Search Results (99)

This article presents a case study from a Social and Health Care School in Denmark, where a rooftop garden was designed to promote student health and support nature-based teaching across subject areas. A novel aspect of the project is the formal integration of the garden into teaching, implying that its long-term impact may extend beyond the students to the end-users they will later encounter in nursing homes and hospitals nationwide. This study applies the Evidence-Based Health Design in Landscape Architecture (EBHDL) process model, encompassing evidence collection, programming, and concept design, with the University of Copenhagen acting in a consultancy role. A co-design process with students and teachers was included as a novel source of case-specific evidence. Methodologically, this is a participatory practice-based case study focusing on the full design and construction processes, combining continuous documentation with reflective analysis of ‘process insights,’ generating lessons learned from the application of the EBHDL process model. This study identifies two categories of lessons learned. First, general insights emerged concerning governance, stakeholder roles, and the critical importance of site selection, procurement, and continuity of design responsibility. Second, specific insights were gained regarding the application of the EBHDL model, including its alignment with Danish and international standardised construction phases. These insights are particularly relevant for project managers in nature-based initiatives. The results also show how the EBHDL model aligns with Danish and international standardised construction phases, offering a bridge between health design methods and established building practice. The case focuses on the EBHDL process rather than verified outcomes and demonstrates how evidence-based and participatory approaches can help structure complex design processes, facilitate stakeholder engagement, and support decision-making in institutional projects. Full article

Sierra Leone’s water sector faces a “paradox of scarcity in abundance”: despite plentiful natural water resources, access to safe, reliable, and affordable supply remains limited, particularly for vulnerable populations. This paper investigates the governance dynamics and stakeholder relationships that underpin these challenges, drawing on a mixed-methods approach combining desktop research, surveys, and 37 semi-structured interviews. Using stakeholder and social network analysis, the study identifies key actors and their roles, interests, influence, and interdependencies, while also examining systemic barriers across social, technical, economic, environmental, and political dimensions. The findings reveal a highly fragmented governance landscape, characterised by overlapping mandates, donor dependency, weak enforcement, and the marginalisation of community voices. Although recent reforms—including new regulatory institutions, donor-funded infrastructure projects, and community-based initiatives—represent progress, they remain largely piecemeal, reactive, and insufficient to address entrenched structural deficiencies. The paper concludes that Sierra Leone’s water crisis is less a problem of resource scarcity than one of governance. Achieving sustainable water security requires integrated, system-wide reforms that strengthen institutional capacity, enhance coordination, enforce accountability, and embed inclusive stakeholder participation. Full article

In agriculture, climate change is the most critical global issue. It is widely acknowledged that addressing this issue poses a considerable challenge, primarily due to its multifaceted impact on regional economies and land management practices. The concept of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) provides a prosperous approach offering both adaptation and mitigation models. However, NbS implementation is often compromised by various natural and societal challenges. Vojvodina Province, the northern province of the Republic of Serbia, features a typical rural landscape where centuries of agricultural practice have led to significant environmental changes, with 70% of the territory converted to arable land. However, climate change has been demonstrated to induce increasingly extreme weather conditions, which in turn exacerbate the situation with regard to food production. This paper aims to examine the most prosperous ways for NbS implementation in Vojvodina Province. The preset study mapped areas suitable for the implementation of selected NbS on the territory of Vojvodina Province. Maps were created in QGIS, while data were extracted from various sources (CORINE Land Cover, OpenStreetMap, the Institute for Nature Conservation of Vojvodina Province, and EUNIS platform). The area suitable for NbS in Vojvodina amounts to 1,183,228 ha or 55.74%. An increase in the area dedicated to organic and regenerative agriculture is projected, with a predicted range of up to 5%. Finally, we have identified grazing as a desirable management option for grassland management, which we have mapped, and it could potentially be practiced on almost 10% of the territory. Moreover, the engagement of various stakeholders is crucial in the implementation of NbS over the territory of the rural landscape. Considering that neighboring countries are facing the same climate circumstances and a similar social context, the findings we have presented in the paper may be applied to the region of the southern part of the Pannonian Plain. Full article

Urban health, well-being, and equity—core objectives of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 3, 10, and 11)—have become key themes in contemporary urban planning research and landscape research. While existing studies focus predominantly on quantitative assessment, environmental exposure, and human mobility, the historical origins of health-oriented urban green space planning remain insufficiently explored. Focusing on Lingnan area as a representative case, this research investigates the emergence of public green space in late Qing cities and its early contributions to urban health and spatial governance. Through a systematic examination of American and British Gardens at the Thirteen Factories in Guangzhou, the planned public green space system of the Shameen concession, and the municipal greening practices of neighboring Hong Kong and Macao, the study further analyzes Zhang Zhidong’s tree-lined boulevard project along Changdi avenue as a key instance of localized institutional adaptation. Drawing on late-Qing and Republican newspapers, nineteenth-century Western travelogs and reports, historical and contemporary studies and photo albums, the study finds the following: (1) the American and British Gardens marked the earliest emergence of health-oriented urban green space in Lingnan area; (2) the systematically planned green space network of the Shameen concession constituted a prototypical form of health-oriented urban green space planning; (3) the botanical gardens, street-tree systems, public parks, and institutionalized management practices in Hong Kong and Macao exerted a strong regional demonstrative influence on Guangzhou; (4) the street-tree planting along Changdi Avenue represented a localized absorption of foreign planning paradigms and marked the institutionalization of municipal greening in Guangzhou. Although these early practices did not yet form a modern healthy city planning framework at that time, they played a crucial role in improving urban sanitation, enhancing public space quality, and shaping urban order. By tracing the historical trajectory from transnational demonstration to local adaptation and institutional consolihdation, this study provides new insights into the historical foundations of health-oriented urban planning in China and contributes a long-term perspective to contemporary debates on healthy cities and nature-based urban interventions. Full article

Centro Español de Metrología (CEM) is developing a quantum frequency standard based on trapped calcium ions, marking its entry into the landscape of the second quantum revolution. Optical frequency standards offer unprecedented precision by referencing atomic transitions that are fundamentally stable and immune to environmental drift. However, the challenge of developing such a system from scratch is unaffordable for a medium-sized National Metrology Institute (NMI), which seems to limit the ability of an institute such as CEM to contribute to this field of research. To overcome this, CEM has adopted a hybrid strategy, combining commercially available components with custom integration to accelerate deployment. This paper defines and implements an architecture adapted to the constraints of a medium-size NMI, where the main contribution is the systematic design, selection, and interconnection of the subsystems required to realize this standard. The rationale behind the system design is presented, detailing the integration of key elements for ion trapping, laser stabilization, frequency measurement, and system control. Current progress, ongoing developments, and future research directions are outlined, establishing the foundation for spectroscopic measurements and uncertainty evaluation. The project represents a strategic step toward strengthening national capabilities in quantum metrology for a medium-sized NMI. Full article

Background: Appendiceal neoplasms account for less than 1% of gastrointestinal cancers but are increasing in incidence worldwide. Their marked histological variations and differences create multiple challenges for prognosis and management planning, as current staging systems are limited in certain aspects for capturing the entire disease complexity. Methods: We synthesized data from 18 large observational studies, including 67,001 patients diagnosed between 1973 and 2024. Using advanced computational modeling, we combined multiple statistical methods and machine learning techniques to improve risk stratification, survival prediction, treatment optimization, and forecasting. A novel overlap-aware weighting methodology was applied to prevent double-counting across overlapping registries. Results: Our multi-dimensional risk model outperformed TNM staging (C-index 0.758 vs. 0.689), identifying five prognostic groups with five-year overall survival ranging from 88.7% (low-risk neuroendocrine tumors (NETs)) to 27.3% (high-risk signet-ring cell carcinomas (SRCC)). Hierarchical survival analysis demonstrated marked variation across histological variants, with goblet cell adenocarcinoma showing the most favorable outcomes. Causal inference confirmed the survival benefit of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) in stage IV disease (five-year overall survival (OS) 87.4%) and highlighted disparities in outcomes by race and institutional volume. Time-series forecasting projected a 25% to 50% increase in incidence by 2030, highlighting the growing risk of global burden. Conclusions: By integrating multi-database evidence with advanced modeling and statistical methodologies, our findings demonstrate valuable insights and implications for individualized prognosis, better management decision-making, and health system planning. Our proposed approach and demonstrated methodologies are warranting better progression and advancements in precision oncology and utilization of computational modeling techniques in big data as well as digital health progression landscape. Full article

This study presents the preliminary results of the design and implementation of an advanced data management infrastructure developed to enhance the study, interpretation, and preservation of historical and archaeological contexts. Conducted within the framework of the PNRR CHANGES Project, Spoke 6, the initiative promotes the integration of scientific research, digital innovation, and cultural heritage enhancement. One of the principal outcomes of the project is the development and configuration of ARPAS (“Analisi del Rischio nel Paesaggio Stratificato” or “Risk Analysis of Stratified Landscape”), a centralised Geospatial Database capable of ensuring reliable data archiving, real-time analytical processing, and collaborative information sharing among researchers and institutions engaged in cultural heritage management. The paper discusses key methodological challenges related to the heterogeneity of available documentation and the limitations of existing tools currently used for heritage research and protection in the Italian, and particularly Sicilian, context. At the same time, it highlights the potential of the proposed system in terms of data accessibility, verifiability, and query ability, as well as its ability to integrate and interrelate heterogeneous datasets within a multilayered, interdisciplinary framework for cultural landscape research. The pilot deployment focuses on a geographic area in southeastern Sicily, drawing upon documentation of the cultural landscape across four provinces—Agrigento, Catania, Ragusa, and Siracusa—and integrating archaeological, architectural, and environmental data to support risk assessment and heritage conservation strategies. Results appear to demonstrate ARPAS’s potential to improve the completeness of information, manage stratification across temporal layers, and support predictive and preventive analyses for cultural heritage at the landscape level. Full article

University Dual Training is constructed at the intersection of academic and professional spheres, shaping a complex and multifaceted educational model. The aim of this study is to analyze the media representation of University Dual Training within the Spanish higher education landscape. The analysis focused on news articles published in the digital press of Spanish universities between 2021 and 2025. Following the methodological principles of a systematic review, a total of 81 news items (comprising 747 lexical segments) were identified and categorized 60 from 25 public universities and 21 from 7 private institutions. Data analysis, supported by the MAXQDA 24 software, enabled the identification of trends in the use of keywords, temporal evolution, and prevailing themes, along with the degree of relevance attributed to this training modality. The findings reveal an institutional tendency in media dissemination centred on promoting University Dual Training as a pathway for educational innovation, highlighting experiences and collaborations with companies, and projecting a discourse in which universities present themselves as committed to this modality. The study concludes that digital university newspapers convey the relevance and impact of University Dual Training as a modality that brings together diverse stakeholders, creating a space of collaboration and shared responsibility that strengthens student training and employability. Full article

Myelin is essential for efficient neural signaling and can be quantitatively evaluated using the T1-weighted/T2-weighted (T1w/T2w) ratio as a proxy for regional myelin content. Myelin covariance networks (MCNs) reflect correlated myelin patterns across brain regions, enabling the investigation of topological organization. However, a vertex-level map of myelin covariance gradients and their cognitive associations remains underexplored. The objective of this study was to construct and characterize vertex-level MCNs, identify their principal gradients, map their higher-order topological landscape, and determine their associations with cognitive functions and other multimodal cortical features. We conducted a cross-sectional, secondary analysis of publicly available data from the Human Connectome Project (HCP). The dataset included T1w/T2w MRI data from 1096 healthy adult participants (age 22–37). All original data collection and sharing procedures were approved by the Washington University institutional review board. Our procedures involved (1) constructing a vertex-wise MCN from T1w/T2w ratio data; (2) applying gradient analysis to identify principal organizational axes; (3) calculating network connectivity strength; (4) performing cognitive meta-analysis using Neurosynth; and (5) using graphlet analysis to assess higher-order topology. Our results show that the primary myelin gradient (Gradient 1) spans from sensory-motor to association cortices, strongly associates with connectivity strength (r = 0.66), and shows a functional dissociation between affective processing and sensorimotor domains. Furthermore, Gradient 2, as well as the positive and full connectivity strength, showed robust correlations with fractional anisotropy (FA), a DTI metric reflecting white matter microstructure. Our higher-order analysis also revealed that negative and positive myelin covariance connections exhibited distinct topologies. Negative connections were dominated by star-like graphlet structures, while positive connections were dominated by path-like and triangular structures. This systematic vertex-level investigation offers novel insights into the organizational principles of cortical myelin, linking gray matter myelin patterns to white matter integrity, and providing a valuable reference for neuropsychological research and the potential identification of biomarkers for neurological disorders. Full article

The Diamond Open Access (OA) model—characterized by the absence of fees for both authors and readers—has gained increasing attention in recent years. A wide range of scholarly journals are using this model, as emerged while mapping the Diamond OA landscape worldwide; however, some still depend on hybrid revenue streams such as print sales, subscriptions, and marginal APCs. A number of recent initiatives underlined the need to increase quality assurance, sustainability, and cooperation within the Diamond OA ecosystem. Among them, the Diamond OA Standard (DOAS), a framework comprising detailed guidelines and a self-assessment tool to facilitate Diamond OA publishing practices, was created by the DIAMAS project, sponsored by the European Commission. Annali dell’Istituto Superiore di Sanità, the official journal of the Italian leading public health research institution, is a Diamond OA journal. To improve transparency and quality, the editorial team used the DOAS self-assessment tool to evaluate its compliance with the standards proposed by DIAMAS and to identify potential areas for improvement. This article presents the process and findings of the DOAS self-assessment tool conducted on Annali ISS, with the aim of sharing insights and support with other journals seeking to align with the DOAS framework. Full article

This paper is aimed at landscape managers and designers. It looks at 123 real-world coastal landscape projects and organizes them into clear design categories, i.e., wetland restoration, hybrid infrastructure, or urban green spaces. We looked at how these projects were framed (whether they focused on climate adaptation, flood protection, or other goals) and how they tracked performance. We are hoping to bring some clarity to a very scattered field, helping us to see patterns in what is actually being carried out in terms of landscape interventions and increasing sea levels. We are hoping to provide a practical reference for making better, more climate-responsive design decisions. Coastal cities face escalating climate-driven threats from increasing sea levels and storm surges to urban heat islands. These threats are driving increased interest in nature-based solutions (NbSs) as green adaptive alternatives to traditional gray infrastructure. Despite an abundance of individual case studies, there have been few systematic syntheses aimed at landscape designers and managers linking design typologies, project framing, and performance outcomes. This study addresses this gap through a meta-synthesis of 123 implemented coastal landscape interventions aimed directly at landscape-oriented research and professions. Flood risk reduction was the dominant framing strategy (30.9%), followed by climate resilience (24.4%). Critical evidence gaps emerged—only 1.6% employed integrated monitoring approaches, 30.1% provided ambiguous performance documentation, and mean monitoring quality scored 0.89 out of 5.0. While 95.9% of the projects acknowledged SLR as a driver, only 4.1% explicitly integrated climate projections into design parameters. Community monitoring approaches demonstrated significantly higher ecosystem service integration, particularly cultural services (36.4% vs. 6.9%, $p<0.001$), and enhanced monitoring quality (mean score 1.64 vs. 0.76, $p<0.001$). Implementation barriers spanned technical constraints, institutional fragmentation, and data limitations, each affecting 20.3% of projects. Geographic analysis revealed evidence generation inequities, with systematic underrepresentation of high-risk regions (Africa: 4.1%; Latin America: 2.4%) versus concentration in well-resourced areas (North America: 27.6%; Europe: 17.1%). Full article

Geospatial sensing and data-driven technologies (GSDDTs) are playing an increasingly important role in transforming (agro)forestry practices across the Western Balkans 6 region (WB6). This review critically examines the current state of GSDDT application in six WB countries (also known as the WB6 group)—Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia—with a focus on their contributions to sustainable (agro)forest management. The analysis explores the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), light detection and ranging (LiDAR), geographic information systems (GIS), and satellite imagery in (agro)forest monitoring, biodiversity assessment, landscape restoration, and the promotion of circular economy models. Drawing on 25 identified case studies across WB6—for example, ALFIS, Forest Beyond Borders, ForestConnect, Kuklica Geosite Survey, CREDIT Vibes, and Project O₂ (including drone-assisted reforestation in Kosovo*)—this review highlights both technological advancements and systemic limitations. Key barriers to effective GSDDT deployment across WB6 in the (agro)forestry sector and its cross-border cooperation initiatives include fragmented legal frameworks, limited technical expertise, weak institutional coordination, and reliance on short-term donor funding. In addition to mapping current practices, this paper offers a comparative overview of UAV regulations across the WB6 region and identifies six major challenges influencing the adoption and scaling of GSDDTs. To address these, it proposes targeted policy interventions, such as establishing national LiDAR inventories, harmonizing UAV legislation, developing national GSDDT strategies, and creating dedicated GSDDT units within forestry agencies. This review also underscores how GSDDTs contribute to compliance with seven European Union (EU) acquis chapters, how they support eight Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their sixteen targets, and how they advance several EU Green Agenda objectives. Strengthening institutional capacities, promoting legal alignment, and enabling cross-border data interoperability are essential for integrating GSDDTs into national (agro)forest policies and research agendas. This review underscores GSDDTs’ untapped potential in forest genetic monitoring and landscape restoration, advocating for their institutional integration as catalysts for evidence-based policy and ecological resilience in WB6 (agro)forestry systems. Full article

Urban green infrastructure (UGI) projects rely on collaboration and involve a diverse team of professionals, including constructors, designers, green builders, and maintenance staff. This socially oriented case study focuses on the relational dynamics among UGI professionals, their roles in landscape construction processes, and how these relationships can influence the project’s success and its capacity to implement carbon-smart solutions. “Carbon-smart solutions” refers here to practices aimed at maximising carbon sequestration and storage while minimising carbon emissions. Data for this study were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews and analysed using deductive qualitative analysis. A coding framework, investigator triangulation, and a representative sample of various professionals were employed to confirm the data’s validity. This study identified several relational factors that either challenge or drive the project’s success and carbon smartness. At the interpersonal level, the determinant drivers and challengers in UGI professionals’ relations were linked to the definition of working roles, power dynamics, the building of mutual trust through open communication, and the possession of the necessary sustainability skills. At the institutional level, relations concerning the shared principles and rationales of the project, as well as the project design process and diverse working cultures, presented both constraints and advances in project success and carbon-smart solutions. Full article

The Three-North Shelter Forest Program (TNSFP) is a large-scale ecological restoration project that has attracted worldwide attention. It covers 4.069 million km² across 13 provinces in northern China, including northwestern, north-central, and northeastern regions. Bibliometric analysis provides a structural overview of the research in this field and offers insights into key research fronts. We conducted a literature review of the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) from 1990 to 2024 using HistCite for a comprehensive literature analysis and CiteSpace for visualizing research trends and co-citation networks. Based on the literature data from the WoSCC, we performed a bibliometric visualization review of the TNSFP. We observe a rising trend in research on the TNSFP, with the number of publications steadily increasing, especially after 2011. Remote Sensing emerged as the leading journal during the study period, accounting for 8.84% of the total publications. China is the leading contributor to research in this field, comprising 99.32% of the publications, with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) being the primary research institution, accounting for 36.05%. Research on the TNSFP is interdisciplinary, with Environmental Sciences serving as its primary focus. Ecological restoration and climate change are likely to be the main trends in future research. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the TNSFP’s research landscape, offering insights that can inform policy decisions, guide future research directions, and support on-the-ground conservation and afforestation strategies. Full article

Interdisciplinary research catalyzes innovation in mobile health (mHealth) by converging medical, technological, and social science expertise, driving critical advancements in this multifaceted field. Our longitudinal analysis evaluates how the NIH mHealth Training Institute (mHTI) program stimulates changes in research trajectories through a computational examination of 16,580 publications from 176 scholars (2015–2022 cohorts). We develop a hybrid analytical framework combining large language model (LLM) embeddings, Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP) dimensionality reduction, and Hierarchical Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (HDBSCAN) clustering to construct a semantic research landscape containing 329 micro-topics aggregated into 14 domains. GPT-4o-assisted labeling identified mHealth-related publications occupying central positions in the semantic space, functioning as conceptual bridges between disciplinary clusters such as clinical medicine, public health, and technological innovation. Kernel density estimation of research migration patterns revealed 63.8% of scholars visibly shifted their publication focus toward mHealth-dense regions within three years post-training. The reorientation demonstrates mHTI’s effectiveness in fostering interdisciplinary intellect with sustained engagement, evidenced by growth in mHealth-aligned publications from the mHTI scholars. Our methodology advances science of team science research by demonstrating how LLM-enhanced topic modeling coupled with spatial probability analysis can track knowledge evolution in interdisciplinary fields. The findings provide empirical validation for structured training programs’ capacity to stimulate convergent research, while offering a scalable framework for evaluating inter/transdisciplinary initiatives. The dual contribution bridges methodological innovation in natural language processing with practical insights for cultivating next-generation mHealth scholarship. Full article