Abstract: This article presents a design-led environmental media prototype for translating saproxylic beetle evidence into a web-based narrative about slow forest degradation in Crete. The prototype uses five interface scenes to convert ecological constructs, including deadwood continuity, decay-stage diversity, microclimate refuge, drought-stress coupling, pathogen/vector risk, and fragmentation, into comparison, gradient, threshold, and reachability tasks. The contribution is methodological rather than ecological: it proposes an evidence-to-interface translation matrix and an anti-cutesification/anti-spectacle grammar for making proxy variables, uncertainty cues, and versioned sources inspectable in public-facing environmental media. A small mixed-background reader-response session (N = 18) is used as a boundary test of readability. The session suggests that many readers could retell the deadwood-removal inference and distinguish structural loss from simple character appeal, while also revealing recurring misreadings around proxy status, scenario precision, and particle-haze risk cues. The article therefore positions the prototype as a proof-of-concept for auditable environmental-media translation, with broader claims about public use, institutional uptake, and long-term durability reserved for future comparative and longitudinal testing.

Abstract: Background: The mammalian gene encoding OCT4, POU5F1, lies in or immediately adjacent to the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region. In humans, POU5F1 is located at 6p21.33 within the extended HLA/MHC genomic neighborhood; in mice, Pou5f1 is on chromosome 17 within the homologous MHC-linked region. Marsupial data further suggest that this association belongs to an ancient mammalian immune supercomplex rather than to a lineage-specific accident. Yet birds and teleost fish show divergent arrangements, indicating that OCT4-MHC linkage is not required for all vertebrate zygotic genome activation. Objective: This paper expands a working outline on OCT4-MHC linkage into a formal theoretical article. It asks whether the tight mammalian linkage between a core pluripotency regulator and the principal immune-recognition complex could represent an evo-devo adaptation that coordinates developmental ignition, stress survival, maternal-fetal immune tolerance, chromosome-scale timing, and long-range chromatin topology. Methods: We synthesize comparative genomics, mammalian zygotic genome activation (ZGA), MHC evolution, preimplantation immunology, Hsp70 stress biology, ASAR6 replication-timing literature, 3D genome topology, and fractal genome concepts. We formulate quantitative descriptors for synteny strength, chromatin topological coupling, developmental timing, immune silencing, and evolutionary retention. Representative mammalian and non-mammalian model organisms are summarized, and a falsifiable validation pipeline is proposed. Results/Framework: The OCT4-MHC region is interpreted as a mammalian “start-and-shield” hub. OCT4/POU5F1 provides a developmental ignition module; MHC class III stress-response genes, including Hsp70 family genes, provide early cytoprotection; classical and non-classical MHC genes provide a tunable immune-recognition module; chromosome-scale elements such as ASAR6 suggest autonomous timing control; and 3D genome architecture provides a topological medium through which these modules may be co-regulated. Mathematical formulas define normalized synteny distance, linkage conservation, topological contact kernels, activation-repression coupling, fractal contact scaling, fitness effects, and Bayesian model validation. Conclusions: The OCT4-MHC linkage is best treated neither as a proven universal “origin of life” mechanism nor as a meaningless chromosomal accident. A more defensible hypothesis is that mammals conserved a genomic architecture in which the laws of development and the laws of immune recognition are compressed into a shared chromosomal neighborhood. At the most abstract level, the arrangement may reflect an isomorphic mapping between physical constraints of a genome universe and evolutionary constraints of mammalian life: stable development requires a coordinated geometry of ignition, protection, recognition, timing, and restraint.

Abstract: Every system that reached zero-shot cross-embodiment manipulation in the first half of 2026 made the same move, deleting body information from the interface between task reasoning and motor control, whether through body-agnostic handheld data, masked end-effectors, language-coded actions, or contact-intent latents. None of these systems tests that the deletion is what causes transfer, characterizes what the interface still retains, or asks whether the interface must be symbolic. This paper supplies all three on a scene-controlled manipulation substrate where appearance confounds cannot operate. A causal interface ladder over five source and five held-out arms shows that a body-blind end-effector interface transfers zero-shot while leaking body channels back into it collapses transfer once the leak passes a threshold, a gap of $0.157$ that every held-out arm reproduces, and that injecting body identity is actively harmful. At matched body-blindness and identical upstream information, a structured symbolic coding of the interface beats a language-token coding by $0.109$ with the margin compounding over task depth, while a low-capacity continuous latent falls below the task's precision floor. On a released vision-language-action model with scene controlled by robot-swap rendering, most apparent body recoverability is scene appearance, yet a modest scene-invariant residue exceeds a raw-pixel control in all three folds, and an in-model test finds the decoded action body-light. Recoverability is not reliance, at the interface and inside the released model alike, which is the mechanism the zero-shot wave depends on and the boundary it must respect.

Abstract: We develop HodgeCY, a computational framework for studying Hodge atom profiles of singular and nodal Calabi–Yau threefolds. The first testbed is the Cynk–Meyer dataset of double octic Calabi–Yau threefolds arising from eight-plane arrangements. These examples exhibit useful collisions among standard invariants: arrangements 83 and 84 have the same singularity-count profile but different Hodge numbers, while 84 and 84a have the same singularity-count profile and Hodge numbers but different modular forms. We construct a smoothing bridge from arrangement geometry to finite-node conifold geometry: for A = P₁ · · · P₈, we study branch octics F_ε = A + εQ². For the explicit quartic Q₀ = x⁴ + 2y⁴ + 3z⁴ + 5t⁴ + xyzt and ε = 1, the HodgeCY repository verifies the local genericity conditions over Q and records a characteristic-zero degree-112 certificate for the saturated Jacobian scheme associated with arrangements 84 and 84a. The current smoothing status is therefore degree112_certified, while reducedness, Hessian-rank, and defect verification remain unpromoted validation gates. We prove that first-order plane-node incidence is universal in this setting, hence too coarse to distinguish 84 from 84a. The main completed computation is instead a concurrency separation: the intersection-lattice concurrency profiles of 84 and 84a are non-isomorphic, detected by double-line point-type multiplicities and p4-collinearity graphs. This is an arrangement-level separation, not yet a proof of distinct smoothed Hodge atom spectra. The remaining ordinary-node, defect, and operator computations are recorded as explicit validation gates in the public HodgeCY repository.

Abstract: Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) electric bicycles are widely used in China, with many accidental fires occurring in parking facilities in high-rise building. Electric bicycle parking areas in high-rise buildings have become fire-prone zones. There are urgent needs to establish fire codes for the parking facilities in high-rise buildings. But only limited research has been conducted on protecting against such fires. There are also uncertainties in the appropriate methods for implementing fire barriers and fire suppression facilities. To better understand the parking facility fires in this area, four fire scenarios were studied in this paper, aiming to seek principles on how to prevent serious fire accidents by isolating E-bicycles parked in parking facilities. These principles include fire barrier design, fire separation distance between the islands and the selection of fire suppression devices. A total of six experiments on LIBs bicycle fires were conducted. Fire spread between the LIBs bicycles and the propagation patterns of smoke generated by electric bicycle fires within parking facilities were studied. The effectiveness of different fire extinguishing methods in suppressing LIBs bicycle fires was discussed. The reasonable fire separation distance for electric bicycles was determined. It was found that LIBs with ternary lithium-ion batteries (such as NCM) are more prone to initiate thermal runaway. A sprinkler system with lower hazard class is proposed to operate under lower water pressure and flow rates. Fire control methods were proposed, such as including fire-resistive eave and fire barrier. The results can be used in setting up fire code and are useful for AI training cases in developing fire models.

Abstract: Background/Objectives: Malocclusion and delayed expressive language are managed as separate clinical problems, yet both may be two faces of a single stomatognathic dysfunctional syndrome. This cross-sectional study investigated whether neonatal feeding modality — breastfeeding, enteral feeding with non-nutritive oral stimulation, or total parenteral nutrition — predicts occlusal morphology and language acquisition in preterm children.Methods: We enrolled 40 preterm children (gestational age below 37 weeks; corrected age 36–42 months) from two follow-up programmes in Iași, Romania; 7 of 47 were excluded. Children were stratified: breastfed (Group A, n = 14), tube-fed with non-nutritive oral stimulation (Group B, n = 13), or parenterally fed (Group C, n = 13). Occlusal morphology was scored blind (κ = 0.91); language was assessed with the Communicative Development Inventories and a phonological checklist. Kruskal-Wallis tests with Dunn-Bonferroni post hoc comparisons, Spearman rank correlation, and multivariable regression adjusting for sex, residence, and socioeconomic status were used.Results: All three outcomes differed significantly by feeding group. Kruskal-Wallis tests: occlusion H(2) = 33.1, p < 0.001; language H(2) = 34.7, p < 0.001; age at first words H(2) = 35.3, p < 0.001. Median occlusion scores: 4.50 (A), 4.20 (B), 2.30 (C); median language scores: 8.40, 7.20, 3.50; median age at first words: 11, 15 and 24 months — a 13-month gap. All Dunn-Bonferroni pairwise contrasts were significant (p < 0.05). Occlusion and language scores were near-perfectly correlated (Spearman ρ = 0.986, p < 0.001). Malocclusion subtype distribution also differed significantly (χ²(6) = 19.1, p = 0.004).Conclusions: Breastfeeding was associated with the most favourable outcomes; parenteral nutrition without oral stimulation with the greatest delays. The near-perfect occlusion–language correlation supports combined stomatognathic screening as an early diagnostic tool and non-nutritive oral stimulation during tube feeding as a prophylactic priority.

Abstract: Human vision is profoundly non-uniform. Spatial resolution, contrast sensitivity, colour discrimination decrease, and the appearance of visual features become increasingly distorted with retinal eccentricity, yet visual experience appears remarkably rich and stable across the entire visual field. This apparent paradox has been a central challenge in vision science: how can a perceptually rich world emerge from a sensory system that samples only a small fraction of the environment with high precision? We argue that the apparent richness of peripheral vision cannot be explained solely by cognitive biases. Instead, it reflects genuine perceptual processes. Information sampled in central vision can be extrapolated to peripheral appearance, while prior knowledge and learned regular-ities allow the visual system to infer missing or distorted peripheral information. These processes operate within the constraints of active vision, where eye movements selectively sample task-relevant information rather than building a complete detailed representation of the scene. We propose that rich peripheral experience emerges from the interaction between centre to periphery extrapolation, and learned predictions, allowing the visual system to maintain a coherent and useful representation of the world.

Abstract: Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder in which early and reliable detection remains essential for timely clinical management, patient monitoring, and therapy planning. Although molecular and genetic studies have improved understanding of Parkinson’s disease pathophysiology, there is also a growing need for non-invasive, interpretable, and clinically reliable predictive tools that can support diagnosis using accessible biomedical biomarkers. This study proposes a calibrated and explainable hybrid ensemble framework for Parkinson’s disease detection using two complementary biomedical voice and acoustic feature datasets. The proposed pipeline integrates dataset-specific preprocessing, nonlinear feature engineering, hybrid feature selection, conventional Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning (DL), and three ensemble strategies, including meta-stacking, hybrid weighted fusion, and cascaded Decision Tree (DT). To enhance clinical reliability, the framework includes Bayesian hyperparameter optimization via Optuna, threshold optimization, statistical significance testing, bootstrap confidence estimation, probability calibration, and other eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) methods such as SHAP, LIME and permutation importance. The diagnostic performance is observed to be good in a heterogeneous dataset and is demonstrated in the experiment. The Hybrid Ensemble model had an AUC of 0.9924 and an AUPRC of 0.9976 for Dataset 1, and the highest accuracy and F1-score for the Cascaded DL model. The proposed framework showed competitive generalization performance with respect to different acoustic feature distributions on Dataset 2. The explainability analysis also identifies clinically relevant vocal and acoustic features indicative of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) prediction. Altogether, the results highlight the potential of non-invasive voice biomarkers combined with calibrated and interpretable AI models as useful decision-support evidence in screening, early prediction, and future personalized monitoring strategies for PD.

Abstract: This paper introduces a commutative geometric product on the 2D Euclidean vector space V², which, together with the standard vector addition, endows V² with an algebraic field structure naturally isomorphic to the field of bireal numbers B and consequently to the complex field ℂ. The construction is formulated entirely in terms of real vectors, without introducing complex numbers as primitive objects. Within this framework, integral identities for scalar and vector fields in V² are established. These identities provide vector analogues of classical results from complex analysis to the vector setting and provide a consistent geometric interpretation of integral calculus in V². In particular, Theorem 1 presents a generalized form of the fundamental theorem of calculus in V², which serves as a vector counterpart of Cauchy's integral theorem in complex analysis. A corresponding vector analogue of residue calculus is also developed. Finally, the construction is extended to the 3D Euclidean vector space V³, where an analogous algebraic structure is introduced and related fundamental integral identities are derived.

Abstract: Cu-based interpenetrating phase composites (IPCs) represent a paradigm for sliding electrical contacts where the synergy between thermal management, wear resistance, and electrical transport is critical. Herein, we engineer Cu-(CrWₓ)C IPCs (x = 0, 10, 25, 50 wt%) via pressureless infiltration, elucidating a tungsten-mediated architectural stabilization mechanism. We demonstrate that controlled W incorporation refines the carbide skeleton, optimizing the load-transfer efficiency between the rigid ceramic network and the continuous Cu-rich functional phase. Microstructural characterization (XRD, SEM/EDS) confirms the intact three-dimensional interpenetration, with higher W content promoting the segregation of W-rich domains. Quasi-static compression (10-3 s-1) validates the structural robustness under large-strain regimes. Notably, all composites retain high electrical conductivities (~39–41 % IACS); the Cu-(CrW10)C variant exhibits the peak thermal conductivity at 500 °C. Tribological evaluations reveal that optimal wear resistance is decoupled from peak hardness; instead, it arises from the stabilization of a skeleton-supported tribo-damaged layer facilitated by moderate W addition. Conversely, excessive W enrichment induces brittle fragmentation and interfacial debonding, exacerbating third-body abrasion. Quantitative analysis using a Thermo-Tribological Performance Index (TTPI) and an Electrical-Thermal-Wear Balance Index (ETWBI) confirms that Cu-(CrW10)C achieves the optimal equilibrium among material removal resistance, heat dissipation, and dimensional stability. This work establishes a design strategy for high-performance IPCs by leveraging architectural tuning to reconcile traditionally conflicting property requirements.

Abstract: Ammonia, as a hydrogen carrier and carbon-free alternative fuel, shows great potential in future low-carbon energy systems. This study uses dimethyl ether (DME) as a combustion promoter for ammonia to enhance the combustion performance of ammonia-fueled engines. To address the issue of unburned ammonia emissions, the original combustion chamber geometry was optimized by removing the squish area to enhance flame propagation. At an ammonia energy ratio (AER) of 60%, the modified combustion chamber (MCC) reduces unburned ammonia (uNH3) emissions by up to 85.46% and improves indicated thermal efficiency (ITE) by 1.93% compared to the original combustion chamber (OCC). Furthermore, to achieve higher thermal efficiency and lower pollutant emissions, the DME injection strategy was redesigned based on the MCC. The results show that adjusting the single injection timing (SIT) and injection angle (INA) of DME can effectively improve the homogeneity of the in-cylinder combustible mixture and enhance combustion efficiency; however, overly concentrated injection can lead to rapid heat release and increase the risk of knock. The split injection strategy enables more controllable combustion phasing, significantly reduces the maximum pressure rise rate (MPRR) and ringing intensity (RI), and mitigates knocking tendency. When the main injection timing (MIT) is −5 °CA ATDC, pilot injection timing (PIT) is −30 °CA ATDC, and the pilot injection ratio (PIR) is 60%, the ITE reaches 49.98%, which is 3.53% higher than that of the pure diesel mode. Greenhouse gas (GHG) and NOx emissions are reduced by 45.94% and 62.49%, respectively, with uNH3 emissions as low as 4.16 g/kw·h.

Abstract: Optical spectroscopy provides several useful information about polymeric ultrathin films by combining interferometric and optical absorption data contained in the UV-Vis-NIR spectra. In particular, the UV-Vis-NIR spectrum of an ultrathin polymeric film contains information about the film thickness, structural disorder, bandgap energy, type of electron transition model (direct/indirect, allowed/forbidden), cutoff wavelength (i.e., the opaque/transparent switching wavelength), etc. Here, these properties have been determined for a model semi-crystalline polymer (polyethylene terephthalate, PET) in form of ultrathin film before and after a mild mechanical deformation treatment (manual stretching). It has been found that E_U and E_g parameters are not strictly depending on mechanical deformation due to their main dependence on chemical composition/constitution of the polymer; consequently E_g can be used for polymer identification in the case it has a dielectric nature.

Abstract: Cross-embodiment transfer, the reuse of learned behavior across robots of different morphologies, is a central goal of generalist robot learning, and the quantitative claims made about it fail in a small set of specific, recurring ways. A transfer claim can ride a robot-class prior that a single bit reproduces, tighten a confidence interval by treating seeds as independent observations, credit pretraining diversity for what is data volume, or certify an invariant representation with a linear probe that a nonlinear probe falsifies. This paper defines an enforced measurement standard of eight checks, each backed by a runnable tool, that catches these failure modes before a claim ships. The centerpiece is an acceptance gate that recomputes a claim's metric, runs its strongest trivial baseline, bootstraps the difference over independent units, and emits pass or fail. The standard is demonstrated through eleven documented failure-mode case studies drawn from a real cross-embodiment research program, each stated as the tempting claim, the diagnostic that exposes it, the corrected analysis, and the check that catches it, and each traced to a released artifact. The eleven cases span every check, from a correlation of 0.98 that proves geometrically trivial to an identity probe on a released vision-language-action model that a raw eight-by-eight-pixel control exposes as appearance-confounded. The work is positioned within the 2025-2026 movement toward statistical rigor in robot-policy evaluation, to which it adds the confound set specific to cross-embodiment transfer, an enforced gate rather than a checklist, and a worked record of the checks correcting real claims.

Abstract: The biological nitrogen fixation of black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) is an important factor that allows the trees to survive under adverse environmental and nutrient-poor soil conditions. Due to the open-cast mining activities, large areas in the Lusatian region in eastern Germany were left unproductive with a very nutrient-poor soil with a low amount of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and no organic matter. The symbiotic N₂ fixation of Robinia pseudoacacia L. has been investigated using the natural ¹⁵N abundance method. Moreover, the C:N:P ratio of soil and plants was determined. In addition, the impact of low soil P nutrition on nitrogen fixation was investigated. The N and P increased with the age of the tree plantation, but no relation was found between the carbon content and the age of the trees. Previous studies have seen an increase in soil N and P with the age of Robinia pseudoacacia L. The desorption of P was higher in the oldest plantation site, which is related to the plant availability of P. Results from the NdfA% show that about 98% and 88% of N were derived from the air by the plants planted in the reference zero site and the oldest plantation site, respectively. This slight difference in nitrogen fixation indicates that P has less impact on the nitrogen fixation of Robinia pseudoacacia L. Hence, more long-term research is required to examine the P uptake of plants from low P soil and how plants manage the biological N fixation with low soil P.

Abstract: A central ambition of cross-embodiment robot learning is a single representation of the task that is invariant to the body, a shared task-state that means the same thing on a four-legged robot as on an eight-legged one, or on a Panda arm as on a UR10e. The dominant approach learns such a representation as a continuous latent, trained for control-sufficiency and scrubbed of body identity by an adversary. We prove this is impossible exactly when behavior is body-coupled. The central object is a sufficiency-invariance bound, which states that any continuous task-state $z$ that is $\varepsilon$-sufficient to predict a body's realized outcome $y$ leaks the body identity $m$ at a floor set by how body-coupled the behavior is, $I(z;m) \ge I(y;m) - \kappa(\varepsilon)$. The lower bound is constructive, obtained by composing the sufficiency decoder with a classifier of $m$ from $y$ to build a probe of $m$ from $z$, and its assumption-free content is the measured accuracy of that probe. Lifting it to the closed form requires a margin condition, $\kappa(\varepsilon) \le \inf_t [\delta(t) + \varepsilon/t^2]$. A rate-distortion complement shows when a coarse task-state escapes the floor, namely when bodies reach the same coarse symbol through different fine realizations. We validate the bound on two non-commensurable substrates. On locomotion the floor is $0.90$ under a strong probe against a linear reading of $0.37$, every control-sufficient continuous latent leaks topology above $0.98$, and a coarse state reaches near chance while retaining most task signal. On manipulation the floor is $0.86$ against a linear $0.34$, the leak exceeds $0.80$, and the coarse state again sheds the body. The morphology-invariant interface between deliberation and control must therefore be coarse.

Abstract: As nuclear energy re-emerges as a central component of global decarbonization strategies, the long-term sustainability of nuclear energy systems increasingly depends not only on technical performance but also on institutional legitimacy embedded within sociotechnical governance systems. Drawing on institutional theory, sociotechnical systems theory, and energy justice scholarship, this study conceptualizes regulatory compliance not merely as adherence to formal safeguards but as a governance-mediated outcome associated with institutional legitimacy, procedural transparency, distributive equity, and stakeholder inclusion. Employing a sequential explanatory mixed-method design, the study develops a composite Trust–Equity–Transparency–Inclusion (TETI) Index through structured coding of regulatory documentation, international peer-review findings, and participatory governance practices across advanced and emerging nuclear programs. The analysis examines the association between governance quality and cross-national indicators of regulatory compliance, institutional stability, and governance durability. The findings suggest that governance systems characterized by higher levels of transparency, equity, stakeholder inclusion, and institutional trust are associated with stronger compliance performance and greater regulatory resilience. Although exploratory and based on a small-N comparative design, these patterns are consistent with sociotechnical perspectives that identify institutional legitimacy as a critical governance mechanism supporting durable regulatory institutions. By reframing regulatory compliance as a governance-mediated sociotechnical outcome, the study advances a theoretically grounded framework for understanding how institutional legitimacy may contribute to the long-term sustainability and durability of nuclear energy governance under conditions of technological complexity, public scrutiny, and global energy transition. The findings offer conceptual and policy insights for strengthening governance architectures that support safe, equitable, and sustainable civilian nuclear energy development.

Abstract: The manual creation of personalized travel itineraries remains a labor-intensive process that requires travel agents to consolidate heterogeneous information from multiple sources, including natural language interactions, booking confirmations, screenshots, and reservation documents. Although recent advances in multimodal artificial intelligence have significantly improved language understanding and content generation, existing solutions typically address isolated tasks rather than providing an integrated workflow capable of automating the complete travel planning process. This paper presents the development and validation of an AI-powered conversational agent designed to automate itinerary generation and generative video synthesis through natural language processing (NLP) and multimodal data extraction. The system, evaluated at Technology Readiness Level 4 (TRL4), employs a Multi-Agent System (MAS) architecture, integrating specialized large language models (Gemini 2.5/2.0 Flash, GPT-4o-mini) with optical character recognition (OCR) and Latent Diffusion Models to interpret user requests, extract structured data from images and PDFs, and produce comprehensive travel packages formatted as professional PDF deliverables alongside AI-synthesized promotional videos. Validation in a controlled laboratory environment demonstrated over 90% intent recognition accuracy, successful data extraction from non-standard formats, and the automated production of both client-ready documents and coherent visual narratives from static itinerary data. The system achieved an average video generation latency of 4.2±0.8 minutes, while maintaining structural consistency in the generated PDF itineraries. The system represents a viable proof-of-concept for intelligent travel planning automation, with implications for enhancing operational efficiency in the tourism industry and reducing cognitive load on human agents. Future work will advance the prototype to TRL5 through integration with external booking APIs and real-user testing scenarios.

Abstract: Ghanaian strip-woven textiles from Agotime Kpetoe and the Asante Kente weaving centres of Bonwire and Adanwomase are widely recognised for their cultural and symbolic significance; however, their measurable material performance under standardised laboratory conditions remains insufficiently documented. This study comparatively evaluated maximum force at break, dimensional stability, and colourfastness of handwoven strip fabrics using GS ISO 13934-1, GS ISO 5077:2007, and GS ISO 105:2013 testing procedures. Twenty-four fabric specimens, comprising eight each from Agotime Kpetoe, Bonwire, and Adanwomase, were purposively selected from recognised weaving communities and tested under controlled conditions at the Ghana Standards Authority. Fibre composition and indicative structural characteristics were documented, while performance data were analysed descriptively using means, standard deviations where supported by specimen-level data, observed ranges, directional strength ratios, and shrinkage differentials. The findings revealed distinguishable performance profiles across the three weaving groups. Agotime exhibited the most balanced directional tensile response, with a weft-to-warp strength ratio of 1.14, whereas Bonwire and Adanwomase demonstrated pronounced weft-dominant behaviour, with ratios of 1.77 and 1.63, respectively. Adanwomase recorded the highest mean maximum force at break in both the warp and weft directions and the lowest mean dimensional change after laundering, while Agotime exhibited the greatest directional shrinkage differential. Agotime-specific breaking-distance data further indicated a broader deformation-at-failure range in the warp direction than in the weft direction. Colourfastness to washing and staining was generally high across all groups. The observed performance differences indicate associations with integrated material–structural configurations rather than causally established effects. By applying standardised performance testing to authentically produced fabrics, this study advances the empirical characterisation of Ghanaian strip-woven textiles as culturally significant material systems with measurable mechanical, dimensional, and colour performance attributes.

Abstract: Purpose: To quantify income-related inequalities in the prevalence of major cardiometabolic diseases among Korean adults and to determine whether patterns differed by outcome and sex from 1998 to 2023.Methods: We conducted a repeated cross-sectional analysis of publicly available aggregate statistics from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Age-standardized prevalence estimates by household income quintile, sex, outcome, and survey year were extracted for adults aged 19 years or older. Outcomes were obesity, hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertriglyceridemia. We estimated low-minus-high income gaps, prevalence ratios, slope and relative indices of inequality, grouped concentration indices, and inverse-variance weighted trends with robust standard errors and false-discovery-rate adjustment.Results: The analysis included 1,355 records from 271 complete outcome-sex-year cells. In 2023, obesity showed the largest inequality: prevalence was 39.2% in the lowest-income quintile and 30.4% in the highest-income quintile, an 8.8-percentage-point gap. Among women, the obesity gap was 14.6 percentage points, and the relative index of inequality was 1.92. Hypertension, diabetes, and hypertriglyceridemia showed smaller low-income disadvantages, whereas hypercholesterolemia did not. The total adult obesity gap changed from -2.3 percentage points in 1998 to 8.8 percentage points in 2023.Conclusions: Korean cardiometabolic inequalities are disease-specific and sex-specific, dominated by widening obesity inequality among lower-income women.

Abstract: The large-scale resource utilization of limestone powder generated from mining operations and steel slag waste discharged from the metallurgical industry is of vital importance. The effects of limestone powder or steel slag powder on the properties of cement-based materials at extremely low water/binder (w/b) ratio under different curing conditions were comparatively studied through measuring the compressive strength, hydration degree and microstructure. The results show that limestone powder promotes the early strength development of concrete at extremely low w/b ratio better than steel slag powder does under standard curing conditions, but steel slag powder promotes the late strength growth better. The limestone powder promotes the strength more significantly under early high-temperature curing condition, however, when the dosage reaches 30%, the long-term strength of the concrete containing steel slag powder is marginally greater compared to the concrete containing limestone powder. The chemically bound water content follows the same trend. The diffraction peak intensity of ettringite is stronger in the paste with limestone powder due to the stabilizing effect of limestone powder on ettringite. The diffraction peak intensity of Ca(OH)₂ is stronger in the paste with steel slag powder, which exhibits a higher hydration degree and generates more hydration products. The pore structure of the sample containing steel slag powder improves, and the microstructure becomes denser at high temperature.