Where Knowledge Shapes the Future.

About 7–9% of all CO₂ emissions come from the iron and steel sector, making it one of the most carbon-intensive industries in the world. Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) is a viable and promising decarbonization strategy that is especially suitable for existing infrastructure. The most developed and extensively used technique at the moment is post-combustion capture with amine-based solvents. The practicality of CCUS applications in steel production is shown by successful commercial projects like Steelanol in Belgium and Al Reyadah in the United Arab Emirates. High capital and operating costs, energy-intensive procedures, solvent degradation, and the requirement for extensive CO₂ transport and storage infrastructure are some of the major obstacles to wider adoption. Despite these obstacles, in countries with production in emission-intensive sectors, have a lot of potential for CCUS deployment—as long as funding sources, supportive laws, and technical assistance are put in place.

The study investigates the influence of three different drilling kinematic systems on the surface roughness (Rt) of holes machined in quenched-and-tempered 40HM (AISI 4140) steel. A full experimental campaign was carried out using a CNC machining center and solid carbide internal-coolant drills. The spindle speed (n), feed per revolution (fn), and drilling kinematics were evaluated using a Taguchi L27 orthogonal array supported by ANOVA and response surface methodology (RSM). The results show that spindle speed is the most influential parameter (46.27% contribution to Rt variability), followed by the kinematic system (34.45%) and feed per revolution (19.28%). The most favorable surface roughness was obtained for the first kinematic system, combining tool rotation with an additional axial oscillation. Higher spindle speeds and a feed of 0.14 mm/rev yielded the lowest Rt values across most configurations. The findings highlight the importance of selecting an appropriate kinematic system, demonstrating that non-standard drilling kinematics can significantly enhance hole quality in heat-treated steels.

Thermal insulation materials play a significant role in balancing buildings' total carbon emissions. Balancing involves applying the optimized amount of insulation materials to avoid excessive emissions in either the operational or embodied phases. Due to the wide range of insulation materials and variations of their specifications, it is vital to analyse them individually. The focus of this study is to optimize the amount of insulation materials in the facades of Residential Buildings (RB) to balance the amount of Operational Carbon Emissions (OCE) and Embodied Carbon Emissions (ECE) by applying the Building Information Modelling-Life Cycle Assessment (BIM-LCA) integration method. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) stages, from extraction of raw materials, manufacturing, construction, usage, and end-of-life, as well as the impact assessment categories, are based on European standards. 49 building materials are utilized during this research activity, which includes the three insulation materials as alternatives, such as Glass wool, polyurethane (PUR), and Natural Cork from mineral, synthetic, and natural categories, and lightweight concrete blocks made from pumice, and clay brick blocks as other alternatives for the main core of the Facades. The RB under study is a prototype sample located in Milan. After performing the methodology and analyses, the results demonstrate that thermal conductivity and density play an important role. For instance, Natural Cork in higher thickness values performs better, while PUR in lower ones.

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.), juniper (Juniperus phoenicea), and pomegranate peel are widely used in the food and medical industries in the Mediterranean region. However, preventing determination of the most accurate drying method; likewise, studies on the effectiveness of their extracts against bacteria and fungi—and on the most effective post-extraction combinations—are scarce. Therefore, this experimental study aimed to produce a natural disinfectant free of any chemicals and to investigate the drying of thin layers of Rosmarinus officinalis L., Juniperus phoenicea, and pomegranate peel using three methods: shade drying, solar drying, and convective drying. Dried plants were obtained from each herb, and extracts were prepared from each plant using the three methods, resulting in three types of natural disinfectants, each made from the extracts of one single drying method. The research was conducted in a region in the southwest of Algerian. The main results were as follows: Production of a natural disinfectant effective against bacteria and fungi, and the best drying results were as follows: the optimal drying results for the juniper plant Convective Forced drying 54.3%; solar drying for rosemary 51.33%; for pomegranate peel convective forced drying 37.31%. The aim of this comparative study is to find the best method for drying these plants and to examine determine which of the three plants yields the best extracts, to prepare them for producing a natural disinfectant. Storing grains such as wheat and barley leads to the proliferation of promoting proliferation of bacteria and fungi, and the purpose of this disinfectant is to address this issue by preserving the grains from bacteria and fungi during storage and this disinfectant is intended to prevent such proliferation during storage.

A detailed numerical investigation of the calm-water hydrodynamic performance of an azimuth stern drive (ASD) tugboat is presented. Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) simulations are performed to predict the total resistance, trim, and sinkage over a wide range of Froude numbers at model scale. The free-surface flow is captured using the Volume of Fluid (VOF) method with a high-resolution interface capturing scheme, while turbulence effects are modeled using the SST k–ω formulation. To account for dynamic hull response, the vessel is allowed to move freely in heave and pitch through a Dynamic Fluid Body Interaction (DFBI) approach. A systematic mesh and time-step convergence study is conducted to ensure numerical accuracy and solution independence. The numerical predictions of resistance coefficient, trim angle, and sinkage show good agreement with available experimental data, validating the adopted computational framework. In addition to global performance metrics, detailed analyses of the flow field are carried out, including free-surface wave patterns, hull pressure and skin-friction distributions, and stern wake characteristics at the propeller plane. The results provide physical insight into the resistance mechanisms and stern flow features of ASD tugboats operating in calm water. While employing established numerical methods, the primary contribution of this work lies in providing a comprehensively validated dataset and detailed flow physics analysis for a benchmark ASD tugboat—a bluff, unconventional hull form that remains underrepresented in high-fidelity CFD literature. The validated methodology and flow-field findings support the application of CFD as a reliable tool for tugboat hydrodynamic assessment and design optimization.

Floating photovoltaic systems (FPVs) have many advantages over traditionally used photovoltaic systems, such as preventing water evaporation, using agricultural lands for different purposes, and having higher energy efficiency. Therefore, FPVS can be an effective solution to reduce de-pendence on fossil energy sources and minimize carbon emissions. There are limited number of studies on FPVs application in Türkiye, especially in terms of the CO2 emission reduction. Therefore, determination of optimum tilt angle, annual energy production and decarbonization for FPVs applications in water bodies in Türkiye were investigated through this research. The results show the effects of FPVS installed in five different water bodies on energy output and greenhouse gas emission reduction. The simulation of FPVs was carried out in the PVGIS soft-ware. Firstly, the annual energy production (AEP) of FPVs with different tilt angles scenarios (5°, 12°, 22°, 32°, 42°) is calculated for five different water bodies. Based on the AEP calculations, the monthly energy production of FPVS with 32° tilt angle, which provides maximum energy production, is discussed. The annual energy production of Berdan Dam with 32° tilt angle shown potential of 1588 kWh annually and provides the highest energy output among five different wa-ter bodies in Türkiye. CO2 emission reduction was also calculated and varied between 1 and 1.1 tCO2/year for observed locations. The obtained results provide important insights in optimum tilt angle for the installation of FPVS for Turkish climatic conditions and emphasize the FPVS effect on reducing carbon emissions and decarbonization contribution.

In recent years, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and drones have gained an important place in our lives by providing innovative solutions in a wide range of areas from defense industry, agriculture, logistics, and search and rescue operations. Despite advances in positioning tech-nologies such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), autonomous navigation and reliable location estimation in confined spaces, dense vegetation, or areas with signals remains a major challenge. This paper presents an innovative approach that combines You Only Look Once (YOLO) and Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithms to develop a GPS-independent positioning system. The vehicles beneath the drone are detected in Oriented Bounding Box (OBB) format using YOLO, and the estimated flight height is calculated using the known aver-age wheelbase of the vehicles. This height information is integrated with SLAM algorithms to estimate the drone’s position and speed. The test results show that the method provides accurate estimates with an accuracy of ± 1 me-ter at heights between 30 m and 50 m and can work effectively in conditions where GPS is in-adequate. Furthermore, YOLO’s use of OBB improves object detection accuracy and provides a solution to scaling problems in SLAM algorithms. This innovative system offers significant potential for autonomous drone navigation and speed control in environments without GPS access, such as confined spaces.

There are numerous types, shapes, and forms of weapons that were used until the invention of firearms. For the Turks, however, among these weapons, the sword is a type that has a distinct place and importance, recognized as a symbol of power and authority in both pre-Islamic and post-Islamic periods. In this study, the curved sword, a subtype of the sword form—one of the oldest cutting weapon forms used by almost all societies throughout world history—has been attempted to be introduced through selected examples by making a reduction from general to specific. These swords, which have entered the literature as the “Turkish sword,” have been referred to as the “Turkish curved sword” in the belief that this will facilitate better understanding. Drawing attention to these weapons, which are akin to artifacts and not recognized at the necessary level, is extremely important. The fact that the significance of this sword type, which distinguishes itself from other swords with its unique features and character and also influenced the development of swords in different geographies and cultures, is not widely known constitutes the fundamental problem that this study aims to contribute to. The solution aimed at contributing to this problem is to draw even a small amount of attention by emphasizing the recognition and impact of this sword type, which has become virtually synonymous with the Turks. While addressing the subject, in addition to general descriptive information about the cutting weapon form called the sword in general, topics of interest such as its historical development, technical features, and cultural status have also been briefly touched upon under certain headings.