Research Articles

Urban parks are increasingly expected to support rest, relaxation, and restorative perception under accelerating urbanization and everyday stress. However, studies on park seating still lack a systematic pathway for translating user demands into design elements and selecting design alternatives. Taking restorative-oriented wooden seating in urban parks as the object, this study developed a GT–Kano–AHP–QFD–TOPSIS hybrid model. Semi-structured interviews with 30 park users were analyzed using grounded theory. Kano classification was then conducted using 91 valid questionnaires. Twelve experts applied AHP to weight 13 user demand items, which were translated into design elements through QFD. Finally, 17 evaluators rated three design alternatives on a seven-point scale, and TOPSIS was used for ranking. The results showed that seating comfort, ergonomic dimensional optimization, and aesthetic form had the highest weights, at 0.1614, 0.1404, and 0.1321, respectively. Ergonomic dimensions, backrest design, lumbar support, multi-user adaptability, and aesthetic form were identified as priority design elements. Alternative 3 achieved the highest relative closeness coefficient (0.8007), indicating the best overall performance. This study provides a traceable user-oriented decision pathway for wooden park seating design, while its findings reflect perceived preferences rather than clinically or physiologically verified outcomes.

Amongst industrial lignins, such as alkaline and kraft lignins, lignin from hemicellulose pre-treatment liquor is gaining considerable interest because of its various properties. To explore application potential, a lignin sample that was selectively adsorbed by XAD-16N resin from mild alkaline extracts of sugarcane bagasse waste was identified by structural analysis. Trace amounts of hemicellulose were found in the adsorbates that exhibited lignin carbohydrate complexes (LCCs) structure. Prominent NMR signals indicated β-O-4ʹ, β-5ʹ, β-βʹ, and β-1ʹ structures in the side chain, and aromatic signals corresponded to major bagasse lignin units: p-coumarate and ferulate. The quantity of benzyl ether (BE) was 3.33 per 100 Ar-units, which was considerably higher than that of hydrolysate obtained from hydrothermal pretreatments. The content of various hydroxyl groups of mild alkaline lignin obtained by resin adsorption was higher than that of lignin isolated by other methods. Moreover, the adsorbed lignin was relatively pure, and its thermal stability was superior to that of the centrifuged lignin. These results revealed new characteristics of lignin and LCC structures obtained via mild alkaline pretreatment and resin adsorption.

This study investigated the photochemical transformation of amber oil under UV irradiation and its impact on biological activities. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis showed that untreated amber oil was rich in long-chain hydrocarbons and fatty acids, predominantly cis-vaccenic acid (36.53%), whereas UV irradiation produced oxygenated compounds, mainly 2-(2-hydroxypropoxy)-1-propanol (13.02%), 1,1′-oxybis-2-propanol (6.93%), and diethyl phthalate (6.73%). UV-treated oil exhibited enhanced antimicrobial activity, particularly against Bacillus subtilis (22 ± 1.0 mm; MIC 15.62 µg/mL) and Candida albicans (24 ± 0.5 mm; MIC 15.62 µg/mL). Strong antibiofilm activity was recorded, exceeding 90% inhibition at 75% MBC against tested bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Anti-inflammatory evaluation showed effective inhibition of protein denaturation (IC₅₀ = 2.60 ± 0.11 µg/g). Wound healing assays showed a high closure (90.9%) for UV-treated oil, compared to untreated oil (61.1%). Molecular docking revealed that cis-vaccenic acid exhibited stronger binding affinity toward the target proteins of Aspergillus terreus (4KWD) and B. subtilis (3OIF) than 2-(2-hydroxypropoxy)-1-propanol, with docking scores of −6.64 and −7.12 kcal/mol, respectively. These findings demonstrate that UV-induced photochemical modification is an effective approach to enhance the biological properties of amber oil, providing a basis for its further investigation in natural bioactive product applications.

The effects of chitosan, poly-DADMAC, and cationic polyacrylamide (cPAM) were evaluated relative to the optical and mechanical properties of paper from chemical-mechanical pulp (CMP) from Mazandaran Pulp and Paper Mill. Additives were applied at different concentrations: chitosan (0%, 1%, and 2%), poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (poly-DADMAC): 0%, 0.3%, 0.5%, and 0.7%), and cPAM (0%, 0.25%, 0.5%, and 0.75%). Papers with a basis weight of 60 g/m² were prepared, and brightness, opacity, a* factor, tensile strength, breaking length, tear strength, and burst strength were evaluated. Factorial analysis of variance showed that the effects of the three additives varied depending on the property evaluated. Chitosan positively affected brightness, breaking length, and tear strength; PAM showed a particularly strong effect on breaking length and tensile strength; and poly-DADMAC contributed to improvements in brightness, tensile strength, and the a* factor. Scanning electron microscopy showed a relatively denser and more interconnected fiber network in treated papers, with fewer visibly open void spaces and greater apparent fiber contact. These morphological changes may be associated with improved inter-fiber interactions and the observed changes in paper properties. Among the tested formulations, the combination of 2% chitosan, 0.25% cPAM, and 0.7% poly-DADMAC provided favorable overall performance.

Tannic acid has attracted considerable attention as a natural inhibitor of fungi. The antifungal activity of tannic acid was evaluated by assessing fungal growth and the activities of polygalacturonase and pectin methylesterase. Fungal growth was stimulated at 200 μg mL⁻¹ (112.6%), but significantly reduced at higher concentrations, reaching 12.4% at 1000 μg mL⁻¹ (87.6% inhibition) of tannic acid. In vivo, tannic acid effectively controlled postharvest soft rot in muskmelon, achieving up to 81.4% disease control. Enzyme activities in the culture medium declined markedly, reduced to 15.3% for polygalacturonase and 20.1% for pectin methylesterase. However, it should be noted that this reduction may result from either direct inhibition of enzyme catalytic activity or reduced enzyme secretion due to suppressed fungal growth, or a combination of both. Molecular docking was performed using heterologous protein structures (endopolygalacturonase from Fusarium verticillioides, PDB: 1HG8; pectin methylesterase from Daucus carota, PDB: 1GQ8) as representative models. Because these proteins are not from R. stolonifer, the docking results have no direct biological relevance to the target pathogen and cannot be used to infer binding to R. stolonifer enzymes. Thus, the experimental data demonstrate that tannic acid reduces extracellular pectin-degrading enzyme activity in fungal cultures, but the mechanism remains unresolved.

To evaluate the long-term durability of environmentally friendly biomass composites under hydrothermal conditions, this study investigated the degradation behavior of wood-fiber-reinforced magnesium oxysulfate (MOS) panels subjected to accelerated hydrothermal cycling with alternating immersion at 60 and 20 °C. The results showed non-monotonic changes in mechanical properties and microstructure. After 7 cycles, the diffraction peak associated with the 517-phase (5Mg(OH)₂·MgSO₄·7H₂O) weakened, while residual MgO continued to hydrate. Meanwhile, the porosity increased to 23.1%, and the modulus of rupture (MOR) decreased from 25.3 to 15.4 MPa. At 14 cycles, the porosity decreased slightly to 21.1%, while the MOR increased numerically to 16.3 MPa, indicating a temporary stabilization tendency associated with continued hydration and evolution of MOS hydration products. After 21 cycles, the diffraction features of the 517-phase weakened further, MgCO₃-related peaks became more pronounced, and the porosity increased to 33.9%. Interfacial deterioration was also observed, accompanied by a decrease in MOR to 14.8 MPa. Taken together, the hydrothermal durability of the composites was closely associated with the degradation of MOS hydration products, continued hydration of residual reactive components, and pore-structure evolution. These findings provide useful evidence for improving the hydrothermal durability of MOS-based biomass composites.

The sensitivity of an optical device was evaluated when determining the mass concentration of inhalable wood dust under conditions where workers’ exposure was below 0.25 mg/m³. Samples were collected during the processing of oak wood using a belt sander (BS) and thermally modified (TM) ash wood using a four-sided planer (4SP). The Split2 (SKC) optical device, operated in active mode, consists of an optical sensor and an inlet component with an Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) filter holder for inhalable dust. Gravimetric determination of respirable and inhalable dust mass concentrations was performed using a Higgins-Dewell respirable dust cyclone and an IOM inhalable dust sampler. Measured exposure levels for the inhalable fraction near the BS and 4SP machines ranged from 0.02 to 0.219 mg/m³ (N = 18). The Split2 optical device significantly overestimated the inhalable dust concentration during the belt sanding operation (p = 0.02). This overestimation may be related to the high average proportion of the respirable fraction (70.3%). However, no statistically significant overestimation was found for the four-sided planer operation (p = 0.13). Based on the ratio of gravimetric to photometric mass concentrations, two specific photometric correction factors are recommended for the Split2 optical device under these specific working conditions: 0.24 for the belt sander and 0.48 for the four-sided planer.

Medical beds designed for institutional care often do not fully meet the functional, aesthetic, and environmental requirements of home-based care. This study therefore focused on wooden care beds for home use and examined the coexistence of functional redundancy and insufficient core functions in this product category. Older adults with full or partial functional limitations and their family caregivers were selected as respondents. Satisfaction with 23 nursing-bed functions was evaluated under two scenarios: function availability and function absence, using a five-point scale. A total of 312 valid responses were collected through online questionnaires and field visits. Based on Kano theory, an I-Kano quantitative framework was used to classify functional requirements, while Better–Worse coefficients were introduced to measure satisfaction gains from function availability and dissatisfaction risks from function absence. The results identified 10 must-be attributes, mainly related to safety and basic usability, including pressure ulcer prevention, fall prevention, backrest adjustment, and power-off emergency support; 8 one-dimensional attributes, related to comfort and care efficiency; 3 attractive attributes, such as bed–chair conversion and remote/voice control; and 2 indifferent attributes. These findings provide a quantitative basis for functional configuration and product positioning of wooden home care beds.

This study investigated the prediction of lignin removal from mixed-species wood chips (oak and pine) containing bark. A two-stage pretreatment consisting of steam explosion (SE) and alkaline (NaOH) treatment was employed, and a dataset was constructed by systematically varying severity factors, bark inclusion, chemical concentration, and pretreatment time. Four predictive models—Random Forest (RF), Extra Trees (ET), Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), and polynomial regression (PR)—were developed and evaluated using five repeated random 80:20 sample-level splits. XGBoost showed the highest mean test R² (0.9848), the lowest mean test RMSE (0.2984), and the highest mean cross-validation R² (0.9361), significantly outperforming conventional polynomial regression (R² = 0.5145). SHAP analysis identified NaOH concentration as the most influential predictor, followed by severity factor and bark inclusion. Finally, a web-based graphical user interface (GUI) was developed using Streamlit to provide real-time lignin removal predictions. These results showed that ensemble machine learning, particularly XGBoost, can effectively optimize pretreatment processes for heterogeneous biomass feedstocks in industrial biorefinery applications. These results support the use of ensemble machine learning for this heterogeneous feedstock, while indicating sensitivity to the sample-level partition and the need for future condition-level validation.

Electrospun nanofibers have gained attention for biomedical applications due to their high surface area and extracellular matrix-like structure. In this study, polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH)-based electrospun nanofibers with keratin and curcumin were fabricated and characterized. The effects of keratin and different curcumin concentrations on morphology, chemical structure, thermal stability, wettability, and mechanical properties of the nanofibers were investigated. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) showed that keratin incorporation noticeably reduced the fiber diameter from 453 nm to 254 nm, while increasing curcumin concentration further decreased the average fiber size from 330 nm to 282 nm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the successful incorporation of keratin and curcumin into the nanofibers through the presence of characteristic functional groups. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis indicated that the nanofibers remained predominantly amorphous with the presence of crystalline curcumin domains. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) demonstrated improved thermal stability after the incorporation of keratin and curcumin. Water contact angle measurements revealed that all nanofibers were hydrophilic, with keratin substantially enhancing wettability. Mechanical analysis showed that keratin improved nanofiber flexibility, while curcumin influenced the balance between strength and elongation. The developed PVOH/keratin/curcumin nanofibers exhibited promising physicochemical and mechanical properties for biomedical applications.