Search Results (65)

The sustainability of the beef and dairy industry requires a systems approach that integrates environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and economic viability. Over the past two decades, global genetics consortia have advanced data-driven germplasm programs (breeding and conservation programs focusing on genetic resources) to enhance sustainability across cattle systems. These initiatives employ multi-trait selection indices aligned with consumer demands and supply chain trends, targeting production, longevity, health, and reproduction, with outcomes including greenhouse gas mitigation, improved resource efficiency and operational safety, and optimized animal welfare. This study analyzes strategic initiatives, germplasm portfolios, and data platforms from leading genetics companies in the USA, Europe, and Brazil. US programs combine genomic selection with reproductive technologies such as sexed semen and in vitro fertilization to accelerate genetic progress. European efforts emphasize resource efficiency, welfare, and environmental impacts, while Brazilian strategies focus on adaptability to tropical conditions, heat tolerance, and disease resistance. Furthermore, mathematical models and decision support tools are increasingly used to balance profitability with environmental goals, reducing sustainability trade-offs through data-driven resource allocation. Industry-wide collaboration among stakeholders and regulatory bodies underscores a rapid shift toward sustainability-oriented cattle management strategies, positioning genetics and technology as key drivers of genetically resilient and sustainable breeding systems. Full article

Over the last 15 years, mixture risk assessment for food xenobiotics has evolved from conceptual discussions and simple screening tools, such as the Hazard Index (HI), towards operational, component-based and probabilistic frameworks embedded in major food-safety institutions. This review synthesizes methodological and regulatory advances in cumulative risk assessment for dietary “cocktails” of pesticides, contaminants and other xenobiotics, with a specific focus on food-relevant exposure scenarios. At the toxicological level, the field is now anchored in concentration/dose addition as the default model for similarly acting chemicals, supported by extensive experimental evidence that most environmental mixtures behave approximately dose-additively at low effect levels. Building on this paradigm, a portfolio of quantitative metrics has been developed to operationalize component-based mixture assessment: HI as a conservative screening anchor; Relative Potency Factors (RPF) and Toxic Equivalents (TEQ) to express doses within cumulative assessment groups; the Maximum Cumulative Ratio (MCR) to diagnose whether risk is dominated by one or several components; and the combined Margin of Exposure (MOET) as a point-of-departure-based integrator that avoids compounding uncertainty factors. Regulatory frameworks developed by EFSA, the U.S. EPA and FAO/WHO converge on tiered assessment schemes, biologically informed grouping of chemicals and dose addition as the default model for similarly acting substances, while differing in scope, data infrastructure and legal embedding. Implementation in food safety critically depends on robust exposure data streams. Total Diet Studies provide population-level, “as eaten” exposure estimates through harmonized food-list construction, home-style preparation and composite sampling, and are increasingly combined with conventional monitoring. In parallel, human biomonitoring quantifies internal exposure to diet-related xenobiotics such as PFAS, phthalates, bisphenols and mycotoxins, embedding mixture assessment within a dietary-exposome perspective. Across these developments, structured uncertainty analysis and decision-oriented communication have become indispensable. By integrating advances in toxicology, exposure science and regulatory practice, this review outlines a coherent, tiered and uncertainty-aware framework for assessing real-world dietary mixtures of xenobiotics, and identifies priorities for future work, including mechanistically and data-driven grouping strategies, expanded use of physiologically based pharmacokinetic modelling and refined mixture-sensitive indicators to support public-health decision-making. Full article

Elucidating shrub ecohydrological adaptation is critical for optimizing vegetation-restoration strategies in arid regions and maintaining regional ecological stability. This study examined typical desert shrubs at the northern edge of the Mu Us Sand Land. During the growth peak season (July–September), we measured understory-soil δ¹⁸O, soil water content (SWC), leaf δ¹³C_p, stem δ¹⁸O, and gas-exchange rates, and evaluated shrub drought resistance and water-use efficiency using Mantel tests and principal component analysis (PCA). Based on the VPDB standard, the δ13Cp values of leaves ranked as follows: Caragana microphylla (−27.21‰) > Salix psammophila (−27.80‰) > Artemisia ordosica (−28.48‰). The results indicate that leaf δ¹³C_p and water δ¹⁸O are effective indicators of shrub water-use efficiency, reflecting Cᵢ/Cₐ dynamics and water-transport pathways, respectively. The three shrubs exhibit distinct water-use strategies: Caragana microphylla follows a conservative strategy that relies on deep-water sources and tight stomatal regulation; Salix psammophila shows an opportunistic strategy, responding to precipitation pulses and drawing from multiple soil layers; Artemisia ordosica displays a vulnerable, shallow-water-dependent strategy with high drought susceptibility. SWC was the primary driver of higher Long Water Use Efficiency (WUE), whereas Mean Air Temperature (MMAT) and Mean Relative Humidity (MMRH) exerted short-term regulation by modulating the vapor-pressure deficit (VPD). We conclude that desert-shrub water-use strategies form a complementary functional portfolio at the community scale. Vegetation restoration should prioritize high-WUE conservative species, complement them with opportunistic species, and use vulnerable species cautiously to optimize community water-use efficiency and ecosystem stability. Full article

Electricity expansion planning is inherently subject to uncertainty, shaped by climatic, regulatory, and economic risks. In Brazil, this challenge is compounded by recurrent crises that have repeatedly reduced electricity demand. This study proposes a complementary decision-support approach to make planning more resilient to such crises. Using Brazil’s official optimization models (NEWAVE), we introduce two analytical elements: (i) a regret-minimization screen for choosing between conservative and optimistic demand trajectories and (ii) a flexibility stress test that evaluates the cost impact of compulsory-dispatch shares in generation portfolios. Key findings show that conservative demand projections systematically minimize consumer-cost regret when crises occur, while portfolios with lower compulsory-dispatch shares reduce total system cost and improve adaptability across 2000 hydro inflow scenarios. These results highlight that crisis-robust planning requires combining cautious demand assumptions with flexible supply portfolios. Although grounded in the Brazilian context, the methodological contributions are generalizable and provide practical guidance for other electricity markets facing deep and recurrent uncertainty. Full article

Conflicting priorities between policymakers and local communities often compromise conservation outcomes in landscapes reliant on natural resources. Understanding how diverse stakeholders value ecosystem services (ESs) across coexisting land uses is essential; however, empirical evidence from rural Southeast Asia remains limited. This study examined ES perceptions and priorities among community members (n = 500) and experts (n = 30) within a bamboo forest, rice paddy, and teak plantation in Sangthong District, Lao PDR. A two-step survey methodology was employed: initially assessing ES perceptions to filter locally relevant services using a ≥50% recognition threshold, followed by quantifying priorities for this subset through a 100-point allocation task. The results revealed a systematic divergence in priorities rooted in differing knowledge systems. Communities, grounded in traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), prioritized tangible provisioning and cultural services (e.g., food and raw materials). In contrast, experts emphasized regulating services (e.g., carbon sequestration and hazard regulation) and habitat services (e.g., biodiversity and habitat provision). Distinct “ES bundles” also emerged by land use: bamboo (raw materials and freshwater), rice (food and medicine), and teak (timber/bioenergy and regulating services). Our findings suggest a policy transition from single-objective management toward optimizing landscape-level ES portfolios, alongside institutionalizing participatory co-management that formally integrates local knowledge and enhances ES literacy. Full article

The cement industry accounts for approximately 7–8% of global CO₂ emissions, primarily due to energy-intensive clinker production and limestone calcination. With cement demand continuing to rise, particularly in emerging economies, decarbonization has become an urgent global challenge. The objective of this study is to systematically map and synthesize existing evidence on technological pathways, policy measures, and economic barriers to four core decarbonization strategies: clinker substitution, energy efficiency, alternative fuels, as well as carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) in the cement sector, with the goal of identifying practical strategies that can align industry practice with long-term climate goals. A scoping review methodology was adopted, drawing on peer-reviewed journal articles, technical reports, and policy documents to ensure a comprehensive perspective. The results demonstrate that each mitigation pathway is technically feasible but faces substantial real-world constraints. Clinker substitution delivers immediate reduction but is limited by SCM availability/quality, durability qualification, and conservative codes; LC₃ is promising where clay logistics allow. Energy-efficiency measures like waste-heat recovery and advanced controls reduce fuel use but face high capital expenditure, downtime, and diminishing returns in modern plants. Alternative fuels can reduce combustion-related emissions but face challenges of supply chains, technical integration challenges, quality, weak waste-management systems, and regulatory acceptance. CCUS, the most considerable long-term potential, addresses process CO₂ and enables deep reductions, but remains commercially unviable due to current economics, high costs, limited policy support, lack of large-scale deployment, and access to transport and storage. Cross-cutting economic challenges, regulatory gaps, skill shortages, and social resistance including NIMBYism further slow adoption, particularly in low-income regions. This study concludes that a single pathway is insufficient. An integrated portfolio supported by modernized standards, targeted policy incentives, expanded access to SCMs and waste fuels, scaled CCUS investment, and international collaboration is essential to bridge the gap between climate ambition and industrial implementation. Key recommendations include modernizing cement standards to support higher clinker replacement, providing incentives for energy-efficient upgrades, scaling CCUS through joint investment and carbon pricing and expanding access to biomass and waste-derived fuels. Full article

The loss rate of a bank’s portfolio traditionally measures what portion of the exposure is lost in the case of a default. To overcome the difficulties involved in its computation due to, e.g., the lack of private data, one can utilize an inferred loss rate (ILR). In the existing literature, it has been demonstrated that this indicator has sufficiently close properties to the actual loss rate to facilitate capital adequacy analysis. The current study provides complete mathematical proof of an earlier-stated conjecture, that ILR can be instrumental in identifying a conservative upper bound of the capital adequacy requirement of a bank credit portfolio, using the law of large numbers and other techniques from measure-theory-based probability. The assumptions required in this proof are less restrictive, reflecting a more realistic view. In the current study, additional empirical evidence of the usefulness of the indicator is provided, using publicly available data from the Bulgarian National Bank. Despite the definite conservativeness of the capital buffer implied from the analysis of ILR, the empirical analysis suggests that it is still within the regulatory limits. Analyzing ILR together with the Inferred Rate of Default, we conclude that the indicator provides signals about a bank portfolio’s credit risk that are relevant, timely, and adequately inexpensive. Full article

In the context of China’s electricity market reform, green certificate trading and carbon trading, as important policy tools to promote the development of renewable energy and energy conservation and emission reduction in the power industry, will inevitably be coupled with the electricity market. In order to study whether the coupled market can successfully achieve the goals of power supply structure adjustment and carbon emission reduction, this paper establishes a system dynamics (SD) model, analyzes the correlation and coordination mechanism among the green certificate market (TGC), carbon market (ET) and electricity market, including generation right trading, and simulates the changes of market price and power supply structure. The results show that (1) the power price under the coupling of three markets includes the TGC price and the ET price, so it is influenced by the ratio of renewable portfolio standards (RPS) and carbon reduction policy; (2) the combination of the TGC mechanism and the ET mechanism will be conducive to the optimization of long-term market power supply structure, so as to promote the realization of emission reduction targets; and (3) power generation rights trading, as a carbon reduction policy, will reduce the power generation of fossil energy in the short-term market, but in the long run, it will lead to the loss of momentum for the development of renewable energy. Therefore, regulators need to reasonably adjust different policies in order to give full play to the comprehensive regulatory role and help the energy and power industry and the low-carbon transformation of society. Full article

Polygeneration systems have significant potential for energy conservation and emission reduction and can effectively promote green and low-carbon development in energy-intensive industries, such as the iron and steel industry. However, its application faces the difficulty in technology selection under multiple objectives simultaneously, which is to determine the technology portfolio to achieve the synergy of energy conservation goals and air pollutant emission reduction goals, as well as ensure the economic benefits of the enterprises. This study investigated a case polygeneration system where the iron and steel plant are the core with four polygeneration paths and twenty polygeneration technologies. A multi-objective optimization model is developed to select the optimal technology combination of each polygeneration path under energy conservation, emission reduction, and cost control objectives, which is solved by the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II). The optimal results can reach significant energy conservation and emission reduction effects while obtaining economic benefits. However, synergistic and conflicting relationships among the objectives exist in both scales of iron and steel plants. The final decision scheme can achieve the mitigations equivalent to 15.9–27.1% and 16.3–42.6% of the energy consumption and air pollutant emissions of the steel enterprises with annual production of 3 Mt/a and 9 Mt/a, respectively. There are thirteen and twelve technologies that are selected as the final decision scheme in the polygeneration system in these two case enterprises. These findings demonstrate the significant roles the polygeneration system plays and provide critical insights and methodology in the technical selection of the polygeneration system. Full article

This paper aims to assess the return and downside risk of a decumulation portfolio established at the retirement age of a senior, with a determined lifetime horizon differentiated by the sex of the citizen. To measure the portfolio’s return and downside risk, two ratios conditioned by seniors’ risk attitude towards portfolio failure are employed: the downside Sortino ratio and the downside risk–return ratio. Unlike other research in the field, this manuscript provides three portfolio compositions catering to different senior investment profiles: aggressive, moderate, and conservative. Additionally, it offers a decumulation horizon conditioned by the sex-specific life expectancy of the individual, instead of offering different scenarios for conducting a sensitivity analysis. Lastly, this study was conducted across three socioeconomically distinct countries: the US, Spain, and Japan. The results clearly demonstrate that both sex and nationality significantly influence the selection of the optimal decumulation portfolio composition aimed at exhausting funds by the senior’s demise. Full article

Smallholder farmers in Ethiopia face increasing challenges from climate change and variability, which threaten their food security and livelihoods. This study examines how adopting single and combined climate change adaptation practices affects their vulnerability to food insecurity in Bench Maji Zone, southwest Ethiopia. Through multistage sampling, data were gathered from 390 rural households in four climate-prone districts. The study examines the impacts resulting from both individual and combined implementations of adaptation techniques. These techniques encompass crop management practices, soil and water conservation measures, and livelihood portfolio diversification strategies. The study employed the multinomial endogenous treatment effect regression model to address selection bias and endogeneity resulting from various sources of heterogeneity, whether observed or unobserved. The results show that farmers who adopted adaptation practices were less vulnerable to food insecurity than those who did not. The study also finds that adopting multiple practices has a more significant impact than adopting single practices. Our findings suggest that implementing climate change adaptation strategies can increase the resilience of smallholder farmers in the study area and decrease their vulnerability to food insecurity. The study recommends supporting farmers in adopting these strategies through research and development, information dissemination, and collaborations among farmers, researchers, and extension services. Full article

This study investigates the distinctive modeling of regret utility when compared with common utility. I also introduce the interplay between common utility and regret utility. Using this model, I examine the differences in decision making, which encompasses issues such as risk sharing and principal–agent dilemmas. Regret utility is set so that its risk aversion shows common utility’s prudence (i.e., downside risk aversion). This paper reveals, both qualitatively and quantitively and with a concrete model, that regret utility leads to a more balanced and optimal ratio of agent payouts to outputs compared with common utility, meaning when major outputs are kept by principal, there are relatively larger agent payouts, and when major outputs are kept by the agent, there are relatively smaller agent payouts. This means that regret makes a more balanced distribution, and regret utility is more conservative (not biased). In addition, preliminary empirical research was performed in which people were asked risk preference or averseness questions, and their risk averseness was calculated by using the CRRA (Constant Relative Risk Aversion) utility function. The regret condition leads to a more conservative attitude. Furthermore, the regret model can be used in other areas, like in conservative investment portfolio optimization. Full article

Assessments of synergies and trade-offs between climate change mitigation and forest biodiversity conservation have focused on set-aside areas. We evaluated a more comprehensive portfolio of silvicultural management adaptations to climate change and conservation measures exemplary for managed European beech forests. Based on the available literature, we assessed a range of common silvicultural management and conservation measures for their effects on carbon sequestration in forest and wood products and for substituting more carbon-intensive products. We complemented this review with carbon sequestration simulations for a typical mountainous beech forest region in Austria. We propose three priority actions to enhance the synergies between climate change mitigation and biodiversity. First, actively increase the proportion of European beech in secondary Norway spruce forests, even though beech will not be unaffected by expected water supply limitations. Secondly, optimize the benefits of shelterwood systems and promote uneven-aged forestry, and thirdly, enhance mixed tree species. Targeted conservation measures (deadwood, habitat trees, and old forest patches) increase the total C storage but decrease the annual C sequestration in forests, particularly in wood products. The establishment of a beech wood market with an extended product portfolio to reduce the use of fuelwood is essential for sustainable climate change mitigation. Since there are limitations in the production of saw timber quality beech wood on low fertility sites, C accumulation, and biodiversity can be emphasized in these areas. Full article

We review research on tourism and the environment using a temporal framework, distinct from previous reviews. We identify six main phases, all still active, but with different histories. Initially, tourism was treated as a low-impact component of transport and urban accommodation, and the focus was on recreation, ecology and visitor management in parks. Interest then turned to environmental management and corporate social responsibility: wastes, resources, and ecolabels. The third phase analysed positive economic contributions to conservation by a small number of tourism enterprises, principally through private reserves and park funding. The fourth focussed on climate change and carbon offsets, and the fifth on mental health and human capital. The sixth and newest phase is political. Tourism developers, industry associations, and lobbyists have stepped up their longstanding efforts to gain control of parks and protected areas, in order to profit from preferential access to public resources. These efforts now include international instruments as well as policies, practices, and legislation in individual countries. Tourism has become a catspaw for a new form of land grab by private wealth portfolios for high-value nature property. We draw attention to tourism development land grabs in public protected areas as a key priority for urgent research. Full article

Watershed Investment Programs (WIPs) face many challenges in implementing strategies aimed at restoring and preserving ecosystem services using Nature-based Solutions (NbS). A key challenge lies in defining SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) objectives, which involve addressing questions such as which NbS interventions to apply, where, and in what amounts. Effectively achieving WIPs’ objectives requires strategic implementation of NbS. In response to this challenge, we present SIGA-CALv1.0, a daily time-step and distributed modeling conceptual framework that enables the design and evaluation of the impact of NbS portfolios on water quantity and quality. To validate our framework, we applied it to the Arma river basin in Colombia. Our findings indicate that NbS can lead to substantial benefits, including reductions of up to 47% in sediment, 62% in nitrogen, 8% in phosphorus, and 15% in pathogen indicators (total coliforms). The proposed methodological framework offers decision-makers robust technical support for defining strategic NbS implementation plans, guided by SMART objectives. This approach strengthens the effectiveness of ecosystem services restoration and conservation strategies in watersheds, enabling more efficient resource allocation and improved environmental outcomes. Full article