The University of Kitakyushu

Biomass fly ash (BFA), a byproduct of bioenergy generation, offers sustainability benefits but shows low reactivity and limited applicability in cementitious systems due to its irregular morphology and residual carbon. To overcome these limitations, this study proposes a novel integrated flotation–ball milling pretreatment to simultaneously remove unburned carbon and activate BFA, thereby enhancing its physicochemical reactivity as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM). Its effectiveness is validated through comprehensive microstructural and mechanical analyses. Experimental data confirmed that flotation effectively removed unburned carbon, while moderate ball milling (30 min) refined particle structure, increased amorphous content, and improved flowability by approximately 10 % compared with untreated BFA. Mortars incorporating modified BFA-A achieved a 28 % higher 28-days compressive strength than those containing untreated BFA. In contrast, excessive milling (90 min) induced particle agglomeration and diminished performance gains. Furthermore, MIP revealed reduced total porosity and refined pore structures in treated samples. At 91 days, the modified A and B groups exhibited a higher proportion of fine pores (0.01–0.1 μm) and fewer macropores than the untreated counterparts, consistent with lower CH contents and higher amorphous phase fractions from XRD and corroborated by denser C-S-H networks observed in SEM, indicating enhanced pozzolanic reactivity. From an environmental perspective, the use of modified BFA enabled an estimated 30 % reduction in CO₂ emissions relative to pure cement. Overall, the flotation–milling pretreatment effectively improves the reactivity of biomass fly ash as a low-carbon SCM, promoting waste utilization and carbon reduction in sustainable construction.

Osteoporosis causes fractures which further increase the disease burden of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), however, osteoporosis treatment rates remain low. While several studies have reported that biologic or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs) can prevent or improve osteoporosis in RA, our large-scale, real-world study showed that 1 year-b/tsDMARDs use did not arrest osteoporosis progression. This study aimed to examine longer-term changes in bone mineral density (BMD). BMD was observed for up to 5 years in patients receiving b/tsDMARDs for active RA. The primary endpoint was change in BMD (T-score), and the secondary endpoint was change in T-score-related factors. In total, 797 patients (anti-osteoporosis (-), n = 645; anti-osteoporosis (+), n = 152) were included, with a median 3.1-year follow-up (2,489 patient-years). Clinical disease activity index (CDAI) improved in both groups (26.0/24.4 → 6.6/6.8). T-scores decreased significantly in the femoral neck and radius in the anti-osteoporosis (-) group but not in the anti-osteoporosis (+) group [anti-osteoporosis (-): mean change -0.11/-0.33, both p < 0.001; anti-osteoporosis (+):-0.01/-0.10, p = 0.830/0.071]. Overall, 460 patients (58%) experienced a decrease in T-score. A high baseline T-score correlated with a subsequent decrease, while longer osteoporosis treatment duration correlated with an increase. Unexpectedly, the duration of b/tsDMARD use and mean CDAI during observation were not associated with BMD maintenance. Even when RA activity was controlled with b/tsDMARDs, BMD still decreased. This study emphasizes the importance of considering osteoporosis as an independent aspect of RA, beyond inflammation control.

Aim: The goal of this study is to evaluate the sustainability performance of the Maggot-in-the-Box system, a household-scale organic waste management solution in Indonesia, from environmental, economic, and social perspectives. Methodology and results: The study used an integrated assessment framework, which is a combination of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Cost–Benefit Analysis (CBA), and social perception analysis. Furthermore, environmental performance was assessed using LCA and the focus is on Global Warming Potential (GWP) (per kilogram of biowaste). CBA was used to evaluated Economic feasibility considering net profit, payback period, and Net Present Value (NPV). Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modelling of user reviews was used to examine social acceptance. The results show the Maggot-in-the-Box system has very low emissions, with a GWP of 0.002576 kg CO₂-eq per kilogram of biowaste. In comparison with the Takakura composting method, this is about 27 times lower. It is just 3.6% of the combined emissions of all systems evaluated. Economically, the system has financial benefits, generating a net annual profit of IDR 2.38 million per household. The payback period is 3 to 4 months with a 5-year NPV of IDR 10.2 million at a 3% discount rate. Social analysis shows positive user perceptions regarding waste reduction and simplicity in the operation. Conclusion, significance and impact study: Research findings reflect how the Maggot-in-the-Box system achieves a strong balance between environmental performance, economic feasibility, and also social reception. Therefore, there is high potential that the system could be used as a practical and scalable household organic waste management solution in Indonesia.

It was found that polyethylene (PE) surfaces, traditionally considered chemically inert, can be modified using block copolymers with solvophobic long alkyl side chains and solvophilic side groups, where the alkyl moieties adsorb to form pseudocrystals on the PE surface. Such side-chain crystalline block copolymers (SCCBCs) serve as agents in thermo-rheological (TR) suspensions of PE particles, though the effect of SCCBCs on the interparticle forces has not yet been investigated directly. Here, the TR behavior of the suspensions was studied by using colloid-probe atomic force microscopy (cpAFM), rheometry, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The addition of SCCBCs decreased the adhesive force between PE surfaces at a low temperature, reducing the viscosity of the PE suspension. At a high temperature, however, the adhesive force and viscosity increased to levels similar to those of the suspension without SCCBCs. CFD simulations supported the observed behavior, and a molecular mechanism was proposed using Hansen solubility parameters.

The demand for streaming services—such as video delivery, online meetings, and cloud gaming—has been rapidly increasing, making the preservation of information timeliness a key communication requirement. Information-Centric Networking (ICN) has emerged as a promising architecture to address this challenge by leveraging in-network caching. However, similar to IP-based networks, ICN relies on retransmissions to recover lost packets, which can introduce delays and degrade timeliness. This paper proposes a transmission scheme that integrates Forward Error Correction (FEC) techniques into ICN. In the proposed scheme, CRs on the transmission path generate FEC chunks and deliver them via a single-path or multi-path strategy. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme improves the timeliness of content delivery by mitigating the impact of retransmissions.