1. Moisture-dependent transition from strong to weak hydrogen bonding in wood polysaccharidesFilip Majstorović, Jakub Michal Sandak, 2026, original scientific article Abstract: Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy combined with multivariate analysis was employed to investigate moisture- dependent hydrogen bonding of water in softwood cell walls. Spectral variations at equilibrium moisture con- tents were analyzed using principal component analysis and perturbation-correlation moving-window two- dimensional correlation spectroscopy to distinguish water populations with varying hydrogen-bond strengths. A distinct transition in hydrogen-bonding behavior was identified at approximately 10% wood moisture content. Below this threshold, water was found to predominantly engage in strong hydrogen bonds within wood cell walls. Above 10% moisture content, the relative contribution of strong hydrogen bonds to the overall wood- water hydrogen bond network decreased, whereas weakly hydrogen-bonded population became increasingly dominant. Experiments on modified wood and isolated polymers indicated that this transition originates mainly from wood polysaccharides, while lignin plays a minor role. These findings provide strong evidence for distinct water populations in wood cell walls, distinguished by their intermolecular hydrogen-bonding energies and predominant at specific wood moisture contents
Keywords: infrared spectroscopy, wood-water interactions, hydrogen bonding, wood cell wall, cellulose
Published in RUP: 05.06.2026; Views: 254; Downloads: 10
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3. Analysis of the Effect of Eco-Efficiency on Asset Return in Food and Beverage Manufacturing Companies Listed at the Johannesburg Stock ExchangeDimakatso Hellen Malapa, Collins C. Ngwakwe, 2025, original scientific article Abstract: This article examines the effect of eco-efficiency on corporate return on assets (ROA). The paper aimed to analyse whether corporate eco-efficiency performance (represented by energy consumption, water consumption, carbon emission and waste generation) affects the performance of ROA. Data on the eco-efficiency and ROA was collected from fourteen food and beverage companies listed in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange for a period of ten years (2012 to 2021). Using the STATA Software, the data was analysed by applying the Generalised Method of Moment (GMM) statistical technique, which enhanced the statistical analysis robustness. Findings from the GMM analysis showed different results. On the one hand, the results indicate that energy and water consumption in the food and beverage companies have a positive (but insignificant) effect on ROA. On the other hand, the results show that waste generation has a negative (but insignificant) effect on ROA; and that carbon emission has a negative and significant effect on ROA.
Keywords: environmental accounting, return on assets, financial performance, eco-efficiency, energy consumption, water consumption, carbon
emission, waste generation, sales revenue
Published in RUP: 18.12.2025; Views: 603; Downloads: 3
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4. Interlaboratory study of automated sorption measurements in wood : method for correcting systematic errors with the commonly used 0.002% min[sup] -1 stop criterionSamuel L. Zelinka, Samuel V. Glass, Natalia Farkas, Emil Engelund Thybring, Michael Altgen, Lauri Rautkari, Simon F. Curling, Jinzhen Cao, Yujiao Wang, Tina Künniger, Matthew Schwarzkopf, 2025, original scientific article Abstract: Many studies that use an automated sorption balance to determine a water vapor sorption isotherm for wood collect data until the moisture content change is less than or equal to 0.002% min−1 (20 µg g−1 min−1). This stop criterion has been claimed to give errors in equilibrium moisture content (EMC) predictions of less than 0.001 g g−1 but over the past 10 years, studies have shown that the actual errors can be greater than 0.01 g g−1 because the measurements are stopped well before equilibrium is reached. Despite the large errors associated with this stop criterion, it remains popular due to the speed at which isotherms can be measured. This paper utilizes data from a worldwide interlaboratory study on automated sorption balances to develop a correction method for estimating EMC of western larch (Larix occidentalis Nutt.) from the moisture content corresponding to the 20 µg g−1 min−1 criterion. The study uses data from 72 relative humidity absorption steps with hold times of 7–10 days from 21 different laboratories and eight different instrument models. EMC is defined based on the inherent mass stability of automated sorption balances determined in the first part of this interlaboratory study. On average the sorption process is less than 80% complete when the 20 µg g−1 min−1 criterion is reached, resulting in a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.006 g g−1. The correction equation for estimating EMC reduces the MAE to 0.001 g g−1. The analysis presented in this paper, along with the correction equation, can be considered for certain use cases to reduce systematic errors and shorten measurement times.
Keywords: water vapor sorption, dynamic vapor sorption, sorption isotherms, equilibrium moisture content, interlaboratory study
Published in RUP: 14.11.2025; Views: 757; Downloads: 9
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5. Strange sounds from the reeds : how traffic noise affects water rail (Rallus aquaticus) vocal activity based on passive acoustic monitoring)Nina Jovčić, 2025, master's thesis Keywords: water rail, Rallus aquaticus, NR Škocjanski zatok, bioacoustics, playback method, daily activity, habitat use, environmental noise, ARU
Published in RUP: 13.10.2025; Views: 748; Downloads: 13
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6. Interlaboratory study of the quality of water vapor sorption data for wood from automated sorption balancesSamuel L. Zelinka, Samuel V. Glass, Natalia Farkas, Emil Engelund Thybring, Michael Altgen, Lauri Rautkari, Simon F. Curling, Jinzhen Cao, Yujiao Wang, Tina Künniger, Matthew Schwarzkopf, 2025, original scientific article Abstract: Automated sorption balances are widely used for characterizing the interaction of water vapor with hygroscopic materials. This paper is part of an interlaboratory study investigating the stability and performance of automated sorption balances. A previous paper in this study investigated the mass, temperature, and relative humidity (RH) stability of automated sorp- tion balances by looking at the mass change of a non-hygroscopic sample over time. In this study, we examine the mass stability of wood samples held at constant RH for seven to ten days after a step change. The reason for the long hold times was to collect data to “operational equilibrium” where the change in mass is on the order of the inherent operational stability of the instrument. A total of 80 datasets were acquired from 21 laboratories covering absorption with final RH levels ranging from 10 to 95%. During these long hold times, several unusual behaviors were observed in the mass-vs-time curves. Deviations from expected sorption behavior were examined by fitting the data to an empirical sorption kinetics model and calculating the root mean square error (RMSE) between the observed and smoothed behavior. Samples that had a large RMSE relative to the median RMSE of the other datasets often had one of several types of errors: abrupt disturbances, diurnal oscillations, or long-term mass decline during an absorption step. In many cases, mass fluctuations were correlated with changes in the water reservoir temperature of the automated sorption balance. We discuss potential errors in sorption measurements on hygroscopic materials and suggest an acceptable level of RMSE for sorption data.
Keywords: water vapor sorption, dynamic vapor sorption, sorption isotherms, interlaboratory study
Published in RUP: 25.07.2025; Views: 992; Downloads: 4
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10. A review of recent developments in molecular dynamics simulations of the photoelectrochemical water splitting processNicolae Goga, Leonhard Mayrhofer, Ionut Tranca, Silvia Nedea, Koen Heijmans, Veerapandian Ponnuchamy, Andrei Vasilateanu, 2021, review article Keywords: water splitting, photo electrochemistry, molecular dynamics, classical force fields, ab initio simulations
Published in RUP: 16.07.2021; Views: 3755; Downloads: 44
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