.

Background: Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) is a physiological problem experienced by 90% of the woman during their menstrual cycle. It affects their routine activities, work productivity, and also causes disturbance in their relationships, due to depression, anxiety, anger issues. To establish a non- pharmacological treatment, we have planned this research. Methods: Research is been planned with open label single arm study design, with consecutive sampling technique. Research was conducted in working women aged 18-30 years suffering from premenstrual syndrome, a structured yoga protocol was prepared as intervention. Consent was taken; sample size was 47 based on inclusion and exclusion criteria working women were enrolled in the study. 2-month observation followed by intervention for 3 months was insisted. Every month follow up was there, 47 subjects completed the study out of 50. Premenstrual Symptom Screening Tool (PSST) was used as assessment tool. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to analyse the data. Result: Statistical data has shown significant (P&lt;0.05) reduction in PMS symptoms in the working women suffering from PMS. After 5th menstrual cycle from 55% to 79 % improvement was there in different symptoms. Conclusion Yoga is an effective tool in the management of both physical and psychological symptoms of Premenstrual Syndrome.

Polar intermetallics are an emerging class of thermoelectric materials whose electronic properties can be finely tuned by cation chemistry. Single crystals of Eu5–xYbxAl3Sb6 and Eu5–x–ySrxYbyAl3Sb6 were synthesized by flux methods and their structures determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, confirming monoclinic C2/m symmetry and an electron count near 3.5 e– per atom, consistent with polar intermetallic classification. The Al content in these phases can be increased from 3 to 4. A comparative study of polycrystalline synthesized Eu5Al4Sb6 and its Sr- and Yb-substituted solid solutions, along with the pseudoquinary phase Eu2.5Sr2Yb0.5Al4Sb6, is presented. Substituting Eu2+ with the more ionic Sr2+ enhances mobility and increases the magnitude of the Seebeck coefficient, while the more covalent Yb2+ drives the system metallic, lowering Seebeck values but improving zT to 0.8 at 873 K. The quinary phase further suppresses bipolar conduction, delaying the high-temperature downturn observed in both ternary solid solutions. Across all compositions, thermal conductivities remain exceptionally low (<1 W m–1 K–1), enabling promising figures of merit. These results highlight how ionic versus covalent A-site substitution can serve as a powerful lever to control scattering, band overlap, and transport in polar intermetallics, opening design pathways parallel to those of the benchmarked half-Heusler phases and PbTe.

This paper examines how landscape design in the City of Melbourne has evolved in response to the shifting political dynamics around issues of climate change. With a focus on two major projects on the Birrarung/Yarra River, the paper examines significant environmental and political developments since the late 1990s. The study begins with Birrarung-Marr, revealing how the Millennium-Drought (1997-2009) prompted revisions to planting schemes and water-sensitive design after the park opened in 2002. It then turns to The Greenline Project, a multi-stage waterfront redevelopment currently under development, which is already engaging with both climatic and political pressures. By comparing these projects, the research demonstrates how extreme climate events have impacted open space design and how designers are adopting tactical strategies to navigate evolving political and environmental challenges. The findings underscore the importance of ongoing integration between policy and design to effectively address the challenges of climate change in public urban landscapes.

Advancing research in fields such as Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) and autonomous navigation critically depends on the availability of reliable and reproducible multimodal datasets. While several influential datasets have driven progress in these domains, they often suffer from limitations in sensing modalities, environmental diversity, and the reproducibility of the underlying hardware setups. To address these challenges, this paper introduces SMapper, a novel open-hardware, multi-sensor platform designed explicitly for, though not limited to, SLAM research. The device integrates synchronized LiDAR, multi-camera, and inertial sensing, supported by a robust calibration and synchronization pipeline that ensures precise spatio-temporal alignment across modalities. Its open and replicable design allows researchers to extend its capabilities and reproduce experiments across both handheld and robot-mounted scenarios. To demonstrate its practicality, we additionally release SMapper-light, a publicly available SLAM dataset containing representative indoor and outdoor sequences. The dataset includes tightly synchronized multimodal data and ground truth trajectories derived from offline LiDAR-based SLAM with sub-centimeter accuracy, alongside dense 3D reconstructions. Furthermore, the paper contains benchmarking results on state-of-the-art LiDAR and visual SLAM frameworks using the SMapper-light dataset. By combining open-hardware design, reproducible data collection, and comprehensive benchmarking, SMapper establishes a robust foundation for advancing SLAM algorithm development, evaluation, and reproducibility. The project’s documentation, including source code, CAD models, and dataset links, is publicly available at https://snt-arg.github.io/smapper_docs/.