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Air pollution is a major factor in global heating and an increasing focus is centered on solving this problem. Urban communities take advantage of Information Technology (IT) and communications technologies in order to improve the control of environmental emissions and sound pollution. The aim is to mitigate health threatening risks and to raise awareness in relation to the effects of air pollution exposure. This paper investigates the key issues of a real-time pollution monitoring system, including the sensors, Internet of Things (IoT) communication protocols, and acquisition and transmission of data through communication channels, as well as data security and consistency. Security is a major focus in the proposed IoT solution. All other components of the system revolve around security. The bill of the materials and communications protocols necessary for the designing, development, and deployment of the IoT solution are part of this paper, as well as the security challenges. The paper’s proof of concept (PoC) addresses IoT security challenges within the communication channels between IoT gateways and the cloud infrastructure where data are transmitted to. The security implementations adhere to existing guidelines, best practices, and standards, ensuring a reliable and robust solution. In addition, the solution is able to interpret and analyze the collected data by using predictive analytics to create pollution maps. Those maps are used to implement real-time countermeasures, such as traffic diversion in a major city, to reduce concentrations of air pollutants by using existing data collected over a year. Once integrated with traffic management systems—cameras monitoring and traffic lights—this solution would reduce vehicle pollution by dynamically offering alternate routes or even enforcing re-routing when pollution thresholds are reached.

Two semiflexible piezoelectric composite plate structures were developed, incorporating 1 × 9 and 2 × 9 arrays of PZT elements mounted on brass discs and mechanically secured by pop rivets within a thin plastic foil spacer positioned between two copper-clad PCB layers. This configuration provides reliable electrical contact, adequate mechanical compliance, and efficient conversion of mechanical vibration energy into electrical energy. In addition, a multifunctional thermoelectric device was realized, consisting of four cubic modules arranged around a rectangular tube and enabling both handheld operation and coupling to hot or cold surfaces. Each cube is equipped with optimized finned heat sinks and integrates four thermoelectric elements on each face. Experimental results show that each cube generates approximately 6 mW, when handheld and with icy water injected into the central tube, demonstrating its suitability as a compact and versatile thermal energy harvester. Under low-light conditions, a solar panel is supplemented by this hybrid piezoelectric-thermoelectric energy harvesting system that combines the output of a piezoelectric composite plate with the dual outputs of a thermoelectric device using an electronically isolated summing block to ensure source decoupling. Energy storage and management are implemented using a capacitor buffer for the piezoelectric device, two voltage boosters for the thermoelectric outputs, and an automatic ultra-low-power pulse width modulation buck regulator for charging supercapacitors at 5 V.

This systematic review examines chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus (CKD-aP) as a complex clinical manifestation in patients undergoing hemodialysis. Traditionally considered a secondary symptom of end-stage renal disease, emerging evidence now positions CKD-aP as a multidimensional disorder with substantial pathogenic influence on patient outcomes. Using the PRISMA 2020 methodology, we critically evaluated 54 peer-reviewed studies published between 2020 and 2025. Our synthesis highlights a convergence of five mechanistic frameworks underpinning CKD-aP: elevated levels of uremic toxins originating from gut microbial dysbiosis, immune activation driven by IL-31 and other pro-inflammatory cytokines, heightened peripheral and central neural sensitization, dysregulation of endogenous opioid receptor pathways favoring μ-receptor activation, and xerosis-related epidermal barrier dysfunction. These mechanisms contribute to a systemic cycle of microinflammation, pruritogenic signaling, and neural hyperexcitability. We also identified and compared validated assessment tools—including the NRS, VAS, Skindex-10, and the UP-Dial scale—that facilitate standardized quantification of disease burden. While available treatments such as gabapentinoids and phototherapy offer partial relief, targeted therapies—including κ-opioid receptor agonists—represent a major advancement, although long-term effectiveness and accessibility remain under investigation. Growing scientific consensus establishes CKD-aP as a priority therapeutic target in hemodialysis care, underscoring the need for integrated, mechanism-based management strategies to improve quality of life and clinical outcomes. This work represents a narrative systematic review, integrating evidence from mechanistic, translational, and clinical studies to critically examine the biological pathways underlying CKD-associated pruritus.

In the privileged space of the myths, Minos, the legendary king of Crete, captures the Minotaurus in a famous palace--a creation of Dedalus--which represents the primary model of the labyrinth and which implicitly determined, in the cultural history, a consacrated interception of this symbol, in its sense of space, recognizable in the terms of a configuration and of a peculiar dimension. The labyrinth, however, repeatedly abandons the condition of space, similar to the pendulum that can be detected (every time) in a different hypostasis within the successive becomings of its course. In this matter, distinct variants of the existence of the labyrinth can be evoked, diachronically catalogued by Paolo Santarcangeli (4) (the dream, the game, the clothing, the poem, etc.) and can constitute the object of our concerns, through their own pendulation in the memoirs of Lena Constante. Above all, the labyrinth establishes itself, both in Evadarea tacuta (5) and in Evadarea imposibila (6), as a configurative model, at distinct levels of form and content. This materializes itself not only as a space of the memoirs (through the \"sensorial\", thus fragmentary and incongruent representations of the cell), but also--within our subsequent approaches of the motif--at the level of temporality or of discursivity (ivhose sequencer solution is, after all, the escape).

Road development, traffic intensification, and collisions with wildlife represent a danger both for road safety and species conservation. For planners, deciding which mitigation methods to apply is often problematic. Through a kernel density estimate, we analyzed 715 crossing locations and wildlife–vehicle collisions (WVCs) involving brown bears, lynx, wolf, red deer, roe deer, and wild boar in the Southeastern Carpathian Mountains. We identified 25 WVC hotspots, of which eight require urgent mitigation of existing infrastructure. Moreover, many of these hotspots are in Natura 2000 sites, along road sections where vegetation is in close proximity, animal movement is the highest, and driver visibility is low. Our study is the first in Romania to recommend practical solutions to remediate WVC hotspots and benefit sustainable landscape management.

Landscape genetics is increasingly being used in landscape planning for biodiversity conservation by assessing habitat connectivity and identifying landscape barriers, using intraspecific genetic data and quantification of landscape heterogeneity to statistically test the link between genetic variation and landscape variability. In this study we used genetic data to understand how landscape features and environmental factors influence demographic connectedness in Europe’s largest brown bear population and to assist in mitigating planned infrastructure development in Romania. Model-based clustering inferred one large and continuous bear population across the Carpathians suggesting that suitable bear habitat has not become sufficiently fragmented to restrict movement of individuals. However, at a finer scale, large rivers, often located alongside large roads with heavy traffic, were found to restrict gene flow significantly, while eastern facing slopes promoted genetic exchange. Since the proposed highway infrastructure development threatens to fragment regions of the Carpathians where brown bears occur, we develop a decision support tool based on models that assess the landscape configuration needed for brown bear conservation using wildlife corridor parameters. Critical brown bear corridors were identified through spatial mapping and connectivity models, which may be negatively influenced by infrastructure development and which therefore require mitigation. We recommend that current and proposed infrastructure developments incorporate these findings into their design and where possible avoid construction measures that may further fragment Romania’s brown bear population or include mitigation measures where alternative routes are not feasible.

In Europe, large carnivore populations have faced a history of persecution and habitat alteration, varying in magnitude across their distribution. Individual animals have developed diverse adaptations to these anthropogenic activities, in most cases to avoid them but in some cases to exploit novel resources in the human‐modified environments they inhabit. Here, we used long‐term GPS‐telemetry data from 108 brown bears Ursus arctos collared across three European countries – Finland, Slovakia and Romania—to assess whether the behavioural movement patterns of brown bears are consistent across their range or vary regionally in response to local environmental and anthropogenic influences. We calculated speed, movement direction and daily displacement, and used mixed‐effects models to analyse whether human infrastructure affected brown bear movement behaviour across the study areas. To examine whether the impact of these features varied by study area, and to capture contextual differences that may have affected the movement patterns of bears, we included interactions between environmental predictors and area in the regression models. Our results showed that Finnish bears exhibited consistently higher movement speeds and longer daily displacements than Slovak and Romanian bears, regardless of the proximity to roads, railways, or human settlements. In addition, in proximity to transport infrastructures, Finnish and Slovak bears increased speed, directionality and distance travelled whereas Romanian bears showed the opposite pattern. Conversely, near human settlements, Romanian bears showed higher speeds and less tortuous movements, whereas Finnish and Slovak bears reduced their speed and daily displacements. These contrasting responses suggest that bear movements in multi‐use, human‐modified landscapes are shaped by complex interactions between animal needs and local environmental conditions. Human activities are major drivers of changes in animal behaviour, resulting in diverse spatial and temporal activity patterns across species. In this study, we analysed telemetry data from brown bears in Finland, Slovakia and Romania, to compare how human infrastructure influences their movement behaviour. The distinct movement patterns observed across the study areas underscores the importance of context‐specific factors in shaping the movement decisions of this large carnivore.

The transition toward climate neutrality and sustainable energy systems is reshaping economic structures, labor markets, and social well-being across the European Union, reconfiguring production patterns, altering sectoral competitiveness, and redefining labor market dynamics. This study analyzes the socioeconomic impact of the green transition in the EU member states during the 2013–2022 period. Hierarchical clustering is applied to group countries based on nine indicators reflecting energy transition and environmental performance, and six indicators capturing socioeconomic outcomes, while controlling for economic prosperity through GDP per capita. The analysis assesses whether convergence in the intensity of green transition adoption translates into a convergence in socioeconomic outcomes. Empirical results highlight that the transmission of green transition dynamics into socioeconomic effects is neither uniform nor linear, and uniform policy frameworks are insufficient, supporting the adoption of differentiated strategies that simultaneously advance environmental objectives and safeguard social and economic cohesion.

This paper explores how infrastructure is connected to rural development by analysing trends in academic research over the past three decades. Infrastructure is essential for improving the quality of life and supporting economic growth in rural areas. As rural regions often face challenges like isolation, limited services and population decline, developing adequate infrastructure is seen as a key solution. To better understand how this topic has been studied, the research uses a bibliometric method based on articles indexed in the Web of Science™ Core Collection. A total of 166 publications from 1993 to 2025 were analysed using the VOSviewer software. Three main clusters were identified: Socio-political dimensions of rural infrastructure, Sustainable transformation and rural development, Economic performance and public infrastructure. The paper highlights the increasing international interest in these topics, with strong contributions from countries like China, the United States and Romania, but still international collaboration remains modest.

The object, library, and executable codes are stored in binary files. The functionality of a binary file is altered when its content or program source code is changed, causing undesired effects. A direct content change is possible when the intruder knows the structural information of the binary file. The paper describes the structural properties of the binary object files, how the content can be controlled by a possible intruder, and the ways to identify malicious code in such files. Because the object files are inputs in linked processes, early detection of the malicious content is crucial to avoid infection of the binary executable files.