Search Results (1,001)

Digital rural construction (DRC), as a crucial intersection of the rural revitalization strategy and the construction of Digital China, is a key path to addressing the imbalance and inadequacy in the urban–rural income gap (URIG). Based on provincial panel data from 2011 to 2023, this paper systematically examines the relationship and mechanism of action between the two using an econometric model. This study finds that DRC significantly reduces the URIG overall, and this effect is achieved through increasing urbanization levels, accelerating employment, and promoting social consumption. Spatial effect tests indicate that DRC has a spatial spillover effect; construction in one province reduces the URIG in neighboring provinces. Further research shows that, against the backdrop of human capital level acting as a threshold variable, the effect of DRC on the URIG exhibits an inverted “U”-shaped characteristic, first increasing and then decreasing. Therefore, this paper proposes countermeasures and suggestions, including constructing a digital-enabled urban–rural integration mechanism, promoting cross-regional coordinated development of DRC, and implementing a tiered and categorized digital literacy improvement project. Full article

Background/Objectives: Adherence to the EAT-Lancet Planetary Health Diet (PHD) may promote human health and environmental sustainability, yet evidence regarding adherence and nutritional adequacy in Australia is limited. Globally, no research to date has used the recently updated 2025 PHD guidelines. We benchmarked the compatibility of Australian adults’ dietary patterns with the 2025 PHD and examined its associations with nutritional adequacy and sociodemographic factors. Methods: This was a cross-sectional analysis of dietary data from 5655 adults who participated in the National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey. Usual intakes were estimated from two 24 h recalls using the Multiple Source Method. PHD adherence was measured using the Healthy Reference Diet Score (0–130 points). Nutrient adequacy was assessed using the full probability method for iron and the Australian/New Zealand Estimated Average Requirement Cut-Point Method for all other nutrients. Survey-weighted regression models examined associations with nutritional adequacy and sociodemographic factors. Results: The mean PHD adherence score was 50 (SE 0.3) points. Higher adherence was associated with lower odds of inadequate intakes of several micronutrients, but with higher odds of inadequacy for vitamin B12 (OR: 1.24; 95% CI: 1.06, 1.45) and calcium (OR: 1.09; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.17). PHD adherence was higher among females, older adults, those with higher educational attainment, those born in countries where English is not the main language, two-person households and non-smokers; adherence was non-linearly associated with alcohol and was lower among those with a Body Mass Index ≥ 30 kg/m². Conclusions: PHD adherence in Australia was low. Higher adherence was associated with improved adequacy for several micronutrients. Trade-offs for vitamin B12 and calcium warrant consideration. Equity-conscious strategies will be needed to support the adoption of nutritionally adequate, environmentally sustainable diets. Full article

The transition to renewable energy technologies is one of the most important ways to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of affordable and clean energy (SDG7); industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG9); responsible production and consumption (SDG12); and climate action (SDG13). The widespread use of renewable energy technologies in developing countries will reduce dependence on imported fossil resources, increase industrial competitiveness, and support low-carbon development. Despite all their advantages, the integration of renewable energy technologies into industrial and domestic systems in developing countries remains slow due to a number of barriers. Financial constraints, technical and technological deficiencies, political restrictions and uncertainties, and organizational and managerial inadequacies are some of the barriers to the widespread adoption of renewable energy technologies. This study aims to identify, classify, and prioritize the barriers to the implementation of renewable energy technologies by applying multi-criteria decision-making methods in a fuzzy environment, with Türkiye considered as a case study. The relative importance of the barriers identified using the Single-Valued Spherical Fuzzy SWARA method was assessed, and their interconnections and significance were systematically demonstrated. The findings will contribute to the development of policy and management strategies aligned with global sustainability goals, thereby facilitating a more effective and equitable transition to clean and resilient energy systems. Full article

Background/Objectives: The increasing trend of foodborne zoonotic pathogens exhibiting antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents a growing threat to food safety and public health in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Resistant strains of foodborne zoonotic pathogens compromise treatment efficacy, raise illness, and threaten sustainable food systems in human and animal health. However, regional understanding and policy response are limited due to the fragmentation of data and the inadequacy of surveillance. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to achieve the following: (1) estimate the pooled prevalence of AMR, including multidrug resistance (MDR) in selected foodborne pathogens; (2) compare subgroup variations across countries, pathogen species, and antibiotic classes; and (3) evaluate temporal trends. Methods: Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, studies published between 2010 and June 2025 reporting AMR and MDR in Salmonella, Campylobacter, or E. coli from food or animal sources in SSA were systematically reviewed. Data on pathogen prevalence, AMR profile, and MDR were extracted. Random-effects meta-analysis using R software was implemented to estimate the pooled prevalence and the 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Subgroup analyses were performed to explore heterogeneity across countries, antibiotic class, and bacterial species. Results: Ninety studies from 16 sub-Saharan African countries were included, encompassing 104,086 positive isolates. The pooled foodborne pathogen prevalence was 53.1% (95% CI: 51.5–54.7), AMR prevalence was 61.6% (95% CI: 59.4–63.9), and MDR prevalence was 9.1% (95% CI: 8.3–10.0). The highest resistance was reported in Campylobacter spp. (43.6%), followed by Salmonella spp. (29.1%) and E. coli (22.8%). High heterogeneity was observed across studies (I² = 95–99%, p < 0.001). Conclusions: It is concluded that substantial AMR burden exists in food systems, highlighting an urgent need for integrated One Health surveillance, antimicrobial stewardship, and policy harmonization in SSA. Strengthening laboratory capacity, enforcing prudent antimicrobial use, and promoting regional data sharing are critical for the management of antimicrobial resistance in sub-Saharan Africa. Full article

The historic Rockborn strain of the canine distemper virus was widely used as a vaccine, but its use was discontinued due to safety concerns. Yet, Rockborn-like canine distemper virus strains are still used in some vaccine formulations. Genetic analysis of this strain was previously limited to the H gene, leaving its full evolutionary and pathogenic potential unclear. This study aimed to determine the complete genome sequence of the Rockborn strain to reconstruct its origin, understand its evolution, and provide a reference for improving diagnostics and future research on virulence markers. An amplicon-based sequencing protocol using MinION nanopore technology was employed to determine the complete genome of the Rockborn-46th laboratory strain. The genome was assembled, annotated, and analyzed in comparison with 223 genomes. The complete genome of the Rockborn strain was 15,690 nucleotides in length. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that Rockborn forms a unique lineage with field isolates from a masked civet in China and a dog in the United States. Crucially, a significant recombination event was identified, showing that the Rockborn strain acted as a parental strain, contributing its F and H genes to create mosaic viruses. The full-genome characterization of the Rockborn strain confirms that Rockborn-like viruses persist and actively contribute to the evolution of canine distemper virus through recombination. This finding highlights the inadequacy of single-gene analysis for diagnostics and surveillance, and underscores the necessity of whole-genome sequencing to accurately track the virus epidemiology and evolution. Full article

Background: Vietnam is undergoing a rapid nutrition transition, yet evidence on nutrient intake and inadequacy among adolescents and young adults remains limited. This study aimed to assess nutrient intakes and patterns of inadequacy among Vietnamese youth aged 16–25 years across population groups and regions. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1005 participants from five provinces in northern, central, and southern Vietnam. Dietary intake was assessed using a two-stage 24 h recall, and nutrient inadequacy was evaluated using Estimated Average Requirement (EAR), Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR), and Estimated Energy Requirement (EER) reference standards. Results: Energy and macronutrient intakes differed across groups. University students had the lowest energy intake, while young workers consumed the highest proportion of carbohydrates. Calcium inadequacy exceeded 95% in all subgroups. Regional disparities were observed, with lower intakes of several micronutrients in the South. Compared with high school students, university students showed higher risks of inadequate protein and vitamin A intake, whereas young workers exhibited lower risks of inadequate carbohydrate and folate intake but a higher risk of vitamin A inadequacy. Conclusions: Vietnamese youth exhibited substantial micronutrient inadequacies with marked variation across groups and regions. These findings underscore the need for targeted nutrition interventions tailored to specific youth contexts. Full article

Eco-anxiety—emotional distress arising from awareness of environmental collapse—has become a critical dimension of social sustainability, linking mental well-being, professional functioning, institutional trust, and climate governance. This study investigates how higher education professionals (HEPs) experience and interpret eco-anxiety within their professional contexts, situating it as a lens on institutional legitimacy from the perspective of those who produce, teach, and steward climate knowledge. A cross-sectional mixed-methods survey of 556 HEPs was conducted across a month in 2023, combining an adapted climate anxiety scale with open-ended narratives. Quantitative analyses identified perceived governmental inadequacy as the strongest correlate of climate worry (β = 0.48, p < 0.001), accounting for 26% of the variance, whereas institutional inadequacy had a weaker effect. Qualitative findings revealed pervasive emotions of moral injury, solastalgia, and exhaustion when sustainability rhetoric outpaced genuine action, with many respondents describing governmental and institutional “betrayal.” Integrating Cognitive Appraisal Theory with concepts of moral legitimacy, the study conceptualises eco-anxiety as a relational and ethically grounded emotion reflecting the perceived misalignment between knowledge and governance. Addressing it requires transparent climate leadership, participatory governance, and organisational care infrastructures to sustain motivation and trust within universities. Eco-anxiety thus may function not only as a personal pathology but also as a psychosocial response that can illuminate HEPs’ perceptions of institutional misalignment with sustainability commitments, with implications for higher education’s contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals. Full article

Accurate distance perception and collision reasoning are crucial for robotic manipulation in the confined interior of tokamak vacuum vessels. Traditional mesh- or voxel-based methods suffer from discretization artifacts, discontinuities, and heavy memory requirements, making them unsuitable for continuous geometric reasoning and optimization-based planning. This paper presents an Occupancy-Aware Neural Distance Perception (ONDP) framework that serves as a compact and differentiable geometric sensor for manipulator obstacle avoidance in reactor-like environments. To address the inadequacy of conventional sampling methods in such constrained environments, we introduce a Physically-Stratified Sampling strategy. This approach moves beyond heuristic adaptation to explicitly dictate data distribution based on specific engineering constraints. By injecting weighted quotas into critical safety buffers and enforcing symmetric boundary constraints, we ensure robust gradient learning in high-risk regions. A lightweight neural network is trained directly in physical units (millimeters) using a mean absolute error loss, ensuring strict adherence to engineering tolerances. The resulting model achieves approximately 2–3 mm near-surface accuracy and supports high-frequency distance and normal queries for real-time perception, monitoring, and motion planning. Experiments on a tokamak vessel model demonstrate that ONDP provides continuous, sub-centimeter geometric fidelity. Crucially, benchmark results confirm that the proposed method achieves a query frequency exceeding 15 kHz for large-scale batches, representing a 5911× speed-up over mesh-based queries. This breakthrough performance enables its seamless integration with trajectory optimization and model-predictive control frameworks for confined-space robotic manipulation. Full article

Background/Objectives: The Fourth Italian National Food Consumption Survey (IV SCAI 2017–2020) provides updated and comprehensive data on the dietary habits of the Italian population. The study aimed to assess nutrient intakes and their main food sources among individuals aged 3 months to 74 years and to evaluate the adequacy of intakes against the Italian dietary reference values (DRVs). Methods: A nationally representative sample of 1969 participants were surveyed using two non-consecutive food diaries (ages 3 months–9 years) and 24 h recalls (ages 10–74 years) in accordance with the European Food Safety Authority’s EU Menu guideline. The multiple source method was used to estimate the usual intakes accounted for intra-individual variability. Nutrient adequacy was assessed against age- and sex-specific DRVs, and the main food sources of macro- and micronutrients were identified. Results: Energy intake was below DRVs for adults, particularly women, while protein intake exceeded recommendations across all ages, mainly from animal sources (67% of total). Total fat (38%En) and saturated fat (12%En) exceeded the recommendations, whereas carbohydrates (45%En) and dietary fibre were suboptimal. Vitamin D and calcium intake were markedly below DRVs for all age groups; iron inadequacy was prevalent among females. The main energy sources were cereals (39%), milk and dairy (15%), oils and fats (13%), and meat (10%). Vegetables and fruits were leading contributors to vitamins A and C, while meat, fish, and dairy provided vitamin B12 and D. Conclusions: The Italian diet remains cereal-based but shows nutritional imbalances: notably, excessive protein and fat intake and widespread deficiencies in vitamin D, calcium, iron, and fibre. These findings underline the need for targeted nutrition policies to realign dietary patterns with the national recommendations. Full article

Over the past two decades, escalating climate crises, geopolitical conflicts, and pandemics have intensified the frequency and severity of disasters, exposing severe vulnerabilities in global food systems. In this pressing context, disaster nutrition emerges as a vital domain of intervention. However, existing academic literature and field practices often address this topic through fragmented, single-axis perspectives. Nutritional physiology, food technology, humanitarian logistics, and policy–ethics frameworks tend to progress in parallel yet disconnected tracks, which results in a lack of holistic models that adequately reflect field realities. The urgency of this issue is underscored by the latest global data. In 2023 alone, disasters resulted in over 86,000 deaths, a significant increase from the preceding two-decade annual average. Furthermore, the 2025 Global Report on Food Crises reveals that 295.3 million people faced high levels of acute food insecurity in 2024, marking the sixth consecutive year this number has risen. This escalating crisis highlights the inadequacy of fragmented approaches and necessitates the development of an integrated framework for disaster nutrition. To address this fragmentation, this study redefines disaster nutrition as a multi-layered, integrated food system challenge. Based on a comprehensive literature analysis, it proposes an “Integrated Disaster Food System Model” that brings these different dimensions together within a common framework. The model is built on four main components: (i) nutritional requirements and vulnerable groups (such as infants, older adults, pregnant individuals, and populations with chronic diseases requiring special diets); (ii) product design, technology, and packaging (balancing shelf life, nutritional value, cultural acceptability, and sensory attributes, including innovative components such as microalgae and fermented foods); (iii) logistics, storage, and distribution systems (centralized storage versus localized micro-warehouses, as well as the use of drones and digital traceability technologies); and (iv) policy, regulation, ethics, and sustainability (the applicability of the Sphere Standards, fair distribution, food waste, and environmental impact). By emphasizing the bidirectional and dynamic interactions among these components, the model demonstrates how decisions in one domain affect others (for example, how more durable packaging can increase both logistics costs and carbon footprint). The study highlights the risks and cultural mismatches associated with a “one-size-fits-all high-energy food” approach for vulnerable groups and argues for the necessity of localized, context-specific, and sustainable solutions. In conclusion, the article posits that the future of disaster food systems can only be shaped through a holistic approach in which interdisciplinary collaboration, technological innovation, and ethical–environmental principles are integrated into the core of policy-making. Full article

Background: Pediatric patients often receive medicines manipulated from adult formulations due to a lack of age-appropriate products. While such practices are clinically routine, they may reflect deeper systemic deficiencies in pediatric pharmacotherapy. Objective: This scoping review aimed to map the prevalence, definitions, and types of pediatric drug manipulation and to conceptualize manipulation as an indicator of structural gaps in formulation science, regulation, and access. Methods: A systematic search of PubMed (January 2014–July 2024) included 10 studies reporting the frequency of drug manipulation in children aged ≤18 years. Eligible studies were synthesized narratively according to PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Results: Ten studies from nine countries were included, reporting manipulation frequencies ranging from 6.4% to 62% of all drug administrations and up to 60% at the patient level. Manipulated formulations most commonly included oral solid doses, altered through dispersing, splitting, or crushing. Definitions and methodologies varied considerably. The findings revealed five recurring structural gaps: limited pediatric formulations, inconsistent regulatory implementation, lack of standardized definitions and guidance, insufficient evidence on manipulation safety, and inequitable access across regions. Conclusion: Manipulation of finished dosage forms for use in children is a widespread, measurable phenomenon reflecting systemic inadequacies in formulation development, regulation, and access. Recognizing manipulation as a structural indicator may guide policy, innovation, and equitable pediatric pharmacotherapy worldwide. Full article

Background: Adequate nutrition in long-term care (LTC) settings is critical for the health and well-being of institutionalised older adults, yet global evidence consistently reveals significant gaps in dietary provision. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of observational studies published between January 2004 and December 2024 in PubMed and Scopus, following PRISMA 2020 and JBI guidelines. The review assessed whether planned menus and residents’ actual intake met recognised dietary reference values, described dietary assessment methods, and identified common nutrient shortfalls. Results: 34 observational studies from 16 countries were included. The most frequently used assessment methods were weighed food records (50.0%), menu analyses (29.4%), and 24 h recalls or food diaries (20.6%). Among the 25 studies reporting mean daily energy intake, 68.0% documented values between 1250 and 1800 kcal/day, and 73.5% indicated intakes below established reference values. Additionally, 11 studies (32.4%) found that residents consumed less than 75% of the energy planned in menus. Protein intake was below 60 g/day or 0.83 g/kg body weight/day in 41.2% of studies. Across 22 studies assessing micronutrients, recurrent inadequacies included vitamin D (61.8%), calcium (55.9%), folate (50.0%), zinc (41.2%), and fibre (47.1%). In studies quantifying planned–served–consumed stages, actual intake represented approximately 64.0–87.0% of planned energy and protein. Conclusions: Nutrition in LTC settings frequently falls short of meeting the energy and nutrient requirements of institutionalised older adults. Persistent inadequacies in energy, protein, and key micronutrients were observed across studies, alongside substantial variability in dietary assessment methods and reference frameworks, limiting comparability of findings. Full article

The multimodal fusion of hyperspectral images (HSI) and LiDAR data for land cover classification encounters difficulties in modeling heterogeneous data characteristics and cross-modal dependencies, leading to the loss of complementary information due to concatenation, the inadequacy of fixed fusion weights to adapt to spatially varying reliability, and the assumptions of linear separability for nonlinearly coupled patterns. We propose QIE-Mamba, integrating selective state-space models with quantum-inspired processing to enhance multimodal representation learning. The framework employs ConvNeXt encoders for hierarchical feature extraction, quantum superposition layers for complex-valued multimodal encoding with learned amplitude–phase relationships, unitary entanglement networks via skew-symmetric matrix parameterization (validated through Cayley transform and matrix exponential methods), quantum-enhanced Mamba blocks with adaptive decoherence, and confidence-weighted measurement for classification. Systematic three-phase sequential validation on Houston2013, Muufl, and Augsburg datasets achieves overall accuracies of 99.62%, 96.31%, and 96.30%. Theoretical validation confirms 35.87% mutual information improvement over classical fusion (6.9966 vs. 5.1493 bits), with ablation studies demonstrating quantum superposition contributes 82% of total performance gains. Phase information accounts for 99.6% of quantum state entropy, while gradient convergence analysis confirms training stability (zero mean/std gradient norms). The optimization framework reduces hyperparameter search complexity by 99.6% while maintaining state-of-the-art performance. These results establish quantum-inspired state-space models as effective architectures for multimodal remote sensing fusion, providing reproducible methodology for hyperspectral–LiDAR classification with linear computational complexity. Full article

This study compared executive functions, anthropometric profile, and dietary habits in adolescent girls with and without eating disorder (ED) symptoms. The main objective was to determine the relationship between the presence of ED symptoms and the degree of executive function impairment. A case–control design was used with 209 Mexican adolescents who completed ED screening questionnaires. Of the total sample, 54 participants scored above the clinical cutoff, and 39 of them completed both the BANFE-2 assessment and the anthropometric measurements. These 39 adolescents with ED symptoms were matched with an equal number of adolescents without symptoms to form the control group. Additionally, 21 adolescents in the ED symptoms group and 25 in the control group completed the 24 h dietary recall and food frequency questionnaires. The main findings were as follows: the prevalence of ED symptoms was 25.8%. Adolescents with ED symptoms showed higher body mass index, waist circumference, body fat percentage, and neck circumference compared with those without symptoms. They also exhibited poorer inhibitory control, reflected in a greater number of errors, along with non-significant trends toward lower performance on the maze test, Card Sorting, and Card Game. Dietary inadequacy was also more pronounced in the ED symptoms group. Furthermore, the presence of ED symptoms significantly increased the likelihood of severe executive function impairment. In conclusion, adolescents with ED symptoms demonstrated an altered anthropometric profile, dietary deficiencies, and reduced inhibitory control. Full article

Background: Gestational weight gain (GWG) is commonly used as an indicator of nutritional adequacy during pregnancy and a marker for pregnancy outcomes. This study aims to report the prevalence and extent of GWG inadequacy among Saudi women and to examine the effects of GWG inadequacy on pregnancy outcomes. Methods: This study was conducted as part of the Riyadh Mother and Baby Multicenter Cohort Study; it included 6984 women with singleton pregnancies. Adverse pregnancy outcomes—including hypertension, gestational diabetes (GDM), cesarean section (CS), low birth weight (LBW), Neonatal Intensive Care Unit admission (NICU), and macrosomia—were compared between women with adequate and inadequate GWG, based on the Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines. Results: Of the participants, 2221 women (31.8%) had adequate GWG for prepregnancy BMI, 2959 (42.4%) had inadequate GWG, and 1804 (25.8%) had excessive GWG. Women with normal prepregnancy BMI and inadequate GWG had significantly increased odds of delivering LBW infants (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.61, 95% CI: 1.17–2.20). Inadequate GWG also decreased the odds of emergency cesarean delivery among women with obesity (AOR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.56–0.97) and lowered the likelihood of NICU admission for infants of obese women (AOR = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.36–0.97). Women with prepregnancy obesity experienced the highest rate of adverse outcomes; however, the prevalence of all adverse outcomes decreased as the degree of weight gain inadequacy increased. Conversely, underweight women had the highest percentage of LBW, with this percentage increasing as weight gain inadequacy increased. Conclusions: The effects of inadequate GWG vary depending on maternal prepregnancy BMI and the specific outcome assessed. For women with obesity, reduced weight gain during pregnancy may be beneficial. In contrast, inadequate GWG is associated with a higher incidence of LBW in women with normal prepregnancy BMI and underweight women. Full article