Search Results (14,159)

The use of non-biodegradable plastic food packaging materials has become a major environmental concern. These plastics release chemicals and microplastics during degradation, harming wildlife and entering the food chain, posing risks to both environmental and human health. This study aimed to evaluate electrospun poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) mats incorporating natural antibacterial Thymus vulgaris L. extract (TE) and natural crosslinker citric acid (CA) as alternative food packaging materials. Packaging mats with TE and/or CA combinations in PVP were evaluated for their structural, chemical, optical, and shelf-life-enhancing effects on blueberries. The results show that dissolving PVP in TE extract and adding CA in PVP ethanol-water or TE-based solutions significantly affected the viscosity and conductivity of the electrospinning solutions, thereby influencing the morphology of electrospun mats. FTIR analysis confirmed the incorporation of TE into the polymer and indicated CA induced hydrogen bonding, interactions that may reduce the polymer chain mobility and increase the brittleness of the electrospun mat. In tests with blueberries, it was estimated that the commonly used traditional food film minimized blueberry weight loss, whereas the porous electrospun PVP and PVP/TE mats allowed greater moisture release and preserved better visual quality by reducing wrinkling and dehydration. Overall, electrospun PVP-based mats functionalized with TE show promise as sustainable food packaging materials that balance moisture management with product appearance. Full article

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) remain a significant global challenge, affecting approximately 7% of patients in developed countries and over 10% in developing regions, according to the World Health Organization. Medical textiles, particularly hospital bed linens and pillowcases, play a critical role in the transmission of pathogenic microorganisms due to their porous structure and moisture-retaining properties, which support microbial survival and proliferation, including bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Conventional disinfection methods, including laundering and thermal treatments, provide only temporary protection, leading to rapid recontamination during use. In recent years, various antimicrobial agents and functionalization techniques have been developed to impart long-lasting antiseptic properties to textile materials. However, these approaches differ significantly in terms of antimicrobial efficiency, durability, cost-effectiveness, and environmental impact, making the selection of optimal strategies challenging for practical healthcare applications. This review provides a comprehensive comparative analysis of antimicrobial agents used in healthcare textile functionalization, including metal-based nanoparticles, organic compounds, and bio-based materials. In addition, it evaluates key modification methods such as coating, padding, and in situ synthesis, with particular emphasis on their influence on antimicrobial performance, wash durability, and practical applicability. Furthermore, this review discusses major challenges associated with the use of antiseptic coatings, including toxicity, environmental concerns, and economic limitations. Based on the analysis, promising directions for the development of safer, cost-effective, and durable antimicrobial textile systems are highlighted, offering valuable insights for future research and real-world healthcare applications. Full article

Corporations are under mounting pressure from diverse stakeholders to address their climate change commitments amidst rising environmental concerns. In response, companies are improving their governance structures to strengthen their climate commitments. This study explores the impact of green directors on the disclosure of climate change targets (CTD), prompted by the recent developments in corporate structures. The dataset for this study includes companies listed on China’s A-share market from 2010 to 2022. The findings indicate that the inclusion of directors with environmental backgrounds on boards enhances the level of CTD. Results also reveal that the entry of eco-conscious investors amplifies the impact of green directors on CTD. The mediation results identify corporate environmental attention as a key mechanism through which green directors drive CTD. The findings remain robust when considering different proxies, variations over time, and checks for endogeneity. Additionally, heterogeneity analysis suggests that the influence of green directors on CTD is pronounced for sensitive sector firms and those exhibiting low sustainability performance. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on corporate environmental governance and provides valuable insights for policymakers and corporate leaders seeking to enhance environmental transparency and accountability. Full article

Environmental concerns over plastic-based adhesives highlight the urgent need for biodegradable alternatives. This study transforms milkfish (Chanos chanos) skin waste from the fishery industry into a collagen–polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) biohybrid adhesive stick for paper bonding. Milkfish showed the highest adhesive strength among twenty species, requiring ≥213.7 mg/g hydroxyproline for optimal performance. Type I collagen was confirmed via Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and amino acid composition, and the extraction yield reached 68.82%. The fish skin collagen–PVP glue stick demonstrated paper adhesion and physicochemical properties comparable to starch-based and commercial glues, with lower hardness and more dry adhesive per unit area. Sensory evaluation using quantitative descriptive analysis revealed no significant differences (p < 0.05) compared to commercial glue sticks, except for increased glue consumption and reduced shape retention. The shelf life exceeded 70 days. Collagen adhesive from fish skin offers comparable efficiency to chemical and other bio-based adhesives, providing a sustainable solution that promotes the circular economy and green innovation. Full article

The large-scale generation of asphalt dust waste (ADW) has raised increasing environmental concerns, while its high-value utilization in cementitious materials remains insufficiently explored, particularly in terms of mechanical performance, durability-related properties, and integrated sustainability evaluation. In this study, a graded utilization strategy based on particle size was proposed to incorporate ADW into alkali-activated concrete paving blocks, in which fine ADW fraction (<0.075 mm) was used as a partial replacement of blast furnace slag (BFS), while the coarser ADW fraction was used as a partial replacement of river sand, aiming at sustainable pavement applications. In addition, two types of ADW with different lithologies, namely limestone ADW and basalt ADW, along with their combined system, were investigated. The results show that the incorporation of ADW effectively enhances the engineering performance of paving blocks. The compressive strength increased from 45.3 MPa to 56.6 MPa, while water absorption decreased from 5.3% to 4.1%. All mixtures satisfied the requirements for abrasion resistance and slip resistance, demonstrating their compliance with the performance criteria for pedestrian pavement applications. Among all mixtures, the combined use of limestone ADW and basalt ADW exhibited the best overall performance. The improved performance may be attributed to the combined effects of graded particle utilization and the potential compositional complementarity between calcium-rich limestone ADW and silica–alumina-rich basalt ADW, which is consistent with the denser microstructure observed in SEM images. In addition, the proposed strategy contributes to improved solid waste utilization and reduced consumption of natural resources, as reflected in the quantitative sustainability assessment. Overall, this study demonstrates that graded utilization of ADW is a feasible approach for developing alkali-activated paving materials, with promising performance and sustainability potential. Full article

Continuous cough monitoring provides valuable insights into respiratory health; however, conventional air-conduction microphones are highly susceptible to ambient noise and raise privacy concerns. This work presents BCough, a bone-conduction-based embedded AI platform for on-device cough detection, designed and evaluated on the MAX78000 neural accelerator. The system employs a skin-contact bone-conduction sensor worn on the chest to capture body vibrations transmitted through bone and tissue, detecting cough events while minimizing environmental interference. The custom prototype integrates a bone-conduction microphone, a synchronized 6-axis IMU, power management circuitry, and an embedded neural accelerator to support real-time inference and future multimodal extensions. A compact 8-bit quantized convolutional neural network was optimized for deployment on the MAX78000 and evaluated using leave-one-subject-out cross-validation on one-second cough and non-cough segments derived from a corpus of 19,955 labeled events collected from five participants under controlled conditions. The deployed model achieved 0.80 Macro-F1, 0.81 balanced accuracy, 0.74 cough F1, and 0.89 AUC, with 15–16 ms inference latency and approximately 20 $\mathsf{\mu }$J energy per inference on chip. These results demonstrate the feasibility of low-power, privacy-preserving, bone-conduction cough detection on embedded AI hardware within an initial five-participant study. The current design is a benchtop prototype; the findings should therefore be interpreted as an initial feasibility assessment rather than evidence of robust performance across diverse users and real-world conditions. Future work will extend this platform toward miniaturized wearable implementations combining bone-conduction and inertial sensing for continuous multimodal respiratory monitoring. Full article

The expansion of Brazil’s agricultural frontier in Arco Norte has intensified environmental and socioeconomic concerns that may worsen under climate change. This study evaluates how climate-driven shifts in soybean suitability may reconfigure production patterns and affect logistical vulnerabilities. Three scenarios were modeled using the MaxEnt algorithm: a historical baseline (1970–2000) and two future projections (2041–2060) based on the CMIP6 climate pathways. The model integrated bioclimatic, physical, land-use and land-cover, and infrastructure variables. The results showed that soybean expansion was highly concentrated across all scenarios. Mato Grosso, Goiás, and Tocantins accounted for 82.7% to 85.5% of total projected expansion, while Bahia and Maranhão increased this share to more than 92% of total gains. Although consolidated areas absorbed most of the expansion, new frontiers still represented nearly 30% of the total gains. A logistical vulnerability index linked potential expansion areas to grain storage deficits and revealed critical conditions in the main soybean-producing municipalities of Mato Grosso. These findings indicate a growing mismatch between emerging production areas and existing logistics infrastructure, highlighting the need for coordinated investments in storage, intermodal transportation, and territorial planning. Full article

Urban forestry research increasingly promotes proximity-based benchmarks, such as the 3–30–300 rule, to expand tree canopy, enhance access to nature, and support healthier and more climate-resilient cities. However, a growing body of evidence links green proximity to rising property values and residential displacement, raising concerns regarding green gentrification. These tensions suggest that proximity-based greening cannot be understood solely as an environmental or accessibility intervention; rather, its social outcomes are mediated by the broader housing system. This Perspective argues that the 3–30–300 rule operates as a value-generating urban forestry intervention whose distributive effects are conditioned by housing governance, tenure structures, and the presence of affordability protections. We advance a governance-conditional framework that reconceptualises the rule as a housing-conditioned greening strategy, illustrating how environmental improvements may translate into escalating housing costs and displacement pressures in contexts where housing regulation is weak or fragmented. The analysis highlights the institutional mechanisms through which environmental value is captured, retained, or redistributed across scales, without positing a deterministic relationship between greening and displacement. Aligning urban forestry initiatives with affordability measures and tenant protections is therefore essential if proximity-based greening is to contribute not only to greener and healthier cities, but also to more equitable ones. Full article

This paper examines how digital infrastructure affects agricultural upgrading in China’s edible fungi industry, focusing on the divergence between output expansion and unit value enhancement. Using a balanced panel of 28 Chinese provinces from 2019 to 2024, we apply a Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) approach, instrumenting digital infrastructure with the 1984 provincial fixed-line telephone penetration rate (first-stage F-statistic = 82.15) to address endogeneity concerns. The results reveal a clear asymmetry between quantity and quality outcomes. Digital infrastructure significantly increases total output (coefficient = 1.540, p < 0.01), primarily through improved market coordination rather than productivity gains. However, it produces no statistically discernible effect on unit output value. This divergence suggests that agricultural digitalization follows a stage-dependent pattern: basic connectivity effectively relaxes constraints on production scaling but is insufficient on its own to shift producers toward higher-value activities. Consequently, scale expansion may proceed without corresponding value creation, raising concerns for long-term economic and environmental sustainability. Achieving genuine agricultural upgrading therefore requires complementary investments in institutional capacity, downstream processing, and brand development alongside digital infrastructure deployment. Full article

Climate change is increasingly recognized as a source of psychological distress, yet the prevalence, predictors, and behavioral implications of climate anxiety remain unevenly understood. This study examines climate anxiety, its key drivers, and associated behavioral responses in a multi-country sample of adults. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted across 21 countries using the Climate Change Anxiety Scale (CCAS), alongside measures of awareness, coping strategies, social support, and food-related behaviors, including food waste reduction, increased plant-based food consumption, and home or community gardening. Analyses included descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and multivariable regression. Given the uneven country-level representation, results are reported as pooled patterns with a few exploratory cross-country comparisons. Climate anxiety was widely reported, with over 60% of participants indicating that climate challenges were emotionally overwhelming. Regression analyses showed that climate awareness and frequency of climate-related thinking were positively associated with higher anxiety, although the effect sizes were small and explanatory power was limited (R² = 0.055). EFA identified two related dimensions: cognitive concern about future impacts and affective distress. Climate anxiety across countries showed modest variation (2.44–3.23) and no statistically significant differences, despite variation in awareness. A gap between concern and climate action was evident: only 39.1% reported environmentally motivated dietary changes. Cost, limited availability, and lack of information were the main barriers to climate action, and only 24.4% reported frequent social support. These findings indicate that climate anxiety is shaped by both psychological and structural factors, and that reducing it requires not only increasing awareness but also enabling conditions that support meaningful climate action. Full article

Groundwater-dependent communities such as De Aar require a better understanding of groundwater systems to ensure sustainable allocation. This study aims to trace recharge sources in unconfined and confined aquifers and identify processes controlling groundwater quality using hydrogeochemistry and environmental tracers. It argues that aquifer delineation and hydraulic parameters alone cannot fully identify recharge sources or geochemical processes; integrating them with hydrogeochemistry and environmental tracers provides stronger evidence to support groundwater allocation. To validate the argument, the study integrated hydrogeochemical analysis, stable isotopes, tritium, radon-222, and statistical methods supported by depth-specific groundwater sampling. The results, interpreted using Piper and Gibbs diagrams, PHREEQC modelling, and scatter plots, show that groundwater evolution is mainly controlled by rock–water interaction, ion exchange, evaporation, and mixing processes. Ca–HCO₃ water indicates recent recharge, while Na–Cl water reflects evaporation effects in both unconfined and confined aquifers, with halite dissolution contributing to Na and Cl enrichment. Isotope results indicate that unconfined aquifer water is isotopically enriched and linked to recent recharge, whereas confined aquifer and spring waters are depleted, suggesting recharge from higher elevations through fractured zones. Tritium dating reveals young (<30 years), intermediate (30–50 years), and old groundwater (60–109 years), while radon results indicate active groundwater flow path, particularly along fractures. These findings demonstrate that groundwater recharge is derived from both local meteoric sources and regional contributions, resulting in predominantly fresh groundwater; however, localized quality concerns should be considered for improved water allocation. Full article

Energy efficiency and sustainability are core issues in the modern design and management of industrial machinery and plants. These concerns are reflected and reinforced by the Sustainable Development Goal 9 of the United Nations (SDG9), “Industry, innovation and infrastructure”, which enshrines efficiency and optimized energy use as key features of sustainable production systems. As the engineering of industrial machinery reorients itself towards energy sustainability, attention is naturally shifting to actuators, since these components unavoidably waste part of the considerable amount of energy they absorb to execute their functions. Hydraulic actuation systems, while uniquely suited to heavy-duty applications, are particularly affected by poor energy conversion efficiency, in part due to their intrinsic properties but also because of outdated yet still common industrial practices. Consequently, for this actuation technology, there are wide margins for improvement in terms of energy waste reduction and increased environmental sustainability. This paper, therefore, investigates new applications for a management and control method conceived by the authors to drastically and systematically reduce the energy consumption of hydraulic actuators. The method is easily retrofittable to existing plants, being based on the unconventional and non-invasive deployment of a continuous-control electrohydraulic valve (CCEV) to control the supply pressure, whose required value is estimated according to the instantaneous load demands. Through the simulation of several industrial processes characterized by process parameters of varying orders of magnitude, this paper demonstrates that this innovative use of a CCEV for supply pressure regulation is an effective and widely applicable solution for energy savings and CO₂ footprint reduction in production systems that rely on hydraulic servo axes. Full article

The extensive use of agrochemicals and plastic materials has led to the accumulation of persistent pollutants in agricultural soils, raising concerns about agroecosystems through posing potential risks to soil and environmental health. This review synthesizes recent knowledge on these pollutant sources, including their distribution, fate, transformation pathways, and detection methods, as well as their impacts on soil physicochemical properties, microbial populations, plants, and ecosystems. Existing findings indicate that agrochemicals and micro-nano plastics (MPs-NPs) can significantly impede the stability of soil aggregation, increase soil water holding capacity (WHC) and porosity, reduce bulk density and infiltration, alter soil structure, and affect soil pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC), electrical conductivity (EC), and nutrient retention capacity. Moreover, exposure to these pollutants alters soil microbial communities, enzymatic activity, nitrification and denitrification processes, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), thereby affecting carbon pools and fluxes as well as nutrient cycling. However, the magnitude and direction of these effects are strongly influenced by soil type, pollutant class, concentration, and physicochemical properties. Furthermore, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems are negatively affected due to the presence of such persistent pollutants by impairing their physiological processes. Despite these findings, mechanistic understanding remains limited due to a lack of long-term field investigation and proper detection methods, particularly regarding NPs. A comprehensive understanding of agrochemical and MP-NP interactions is essential for developing sustainable soil management strategies and agroecosystems. Future studies should address the development of standardized NP detection methods and the conducting of long-term field studies to elucidate MP-NP and agrochemical interactions, soil impacts, and crop uptake mechanisms. Full article

Sub-Saharan African health systems face critical funding challenges due to declining foreign aid, mounting debt and increasing disease burdens. Traditional financing mechanisms have proven inadequate, necessitating the exploration of innovative domestic revenue mobilization (DRM) strategies. This paper contributes to the health economics literature by examining the use of innovative tax models as DRM strategies for sustainable health financing in Sub-Saharan Africa, using the fiscal space for health framework. This narrative review synthesizes peer-reviewed articles, policy documents, and grey literature published between 2010 and 2025. The review identifies four promising innovative models: health taxes (tobacco, alcohol, sugar-sweetened beverages), environmental levies (pollution, carbon, plastic), digital taxation (digital services taxes, mobile money taxes, Value Added Tax (VAT) on digital services) and resource extraction taxes. The evidence demonstrates significant revenue generation potential while achieving public health and environmental co-benefits. However, critical implementation challenges persist: weak administrative capacity, poor governance quality, equity concerns and extensive informality and economic diversity. The paper recommends strengthening tax administration through digital infrastructure investment and capacity building, implementing progressive tax design with targeted exemptions, enhancing transparency and linking tax revenue to health service delivery, and tailoring reforms to country-specific contexts while learning from regional experience. Full article

Over the past decade, veterinary forensic toxicology has gained increasing relevance due to the recognition of animal poisoning as a criminal, environmental, and public health concern. This review provides an updated overview on current perspectives in veterinary forensic toxicology, focusing on common toxicological scenarios, analytical innovations, and interpretative challenges. Intentional poisoning of companion animals, wildlife intoxication, and environmental contamination are discussed within a One Health framework. Mass spectrometry-based techniques, including targeted gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS), liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) for non-targeted screening, and emerging ambient mass spectrometry approaches are highlighted as pivotal tools in modern forensic investigations. Major limitations related to post-mortem changes, species-specific toxicokinetic, and the lack of harmonized interpretative criteria are critically examined. The review also identified future priorities such as methodological standardization, expansion of toxicokinetic databases across species, detection of emerging contaminants, and strengthened international cooperation. Overall, veterinary forensic toxicology is an emerging discipline at the intersection of animal welfare, environmental conservation, and public health providing essential evidence for legal, regulatory, and investigative purposes. Full article