Search Results (1,476)

To evaluate the economic and ecological potential of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) slurry as a fishmeal alternative, 270 juvenile Pangasius (initial body weight: 7.20 ± 0.07 g) were acclimated for two weeks and randomly allocated to three dietary treatments (T0, T1, T2), with three biological replicates per treatment. The feeding trial lasted six weeks (42 days). Fish in T0 were fed the basal diet, while T1 and T2 diets replaced 50% and 100% of fishmeal with BSFL on an isonitrogenous basis, respectively. At trial termination, whole-body proximate composition, muscle texture, and intestinal microbiota were analyzed. BSFL inclusion at 50–100% fishmeal replacement did not compromise growth performance. Moisture and ash content did not differ among treatments (p > 0.05), whereas BSFL supplementation significantly altered muscle texture, reducing hardness and resilience while increasing springiness, chewiness, cohesiveness, and adhesiveness. Both 50% and 100% BSFL replacement enhanced hepatic antioxidant capacity, evidenced by significantly higher superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity (p < 0.05). BSFL also modulated intestinal microbiota and enhanced community evenness, though without significant intergroup differences in bacterial abundance (p > 0.05). This study demonstrated that BSFL could replace 50–100% of fishmeal in diets for juvenile Pangasius, maintaining growth performance while modifying nutritional profiles, muscle texture, hepatic antioxidant status, and intestinal microbiota. Nevertheless, 100% fishmeal replacement triggered distinct shifts in intestinal microbial composition despite satisfactory growth, and the 50% substitution level was, therefore, recommended as a safe proportion for practical aquafeeds. Full article

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated longstanding social and health inequities in predominantly Black and Latino communities in North and Central Brooklyn, in the form of disproportionately high hospitalization and mortality rates. Community organizations served as critical sources of information and resources during this period. Methods: The Bureau of Brooklyn Neighborhood Health within the NYC Health Department, conducted semi-structured virtual interviews with 19 representatives from 15 organizations that had partnered with the Bureau within the past five years. Interviews were conducted between November 2021 and February 2022. Transcripts were coded and analyzed using a hybrid deductive–inductive approach incorporating constant comparative techniques. Results: Partners described worsening food insecurity, inequitable vaccine and testing access, digital divide challenges, funding instability, staffing shortages, and escalating mental health needs. Organizations pivoted from routine operations to provide emergency food distribution, virtual programming, mental health support, advocacy, and disseminating information as trusted messengers in the community. Conclusions: Findings underscore the essential role of local community organizations in crisis response and recovery. Future preparedness efforts must center community expertise, strengthen cross-sector collaboration, streamline funding processes, and investments in social and digital infrastructures to advance health equity and community resilience. Full article

Junken meat sheep display distinct coat-color phenotypes, including a white body with a black head and an entirely black coat at birth, but the transcriptional basis of variation across skin regions and phenotypic backgrounds remains unclear. We performed bulk RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) on nine skin samples from six 1-month-old lambs: black-haired head skin (BT), white-haired dorsal trunk skin (WT), and black-haired dorsal trunk skin from lambs born entirely black (B), with three biological replicates per group. The paired BT–WT comparison characterized within-individual regional differences, whereas B–WT represented a composite phenotypic-background comparison. Cross-comparison integration identified 2056 region-associated genes, 8027 phenotypic-background-associated genes, and 5615 shared genes. Region-associated genes were enriched in mitochondrial and lipid-metabolic processes, phenotypic-background-associated genes in cell communication and adhesion, and shared genes in epidermal keratinization, cytoskeletal organization, and extracellular matrix–integrin-related processes. Network analysis identified a pigmentation-effector subnetwork containing TYR, TYRP1, PMEL, OCA2, SLC45A2 and MYO5A. Signature scoring suggested that some contractile signals may reflect tissue-composition differences. Reverse transcription quantitative PCR broadly supported the RNA-seq expression trends. These findings provide a multilayered transcriptional framework for subsequent functional validation of coat-color variation in Junken meat sheep. Full article

This paper is presented by a collective of Black women who have devoted years to sexual health as educators, programmers and facilitators. It offers an insider perspective on their experiences facilitating the pilot of the Sista2Sista project, a sexual health intervention adapted to the Canadian context for young Black women ages 15–29. The post-pilot focus groups were conducted with stakeholders and facilitators to gather feedback on the intervention. This approach centers the perspectives of facilitators and stakeholders in implementing sexual health programs for Black youth. Findings show that the Sista2Sista pilot benefited from Black women facilitators, whose positionality fostered a culturally affirming space for young Black women. Additionally, the findings highlight gaps in race-based data and sexual health programming for Black youth in Ontario specifically, and Canada more broadly. Participants highlighted the need for holistic, relevant and sustainably funded interventions that address sexual health alongside pleasure, body image and systemic barriers, such as anti-Black racism. Overall, this paper contributes to a deeper understanding of sexual health for young Black women by centring the lived experiences of Black women facilitators who informed the pilot intervention while advocating for contextually relevant approaches that reflect the realities of Black communities. Full article

Extreme heat causes more deaths in Australia than any other natural hazard, yet the consistency and inclusivity of heat-health messaging by Australian state and territory health departments have not been systematically assessed. This study compared heat-health communication across all Australian jurisdictions using official health department websites (n = 8) and corresponding Facebook pages, from which 374 posts were analysed. Website content was examined comparatively across jurisdictions, while Facebook messaging was analysed across two key periods: the 2019–2020 Black Summer and the 2024–2025 summer. Using comparative qualitative content analysis, we examined message content, inclusivity, geographic specificity, and communication approaches for vulnerable populations. Substantial variation was observed across jurisdictions and over time. During 2019–2020, messaging showed a predominantly reactive pattern in the context of concurrent hazards, particularly bushfires and COVID-19. By 2024–2025, communication showed a more anticipatory pattern, with some jurisdictions adopting clearer heat-specific terminology, visual warning symbols, regionally targeted communication, and multilingual resources. However, no jurisdiction provided Indigenous-language translations or culturally tailored messaging for remote Indigenous communities, and limited attention was given to indoor heat exposure, power outages, and remote populations. These findings highlight the need for more coordinated, equitable, and context-specific heat-health communication strategies to strengthen climate adaptation and public health preparedness in Australia. Full article

In 2024, an accident involving two tankers in the Kerch Strait resulted in the release of approximately 2400 tons of fuel oil into the Black Sea, causing significant contamination of seawater and the coastal zone. This study presents the first microbiological and molecular–ecological assessment of prokaryotic community composition and hydrocarbon-oxidizing bacteria (HOB) in coastal seawater and sand near Anapa (Russian Federation) following the spill. The taxonomic composition of nine samples was analyzed using high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes (V3–V4 regions), identifying Bacteria as the dominant domain (85.3–99.8%). In seawater samples, bacteria of the phyla Pseudomonadota, Cyanobacteriota, and Bacteroidota and archaea of the phyla Thermoplasmatota and Crenarchaeota predominated. Eighteen aerobic bacterial strains, including members of the genera Shewanella, Pseudoalteromonas, Halopseudomonas, Marinomonas, Pseudomonas, Vibrio, Alcanivorax, Ectopseudomonas, Nitratireductor, and Echinicola, were isolated from the zone of fuel oil spill. Several isolates demonstrated heavy oil degradation and biosurfactant production. Screening of collection strains isolated from other habitats revealed that Rhodococcus erythropolis TG65 and Marinobacter lutaoensis Pd1 and Pd2 degraded 92–94% of fuel oil n-alkanes. Elevated dissolved iron concentrations in the seawater indicate the possibility of a metabolic coupling between hydrocarbon oxidation and microbial iron reduction, mediated by indigenous Shewanella and Pseudomonas species. These findings indicate that indigenous HOB may contribute to the natural attenuation of aliphatic hydrocarbons in fuel oil. Full article

Biochar has been used to improve soils and promote sustainable agricultural development. The effects of applying different doses of biochar on soil aggregate structure and stability, aggregate-associated microbial communities, aggregate carbon fractions, and underlying mechanisms in planted forest soil ecosystems remain unclear. This study aimed to explore the effects of biochar amendment (7 years) on carbon stabilization in plantation soils. The effects of biochar application (0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 2%, 4%, and 6%) on water-stable aggregate distribution, stability indices such as mean weight diameter (MWD), geometric mean diameter (GMD), and fractal dimension (D), aggregate-associated microbial communities (fungal and bacterial phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs)), and carbon fractions such as soil organic carbon (SOC), easily oxidized organic carbon (EOC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), particulate organic carbon (POC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), recalcitrant organic carbon (ROC) and black carbon (BC) were investigated based on a seven-year in situ field experiment in a Eucalyptus plantation in northern Guangxi. The results showed that after 7 years, biochar application significantly increased the proportion of macroaggregates (≥0.25 mm). The MWD and GMD increased significantly with increasing biochar application rates, whereas D decreased significantly, indicating enhanced soil structural stability. Biochar significantly increased the abundance of fungi and bacteria across all aggregate size classes and changed the microbial community structure towards conditions that promoted increased carbon stabilization. Additionally, biochar application significantly increased both recalcitrant (ROC and BC) and labile carbon (EOC, POC, DOC, and MBC) in all aggregate fractions, with the largest increments in macroaggregates. Based on correlation analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM), we speculated that biochar might enhance the physical protection and chemical sequestration of organic carbon by optimizing the physical structure of the aggregates and synergizing with the microbial carbon pump. The 7-year application of biochar significantly enhanced the SOC content in plantation soils, primarily by increasing recalcitrant organic carbon, demonstrating that biochar application constitutes a viable approach to augmenting persistent soil carbon stabilization in plantation ecosystems. The 4% and 6% treatments produced the largest responses for most of the measured indicators, underscoring the importance of biochar application. Full article

Digital food images cannot transmit real aroma, but visual aroma symbols may help communicate expected smell, freshness, and eating appeal. This repeated-measures visual perception study compared black visual aroma symbols applied to a digital pasta bolognese image. After exclusion of one pilot/test response, 366 participants evaluated one no-symbol control image and 14 visual aroma-symbol conditions; no real odour was presented. Repeated-measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) accounted for the repeated evaluations made by each participant. Participants rated suitability, perceived smell strength, perceived smell pleasantness, willingness to eat, image-evoked hunger, and image-evoked fullness. The visual aroma-symbol condition was significantly associated with suitability, perceived smell strength, perceived smell pleasantness, willingness to eat, and image-evoked hunger, but not image-evoked fullness. Symbol 1 had the strongest overall positive rating profile, followed by Symbol 7 and Symbol 11. More ambiguous or irregular designs had weaker profiles and were more often associated with confusion or less pleasant smell meanings. The findings describe self-reported responses to complete visual aroma-symbol designs; they do not demonstrate real odour perception, actual food choice, ordering behaviour, sales conversion, or consumption. Future studies should examine colour, animation, directionality, food category, cultural context, real odour delivery, eye tracking, biometric responses, and behavioural outcomes. Full article

Offshore wind farm (OWF) development raises concerns regarding potential conflicts with local fisheries and marine ecosystems. This study investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of gillnet and trawl fisheries in the coastal waters off Changhua, Taiwan, across various development phases. (2016–2024). Spatial analysis revealed distinct operational patterns: gillnet fleets operated within and adjacent to wind farms, while trawl activities were concentrated in northern offshore waters, largely avoiding the development zone. The gillnet fishery demonstrated a significant increase in Income Per Unit Effort (IPUE), suggesting that local fishers successfully employed adaptive strategies. The IPUE of the trawl fishery indicated a slightly lower value during this period. These findings indicate that current OWF development has historically coexisted with gillnet fisheries without causing economic loss. The catch composition of gillnet fisheries remained stable, dominated by Silver croaker and Pharaoh cuttlefish. The species diversity indices of both fisheries showed a stable to increasing trend driven by seasonal variability rather than construction impacts. The habitat-driven shift in community structure was observed within the wind farm zone (gillnet fisheries), where the dominance of benthic species (e.g., Flatfish) transitioned toward reef-associated taxa (e.g., Spotted catfish, Black Sea bream). This indicates that the turbine foundations may function as artificial reefs, supporting a more complex assemblage. Nevertheless, the observed habitat alterations highlight the necessity for long-term monitoring to ensure the sustainable symbiosis of renewable energy expansion and marine resource conservation. Full article

Background: Residential radon exposure is a leading risk factor for lung cancer, and climate change may exacerbate this risk by increasing radon entry into homes. In North Carolina (NC), disparities in lung cancer outcomes and low radon awareness disproportionately affect racially and ethnically diverse and low-income populations. However, little is known about how use of conventional address-based sampling (ABS) compares with community-engaged recruitment strategies for enrolling historically underrepresented populations into such research. Community-engaged approaches are used to improve participation in environmental health research, yet few studies compare their effectiveness with traditional approaches in NC. This manuscript compares recruitment outcomes between ABS and community-engaged approaches within the CLOVER study to address this gap. Materials and Methods: The Climate Impact on Lung Cancer via Exposure to Radon (CLOVER) study is a cross-sectional study examining climate-impacted radon exposure and lung cancer risk in NC. Participants were recruited using either ABS through a commercial address database or targeted community-engaged approaches implemented through partnerships with community organizations and culturally responsive, in-person outreach events. After providing informed consent, participants completed a household survey and a 7-day home radon test. Recruitment outcomes—consent, survey completion, and radon test return—were stratified by race and ethnicity and compared across strategies. Results: Of 236 consented participants, community-engaged recruitment enrolled a higher proportion of Non-Hispanic (NH) Black, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian participants than ABS (57.3% vs. 41.9%). Community-engaged recruitment also had a higher consent rate than ABS (10.2% vs. 1.3%). Of the 145 participants who completed the survey, ABS participants completed surveys at a higher rate than community-engaged participants (73.3% vs. 54.7%), while of the 86 who returned the radon test kits, community-engaged participants did so at twice the rate of ABS participants (44.7% vs. 22.1%). Conclusions: Community-engaged recruitment enrolled a more racially and ethnically diverse sample and achieved higher consent and return rates than ABS, though ABS participants completed surveys at a higher rate. These findings highlight the importance of community partnerships and in-person recruitment strategies to improve participation of historically underrepresented populations in environmental health research and support equitable approaches to radon mitigation and lung cancer prevention. Full article

Insect protein farming offers sustainable advantages in land efficiency, emission reductions, and bioconversion, yet optimizing the nutrient composition remains a major challenge for cost-effective production. This study investigates the co-regulatory mechanism between alkali-soluble protein (SpA) and the gut microbiota in black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) and their effect on protein conversion efficiency. Feeding trials with varying alfalfa/SpA ratios identified a wheat middlings/alfalfa meal blend at a (5:0 ratio) as optimal for promoting larval protein accumulation. SDS-PAGE and 16S rRNA analyses revealed a strong positive correlation between SpA and larval crude protein (R² = 0.82). The network analysis and Pearson correlation heatmap further confirmed positive correlations among SpA, larval protein, Enterococcus, and Ignatzschineria (p < 0.05), suggesting that high SpA in the substrate was associated with the enrichment of these taxa, which synergistically enhanced proteolysis through alkaline protease secretion (R² = 0.85) and chitinase-mediated gut remodeling. Multi-linear regression modeling verified SpA as a superior predictor of the crude protein content compared with total nitrogen (TN), improving the model’s coefficient of determination (R²) from 0.40 to 0.82. These findings highlight SpA’s higher bioavailability and its direct role in metabolic utilization. By integrating the feed composition, microbiome function, and host metabolism, this study established a regulatory network driving larval protein biosynthesis. The targeted modulation of dietary SpA content may offer a promising approach to enhance beneficial microbial communities and improve protein conversion efficiency in BSFL-rearing systems. These findings provide a theoretical basis for optimizing feed formulations to support sustainable insect protein production from organic waste. Full article

The ecological status of the two nautical mile (2 nm) coastal waters of Bulgaria (BG) and Romania (RO) is evaluated in terms of eutrophication, focusing on various environmental and chemical indicators related to nutrient enrichment and its effects. Applying the Blue2 Modelling Framework (Blue2MF) Black Sea model, we simulate diverse combinations of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) reduction. By integrating atmospheric and marine conditions, hydrology and environmental dynamics, the model provides a comprehensive framework for analysing the impact of external pressures on the marine environment and can be used to set regional sustainability goals. Each scenario is assessed with respect to environmental impact, such as enhanced water quality and potential alterations in phytoplankton communities. Furthermore, we establish integrated nutrient criteria for eutrophication control, concentrating on the management of both N and P inputs while maintaining the current ratio between them. The model results indicate that a 20% reduction in both N and P from European Union (EU) rivers would result in about a 24% decrease in N within the BG and RO 2 nm coastal waters, whilst sustaining the N:P ratio across various spatial scales—from river inputs to coastal and offshore zones. This approach is valuable for assessing the potential impacts of different nutrient reduction strategies, aiding the effective management of marine ecosystems to address eutrophication challenges. Full article

As a high-value meat duck breed, Muscovy ducks exhibit marked individual differences in egg production that limit the economic efficiency of commercial farming. To elucidate the underlying mechanisms, we integrated phenotypic observation, ovarian transcriptome sequencing, and cecal 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to compare high- and low-laying black-feathered Muscovy duck populations. We recorded 40-day egg production, assessed ovarian morphology, quantified gene expression profiles, and characterized microbial community structure. High-laying ducks produced significantly more eggs (24.60 ± 9.22) than low-laying ducks (15.80 ± 6.64, p < 0.01), with larger ovaries and a greater number of follicles at all developmental stages. Transcriptomic analysis revealed 823 DEGs, with KEGG enrichment implicating pathways governing ovarian physiology, including MAPK, Calcium, Notch, and Wnt signaling. Microbial profiling demonstrated significant differences in α/β diversity between groups, with high-laying ducks exhibiting an elevated Firmicutes/Bacteroidota ratio and decreased abundance of Ligilactobacillus. Integrative correlation analysis identified significant associations between Ligilactobacillus abundance and the expression of Arhgap27 and HOXA10, two genes linked to reproductive function, and highlighted the glycolysis/gluconeogenesis pathway as a convergently enriched signaling cascade shared between gut microbiome and ovarian transcriptome. This multi-omics study uncovers the molecular and microbial basis of egg production variation in Muscovy ducks, offering potential targets for improving breeding efficiency through microbiota-directed or gene-based interventions. These findings deepen our understanding of host–microbe interactions in poultry reproduction and identify candidate genes and microbial taxa that may serve as potential targets for future nutritional or genetic interventions to enhance laying performance in commercial duck production. Full article

This essay theorizes Black prophetic soundwork as a rhetorical framework through which sonic Blackness operates prophetically—not merely as cultural expression or aesthetic resistance, but as a sacred technology of ancestral communion and communal transformation. Drawing on scholarship centered on sonic Blackness, African cosmological frameworks, and the Black prophetic tradition, the author argues that Black sound, music, and musical instruments function as prophetic vessels that transgress linear time, invoke ancestral presence, and contest the spiritual colonization enacted by white Christian hegemony. Through an analysis of Malcolm Washington’s The Piano Lesson (2024) and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners (2025), the essay demonstrates how Black prophetic soundwork enacts two defining rhetorical moves: prophetic rupture, through which sound collapses colonial temporality and makes ancestral presence experientially real, and prophetic witness, through which sound contests white Christian hegemony and affirms African spiritual traditions as living, authoritative forms of Black agency. Ultimately, the author introduces Black prophetic soundwork as an original contribution to Black rhetorical theory that expands existing scholarship on Black prophetic rhetoric into the sonic domain, offering scholars a heuristic for examining how Black sonic practices function prophetically across diverse cultural contexts. Full article

The progressive integration of Whole Slide Imaging (WSI) technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) architectures is driving a structural transformation in pathology and precision oncology. This structured critical review analyzes and systematizes the impact of this technological transition along two fundamental operational dimensions of the modern biopharmaceutical industry: pre-registration Clinical Research and post-launch strategies governed by Medical Affairs. The first section explores how computational pathology is improving efficiency and reducing risk in drug development. Replacing analog visual assessment—intrinsically subject to inter-observer and intra-observer variability—with quantitative algorithms for cellular classification and segmentation enables optimization of patient recruitment in clinical trials, reducing screening failure rates. This review also examines the emerging role of Spatial Biology in extracting complex topological metrics from the Tumor Microenvironment (TME) and the use of AI for the objective and auditable quantification of critical surrogate endpoints, such as Pathological Complete Response (pCR), while acknowledging that algorithmic precision remains sensitive to pre-analytical variables and dataset biases. In the second section, the study investigates the strategic evolution of Medical Affairs, acting as a vital scientific communication and translational bridge between the complexity of Data Science and clinical hospital practice. Challenges related to AI adoption by clinicians are examined, emphasizing the importance of educational programs based on Explainable AI (XAI) to overcome the cognitive limitations of the black-box paradigm and the complex regulatory validation pathway for Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) under the stringent European IVDR framework—supported by an analysis of historical regulatory benchmarks such as the Paige Prostate case. The paper also explores the potential of AI in the large-scale generation of Real-World Evidence (RWE), applied to the creation of synthetic control arms in pharmacoeconomic settings. In conclusion, the study highlights that the diagnostic algorithm has ceased to be merely a laboratory support tool and has become a strategic asset and an integral adjunct to therapeutic decision-making. Overcoming current challenges related to data privacy through Federated Learning architectures, together with the imminent transition toward Foundation Models, foreshadows a fully data-driven healthcare ecosystem, making continuous skills development (digital upskilling) an essential requirement for professionals in the biopharmaceutical sector. Full article