Search Results (1,613)

Demand for irrigation water varies substantially between upstream and downstream reaches of river basins due to spatial variability in rainfall, agro-climatic situations, and management practices. Upstream areas often experience over-irrigation and waterlogging, while downstream regions are challenged with water scarcity, timing mismatches, and allocation conflicts. This study proposes a novel SWAT–AquaCrop–optimization nexus framework to minimize both the frequency (DDF) and severity (DDS) of irrigation demand deficit under hydro-climatic uncertainty. To enhance numerical stability and a realistic representation of system stress, deficit frequency is formulated using a smooth, differentiable exceedance function instead of conventional binary thresholds. The framework integrates SWAT-based hydrological projections with AquaCrop simulations of crop yield and evapotranspiration-driven water demand, simultaneously evaluating three interlinked objectives: allocation-disparity deficit (equity), yield deficit (productivity), and irrigation-efficiency deficit (operational performance). Hydro-climatic uncertainty is represented through a quantile-based classification, with favorable (S₁), normal (S₂), and extreme (S₃) scenarios defined by the 33rd and 66th percentiles of the time-varying deficit ratio. The results indicate that stage-specific irrigation timing adjustments (advanced by 2–5 days) better align water applications with peak crop water requirements during flowering and grain-filling stages. This enhances downstream reliability, mitigates upstream over-irrigation, and substantially reduces both demand deficit frequency and severity. Full article

The experiences and repercussions of the cross-border migration process on family life have not yet been synthesized. This study aimed to synthesize the best available qualitative findings on this theme. A systematic review of qualitative evidence with meta-synthesis was conducted. Articles were identified according to predefined extraction criteria in the first half of 2025, across seven databases: Web of Science, MEDLINE/PubMed, PsycINFO, LILACS, CINAHL, SCOPUS, and Social Science Citation Index. Two researchers independently screened and appraised the reports, assessing methodological quality and systematically recording and analyzing relevant information. A protocol was registered in PROSPERO (ID: CRD42024505655). Fifty studies were included, and three main themes emerged: (a) living in multiple possible contexts, where space and relationships influence family functionality, including reduced family time due to long working hours, substance use, fear of losing cultural roots, new financial responsibilities, and the desire to return to the country of origin; (b) challenges and repercussions on family life after migration, such as increased family conflicts, mental health problems, separation, and loss of ties; (c) strategies for maintaining family functioning, including role adjustment, strengthening of family ties, and support through cultural and religious practices. Families undergoing migration face multiple challenges in their new environments, revealing the complexity of adapting to diverse cultural and social contexts. These findings highlight the need to address the emotional and social demands of migrant families to improve well-being and integration. Understanding these dynamics allows healthcare professionals to design culturally sensitive interventions that promote reception and inclusion. Full article

In recent decades, the burden of TB has been gradually declining; however, with the emergence of COVID-19 and ongoing political conflicts, including the war in Ukraine, the proper functioning of healthcare services and TB control programs has been jeopardized. Recently, research has emphasized the importance of hematological parameters associated with inflammation, which can be easily analyzed through routine blood tests. Combining these parameters may have predictive value for various diseases, including pulmonary tuberculosis and even help monitor the effectiveness of treatment. Since there is no single hematological or inflammatory biomarker that provides precise and dynamic information about the success or failure of treatment, identifying individual markers or sets of biomarkers with higher sensitivity and specificity is essential. This is particularly important since sputum culture conversion at two months remains insufficiently sensitive and microscopy conversion has limited sensitivity and specificity in detecting treatment failure. Also, the analysis of the impact of the standard directly observed treatment, short-course regimen on pathogenic mechanisms also focuses on how it influences the interaction between inflammation and oxidative tissue degradation, by measuring plasma levels of glutathione. Utilizing a combination of hematological, inflammatory, and antioxidant biomarkers offers significant insights into systemic inflammatory responses in pulmonary tuberculosis patients, both before commencing treatment and during the entire duration of antituberculosis therapy. Combining different inflammatory parameters into a multiple biomarker can significantly enhance the accuracy of predicting prognosis and response to antibiotic chemotherapy. Identifying an optimal combination of biomarkers with predictive value is crucial for assessing treatment response and evaluating the effectiveness of anti-TB medication. Rather than developing or testing a composite prediction model, this review summarizes reported performance metrics from individual studies and highlights priorities for future prospective validation of integrated biomarker panels. Full article

The tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon is a transient state in which speakers momentarily fail to retrieve a known word despite preserved semantic knowledge and a strong sense of imminent recall. This review integrates cognitive and neural evidence with emerging neurochemical perspectives to develop a comprehensive biomedical framework for word-finding failures. Cognitive models of semantic–phonological transmission and interloper interference have been refined through structural, functional, and metabolic imaging to elucidate the mechanisms underlying TOT states across the lifespan. Functional neuroimaging implicates a left-lateralized fronto-temporal network, particularly the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and temporal pole, in retrieval monitoring and conflict resolution. Structural MRI and diffusion imaging link increased TOT frequency to reduced integrity of the arcuate and uncinate fasciculi and diminished network efficiency. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) introduces a neurochemical dimension, with studies of related language tasks implicating lower γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and altered glutamate concentrations in frontal and temporal cortices as potential contributors to slower naming and heightened retrieval interference. Together, these findings converge on a model in which transient lexical blocks arise from local disruptions in excitation–inhibition (E/I) balance that impair signal propagation within language circuits. By uniting behavioral, neuroimaging, and neurochemical perspectives, TOT research reveals how subtle perturbations in cortical homeostasis manifest as everyday cognitive lapses and highlights potential biomedical strategies to maintain communicative efficiency across the lifespan. Full article

In this article, a new similarity measure is discussed on interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy values (IVIFVs). Here, the proposed similarity measure has been derived based on transformed intervals and its probability density functions, mean values, and standard deviations of IVIFVs. Based on the proposed similarity measure, several essential properties have been illustrated in this paper. Additionally, a new algorithm has been developed using the similarity measure of interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy values (IVIFVs) to solve multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) problem. The proposed method is highly effective for solving various types of MADM problems. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed similarity measure, a car selection problem has been considered, where the objective is to choose a suitable car for a decision maker from a set of alternatives evaluated under multiple criteria. In car selection, different features often involve conflicting criteria with imprecise data. Therefore, the proposed similarity measure of interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy values assists in determining the best alternative among these conflicting criteria. Full article

Wood supply chains are complex, involving many stakeholders, intricate processes, and logistical challenges to ensure the timely and accurate delivery of wood products to customers. Weather-related variations in forest road accessibility further complicate operations. This paper explores the challenges faced by forest managers in targeting many delivery requirements—four or more. To address this, simulation-based optimization, using NSGA-III, a many-objective optimization algorithm, is proposed to simultaneously optimize often conflicting objectives primarily by minimizing delivery lead time, delivery deviations in backlogs, and delivery variation. NSGA-III enables the exploration of a diverse set of Pareto-optimal solutions that show trade-offs across a flexible set of four, or more, delivery objectives. A Discrete Event Simulation model is integrated to evaluate objectives in a complex wood supply chain. The implementation of NSGA-III within the framework allows forestry decision-makers to navigate between different harvest schedules and evaluate how they target a set of preference-based delivery objectives. The simulation can also provide detailed insights into how a specific harvest schedule affects the supply chain when post-processing possible solutions, facilitating decision making. This study shows that NSGA-III could substitute NSGA-II to optimize the wood supply chain for more than three objective functions. Full article

Socio-ecological systems in basin regions characterized by diverse cultural traditions and hierarchical village spatial structure are undergoing profound transformation driven by multifunctional demands and spatial restructuring. This study develops an analytical framework encompassing economic production, socio-cultural functions, and ecological potential to examine the spatial differentiation and socio-ecological coupling mechanisms within the Yilong Lake Basin, Yunnan Province. Through the entropy weighting method and a coupling coordination model, the framework evaluates the “lake–mountain–village” gradient of spatial differentiation. The results indicate that: (1) the overall coordination level of multifunctional systems in the region remains relatively low, exhibiting a decreasing trend from lakeshore to the mountain periphery; (2) village-level dependencies of spatial functions can be summarized into three coupling categories—associated with institutional embedding, self-organization, and value mismatch—revealing distinct socio-ecological interaction patterns; and (3) three coupling categories correspond to three differentiated governance pathways, namely coupling optimization, functional transition, and conflict mitigation. The study advances theoretical and methodological insights into the spatial differentiation and evolution of complex village systems, highlighting the nonlinear coexistence of interdependence and constraint among economic, social, and ecological functions. It further provides practical guidance for coordinated governance and sustainable spatial planning in similar rural and basin environments worldwide. Full article

Disputes over episcopal temporalities provide a crucial lens through which to view complex Church–Crown relations in medieval England. The secular estates endowed by the Crown formed the backbone of ecclesiastical wealth, sustaining diocesan administration and judicial operations. As the principal patron, the king frequently intervened in episcopal property disputes. By drawing them into the royal courts, the Crown was able to diminish episcopal authority within bishops’ temporal jurisdiction and to consolidate control over ecclesiastical lands and benefice appointments, thereby contributing to the institutionalization of secular judicial interventions in ecclesiastical affairs. Confiscation of temporalities functioned as a key royal instrument for disciplining recalcitrant bishops, carrying both fiscal and political implications. A micro-level analysis of three major fourteenth-century seizures of episcopal temporalities reveals that the process of “seizure—negotiation—conditional restitution” fostered a pattern of “negotiated obedience” between the king and the episcopate. At the same time, conflicts between bishops and lay magnates over landholdings expose the multi-layered configuration of Church–Crown relations. In these contests, both sides petitioned the king and offered strategic concessions to seek royal support, generating a tripartite form of “competitive compromise” that further entrenched royal supremacy in the adjudication of ecclesiastical and secular property. Full article

Open partial horizontal laryngectomy (OPHL) is a key conservative option for laryngeal cancer, with established oncological outcomes but limited data on functional results and patient perspectives. Voice preservation is mainly associated with type I OPHL, whereas types II–III often result in significant but broadly comparable impairments, making vocal decline the main limitation of OPHL. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) help clarify the balance between treatment efficacy and side effects. This single-institution study analyzed 70 consecutive OPHL patients (12 women, 17.1%; 58 men, 82.9%), mean age 65.9 years (SD 8.96), with a median follow-up of 52.5 months (range 2–218). PROs were assessed using the Priority Scale, the V-RQOL, the MDADI, the Decisional Conflict Scale, the Decisional Regret Scale, and the Brief Pain Inventory. The Priority Scale showed that curing cancer (98.6%) and prolonging life (82.9%) were top concerns, while only 34.3% prioritized natural voice preservation. V-RQOL averaged 77.4/100, indicating limited impact of voice on quality of life; MDADI was 78.5/100, reflecting minimal swallowing difficulties. Decisional Conflict averaged 34.3/100, with 30% reporting no difficulty; Decisional Regret was low (13.0/100), with only 1.4% expressing moderate regret. Most patients (78.6%) reported no pain. Overall, OPHL provided satisfactory functional and decisional outcomes, with high patient satisfaction despite the complexity of treatment. Full article

Slicing functionality makes it possible for an operator to share a 5G physical infrastructure between several virtual networks operated by different institutions. The deployed slices can support a wide range of applications with conflicting QoS targets. The coexistence of these slices on top of a common infrastructure is challenging and remains an open issue. Identifying traffic associated with a given type of slice is required to operate and control network resources in an efficient and secure way. This work proposes new algorithms operating at the physical and MAC layers. The solutions designed identify traffic generated by URLLC and eMBB slices by defining a new LightGBM framework. The algorithms can operate at the base station level in an O-RAN-type architecture. They provide a valuable input to radio resource management and traffic steering procedures. Full article

Background: Common polymorphisms in the MTHFR gene, C677T and A1298C, have been associated with increased risk for psychiatric neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, studies provide conflicting evidence for the strength of the association with ASD based on both the allelic variant and population structure of the cohorts studied. Methods: Using systematic literature search and selection criteria, we calculated ASD-associated odds ratios for the two most-reported MTHFR variants. Twenty-two articles reported the association between MTHFR C677T and ASD, including 13913 subjects (4391 cases, 9522 controls). Nine articles, including 3009 subjects (1462 cases, 1547 controls), evaluated the link between MTHFR A1298C and ASD susceptibility. Results: We identified a statistical association between ASD and the MTHFR C677T variant, regardless of race or ethnicity. However, there was no statistical support for an association between ASD and the MTHFR A1298C variant. In both cases, substantial-to-considerable residual heterogeneity remained (I² ~67% and 73%, respectively). Exploring the heterogeneity by meta-regression on race/ethnicity, the African (Egyptian) cohort with MTHFR C677T variants had a higher ASD susceptibility than Asian or European cohorts in most models, though this susceptibility difference was not observed between Africans and Europeans for the homozygous case (TT vs. CC). Similarly, the African (Egyptian) cohort with MTHFR A1298C variants also had a higher ASD susceptibility than Asian or European cohorts in most models, though this susceptibility difference was not observed between Africans and Asians for the homozygous case (CC vs. AA). Conclusions: Our findings support previous analyses that identified a statistical association between ASD and the MTHFR C677T variant but none between ASD and the MTHFR A1298C variant. We also reveal a greater potential for these variants to exacerbate ASD phenotypes in an African (Egyptian) cohort. Future studies should assess the mechanistic contribution of these variants to MTHFR function, especially potential hypomorphic sensitivity in individuals with African (Egyptian) ancestry. Full article

To address the challenge of optimizing hydrological parameters for nitrogen pollution control in paddy polders, this study coupled the Stella eco-dynamics model with an external optimization algorithm and developed a nonlinear programming framework using the water surface ratio and inflow rate as decision variables and the maximum nitrogen removal rate as the objective function. The simulation and optimization conducted for the Hongze Lake polder area indicated that the model exhibited strong robustness, as verified through Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis, with coefficients of variation (CV) of nitrogen outlet concentrations all below 3%. Under the optimal regulation scheme, the maximum nitrogen removal rates (${\eta }_1$, ${\eta }_2$, and ${\eta }_4$) during the soaking, tillering, and grain-filling periods reached 98.86%, 98.74%, and 96.26%, respectively. The corresponding optimal inflow rates ($Q^{*}$) were aligned with the lower threshold limits of each growth period (1.20, 0.80, and 0.50 m³/s). The optimal channel water surface ratios ($A_1^{*}$) were 3.81%, 3.51%, and 3.34%, respectively, while the optimal pond water surface ratios ($A_2^{*}$) were 19.94%, 16.30%, and 17.54%, respectively. Owing to the agronomic conflict between “water retention without drainage” and concentrated fertilization during the heading period, the maximum nitrogen removal rate (${\eta }_3$) during this stage was only 37.34%. The optimal channel water surface ratio ($A_1^{*}$) was 2.37%, the pond water surface ratio ($A_2^{*}$) was 19.04%, and the outlet total nitrogen load increased to 8.39 mg/L. Morphological analysis demonstrated that nitrate nitrogen and organic nitrogen dominated the outlet water body. The “simulation–optimization” coupled framework established in this study can provides quantifiable decision-making tools and methodological support for the precise control and sustainable management of agricultural non-point source pollution in the floodplain area. Full article

Social sustainability has become a central concern in development-induced resettlement, yet little is known about how social integration and community relations are sustained over long time horizons. Drawing on a retrospective longitudinal ethnographic reconstruction spanning 21 years (2004–2025) of Three Gorges Dam resettlers relocated to rural Anhui, China, this paper examines the co-evolution of group boundaries, interaction strategies, and social networks between migrants and local residents. Using group boundary theory, we identify three sequential phases of interaction: initial boundary demarcation and social distancing, subsequent bridge-building through economic cooperation and relational ingratiation, and a later stage of pragmatic, transactional engagement. We show that the gradual erosion of migrant–local boundaries is driven by economic interdependence, cultural adaptation, individualization, and rural out-migration. Rather than resulting in deep social fusion, long-term integration stabilizes in a form of “thin integration,” characterized by low-density but sustainable social ties, institutionalized conflict resolution, and routine coexistence. This study conceptualizes social integration as a dynamic process of social sustainability, demonstrating how resettled communities maintain social order and functional cohesion amid structural change. The findings contribute to debates on sustainable rural development, forced migration, and the long-term governance of resettlement communities. Full article

Plateau lake regions face escalating conflicts between food production and ecosystem conservation under rapid urbanization and strict ecological regulation. However, existing evaluations often overlook the positive ecosystem services generated by cultivated land and fail to capture the nonlinear mechanisms shaping eco-efficiency of cultivated land use (ECLU). This study develops an ecosystem service-based framework to assess the ECLU of Kunming, a typical plateau lake-basin city in southwest China, from 2005 to 2022. Ecosystem service value (ESV) is incorporated as a desirable output within a super-efficiency SBM model, and an XGBoost–SHAP approach is applied to identify the intensity, nonlinear thresholds and interaction mechanisms. Results show an average ECLU of 1.12 with a fluctuating downward trend and widening spatial disparities. High-efficiency zones cluster in central–southern regions, while urbanizing cores experience ecological function degradation despite productivity gains. Cultivated land fragmentation is the dominant barrier, with a critical threshold of 31.90 mu, and fertilizer intensity turns detrimental beyond 0.19 t/ha. Urbanization exhibits an inverted-U pattern—initially suppressive (<35%), promotional (35–55%), and suppressive again (>55%)—with the promotion phase weakened by approximately 67% under severe fragmentation. Globally, threshold-based zoning and fragmentation mitigation must precede fertilizer optimization to ensure synergistic benefits. Full article

Designing the high-performance polyimides (PIs) for the biomimetic structures, which are used in extreme conditions, remains greatly challenging, due to the conflict between processability and thermal stability. Here, we report a series of silicon–alkyne-functionalized diamine-based polyimides that exhibit remarkable processability and thermal stability. The incorporation of bulky siloxy groups disrupts chain packing and increases free volume, enabling excellent solubility in polar solvents, while the rigid fluorene core enhances chain stiffness. DFT calculations confirm twisted molecular geometries (Si bond angle ≈ 103°, dihedral angle ≈ 89°) which weak π–π stacking, while heterogeneous electrostatic potentials enable favorable noncovalent interactions (e.g., C–F···H–C), promoting solvent diffusion. After thermal curing, the obtained product shows a high decomposition temperature (T_d5% = 560 °C), char yield of 72.0% at 800 °C, and glass transition temperature (T_g) of 354.6 °C. Meanwhile, locally planar fluorene units retain inherent thermal stabilization benefits through constrained rotational mobility. These results demonstrate a spatially decoupled siloxy–alkyne design that synergistically enhances molecular flexibility, disorder, and electronic stability, offering a molecular strategy for tailoring PI-based matrices to meet the demands of emerging biomimetic architectures and other high-performance composites operating under severe thermal loads. Full article