BioResources (E-Journal)
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The Evolution and Impact of Furniture Design in Contemporary Society
No full textFurniture design has undergone a significant transformation over the centuries, evolving from purely functional objects to artistic expressions that reflect societal values, technological advancements, and environmental concerns. In contemporary society, furniture design plays a critical role not only in shaping interior spaces but also in influencing lifestyle, culture, and sustainability. The modern emphasis on minimalism, ergonomics, and multifunctionality reflects changing living patterns, urbanization, and an increased focus on well-being. Technological innovations, such as digital fabrication and smart materials, have further expanded the possibilities of design, enabling more personalized and efficient solutions. Additionally, there is a growing consciousness around sustainable practices, leading to the use of eco-friendly materials and circular design principles. This evolution highlights the intersection of aesthetics, utility, and ethics in modern design. By examining key trends and innovations, this study explores how contemporary furniture design responds to the needs of a dynamic society and contributes to shaping the future of living environments
The Timeless Craft of Wooden Furniture Carving in Cyprus
No full textThis study explores Cyprus’s long-standing and rich heritage of carving wooden furniture, a craft that plays a significant role in the island’s artistic, cultural, and historical narrative. The Cypriot woodcarving heritage is a singular fusion of artistic, religious, and practical craftsmanship. It has roots in centuries-old techniques and influences from succeeding civilizations such as Byzantine, Venetian, and Ottoman. This study investigates the dissemination of carving methods, the development of artistic motifs, and the socio-cultural meanings ingrained in the carved items using an interdisciplinary approach that combines historical research, fieldwork, and interviews with modern artists. Religious iconography, the vine, and the rosette are examples of traditional motifs that are examined as both decorative accents and symbols of shared memory and identity. The research also analyses regional variances across the island, from the intricate furniture of the Troodos region to the simpler, yet symbolically rich, home objects found in rural towns. The materials utilized—especially local hardwoods like walnut and olive—as well as the specialized hand tools and techniques used by expert carvers are all carefully considered. The study shows how, despite the demands of mass production and modernization, these artisans have preserved a high level of technical and symbolic continuity
Preparation of Carbon Quantum Dots from Traditional Chinese Medicine Residues and their Application in Metal Ion Detection
No full textThe disposal of residues from traditional Chinese medicine results in resource waste and poses non-negligible environmental concerns. While the synthesis of carbon dots (CDs) from green raw materials has been widely studied, the use of Chinese medicine residues (CMR) which are rich in ligno-cellulosic components as a carbon source for CDs preparation remained largely unexplored. Notably, converting CMR into carbon dots (CMR-CDs) offered a dual benefit: it enhanced resource utilization and mitigated the environmental impact of these waste materials. In this study, CMR-CDs were synthesized via a simple, eco-friendly one-step hydrothermal method for metal ion detection. The CMR-CDs demonstrated highly selective fluorescence quenching toward Fe³⁺, with a strong linear correlation (R² = 0.999) between fluorescence intensity and Fe³⁺ concentration (0 to 516 μmol/L). The detection limit was determined to be 6.0 μmol/L. These findings suggest that CMR-CDs hold significant potential for rapid and sensitive Fe³⁺ detection in future applications, while also highlighting the value of ligno-cellulosic waste in sustainable nanomaterial synthesis
Aesthetic Preferences of Minnan Folk Wooden Altar Table
No full textThe Minnan region in China boasts a rich religious culture, giving rise to the distinctive Minnan folk wooden altar table (MFWAT). This study investigated the MFWAT's artistic characteristics and aesthetic preferences using Kansei Engineering (KE) and eye tracking (ET). The Semantic Differential (SD) method assessed perceptual evaluations, while eye tracking (ET) tests analyzed design elements via heat maps and areas of interest (AOI). Preference ratings complemented the objective measures. Factor analysis indicated that perceptual imagery comprised two principal components: stable-lightweight/dignified-relaxed and simple-complex/ceremonial-practical. Eye movement metrics showed decorative components (AOI-3) attracted significantly more attention than leg-foot (AOI-2) and panel components (AOI-1). Sample GA1 achieved the highest preference score, supporting the eye tracking (ET) findings. Decorative components were the most dominant elements. This integration of subjective and objective methods revealed MFWAT's aesthetic characteristics and provides references for modern wooden furniture's innovative design
Pulp & Paper Manufacturing: The Best Kept Secret on the Global Sustainability Stage
No full textWhen the public is asked to name the most globally sustainable industries, they typically respond with solar, wind, geothermal, or EVs. Yet, who would ever imagine the pulp & paper industry, which is often caricatured as a relic, is in fact one of the largest and most secretly sustainable manufacturing sectors. Its entire infrastructure and operations are built on replenishable forests and powered by renewable energy streams to produce recyclable, biodegradable products. The pulp & paper industry has a story that deserves retelling in the age of sustainability metrics and ESG frameworks. Our editorial embarks on a short simple journey to reframe pulp & paper not as a legacy industry, but as a model for sustainable manufacturing by using a clear, quantifiable system to demonstrate its global environmental impact
Genome-based Study on the Mechanism of Rare Earth Neodymium Ions Increasing Ethanol Production from Clostridium thermocellum
No full textThe escalating global demand for energy, coupled with heightened environmental concerns, has rendered the identification of sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative energy sources imperative. Ethanol derived from cellulosic fibers is garnering significant interest as a clean and renewable energy source. Among the various production methods, consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) stands out due to its distinct advantages. Clostridium thermocellum is considered an exemplary candidate strain for the CBP production of cellulosic ethanol; however, the low yield of ethanol remains a critical limiting factor. In the preceding study, it was demonstrated that neodymium ions could enhance the ethanol production of C. thermocellum. In this study, the whole genome sequences of the original strain C. thermocellum ATCC 27405 (C0) and the strain with added neodymium ions (Nd3+) (C1) were sequenced and analyzed. The findings indicated that the increased expression of pyruvate-ferric redox protease (PFO) resulted from mutations in its promoter region. Furthermore, an analysis of the sequencing data, along with the results from single knockout experiments, revealed that mutations in the genes encoding methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins (MCP) and type 3a cellulose-binding domain protein (Type) genes were correlated with enhanced ethanol production. This study serves as a reference for the targeted modification of C. thermocellum to optimize ethanol production
IECAU-Net: A Wood Defects Image Segmentation Network Based on Improved Attention U-Net and Attention Mechanism
No full textSaw wood cracks are defects that affect the appearance and mechanical strength of sawn wood. Crack defects in the surface of sawn wood can be readily detected. Decisions regarding the presence and severity of such defects can affect the utilization rate of sawn timber. Due to the heavy workload, low efficiency, and low accuracy of manual inspection, traditional machine learning methods have strong specialization, complex methods, and high costs. By studying the semantic segmentation model of surface crack defects in sawn timber based on deep learning, the optimal model for segmentation and detection of surface cracks in sawn timber was established. The improved Attention U-Net model encoding stage was introduced into CBAM, and AdamW optimization was used instead of SGD and Adam to achieve better crack semantic segmentation results. The ECA module was introduced in the skip connection part, and the weighted fusion multi loss function was used instead of the original cross entropy loss function. The positions of the two modules were replaced to improve the accuracy of semantic segmentation of surface cracks in sawn timber. Through comparative experiments, the improved model also achieved higher scores in semantic segmentation indicators for surface cracks in sawn timber compared to other models
Effect of Natural Degradation on Wood Samples Used in Late Ottoman Period Architecture: A Case Study from Kahramanmaraş (Southern Türkiye)
No full textThis article examines the chemical deterioration of wooden materials on the exterior surfaces of a historical mansion in Kahramanmaraş, constructed using the Bağdadi Wall Construction Technique, which is a rare example of Late Ottoman-Turkish architecture. The study employed various analyses to demonstrate that environmental factors, such as air, temperature, light, rain, and biological decay, have aged the wood. Fourier transform infrared analysis revealed a decrease in holocellulose peak density and lignin degradation. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the amorphous components of hardwood had diminished, leading to an increase in crystallinity, while the crystalline cellulose content in softwood had decreased, thereby weakening the structure. Thermal analysis uncovered changes in thermal stability between the wood’s outer and inner surfaces. Ultraviolet analysis indicated a 21% color change on the exterior compared to that in the interior. Despite the deterioration of the exterior, the interior surfaces remained intact. Appropriate measures could prolong the mansion’s lifespan, and urgent restoration is necessary to preserve this important cultural heritage
Progress in the Study of Dry Shrinkage Deformation and Drying Stress of Raw Bamboo
No full textBamboo is a sustainable material that supports carbon sequestration and helps address the imbalance of timber supply vs. demand. Drying is a crucial step in bamboo processing, in the course of which shrinkage and stress accumulation can lead to defects such as cracking and deformation. Understanding stress and strain development during drying is critical for improving bamboo processing. This review paper explores bamboo’s gradient structure and moisture migration characteristics, focusing on the mechanisms behind shrinkage strain formation and the sources of stress. It reviews literature on bamboo drying and cellular structural changes, evaluating the evolution of stress and strain testing methods, from traditional sectioning techniques to advanced methods such as digital imaging and acoustic emission. The paper also summarizes progress in stress-strain research at both macroscopic and cellular scales. Current challenges include species-specific shrinkage variations, limitations in measurement techniques, and insufficient research on shrinkage above the fiber saturation point. To address these issues, the study recommends developing universal theoretical models, employing advanced detection technologies, comparing shrinkage patterns between bamboo culms and nodes, exploring drying stress composition, and adopting multi-scale research approaches. These strategies aim to enhance the quality of bamboo processing and promote higher-value applications within the industry
Determination of Some Physical and Mechanical Properties of Laminated Scots Pine Using Polylactic Acid in the Middle Layers
No full textMechanical and physical properties were determined for laminated Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) using polylactic acid (PLA). Structural parts were produced via 3D printing with additive manufacturing (FDM: fused deposition modeling) method in the middle layers. For this purpose, PLA parts with 30%, 60%, and 90% filling rates were glued to the middle of the 5-layer laminated material with polyurethane (PU) glue, and physical and mechanical tests were conducted according to the relevant standards. It was found that increasing the filler content resulted in higher density, reduced water absorption and thickness swelling, increased bending strength and modulus of elasticity, while screw holding resistance increased by approximately 75%. Compressive strength parallel to the fibers showed comparable results to control samples. These findings suggest that PLA filler particles can serve as an alternative middle layer material in wood lamination, offering potential for minor but meaningful improvements in specific applications