Research Articles

The fungus Aspergillus caespitosus was cultivated under solid-state fermentation (SSF) using wheat bran (WB) and sugarcane bagasse (SCB) as agro-industrial substrates to produce xylanase. WB supported the highest enzymatic activity (approximately 1100 U g⁻¹ dry substrate), while pretreatment of SCB with NaOH (AT-SCB) enhanced productivity to about 1500 U g⁻¹, confirming the positive effect of lignocellulosic modification. The optimal moisture ratio (1:3 water: solid) yielded approximately 2400 U g⁻¹, and supplementation with 1% NH₄NO₃ and trace salts further increased xylanase synthesis by approximately 40%. The crude extract retained more than 80% of its activity after 72 h at 50 °C, indicating good thermal stability. In kraft pulp biobleaching, treatment with WB-derived xylanase (10 U g⁻¹ pulp, 50 °C, 3 h) resulted in a 15% reduction in the kappa number and a 2.5 ISO-point increase in brightness, with no detectable cellulose degradation. These findings demonstrate that A. caespitosus efficiently produced a thermostable and selective xylanase under SSF, highlighting the potential of agro-residue valorization for developing environmentally friendly processes in the pulp and paper industry.

In an era defined by digital transformation and the pursuit of sustainability, education functions both as a reflection of societal change and as a catalyst for it. This study examines how students’ interest in topics of digital and sustainability competencies affects their self-perceived proficiency and the extent to which they attribute their competency acquisition to formal education. The research employs established frameworks for digital and sustainability competencies, along with a set of professional competencies. Data were collected from 453 final-year students enrolled in upper secondary vocational and technical education, short-cycle higher vocational education, bachelor’s, and master’s programs in wood science and technology education in Slovenia and analyzed using multiple regression models. All six competence dimensions identified through exploratory factor analysis showed significant positive effects of topic interest on self-perceived competence, with the strongest association observed for generic sustainability competencies. Topic interest also positively predicted the share of competencies students reported acquiring through formal education, with the largest effects for technical professional and generic sustainability competencies. These findings highlight topic interest as an important motivational factor shaping students’ perceptions of their digital and sustainability competencies, while the educator’s role appears especially crucial at this early stage of interest development for digital and sustainability topics.

In the context of global carbon neutrality and circular economy, this study proposes a circular furniture trading service model driven by user needs to address the underutilization of furniture waste, promote resource efficiency, and support carbon peaking and neutrality goals. Drawing on SIVA theory, circular economy principles, the Kano model, and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), this study establishes a research framework to obtain, classify, and prioritize user needs through surveys, interviews, and mixed qualitative-quantitative methods. Based on these analyses, an optimized recycled furniture service system was designed to enhance information access, value perception, and the purchasing process. The Kano and AHP analyses identified price, environmental friendliness, and service convenience as core priorities. The model integrates green and information technologies to deliver a convenient, efficient, and eco-friendly service via trade-in, refurbishment, and one-stop solutions, thereby significantly enhancing user satisfaction and resource utilization efficiency. The findings provide a reference for green transformation of the furniture industry and the development of a low-carbon economy.

The rapid depletion of forest and water resources, drought, climate change, and the significant loss of freshwater resources, along with fires and wars, necessitate the creation of healthy materials and a hygienic structure, as well as the optimal use of wood. This study used various processes to obtain extracts from laurel leaf waste, which is known for its antioxidant/antibacterial properties. Subsequently, solutions of various concentrations (1%, 3%, and 5%) were prepared and the wood was impregnated using the immersion method (short, medium, and long-term). Tests were then conducted to determine the retention, specific density, bending strength, modulus of elasticity, compressive strength, and dynamic bending. The highest retention was determined at a 5% concentration for 6 h (2.50%), the highest air-dry specific density was determined at 5% for 6 h (0.68 g/cm³), and the highest bending strength was determined at 5% for 6 h (143 N/mm²). The extract prepared from ecological bay leaf plant waste with water creates a partially hygienic (antioxidant/antibacterial) framework for organic wood, benefiting human and environmental health.

Bacterial leaf blight (BLB), caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), threatens global rice production. The biopesticidal potential of six weed species, namely Parthenium hysterophorus, Ammi visnaga, Chenopodium album, Cannabis sativa, Amaranthus viridis, and Dysphania ambrosioides, was evaluated against Xoo. Crude extracts and their ethyl acetate and n-hexane fractions were tested using agar well diffusion, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays, and in vivo pot experiments under a factorial completely randomized design. C. sativa (1.13 g) and A. viridis (1.03 g) yielded the highest crude extracts. Parthenium hysterophorus n-hexane extract (63.7% inhibition at 100 ppm), D. ambrosioides n-hexane (55.2%), and A. visnaga n-hexane (167% at 25 ppm) showed significant antibacterial activity. Ethyl acetate fractions, particularly D. ambrosioides, reduced Xoo infection most effectively in vivo. Parthenium hysterophorus (31 to 70%) and A. viridis (59 to 65%) ethyl acetate extracts promoted seed germination and growth, while A. visnaga and D. ambrosioides n-hexane extracts reduced growth by 24 to 29% and 19 to 25%, respectively. Chenopodium album ethyl acetate extract increased chlorophyll content (61 to 68%). Electrolyte leakage was highest in P. hysterophorus crude extract (75%) and lowest in D. ambrosioides n-hexane (17%). These weed-derived extracts show promise for sustainable BLB management, warranting further compound isolation and field validation.

Wood surface defect detection confronts critical challenges including cross-scale feature extraction, excessive parametric burden, and inadequate small-target recognition. This study proposes MFWSD-YOLO, a lightweight multi-scale feature fusion detection algorithm to address these limitations. The algorithm introduces an adaptive downsampling module utilizing dual-path parallel processing to preserve spatial information, designs a shared convolution detection head enabling efficient cross-scale feature interactions, proposes a progressive feature integration block strengthening multi-scale semantic fusion, and embeds a local attention mechanism enhancing spatial modeling precision. Experimental validation demonstrates substantial enhancements, achieving mAP@0.5 and mAP@0.5:0.95 improvements of 8.90% and 5.17% respectively over baseline YOLOv12n. Concurrently, efficiency gains include 52.73% parameter reduction, 33.33% computational complexity decrease, and 50.94% model size compression, maintaining 195.6 frames per second inference capability. Cross-dataset validation substantiates robust generalization across diverse wood defect scenarios and industrial applications. These advances establish an effective computational solution for automated wood quality inspection within intelligent manufacturing environments.

The influence of two commercial fire-retardant formulations, HR Prof and Krovsan, and their mixtures on the thermal behavior and fire resistance of spruce wood was evaluated by simultaneous thermal analysis STA (namely TG/DTG/DSC) and radiant-heat exposure. The untreated wood exhibited the typical three-stage degradation of lignocellulosic material with a maximum mass-loss rate near 265 °C. All treated specimens showed delayed decomposition, reduced oxidation rate, and markedly higher residual mass at 700 °C. A strong correlation was found between thermogravimetric residue and the mass retained after radiant-heat testing, confirming that improved performance resulted from condensed-phase stabilization. Phosphorus–nitrogen components of HR Prof promoted early dehydration and intumescence, while boron–copper species in Krovsan reinforced the carbonized layer and limited oxidation at elevated temperature. The balanced mixture (50 HR – 50 KR) provided the most effective protection, combining early char formation with long-term stability. The synergistic action of HR Prof and Krovsan thus offers an efficient and environmentally acceptable strategy for enhancing the fire safety of spruce wood.

Uniaxial tensile tests of recycled waste wood plastic composites were conducted at 20, 40, and 60 °C. High density polyethylene (HDPE, 30%) was reinforced with poplar wood (50%), and calcium carbonate (15%), with 5% additives. The load values for three stress levels of 15%, 30%, and 45% were determined at each temperature. Subsequently, 24-h short-term creep tests of WPC were conducted under nine operating conditions. Both the ultimate strength and elastic modulus of the material was found to decrease with increasing temperature. The modulus and ultimate strength decreased from 3890 and 15.0 MPa at 20 °C to 1970 and 7.1 MPa at 60 ℃, respectively. Furthermore, the stress-strain curves of WPC specimens exhibit plastic behavior when the temperature exceeded 40 °C. The creep deformation of WPC was positively correlated with temperature and stress level. The Findley model exhibited distortion in fitting the creep performance of WPC only under the condition of 60 °C and 15% stress level. Conversely, the fractional-order model demonstrated a better fitting effect on the steady-state creep characteristics of WPC under this working condition.

The performance of medium density fiberboard (MDF) with styrene-based copolymers and glutaraldehyde was evaluated. Styrene/n-butyl acrylate (SBA), styrene maleic anhydride (SMA), and glutaraldehyde (GA) were tested at 1%, 2.5%, and 5% levels. Surface roughness parameters, mechanical and physical properties, and formaldehyde emission values were evaluated. Two different methods were used for panel preparation: surface application and mixing with UF resin. Different trends were observed depending on chemical types, chemical concentrations, and application methods. The surface roughness parameters (R_a, R_q, R_z) decreased with the application methods and chemicals used. The smoothest surfaces were obtained from groups with the chemicals compared to control groups. The surface application method yielded the most favorable results. The thickness swelling (TS) and water absorption (WA) values generally showed slight improvements, and better results were obtained with the UF-mixing method. Mechanical properties such as internal bond strength (IB), modulus of rupture (MOR), and modulus of elasticity (MOE) showed variations depending on the experimental parameters. In general, higher values were obtained for both application methods compared to control values. Free formaldehyde emission values were notably reduced with the UF-mixing method. In general, the use of SBA, SMA, and GA chemicals contributed to lower formaldehyde emission values.

Low-density polyethylene (LDPE)-based composites reinforced with lignosulfonate and lignin were developed to enhance mechanical and thermal properties while supporting sustainability. Tensile testing showed that increasing lignin concentration improved tensile strength, though no significant difference was observed between LL7.5 and LL10 due to possible lignin agglomeration. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) analysis revealed that all composites had a consistent melting point at 107 °C, while Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) showed similar thermal degradation patterns to LDPE (400–500 °C), with lignin-based fillers degrading at 200–400 °C. Melt Flow Rate (MFR) testing demonstrated a decreasing trend with higher lignin content, with LL0 showing the highest value (4.92 g/10 min) and LL10 the lowest (3.53 g/10 min). Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis before and after 30 days of sunlight exposure indicated no significant chemical changes, suggesting good environmental stability. These results demonstrate that incorporating lignosulfonate and lignin enhances both thermal stability and mechanical strength without compromising structural integrity under environmental exposure. The developed composites show promise for industrial applications requiring improved performance and eco-friendly materials.