Research works

Development of Pose Stabilization System for Septic Tank Sampling Using Wire-driven Mechanisms and Passive Gimbal Structures

This study presents a wire-driven automatic sampling system for septic tank environments. A wire-driven mechanism was adopted for a wide working range and easy installation on existing facilities. The system utilizes three cables and motors to control a platform with three degree...

Biomass-plastic Co-pyrolysis for sustainable biochar: Mechanisms, reactor technologies, and circular-carbon applications

The rapid accumulation of lignocellulosic biomass residues and plastic waste poses significant environmental challenges because conventional disposal methods, including landfilling and incineration, contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and inefficient resource use. Biochar prod...

From geographic coverage to climatic representativeness: protected areas, environmental fragmentation, and species risk under climate change

Conservation assessments usually evaluate protected areas and species risk in geographic space, yet biodiversity is also structured by the availability and spatial configuration of environmental conditions. This study uses environmental space as a broad-grain diagnostic framework...

Non-typhoon extreme waves in the Northeast Asian Marginal Seas: Observation-based identification, synoptic conditions, and classification

This study presents an observation-based approach for identifying, characterizing, and classifying non-typhoon extreme waves in the Northeast Asian Marginal Seas using in-situ wave and wind measurements, with reanalysis data used to interpret the associated synoptic conditions. E...

Tensile behavior of confined lap-spliced bundled-bar connections for prefabricated box retaining walls

In prefabricated box retaining walls, the corner connection region is characterized by congested reinforcement and limited construction space, making it difficult for conventional connection details to simultaneously ensure rapid assembly and reliable force transfer. To investiga...

Numerical investigation of flow and heat transfer characteristics of supercritical CO2 in metal foam for Brayton cycle heat exchangers

The supercritical CO 2 (sCO 2 ) Brayton cycle offers great potential for compact, high-efficiency power systems, but conventional heat exchangers struggle to meet extreme thermal demands under high-parameter conditions. Open-cell metal foams offer a promising solution for heat tr...

Correlating hydration mechanism and microstructure development to LC3 synergistic effect improvement in UHPC under hot-water curing condition

Limestone-calcined clay (LC3) can be used to prepare ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) to reduce its environmental impact. However, the application is restricted because the synergistic effect of LC3 could not be fully activated under a high LC3 replacement ratio due to the...

YOLOv8-based Intelligent Robotic Harvesting Platform With a Custom 6-DOF Manipulator

This study proposes a 6-degree-of-freedom (DOF) active re-observation method for detecting strawberry disease symptoms hidden from a single front view. The experimental evaluation was conducted using 50 mock strawberries, which were reused across 10 randomized trials. After grasp...

Bringing the expert to the fore: Learner practices for reproducing teachers' institutional identity during teacher-led and open pair-work interactions

Within the institution of the language classroom, participants for the most part display their orientations to the institution-specific identities of expert and novice on a turn-by-turn basis so as to materialize teaching and learning as the institutional business of this setting...

Influence of the used solvent on the efficiency of the extraction of cathode materials for direct recycling

Lithium-ion batteries are playing an increasingly significant role in modern mobility and energy storage. Their increasing quantity and the limited amount of material resources available on earth will place great demands on the most efficient recycling in the future. In this pape...

Cold-adapted membrane-aerated biofilm reactor for domestic wastewater treatment in northwest China: Pollutant removal performance and mechanistic insights

Membrane-aerated biofilm reactors (MABRs) have considerable potential for carbon and nitrogen removal from domestic wastewater. However, their long-term performance under high-altitude, low-temperature, and low-C/N conditions remains insufficiently understood. In this study, a pi...

Structural ordering, mechanical performance and reinforcement mechanism of polyvinyl alcohol-regulated calcium silicate hydrate

Calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) determines the mechanical properties of cementitious materials. Disordered microstructure and random pores of C-S-H significantly limit its performance. Herein, C-S-H/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composites were fabricated to regulate the assembly of C...

Segmental pin and endwall heat transfer for a staggered pin fin array in a stationary and rotating channel

An experimental study is conducted to separate the heat transfer contributions of the pin surfaces and endwalls in a staggered circular pin fin array subjected to straight flow ejection in a low aspect ratio rectangular channel, representative of gas turbine trailing edge cooling...

FMFNet: Frequency-Aware multi-scale attention with fine-grained feature fusion for sonar image semantic segmentation

Sonar image semantic segmentation is a challenging task due to low contrast, severe speckle noise, and blurred object boundaries, which constrain the representation capability of purely spatial-domain convolutional features. This paper proposes FMFNet (Frequency-Aware Multi-Scale...

Patterns and drivers of beta diversity of Asteraceae across Africa: A taxonomic and phylogenetic approach

Unravelling the spatial and temporal dynamics of biodiversity is a central goal in ecology and evolutionary biology, requiring an integration of taxonomic and phylogenetic beta-diversity. However, a lack of comprehensive studies at continental scales for major ecologically divers...

Feasibility of implementing a mindfulness-based program for paediatric intensive care unit staff

Background Paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) clinicians are particularly susceptible to workplace stress due to frequent ethical dilemmas (for example, perceptions of futile or unethical treatment), patient morbidity and mortality, sleep disruption, and emotional exhaustion,...

Enforcement drives conservation policy impacts at the Brazilian agricultural frontier

Why do forest conservation policies work in some contexts but not in others? Here we empirically evaluate how the effectiveness of complementary conservation policy instruments layered onto command-and-control forest regulation depends on environmental law enforcement. We exploit...

Bio-mediated ternary stabilization of an expansive clay matrix using waste eggshell powder, xanthan gum, and cotton fibers: Mechanical behavior, swelling control, and microstructural evolution

Expansive clay soils utilized in compressed earthen construction often exhibit low strength, severe volumetric swelling, and high moisture sensitivity, limiting their structural utility in sustainable building practices. Although conventional stabilizers such as cement and lime i...

Multi-objective optimized signal decomposition with explainable and reliable hybrid models for multistep significant wave height forecasting in ocean wave energy applications

Accurate forecasting of significant wave height (Hs) is vital for marine safety, coastal engineering, and renewable energy production. This study presents an effective integrated model system to forecast Hs for two distinct sites in Australia, Gladstone and Palm Beach, over vario...

Architects as educators in owner-occupied retrofit: Situated learning in design interactions

Retrofitting owner-occupied housing is critical to achieving decarbonisation targets, yet uptake remains limited. While social approaches emphasise building experts' role in engaging households with retrofit, the interactional agency of architects remains insufficiently specified...