Search Results (21,339)

This paper presents a further step in the development of scale invariant fully conformal cosmology (FCC), formulated in our previous study. Whereas the previous paper focused mainly on the global cosmological consequences of the fully conformal metric and their confrontation with selected astrophysical data, here we analyze its local gravitational and background consequences. On the background of the fully conformal metric we formulate an effective generalization of the weak Schwarzschild field in the corresponding FCC global coordinates and derive from it the associated modified intensity of the Newtonian central field. We further derive the cosmological state/constitutive equation p = − ε/3 as a direct consequence of the fully conformal metric rather than as an ad hoc additional postulate. Likewise, within the fully conformal metric, spatial flatness and the critical density ρ_crit are understood as direct consequences of this metric structure rather than as independently postulated inputs. From the condition of global equilibrium between negative cosmological pressure and the gravitational cohesive pressure of homogeneously distributed matter, the effective particulate fraction is obtained as β ≈ 0.45 of the total critical density ρ_crit. For the relatively well-confirmed baryonic matter fraction ${\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}}^{bar} \approx 0.05$, this stable-equilibrium condition then leads to the corresponding particulate fraction of collisionless dark matter ${\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}}_{FCC}^{dm} \approx 0.40$, which is in principle determined by the global cosmological equilibrium within this framework. Because direct identification of the entire dark fraction with standard collisionless cold dark matter would very probably be incompatible with the main structural observables, we discuss an effective phenomenological decomposition into a structuring cold dark matter component (cdm) and an almost homogeneous residual warm-dark-matter-like component (wdm). In this interpretation, the paper preserves the previously introduced global FCC framework while simultaneously providing a concrete background prediction for the matter content and a physically motivated basis for further testing of structure formation within scale invariant fully conformal cosmology. Full article

The Holocene evolution of organic carbon (OC) sources in the North Yellow Sea remains poorly constrained. In this study, a sedimentary dataset from core WHD01 retrieved from the Shandong Peninsula Mud Wedge is presented. After correcting grain-size, diagenetic and provenance biases in geochemical proxies and removing diagenetic offsets of sedimentary δ¹³C signals, the MixSIAR Bayesian mixing model was used to quantify three OC endmembers. The results reveal three distinct evolutionary stages of OC composition: pre-10 cal ka B.P. dominated by terrestrial C₃ OC; 10–4.2 cal ka B.P. dominated by marine OC during rapid sea-level rise; post-4.2 cal ka B.P. marine-derived OC remained dominant while C₃ terrestrial and estuarine OM increased alongside enhanced OC burial, driven by anthropogenic catchment erosion and improved organic preservation. Temporal shifts in OC source apportionment and burial flux are tightly coupled to East Asian Summer Monsoon variability and sea-level change, with conspicuous OM compositional reorganizations coinciding with the 8.2 ka and 4.2 ka climatic cold events. Full article

The glycine-aspartic acid-serine-leucine (GDSL) esterase/lipase family is a functionally diverse group of hydrolytic enzymes involved in multiple plant biological processes, including stress adaptation and development. However, its evolutionary patterns, functional conservation, and stress-responsive mechanisms in grasses remain not fully elucidated. In this study, a comprehensive comparative genomic analysis was performed on the GDSL gene family across nine representative grass species and Arabidopsis thaliana. Genome-wide identification, phylogenetic analysis, duplication pattern detection, synteny analysis, cis-regulatory element prediction, protein–protein interaction (PPI) network construction, and RNA-seq-based expression profiling were employed. A total of 1707 GDSL genes were identified, with substantial expansion in grasses, especially hexaploid wheat. Whole-genome and segmental duplications were the major drivers of family expansion, with most duplicated genes under strong purifying selection. A grass-specific clade (C3-2) was identified, and extensive syntenic conservation was observed among closely related grasses. Promoter analysis revealed enrichment of stress- and hormone-responsive cis-elements, and RNA-seq showed dynamic GDSL expression under low-temperature stress in rice and wheat. These findings demonstrate that the expansion of the GDSL gene family in grasses is driven by polyploidization and lineage-specific duplication, accompanied by the emergence of a grass-specific clade (C3-2) and regulatory diversification, collectively shaping stress-responsive evolutionary innovation in Poaceae. Full article

Cold-region community outdoor spaces are not only everyday activity settings for older adults in winter, but also public-space types that need to be translated into design evidence for architecture and healthy human-settlement research. Existing restorative-environment studies usually treat improved mood, perceived restoration, and environmental appraisal as evidence of health benefits. The key finding of this study is that subjective restoration and physiological recovery are not always synchronized after outdoor exposure in cold-region communities. This discordance reveals a design risk and an innovative value that can be overlooked when restoration is evaluated only through perception-based indicators. Based on a winter field exposure experiment with 345 older adults in a community in Shenyang, China, this study compared staged changes in systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), pulse pressure (PP), POMS, ROS, and ENPQ across an activity plaza, a greenway walkway, and a street corridor. It further developed a psychophysiological concordance classification and a residual cardiovascular risk indicator for the recovery period. The greenway walkway showed the most stable concordant recovery, with 86.84% of women and 79.35% of men showing concordant recovery. The activity plaza showed a clear pattern of emotional recovery: the proportions of women and men whose psychological state improved without a synchronized SBP decrease were 61.58% and 50.32%, respectively. The street corridor had the highest recovery-failure rates, at 92.63% for women and 91.61% for men. Among women, 90.53% reached SBP values of 140 mmHg or higher during the walking phase in the street corridor, and 59.47% remained above this risk threshold during recovery. These results show that health evaluation of cold-region community outdoor spaces should not rely only on subjective restoration indicators, but should also include psychophysiological concordance and residual risk after exposure. The study translates site health effects into three architectural design judgments: concordant-restoration spaces, emotional-restoration spaces, and recovery-failure spaces, providing a testable evidence framework for age-friendly community renewal, path organization, green buffering, and winter wind-protection design. Full article

Cold injury is a major limiting factor for tropical fruit cultivation in temperate regions. Papayas are particularly sensitive to low temperatures, and exposure to 12–14 °C significantly inhibits their growth. This study determined whether combining root-zone heating with minimal greenhouse heating could improve overwinter survival and recovery under low-temperature stress conditions. Root-zone temperature was maintained above 15 °C throughout the overwintering period. Conversely, the greenhouse temperature was set at the minimum level required to avoid exposure to freezing temperatures. Tree responses were measured based on survival rate, shoot growth, SPAD, and stomatal conductance in three treatments: root-zone heating with minimal greenhouse heating, conventional whole-greenhouse heating, and a minimum-heating control. Root-zone heating with minimal greenhouse heating enabled successful overwinter survival and recovery. It exhibited comparable plant performance to conventional whole-greenhouse heating, whereas all plants in the control treatment died. Stomatal conductance recovered more rapidly in trees receiving root-zone heating than in those receiving conventional whole-greenhouse heating, suggesting earlier resumption of physiological activity. These results demonstrate that root-zone temperature management can mitigate low-temperature stress and promote post-winter physiological recovery, thus providing a potential strategy for overwintering tropical crops with reduced reliance on greenhouse heating. Full article

The Changbai Mountain area, the largest Cenozoic intraplate volcanic field in eastern China, features abundant high-temperature hot springs and high geothermal potential. However, the genesis and aggregation patterns of its geothermal systems remain poorly understood. This study recalculates crustal and residual deep/mantle heat- flow components along a representative profile and synthesizes published geological, geophysical, geochemical, and geothermal evidence to characterize the main geothermal system elements, including caprock, reservoirs, water source, and migration pathways. Controlling factors are examined from three dimensions: deep dynamics, magmatic heat source, and fault characteristics. Results reveal a “Cold crust–Hot mantle” thermal structure. The heat-flow calculation indicates that crustal radiogenic heat contributes approximately 40% of the surface heat flow, implying a dominant deep heat contribution. The available evidence suggests the presence of potential hydrothermal reservoirs in carbonate and clastic rocks, possible HDR targets in deeper metamorphic rocks, and locally effective basaltic sealing units. Fault systems and meteoric recharge likely control fluid circulation. Geothermal systems are controlled by mantle upwelling and lithospheric thinning due to western Pacific Plate subduction, multi-source heat coupling, effective caprock sealing, and fault-controlled water–heat conduction. These results provide a conceptual framework for future geothermal exploration and testing. This study elucidates the aggregation patterns and genetic mechanisms, providing a theoretical basis for exploration and development. Full article

Oleogel-based fat systems were developed using citrus fiber (CF) and cold-pressed pumpkin seed oil by-product (PSB) through an emulsion-template approach and evaluated as palm oil substitutes in a model chocolate sauce system. Oleogels were prepared by varying CF (4–5%) and PSB (0–2%) concentrations and characterized in terms of rheological, textural, and sensory properties and oxidative stability. The emulsions exhibited predominant elastic behavior (G′ > G″), with storage modulus (K′) values increasing from 694.12 to 2242.54 Pasⁿ as CF and PSB concentrations increased. Chocolate sauces formulated with CF–PSB oleogels showed pseudoplastic flow behavior and solid-like viscoelastic characteristics, with K′ values ranging from 89.32 to 356.56 Pasⁿ, compared to 34.84 and 16.95 Pasⁿ for the palm oil (C1) and sunflower oil (C2) controls, respectively. Temperature sweep and thermal loop tests demonstrated improved thermal resistance and emulsion stability in oleogel-containing chocolate sauces. Oleogel-based chocolate sauces also showed superior emulsion stability under thermal cycling and greater oxidative stability compared to the C2 sample. Texture profile analysis revealed increased hardness and spreadability with higher CF and PSB contents, consistent with rheological findings. Oleogel-based chocolate sauces also demonstrated enhanced oxidative stability, with induction period values reaching 18:55 h compared to 5:13 h for the sunflower oil control and approaching the palm oil control (20:13 h). Texture profile analysis revealed increased hardness and spreadability with higher CF and PSB contents. Sensory evaluation indicated that sauces containing 5% CF and 1–2% PSB received the highest scores for flavor, consistency, and overall acceptability. Full article

Thermal comfort in mixed-mode buildings is challenging due to individual differences in perception, particularly in humid subtropical climates. In Florianópolis, Brazil, dynamic indoor conditions influence occupants’ thermal perception and adaptation. This study investigates how thermal disposition shapes comfort perception. A total of 1032 responses from heat-sensitive users and 733 from cold-sensitive users were collected through electronic questionnaires. The data were analysed using Predicted Mean Vote (PMV), Actual Mean Vote (AMV), and a linear mixed-effects model. Although both groups exhibited average PMV values within the ASHRAE 55 comfort range, their subjective evaluations differed significantly: heat-sensitive users reported warmer sensations, whereas cold-sensitive users reported cooler sensations under similar conditions. Among heat-sensitive users, the PMV–AMV correlation was moderate and strongest under air-conditioning, whereas it was weak and non-significant for cold-sensitive users. Dissatisfaction levels frequently exceeded 20% among heat-sensitive users. Adaptive comfort analysis indicated that most observations fell within acceptability limits for mixed-mode buildings. The mixed-effects model confirmed that thermal disposition significantly moderates the relationship between operative temperature and thermal sensation. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating individual thermal sensitivity into occupant-centred comfort assessments. Full article

Brachymystax lenok tsinlingensis is an endangered salmonid endemic to China. Traditional trapping methods frequently fail to detect this rare fish in low-density mountain streams, hampering evidence-based conservation. Here, we employed environmental DNA quantitative PCR (eDNA-qPCR) with species-specific primers to assess the spatial biomass distribution of this species in the Zhouzhi Heihe River. Concurrently, we surveyed plankton, benthic macroinvertebrates, and physicochemical water parameters. eDNA detected the target species at 12 of 14 sites, with reliable quantification achieved at 9 sites, suggesting that the method may be more effective than conventional trapping for detecting this species under the studied low-density conditions. eDNA-derived relative biomass exhibited pronounced spatial heterogeneity, ranging from 6.0 × 10⁻⁴ to 1.5 × 10⁻² g/cm³. Water depth showed a significant positive association with biomass (r = 0.5347), whereas phytoplankton Shannon diversity (a measure of species richness and evenness) was significantly negatively correlated (r = −0.5447). Flow velocity displayed a negative trend that did not reach statistical significance (r = −0.5009). Plankton and benthic communities indicated overall ecological conditions but did not directly explain the observed spatial variation in fish biomass. These findings indicate that the spatial pattern of B. lenok tsinlingensis is primarily shaped by local physical habitat structure, with deeper, hydraulically more complex channel units serving as key microhabitats. eDNA-qPCR thus represents an effective, low-disturbance monitoring tool for this endangered cold-water fish and provides a scientific basis for targeted habitat protection and restoration. Full article

Traditional air conditioning consumes substantial electricity, exacerbates the urban heat island effect, and creates a maladaptive feedback loop, necessitating a shift toward passive-first net-zero pathways. This study takes a typical six-story residential building in Nanjing’s hot summer and cold winter climate zone as a case study. Using EnergyPlus hourly simulations, three progressive passive strategy packages are designed to quantify the impact of building envelope heat exchange on cooling loads, grid stress, and heat resilience. Package A includes external shading and natural ventilation. Package B adds reflective coating and a green roof. Package C further adds night ventilation precooling and high-performance windows. The results show that Package C achieves a 62.5% reduction in peak cooling load and a 63.0% reduction in seasonal cooling load. Daytime peak inward heat gain decreases from 68 W/m² to 22 W/m², while nighttime outward heat dissipation increases from 12 W/m² to 38 W/m². Under an extreme heat day of 41.2 °C with no active cooling, indoor peak temperature drops from 36.8 °C to 29.4 °C, and heat risk hours decrease by 73.6%. Peak-hour power demand is reduced by 70.4%, with a systemic leverage factor of 1.08. Innovations include achieving over 60% load reduction using only mature passive strategies, introducing the systemic leverage factor to quantify urban heat island mitigation benefits, and establishing a vulnerability-to-resilience transformation framework. The passive-first pathway validates building envelope as the first line of defense for net-zero futures. However, the findings are based on a typical six-story residential building in Nanjing and require validation through field measurements or broader application across different climate zones and building typologies before generalization. Full article

High-resolution CTD profiles, with SVP cross-validation of the sound speed field, were recorded at a single station in the outer roadstead of the Port of Constanța (northwest Black Sea; 44°07′41″ N, 28°53′15″ E; depth ≈ 25 m; June 2024), revealing a strongly stratified, five-layer water column driven by three combined forcing mechanisms: seasonal thermal stratification with an abnormally shallow Cold Intermediate Water layer (7.3–15.6 m), Danube-sourced freshwater input, and anthropogenic disturbances consistent with port and anchorage activity. A contextual hypothesis is proposed that conflict-related marine traffic intensification may contribute to observed signals, but physical measurements cannot establish causation. At the main pycnocline (7.31–15.62 m), a density difference of Δρ = 4.02 kg m⁻³ yields a maximum Brunt–Väisälä frequency of N² = 2.37 × 10⁻³ s⁻², reducing vertical eddy diffusivity by two orders of magnitude (Kz ≈ 10⁻⁶ m² s⁻¹). Physical conditions—a shallow mixed layer (~0.7–1.2 m) and strong pycnocline—support the theoretical expectation of surface-layer contaminant accumulation; however, no chemical measurements were carried out to confirm contaminant presence. All contamination inferences rely exclusively on physical proxies (turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and density gradients), and contaminant retention remains untested for lack of direct chemical evidence. A dimensional Stratification-Controlled Retention Index (SCRI = N²/Kz; units: m⁻² s⁻¹) is introduced, and its consistency with the observed hydrographic structure is demonstrated. Full article

Aeolian sand bodies unrelated either to coastal barrier systems of Holocene or earlier age or to modern beaches have been identified along the central New South Wales coast of southeast Australia. Some of these deposits cap headlands or are located above high sea-cliffs. Others lie below modern sea-levels, whilst one substantial dune field extends 12 km inland. Many of these have previously been interpreted as Early Holocene cliff-top dunes, the product of the migration of beach sands up aeolian sand ramps at the foot of the sea-cliffs of the region and onto the cliff tops. The rising sea-levels of the Middle Holocene eroded the ramps and cut off the supply of sand to the dunes, allowing them to stabilise. But re-investigation shows that these dune fields accumulated at times of low Quaternary sea-levels, with a particle-size distribution suggestive of an inland rather than a coastal origin. We therefore propose an alternative model for the accumulation of these features. At times of low sea-level, sediments exposed on the inner shelf were reworked onto the adjacent coast by onshore winds, where they accumulated in locations unconnected to the modern or the earlier Holocene coastal aeolian sedimentary regime. This model challenges the conventional story that the dominant glacial maximum winds across southeastern Australia were from the west (and thus offshore). This pattern of sediment accumulation and its associated wind regime may have been more stable (continuing for over 30 000 years) and more long-lived (repeated through at least the last two glacial cycles) than has previously been believed. Although the cliff-top dune model has been widely applied, we question its suitability in its type location and suggest a more cautious approach to its application elsewhere. We argue that the products of the landward aeolian reworking of sediment exposed on the continental shelf have been overlooked, despite their potential for the preservation of long-term environmental records. Full article

End-to-end motion control of 7-degree-of-freedom (DOF) redundant manipulators under sparse reward signals presents a fundamental challenge in deep reinforcement learning (DRL) for robotics: the vast configuration space and absence of dense gradient information combine to produce severe cold-start failures and high cross-seed training variance. This paper proposes Curriculum-SAC-HER, a novel fusion framework integrating Soft Actor–Critic (SAC), Hindsight Experience Replay (HER), and a performance-driven three-stage Automatic Curriculum Learning (ACL) scheduler, designed to resolve the cold-start exploration bottleneck within a training budget of 300,000 environment interaction steps. The core methodology progressively expands the spatial target distribution across three stages of increasing difficulty, conditioning each stage transition on an 80% rolling success threshold to guarantee kinematic prior consolidation before advancing. A rigorous evaluation across 15 independent training runs (five seeds per group, all retained without filtering) demonstrates that the proposed framework achieves a final mean success rate of 84.8% (std: 11.0%), substantially surpassing the SAC + HER ablation (70.3%, Mann–Whitney U test, p = 0.028) and the DDPG baseline (22.3%, p = 0.008), while compressing cross-seed variance by 67% relative to the ablation. Zero-shot robustness evaluations under simulated domain perturbations further reveal that the learned policy maintains above 92% success across extreme friction variations and sustains 71.8% success under a 1.5× payload increase, demonstrating that the ACL module fosters generalized kinematic representations rather than over-fitting to specific contact mechanics. Full article

The study examines the evolution, knowledge structure, and trends in snowmelt runoff prediction models. It identifies research hotspots, future directions, and offers a theoretical basis for accurate simulation and prediction. Utilizing CiteSpace software, 556 core Chinese and English publications from 2010 to 2025 were visually analyzed. Research on snowmelt runoff simulation shows: (1) Chinese publications are prominent in core journals like “Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology,” while English publications appear in high-impact journals like “Water Resources Research.” (2) Institutions like the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, and the University of California have formed a cross-regional research network. (3) International collaboration involves 42 countries, with a focus on China, the United States, and India. However, domestic institutional cooperation needs improvement. (4) Research trends in snowmelt runoff simulation have progressed from empirical statistics to remote sensing and model-driven physical mechanisms, and now to the integration of artificial intelligence with physical models. (5) The Chinese literature focuses on cold regions, while the English literature emphasizes intelligent modeling. This shift indicates a move towards “physical–intelligent” hybrid modeling. Future research should address challenges like model applicability in data-scarce areas, improving interpretability of complex models, quantifying uncertainties, and developing physically constrained deep learning models. Collaboration among institutions is crucial for enhancing water resource management and disaster warning systems in cold regions. Full article

Maceration techniques like cold maceration before fermentation (CM) and skin-contact fermentation (SF) are widely used in winemaking. However, their application remains limited in white winemaking, representing an important objective for the production of diverse white wines. This study systematically investigated the impacts of CM and SF on phenolics, volatile aromas and sensory properties of Chardonnay and Italian Riesling wines in Yantai wine region. Both CM and SF significantly increased the total phenolic content, especially with gallic acid and quercitrin contents rising 11.65- and 10.02-fold in Chardonnay, as well as catechin and quercitrin increasing 9.05- and 10.82-fold in Italian Riesling under 100% SF. Moreover, 72 h CM and 100% SF showed higher volatile aroma contents in both wines compared to other CM and SF treatments. Esters, including ethyl octanoate, ethyl hexanoate and isoamyl acetate, contributed to the improved floral and fruity aromas in maceration-treated Chardonnay wines, whereas esters and terpenes drove the aromatic profile of Italian Riesling wines, with terpenes rising 1.67- and 3.27-fold after CM and SF. The two varieties differed in wine color, with Italian Riesling wines displaying a stronger yellow hue and reduced lightness under 72 h CM, 50% SF and 100% SF. Sensory evaluation by a panel containing seven trained assessors found that SF-treated wines exhibited more intense flavor and balanced taste and CM-treated wines showed more freshness. These findings provide theoretical support for tailored maceration to enhance varietal expression in the specific region and diversify white wine production. Full article