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Sicily is a Mediterranean island region whose economy is based especially on tourism, with tourists being attracted to its beaches. The whole coastline of the island, including its minor islands, is 1745 km. At the moment, considering the whole period analyzed by the Coastal Plan of Sicilian Region (2008–2024), about 115 km of the 683 km of the main island’s sandy coastline present erosion problems that affect 23% of its unprotected coastline (506 km). Some of these problems are threatening Sicily’s economic and important historical assets as well as its cultural heritage; 177 km of protected beaches, using hard structure, have lost their original beauty. In the last fifty years, about 2.5 km² of beaches were lost due to erosion, causing damages worth approximately 5 billion Euros. Current coastal management guidelines identify artificial beach nourishment as the most sustainable strategy for protecting the insular economy against the accelerating impacts of climate change. Successful nourishment, however, hinges on the availability of vast quantities of borrow material that must be granulometrically, compositionally, and chromatically compatible with native beach sediments. While subaerial quarries are being phased out due to their irreversible environmental degradation and logistical inefficiency, as well as local “ephemeral” sources (such as harbor dredging or over-alluvial deposits) providing insufficient volumes, the research has shifted toward Remote/Relict Marine Sediment Deposits (RMSDs). This study evaluates the strategic potential of RMSDs as a high-volume, low-impact resource for coastal defense. By integrating the geological, morphological, and sedimentological characteristics of the Sicilian continental shelf within a GIS framework, we have delineated potential dredging sectors. These areas are bounded by the −30 m isobath (the lower limit of Posidonia oceanica meadows) and the −200 m isobath, which represents the current operational limit of Jumbo Trailer Suction Hopper Dredgers (TSHDs). A multi-criteria constraint analysis was performed, categorizing environmental and infrastructural overlaps into fatal flaws (prohibitive) and non-prohibitive constraints. This subtractive spatial analysis reveals that approximately 6500 km² of the Sicilian shelf may be eligible for resource exploitation concessions, pending site-specific, high-resolution surveys. Full article

Mountain tourism plays an important role in sustainable rural development; it is closely linked to agrotourism practices, the use of methodological indicators for sustainability assessment, and the adoption of innovative and strategic management approaches. This study compares the key determinants that shape domestic mountain tourism destination choice among residents of Romania and Georgia. Based on 411 questionnaires in Romania and 440 in Georgia, principal component analysis (PCA) was employed, followed by ANOVA and Tukey post hoc tests. Four factors emerged in Romania, namely basic services, cultural activities, adventure tourism, and natural beauty, while in Georgia, these dimensions consolidated into two broader factors: basic services and natural beauty, and cultural and adventure activities. The results highlight differences in how tourists from the two countries structure and prioritize mountain tourism attributes, reflecting specific local contexts. The study contributes to filling the research gap concerning the influence of local particularities on destination choice in mountain areas and provides comparative evidence that destination choice determinants may be structured differently across mountain destinations. Full article

This research aims to analyze audiovisual productions related to the development of tourism at the Armero ruins and the visitor experience in the area. The methodology used is qualitative and was carried out in two phases. This research began in August 2023 with interviews with visitors to Armero and a content analysis of YouTube videos that recount the Armero tragedy. The impact on collective memory and the sense of belonging among visitors is highlighted. The visitors’ personal productions show that the experience in Armero becomes an emotional journey, where history is tangled with the hope of rebuilding the social fabric and honoring the memory of the thousands who lost their lives. This research reveals a range of emotions: from awe at the natural beauty to respect and sadness when remembering the tragedy that buried this prosperous Colombian city in 1985. In conclusion, the importance of preserving historical memory is evident, so that tragedies like Armero’s are not forgotten and can promote reflection on natural risk management and community resilience. Full article

Handroanthus chrysanthus (Jacq.) S.O. Grose is a Neotropical tree species highly valued for its ornamental beauty, durable timber, and medicinal properties. However, overexploitation and the recalcitrant nature of its seeds have constrained propagation and conservation efforts, and the species has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2020. In this study, a direct adventitious shoot regeneration system was developed for H. chrysanthus by systematically evaluating explant type, basal medium, plant growth regulator combination, and light quality. Hypocotyls were identified as the most responsive explants for shoot induction, and the highest adventitious shoot induction frequency, 51.79%, was obtained on Murashige and Skoog medium (MS) supplemented with 5 mg·L⁻¹ 6-benzylaminopurine, 0.5 mg·L⁻¹ indole-3-butyric acid, and 0.2 mg·L⁻¹ thidiazuron under white fluorescent light. The highest shoot multiplication coefficient, 3.27, was obtained on MS medium containing 4 mg·L⁻¹ 6-benzylaminopurine and 0.3 mg·L⁻¹ gibberellic acid. The maximum rooting frequency, 80%, was obtained on R14 medium after 30 days of culture. After acclimatization, 95% of the regenerated plantlets survived and grew vigorously under greenhouse conditions. To our knowledge, no direct adventitious shoot regeneration system has been reported for the Tabebuia alliance. This efficient regeneration protocol provides a practical platform for clonal propagation, germplasm conservation, and genetic improvement of H. chrysanthus and may also support regeneration and conservation in related endangered taxa within the Tabebuia alliance. Full article

As digital beauty filters have become widespread among young people, their links with self-image cognition and behavioral responses have attracted growing attention. However, existing studies largely focus on Western samples or linear approaches, leaving Chinese youth underexplored in their cultural context. Using mixed methods combining grounded theory and fsQCA, this study examines the mechanisms shaping self-image cognition and behavioral responses among Chinese youth in the context of digital beauty filter use. Semi-structured interviews and three-stage coding identified four core categories: Beauty Filter Use Habits, Beauty Filter Use Motivations, Beauty Filter Use Preferences, and Psychological Responses to Beauty Filter Use. Building on this, fsQCA identified five configurational pathways. The psychological-response–motivation and psychological-response–preference core coexistence configurations were linked to high Self-Image Cognition; the three non-high Self-Image Cognition pathways formed two patterns: dual absence of psychological responses and motivations, and motivational-core absence with coexisting habits and preferences. Different self-image cognition outcomes may relate to adaptive behaviors, such as moderate retouching and naturalized self-presentation, or risk-related behaviors, such as avoidance of original images and overdependence on beauty filters. This study offers a new perspective on youth authentic self-construction and technological adaptation in the digital visual era, with implications for media literacy education, platform design, and mental health intervention. Full article

Hair loss is closely associated with oxidative stress, which impairs the function of human follicle dermal papilla cells (HFDPCs) and disrupts hair follicle homeostasis. Current pharmacological treatments, such as minoxidil and finasteride, are effective but may cause adverse effects, highlighting the need for safer alternatives. In this study, we utilized a patented high-pressure processing method to produce black ginseng concentrate (BGC), which is significantly enriched with rare bioactive ginsenosides, including Rg3, Rg5, and Rk1, through optimized chemical transformation. We aimed to elucidate the protective effects of BGC against oxidative stress-induced damage in HFDPCs. BGC significantly reduced intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. BGC also improved mitochondrial function, including an increased oxygen consumption rate (OCR). In addition, BGC activated hair growth-related signaling pathways by upregulating Wnt/β-catenin and increasing the phosphorylation levels of ERK and AKT. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that BGC protects HFDPCs from oxidative stress, improves mitochondrial function, and supports key signaling pathways associated with hair growth. This study suggests that BGC has potential as a natural agent for preventing oxidative stress-induced cellular dysfunction related to hair loss. Full article

Contemporary buildings and urban spaces are increasingly expected to support psychological well-being—a quality often termed “restorativeness.” Conventional approaches to quantifying restorativeness rely on subjective surveys or coarse green metrics, failing to capture how specific building morphologies and street-level visual configurations shape restorative experiences, particularly for stress-prone groups such as young adults. This study develops a deep-learning-driven framework linking building visual elements to youth-specific perceived restorativeness, using Changsha, China, as a testbed. The framework comprises three AI-powered modules: the TrueSkill algorithm trains a deep learning model to predict six dimensions of youth perception (e.g., beautiful, clean, safe) from pairwise comparisons of street view images; the Mask2Former architecture segments street-level imagery into 18 building and street attributes; and the XGBoost-SHAP pipeline uncovers nonlinear associations and threshold-like patterns between these attributes and the composite Built Environment Restorativeness Index (BERI). Results reveal three key insights: tree coverage shows a sustained positive association without saturation; building density exhibits a weakening association at high levels, suggesting possible saturation; and road proportion follows a bidirectional pattern, shifting from negative to positive beyond a certain range. Spatially, high BERI zones concentrate where ecological assets and diverse building functions co-occur, while youth perception exhibits systematic mismatches (e.g., “beautiful but not clean,” “safe but not lively”), traceable to imbalances in building form, street furniture, and commercial mix. These findings advance AI-assisted evaluation of built environments by shifting from one-dimensional metrics to interpretable, design-relevant diagnostics, offering a replicable evidence base for crafting youth-responsive buildings and streets. Full article

Myopia is increasingly recognized as an inflammatory ocular disease. Vitamin D₃ is a potential modulator of the gut–eye axis, but its role in inflammation-induced myopia remains unclear. This study investigated whether vitamin D₃ supplementation attenuates myopia progression by regulating retinal inflammation, gut microbiota composition, and microbiota-derived metabolites in a TGF-β2–induced myopia model. Three-week-old Brown Norway rats received weekly periocular TGF-β2 injections with or without daily oral vitamin D₃, and myopia development was evaluated on days 1 and 21 by axial length and refractive error. Cecal contents were analyzed for α- and β-diversity and taxonomic differences, and day-21 serum underwent untargeted metabolomic profiling of microbiota-derived metabolites, including bile acids and imidazole derivatives; Spearman correlation linked microbial or metabolic alterations with myopia progression. TGF-β2 induced axial elongation, myopic refractive shifts, and upregulated retinal pro-inflammatory cytokines (p-NFκB, IL-1β, TNF-α), while vitamin D₃ supplementation markedly attenuated myopia progression and retinal inflammation. Cecal α-diversity did not differ among control, vitamin D₃, TGF-β2, and TGF-β2+vitamin D₃ groups, but vitamin D₃ significantly reshaped β-diversity and reduced the Firmicutes/Bacteroidota ratio. Distinct metabolite profiles were observed, with the vitamin D₃ group showing reduced hyodeoxycholic acid and elevated imidazole derivatives (imidazolepropionic and methylimidazoleacetic acids). Vitamin D₃ supplementation attenuated myopia progression by reducing retinal inflammation and concurrently reshaping the gut microbiome and its metabolites compared to the control and myopic groups. These results underscore the potential of vitamin D₃ to modulate the gut–retina axis as a nutritional approach for mitigating myopia development. Full article

Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has emerged as a transformative tool in cancer diagnostics, enabling the non-invasive detection of tumor-derived DNA fragments released into the bloodstream through cellular lysis or active secretion. ctDNA measurement has demonstrated its clinical usefulness, including early cancer detection, identification of resistance mechanisms, and screening of asymptomatic individuals. In addition to prognosis, ctDNA analysis is increasingly used to guide adaptive treatment strategies by detecting minimal residual disease and tracking tumor evolution in real time. Recent advances in artificial intelligence are poised to further enhance the clinical impact of ctDNA, transforming it from a passive monitoring biomarker into a dynamic molecular sensor integrated into predictive clinical decision models. However, broad implementation of ctDNA-based assays in routine practice requires rigorous prospective validation, cross-platform standardization, and regulatory approval to unlock its full potential in precision oncology. Full article

Background/Objectives: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is increasingly recognized as a multisystem disorder affecting perceptual, emotional, and reward-related processes. While arts-based interventions in PD have primarily focused on active creative arts engagement, it remains unclear whether receptive arts engagement with visual art—how artworks are perceived and evaluated—is altered. Our objective is to determine whether aesthetic evaluation of visual artworks differs in individuals with PD compared to age-matched healthy controls. We further examine whether emotional interpretation, color-emotion associations, and experiential responses to art viewing are altered. Methods: In a cross-sectional case–control study, individuals with PD (n = 87) and age-matched healthy controls (n = 49) completed two online assessments. Participants evaluated 36 artworks from the Vienna Art Picture System in terms of liking, beauty, and subjective art attributes. Objective image-derived features were computed for each artwork. Interpretable machine learning models were used to test whether evaluation patterns predicted diagnostic group and to identify determinants of aesthetic judgments. Participants further completed a color-emotion association task using ambiguous expressive portraits and reported perceived changes in cognitive, emotional, motivational, and physical states following art viewing. Results: Aesthetic evaluation patterns did not support reliable classification of PD status, indicating no systematic group differences in liking, beauty, or attribute-based judgments between PD and controls. Instead, aesthetic judgments were robustly predicted by individual differences and objective artwork properties, including art-historical style, symmetry, complexity, and color-related features, whereas diagnostic group, gender, and age did not contribute to predictions. Emotional interpretation and color-emotion associations were largely comparable between groups, with a single specific deviation in color-emotion mapping. Positive emotions were less frequently associated with pink in people with PD. Self-reported experiential responses to art viewing did not differ significantly between groups. Conclusions: Aesthetic evaluation of visual artworks appears largely preserved in people with PD. These findings suggest that, in digital viewing contexts, substantial adaptation of visual content to make it accessible for people with PD may not be necessary, although subtle perceptual and emotional differences may still be relevant. Efforts may instead be better directed toward addressing practical barriers to visual art engagement. Full article

Cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) has emerged as a critical mode of international trade; however, product uncertainty and transaction risk remain persistent barriers to purchase decisions. While digital platforms have developed various solutions, the role of offline experiential knowledge in shaping online purchase behavior remains underexplored. This study examines how tourism-derived information influences purchase intention in CBEC. Drawing on transaction cost theory and uncertainty reduction theory, we propose that tourism-derived information enhances product familiarity and perceived diagnosticity, which subsequently reduce product uncertainty and increase cross-border purchase intention, and further examine the moderating role of transaction uncertainty. A four-week survey in March 2026 collected data from 325 Chinese consumers who had visited Korea and encountered Korean cosmetics and beauty products; data were analyzed using PLS-SEM. Results show that tourism-derived information significantly enhances product familiarity and perceived diagnosticity while directly reducing product uncertainty; reduced product uncertainty, in turn, positively influences purchase intention. Transaction uncertainty strengthens the negative effect of product uncertainty on purchase intention. By reconceptualizing tourism experience as an experience-based informational resource in CBEC and providing a multidimensional perspective on consumer uncertainty, this study contributes to consumer behavior research in digital commerce and offers practical insights for CBEC platform operators and cross-border retailers. Full article

In this experimental inquiry, I welcome readers into an unfolding undisciplined platform, expanding upon my earlier theorizing of philly soul musicking through insurgent listening to Archie Shepp’s Attica Blues in all of its radical, beautiful, and tragic public memory work of the 1971 Attica Uprising. Philly soul musicking gives regional texture to a transgenerational Black diasporic performance practice that serves to archive the complexity of Black lived experiences and articulate felt collective visions of liberated Black futures. Through these introductory comments, I improvise what I reckon to be essential to the secretive sonic histories of the album, giving shape to a fire music organizing praxis meant to call us into being-with the anticolonial worldmaking project that the men of Attica advanced with their hearts, minds, and bodies on the line. This prelude foreshadows a wider overall project speculating upon how Attica Blues and other related avenues of Black compositional practice attune us to assembling active solidarities with militants/rebels on the frontlines inventing rhythmic zones of autonomy, freedom, and liberation. I ask of the music’s fugitive archive, to draw on the words of James Baldwin, what are the contemporary use(s) of the Attica Blues? Full article

Recent evidence suggests that microbiota-derived porphyrins contribute to skin aging, a phenomenon termed porphyr’aging. These pro-inflammatory molecules alter the expression of genes involved in senescence, trigger melanogenesis, and decrease collagen I synthesis in skin. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-aging properties of an upcycled Laminaria hyperborea extract (LHE) targeting bacterial porphyrins discovered after screening. The impact of LHE on porphyrin biosynthesis and on melanogenesis and wrinkles was evaluated using in vitro and ex vivo tests and by conducting a double-blinded vs. placebo clinical trial. LHE significantly reduced coproporphyrin III production in Gram-positive skin bacteria and significantly decreased porphyrin levels in vivo at the skin surface. This activity was supported by a specific composition of LHE, comprising laminaran and mannitol. It also significantly decreased melanin content in skin explants and pigmentation in the clinical study (−5.9%). This effect was particularly pronounced in dark spots (ITA +39.9%), and the number of precursor spots also decreased (−6.9%). In addition, LHE significantly stimulated type I α-1 pro-collagen production in fibroblasts and increased collagen I and elastin expression in skin explants. These results were consistent with the clinical study, showing significant reductions in wrinkle number (−9.8%) and area (−5.8%). These findings suggest that targeting microbiota-derived porphyrins and their consequences may represent a promising approach to reduce the visible signs of aging. Full article