Search Results (3,823)

Digital platforms became central to institutional participation during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet little is known about how participants experience digitally mediated decision-making processes and which conditions foster high-quality deliberation. Guided by an ecological perspective from community psychology, this study examined university staff’s experiences with platform-based participation, focusing on the relationship between online participation practices, digital empowerment, and perceived deliberative quality. In November 2021, faculty and technical/administrative staff at an Italian university (N = 673) completed an online questionnaire assessing platform use (Microsoft Teams), participation practices, perceived benefits and limitations of digital platforms, digital empowerment, and deliberative quality (critical awareness and engagement). Exploratory factor analyses supported multidimensional measures of platform perceptions and deliberative quality. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that interaction rules and perceived improvements in participation processes were the strongest predictors of deliberative quality. Platform benefits related to participatory quality were positively associated with both outcomes, while efficiency-related benefits showed a small negative association with critical awareness. Digital empowerment uniquely predicted deliberative engagement above and beyond participation practices. Overall, results suggest that deliberative quality in digital institutional settings depends more on structured interaction and empowerment-supportive conditions than on platform use frequency, with implications for designing sustainable online and hybrid participatory processes. Full article

Indigenous cultures in Taiwan embody rich ecological knowledge and strong environmental conservation values. However, elementary and secondary education often provides limited exposure to these cultures due to geographic constraints and insufficient instructional resources, relying primarily on textbooks and teacher-centered teaching methods. Such approaches restrict experiential learning, which may diminish students’ motivation and depth of understanding. However, 360-degree virtual reality (VR360) enables immersive simulations of authentic environments, increasing the accessibility of cultural and ecological education through smartphones and low-cost Google Cardboard. In addition, drone technology enhances learning by offering multiple perspectives for environmental exploration and data collection. This study examines the effectiveness of integrating a VR360 and virtual drone system into instruction focused on the ecological context of Sun Moon Lake and Thao Indigenous culture. Learning outcomes for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students were compared in terms of learning effectiveness, motivation, cognitive load, and technology acceptance. Ecological and cultural materials were collected through field investigations and drone photography, enabling students to explore landscapes from a first-person perspective and engage with Thao cultural practices and their relationship with local ecology. The findings indicate that the proposed VR-based system significantly enhances learning experiences and demonstrates strong potential for cultural and ecological education, offering valuable guidance for the design of future immersive instructional strategies and learning materials related to Indigenous cultures. Full article

Adaptive reuse has emerged to become a tool for implementing the understanding of sustainability in the domain of architectural conservation, as it encourages the continued usage of old buildings as means of reducing environmental impact, as well as preserving socio-cultural capital while generating economic income. However, in its practice, the decisions regarding granting meanings, interpretation, and preserving memories within adaptation processes are dominated by expert-driven approaches that inadequately incorporate stakeholder values or intangible heritage dimensions. To this end, this study aims to contribute to the current debate by adopting a participatory co-evaluation framework that integrates both authenticity perspectives and sustainability dimensions using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) for evaluating adaptive reuse alternatives for an abandoned prefabricated wooden heritage building. Stakeholder priorities were drawn through a workshop and transformed into normalized weights using the Simos technique. Four design alternative typologies—namely, Continuity, Cultivation, Differential, and Optimization—were assessed and compared against 20 performance indicators across heritage, social, ecological, and economic criteria using the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). Indicator-level analyses and sensitivity tests (±10% and ±20% weight variations) were applied to confirm the robustness of rankings. The results from the best-performing alternative demonstrated the trade-offs between heritage authenticity and sustainability objectives, as well as demonstrating how combining participatory methods with quantitative evaluation can support evidence-based decision-making for adaptive reuse. The applied integrated framework helps bridge the gap between heritage theory and practice by combining authenticity, participation, and sustainability in one analytical approach, supporting evidence-based decisions for adaptive reuse. Full article

With increasing demand for wellness tourism, identifying the key factors influencing emotional perceptions is essential for optimizing destination planning and management. Although Anhui Province has experienced rapid growth in wellness tourism destinations in recent years, scientific understanding of tourists’ emotional perceptions and their driving mechanisms has lagged behind this rapid expansion, a gap that can be addressed by integrating big data with spatial analysis to provide a scientific perspective for optimizing destination planning and informing regional wellness tourism policy. To address this gap, this study conducts a sentiment analysis of wellness bases in Anhui Province using user-generated content (UGC) data. Sentiment scores were quantified via SnowNLP, while kernel density, time-series, and multivariate statistical analyses were applied to examine spatial distributions, temporal dynamics of sentiments and review volumes, and emotional driving factors. The results indicate a spatial pattern of higher density in the south, lower density in the north, and dual-core agglomeration, closely linked to natural resource endowments. Temporally, sentiment scores rise in spring and summer and decline in winter, while review volumes peak in spring and autumn. Overall regression analyses reveal a significant positive effect of green coverage and a negative effect of accommodation prices. In the typological analysis, sentiment scores of Forest Wellness Bases (FWBs) relate to green coverage and negative ions, while Hydrological Wellness Bases (HWBs), Traditional Chinese Medicine Wellness Bases (TCMWBs), and Wellness Towns (WTs) are driven by the combined effects of facility services, locational price, and ecological environment. These findings provide a scientific basis for the sustainable development and differentiated management of wellness tourism destinations. Full article

Serving as a link between cities and villages, small towns play a crucial role in reducing the disparity between urban and rural areas. The spaces of small towns in Southern Jiangsu Province not only showcase the landscape style of production–living–ecological but also embody local cultural characteristics, acting as a unique “container” for preserving the memory of Jiangnan water towns. However, during the urbanization process, these spaces often fail to respect the principles of landscape locality, instead favoring standardization and efficient designs that overlook human perspectives on landscape perception and understanding. This results in the “homogenization” and “heterogenization” of Jiangnan small towns landscape spaces. As county urbanization shifts toward improving human environments, human-scale spatial perception has become key to localized planning. By combining street view photos with deep learning, the ‘2bulu’ dataset supports large-scale analysis of crowd perception and precise detection of spatial and landscape features. This study investigated the proportions of landscape elements in the small towns’ town–rural–wilderness of Wujiang District that play a direct role in shaping people’s perceived visual identity and sense of cultural resonance, assessed the spatial distribution of perceived landscape locality scores, and revealed the positive or negative correlations between the proportions of visual landscape elements and the sense of place. This study analyzed perceived landscape locality in Wujiang small towns based on crowd perception, exploring which town–rural–wilderness landscape elements are perceived as having local character, and highlighted the importance of preserving locality through integrated town–rural–wilderness landscape elements. The findings offer insights for quantitative measuring landscape locality perception and support planning of appropriate local landscapes in Jiangnan small towns. Full article

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) represent a distinct dietary paradigm characterized by structurally simplified food matrices and chronic exposure to multiple additives, including emulsifiers, artificial sweeteners, and preservatives. Rather than acting in isolation, these compounds operate within a multi-additive environment that reshapes the gut ecosystem through convergent mechanisms. Emerging evidence suggests that additive-rich ultra-processed dietary environments may disrupt the gut ecosystem through three interconnected layers: (1) structural impairment of the intestinal barrier, including mucus erosion and tight-junction destabilization; (2) microbial metabolic shifts marked by short-chain fatty acid depletion, altered bile acid signaling, and enrichment of lipopolysaccharide-producing taxa; and (3) immune and inflammatory reprogramming promoting low-grade systemic inflammation. These processes collectively reduce ecosystem resilience—the capacity of the gut microbiota to resist and recover from perturbation. Vulnerability to additive-driven dysbiosis varies across the life course. During infancy, incomplete ecosystem stabilization may increase susceptibility to long-term ecological imprinting, whereas in older age, reduced microbial diversity and immune remodeling may impair recovery capacity following dietary stressors. In contrast, fiber-rich, minimally processed dietary patterns appear to enhance microbial resilience by reinforcing functional redundancy, metabolic buffering, and barrier integrity. Although much mechanistic evidence has been derived from experimental models, accumulating human data support the biological plausibility of additive-associated microbiota alterations. By integrating multi-additive exposure, ecosystem disruption, life-course modulation, and resilience within a unified framework, this review provides a mechanistically coherent model linking ultra-processed dietary environments to microbiota-mediated chronic disease risk. Here, we formalize this integrative perspective as the Three-Layer Ecosystem Disruption (TLED) Model. Full article

Against the backdrop of global climate change, enhancing urban adaptive capacity to climate shocks has become a critical issue for sustainable urban development. Based on this, this study treats the Climate-Adaptive City Pilot (CACP) policy in China as a quasi-natural experiment and employs a difference-in-differences (DID) approach to empirically evaluate its impact on urban ecological resilience, using panel data from Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2010 to 2023. Heterogeneity and mechanism analyses are further conducted to explore differential policy effects and underlying transmission channels. The results indicate that the Climate-Adaptive City Pilot policy significantly enhances urban ecological resilience, and this finding remains robust after a series of robustness checks, including winsorized regressions, propensity score matching, time placebo tests, and individual placebo tests. Further analysis reveals that the policy effects are more pronounced in cities with lower or higher levels of human capital development, as well as in cities with low to medium water resource endowments. Mechanism analysis suggests that resilient infrastructure investment and green technological innovation constitute the key pathways through which the pilot policy improves urban ecological resilience. From the perspective of urban ecological resilience, this study provides empirical evidence on the effectiveness of climate-adaptive city pilot policies and offers important policy implications for deepening the implementation of climate-adaptive city initiatives, designing context-sensitive adaptation strategies, and improving urban climate adaptation governance mechanisms. Full article

Boron is a chemically distinctive bioelement whose electron-deficient structure enables reversible coordination with oxygen-rich functional groups such as diols and hydroxyls. This property allows boron to modulate molecular stability, conformation, and biological reactivity, giving rise to both beneficial pharmacological effects and toxicological outcomes. This review examines the dual biological role of boron through the framework of bioactive boron-containing natural products and natural compounds capable of forming reversible boron complexes. Particular attention is given to naturally occurring boron-containing antibiotics, including the polyketide macrodiolides boromycin, aplasmomycin, tartrolons, and hyaboron, where boron plays a direct structural and functional role in antimicrobial activity. These compounds demonstrate how boron coordination can influence ion transport, membrane interactions, and molecular assembly, contributing to potent antibacterial properties. Beyond intrinsically boron-containing metabolites, many natural antibiotics and toxins possess oxygen-rich architectures capable of forming transient borate complexes through vicinal 1,2-diol motifs. Examples include polyene macrolide antibiotics such as amphotericin B, fungichromin, and nystatin, as well as tetracyclines, rifamycins, and macrolides such as sorangicin A, where boron coordination may affect solubility, aggregation, ionophoric behavior, and biological selectivity. Similar chemistry is observed in marine neurotoxins and polyether toxins—including tetrodotoxin, saxitoxin derivatives, azaspiracids, pectenotoxins, ciguatoxins, and gambierones—whose hydroxyl-rich frameworks enable reversible interactions with boron species present in seawater. Such complexation may enhance aqueous stability and contribute to trophic transfer and bioaccumulation within marine ecosystems. By framing boron as a molecular “double edge,” this review integrates chemical, biological, and environmental perspectives to highlight how boron coordination can simultaneously enhance antimicrobial activity while influencing toxicity and ecological persistence. Recognizing the role of boron in shaping the activity of natural products provides new insight into antibiotic function, toxin behavior, and the broader impact of boron chemistry in biological systems. Full article

The tourism and hospitality sector in Saudi Arabia is undergoing rapid sustainability transformation under the strategic direction of Vision 2030. This study examines the maturity of Sustainability Actions (SAs), their key drivers, and implementation barriers, comparing the perceptions of industry practitioners and academic experts. Using a qualitative abductive research design based on 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews with industry and academic experts in Saudi Arabia, followed by thematic analysis using a machine learning Qualcoder 3.7 software, the findings reveal both convergence and divergence between the two groups. While both recognize Vision 2030 as the primary catalyst and acknowledge financial costs and knowledge gaps as major barriers, industry experts emphasize operational efficiency and short-term performance outcomes, whereas academics advocate systemic transformation grounded in circular economy principles and long-term socio-ecological regeneration. The results demonstrate that sustainability adoption in Saudi Arabia is shaped not only by market demand but also by a strong government-led institutional framework that accelerates sectoral change. The findings are structured across environmental, social, and economic sustainability dimensions, offering differentiated implications for industry practitioners and academic stakeholders within emerging tourism economies. The study contributes to sustainability and tourism and hospitality literature by offering a comparative multi-perspective analysis and by conceptualizing sustainability transition as a hybrid model combining policy direction, market incentives, and knowledge collaboration. Managerially, the findings highlight the need for regulatory clarity, targeted financial mechanisms, capacity building, and stronger industry–academia integration to institutionalize sustainability practices in emerging tourism economies. Full article

The political transition in Syria following the fall of the Al-Assad regime in December 2024 has renewed debates about refugee return. This study examines Syrian refugees’ intentions to return from Jordan and the factors shaping these decisions using a mixed-method design. A stratified random sample of 1070 refugees residing in host areas and camps was surveyed through telephone interviews, complemented by four focus group discussions and two key informant interviews with experts. Although 61% of respondents expressed an intention to return, only 20% indicated concrete or immediate plans, suggesting that return remains largely aspirational rather than imminent. Access to housing and property (55%), economic condition (46%), and safety and security (40%) emerged as central determinants, indicating that structural barriers, rather than regime change alone, shape decision-making. Qualitative findings further reveal that emotional attachment to Syria sustains return aspirations, yet financial hardship, debt in Jordan, and housing destruction in Syria constrain refugees’ capabilities to act. These findings underscore that voluntary, safe, and dignified repatriation depends not only on addressing structural barriers in Syria, but also on maintaining essential protection and support for Syrian refugees in Jordan. Full article

Geometric morphometrics is an important component of quantitative research on insect morphology, widely applied in taxonomy, intraspecific variation, and phylogenetic studies. However, systematic research in this field remains limited, with few comprehensive summaries of research trends, hotspots, and core theories. This study, based on scientometric methods, analyzed 1321 publications indexed in the Web of Science database up to 31 December 2025, and presents a meta-scientific review from a macro perspective, revealing the research trends, hotspots, and future directions in the field. The results show that: (1) annual publications exhibit overall growth, while research methods evolved from single landmark analysis to multimodal and interdisciplinary approaches; (2) scientists from Brazil, the USA, and France are major contributors, with studies spanning morphology, taxonomy, and ecology; (3) taxonomic studies centered on wing shape analysis constitutes a major research hotspot, closely related to phylogeny, allometry, and sexual dimorphism; (4) highly co-cited studies provide the main theoretical and methodological foundations for the field. Future research, building on existing hotspots, will further integrate geometric morphometrics with genomics, ecological functional data, three-dimensional geometric morphometrics, and artificial intelligence-assisted approaches to advance integrative taxonomy within interdisciplinary and data-driven frameworks. Full article

This study employs bibliometric analysis, utilizing the visualization tools CiteSpace 6.3.R1 and VOSviewer 1.6.18, to systematically examine 8727 documents from the Web of Science Core Collection (2000–2024) related to “resilient cities” and “urban resilience.” It explores the evolution of resilient city research, current international trends, practical developments in China, and future directions. The study addresses key questions concerning the theoretical foundations of resilient cities, research advances in the security field, China’s implementation pathways, and emerging trends. Findings indicate that resilient city discourse has evolved from a narrow focus on engineering-based disaster prevention toward a multidimensional, socio-ecological–economic adaptive system. This progression can be divided into three phases: the theoretical foundation period (2000–2008), the technological integration period (2009–2018), and the complex crisis response period (2019–present). Internationally, practices are increasingly centered on climate change adaptation, supported by multi-level governance frameworks such as the MCR2030 initiative. China demonstrates a “dual-track” approach that combines policy-driven initiatives with localized innovations, advancing through international pilot projects, domestic policy experimentation, and grassroots exploration. The study also highlights differences between Chinese and Western research in perspectives, methodologies, and theoretical frameworks. Future resilient city development is expected to emphasize systematization, digitalization, and equity, leveraging technologies such as digital twins and artificial intelligence while fostering community participation and multi-scale collaborative governance. By systematically outlining the theoretical evolution and practical logic of resilient cities, this study offers insights for urban resilience building in developing countries and provides a methodological reference for enhancing resilience capabilities across different administrative levels. Full article

Understanding the intricate interrelationships among ecosystem services (ESs) is fundamental to advancing sustainable ecological management. This study focuses on the Taihu Basin and examines five representative ESs, including water yield (WY), carbon sequestration (CS), soil retention (SR), habitat quality (HQ), and crop production (CP), for the years 2000, 2010, and 2020. Spatial distribution characteristics and spatiotemporal dynamics were quantified through the combined application of the InVEST model, a food production model, and ArcGIS. Spearman correlation analysis and K-means clustering were then applied to characterize trade-offs and synergies among ESs and to delineate ecosystem service bundles at multiple spatial scales, including 1 km × 1 km grids, 10 km × 10 km grids, and the county level, while GeoDetector was used to identify the associated driving mechanisms. The results indicated that (1) between 2000 and 2020, the spatial distribution pattern of the ESs in the Taihu Basin underwent significant changes, with WY and SR increasing by 48.97% and 51.89%, respectively, while HQ, CS, and CP decreased by 17.2%, 15.5%, and 47.6%. (2) From an overall perspective of trade-offs and synergies, the interactions among ESs shifted from trade-offs (r < 0) to synergies (r > 0) as the scale increased. From the perspective of the spatial characteristics of trade-offs and synergies, the intensity of these interactions varied significantly with increasing scale, but the trend remained relatively stable. (3) The Taihu Basin can be categorized into six ES bundles (ESBs). ESB 1, ESB 3, ESB 4, and ESB 5 have relatively stable ES structures, whereas ESBs 2 and 6 display significant variations. (4) The primary factors influencing ESs vary significantly across different spatial scales, with land use/land cover (LULC) and the proportions of arable land, forestland, and buildings exhibiting strong explanatory power. This highlights the critical role of coupled natural and anthropogenic processes in shaping the spatial patterns of ESs. This study considers the spatiotemporal variation and scale dependence of ecosystem services, providing management recommendations tailored to different regions and spatial scales, and offering a scientific basis for regional ecological planning and watershed governance. Full article

This article develops the concept of Housing for Artful Ageing by integrating theoretical perspectives from Artful Ageing philosophy with empirical insights from an anthropological study of housing for older adults in Copenhagen. Drawing on Jon Dag Rasmussen’s concept of ‘the housing area for older adults’ particular (care) ecology’, we argue that successful housing for older adults requires attention to both spatial (physical–material) and spacious (inclusive–experiential) dimensions of ageing lives. Through detailed analysis of everyday life in Guldbergs Have, a housing area for older adults in Copenhagen, we demonstrate how micro-interactions, sensory experiences, and minor gestures create an ecological whole that supports wellbeing beyond biomedical paradigms of successful ageing. Synthesising Manning’s theory of minor gestures with Basting’s creative care approach, we show how Artful Ageing transforms ageing from a narrative of decline into a dynamic process of becoming. We propose design principles and policy implications for creating housing that enables artful processes of becoming in later life, challenging the pathologising tendencies of active ageing discourse through attention to the small ageing experiences that constitute meaningful everyday existence. Full article

A thorough understanding of the microbial ecology of meat products, dominated by critical pathogens such as Salmonella spp., Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli, and Listeria monocytogenes, and marked by risks of resistant biofilm formation and vulnerabilities specific to informal commercial sectors, underscores the need to transition from conventional inert barriers to active nanostructured packaging systems. This review critically analyses the current state of antimicrobial nanomaterials, dissecting their molecular mechanisms of action and dynamic interactions designed to preserve sensory and nutritional food quality. Beyond technical effectiveness, the paper highlights the inherent tension between technological innovation and toxicological uncertainties, addressing major challenges related to migration kinetics in complex lipid matrices and the uneven global regulatory landscape. Main limitations of frequently investigated materials, along with regulatory discrepancies among international authorities and safety variables, are discussed to contextualise the current barriers to industrial implementation. We conclude that although nanotechnology represents a transformative force for extending shelf life, safety validation through rigorous assessment of migration remains imperative to harmonise scientific progress with public health protection. This integrative perspective highlights the imperative of calibrating nanostructural architecture to the bioactive profile, providing strategic design directions essential for the sustainable translation of experimental innovation to industrial scale. Full article