Search Results (4,934)

Land use planning in the Black Soil Region of Northeast China must be sustainable, taking into account food security, water use, GHG emissions, and economic returns. Current crop suitability mapping and single-objective optimization studies tend to analyze crop occurrence, crop structure, and spatial allocation independently, which is of little value in spatial planning. In this study, a three-stage integrated approach is proposed, involving deep learning crop occurrence mapping, multi-objective crop structure optimization, and suitability-guided spatial allocation. During Stage I, a lightweight U-Net semantic segmentation model, BlackSoilCropNet, is developed to provide per-pixel occurrence probabilities of rice, maize, soybean, and other types of crops based on Sentinel-2 time series and auxiliary environmental predictors. In stage II, NSGA II will optimize the area structure of the crops and reduce water consumption and GHG emissions with the maximum profit under the constraints of the cropland, water, and production. Selected Pareto optimal solutions are transformed to crop allocation maps and transition hotspot outputs in Stage III. The framework resulted in three viable planning options. The economic priority scenario resulted in the highest profit (USD 27.9 billion), with higher water consumption and emissions. The environmental-priority scenario resulted in a reduction in water use to 118.2 × 10⁹ m³ and emissions to 50.9 MtCO₂e, but at the cost of lower production and profits. There was a balance between economic stability and an improved environment in the balanced scenario. The framework provides a reproducible, geospatial decision support approach for sustainable farming planning and black soil conservation overall. Full article

The Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) is highly sensitive to global climate change, and the stability of its grassland ecosystems is critical for regional ecological security and livestock development. Therefore, investigating future spatial distribution changes of dominant species on the QTP is of great importance for grassland management. In this study, an ensemble model was used to simulate and analyze the potential distribution and centroid migration directions of dominant species in alpine meadow, alpine grassland, desert grassland, and temperate grassland under current and future climate scenarios (SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5). The results show that the ensemble model achieved excellent predictive accuracy for all species (AUC > 0.9, TSS > 0.7, Kappa > 0.6). Elevation is the key factor governing species distribution, while climate drivers differ significantly among species. The distribution of dominant species in alpine meadow and alpine grassland is primarily co-driven by the mean monthly temperature range (MTR), isothermality (ISO), and annual precipitation (AP); desert grassland dominants are mainly influenced by AP and the mean temperature of the driest quarter (MTDQ); and temperate grassland dominants are driven by the precipitation of the coldest quarter (PCQ) and AP. The suitable habitats of dominant species in the future will generally expand towards high-altitude, high-latitude regions in the north and northwest, with centroid migration directions varying markedly among species. Specifically, the centroids of desert grassland dominants and S. bungeana in temperate grassland will migrate northwest under SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5, while N. splendens and S. krylovii in temperate grassland will migrate southwest. For alpine meadow and alpine grassland dominants, the centroids will generally move northwest under SSP2-4.5 but diverge under SSP5-8.5—E. nutans and S. purpurea in alpine grassland will continue to migrate northwest, whereas alpine meadow dominants and P. annua in alpine grassland will migrate east or northeast. This study provides a theoretical basis for grassland conservation, biodiversity conservation, and livestock production in response to climate change on the QTP. Full article

The preservation and development of traditional villages are often affected by careless and scattered methods. The conservation paradigm has shifted from focusing on individual villages to regional clusters. This paper examines 275 national-level traditional villages in Henan Province, China, and develops an integrated identification–evaluation–strategy framework. First, cluster identification was performed using the three-dimensional indicator system that combined spatial, historical, cultural, and distinctive resources. This study identifies 16 traditional village clusters using K-means clustering and presents a unified spatial structure referred to as “one pole, three cores, four belts, and multiple points.” Based on cluster identification, a dual-dimensional evaluation system, including internal and external elements, was established to assess the development potential of the identified clusters. The external factors, including ecological resources, humanistic resources, and supporting conditions, were evaluated using a suitability evaluation. Simultaneously, the internal factors, i.e., value potential, spatial potential, and functional potential, were evaluated through the Cloud Model. Lastly, according to the evaluation results and unique resource analysis, the clusters were classified into five development typologies, with a corresponding strategy suggested for each. The integrated framework provides a replicable approach for clustered conservation and revitalization of traditional villages, offering scientific support for regionally integrated heritage management and sustainable rural development. 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

Background: Dedicated artificial intelligence (AI) systems for fracture detection already exist, yet general-purpose multimodal models are increasingly accessible to clinicians despite not being developed or formally validated as medical devices. Their behavior in focused orthopedic imaging tasks remains insufficiently characterized. Purpose: To characterize how two accessible general-purpose multimodal models interpret AP pelvis radiographs with hip fractures, focusing on context dependence, overconfidence, and complementary error patterns within a surgically confirmed positive-only cohort. This was a behavioral characterization study of a fracture-positive cohort, not a diagnostic accuracy evaluation. Methods: In April 2026, we retrospectively studied 214 surgically confirmed hip fractures on AP pelvis radiographs using two general-purpose multimodal models under six prompting conditions. In runs A–D, the models were explicitly told that a hip fracture was present and were asked to classify it; in runs E–F, they were not told whether a hip fracture was present. Each image was rerun de novo in a separate chat session through vendor APIs using a fixed base prompt and no image preprocessing. We recorded hip-fracture detection, correct laterality, coarse fracture pattern, intracapsular displacement, AO/OTA grading, subtrochanteric identification, and self-reported confidence. Because the cohort contained hip fractures only, we report fracture-detection rates and classification performance within a positive-only cohort rather than full diagnostic-accuracy metrics. Results: Using the more conservative endpoint of hip-fracture detection with correct laterality, GPT-5.4 was correct in 79.0% and 86.4% of cases in runs E and F, whereas Gemini was correct in 80.4% and 93.5%, respectively. When outputs from both models were combined, this endpoint reached 89.7% in run E and 96.7% in run F, indicating complementary rather than redundant error patterns. Incorrect laterality cues markedly degraded performance, from 90.7% to 66.4% in GPT-5.4 and from 97.7% to 57.0% in Gemini. Performance remained limited for treatment-relevant subtyping, particularly AO/OTA grading and subtrochanteric identification. Both models frequently remained highly confident when wrong, and self-reported confidence did not reliably distinguish correct from incorrect outputs. Conclusions: Accessible general-purpose multimodal models showed partial capability for coarse hip-fracture interpretation, but they remained context-sensitive, unreliable for treatment-relevant subtyping, and highly confident even when incorrect. Their complementary error patterns are hypothesis-generating rather than evidence of clinical readiness. On the basis of these findings, we do not support unvalidated or uncontrolled clinical use of such models. As access to these tools expands, explicit usage boundaries, minimum performance expectations, repeated local revalidation, and sustained human oversight become increasingly necessary. Full article

Vegetated coastal wetlands, especially mangroves, seagrass beds, and salt marshes, are biodiversity-rich ecosystems whose blue carbon outcomes depend on living communities, sediment dynamics, hydrological connectivity, and landscape context. Biodiversity conservation and blue carbon management are often assessed through separate scientific, monitoring, and policy frameworks. This review uses a staged literature search and thematic synthesis to examine biodiversity–blue carbon linkages across the three major vegetated coastal wetland types. It considers how taxonomic, genetic, functional, and habitat diversity influence productivity, sediment stabilization, trophic exchange, carbon stocks, carbon burial, and carbon retention. It also evaluates how climate change, habitat fragmentation, hydrological alteration, pollution, and anthropogenic disturbance weaken these linkages. The synthesis compares representative carbon-stock and burial-rate baselines, examines conservation and restoration synergies and trade-offs, and expands the discussion of seagrass regime shifts. Field surveys, remote sensing, unmanned aerial vehicles, environmental DNA, and AI-enabled data integration are placed within a tiered monitoring framework. The review further develops an operational decision pathway for biodiversity-centered blue carbon management. Persistent blue carbon benefits arise where conservation and restoration maintain native communities, hydrological exchange, sediment stability, habitat complexity, migration space, and long-term stewardship capacity. Full article

Human papillomavirus type 53 (HPV53) is one of the most prevalent HPV genotypes in China, frequently detected in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cervical cancer, yet remains outside the coverage of all currently available prophylactic vaccines and is relatively understudied. This study performed a comprehensive analysis of HPV53 clinical infection profiles, genomic diversity, and T-cell epitopes to inform therapeutic vaccine development. Clinical analysis of 158 HPV53-positive patients showed that infections were most prevalent in women aged 40–59 years, with persistent infection identified in 13.3% participants and a subset of cases associated with cervical lesions. Genomic analysis of 134 HPV53 isolates identified four lineages (A-D, with lineage D further subdivided into four sublineages, and an overall nucleotide variability of 4.4%. E2 was the most variable protein while E7 was the most conserved. Immunoinformatic prediction identified 176 HLA class I-restricted T-cell epitopes across E6, E7, E1, and E2, from which 20 candidates were selected for experimental validation. Ten demonstrated strong HLA binding affinity in vitro, and murine immunization identified a E6 peptide VYNFAYTDL as an immunodominant epitope. Three validated epitopes exhibited sequence overlap with 12 to 13 of other 13 high-risk HPV genotypes, suggesting their potential as broadly cross-reactive targets. These findings clarify the genomic diversity and immunogenic epitope landscape of HPV53, providing a foundation for the rational design of therapeutic vaccines. Full article

The sustainable transformation of idle built environments represents a critical pathway for advancing low-carbon development and achieving carbon neutrality targets. This study examines how idle rural building stocks may contribute to sustainable built environment systems through rural building repurposing and regeneration strategies. It introduces the concept of Green Rural Centers (GRCs), multifunctional facilities formed through the adaptive reuse of idle buildings that integrate low-carbon design, community services, and local economic functions. Within the proposed framework, GRCs are conceptually characterized as facilities that may: (1) achieve 50–70% reductions in operational energy demand through passive and renewable measures, (2) incorporate two or more community-oriented functions (e.g., education, governance, cultural services), and (3) demonstrate embodied carbon savings of ≥40% compared to demolition-and-rebuild scenarios. Grounded in fieldwork from Fujian Province, China, and aligned with national policies, the study evaluates spatial transformation, carbon mitigation, and institutional integration. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines scenario-based carbon-reduction estimation and appraisal, spatial analysis, comparative case studies, and policy evaluation, the findings indicate that retrofitting 30% of approximately 68,000 idle rural schools could achieve approximately 734,400 metric tons of cumulative CO₂ reduction by 2060 under the baseline scenario. Under conservative and ambitious implementation conditions, the estimated cumulative reductions are approximately 408,000 and 1,224,000 metric tons of CO₂, respectively. Sensitivity analysis shows that moderate improvements in retrofit quality or implementation rates significantly amplify emissions reduction outcomes. Beyond environmental performance, the proposed framework may also support community resilience, decentralized service provision, and socio-economic revitalization. This research reframes idle building stock as a strategic asset within sustainable built environment systems, policy-relevant exploratory framework potentially adaptable to comparable rural contexts. This study contributes to the sustainable built environment discourse by demonstrating how underutilized rural building stocks can function as broader low-carbon rural regeneration systems. Full article

Introduction: Mediterranean coastal wetlands are highly dynamic ecosystems that support diverse fish communities and are often of high conservation value. The Ebro Delta is one of the most important coastal wetlands in the Western Mediterranean, and knowledge of fish assemblages is essential for its effective conservation and management. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding provides a non-invasive approach that can potentially complement conventional surveys for fish biodiversity monitoring. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the potential of eDNA metabarcoding as a complementary tool to conventional fyke net surveys for fish biodiversity monitoring in the Mediterranean coastal wetlands. Methodology: In 2022, fish assemblages were surveyed across 12 areas of the Ebro Delta using eDNA metabarcoding (12S MiFish) and conventional fyke net sampling. Results were compared with a 22-year historical dataset. Results: A total of 27 fish taxa were detected, 13 of which were exclusive to eDNA, 11 were shared between methods, and three were recorded only by fyke nets. The reliability of eDNA metabarcoding was supported by the detection of endangered species, such as Anguilla anguilla and Apricaphanius iberus; ubiquitous taxa, such as Atherina boyeri and Pomatoschistus microps; and invasive species, such as Gambusia holbrooki and Cyprinus carpio. Detection of invasive species was maximized using eDNA. While eDNA revealed higher species richness than fyke nets, community composition differed significantly between methods, reflecting distinct detection patterns. eDNA preferentially detected non-benthic species, whereas fyke nets were more robust for benthic taxa detection. eDNA recovered most historically recorded species but failed to detect some taxa, such as Misgurnus anguillicaudatus and Sardina pilchardus. Despite richness differences, the two methods provided complementary views of fish assemblages, highlighting method-specific detection limitations and opportunities. Conclusions: eDNA does not fully replace conventional surveys and their combined use improves the detection of threatened and invasive species, better supporting conservation and management. Full article

In zoo husbandry and wildlife conservation, accurate sex identification is critical for American mammals with indistinct sexual dimorphism, yet relevant molecular studies are limited. In this study, the Y-chromosomal SRY gene, a core male sex-determining factor in mammals, was investigated. Primers were designed for its conserved regions, and PCR amplification, sequencing, and bioinformatic analysis were conducted on seven Neotropical mammals (e.g., two-toed sloth, jaguar). Their SRY nucleotide sequence similarity reached 83.2–95.0%. Over 60 American mammals from Carnivora, Xenarthra, Primates, Artiodactyla and Rodentia were further analyzed via GenBank data: a phylogenetic tree was built, primer binding sites were predicted, and the target fragment was found to have purifying selection (dN/dS = 0.352) and span three HMG-box motifs. This study provides a potential cross-species sex identification method for American mammals, offering molecular support for precise zoo management and wild conservation, with important practical and scientific value. Full article

Across all kingdoms of life, ribosomes are indispensable molecular machines that translate genetic information into the proteome of living cells. The fundamental catalytic centers of the ribosome, constructed primarily from ribosomal RNA (rRNA), exhibit remarkable conservation between the major domains of life. The ribosome’s A-site deciphers the mRNA’s triplet code, while the P-site synthesizes the growing protein chain and the E-site provides exit for deacylated tRNA; a distinct tunnel facilitates nascent polypeptide export. While the conservation of ribosomal proteins is less pronounced between bacteria and eukaryotes, striking homology exists from simple eukaryotes to humans. Ribosomal proteins were traditionally viewed mainly as scaffolding agents, steering rRNA folding during ribosome biogenesis and maintaining structural stability during translation. However, since the early 2000s, advances in structural and functional ribosome analysis have ushered in a more nuanced paradigm: ribosomes are no longer considered uniform machines. Instead, an array of rRNA and ribosomal protein modifications generates a spectrum of ribosome populations capable of specialized translation. RiboScreen^TM technology leverages this regulatory potential of individual ribosomal proteins, enabling deliberate modulation of target protein output and representing a promising tool for correcting dysregulated protein expression involved in rare and common diseases. This review will first introduce relevant aspects of ribosome biology and then showcase the tools of this new technology. Finally, we report examples for the delivery of small molecules to target ribosomal proteins for tailored restoration of protein production levels in rare and prevalent diseases. Full article

Background/Objectives: First-generation CDK4/6 inhibitors (palbociclib, ribociclib, abemaciclib) target the conserved ATP-binding pocket of CDK4 and, despite clinical success, are limited by acquired resistance and insufficient exploration of alternative regulatory sites. This study aimed to identify a putative allosteric small-molecule candidate at the CDK4 αE-helix–Cyclin D1 α1-helix protein–protein interaction (PPI) interface within the CDK4/Cyclin D1/p21 ternary complex using RapidFunnel-AI, a decision-interpretable virtual-screening pipeline. Methods: Starting from 50,000 ChEMBL 33 molecules, the pipeline sequentially applied a Q-Fold/RapidFunnel topological Tanimoto scan based on clinical CDK4/6 inhibitor motifs, fragment-level electronic-property enrichment, ADMET/PAINS filtering, dry Vina-GPU docking, hydration-mediated AutoDock-GPU (Version 1.6) docking, explicit-solvent molecular dynamics, contact-retention analysis, and MM-GBSA energy decomposition. The Q-Fold Thermo-Core surrogate model provided fragment-level enrichment, predicting the HOMO–LUMO gap (R² = 0.93) and isotropic polarizability (R² = 0.98) on QM9. Candidate selection did not rely on the lowest docking or MM-GBSA score alone, but on pose persistence, contact continuity, and energy-component consistency. Results: The workflow reduced the initial library to 43 topologically prioritized candidates, 25 ADMET/PAINS-filtered ligands, and 9 docking-derived complexes for MD validation. Ligand_020 emerged as the only candidate that preserved a persistent binding mode at Site 2 during a 500 ns simulation—an interface engagement reproduced across three independent 500 ns replicates with no full dissociation in any replicate—with a protein Cα RMSD of 2.88 ± 0.32 Å, a ligand heavy-atom RMSD of 3.56 ± 0.28 Å, and a van der Waals-dominated MM-GBSA profile (ΔGbind = −28.23 ± 3.57 kcal/mol). In contrast, palbociclib and ribociclib, forcibly placed at Site 2 as negative controls, lost most initial contacts within 5 ns and tended to detach despite more favorable MM-GBSA values. Conclusions: These results suggest that single-score docking or MM-GBSA ranking can generate false positives at shallow PPI interfaces. By integrating AI-assisted prioritization, multipocket docking, explicit-solvent MD, contact-retention analysis, and energy-component consistency, RapidFunnel-AI nominated Ligand_020 as an experimentally testable putative allosteric hit targeting the CDK4/Cyclin D1 interface, offering a reusable platform for PPI-focused oncological drug discovery. Full article

This study aimed to evaluate the maternal genetic diversity and mitochondrial population structure of once endangered indigenous chicken breeds in China under current conservation conditions. The genetic characteristics of six endangered indigenous chicken breeds, namely the Bian chicken, Jinyang Silky chicken, Pudong chicken, Xiaoshan chicken, Zhongshan Shalan chicken, and Pengxian Yellow chicken, were analyzed based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) D-loop region sequences. Blood samples were collected from the wing vein. The D-loop region was amplified by PCR, and genetic characteristics were analyzed using bioinformatics approaches. A total of 368 individuals were amplified and sequenced, yielding complete D-loop sequences of 1231 and 1232 bp. Sequence alignment identified 42 polymorphic sites, with a hypervariable region primarily located between 167 and 446 bp. The overall haplotype diversity, nucleotide diversity, and the average number of nucleotide differences were 0.876 ± 0.010, 0.00603 ± 0.00012, and 7.426, respectively, with significant inter-breed variation. Haplotype analysis identified 32 haplotypes belonging to haplogroups A, B, C, E, F, and G. The proportion of breed-specific and shared haplotypes varied among breeds, and several high-frequency haplotypes were widely distributed across populations. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated that the majority of genetic variation occurred within breeds (83.41%), whereas among-breed variation accounted for 16.59% (Fst = 0.166), suggesting moderate population differentiation. The median-joining haplotype network exhibited a radial pattern centered on several core haplotypes, with no evidence of breed-specific clustering of maternal lineages. Neutrality tests (Tajima’s D and Fu’s Fs) yielded non-significant results, consistent with neutral evolution. However, mismatch distribution analyses suggested possible population expansion in the Zhongshan Shalan chicken and Pengxian Yellow chicken. In summary, the six endangered indigenous chicken breeds retain a moderate level of maternal genetic diversity under current conservation conditions. However, differences among breeds were observed in the maintenance of genetic diversity and population structure. Full article

The Iberian barbel (Luciobarbus bocagei Steindachner, 1864) is a potamodromous species that displays migratory movements, with adults moving upstream during spring to spawn, followed by downstream migration in autumn by both adults and juveniles to feed and inhabit more productive river stretches. Increasing river fragmentation due to dam construction and operation causes a loss of connectivity and suitable habitat, which can affect this natural behaviour. In a tributary of River Douro, River Tua, a 108 m high dam, was recently built (i.e., Foz Tua dam in 2017) at only 1.1 km from the river mouth, leaving the upstream spawning area inaccessible. To evaluate the species behavioural response to this impact, a passive acoustic telemetry array was deployed in the study area, and between 2018 and 2023, 120 tagged fish had their movements tracked. The results showed two different behavioural profiles in the same population with migratory (42.5%) and resident (54.0%) individuals. During this period, a specific experimental study was developed to evaluate the response of a subset of 90 fish, captured upstream of the Foz Tua dam and translocated to an alternative downstream Douro tributary (River Pinhão, ~20 km downstream from River Tua). From these, 66.7% remained at the release site, whilst 23.3% returned to the river of origin, i.e., River Tua. From the returned fraction, 28.6% of the tagged fish maintained this migratory behaviour between both rivers in the following years. Generalized Additive Models were used for each of the two behavioural profiles observed in this study, to identify which environmental variables were associated with the presence of the tagged barbels downstream the Foz Tua dam. Ecological flow, temperature and day-period were some of the predictors explaining the use of this river stretch downstream of Foz Tua dam. This study substantially updates the available information regarding this species’ movement patterns at large spatial and temporal scales, contributing to enhancement of management and conservation programs for potamodromous species, in highly impounded and fragmented rivers. Full article

Individual tree crown (ITC) segmentation in structurally complex mixed forests remains challenging under limited annotation, uneven effective height-structure support, and severe inter-crown adhesion. Existing end-to-end instance segmentation methods often require substantial instance-level annotation, and their cross-domain transferability can degrade when applied to plots with different forest structures. This study proposes a probabilistic prior-constrained instance reconstruction framework that treats semantic segmentation output as an interpretable canopy prior and reconstructs object-level crowns through a structured post-processing pipeline. A height-aware canopy support mask (HCSM) converts the probability field into a credible operational domain through hysteresis thresholding, morphological reconstruction, and a height constraint. Constrained recovery within the support domain (E2GROW) repairs coverage deficiency through spatially bounded boundary adjustment with guard rails on area ratio and buffer distance. Selective splitting then addresses residual merge errors through branch-specific seed-guided partitioning, including an aggressive Voronoi reference branch and a more conservative LOCAL/marker-controlled watershed branch with explicit trigger and child-object filtering criteria. An instance-level evaluation loop based on Gate-3 Recall, a precision proxy, and threshold-crossing audits is used during module development as an iterative safeguard. On a single 500 × 500 m mixed conifer–broadleaf plot with 306 reference crowns retained for evaluation, the high-Recall VORv1 branch improves Recall from 0.369 to 0.673 over the internal R2 baseline produced by the semantic-prior-to-instance initialization procedure, whereas the balanced E2GROW configuration achieves the highest F1_proxy with fewer predicted objects; the overall gain originates from two distinct mechanisms: threshold-crossing boundary recovery for coverage-deficient crowns and local structural decomposition for merged crown groups. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the support-domain construction is stable across the explored parameter ranges, and that the two splitting branches realize a structural Recall–precision trade-off with no evidence of simple additive gains. The framework is modular and auditable, and its demonstrated applicability is strongest for annotation-scarce closed-canopy plots where a usable semantic canopy prior and height information are available. The reported evidence represents a single-site, within-plot methodological demonstration. Full article