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Tunnels, as specific types of transport structures, place high demands on pavement construction. When selecting the pavement type, two main construction types are often compared: asphalt concrete and cement concrete. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, which must always be considered in light of the boundary conditions. The choice between asphalt and concrete pavement should be based on the specific project requirements, climatic conditions, traffic load, planned service life, maintenance and repair opti...

In terms of sustainability of mining, one of the decisive factors, in addition to economics, is safety. This mainly includes minimizing the effects of safety risk factors such as noise, vibration and technical seismicity, dustiness, the occurrence of harmful gases, etc. From this point of view, it is necessary to pay due attention to this area in research and try to maximize the protection of workers, but also the environment, from the effects of these risk factors resulting from the mining and subsequent mineral ...

Residential HVAC work (installation, commissioning, and periodic maintenance) is often performed by small teams under time pressure and in variable site conditions. Despite being routine, these tasks involve recurring occupational hazards: chemical exposure to refrigerants and oils, electrical shock during connections and testing, falls during outdoor unit mounting, manual handling injuries, and ergonomic strain from constrained postures. This paper presents a super-simple, practice-oriented method to identify, ev...

Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)-assisted retrofitting of diesel engines remains attractive, but exhaustive dual-fuel bench mapping is costly and engine-specific. This paper presents a simulation-guided prioritization workflow for retrofitting the UTB 2404055 agricultural diesel engine to LPG-diesel operation. An AVL BOOST 1D model of a dual-fuel architecture with multi-point LPG port injection and direct diesel pilot injection was calibrated and validated against eight measured diesel baseline points at 1400 and 240...

This paper presents the development and experimental validation of an intelligent variable-structure control system for optimizing industrial ventilation in ATEX (ATmospheres EXplosibles) environments. Current ventilation solutions, based on continuous maximum-flow operation, consume 15 to 40 percent of total industrial hall energy and remain largely reactive to hazardous atmosphere formation. The proposed system integrates Model Predictive Control (MPC) with Artificial Neural Network (ANN) algorithms and a spatia...

Industrial sites concentrate high-energy processes, hazardous substances, and complex building layouts that can amplify fire, explosion, and toxic-smoke events. Fire and rescue units (ISU) often arrive with incomplete or outdated information about the facility, which increases response time and exposes crews to avoidable hazards. This paper proposes a simple, patent-oriented framework for optimizing ISU interventions in industrial zones by combining four building blocks: operational response data, computational fl...

This study examines how organizational structure and workflow/process design can be aligned in information-intensive organizations through Business Process Management, workflow standardization, digital automation, and adaptive governance. The study develops and evaluates the Adaptive Workflow–Structure Integration Model, which integrates structural standardization, digitally orchestrated workflows, and governance mechanisms into a unified socio-technical framework. The model is applied in a document-intensive or...

The research analyses agricultural unused land (AUL) identified within the cadastral territory of Velke Trencianske Stankovce (western Slovakia) with the objective of evaluating restoration potential and determining suitable management pathways for reintroduction into agricultural use. The methodological framework combines Sentinel-2 vegetation indices, LPIS data, soil characteristics, and site-specific attributes including terrain configuration, parcel accessibility, and environmental constraints. Restoration pot...

Rock glacier hydrology remains poorly constrained in marginal permafrost environments such as the Southern Carpathians. This study quantifies spatial variability by relating spring temperatures to elevation, aspect, lithology, and spring type, and temporal variability through diurnal and seasonal thermal amplitudes, to detect permafrost occurrence and assess its influence on alpine groundwater systems. Between 2020 and 2025, 62 alpine springs were systematically monitored in the highest sector of the Retezat Mount...

Clamping and fixture operations are frequent sources of injuries and productivity losses in small and medium industrial workshops. Traditional manual vise tightening can create pinch points, repetitive strain, inconsistent clamping force, and longer cycle times, especially when parts are handled in batches. This paper presents a simple, invention-driven concept: an automated pneumatic clamping system that retrofits to a standard industrial vise and uses sensors and safety logic to improve occupational safety (SSM)...

Lake water quality is an important sign of ecosystem health, biodiversity, and sustainable management of freshwater resources. As human activities, climate change, and eutrophication increase, the need for efficient and consistent monitoring methods grows. Traditional field sampling provides accurate local data but is limited by how often and where samples are collected, as well as by high costs. Satellite remote sensing is a practical way to monitor inland water bodies, enabling repeated, large-scale assessments ...

The coal mining waste dump of Petrila in the Jiu Valley, Romania, represents a significant source of environmental hazards due to spontaneous combustion of coal residues. This study investigates the generation of nitrogen oxides (NO, NO2, and NOX), carbon dioxide (CO2), and methane (CH4) from the Petrila dump, focusing on their correlation with self-heating phenomena and internal temperature variations. Field observations were conducted on the dump, recording signs of surface smoke, elevated temperatures, and othe...

Repairs of cement concrete pavements are among the most demanding technological operations in road construction and therefore require increased attention. Repairs of less damaged cement concrete pavements are usually made using plastic mortars, epoxy and polyester resins or special materials. The economics of the repair, or the strengthening of damaged cement concrete pavements, is tied to the technical and technological problems of interaction with asphalt layers. Thin reinforced cement concrete slab is a method ...

The complex processes of forest regeneration are important within the overall framework of forest measures aimed at establishing and maintaining forest vegetation, ensuring the continuity of timber production, and, not least, strengthening the ecological stability of forests. The importance of this paper lies in monitoring the artificial regeneration of species in lowland areas. The aim of this study is to analyze the evolution of species in the plantations established in 2014 within U.P. IV Cheveres, Lunca Timisu...

Oxidoreductase enzymes play a key role in modern biotechnology due to their high specificity and ability to catalyze redox processes under mild conditions. They are used in environmental monitoring, biosensor development, and fine organic synthesis. However, their practical use in their native form is limited by their low stability, sensitivity to environmental changes, and the inability to re-extract from the reaction mixture. Immobilizing enzymes on various carriers can solve these problems. Magnetic nanoparticl...

The aim of the article is to present modern geodetic methods used for surveying sacral buildings. These are terrestrial surveying, photogrammetry and drone images. When surveying the building, the digital sketch method was used, which, in addition to the geometry, also captures the topology of the resulting drawing of the surveyed object. The benefit of this method is the automated drawing of a wireframe model of the building in a CAD application. The platform used is QGIS with Python language support. The advanta...

In spite that the Hylocomiosa is the second most widespread forest site type in Latvia, the correlations between soil properties, stand structure and ground cover vegetation remain insufficiently studied. The hypothesis of soil heterogeneity within a single forest site type was in ground to research the connection between the woody and ground cover vegetation and the soil parameters within the area of single forest sub quarter. The research was conducted in a young growth of Scots pine, which was characterized usi...

Wind damage causes tree uprooting and breakage, so significantly altering the forest stand structure and stability. The Tervete Nature Park is one of the most important recreational forests in Latvia. However, storms over the last three years have changed the structure of the forest stands in park. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the amount of wind damage and the factors influencing it in forest stands. Fieldwork included the inventory of uprooted and broken trees along a transect line, recording dendrometri...

Purpose Electronic waste (e-waste) is one of the fastest-growing waste streams globally, posing urgent environmental and social challenges, particularly in emerging economies where recycling infrastructure is underdeveloped and informal recycling practices dominate. This article examines how circular economy (CE) principles can be applied to enhance e- waste supply chains and promote sustainable management. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review (SLR) of 50 peer-reviewed articles published betw...

Europe is undergoing a transition toward renewable heating and cooling, and borehole heat exchanger systems play a critical role in this energy shift. However, their efficiency depends heavily on site-specific and local climatic conditions. This study evaluates BHE design and performance across 11 European capital cities that represent diverse climatic conditions, from hot/dry (Nicosia, 21.56 C, undisturbed ground temperature) to cold/humid (Helsinki, 6.76 C). A representative university building was virtually rel...

Rapid warming along the Antarctic Peninsula has intensified surface melting on maritime glaciers, accelerating ablation and contributing to increasingly negative surface mass balances, particularly on Livingston Island, South Shetlands Islands, Antarctica. Continuous, weather-independent monitoring of snow and ice conditions is therefore essential for assessing seasonal variability and its implications for glacier evolution. A multi-temporal dataset of Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery acquired bet...

Rising urbanization and consumption are accompanied by increasing volumes of municipal solid waste (MSW). This fact requires improved economic mechanisms for regulating waste management. Under these conditions, it is important to harmonize the interests of the state and business. Recently, waste management costs and investments in fixed assets have been rising. The key factors influencing MSW generation for Russian regions were identified and their impact was assessed. The urbanization rate and food consumption ar...

Medicinal plants offer diverse health benefits through biological active compounds, anti microbial effects that help treat diseases. Polluants contaminate medicinal plants through polluted soil, water, and air, or poor processing, with different concentrations.Different contributors include industrial emissions, pesticides, irrigation with polluted water, and environmental pollution e.g. Toxic/heavy metals such as cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), zinc (Zn), arsenic (As), and chromium (Cr), mangan...

This study compares multiple approaches for surface water mapping using multi-sensor satellite data. Open-access imagery from Sentinel-2 (optical) and Sentinel-1 (SAR) was used for three study sites in Bulgaria. The optical dataset consisted of three Level-2A images acquired under near cloud-free conditions, while the radar dataset included three Ground Range Detected images acquired on dates closest to the optical imagery. Surface water extraction was performed using single- and multi-index approaches for the opt...

The geomagnetic field varies in time and space, being a signal composed of periodic and non-periodic elements and is monitored in a triaxial system at observatories around the world. Based on data from INTERMAGNET observatories, we analyze the strongest storm of 2026, which occurred during January 19-21. The methodology used is spectral evaluation (Fourier, wavelet, signal decomposition into approximations and details with various functions on different levels, etc.). The wavelet technique allowed us to analyze th...

Albania, situated in the Mediterranean basin, represents a fire-prone environment where climatic conditions, vegetation heterogeneity, and human pressure interact to shape complex wildfire dynamics. While several studies have focused on meteorological fire-danger forecasting, the frequency of observed wildfire occurrence, and fire severity in terms of burned area extent, considerably less attention has been given to the year-to-year variability of biomass loss. This study examines the impact of wildfire activity o...

This analysis examines the regulatory framework for the seaweed sector and its impact in the Baltic Sea region through a systematic literature review and quantitative approach. The study assessed legislation and policy documents at four levels of governance: international, European Union, regional and national. The aim of the study was to provide a comprehensive overview of the legal framework for the seaweed sector, to identify the main trends and challenges, and to assess its potential impact on the development ...

Windbreaks are key components of agricultural landscapes, mitigating wind erosion, protecting crops, enhancing microclimate stability, and supporting biodiversity. Despite their ecological and agronomic importance, spatially comprehensive inventories of windbreaks remain limited, particularly at regional and national scales. This study presents a semi-automated GIS-based method for identifying potential windbreak structures in the Malacky district of western Slovakia. Using the Land Parcel Identification System (L...

Omnicopters are fully actuated UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) with some special properties, such as the ability to fly in an arbitrarily chosen orientation. However, many of their characteristics, including their resistance to wind gusts, remain poorly understood. This paper presents a new multirotor design that can be used to conduct comparative studies. The proposed platform is an eight-engine aircraft, and its main advantage is the ability to rearrange four of the motors between two configurations when landed,...

The concept of circular economy (CE) is a fundamental change in the way we perceive and manage resources, production, and consumption. The transition to a circular economy is a major challenge at international level, considering the context of limited natural resources and the growth of the global population. As the consumption of resources continues to increase, it is essential to find ways to manage raw materials more efficiently and to reduce the anthropic impact on the environment. In this context, the authors...

Increasing the share of renewable energy sources for the generation of electricity in the public electricity network can have an important impact on the performance of the electricity system. An important problem in the electric power system is ensuring the continuity of the supply. The aim of the paper is to present a way to complement energy demand management and smart grids with models that follow changing energy production. This can be achieved by a holistic management system for diagnosis and risk assessment ...

The paper aims to analyze the economic performance of the Romanian aquaculture sector, the main objective is to evaluate key economic indicators in the context of environmental pressures and existing regulations, identifying opportunities and challenges for a sustainable development of the sector. To achieve the proposed objective, the research is based on an analysis of statistical data for the period 2014-2023. This includes economic indicators specific to the aquaculture sector, such as number of companies, num...

The general concern about climate change and the actions that must be taken to protect the environment are current concerns and occupy the first places on global agenda regarding the search for viable and sustainable solutions. Transition to green energy involves numerous intensely analysed issues with major implications for the economies of many countries. Thus, integration of renewable energy in oil and gas operations is an increasingly used strategy to reduce the carbon footprint and improve sustainability of t...

The problem of industrial ventilation has arisen as a result of the serious pollution problems that arise both in the industrial and industrial environments. Before addressing an industrial ventilation study, the question should be raised whether there is no simpler means of reducing or eliminating the causes of pollution or of reducing pollution by modifying the production process or the design and construction of the actual ventilation system . The commissioning of an industrial ventilation system occurs wheneve...

Industrial activities in the Jiu River basin, especially coal mining, have generated a significant impact on water quality over time, by releasing variable concentrations of heavy metals into the environment. This paper analyzes the trends of variation over time of the degree of heavy metal pollution in the Jiu River, considering the direct influence of the extractive industry in the area. The study is based on data collected from multiple water quality monitoring campaigns, covering an extended period, and aims t...

Babina Agricultural Enclosure is located in the northern sector of the Danube Delta near the Chilia branch, has undergone significant transformations over the decades. Originally designed as part of a large-scale aquaculture system, this area was later converted into agricultural land during the intensive land reclamation projects of the mid-20th century. However, following ecological rehabilitation programs initiated in the 1990s, Babina has regained its prominence as a important site within the Danube Delta Bios...

With the dynamic development of the internet, we are observing the development of modern technologies to facilitate the quality of public life in urban spaces. Therefore, in the context of urban development and urban space management, the concept of "smart city" has emerged, aspiring to be one of the most important research areas and topics of the 21st century. GIS (Geographic Information Systems) technologies play a key role in the development of smart cities, particularly in the area of environmental protection....

This study describes the use of a soybean oil oleogel structured with beeswax (4-6% w/w) as a fat replacer in gluten-free millet flour-based muffins. The oleogel was incorporated into the muffin formulation by replacing 100% of the conventional fat. The dough rheology was analyzed to evaluate changes in viscoelastic behavior, and the muffins were evaluated for their sensory and textural profile. The results indicated that the oleogel maintained the desired dough rheology and produced muffins with acceptable textur...

Arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb) are highly toxic, carcinogenic elements from the same group of periodic system. They occur naturally as oxyanions, predicting their affinity to anionactive adsorbents in aqueous environment. The differences in adsorption properties of arsenate (AsO43-) and antimonate (Sb(OH)6-) were tested on natural adsorbents (zeolite, biochar, birnessite, hydrated ferric oxides - HFO) in their original and iron (Fe) or manganese (Mn) - modified forms, using the model solutions of AsO43- and SbO43-...

Technical installations in explosive hazard environments have specially designed characteristics to ensure safe operation in such atmospheres. For safety reasons, it is essential to maintain the integrity of these special features throughout the entire lifespan of the installations through maintenance and inspection processes. In this operation it is necessary to use safety tools. These tools must be assessed and certified in accordance with the applicable requirements of the current legislation, regulated by Dire...

The fish farming infrastructure in the Danube Delta, including the Popina Fish Farm Enclosure, has been significantly impacted by environmental factors, particularly due to climate change. Located in the northeastern part of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, near the Chilia arm and the Black Sea, this enclosure once played an important role in aquaculture activities. Currently, the main threat to the area is the high water levels of the Chilia arm, which place constant pressure on the protective dykes, increasin...

The egg is an animal-derived food with remarkable nutritional value, providing a balanced intake of essential nutrients and high digestibility, making it suitable for all age groups. This study aims to analyze the impact of different hen-rearing systems on egg characteristics, including their mass, the proportion of components (egg white, yolk, shell), and the content of minerals and metals. To determine the quantity of metals in the various egg components (shell, egg white, yolk), the X-ray fluorescence (XRF) met...

This study assesses low-cost biochars produced from locally available agricultural residues, corn (BC-corn) and straw (BC-straw), as reactive sorbents for in situ groundwater remediation of vinyl chloride (VC). Biochars were obtained by slow pyrolysis under inert atmosphere and characterized by N2-BET at 77 K, CHNS, FTIR, XRD, and SEM/EDS. Sorption experiments were performed at 20+/-2 C in a synthetic aqueous matrix and in Danube alluvial groundwater containing elevated VC (11.6 to 17.8 ug/L) with typical backgrou...

Biologically active food products have demonstrated their effectiveness in maintaining health and ensuring well-being. In recent years, these foods have been enriched with the addition of probiotics, polyphenols, vitamins, peptides or other substances with health benefits. The importance of probiotics in restoring the balance of intestinal microbiota has led to their increasing use by consumers. Thus, food products augmented with various probiotic strain formulas have been developed. A problem that always arises i...

The continuous accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere represents one of the greatest challenges to achieving a sustainable and circular carbon economy. Traditional capture technologies based on aqueous amines are effective but suffer from high energy penalties, corrosion, and environmental toxicity. In contrast, bio-based polymers offer renewable, low-impact alternatives for CO2 capture and subsequent transformation. Chitin and its deacetylated derivative chitosan emerge as particularly promising d...

The goal of the study was the obtaining of Castanea sativa Mill., CS (sweet chestnut) antioxidant extracts and lipid fractions from skin and pulp, followed by nanoencapsulation in cyclodextrins (CDs). The nutritional and medicinal values of fruits are mainly due to the presence of low-gluten carbohydrates, vitamins, as well as essential fatty acids (FA), including omega-3. In this study, the KG variety was subjected to the Soxhlet separation of the lipid fractions (petroleum ether) and antioxidant polyphenols (eth...

Soil is an essential component of ecosystems, one of the most important natural resources and a significant factor in maintaining ecosystem health and biodiversity. Since 2002, the LUCAS (Land Use/Cover Area Frame Statistical Survey) project has been regularly implemented in the European Union to obtain data on changes in land cover and land use patterns, various environmental indicators, as well as indicators characterizing soil properties. Field studies were conducted and soil samples were taken within the frame...

A global challenge of our nowadays life is dealing with micro- and nano-plastic particles (MNPs), due to wide spreading all around us, persistence over the years, and toxic character, contributing to adverse effects on human health. As one of the biggest polluters worldwide, the textile industry including mechanical and chemical processes of fibers and garments generates various contaminants in the indoor air, including -white pollutants- with micro-nano plastic particles MNPs. This paper presents some methods for...

The purpose of the study is the evaluation of the bioeconomic potential of Western Romania in terms of determining the main agricultural and forestry products and the amount of available organic waste and by-products that can be integrated into the circular bioeconomy. The NUTS 2 administrative region West Romania consists of four counties: Timi?, Arad, Cara?-Severin and Hunedoara, which in total have more than 1.8 million hectares (ha) of agricultural land and large forested areas- a significant but not well expl...

The circular economy represents a systemic change in the economic model towards more efficient use of resources, reduction of environmental externalities and support of innovation. This article analyses the economic impacts and opportunities associated with the implementation of the principles of the circular economy in the European and Czech contexts. Based on a systematic literature review, analysis of strategic documents and selected empirical studies, the macroeconomic benefits, impacts on the labour market, b...