Search Results (2,372)

As a core area for soil and water conservation on the Loess Plateau and a national primary shale oil production zone, Qingyang City faces an increasingly acute contradiction between its inherently fragile ecological base and energy development activities. From the dual perspectives of ecological regulating services and production-supporting services, this study selected six key ecosystem services—habitat quality (HQ), soil retention (SR), carbon storage (CS), water yield (WY), food supply (FS), and grassland forage supply (GS)—to comprehensively assess their spatiotemporal evolution, trade-off/synergy relationships, and driving mechanisms from 2000 to 2020. The results indicate: (1) Significant changes occurred in the total amounts and spatial patterns of all ecosystem services during 2000–2020. HQ showed a fluctuating upward trend, while SR, FS, and GS increased overall; by contrast, CS and WY generally declined. (2) Ecosystem services exhibited a differentiated pattern characterized by “intra-category synergy and inter-category trade-off.” Regulating and supporting services were generally dominated by synergistic relationships, although clear differences remained among specific service pairs; provisioning services generally showed trade-offs with regulating services, among which the trade-offs between FS–HQ and between FS–GS were the most pronounced, whereas FS–CS showed a certain degree of synergy. (3) Driving force analysis revealed a continuous decline in the influence of natural factors and a sharp intensification of human activity factors. Groundwater level and land-use intensity became core drivers of pattern shifts, with their explanatory power increasing significantly. The study reveals that ecosystem services in Qingyang have rapidly transitioned from being dominated by natural hydrothermal conditions to being profoundly reshaped by energy development activities, exposing the region to the ecological risk of a “resource curse.” These findings provide a scientific basis and management insights for achieving coordinated development between resource exploitation and ecological conservation in ecologically fragile areas of the Loess Plateau. Full article

Knowledge sharing (KS) among healthcare professionals is essential for sustaining organisational learning and facilitating the transfer of expertise between experienced and less experienced professionals, thereby supporting workforce stability and retention in healthcare organisations (HCOs). However, despite its importance, high turnover among healthcare professionals remains a significant and persistent challenge in public HCOs, indicating a potential gap in understanding the mechanisms that support workforce stability. To address this gap, this study examines the interplay between work performance (WP), satisfaction with co-workers (CW), KS and turnover intention (TI) among healthcare professionals. Data from 220 respondents were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) within the Input–Process–Output (IPO) framework. The results indicate that CW positively influences KS, while KS has a negative effect on TI, thereby reducing TI. In contrast, WP does not have a statistically significant effect on KS, nor does it indirectly influence TI through KS. Furthermore, although both WP and CW were hypothesised to be predictors of KS, only CW demonstrates a significant indirect effect on TI through KS. Grounded in Social Exchange Theory (SET) and the Knowledge-Based View (KBV), the results highlight the role of KS and interpersonal relationships in supporting sustainable human resource management (SHRM). Although sustainability-related dimensions were not directly measured, the results suggest potential implications for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 3, SDG 8, and SDG 9. Full article

Aquaculture marks the transition from the simple activity of harvesting aquatic animal resources, carried out through the catching practices of fishing, to the farming of aquatic organisms in fresh, brackish and sea waters, carried out through human intervention aimed at increasing production. To date, research is proceeding towards expanding the range of species that can be farmed, improving the number and quality of products, and reducing the environmental impact of aquaculture activities; these efforts are supported by the improvement of our knowledge of the biology of the relevant species, the significant updating/upgrading of the rearing technologies, and the increasing awareness of the importance of water quality in optimising farming conditions. While necessarily dependent on market demand, aquaculture needs to fully leverage its environmental potential; and the relationship between aquaculture and the environment requires a system of production that combines eco-compatibility and eco-sustainability. Here, we report and analyse insights and perspectives in eco-sustainable aquaculture, spanning from sustainability and innovation processes in aquaculture to antibiotic control and aquaculture ecosystem services, in the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Full article

Universities play a critical role in knowledge creation and technological innovation, serving as key drivers of regional development. However, existing research has paid limited attention to the mechanisms through which university innovation inputs translate into firm-level performance, particularly in the context of science and technology corridors in emerging economies. This study investigates how university innovation resources affect enterprise performance in the G60 Science and Technology Corridor within China’s Yangtze River Delta, one of the country’s most dynamic innovation regions. Using a panel dataset of 55 universities across nine cities from 2008 to 2017, we employ spatial analysis and fixed-effects panel regression models to examine the relationship between university innovation inputs and firm performance and further explore the mediating roles of local human capital and firm R&D investment. The results show that university innovation inputs significantly enhance enterprise performance, although excessive human resource inputs exhibit a negative effect on both short-term and long-term outcomes. Local human capital and firm R&D investment serve as key mediating mechanisms, with input and output resources influencing enterprise performance through distinct pathways. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that non-state-owned enterprises and small- and medium-sized enterprises derive greater long-term benefits from university resources. These findings contribute to the literature by clarifying the conceptual distinction between university innovation inputs and outputs, and by demonstrating the micro-level mechanisms—R&D investment and human capital—through which university-generated knowledge affects firm performance. The results also provide empirical evidence from an emerging economic context, extending the applicability of knowledge spillover and absorptive capacity theories. Policy implications include optimizing university human resource allocation, strengthening university–enterprise collaboration, and providing targeted support for non-state-owned enterprises and SMEs. Future research may extend the analysis to include institutional factors and university heterogeneity. Full article

Deep learning has emerged as an effective tool for automatic waste classification, supporting cleaner cities and more sustainable recycling systems. Because environmental protection is central to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), improving the sorting and processing of everyday waste is a practical step toward this broader objective. In many real-world settings, however, waste is still sorted manually, which is slow, labor-intensive, and prone to human error. Although convolutional neural networks (CNNs) can automate this task with high accuracy, many state-of-the-art models remain too large and computationally demanding for low-cost edge devices intended for deployment in homes, schools, and small recycling facilities. In this work, we investigate lightweight waste-classification models suitable for TinyML deployment while preserving competitive accuracy. We first benchmark multiple CNN architectures to establish a strong baseline, then apply complementary compression strategies including quantization, pruning, singular value decomposition (SVD) low-rank approximation, and knowledge distillation. In addition, we evaluate an RL-guided multi-teacher selection benchmark that adaptively chooses one teacher per minibatch during distillation to improve student training stability, achieving up to 85% accuracy with only 0.496 M parameters (FP32 ≈ 1.89 MB; INT8 ≈ 0.47 MB). Across all experiments, the best accuracy–size trade-off is obtained by combining knowledge distillation with post-training quantization, reducing the model footprint from approximately 16 MB to 281 KB while maintaining 82% accuracy. The resulting model is feasible for deployment on mobile applications and resource-constrained embedded devices based on model size and TensorFlow Lite Micro compatibility. Full article

Ice–snow tourism has become an important development strategy in northern China, but its contribution to urban-rural integration remains uneven. Taking Inner Mongolia as a comparative qualitative case, this study examines how ice-snow tourism can move beyond enclave-oriented development and support inclusive regional development. The analysis draws on policy and planning documents, official reports, media materials, and published secondary studies, and compares Hulunbuir and Tongliao through four common dimensions: space, economy, governance, and culture. On this basis, the paper develops a community-field perspective and connects it with an institution–space–human/land coupling lens. The findings show clear differences in developmental tendency rather than two pure types. Hulunbuir exhibits stronger event-led agglomeration, urban service concentration, and branding capacity, but weaker community benefit capture. Tongliao shows stronger village-level benefit retention, collective participation, and cultural subjectivity, but faces limits in scale linkage and resilience. The paper argues that ice-snow tourism should not be understood as a simple trade-off between efficiency and equity. Instead, a coordinated “pole-community-network” pathway is needed to connect regional growth poles, community-centered governance, and networked collaboration across urban and rural nodes. The study contributes to tourism-led regional development research by clarifying how the community field mediates spatial organization, benefit sharing, and local agency in cold-resource regions. Full article

Background: Incorporating sex as a biological variable (SBV) is recognized as essential for improving the reliability, reproducibility, and generalizability of pharmacological research. This principle is codified in international policies and guidelines, yet implementation remains uneven, especially in phytomedicine. Phytomedicines are a major component of healthcare worldwide, with 65% of the global population relying on them in both regulated and traditional contexts. Globally, phytomedicines are used by males, females, intersex and non-cis gender persons, all of whom may present specific safety and efficacy considerations and warrant full inclusion in pre-clinical to clinical research pipelines. However, in contemporary settings, phytomedicine lags in SBV best practices relative to Western allopathic standards for research design. Methods: We conducted a non-systematic review and in silico data mining to quantify sex/gender representation in recent preclinical and clinical phytomedicine studies, complemented by targeted case studies of sexually dimorphic safety/efficacy. We also summarize the historical role of women and gender-diverse people as users and providers within Traditional and Integrative Medical Systems (TIMSs). Results: Across rodent and human studies, females are under-represented relative to males, and sex is rarely reported for cell lines. Intentional inclusion of intersex and other gender-diverse populations is largely absent. Case studies illustrate plausible sex-associated differences in pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and adverse event profiles. TIMSs historically address women’s health needs and include substantial participation by female practitioners; however, contemporary SBV practices remain less standardized than in Western allopathic pipelines. Conclusions: SBV integration in phytomedicine is needed to strengthen safety, efficacy, and regulatory-grade evidence. Practical barriers include legacy datasets without sex metadata, limited intersex animal models, and uneven resources across settings. We outline feasible, stepwise practices to improve SBV adoption in a manner compatible with TIMS contexts and recommend expanding current guidelines to better support diverse research environments while maintaining scientific rigor. Full article

Elucidating the trade-offs and synergistic relationships between different ecosystem services is essential to optimize the benefits of ecosystem services and ensure their proper management for human well-being and ecosystem health. However, previous studies have focused only on quantitative analysis based on statistical relationships to explore ecosystem service trade-offs and synergistic relationships as a whole; additionally, some of them lack scientific expression of spatial and temporal differences within regions. Therefore, here, we explored the trade-offs and synergies among ecosystem services in the Taihang Mountains region and conducted ecological service zoning based on the findings to support ecological conservation and high-quality development in the Taihang Mountains and North China Plain. We employed yield spatialization, the InVEST model, and ArcGIS kernel density analysis to assess the interactions among ecosystem services: provisioning (food supply), regulating (water yield and carbon density), supporting (soil retention and habitat quality), and cultural services (leisure and recreation) in the study area. Linear Pearson correlation coefficients and non-linear bagplots were utilized to analyze the interrelationships among these services. Based on the bagplot results, the geographic patterns of ecosystem service trade-offs/synergies and the distribution of dominant services were identified. The results revealed considerable trade-offs between food supply and both regulating and supporting services, with most of the latter exhibiting synergistic relationships with one another. In contrast, leisure and recreation services showed a neutral relationship with other services. Among ecosystem services, carbon density services demonstrated the highest synergistic effects, whereas food supply services exhibited the most conflicts. The various ecosystem trade-off/synergy zones and dominant service distributions generated through bagplot mappings may optimize management methods for multiple ecosystem services. Overall, these findings provide significant insights for improving ecological service zoning and natural resource management. Full article

After major disruptive events, particularly natural and human-made disasters, community leaders face the challenge of rebuilding societal infrastructure and managing the allocation of funds, which can affect the duration of recovery periods. Decision-makers must quickly determine how to allocate financial resources while minimizing population distress. Conventional methods of assessing damage and evaluating relief requirements fall short of meeting the urgent recovery needs after a disaster, potentially leading to negative effects on communities, such as involuntary relocation and neighborhood gentrification. The study evaluates current methods and technologies to propose a new approach that leverages low-cost consumer drones and modern image analysis techniques to support initial damage assessments and track recovery progress, thereby promoting the dynamic allocation of limited resources. Using low-cost drone imagery enables rapid, cost-effective data collection and dynamic analysis through iterative reviews during the disaster response and recovery phases that can adjust baseline disaster funding allocations. The study investigates the potential of temporary blue tarp roofs (“blue roofs”) as a metric for recovery progress during the 2020 tornado in Middle Tennessee and conducts an R-squared and error analysis. The goal of this research is to evaluate an affordable and efficient data analysis method (e.g., modern image analysis; artificial intelligence; low-cost drones) that can improve post-disaster resource allocation and inform decision-making for governmental and planning officials. Full article

Organizations increasingly invest in sustainability, yet limited knowledge exists regarding the psychological and leadership mechanisms through which Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) fosters employees’ green innovative behavior. This study addresses this scientific problem by examining how GHRM relates to green innovation through sequential psychological processes and under which leadership conditions these relationships become stronger. Using multi-source data from 300 employee–supervisor dyads across three industries in the Greek private sector, the study tests a serial mediation model linking GHRM to green innovative behavior through psychological safety and work engagement, as well as the moderating role of Green Transformational Leadership (GTL). Structural equation modelling supports all hypothesized associations: GHRM is positively related to psychological safety, which predicts work engagement, which in turn strongly predicts green innovative behavior. GTL strengthens the relationship between GHRM and psychological safety, resulting in a stronger indirect effect on green innovation. The findings provide an integrative understanding of how HR systems, psychological conditions, and leadership jointly support employee-driven environmental innovation. Full article

Purpose: Chiglitazar (Chi) is a pan-peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) agonist with reported anti-oxidative effects in metabolic disorders. In this study, we investigate its therapeutic effects and potential mechanisms in corneal neovascularization (CNV). Methods: Scratch-wound and tube formation assays in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were performed to evaluate the effects of Chi under recombinant human vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) stimulation. An oxidative stress model was established in human corneal epithelial cells (HCEs), and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were quantified by flow cytometry. A corneal alkali burn mouse model of CNV was established. Chi was then administered and compared with vehicle, pioglitazone, or fenofibrate. Corneal epithelial healing and neovascularization were assessed. Public drug–disease–target resources were integrated with RNA-seq data and single-cell transcriptomes to prioritize Chi-associated targets and pathways, which were examined by immunofluorescence, RT-PCR, and Western blotting. Ocular safety was evaluated by comprehensive ophthalmic evaluation. Results: Chi significantly inhibited migration and tube formation in VEGF-induced HUVECs, and flow cytometry confirmed effective ROS reduction. In vivo, Chi markedly improved corneal conditions compared with the vehicle and showed efficacy comparable to or superior to selective PPAR-α/γ agonists, depending on the outcome measures. Bioinformatic analyses predicted PPAR-γ as the dominant isoform, with PPAR-α secondary and PPAR-δ appearing less prominent, collectively implicating oxidative stress and VEGF pathways. Immunofluorescence verified PPAR-γ activation, predominantly localized to the corneal epithelium. RT-PCR and Western blotting supported activation of antioxidant pathways and suppression of angiogenic signals, with Western blotting confirming PPAR-γ and PPAR-α activation, whereas PPAR-δ activation appeared less evident under the present conditions. Ocular examinations demonstrated a favorable safety profile. Conclusions: Chi primarily activates PPAR-γ and PPAR-α, producing antioxidant and anti-angiogenic benefits, supporting its potential as a multi-target PPAR therapy for CNV. Full article

Driven by the goal of carbon neutrality, low-carbon development in township spaces is essential for sustainable urban–rural growth. This paper employs a carbon accounting methodology, taking Fuqiushan Town in the Dongting Lake Ecological Economic Zone as a case study to develop a detailed carbon measurement inventory at the township scale. Using spatial analysis techniques, it synthesizes multi-source data—including land use, agricultural inputs, and population—to estimate emissions from key sources such as crop cultivation, livestock and poultry breeding, industrial production, and residential activities. The study also evaluates the carbon sequestration capacity of sinks such as woodlands and water bodies, enabling the spatial visualization of both carbon emissions and carbon sinks. Key findings include: (1) Fuqiushan Town exhibits a carbon emission profile characterized by “industrial activities as the primary source, supplemented by agriculture, with additional contributions from residential and transportation sectors,” while forested areas and water bodies serve as core carbon sink zones. (2) An innovative multidimensional indicator system for low-carbon development efficiency was established, consisting of the Low-Carbon Development Efficiency Index in Production, the Daily Life Carbon Responsibility Efficiency Index, and the Ecological Carbon Sink Efficiency Index, which together form a Comprehensive Efficiency Index for Low-Carbon Development. (3) Analysis reveals significant spatial coupling relationships and efficiency differentiation patterns among carbon emissions, industrial structure, energy dependence, and ecological background. Based on dominant carbon emission types, low-carbon efficiency thresholds, and spatial factor interactions, the 17 villages and one forest farm in the township are classified into five zones: “Industrial High-Carbon Transition Zone,” “Agricultural Pollution Reduction and Carbon Emission Reduction Synergy Zone,” “Ecological Low-Carbon Conservation Zone,” “Human Settlements Balanced Development Zone,” and “Ecological Core Zone.” Tailored low-carbon spatial planning strategies for material resources are proposed for each zone. These results offer quantitative support and spatially targeted insights for low-carbon spatial planning in ecologically sensitive townships, contributing to the achievement of objectives such as “carbon reduction and sink increase” and “rural revitalization.” Full article

Enterococcus spp. are common but not predominant commensal bacteria that inhabit the gastrointestinal tracts of humans and animals and are widely distributed in various environmental matrices and diverse food sources. Multiple strains of beneficial enterococci are increasingly utilized as protective cultures, alternatives to antibiotics, and probiotics for controlling pathogens, mitigating disease, modulating the microbiome, and supporting overall host health. They also support food fermentation and safety, enhance sensory properties, and produce bioactive compounds such as bacteriocins with strong pathogen-inhibitory activity and multifarious health benefits. Despite their advantages in health and agrifood systems, their association with healthcare-associated infections and the spread of antimicrobial resistance raises concerns about their safety. These risks underscore the need for stringent safety evaluations before their use as probiotics, alternatives to antibiotics, or protective cultures. Here, we provide a comprehensive atlas of the multifaceted probiotic and antimicrobial potential, as well as safety considerations of beneficial enterococci. This would provide a valuable resource for future research, regulatory assessments, and applications in the agrifood system and healthcare. Full article

Artificial intelligence (AI) can help students accelerate assignment completion, but it may also foster cognitive outsourcing and learning detached from authentic contexts. This paper presents E3-HOT, a conceptual framework that leverages embodied intelligence to sustain learners’ cognitive agency and higher-order thinking for sustainable learning, aligned with SDG 4 (Sustainable Development Goal 4) and its emphasis on inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning. Using an iterative conceptual synthesis, we distill three embodied pathways—situational embedding, embodied participation, and cognitive creation—and translate them into a practical system design with a three-module E3 core. It includes a virtual–real integrated learning environment for rich scenarios, embodied interaction for action and sensing, and an intelligent core that provides bounded and teacher-controlled support. To facilitate equitable adoption across resource-diverse settings, we specify multi-fidelity enactment options and an auditable set of evidence artifacts for subsequent expert review and future validation studies. We further provide an illustrative university human–AI design project that outlines a week-by-week workflow and corresponding evidence plan, presented as a worked example rather than a report of an implemented study. E3-HOT offers a traceable design-and-evidence blueprint without claiming measured learning gains. Full article

Achieving sustainable development and carbon neutrality requires continuous technological upgrading in the new energy sector. Improvement of innovation quality in new energy firms therefore plays a significant role in sustainability transitions. However, whether and how the business environment supports the innovation quality in the new energy sector remains unclear. Using machine learning, our study assesses the predictive ability of the business environment for innovation quality in new energy firms, distinguishes the importance of different elements, and then portrays predictive patterns of critical elements. The results show that the business environment provides substantial predictive ability for innovation quality, increasing out-of-sample R² from 0.6200 to 0.7001, which represents an improvement of 0.0801. Among the focal explanatory variables, human resources, financial environment, and public services emerge as relatively important elements. Furthermore, we find that human resources and innovation quality exhibit an overall upward trend, whereas public services and financial environment have a complex relationship with innovation quality. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the predictive ability of the business environment for innovation quality varies significantly across firms with different ownership and locations. Our study provides evidence for policy design and business environment optimization to strengthen the institutional foundations of sustainable development. Full article