Search Results (3,895)

The rapid development of high-density cities has triggered severe ecological challenges, including habitat fragmentation, urban heat island (UHI) effects, and conflicting demands for public recreation. Traditional ecological networks (ENs) often focus only on “source” landscapes while neglecting degraded “sink” areas. This bias limits the ability of planners to resolve complex spatial conflicts. Therefore, the primary aim of this study is to develop a robust spatial planning framework that mitigates urban ecological conflicts and enhances regional resilience. To achieve this, we constructed a composite ecological network (CEN) for the high-density city of Guangzhou that harmonizes bird habitat conservation, thermal regulation, and cultural recreation. We combined the MaxEnt model, morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA), and circuit theory to identify functional “sources” and “sinks” across these three dimensions. Next, using complex network theory, we optimized the CEN and evaluated its structural robustness using low degree addition (LDA) and low betweenness addition (LBA) strategies. The results indicate the following: (1) The CEN effectively captured the complex mosaic landscape of the city. (2) Single-objective networks displayed distinct spatial differences—the recreational network formed a dispersed web of 242 corridors, while habitat and climate networks remained highly clustered. (3) The integrated CEN generated 1137 multi-layered corridors, creating a vital green skeleton to support species dispersal, mitigate UHI effects, and improve cultural access. (4) Optimization simulations verified that the LBA strategy provided the highest stability against targeted attacks by balancing network connectivity with local aggregation. Ultimately, this framework offers a highly adaptable planning tool for dense cities, providing precise spatial guidance to overcome ecological bottlenecks and harmonize urban growth with ecosystem resilience. Full article

Background and Clinical Significance: Left ventricular free-wall rupture (LVFWR) is a rare but devastating mechanical complication of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), with reported in-hospital mortality approaching 90% without surgical intervention. Although its incidence has declined in the contemporary primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) era, LVFWR remains an important cause of early post-infarction death, particularly after delayed reperfusion or fibrinolytic therapy. Subacute or contained “oozing” ruptures pose a unique diagnostic challenge because hemodynamic stability and nonspecific symptoms can mask the underlying catastrophe, and standard transthoracic echocardiography may fail to visualize a sealed defect. Contrast-enhanced cardiac computed tomography (CT) has emerged as a valuable adjunct in this setting, enabling early recognition and surgical planning. Case Presentation: We report a case of a 51-year-old male, a heavy smoker, with acute lateral ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated with thrombolysis at a referring hospital, followed by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to the obtuse marginal branch. Despite reperfusion, he developed persistent pleuritic chest pain and a small pericardial effusion. Cardiac computed tomography (CT) demonstrated a contained (sealed) lateral-wall oozing-type left ventricular free-wall rupture (LVFWR) with thrombus sealing the defect. A multidisciplinary heart team initially opted for diligent observation with frequent echocardiography. Within the first 24 h, the pericardial effusion increased, and echocardiography showed circumferential effusion with lateral wall thickening and hematoma, prompting emergent sternotomy. Intraoperatively, a large posterolateral infarct with an oozing-type LV free-wall rupture was identified. Surgical repair was performed using interrupted pledgeted sutures, native pericardial patch, BioGlue, and an overlying Teflon patch, with intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) support. This case demonstrates the complementary diagnostic value of multimodality imaging—echocardiography for serial monitoring of the pericardial effusion and regional wall changes, and cardiac CT for direct characterization of the contained (sealed) defect—and the timely transition from conservative to surgical management in oozing-type rupture. The patient recovered uneventfully and was discharged in stable condition. Conclusions: This case highlights the diagnostic value of multimodality imaging—particularly cardiac CT—in detecting contained (sealed) LVFWR when echocardiography is inconclusive. Early recognition and prompt surgical intervention enabled a successful outcome in this otherwise frequently fatal complication. Full article

Vernacular housing in the Andean region embodies long-standing building knowledge, environmental adaptation, and forms of social organization rooted in rural life. Over recent decades, these dwellings have undergone visible transformations linked to migration, changing aspirations, and the growing presence of industrialized construction materials. Rather than disappearing, vernacular forms have increasingly merged with contemporary solutions, producing hybrid architectural landscapes whose local dynamics are still insufficiently documented. This study analyzes the material, typological, and functional transformation of rural housing in Las Lagunas and Quisquinchir, two Indigenous communities located in Saraguro, Loja, Ecuador. A total of 192 houses were recorded through field observation and a structured digital survey implemented with KoBoCollect. The information was processed in R using descriptive statistics, contingency tables, chi-square tests, Cramér’s V, and standardized residual analysis. The findings show that architectural change in both communities does not occur through a simple replacement of traditional housing by modern models. Instead, vernacular, hybrid, and modern/eclectic typologies coexist within the same rural setting, revealing uneven and locally specific processes of transformation. The clearest differences emerge in construction materiality. Las Lagunas preserves a stronger presence of traditional wall systems, especially adobe and bahareque, while Quisquinchir shows a broader incorporation of industrialized materials, particularly concrete block. Statistical analysis confirmed significant associations between community and wall material, as well as between typology and wall material, whereas the relationship between community and architectural typology was comparatively weaker. Functional changes were also identified through the reduction or reconfiguration of intermediate spaces such as portals, patios, and corridors, suggesting a gradual shift toward more enclosed and specialized domestic environments. These results contribute empirical evidence for understanding architectural hybridization in Indigenous rural territories and support conservation and planning approaches capable of recognizing continuity, adaptation, and change within evolving Andean built landscapes. Full article

Discussion of consciousness and artificial intelligence has hitherto focused on the question of whether a large language model (LLM) exhibits signs of consciousness or understanding. This paper proposes to redirect attention elsewhere: not to the model itself, but to the orchestrating layer that governs the model—the backend, understood here as the collection of mechanisms (context management, retrieval, evaluation, planning, and tool-use control) that structure the model’s operation. We argue that the backend performs a function functionally analogous to the role of consciousness in the human brain: it stabilizes generative processes, directs attention, maintains context, and mitigates the entropic disintegration of thought. Consciousness fulfills this function through the phenomenal layer—qualia—which creates a persistent subjective “inner canvas”, used here as a metaphor for a more general multimodal phenomenal space. The backend fulfills it only algorithmically, without phenomenal quality. We further show that computation is an informationally conservative process in the sense of Shannon’s Data Processing Inequality (DPI), and therefore cannot increase Shannon information, even though it may yield novel or pragmatically useful recombinations of existing information. We conclude by proposing the hypothesis that consciousness constitutes a phenomenon orthogonal to computation—not an emergent property of complexity, but a qualitative leap into a different dimension. This hypothesis, which builds on the author’s prior work in this Special Issue and in Symmetry, is presented as a conceptual contribution rather than a formal theory, and may have implications for how future artificial intelligence research conceptualizes the limits of computational architectures. Full article

The Iberian Peninsula hosts one of the world’s most endemic fish faunas. Its extensive evolutionary, palaeogeographic, and geological history has produced a distinctive freshwater fish fauna. Many of these species have very limited distributions, making them especially vulnerable to habitat disturbance. Past monitoring of this biodiversity has revealed alarming results, indicating that most native Spanish species are at risk. The causes of this serious situation are varied and reflect the ongoing deterioration of freshwater ecosystems. The main pressures faced by populations include pollution, loss of river connectivity caused by hydraulic infrastructure, regulation of watercourses, water extraction, fishing, and the presence of invasive species. Additionally, the effects of climate change worsen the risk of extinction for these populations, particularly through the increased frequency and intensity of droughts and heatwaves. It is evident that current planning models and investments are inadequate to conserve freshwater fish. To prevent the extinction of many populations in Spain, especially Iberian endemics, it is crucial to change the management of aquatic ecosystems and adopt integrated solutions that halt population declines and promote the sustainable use of aquatic resources. The IUCN Red Lists of Threatened Species are vital indicators of biodiversity health and are widely used to guide and structure conservation efforts. These lists, published in the Red Books, result from a thorough evaluation process that employs specific categories and criteria to assess the extinction risk of species, both globally and regionally. This report presents preliminary findings from a monitoring study on the current state of freshwater fish in Spain. The monitoring results reveal that, based on IUCN assessment criteria, two species are classified as extinct (EX), four as critically endangered (CR), eighteen as endangered (EN), and twenty-one as vulnerable (VU). Of fifty-seven species documented, 79% are considered threatened. The project’s final outcome is the development of the Atlas and Red Book of Freshwater Fish of Spain. This resource includes the main native and invasive freshwater and diadromous fish species, offers detailed information on their biological and ecological traits, and provides an up-to-date inventory of records along with an assessment of their conservation status. Full article

This study presents the diagnostic and conservation work carried out on the Roman mosaic of the South cubiculum in the Latomia dei Niccolini (Marsala, western Sicily). The mosaic, decorated with polychrome tesserae featuring a kantharos motif, presented severe structural damage, including fractures, subsurface voids, and progressive material loss. To assess the causes of deterioration and design an effective conservation strategy, an integrated approach combining non-invasive geophysical and 3D survey methods was applied. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) was selected as the main diagnostic tool because it allows high-resolution subsurface imaging while preserving the integrity of the fragile mosaic surface. By utilizing high-frequency 2 GHz antennas and complementary video inspection, a significant subsurface cavity beneath the mosaic preparation layer was successfully mapped, determining its critical relationship with the main diagonal surface fracture. Simultaneously, laser scanning and close-range photogrammetry enabled the creation of accurate 3D models supporting both documentation and restoration planning. The conservation concluded with surface cleaning, mortar consolidation, and the successful structural detachment and relocation of the compromised section onto a lightweight support for future museum display. The findings demonstrate that integrating 3D digital and geophysical data provides a quantitative, low-risk roadmap for preserving highly vulnerable archaeological floorings, moving beyond qualitative technical documentation to establish a replicable preservation framework. Full article

This study presents the revision of the Rabaçal River Recreational Fishing Area Management Plan (ZPL), implemented in 2020, aiming to evaluate its effectiveness and identify the need for adjustments after five years. The study area includes part of Montesinho Natural Park, covering water bodies upstream of the Vale de Armeiro Reservoir (RH3—Douro Basin), excluding the Assureira River sub-basin. The methodology followed the initial study design, with electrofishing conducted at ten stations (30 surveys). Hydromorphological and riparian conditions were assessed using the River Habitat Survey (RHS), enabling the calculation of the Riparian Quality Index (RQI), Habitat Modification Score (HMS), and Habitat Quality Assessemt (HQA). Results indicate high habitat diversity and overall good-to-excellent hydromorphological quality, although they are locally affected by human pressures and global change. Brown trout (Salmo trutta) was recorded at all sites, showing wide spatial distribution. Population structure was dominated by young individuals (≤2 years; 70%), indicating high recruitment rates. However, growth patterns and reduced body condition suggest that habitat features, particularly flow regime and riparian quality, are influencing population dynamics, highlighting the need to explicitly integrate habitat–population relationships into management measures. A notable expansion of the invasive signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) was also observed (now present at stations T₃, T₄, and T₅), reinforcing the need for targeted monitoring and control actions. Overall, the results support the continuation of the current management model, aligned with the conservation objectives defined in the initial plan and in project POSEUR-03-2215-FC-000096, while emphasizing the importance of habitat conservation to ensure the long-term sustainability of trout populations and aquatic ecosystems. Full article

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are key tools for mitigating the impacts of human activities on marine biodiversity and addressing climate change. Consequently, nations worldwide have committed to international targets to expand MPA coverage, leading to a rapid increase in protected areas and generating significant challenges for financing and effective management, particularly in developing countries. Under this scenario, multiple stakeholders, including local communities, academia, governments, and national and international organizations, are joining efforts to reduce financial gaps and strengthen MPA governance and management. In this study, we present the case of the Juan Fernández Archipelago in Chile, where multiple organizations collaborated to develop a socially robust and locally grounded governance system for a network of MPAs through a comprehensive community engagement process conducted on Robinson Crusoe Island between 2022 and 2024. As a result, a Functional Community Organization was established to co-manage the MPAs with the Chilean government, and three MPA management plans encompassing ~580,000 km² were approved. Among them, the management plan of the Multiple-Use MPA “Mar de Juan Fernández” was the first approved under the new Chilean Biodiversity and Protected Areas Service (Law 21,600), setting a national precedent for co-management. Our findings show that effective MPA governance depends not only on institutional design but also on the extent to which governance arrangements are socially embedded and locally legitimate. In this context, community-grounded and context-sensitive engagement processes facilitated high levels of participation, strengthened representation, and supported the co-production of knowledge, providing a strong foundation for the long-term implementation of conservation objectives. Full article

Background: Follicular unit extraction (FUE) has become the dominant donor site harvesting technique in modern hair transplantation due to its ability to avoid linear scar formation and its procedural flexibility. However, the donor site is a limited non-regenerative source. Excessive or poorly planned extraction can lead to visible thinning, hypopigmented scarring, and reduced reserve for future procedures. Objective: This study aimed to synthesize current evidence on donor biology, preoperative assessment, extraction strategy, and complication prevention in FUE, and to propose a reproducible clinical framework for donor preservation. Methods: A structured narrative review was conducted using PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Google Scholar to identify English-language publications related to donor site biology, donor evaluation, extraction density thresholds, complication prevention, repeat session planning, and emerging FUE technologies. Priority was given to recent reviews, clinical trials, consensus statements, and practice-oriented surgical literature. Articles were selected not for formal meta-analytic pooling, but because of their relevance to donor conservation and long-term donor management. Results: The literature reviewed consistently identifies excessive local extraction density, harvesting beyond conservative limits, donor miniaturization, and inadequate reassessment before repeated procedures as the primary drivers of donor morbidity. Evidence from reviews, clinical trials, and expert guidelines supports conservative extraction thresholds, widespread spatial distribution, individualized donor mapping, and phased long-term planning as key strategies for preserving donor aesthetics and reserve. Conclusions: Donor preservation is central to ethical and sustainable FUE surgery. Integration of biologically informed assessment, disciplined extraction control, and mandatory reassessment protocols can reduce morbidity while preserving long-term graft flexibility in patients with progressive androgenetic alopecia. Full article

Introduction: The sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) is an anadromous jawless fish that migrates between marine and freshwater environments, spawning once in rivers before dying. It is distributed along both coasts of the North Atlantic. In Asturias (northern Spain), P. marinus is classified as Vulnerable, and a conservation plan is currently under development. In the present study, Critical Conservation Areas (CCAs) are defined as river reaches requiring urgent protection due to their high ecological value for the species. Objective: This study aimed to identify key reproductive and larval habitats (spawning grounds and silt–sand banks) to support the designation of CCAs for the conservation of the sea lamprey in Asturias. Methodology: Fieldwork was conducted in the main salmonid rivers of Asturias (Deva, Nalón, Narcea, Navia, Eo, and Sella basins). During spring 2025 and 2026, habitats were characterized and spawning sites identified using transects. In autumn 2025, larvae were sampled by electrofishing within defined areas (10–30 m²), measured and weighed, and densities were extrapolated using an inverse distance weighting (IDW) model. Basin use and critical areas were assessed based on species distribution and habitat quality. Results: A total of 1886 larvae were recorded across 27 river sections, of which 1366 were measured. Sea lamprey was present in 74.1% of sections, whereas brook lamprey (Lampetra planeri) was detected only in the Deva basin. Mean larval size was 9.5 ± 3.7 cm and 2.3 ± 2.19 g, with marked spatial variability. The highest larval densities occurred in the Eo (21.5 ind/m²) and Narcea rivers (15.1 ind/m²). Additionally, 94 spawning records were identified, and 65% of the 83 assessed sections were classified as good or very good habitat. Conclusions: A total of 31 CCAs (~300 km) were proposed, including 97 km classified as “of interest”, 21 km as “important”, and 180 km as “highly important”. Habitat use was greatest in sinuous middle river reaches with riffles, pools, and fine sediment deposits. Transversal barriers, dredging, and channel simplification were identified as the main drivers of habitat loss. These findings provide a robust scientific basis for conservation planning and management of the species in Asturias. Full article

While land development opportunities stemming from planning regulations demonstrably influence rural household income, quantitative evidence quantifying these effects remains limited. Measuring and decomposing these effects can empirically support territorial spatial planning policies aimed at alleviating associated regional development imbalances and advancing sustainable rural development. This study selects Wuhan’s Sino-French Eco-City (urban development zone) and Xiaosi Township (wetland conservation zone) as typical zones. Based on 573 randomly sampled rural households, we explore the effects of land development opportunities on rural household incomes and find that: (1) Land development opportunities for non-agricultural conversion in the urban development zone significantly increase rural households’ total income, wage income, though their corresponding contribution rates are limited. Endogenously accumulated endowments such as human capital and economic status dominate the formation of such income gaps. (2) Planning-induced land development opportunities yield coefficients of 1.0442 for local employment income and −0.4567 for agricultural business income, with both statistically significant at the 1% significance level. Decomposition results show their respective contribution rates of 70.68% and 86.77%, demonstrating that such opportunities primarily account for cross-regional rural household income gaps. (3) Whereas non-agricultural land development opportunities narrow disparities in households’ local employment income, they raise inequality in rural households’ migrant employment, business, property and transfer income. These growth and equality-enhancing effects on local wage income are particularly pronounced for households possessing high-quantity but low-quality human capital. This study recommends supporting protected zones via farmer vocational training, expanded rural public service expenditure, and a benefit-sharing mechanism that channels land development gains to ecological and agricultural regions to strengthen households’ endogenous development capacity. Full article

Protected areas (PAs) are increasingly challenged by the need to reconcile biodiversity conservation with sustainable human use, particularly in landscapes containing underutilized or resting area (RA). This study evaluated the potential of resting forest and agricultural lands to enhance biodiversity and support sustainable land use within protected areas of Cesme, Türkiye. A Geographic Information System (GIS)-based multi-criteria evaluation approach was employed, integrating land cover data, soil group maps, topographic parameters, and protected area classifications to generate Plant Suitability Maps (PSMs). Eight thematic layers were developed, incorporating soil depth, slope, erosion risk, and land capability classes to identify suitable plant species and land-use options. The results indicate that the strategic use of resting agricultural lands could contribute up to 35.5% to ecological enhancement, while resting forest lands could contribute an additional 18%. The proposed plant assemblages include medicinal and aromatic species, erosion-control plants, and economically valuable perennial species that support ecosystem services such as pollination, beekeeping, and agro-tourism. Overall, the findings demonstrate that integrating RA management into conservation planning can simultaneously strengthen biodiversity, improve ecosystem services, and generate socio-economic benefits for local communities. The proposed GIS-based framework offered a transferable and scalable methodology for sustainable land management in Mediterranean landscapes and other protected regions worldwide. Also, in this research, the aim was to determine plant species using GIS-based suitability analyses of multi-spatial datato guide vegetation decisions in multi-criteria PA. Full article

We assessed the current and possible future predicted distributions of the Mexican narrow-mouthed toad, Amphibia, Microhylidae Hypopachus variolosus (Cope, 1866) across its range to evaluate vulnerability under global change. (2) Methods: We integrated 481 validated occurrence records across the species’ distribution range, including 120 records from Mexico, with bioclimatic and land-cover predictors to build ensemble ecological niche models. We additionally incorporated human footprint metrics to evaluate anthropogenic pressure and projected future habitat suitability under climate and land-use change scenarios. (3) Results: Models showed high performance (TSS > 0.80; AUC > 0.90), identifying temperature and precipitation extremes as main drivers. Suitable habitats extended across both coasts and revealed novel areas in central Mexico. The most suitable habitat occurred under low human pressure, although localized impacts were detected. Deforestation in the Yucatán Peninsula reduced tree cover despite high climatic suitability. Future projections for 2050 under RCP 8.5 indicated marked reductions in modeled high-suitability areas, particularly in central Mexico. (4) Conclusions: These findings indicate high vulnerability to climate and land-use change and support updating distribution limits, incorporating new regions into conservation planning, and reassessing threat status to promote long-term persistence. Full article

Digital twins have become a central paradigm for cultural heritage documentation, monitoring, and preventive preservation. Yet, when cultural heritage systems promise prediction, simulation, intervention planning, and decision support, a more explicit account is needed of the computational commitments behind such claims. This position paper proposes the notion of the heritage world model as a conceptual and architectural abstraction that uses the semantic digital twin as its representational layer and extends it toward prediction, memory, uncertainty-aware reasoning, and intervention evaluation. We define a heritage world model as a structured, temporally updated, semantically grounded, and action-aware model of a heritage asset and its preservation environment, capable of integrating observations, estimating latent risk states, predicting plausible future trajectories, and evaluating interventions under uncertainty. The paper does not present a validated deployed system. Rather, it clarifies the architectural conditions under which a decision-support digital twin infrastructure could support the kind of world-model-like preservation system proposed here. It further argues that such a model becomes operationally meaningful only when it includes a human-supervised controller layer that maps semantic state, predicted risk trajectories, uncertainty, memory, and institutional constraints into preservation-relevant actions, alerts, monitoring adaptations, or requests for expert review. Sensor data, remote sensing, computational models, risk assessments, policies, and conservation actions are interpreted as possible observational, dynamic, and intervention layers of a heritage world model. The paper reviews adjacent work in heritage digital twins, semantic and reactive ontologies, risk-aware preservation, agentic AI, and modern AI world models, and proposes a research agenda for moving toward predictive, memory-bearing, and intervention-aware preservation intelligence. Full article

The white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) offers a unique model for investigating the genomic consequences of extreme demographic bottlenecks. However, the fragmented southern white rhinoceros genome assembly has limited chromosome-scale structural and evolutionary comparisons with the functionally extinct northern subspecies. Here, we report a chromosome-scale genome assembly for the southern white rhinoceros by integrating Oxford Nanopore Technology long-read sequencing, Illumina short-read polishing and high-throughput chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C) scaffolding. The final assembly spans 2.48 Gb and achieves a contig N50 of 42.06 Mb, representing a 452-fold improvement in contiguity over the previous assembly. In total, 2.46 Gb of sequence was anchored to 40 autosomes plus the X and Y chromosomes. Genome annotation identified 1.13 Gb of repetitive elements (45.7% of the assembly), 22,593 protein-coding genes, and 100.68 Mb of segmental duplications. Inspection of the major histocompatibility complex class II gene region further supported the local assembly and annotation reliability, revealing conserved gene composition and order between the southern and northern white rhinoceroses. Whole-genome comparison with the northern white rhinoceros assembly indicated extensive chromosome-scale synteny, along with localized structural variants between the two subspecies, including 111 inversions spanning 33.48 Mb and 497 translocations spanning 36.48 Mb. Furthermore, coalescent demographic reconstruction indicated asynchronous Pleistocene population dynamics for southern and northern white rhinoceroses, reflecting divergent responses to historical climate oscillations. Both subspecies also exhibit lower recent effective population sizes than estimated Pleistocene ancestral levels, underscoring persistent conservation concern. This assembly provides a useful resource for evaluating the genomic consequences of historical bottlenecks, informing future genomic-rescue plans, and strengthening the comparative framework for rhinoceros conservation and evolutionary genomics. Full article