Search Results (20,995)

Climate change reshapes crop–weed interactions and challenges the cultivation of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.). Common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) strongly suppresses early crop development, increases stress sensitivity and leads to yield loss. The stress–physiological responses of oilseed rape to ragweed competition were investigated using a combination of conventional and non-invasive methods. A pot experiment was conducted with increasing ragweed densities (0, 1, 3, 5 and 10 plants). Plant height and biomass were evaluated via non-destructive indicators (SPAD, NDVI) and different stages (1–15 and 16–30 min) of delayed fluorescence (DF) alongside ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). Increasing ragweed density caused changes in growth, altered DF magnitude and decay kinetics, indicating photosynthetic imbalance. Moderate weed competition (1–5) induced an adaptive, eustress-like response characterised by enhanced non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity, whereas higher ragweed densities overwhelmed this compensatory mechanism, resulting in oxidative stress-like responses. Among all measured traits, DF₁–₁₅ proved to be the earliest and most sensitive indicator of the transition from adaptive to disruptive stress: T1: 0 ragweed: 213.07 ± 10.36 cps/mm² and 92.66 ± 6.67 cps/mm². These results demonstrate that delayed fluorescence, combined with conventional physiological and antioxidant-based parameters, enables the early detection of competitive stress in oilseed rape well before visible symptoms appear. Full article

Global chestnut production is rising. However, the Portuguese chestnut industry still experiences annual post-harvest losses, largely due to microbial spoilage. Recovering high-value starch from spoiled chestnuts offers a promising strategy to reduce waste and increase economic returns. Yet, starch extracted from spoiled kernels is typically dark brown, limiting its industrial applications. This study aimed to enhance the sustainability of the chestnut sector by converting industrial byproducts into useful ingredients. We evaluated whether hypochlorite-mediated oxidative extraction at pHs around 8 and 12 could produce starch with functional properties suitable for industrial applications. Both native and bleached starches showed similar lightness (L* 84–91), though a slight yellow hue remained (ΔE* 12–19). The degree of crystallinity was higher in bleached starches (13–16%) while preserving the characteristic C_B-type crystalline pattern of native chestnut starch. The degree of oxidation was 0.88% and 0.43% for bleached starches isolated at pHs 8 and 12, respectively. Starch bleached at pH 8 exhibited moderate viscosity (breakdown 0.103) and greater swelling capacity at 50 °C than corn starch. In contrast, extraction under alkaline conditions markedly reduced gelatinization and retrogradation performance. Therefore, oxidative extraction at middle pH proved to be the most effective method for recovering functional starch from spoiled chestnuts. Full article

Urban metro systems are highly sensitive to seismic disturbances, and the ability of metro stations to manage emergencies effectively has become an increasingly important component of urban resilience. This study develops a resilience-oriented evaluation framework that conceptualizes emergency management as a sequential managerial process encompassing preparedness, response, and recovery. A multi-dimensional indicator system was constructed based on the four resilience capacities—absorptive, maintaining, recovery, and adaptive—and operationalized through a multi-stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model. The framework enables both overall efficiency assessment and stage-specific diagnosis of managerial weaknesses. Methodologically, the study demonstrates how resilience theory can be operationalized into a network efficiency structure suitable for process-level diagnosis rather than aggregate scoring. A case study of a representative metro station demonstrates the applicability of the proposed method. The results reveal that while preparedness practices are relatively mature, notable inefficiencies exist in real-time response and post-event recovery due primarily to managerial factors such as communication reliability, personnel coordination, and restoration planning. Improvement simulations confirm that targeted enhancements in these management processes can substantially increase overall emergency efficiency. The findings highlight that seismic resilience is not solely determined by physical infrastructure but is heavily dependent on managerial effectiveness across the emergency cycle. The proposed framework contributes a process-oriented, data-driven tool for evaluating and improving emergency management performance and offers practical guidance for metro operators seeking to strengthen resilience under earthquake scenarios. Full article

Soil salinization threatens crop production; however, in multi-crop field systems, evidence for the effectiveness of waste biomass-functional microorganism composite amendments remains limited. Here, we developed a composite microbial soil conditioner (F2) using pine needles and crushed corn cobs as carriers combined with salt-tolerant strains Bacillus subtilis (K1), Azotobacter chroococcum (Y1), and Bacillus gelatinus (J3) to remediate moderately saline-alkali soil from central Gansu (pH 8.36 ± 0.18; EC 1658 ± 55.24 μS·cm⁻¹). Saturation screening identified an optimal carrier ratio of pine needles:corn cobs = 1:2 and an inoculum ratio of K1:Y1:J3 = 1:2:1. In pot experiments, F2 increased soil organic matter and water-holding capacity, enhanced alkaline phosphatase, urease, and sucrase activities, and significantly reduced soil pH and EC. Maize seedling height and chlorophyll content increased by 53.87% and 38.88%, respectively. Amplicon-based microbiome profiling indicated enrichment of beneficial microbial taxa and strengthened primary metabolic functions under F2. Field validation across five crops (flax, potato, edible sunflower, sorghum, and maize) showed consistent growth and yield-related improvements. Overall, these results demonstrate that the biomass–microbe composite amendment effectively alleviates saline-alkali constraints by jointly improving soil properties, microbial functions, and crop performance. Full article

Accurate runoff forecasting is vital yet challenged by the increasing non-stationarity of hydrological systems, which often exceeds the capacity of traditional single models. Ensemble forecasting, as an effective approach, integrates multiple models’ information to enhance forecasting performance and assess uncertainty. However, existing methods (such as Bayesian Model Averaging and BMA) still have limitations in dealing with complex hydrological scenarios, particularly in the construction and optimization of forecast intervals. This paper proposes a novel hydrological ensemble interval forecasting method based on constrained multi-model weight optimization (Constrained Multi-Model Weight Optimization, CMWO). CMWO utilizes a set of heterogeneous deterministic models to generate members, assigns dynamic optimization weight intervals to enhance flexibility, and employs a multi-objective framework to minimize interval width and errors subject to a ≥95% coverage constraint. Taking the Huangjinxia Reservoir in the upper reaches of the Hanjiang River as a case study, the CMWO method was systematically applied and evaluated for decadal-scale runoff forecasting and comprehensively compared with widely used BMA methods and individual models. The results show that CMWO significantly outperforms in improving point forecast accuracy (measured by RMSE, KGE, etc.) and interval forecast quality (evaluated by PICP, PIAW, CRPS, etc.), especially in generating narrower, more informative prediction intervals while ensuring high reliability. The CMWO method proposed in this study provides a competitive new tool for the effective management of forecasting uncertainty in complex hydrological systems. Full article

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important legume, valued for its nutritional and bioactive components. In this study, seven chickpea advanced breeding lines, an elite line, and a cultivar were evaluated under field conditions to assess superior agronomic performance, seed quality traits, nutritional composition, and phenolic profile. A combined approach was used, integrating field phenotyping, seed quality assays, and LC–MS-based phenolic profiling. Significant genotype-dependent variation was observed in plant height, biomass yield, and 1000-seed weight, with P9/14 and P10/14 advanced lines performing strongly in yield-related traits. Seed functional properties also differed, with P8/14 showing superior hydration and seed coat characteristics, while cv. Blanco Sinaloa exhibited the highest hydration and swelling capacities. Protein content ranged from 22.6% to 25.4%, with P9/14 being the most protein-rich advanced line. Phytochemical and antioxidant analyses revealed substantial differences among genotypes: Blanco Sinaloa and M-15370 showed the highest total phenolics and ABTS activity, whereas P14/14 exhibited the strongest DPPH scavenging capacity. LC–MS profiling identified six major phenolic subclasses, with isoflavones predominating and biochanin A and its derivatives being the most abundant compounds. Overall, the integration of agronomic, nutritional, and phytochemical data highlights the advanced lines P14/14 and P9/14 as promising candidates for future breeding programs aimed at enhancing chickpea nutritional quality and functional seed attributes. Full article

In widely deployed Internet of Things (IoT) scenarios, physical-layer key generation (PLKG) serves as a useful complement to conventional cryptographic methods, yet it often suffers from a fundamentally low key generation rate, which becomes particularly severe in quasi-static environments. This low rate is mainly attributed to three key issues: (1) slow channel variations, which provide insufficient randomness and thus limit the key generation rate; (2) correlation between the legitimate channel and the eavesdropping channel, which reduces the uniqueness of the extracted key and further degrades the achievable rate; and (3) insufficient degrees of freedom in the key source, which constrain the key space. To address these challenges, this paper introduces the Dynamic Agile Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface Antenna into physical-layer key generation. By deploying metasurface antennas at both ends and independently applying random phase modulation, the scheme injects two-sided randomness, thereby mitigating the adverse effects of quasi-static channels and legitimate eavesdropper channel correlation. Moreover, by leveraging the dynamic, agile, and reconfigurable characteristics of the metasurface antennas in the key generation process, the proposed approach can further enhance the key generation rate while simultaneously resolving all three issues above. The proposed scheme is developed under a general setting where correlation exists between the legitimate and eavesdropping channels. A closed-form expression for the key capacity is rigorously derived, accompanied by detailed theoretical analysis and simulations. The results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed approach when applied to physical-layer key generation. Full article

The food industry generates large volumes of nutrient-rich by-products that remain underutilised despite their considerable biochemical potential. These materials originate predominantly from the fruit and vegetable, dairy, meat, and fish and seafood sectors and represent a substantial opportunity for sustainable valorisation. Fermentation has emerged as a powerful platform for converting such by-products into high-value ingredients, including bioactive compounds, functional metabolites, enzymes, antimicrobials, and nutritionally enriched fractions. This review synthesises recent advances in microbial fermentation strategies—spanning lactic acid bacteria, filamentous fungi, yeasts, and mixed microbial consortia—and highlights their capacity to enhance the bioavailability, stability, and functionality of recovered compounds across diverse substrate streams. Key technological enablers, including substrate pre-treatments, precision fermentation, omics-guided strain selection and improvement, and bioprocess optimisation, are examined within the broader framework of circular bioeconomy integration. Despite significant scientific progress, major challenges remain, particularly related to substrate heterogeneity, process scalability, regulatory alignment, safety assessment, and consumer acceptance. The review identifies critical research gaps and future directions, emphasising the need for standardised analytical frameworks, harmonised compositional databases, AI-driven fermentation control, integrated biorefinery concepts, and pilot-scale validation. Overall, the evidence indicates that integrated fermentation-based approaches—especially those combining complementary by-product streams, tailored microbial consortia, and system-level process integration—represent the most promising pathway toward the scalable, sustainable, and economically viable valorisation of food industry by-products. Full article

The complex environment of electrical work sites presents hazards that are diverse in form, easily concealed, and difficult to distinguish from their surroundings. Due to poor model generalization, most traditional visual recognition methods are prone to errors and cannot meet the current safety management needs in electrical work. This paper presents a novel framework for hazard identification that integrates chain-of-thought reasoning and self-verification mechanisms within a visual-language large model (VLLM) to enhance accuracy. First, typical hazard scenario data for crane operation and escalator work areas were collected. The Janus-Pro VLLM model was selected as the base model for hazard identification. Then, designing a chain-of-thought enhanced the model’s capacity to identify critical information, including the status of crane stabilizers and the zones where personnel are located. Simultaneously, a self-verification module was designed. It leveraged the multimodal comprehension capabilities of the VLLM to self-check the identification results, outputting confidence scores and justifications to mitigate model hallucination. The experimental results show that integrating the self-verification method significantly improves hazard identification accuracy, with average increases of 2.55% in crane operations and 4.35% in escalator scenarios. Compared with YOLOv8s and D-FINE, the proposed framework achieves higher accuracy, reaching up to 96.3% in crane personnel intrusion detection, and a recall of 95.6%. It outperforms small models by 8.1–13.8% in key metrics without relying on massive labeled data, providing crucial technical support for power operation hazard identification. Full article

Radish is a nutrient- and antioxidant-rich root vegetable whose growth is strongly affected by water availability, highlighting the need for strategies to enhance drought tolerance. Methyl jasmonate (MeJa) is a bioregulator involved in plant stress responses. This study evaluated the role of MeJa in alleviating water deficit effects in radish. Plants were maintained under well-watered conditions (80% water retention capacity) or subjected to total irrigation restriction from 15 to 30 days after sowing (DAS). Foliar applications of 100 µM MeJa or water were performed at 7, 14, and 21 DAS. Growth, gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, photosynthetic pigments, relative water content, electrolyte leakage, and storage root quality were assessed. Water deficit reduced relative water content and increased electrolyte leakage, indicating oxidative damage, which impaired growth and gas exchange. MeJa application reduced electrolyte leakage but did not mitigate drought-induced reductions in growth or gas exchange. Notably, water deficit increased sugar, mineral, and antioxidant contents in roots, regardless of MeJa treatment. Overall, although MeJa modulated some stress-related physiological responses, enhancing antioxidant defenses, it was insufficient alone to improve drought tolerance in radish. Full article

Drought poses a major challenge for global agriculture, demanding strategies that improve crop resilience while safeguarding water and nutrient resources. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR)-based biostimulants offer a sustainable approach to enhance resource-use efficiency under water-limited conditions. This study evaluated two commercial PGPR biostimulants applied to maize (Zea mays L.) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) seedlings grown under well-watered (80% field capacity) and water-stressed (40% field capacity) conditions. Both products improved plant growth and physiological performance, although responses were crop-specific. Inoculated tomato seedlings accumulated up to 35% more shoot biomass under optimal watering (1.6 g in non-inoculated seedlings compared with 2.5 g in inoculated seedlings), whereas maize maintained biomass production under drought, consistent with its higher intrinsic water-use efficiency, showing increases of approximately 50% (well-watered: 0.5 g versus 0.8 g; water-stressed: 0.3 g versus 0.7 g in non-inoculated and inoculated seedlings, respectively). Biostimulant application enhanced the acquisition and internal utilization of essential mineral resources, increasing leaf concentrations of (i) the macronutrients P (up to 300%), K (up to 70%), Mg (up to 220%), and Ca (up to 85%), and (ii) the micronutrients B (up to 400%), Fe (up to 260%), Mn (up to 240%), and Zn (up to 180%). Maximum nutrient increases were consistently observed in water-stressed maize seedlings inoculated with biostimulant 2. Antioxidant activities, particularly ascorbate peroxidase and catalase, increased by 20–40%, indicating more effective mitigation of oxidative stress. Principal component analysis revealed coordinated adjustments among growth, nutrient-use efficiency, and physiological traits in inoculated plants. Overall, PGPR-based biostimulants improved early drought tolerance and resource-use efficiency, supporting their potential as sustainable tools for climate-resilient agriculture. Field-scale studies remain necessary to confirm long-term agronomic benefits. Full article

Salt stress is one of the main abiotic stresses that restrict crop production. Melatonin (MT), a signal molecule widely present in plants, plays an important role in regulating abiotic stress response. In this study, celery seedlings were used as experimental materials, and the control, salt stress, and exogenous MT treatment groups under salt stress were set up. Through phenotypic, physiological index determination, transcriptome sequencing, and expression analysis, the alleviation effects of MT on salt stress were comprehensively investigated. The results showed that exogenous MT treatment significantly reduced seedling growth inhibition caused by salt stress. Physiological measurements showed that MT significantly reduced malondialdehyde content, increased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT), promoted the accumulation of free proline and soluble protein, and increased photosynthetic parameters such as chlorophyll, ΦPSII, Fv/Fm, and ETR. Transcriptome analysis showed that MT regulates the expression of several genes associated with carbon metabolism, including β-amylase gene (AgBAM), sucrose-degrading enzyme genes (AgSUS, AgINV), and glucose synthesis-related genes (AgAG, AgEGLC, AgBGLU). The results of qRT-PCR verification were highly consistent with the transcriptome sequencing data, revealing that MT synergistically regulates starch and sucrose metabolic pathways, and effectively alleviates the damage of celery seedlings under salt stress at the molecular level. In summary, exogenous MT significantly improved the salt tolerance of celery by enhancing antioxidant capacity, maintaining photosynthetic function, promoting the accumulation of osmotic adjustment substances, and synergistically regulating carbon metabolism-related pathways. The concentration of 200 μM was identified as optimal, based on its most pronounced alleviating effects across the physiological parameters measured. This study provides an important theoretical basis for utilizing MT to enhance plant salt resistance. Full article

This paper proposes a novel mortise-and-tenon grouted masonry (MTGM) structure to enhance the mechanical performance and engineering applicability of masonry. The axial and eccentric compressive behavior of the system was systematically investigated through experimental testing and numerical simulation. A refined three-dimensional finite element model, developed in DIANA, effectively accounted for material nonlinearity and interfacial contact, with its high accuracy confirmed by experimental results. The parametric analysis of 52 numerical models elucidated the influence of block strength, core material type, wall thickness, steel fiber content, and geometric ratios on the compressive strength, deformation capacity, and failure modes. The results demonstrate that using steel fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC) as the core filling material significantly enhances ductility and toughness; an SFRC content of 1.6% increased the ultimate strain by approximately 37%. Furthermore, increasing the eccentricity from 0.1 to 0.3 led to an average 40% reduction in load-bearing capacity. Theoretical analysis led to the derivation of calculation formulae relating to key axial compression parameters. Furthermore, a stress–strain constitutive relationship suitable for MTGM was established, featuring a parabolic ascending branch and a linear descending branch (R² = 0.992). For eccentric compression, a practical design method was developed based on the plane section assumption, which demonstrated superior predictive accuracy compared to existing code provisions. This study provides a reliable theoretical foundation and practical computational tools for the structural design and application of MTGM. Full article

The demand for high-quality agricultural products is increasing; however, this requirement is becoming increasingly challenging due to the effects of climate change, which can cause abiotic stress. In this research, we studied the performance of kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa var. ‘Hayward’) 60 days after storage for two different cultivation periods, in which a glycine betaine biostimulant (GB) was applied to the kiwi trees via irrigation under field conditions. Postharvest analysis was performed by measuring the fresh and dry weight of the kiwifruit, the soluble solids content, and titratable acidity. To assess the antioxidant traits of the kiwifruit, DPPH and ascorbic acid contents were recorded. Data analysis revealed that the GB treatment proved beneficial for kiwifruit during storage, enhancing their antioxidant capacity as indicated by their higher ascorbic acid content (vitamin C) compared to the control. This qualitative difference may benefit the commercial requirements of kiwifruit cultivation under the abiotic conditions of climate change, which prompts us to further investigate the application of amino acid biostimulants. This research complements the existing literature on the implementation of biostimulants, as reports regarding their application in kiwifruit cultivation are limited, and provides an optional solution for meeting the commercial needs of kiwifruit cultivation and improving the adaptability of kiwifruit cultivation under abiotic stress conditions. Full article

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered immune cell therapies have revolutionized cancer treatment, with CAR-T cells demonstrating remarkable efficacy against hematological malignancies. However, the effectiveness of CAR-T and other lymphocyte-based therapies against solid tumors remains limited, primarily due to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and poor infiltration of effector cells. Recently, CAR-macrophage (CAR-M) immunotherapy has emerged as a promising strategy to overcome these barriers. Leveraging the innate tumor-homing ability, phagocytic function, and antigen-presenting capacity of macrophages, CAR-M therapies offer unique advantages for targeting solid tumors. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the development and current state of CAR-Macrophage immunotherapy, including advances in CAR design and macrophage engineering, preclinical and clinical progress, and mechanistic insights into their anti-tumor activity. The review critically examined both the benefits and limitations of CAR-M approaches, addressing persistent challenges such as cell sourcing, durability, and safety, while also exploring innovative strategies to enhance therapeutic efficacy. Finally, future perspectives and the potential clinical impact of CAR-macrophage therapies were outlined, underscoring their emerging role in the evolving landscape of cancer immunotherapy. Full article