Search Results (1,504)

Australian regional communities are actively seeking development pathways that generate local economic value while maintaining environmental and cultural integrity. In this context, GeoRegions have emerged in Australia as a community-led approach for recognising and interpreting geoheritage and associated abiotic–biotic–cultural (ABC) values through geotourism and geoeducation. The GeoRegion concept remains intentionally operationally flexible, but for regional communities encountering a myriad of barriers to sustainable geotourism implementation, any uncertainty for proponents about what constitutes an implementable GeoRegion and what resources and governance arrangements are required for credible and sustained delivery requires resolution. This study developed a stakeholder-informed conceptual model to clarify the practical ‘building blocks’ of GeoRegion establishment and the conditions under which GeoRegions can contribute to sustainability-oriented regional development. Using a design thinking framing and semi-structured interviews with thirteen expert participants, we used semantic discourse analysis to identify the factors perceived as essential to GeoRegion viability and legitimacy. We found that participants expected GeoRegions to be geologically centred, but their perceived value and long-term durability depend on (i) genuine community support and locally legitimate narratives (including Indigenous knowledge where appropriate), (ii) capable champions or coordinating groups, (iii) sustained resourcing for interpretation and visitor readiness, and (iv) a facilitative and not prescriptive role for government. Participants emphasised that GeoRegions should never be constrained by land tenure but cautioned that competing land uses, access logistics and uneven capacity across regions were highly influential in the delineation of feasible boundaries and management intensity. Our GeoRegion model differentiates core inputs (community mandate, knowledge co-production, geoheritage significance, human capacity and funding) from expected outputs (interpretive materials, geoeducation, geotourism, economic development, conservation outcomes and strengthened place identity), and we identify feedback that can either reinforce or erode sustainability outcomes over time. We argue that GeoRegions can provide a low-risk, scalable mechanism for geoconservation-informed regional development, particularly where formal protected-area tools or geopark ambitions are politically or economically constrained, provided that supporting governance and resourcing are treated as essential design requirements. Full article

Fin erosion is a common condition in aquaculture-reared salmonids used in river restocking programs and may influence multiple biomarkers applied in aquatic biomonitoring. The health status of Salmo trutta from a river with good ecological status was evaluated by analysing biometric traits, glucose concentration, haematological indices, erythrocyte morphometry, and erythrocytic nuclear abnormalities in relation to fin condition. Fish with eroded fins were larger and exhibited pelvic and dorsal fin erosion, suggesting a hatchery origin, but showed lower haemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume, and glucose levels, together with altered erythrocyte morphology and increased frequencies of cytotoxic nuclear abnormalities. In contrast, leukocyte profiles and overall erythropoietic activity did not differ between fin condition groups. These findings indicate that fin erosion can alter baseline biomarker responses independently of environmental contamination, highlighting the importance of considering fin integrity when interpreting biomonitoring data and evaluating the suitability of fish for restocking programs. Full article

Erosion in intensively farmed landscapes threatens above- and below-ground biodiversity. While impacts on soil physical and chemical properties (which affect soil inhabiting biota) are well documented, effects on ground-associated fauna (distribution, diversity, abundance) remain less understood. A likely very strong factor is the direct transport of epigeon together with the eroded soil. We assessed how water-erosion processes shape communities of epigeic invertebrates along agricultural slopes in the Chernozem region of South Moravia (Czech Republic). Ground-dwelling invertebrates were sampled over five years (May–September) in conventionally managed maize fields using pitfall traps across 18 sloping fields. Three slope positions were compared per field (control, erosional, depositional; 54 positions in total). Community patterns were evaluated using Canonical Correspondence Analysis with covariates (month, year, slope position, site), and species responses to key drivers were analysed using Generalised Additive Models. Across the full dataset, Shannon diversity and species richness did not differ significantly among slope positions; however, total invertebrate abundance was significantly lower in erosional parts. Interannual variation was pronounced and linked to precipitation: wet conditions increased diversity and richness at depositional positions, whereas dry conditions reduced diversity downslope. Ordination and GAM results identified erosion intensity and relative precipitation/temperature anomalies as important predictors, with most dominant species showing higher abundances under low to moderate erosion. These findings indicate that epigeic invertebrate communities along slopes can serve as indicators of erosion force. Full article

Florida (FL)’s agriculture sector is undergoing rapid transformation due to biological shocks, environmental stressors, import competition, and accelerating urbanization. Citrus greening, laurel wilt, and hurricane-related damage have sharply reduced yields and acreage, while rising imports from Mexico and Brazil erode market share and depress prices. Urban development and recreational land-use expansion are accelerating land-value increases, which in turn drives farmland loss and abandonment. This policy-oriented review synthesizes these pressures and evaluates state policy responses. Our findings highlight the need for integrated strategies that improve resilience, strengthen land conservation, and enhance the long-term competitiveness of FL’s agricultural sector. Full article

Recommender systems are now integral to many online platforms, including e-commerce, social media, and content streaming services. However, their widespread use also exposes them to significant security threats. One of the most critical is the shilling attack, where fake user profiles are injected to manipulate recommendation results. Such attacks undermine system fairness and erode user trust. Traditional detection methods mostly rely on a single perspective, such as a fake profile, temporal behavior or a graph structure, and they have difficulty dealing with complex and changeable attack strategies. Therefore, we propose a multi-view cross-attention (MVCA) attack detection framework. This system integrates three complementary features: the user–item interaction graph structure, the temporal behavior sequence, and the local scoring mode. We propose a bidirectional cross-attention mechanism to achieve deep information interaction, dynamically mine the potential correlations between different views, solve the collaborative optimization of each module, and improve the accuracy of identifying fake users. Extensive experiments conducted on the MovieLens and Netflix datasets have shown that MVCA generally outperforms several established baseline methods. Its strong performance in handling different types and scales of attacks demonstrates the method’s adaptability and robustness for detecting shilling attacks. Full article

Soil erosion is a growing environmental problem in arid regions, where land-use changes and landscape fragmentation directly influence land degradation. This study estimated soil loss in the Tarabillas sub-basin, located in the Chihuahuan Desert, Mexico. To this end, the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) was applied and integrated with Geographic Information System (GIS) tools. Landsat TM and OLI satellite imagery were classified through supervised techniques, achieving overall accuracies above 89%. The analysis was supported by comparing erosion patterns associated with land-use changes occurring during the 1990–2021 period, assessed through cross-tabulation matrices and landscape metrics. The results show that although the average erosion potential of the sub-basin remained constant at approximately 12.45 t ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹, erosion redistributed spatially, concentrating in areas where agriculture has replaced natural vegetation. Shrublands and grasslands continue to dominate the high erosion categories due to their wide spatial extent and high erodibility. These findings highlight that fragmented agricultural expansion constitutes the main driver of landscape transformation and soil vulnerability, emphasizing the importance of integrating remote sensing, GIS, and empirical models to support sustainable land management in arid regions. Full article

Soil texture exerts fundamental control over nutrient retention in arid ecosystems; however, its mechanistic coupling with nutrient stoichiometry in wind-eroded desert steppes remains poorly resolved. We investigated soil particle-size distribution and nutrient characteristics across contrasting vegetation types in a desert steppe on the northern slope of the Yinshan Mountains. The interactions between soil texture and nutrient distribution were quantified through field sampling and laboratory analyses. The Caragana grassland was dominated by fine-textured soils, with a silt-to-sand ratio of 21.58% and a fractal dimension ranging from 2.1 to 3.95, indicating a complex soil structure with strong nutrient-retention capacity. In contrast, the Leymus grassland and desert sites were characterized by higher sand content, with a median particle size of 1.67 mm and sorting coefficients ranging from 0.06 to 4.2, reflecting a simpler structure and comparatively lower nutrient levels. Overall, soils in the region were nutrient-deficient, with widespread phosphorus and potassium limitations, whereas nitrogen was relatively more abundant. Total nitrogen (<0.75 mg kg⁻¹), total phosphorus (0.2–0.4 mg kg⁻¹), total potassium and available nutrients were predominantly classified as ‘deficient’ to ‘extremely deficient’, exhibiting a clear surface accumulation pattern. The Poaceae meadow surface layer showed the highest total nitrogen and phosphorus contents. The sorting coefficient and fractal dimension were identified as key particle-size parameters regulating soil nutrient stoichiometric ratios. The silt-to-sand ratio exerted negative path effects (−0.11 to −0.18) on SOC/TN and AK/AN, whereas fractal dimension showed positive path effects (0.17–0.23) on AK/AN. These findings provide a scientific basis for ecological restoration and soil management in the region. Full article

This study explores the factors contributing to educational stakeholders’ resistance to pedagogical and policy changes within a rural school in the Bojanala District, South Africa. Utilizing a qualitative approach, fifteen participants comprising five members of the School Governing Body (SGB), five members of the School Management Team (SMT), and five Grade 12 learners were purposively sampled to provide a multi-perspective analysis of the institutional environment. The findings reveal that resistance is driven by a complex interplay of limited policy awareness, deep-seated cultural and traditional beliefs, systemic socioeconomic challenges, and significant psychological barriers. These factors collectively undermine the quality of teaching and learning by inhibiting curriculum innovation, fostering learner disengagement, and eroding school morale. To address these systemic hurdles, the study advocates for a multi-tiered integration strategy that prioritizes transparent stakeholder communication frameworks to align national policy with local rural realities, the institutionalization of sustained, context-specific professional development, and the cultivation of transformational leadership capable of navigating the unique socio-economic constraints inherent in rural educational landscapes. Full article

Organizations communicate across many channels, yet official websites remain a controlled, authoritative space where firms articulate identity and strategy. This study examines how Croatia’s top enterprises (n = 100) describe themselves on their websites and which emotional tones they use to signal strategic intent. Our goal is to identify recurring strategic signifiers and map distinct sentiment profiles in corporate narratives. We compiled company descriptions from official sites; texts were originally in Croatian and machine-translated into English, and all analysis was conducted on the English corpus. Using lexicon-based sentiment methods (AFINN, Bing, NRC), we quantified polarity and discrete emotions, aggregated scores at the firm level, and applied k-means clustering to normalized emotion vectors. Results show a consistent emphasis on mission–vision–values language and a dominance of positive emotions—especially trust and anticipation. We interpret, based on cluster exemplars, that higher trust/anticipation tones can function as soft governance cues, while transparency about negatives characterizes an issue-addressing regime without eroding overall positivity. Cluster analysis reveals three stable profiles: optimistic consumer-oriented narratives, transparent issue-addressing messaging, and low-affect technical descriptions. We conclude that sentiment profiling offers a practical audit tool for aligning website copy with stakeholder expectations and governance communication, supporting benchmarking, and future tests linking narrative tone to investor behavior and firm performance. Full article

Gas atomization is one method for producing fine metal powder. In close-coupled gas atomization, a high-speed gas jet is ejected near the molten metal, and the molten metal is further broken down in the shear layer at the outer edge of the jet, producing fine metal powder of several micrometers to several tens of micrometers. By the way, in close-coupled gas atomization, if the protrusion length of the molten metal nozzle is short, a backflow occurs that goes around the melt delivery nozzle tip and reaches the gas nozzle tip, and the small droplets of molten metal that are atomized at the exit of the melt delivery nozzle are carried by this backflow to the gas nozzle tip, causing it to erode. In this study, we experimentally clarified the existence of the backflow for the first time through measurements of velocity distribution, then the flow state of the gas flow inside the gas atomizer was visualized approximately using the atomized water flow, and the existence of a backflow was confirmed. It was shown that microdroplets of water are carried by the backflow and reach the gas nozzle tip. This was also clarified through numerical analysis results for the air flow. Furthermore, the protrusion length of the melt delivery nozzle at which backflow does not occur was determined, and this was verified in actual gas atomization experiments using molten copper. In addition, the length of the melt delivery nozzle at which backflow does not occur, i.e., the gas nozzle tip does not melt, was found. Furthermore, molten-copper experiments were conducted using this gas atomizer to evaluate its performance. Full article

Forests are vital regulators of global carbon balance, yet accelerating deforestation and land-use conversion continue to erode their capacity to sequester carbon. This research quantifies forest restoration and carbon sequestration potential across Visakhapatnam, India, by integrating imaging spectroscopy with machine learning at medium spatial resolution. Using 33 spectral and environmental predictors, an ensemble Random Forest model was developed and benchmarked against a K-Nearest Neighbors algorithm. The Random Forest approach demonstrated markedly higher predictive strength, explaining 87% of the spatial variability in tree cover, while maintaining low error margins. By excluding agricultural and urban areas, the analysis identified approximately 104,800 hectares of restorable land. The restorable area corresponds to an estimated carbon sequestration potential of about 0.12 petagrams, underscoring the district’s significant yet underutilized capacity to contribute to regional and national climate goals. The research highlights how integrating spectroscopy-derived vegetation metrics with ensemble learning enables spatially precise, policy-relevant restoration planning. By linking medium-resolution environmental data with carbon accounting, this framework advances a scalable pathway for data-driven forest recovery and nature-based climate mitigation, bridging the gap between site-specific ecological assessments and large-scale sustainability initiatives. Full article

Yam (Dioscorea rotundata) is a major staple crop in West Africa and plays a central role in regional food security, rural livelihoods, and cultural identity. Its wide ecological adaptation, diverse maturity periods, and in-ground storage capacity make yams critical to seasonal food availability and resilience of smallholder farming systems. Despite its importance, existing yam research has largely emphasized biophysical and agronomic dimensions, with limited integration of the socio-cultural and ecological factors that shape yam-based food systems. This review addresses this gap by synthesizing interdisciplinary knowledge on yam food ecology, focusing on how socio-cultural values, beliefs, behaviours, and interactions influence production, utilization, and sustainability of yam systems. We examine the roles of culture, politics, power relations, gender dynamics, and community organization in structuring yam production and consumption across the West African yam belt. The review further explores the long-standing human–yam relationship and the implications of eroding traditional knowledge for future food system resilience. By adopting a systems and ecological perspective that integrates life and social sciences, this review provides a framework to inform sustainable yam crop improvement, value chain development, and inclusive policy interventions, thereby supporting long-term food security and rural development in West Africa. Full article

Understanding erosion–corrosion mechanisms in selective laser-melted (SLM) Ti-6Al-4V is essential for optimizing component durability in demanding sectors such as oil and gas, hydropower, and offshore engineering, where slurry-induced degradation prevails. Nevertheless, it is challenging to experimentally evaluate slurry erosion–corrosion over a wide range of SLM processing parameters and various slurry erosion–corrosion operating conditions. The adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) offers a robust computational approach for modeling complex systems with independent variables, making it well suited for this investigation. This study aims to assess the efficacy of ANFIS in predicting the mass loss of as-built SLM-processed Ti-6Al-4V under slurry erosion–corrosion conditions, with a focus on the synergistic effects of impact angle and erodent mass in both saline and pure water environments, validated against empirical data. The quantitative analysis reveals that erodent mass is the dominant factor influencing mass loss, followed by impact angles. Notably, the combined effect of erodent mass and impact angles in saline environments (e.g., sea water) exacerbates material loss by approximately 16% compared to pure water, highlighting the critical role of electrochemical corrosion in synergy with mechanical erosion. The results demonstrate that the ANFIS model accurately simulates the degradation behavior of SLM-processed Ti-6Al-4V subjected to water–silica slurry impacts within the experimental parameter space; however, predictive generalization beyond these conditions should be interpreted carefully due to validation constraint. Full article

Carbapenems are essential for the treatment of severe infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria, particularly in critically ill and immunocompromised patients. However, the global rise of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE), Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii has significantly eroded their effectiveness, and the phenomenon is now recognized as a major public health threat. Resistance is driven by the complex and evolving interplay of enzymatic and non-enzymatic mechanisms, occurring within highly successful clonal lineages and mobile genetic platforms. This review summarizes advances since 2020 in the molecular basis of carbapenem resistance, integrating enzymatic mechanisms across Ambler classes A, B, C, and D with emerging non-enzymatic contributors, including porin remodeling, efflux pump upregulation, target-site alterations, and outer-membrane adaptations. Particular attention is given to adaptive genome dynamics, such as IS26-mediated gene amplification, plasmid multimerization, and heteroresistance, that generate unstable resistance phenotypes and complicate routine susceptibility testing. Newly introduced β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor combinations exert distinct selective pressures: ceftazidime–avibactam favors KPC Ω-loop variants and permeability defects, often restoring carbapenem susceptibility, whereas meropenem–vaborbactam and imipenem–relebactam resistance is driven mainly by porin loss and β-lactamase gene amplification. Cefiderocol resistance is multifactorial, frequently involving impaired siderophore uptake and heteroresistance, while sulbactam–durlobactam remains active against OXA-producing A. baumannii but is compromised by metallo-β-lactamases and PBP3 alterations. Carbapenem resistance is increasingly characterized by convergent, multi-layered adaptations that undermine both established and novel therapies. While high-level randomized evidence remains limited for some resistance mechanisms, emerging mechanistic, microbiological, and clinical data support the need for mechanism-aware diagnostics, repeated susceptibility assessment during therapy, and stewardship strategies informed by resistance biology. Integrating molecular context into routine practice will be critical to preserving emerging treatment options and limiting the global impact of carbapenem resistance. Full article

Soil erosion assessments for policy are often derived from continental-scale datasets, but their suitability for regional planning remains unclear. This study compares two Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) applications for Tuscany, Italy: one using high-resolution regional data (TuscReg) and another using European-scale data from the European Soil Data Centre (TuscNat). We found the mean estimated actual soil erosion rate was 58% higher in the regional assessment (10.7 vs. 6.8 Mg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹). Remarkably, the spatial patterns diverged significantly in the complex landscapes characterizing some Tuscan soil regions. In mountainous areas like the Apuan Alps, TuscReg estimated soil erosion control (potential minus actual erosion) to be over 500 Mg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ greater than TuscNat for 30% of the area. Correlation analysis revealed these major differences were primarily driven by disparities in the rainfall erosivity (R) and soil erodibility (K) factors. Our results demonstrate that while EU-scale models provide a consistent, broad-scale overview, they can substantially underestimate erosion and the ecosystem service of erosion control in specific, high-risk environments. To implement policies like the EU Soil Monitoring Law (Directive (EU) 2025/2360), regional-scale data are essential to accurately identify priority areas for soil conservation and set meaningful local thresholds. Full article