Search Results (648)

As early-spring pioneer ephemeroids in arid and semi-arid regions, Ferula species exert irreplaceable ecological functions through distinctive life-history strategies. However, their impacts on soil microhabitats and soil quality remain unclear. Taking Ferula species (Ferula feruloides, Ferula lehmannii, Ferula krylovii, and Ferula sinkiangensis) as the research subject, this study conducted a comprehensive analysis of the soil abiotic (physicochemical properties) and biological (microbial (bacterial/fungal) community diversity, composition, structure, and co-occurrence networks) factors as well as their correlations in the Ferula-planted areas (EX) and the unplanted areas (CK), and comprehensively assessed the soil quality index (SQI). Results showed the following: (1) The EX significantly affected soil nutrient contents and microbial community diversity indices (p < 0.05), with interspecific specificity and temporal dynamics. (2) The EX enhanced the stability/connectivity of microbial co-occurrence networks but reduced connection density (opposite to CK). (3) Changes in soil physicochemical factors were correlated with variations in the composition and distribution of rhizosphere microbial communities in Ferula species, with bacteria showing closer associations with soil nutrients and fungi with soil properties. Additionally, rhizosphere bacterial diversity indices explained the greatest proportion of SQI improvement. This study clarifies relationships of Ferula to the “soil−microbe−quality” continuum, providing scientific support for arid-region soil remediation, vegetation protection, and ecosystem stability. Full article

To assess the long-term fatigue safety of fully enclosed high-speed railway noise barriers and to optimize maintenance strategies, a time-dependent probabilistic reliability framework focusing on fatigue damage and bolt preload relaxation is developed. The stochastic nature of train velocity, load scaling factor, and daily traffic volume is explicitly considered. Using the 350 km/h two-train passing scenario as the reference case, the stress time history at the column base is extracted. The damage per train pass is computed via rain-flow counting and Miner’s rule, and the time-dependent reliability indices are obtained through parallel Monte Carlo simulations (10⁴ samples, daily time steps over 50 years). The results show that the fatigue failure probability at 50 years is 0.11%, with a reliability index β ≈ 3.06 and a mean cumulative damage of 0.325; failures are concentrated in the 40–50-year period, and train velocity is identified as the most influential factor. Furthermore, 98.3% of the bolts require retightening within 50 years, with a median intervention time of 18.2 years—far earlier than the occurrence of fatigue failure. The joint system analysis reveals that the overall system failure is dominated by bolt relaxation; when the coupling effect is included, the fatigue failure probability increases to 0.18%. A phased maintenance strategy is accordingly proposed: monitor preload during years 0–15, perform comprehensive re-torquing during years 15–30, and intensify fatigue inspections during years 30–50. The proposed methodology provides a quantitative basis for life-cycle safety assessment and operational decision-making for fully enclosed high-speed railway noise barriers. Full article

Polymer Additive Manufacturing (AM) offers substantial opportunities for material-efficient and distributed production, yet its transition towards genuine circularity remains constrained by cumulative material degradation, fragmented recovery strategies, and the limited integration of lifecycle, environmental, economic, and industrial considerations. This critical systematic review examines circularity in polymer AM beyond conventional end-of-life recycling by integrating material behaviour, manufacturing-induced evolution, degradation mechanisms, lifecycle performance and value retention, recovery pathways, and sustainability assessment within a unified systems perspective. Following a PRISMA-based selection process, 3214 records were progressively screened to a final corpus of 175 peer-reviewed studies published between 2015 and 2025. The evidence demonstrates that polymer circularity is not an intrinsic material property, but an emergent lifecycle outcome governed by polymer chemistry, manufacturing history, cumulative degradation, functional-value retention, waste-stream quality, recovery technology, infrastructure, and environmental and economic conditions. Based on this synthesis, the review introduces Intelligent Circular Polymer Additive Manufacturing (ICPAM), a lifecycle-wide framework integrating Design for Circularity, degradation-aware manufacturing, adaptive recovery, digital intelligence, industrial implementation, and continuous feedback. ICPAM further incorporates multi-criteria decision support for selecting context-dependent circular strategies and a qualitative/semi-quantitative maturity assessment for identifying lifecycle bottlenecks and implementation priorities. The resulting framework shifts polymer AM circularity from reactive waste management towards proactive lifecycle engineering, while recognizing that emerging regenerative materials and digital technologies still require substantial industrial validation before their full circular potential can be realized. Full article

Climate niches define species’ adaptive boundaries, forming a fundamental basis for understanding global patterns of plant diversity. However, existing assessments remain scale-limited or geographically confounded, leaving the complete picture of plant climate niches poorly understood. Here, we systematically evaluate the climate niches of 314,625 extant vascular plant species across a two-dimensional, orthogonal climate space defined by thermal and hydrological gradients, comparing how these niches diverge across plant growth and life forms. Our findings reveal that species richness peaks in warmer, central-to-right regions of climate space, whereas peripheral areas support far fewer species, indicating that few taxa adapt to extreme climatic conditions. Globally, most species exhibit intermediate niche breadths, with very few extreme specialists or broad generalists. Furthermore, both climatic niche breadth and positioning vary substantially across strategies. Across vegetative strategies, self-supporting woody taxa (trees and shrubs) as well as climbers and epiphytes generally maintain broader niches than herbs and subshrubs. In terms of niche positioning, herbs and subshrubs occupy cooler niches and, together with shrubs, show a general shift toward drier environments. Among life forms, annual therophytes and phanerophytes occupy the broadest climate spaces through different strategies. Specifically, phanerophytes and nanophanerophytes dominate warm and humid macroclimates, cold-tolerant hemicryptophytes shift heavily into colder climate space, and annual therophytes display strong drought adaptation by overwhelmingly occupying hyper-arid zones. These marked niche divergences among plant strategies advance our understanding of life-history adaptations and provide a crucial theoretical framework for predicting species vulnerability and guiding biodiversity conservation under future climate change. Full article

The central point of evolutionary ecology is understanding the drivers of variation in life-history strategies among organisms. The post-fledging dependence period is a critical life-history stage in the life cycle of altricial birds, influencing their future long-term survival, fitness, and reproduction. This period represents the transition between fledging and the onset of natal dispersal or migration, when offspring are highly dependent on parental care. In this study, we used GPS-GSM telemetry to analyze for the first time the duration of this phase and the size of the ranging area of Lesser Spotted Eagles during the dependence period, testing the importance of various extrinsic (habitat type, territory, region) and intrinsic (body condition, sex, fledging date, fledging age) factors. Our survey was conducted between 2020 and 2025 in Bulgaria, SoutheastEurope. The mean duration of the post-fledging dependence period (PFDP) in the juveniles was 47 ± 5 days (SD) (n = 14). The age of independence of eagles ranged from 71 to 110 days (median = 95 days). Our results show that the fledging date is the main determinant shaping the dependence period both temporally and spatially. The size of the ranging area (90% home range) of juveniles during the PFDP varied from 0.03 to 16.72 km², with a mean value of 2.41 km² ± 4.34 SD (n = 14). Home range was influenced mainly by surrounding habitats (grassland types and forests). In line with our hypothesis, we found that birds are habitat-selective, strongly preferring forests and avoiding human-modified landscapes (infrastructure and agricultural fields) during this early life-history stage. We established a relatively small ranging area inhabited by eagles and a low-mobility pattern with a gradual increase in movements that is highly individual-specific. In general, forests occupied the largest share of the home range of eagles, ranging from 0.38% to 87.45%, with a mean value of 49.47% ± 26.57. The duration of the post-fledging dependence period and the size of the ranging area were constrained by the onset of first migration, coinciding with the beginning of birds’ independence. The home range overlap of eagles varied from 56.35% to 100%, with an average value of 87.94%. The high similarity among ranging areas identified in this study emphasizes the importance and consistency of environmental conditions, such as habitat features, compared to others that would vary yearly. The key aspects (spatial and temporal) of the post-fledging dependence pattern, identified by our study, are important for species conservation and must be integrated into future landscape planning. Our results also contribute to a better understanding of the complex factors shaping raptors’ space-use pattern in this key, a poorly studied life-history trait of raptors, thus enhancing knowledge for similar species of conservation concern. Full article

Background: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is increasingly recognized as a condition associated with impaired skeletal health and increased fracture risk. Although osteoporosis is usually considered more clinically relevant after menopause, diabetes-related skeletal alterations may begin earlier in life. This scoping review aimed to map the available evidence on bone-health outcomes in premenopausal women with T1D. Methods: A scoping review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL and the Cochrane Library were searched, supplemented by Google Scholar and manual screening of reference lists. Eligible studies examined bone mineral density (BMD), fracture history or fracture risk, bone turnover markers, quantitative ultrasound parameters, bone microarchitecture, or other skeletal outcomes in premenopausal women or women with T1D. Results: Seven studies met the eligibility criteria. The included studies were mainly observational and varied in sample size, age range, diabetes duration, skeletal sites assessed, and bone-assessment methods. Most studies reported lower BMD or less favorable skeletal parameters in premenopausal women with T1D compared with women without diabetes, particularly at peripheral or hip-related skeletal sites. Quantitative ultrasound studies suggested impaired peripheral skeletal properties, while one MRI-based study identified trabecular microarchitectural deficits. Several studies also reported altered bone turnover markers and associations between poorer glycemic control, adverse health behaviors or diabetes-related complications, and poorer bone outcomes. Fracture data were limited and were based on previous or self-reported fractures. Potential determinants of skeletal health were variably reported across studies, with more consistent consideration of body mass index and selected lifestyle or reproductive factors than of autoimmune, nutritional, medication-related, and detailed reproductive variables. Conclusions: Available evidence indicates that premenopausal women with T1D may exhibit early alterations in skeletal health, including differences in BMD, peripheral bone measures, bone turnover, and microarchitecture. These findings highlight the potential importance of considering bone health before the menopausal transition. However, prospective data on fragility fractures remain limited, and further longitudinal studies incorporating detailed reproductive, metabolic, and clinical factors are needed to clarify the long-term skeletal implications and inform future risk-assessment strategies. Full article

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming lithium-ion battery (LIB) research by linking heterogeneous data, predictive modeling, mechanistic interpretation, and experimental validation within a closed-loop paradigm. AI does not uniquely enable nonlinear representation; rather, it complements electrochemical, statistical, and control models by learning high-dimensional relationships among composition, structure, processing, interfacial chemistry, operating history, and performance. This review critically examines three connected domains: AI-assisted materials discovery, battery state prediction, and trustworthy intelligent management. To distinguish this contribution from recent topic-specific surveys, we organize methods along four complementary axes—model architecture, learning strategy, physics integration, and deployment strategy—and compare landmark studies using quantitative evidence such as independent cell count, validation design, reported error, experimental budget, and closed-loop acceleration. Materials applications include cathodes, anodes, liquid and solid electrolytes, and electrode-electrolyte interphases; operational applications include state of charge, state of health, remaining useful life, degradation diagnosis, safety warning, and digital twin-enabled management. The critical synthesis identifies data leakage, inconsistent metadata, domain shift, uncalibrated uncertainty, black-box reasoning, computational constraints, and limited external validation as recurring barriers. Future progress will depend less on model complexity alone than on FAIR data, cell-independent evaluation, physics-informed learning, uncertainty-aware decisions, autonomous experimentation, human oversight, and deployment-aware design. These elements define an evidence chain for moving LIB AI from proof-of-concept prediction toward reproducible, closed-loop, and trustworthy battery innovation. Full article

Background: Fritillaria karelinii is an endangered medicinal herb mainly distributed in Central Asia, extending to northwestern China. Due to habitat fragmentation, overharvesting, and poor natural regeneration, this species has been designated as a Grade II national key protected species in China. Methods: To inform effective conservation strategies, we assessed the genetic diversity and population structure of F. karelinii using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci obtained via genotype-by-sequencing (GBS). A total of 87 individuals from 11 sampling sites across the Tacheng region in northern Xinjiang were genotyped, representing the species’ known extant distribution in China. Results: A relatively high level of genetic diversity (mean H_E = 0.1461) was detected in the species, and Bayesian assignment divided the sampled populations into two subtle but detectable genetic clusters. Conclusions: The relatively high diversity may be attributed to the edge-population effect and long-lived life-history traits, while the weak differentiation between the two groups may reflect restricted gene flow and genetic drift resulting from habitat isolation. Based on these findings, we propose conservation actions including immediate fencing of habitats to exclude livestock, ex situ germplasm collection separately from the two genetic groups as distinct management units, and cautious evaluation of potential germplasm introduction from Central Asia to broaden the genetic base while preserving local adaptation. Full article

The transition from conventional silica nanoparticle (SiNP) production based on purified alkoxysilanes and high-temperature flame hydrolysis of silicon tetrachloride to renewable and waste-derived silicon resources requires more than precursor substitution. It requires a mechanistic understanding of how feedstock mineralogy, silicon speciation, impurity chemistry, and processing history propagate through dissolution, nucleation, condensation, gelation, aging, drying, and pore evolution to determine material performance, environmental burden, and manufacturing feasibility. Although previous reviews have established the technical feasibility of producing silica from secondary resources, their predominant organization by feedstock, synthesis route, or application provides limited ability to explain why nominally similar processes generate materials with markedly different structural and functional properties. This review addresses these through a resource-pull, feedstock-to-function framework that links resource chemistry and process design to critical material attributes, application-specific specifications, sustainability, and scale-up requirements. Agricultural residues, industrial by-products, geothermal resources, waste glass, and fluorosilicate streams are critically compared according to silicon form and phase, reactivity, impurity profile, compositional variability, purification demand, and attainable product quality. Particular attention is given to waste-derived alkaline silicate systems, in which molecular, oligomeric, and colloidal silica coexist and therefore require characterization beyond bulk SiO₂ concentration. Established and emerging processing strategies, including controlled combustion and alkaline extraction, alkali fusion, ambient-pressure drying, microwave and mechanochemical activation, biogenic and biomimetic templating, and continuous processing, are evaluated according to their mechanistic effects, technological maturity, structural control, and demands for energy, reagents, water, solvents, effluent treatment, and capital. Across these routes, gelation and aging emerge as critical transfer stages through which feedstock composition is translated into network connectivity, pore architecture, shrinkage behavior, and ultimately functional performance. Evidence from secondary-source aerogels further shows that properly controlled waste-derived systems can attain BET surface areas of approximately 350–500 m² g⁻¹, within the textural range of many alkoxide-derived materials, indicating that feedstock variability, impurity management, and process control are more important constraints than an inherently lower performance ceiling. On this basis, this review proposes a minimum evidence framework comprising feedstock traceability, intermediate-speciation and colloidal characterization, silicon mass balance, gelation and aging metrics, application-specific qualification criteria, performance-normalized life cycle and techno-economic assessment, process analytical control, and staged pilot validation. Collectively, these principles provide a mechanistically grounded basis for moving sustainable silica synthesis beyond isolated proof-of-concept demonstrations toward reproducible, scalable, application-matched, and commercially credible manufacturing platforms. Full article

Introduction: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is an evidence-based secondary prevention strategy that improves functional capacity, quality of life, and cardiovascular outcomes. However, adherence to CR programs remains suboptimal, limiting their effectiveness. Methods: A retrospective multicenter cohort study was conducted among patients enrolled in outpatient CR programs at two specialized cardiovascular centers. Adherence was defined as attendance at ≥70% of the prescribed sessions (≥25 of 36 sessions). Bivariate analyses were performed to compare adherent and non-adherent participants. Variables with p < 0.20 were included in a multivariable logistic regression model to identify factors independently associated with adherence. Results: A total of 210 participants were included, of whom 77.6% (163/210) were classified as adherent. The median age was 68 years (IQR 60.3–75.0), and 64.3% were men. Most participants (70.5%) completed more than 30 rehabilitation sessions. Adherence rates were highest among patients undergoing surgical myocardial revascularization (80.6%) and valve surgery (76.0%). In multivariable analysis, program duration was the only factor significantly associated with adherence (OR = 4.59; 95% CI: 2.46–8.59; p < 0.001). History of dyslipidemia showed a non-significant trend toward higher adherence (OR = 3.29; 95% CI: 0.91–11.90; p = 0.069). Educational level, left ventricular ejection fraction, and health insurance affiliation were not independently associated with adherence. Conclusions: Adherence to CR was high in this cohort. Longer participation in the program was the only independent predictor of adherence, highlighting the importance of strategies that promote sustained engagement throughout the rehabilitation process. Full article

The development of effective conservation and management strategies for wild Ribes populations requires a comprehensive understanding of genetic diversity and population structure of these taxa, but only a few genetic studies exist, and these have focused on cultivated material in the genus. We evaluated the use of MobiSeq as a reduced representation sequencing approach to detect genetic variation in three Ribes species, and we used the data to characterize the genetic diversity and population structure in the Netherlands and the relationships between the wild Ribes populations, the ex situ genebank collection, and cultivars. MobiSeq with a single primer designed for repetitive elements that occur in the three species produced 17,000–31,000 SNPs per species after filtering against markers with minor allele frequency (MAF) < 0.01 and markers deviating from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE). The SNPs were called against consensus sequences, producing separate sets of markers for each of the species. All three species had moderate genetic diversity (H_S = 0.141–0.239) and relatively low differentiation (F_ST = 0.049–0.083) with no evidence of inbreeding, consistent with their predominantly outcrossing life-history traits. This suggests that Dutch wild populations have largely retained their genetic diversity despite the current habitat fragmentation. Several putatively wild individuals showed evidence of cultivated ancestry, possibly indicating historical introgression or naturalized escapes from cultivation, particularly in R. rubrum and R. uva-crispa. Low differentiation between in situ and ex situ material (F_ST = 0.004–0.026) suggests that the genebank collections already capture most of the genetic diversity present in wild populations. Full article

The twentieth (20th) century represents a radical transformation in architectural history. Unlike previous centuries, characterized by gradual stylistic continuity, it witnessed a succession of theoretical ruptures, technological innovations, material discoveries, and experimental design paradigms. Each movement emerged by questioning the assumptions of its predecessors, generating an experimentation laboratory that transformed the relationship between buildings, resources, climate, and society. Despite this exceptional intellectual and technological legacy, 20th-century architecture is still predominantly interpreted through its technological shortcomings, while the historical evolution of its contributions to environmental sustainability and energy efficiency is still lacking. This study reconstructs the historical genealogy of environmental sustainability and energy efficiency across the principal architectural movements of the 20th century. Through a comparative analysis of design theories and architectural principles, it identifies environmental and energy paradigms, drawbacks, and design lessons. Environmental sustainability evolved around material durability, adaptability, resource optimization, contextual integration, and life cycle thinking, whereas energy efficiency developed through passive climatic strategies, building morphology, envelope performance, daylight, natural ventilation, and environmental control. The study demonstrates that many of the principles underpinning contemporary sustainable and energy-efficient architecture originated during the 20th century. Approaches such as Parametricism, Computational Design, Biomimetic Architecture, Climate-Responsive Design, Circular Architecture, and Regenerative Design extend these concepts through new scientific understanding, digital technologies, and environmental performance objectives. Full article

Molecular clocks use the accumulation of genetic changes to estimate the timing of evolutionary and demographic events. Since their formulation in the 1960s, molecular clocks have evolved from relatively simple strict-rate assumptions into a diverse set of statistical frameworks that include strict, relaxed, local and time-dependent models. In this review, we examine the conceptual basis of molecular-clock inference and the biological, demographic and methodological factors that influence clock estimates. We distinguish mutation rates from substitution rates and discuss how molecular, genomic, life-history, environmental and population-level processes can affect estimated evolutionary rates. We then review the main analytical approaches used to estimate branch lengths and divergence times, including maximum likelihood, Bayesian inference, parsimony-based methods and regression-based techniques; we also focus on the statistical evaluation of clock-like behaviour. Particular attention is given to calibration, as molecular clocks only become informative for absolute time estimation when genetic distances are anchored to an external temporal framework. We review calibration strategies based on fossils, geological and biogeographic events, founder events, ancient sequences, pedigrees, direct mutation-rate estimates, longitudinal sampling, secondary calibrations and externally estimated substitution rates. Finally, we discuss cases in which molecular-clock estimates show concordance or discordance with independent archaeological, palaeontological or epidemiological evidence, as well as cases where apparent agreement may reflect circular reasoning. We argue that molecular clocks remain essential tools for evolutionary biology, but that their reliability depends on explicit model testing, transparent calibration choices and careful interpretation of the results. Full article

Aphids are among the most economically important pests affecting agricultural productivity worldwide. Despite various control strategies, managing aphid populations remains a challenge due to their rapid reproduction, ability to transmit pathogenic plant viruses, and their resistance to insecticides. The present article presents the current major difficulties experienced in the control of aphid pests, detailing various case studies, whilst recent scientific findings from Europe, the United States of America, and other global regions are described in order to clarify the challenges and the possibilities in sustainable pest management. Overall, we conclude that the complexity of aphid pest control demands integrated management strategies supported by robust policy frameworks. Enhanced collaboration between researchers, policymakers, farmers, and industry stakeholders is essential to develop sustainable solutions that address both immediate pest control needs and long-term agroecosystem resilience. Furthermore, studies are necessary, which especially include molecular genetics and ecological assessments, in order to understand the life history and rapid evolution of aphids, and hence, formulate the most rational means to combat them, both in the greenhouse and field. Full article

Insect herbivores often exhibit host preference and feeding differentiation underpinning fine-scale niche partitioning, yet their linkage to larval performance remains poorly understood. On the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, two sympatric leaf beetles, Chrysomela vigintipunctata alticola (CV) and Phratora vitellinae (PV) (both Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), co-occur on two willow species occupying distinct microhabitats: CV predominantly uses abundant Salix atopantha (SW), while PV specializes on rare Salix wangiana var. tibetica (LW) (both Malpighiales: Salicaceae). To disentangle intrinsic feeding response from natal-host induction, we combined dual-choice feeding bioassays with controlled natal-host rearing experiments using first-instar larvae originating from both hosts, and evaluated fitness consequences in terms of morphology and instar duration. PV larvae exhibited a consistent preference for LW, coupled with wider head capsules. In contrast, CV larvae showed no intrinsic preference; specifically, those from SW remained non-selective, while those from LW developed a delayed preference. CV larvae developed faster on nitrogen-rich SW, whereas LW contained higher salicylate esters. These results indicate that PV prioritizes growth and chemical defensive sequestration on LW, whereas CV prioritizes rapid development by utilizing the nutrient-rich SW. Our results reveal distinct resource-use patterns and life-history strategies that facilitate local co-occurrence of the two leaf beetles within the alpine meadow ecosystem. Full article