Search Results (61,643)

The PPR Global Research and Expertise Network (GREN) plays a central role in identifying research priorities supporting the Global Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) Eradication Programme (GEP). A scoping review of PPR epidemiological research published between 2015 and 2025 was conducted to assess progress and remaining gaps across research domains relevant to GREN priorities. A total of 670 PPR-related publications were retrieved. Epidemiological research constituted 46.9% of the PPR literature, pathogenesis (19.1%), and diagnostics (15.6%), followed by vaccinology (9.5%) and immunology (7.9%). From the 273 epidemiological studies, most originated from Africa (53.1%) and Asia (37.7%). The epidemiological studies were categorized into seven domains. Molecular epidemiology and virus strain characterization represented the largest proportion of published studies (40.0%), followed by surveillance and disease monitoring (23.8%), transmission dynamics and risk modelling (12.5%), vaccination epidemiology (10.6%), analytical and risk factor epidemiology (8.4%), control strategy evaluation (2.9%), and socioeconomic research (1.8%). Progress towards GREN research priorities was variable. Molecular epidemiology and surveillance demonstrated the greatest methodological advancement, supported by widespread application of phylogenetics, serological surveillance, and expanding sequencing capacity across endemic settings. Transmission dynamics and risk modelling also showed increasing analytical sophistication through spatial modelling, network analysis, ecological suitability modelling, and dynamic simulation approaches, although applications remained geographically concentrated and only partially integrated into operational decision-support systems. In contrast, vaccination epidemiology, comparative evaluation of control strategies, and socioeconomic research remained limited in volume and operational integration. Across domains, important gaps persisted in implementation-focused evaluation, integrated surveillance systems, and translation of research evidence into adaptive eradication planning and policy development. Overall, the findings demonstrate substantial growth in the global PPR epidemiological evidence base over the past decade but also reveal a persistent imbalance across research domains and geographies. While major advances have been achieved in molecular characterization and descriptive surveillance, greater integration of epidemiological, operational, modelling, and socioeconomic evidence is needed to strengthen adaptive eradication planning and improve alignment between research priorities and policy implementation. Research and policy need to be better integrated, with policy needs driving research focus and research findings then informing policy. Experience from rinderpest eradication demonstrates that strong research–policy interfaces are essential to ensure that scientific evidence is translated into effective eradication strategies and decision-making. Full article

Glass sponges (Porifera: Hexactinellida) have been the subject of scientific investigation for over two centuries, yet the temporal and thematic structure of this research effort has never been quantitatively evaluated. Here, we assessed taxonomic activity, geographical and bathymetric coverage, and keyword trends extracted from the indexed literature. We found two different periods of intense taxonomic activity occurring in the late 19th century and early 20th century, and then following World War II, with a steady increase in currently indexed publication output following the establishment of the modern peer-review system. However, research has been disproportionately concentrated on mesophotic and bathyal depths, whereas shallow and abyssal glass sponges have received comparatively little attention, while hadal records remained largely confined to the non-indexed literature until very recently. Furthermore, we found a decline in the number of active experienced glass sponge taxonomists, with few new experts being trained. This mismatch occurs as abyssal and hadal environments become increasingly accessible, potentially constraining our ability to adequately study the taxonomy and ecology of ultra-deep glass sponges. Full article

Renewable energy communities are gaining importance as instruments for integrating decentralized renewable generation and enabling local flexibility provision. However, systematic comparisons of community performance under varying technical configurations and regulatory conditions remain scarce. This study combines a semi-structured literature review on system-level contributions of local energy systems with a quantitative techno-economic simulation of a reference urban energy community. The community—comprising eight apartment buildings equipped with rooftop photovoltaics, battery storage, electric vehicles, and heat pumps—was analyzed across 16 scenarios varying photovoltaic capacity, electric vehicle charging optimization, and energy-sharing incentives under four European regulatory frameworks (Germany, Austria, Spain, and Italy). Photovoltaic capacity emerges as the primary driver of energy autonomy, covering 16.3–30.8% of total community demand. Optimized electric vehicle charging significantly reduces grid dependency for vehicle loads (40.0–92.7%). Energy sharing contributes modestly to total consumption (0–3.4%) but substantially redistributes financial benefits among participants. Total community costs range from 23.6 k€ to 103.3 k€ across scenarios and countries, reflecting strong regulatory influence. The findings demonstrate that effective policy support requires coordinated design across sharing incentives, network tariffs, and flexibility pricing rather than isolated instrument deployment. Full article

Insulin resistance (IR) is a well-established metabolic disorder characterized by reduced responsiveness of peripheral tissues to insulin, leading to hyperglycemia and compensatory hyperinsulinemia. Background: In older adults, IR tends to develop gradually and may remain undiagnosed for years due to the insidious nature of the condition, which often lacks overt symptoms. Non-pharmacological interventions refer to the sum of all measures taken in order to improve a certain biological determination or physical parameter and they consist of lifestyle and dietary modifications. Although insulin resistance is recognized as a central mechanism involved in the development of numerous chronic diseases associated with aging, its impact on intrinsic capacity and the mechanisms underlying this relationship are insufficiently synthesized in the literature. In this context, the present narrative review aims to integrate the current evidence on the interaction between insulin resistance and intrinsic capacity, highlighting common biological mechanisms and potential therapeutic and preventive strategies to promote healthy aging. Methods: We conducted a literature search in PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases, screening the literature published between 2010 and January 2026. The search strategy included keywords and Boolean operators in order to refine the suggestions. Relevant articles, reviews, studies and guidelines were selected based on their relevance to the objective of this review. Results and conclusions: The results of the review highlight that insulin resistance represents a central mechanism contributing to the decline in intrinsic capacity through chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and alteration of the gut microbiota. Current evidence suggests that nutritional interventions, in particular the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet, can improve insulin sensitivity by modulating the microbiota and reducing systemic inflammation, with the potential to contribute to maintaining functional capacity and promoting healthy aging. Full article

Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)-based solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) have attracted significant attention as sustainable alternatives to conventional liquid electrolytes due to their biodegradability, non-toxicity, and excellent film-forming capability. However, pristine CMC suffers from inherent limitations, including low ionic conductivity, poor mechanical strength, and limited electrochemical stability. This systematic literature review comprehensively evaluates recent advances in CMC-based SPEs, focusing on the roles of lithium salts (e.g., LiCH₃COO, LiClO₄, LiI, LiBF₄, and LiNO₃) and functional additives, including plasticizers, ionic liquids, nanofillers, and cross-linking agents, in tailoring the physicochemical and electrochemical properties. The findings reveal that ionic conductivity can be significantly enhanced from ~10⁻⁷ to 10⁻² S cm⁻¹ through synergistic modifications that reduce crystallinity and promote segmental mobility. Electrochemical stability is improved by up to ~3.85 V with the incorporation of ionic liquids, while ion transference numbers approaching unity (t⁺ ≈ 0.96) indicate highly efficient Li⁺-dominated transport. Mechanical properties exhibit a trade-off between flexibility (elongation up to ~699%) and tensile strength (up to ~12.84 MPa), depending on the balance between plasticization and cross-linking. The degradation temperature is also strongly influenced by system composition, reaching ~508 °C in ionic liquid-modified systems. Overall, the performance of CMC-based SPEs is governed by the interplay between salt chemistry, polymer structure, and additive functionality. This review highlights key structure–property relationships and identifies critical research gaps, including salt-concentration optimization, long-term stability, and scalability, providing strategic insights for the rational design of high-performance, sustainable polymer electrolytes for next-generation energy storage applications. Full article

Rainfall–runoff pollution poses a major challenge to urban water quality management, particularly in rapidly developing regions. However, its spatial variability and source characteristics remain inadequately understood. This study investigates the types, concentrations, and sources of pollutants in rainfall runoff across different urban land-use settings, with the aim of providing insights for more effective water management strategies. By quantifying pollutant occurrence frequencies, comparing reported event mean concentrations, and summarizing literature-reported pollution sources, we evaluated the spatial heterogeneity of runoff contamination from a descriptive perspective. The compiled literature data showed descriptive differences in reported pollution levels among land-use types, with relatively high pollutant concentrations frequently reported in residential and traffic areas. These differences should be interpreted as functional-area-based patterns rather than continuous geographic spatial distributions. Pollutants such as chemical oxygen demand (COD), suspended solids (SS), and total nitrogen (TN) frequently exceeded China’s Class V surface water quality standards. Atmospheric deposition and surface litter were the most frequently reported pollution sources, while traffic-related activities were frequently associated with elevated heavy metal concentrations in the reviewed studies. These findings underscore the urgent need for targeted, land-use-specific pollution control strategies that not only reduce runoff pollution but also improve source-control efficiency for sustainable urban water management. This study offers valuable insights that may be transferable to other urban environments worldwide, with important implications for policy development and urban resilience in the face of increasing environmental pressures. Full article

Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) are vital to the STEM pathways of Latine/x and other minoritized students, and experiential learning (ExL) is a high-impact practice shown to support postsecondary STEM success. The purpose of this paper is to understand how these intersect by conducting a systematic literature review on servingness in STEM ExL at HSIs, highlighting a growing body of research and policy efforts emphasizing intentionality in serving Latine/x students. Key findings center on the types of ExL HSI STEM students engage in along with structures for serving, including (1) intentional recruitment and engagement; (2) culturally responsive and sustaining STEM practices; (3) institutional and external support and resources; (4) facilitating interactions and engagement with faculty, staff, and industry professionals; (5) and institutional collaborations. We also identified important academic and non-academic outcomes associated with involvement in STEM ExL initiatives. Insights from this review underscore existing structures within HSIs that support more inclusive STEM ExL, while identifying potential opportunities for transforming STEM education within HSI organizations and systems through institutional, industry, and community capacity-building partnerships. Implications for future work on Latine/x servingness and intentionality in HSI STEM ExL are discussed. Full article

The primary aim of this review is to summarize current evidence from clinical and pre-clinical studies on endogenous molecular biomarkers associated with radiosensitivity and radioresistance in cervical cancer, including patients treated with photon-based radiotherapy, cervical cancer cell lines, and xenograft models, and to evaluate the association of these biomarkers with radiotherapy response, residual disease, recurrence and survival, and experimental measures of radiosensitivity. A systematic literature review was conducted for studies published over the last 10 years that evaluated associations between genomic, epigenetic, or protein biomarkers and radiotherapy response or survival outcomes in cervical cancer. Eligible studies included in the current analysis summarize clinical, translational, and pre-clinical studies in correlation with photon-based radiotherapy. Research focusing exclusively on non-coding RNAs, exogenous radiosensitizers, or non-photon modalities was excluded. In total, 112 studies were identified, and 46 of them met the inclusion criteria. The identified biomarkers clustered into several key biological processes: DNA damage response and cell cycle regulation, cancer stemness, hypoxia and microenvironment, epigenetic and transcriptional regulation, and signaling pathways, including exosome-mediated communication. Most markers were linked to radioresistance and adverse outcomes, whereas a smaller subset was associated with increased radiosensitivity. A limited group of biomarkers was linked to clinical outcomes such as local control, residual disease, or survival, and emerging multi-marker protein signatures suggested that combinatorial approaches may outperform single-marker strategies. Radiosensitivity in cervical cancer is regulated by a network of biological pathways. Validated, integrated biomarker panels that capture DNA repair proficiency, stemness, hypoxia adaptation, and key signaling pathways are needed to improve risk stratification and enable biomarker-guided radiosensitization. Full article

Unmanned aerial vehicles have become indispensable components of modern defense systems by conducting Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions to collect critical operational information through onboard sensing technologies, supporting secure communication and information sharing among distributed military assets, and enhancing battlefield situational awareness through real-time sensing and data fusion. In addition, UAVs are increasingly capable of executing a wide range of defense missions, including target search and tracking, electronic warfare, search-and-rescue, and combat support. The integration of AI into UAV-based systems has the potential to enhance these operational capabilities by enabling intelligent perception, autonomous decision-making, adaptive mission planning, autonomous navigation, resilient communications, and cooperative multi-UAV coordination, thereby enabling the autonomous and collaborative execution of complex defense missions. This paper presents an up-to-date review of AI-enabled UAV-based defense systems, focusing on major operational domains including autonomous air combat and cooperative UAV operations, path planning and autonomous navigation, target tracking/detection/classification, cybersecurity, electronic warfare protection, and resilient UAV operation. In addition to surveying the recent literature, this paper provides an integrated system architecture, a functional classification framework, and an analysis of the AI paradigms enabling next-generation UAV-based defense systems. Furthermore, this review synthesizes the key technological trends, lessons learned, and cross-domain research challenges identified across the reviewed studies, providing a unified perspective on the current state of the field. Finally, this paper highlights promising future research directions for resilient, scalable, secure, and intelligent next-generation AI-enabled UAV-based defense systems. Full article

Objectives and Background: Individuals with Phelan–McDermid Syndrome (PMS) present with a variety of symptoms, including a breadth of behavioral issues. Clinically assessing behavior in PMS remains challenging due to the overabundance of behavioral assessments and the lack of tools validated explicitly for use in individuals with intellectual disability (ID) and neurodevelopmental disorders. This review sought to suggest which assessment tools would best clinically assess behavior in individuals with PMS. Methods: Validated behavioral assessment tools were identified using a systematic search of the literature, and relevant data for each assessment were extracted. The consensus guidelines for PMS were reviewed. Results: This review identified 131 validated assessment tools that were categorized by the intended age group and into specific behavioral domains: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) screening, adaptive behavior, restricted and repetitive behaviors, challenging/disruptive behaviors, mental health screening, and other miscellaneous behaviors such as avoidance and impulsivity. Discussion: Based on the 2023 consensus guidelines, suggestions were given on which tools would be best for assessing various symptoms and behaviors in PMS. Choosing the best assessment tools to appraise behavior and related symptoms in individuals with PMS will aid clinicians in decision-making and lead to more personalized treatment plans. Full article

Human-centric manufacturing is reshaping collaborative production systems by repositioning human capabilities, safety, experience, and well-being as central concerns in the design and operation of intelligent manufacturing. As manufacturing moves toward Industry 5.0, task allocation in assembly-oriented collaborative systems is no longer only a matter of productivity, cycle time, or resource utilization, but also a key mechanism for protecting worker safety, workload balance, ergonomic compatibility, and long-term well-being. Although existing reviews have addressed various aspects of collaborative manufacturing and ergonomics, a systematic synthesis of how ergonomics is embedded into task allocation for collaborative assembly remains limited. To address this gap, this paper systematically reviews 95 studies identified from WoS and Scopus using an expanded keyword-based search strategy, with April 2026 retained as the publication eligibility cutoff. Studies were included when ergonomics or related human-factor considerations materially influenced task allocation, task assignment, planning, scheduling, or line-balancing decisions in AI-enabled and robot-assisted collaborative manufacturing, with emphasis on assembly-related settings such as workstations, workcells, and assembly lines. The literature is analyzed from four perspectives: ergonomic objectives, allocation scenarios, temporal responsiveness, and computational approaches. Given the heterogeneity of modeling, optimization, simulation, and design studies, a narrative synthesis rather than meta-analysis was conducted. The results show that physiological ergonomics remains the dominant dimension, accounting for 70 of the 95 studies. Recent studies increasingly incorporate multidimensional ergonomic risks, fatigue progression, worker trust, human preference, and real-time human-state information into allocation decisions. The reviewed studies also indicate a transition from static and assessment-informed allocation toward adaptive, state-aware, and cyber-physical allocation. Finally, the review identifies future directions concerning multidimensional ergonomic modeling, assessment-to-decision transformation, real-time adaptive allocation, human-centric interaction, and transferable industrial validation for collaborative assembly systems. No review registration was undertaken. Full article

Smart city and smart region governance increasingly relies on data-informed decision-making, stakeholder participation, digital tools, and public feedback. However, these mechanisms do not automatically create institutional learning. This article examines sustainable smart region governance as an institutional learnability problem and asks whether participation, local knowledge, and feedback are converted into adaptive action and retained as institutional memory. The study applies a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR)-informed structured evidence mapping combined with an embedded regional case diagnosis from the Tokaj Wine Region, Hungary. The analysis integrates the literature on smart governance, learning regions, higher education quality assurance, territorial resilience, and adaptive governance with regional governance observation materials, stakeholder survey data, coding tables, calculation workbooks, and analytical figures deposited in a public Figshare dataset. The results identify the Act/Remember gap as the central learning-cycle disruption. Planning, implementation, monitoring, and consultation may be present, but feedback often fails to become adaptive action, and action is weakly retained as institutional memory. The comparison with higher education quality assurance shows that structured feedback and continuous improvement principles are transferable only as learning logic, not as procedural models. The findings also show that single-profile territories are especially vulnerable to delayed learning, strategic lock-in, and weak community knowledge-building. The article contributes to smart governance research by proposing institutional learnability as a diagnostic capacity of sustainable smart regions. It argues that digital tools should function as learning infrastructure supporting traceability, feedback-to-action mechanisms, and institutional memory, rather than as substitutes for human deliberation, trust, and collective responsibility. Full article

Freeze desalination (FD) is being reconsidered as a low-temperature desalination route because it separates water through ice formation rather than evaporation or membrane pressure. This review examines FD from the perspective of sustainable water–energy systems, with emphasis on applications where conventional desalination may face technical or energy limitations. Unlike general reviews focused mainly on freezing principles, this work connects crystallization mechanisms, experimental performance, energy integration, and scale-up barriers. The literature analyzed, consisting primarily of studies published between 2015 and 2026, was grouped into four areas: modeling and simulation, experimental and pilot-scale validation, technological integration, and energy–economic assessment. Recent progress has been reported in eutectic freeze crystallization, vacuum-assisted ice–brine separation, ice morphology control, LNG cold recovery, solar-assisted FD, and hybrid systems that combine desalination with cooling or energy recovery. Reported performance varies widely. Reported SEC varies by more than an order of magnitude: values near 3 kWh/m³ occur mainly under favorable integration or external-cold assumptions, whereas conventionally refrigerated laboratory and pilot systems can require substantially more energy. This difference shows that FD performance depends strongly on crystallizer design, feedwater composition, separation strategy, and cold-energy recovery. FD should not be viewed as a direct replacement for RO, MED, or MSF. Its strongest potential is in hypersaline brine treatment, LNG terminals, cold regions, off-grid systems, island communities, and decentralized water production coupled with renewable or waste-cold sources. Full article

Background: Reducing production time while making efficient use of resources is a key challenge in modern manufacturing, particularly in environments with high variability in specific components for the automotive industry. Methods: This paper presents a hybrid approach to production scheduling that combines linear programming (LP) principles with heuristic decision-making. A structured literature review is conducted to compare exact methods, heuristics, and metaheuristics in terms of their applicability and limitations. Based on this analysis, a hybrid scheduling method is proposed, where LP defines the objective function and constraints, while heuristic rules enable efficient assignment of operations to workstations under capacity limitations. The approach is validated through a case study involving over 900 product variants in an automotive part production system characterized by interchangeable workstations. The proposed heuristic algorithm was tested in terms of real company daily scheduling performance and compared with former scheduling performance. Results: The results show that the proposed approach achieves better solution quality with significantly lower computational effort, while also improving time utilization and production efficiency. Conclusions: The hybrid LP-heuristic approach provides a computationally efficient and practical tool for real-time production scheduling in high-variability manufacturing environments, effectively balancing solution quality and sub-minute execution speed under strict capacity constraints. Full article

The analysis of beams resting on elastic foundations has attracted significant attention in structural and mechanical engineering due to its extensive applications in different domains. Beams on elastic foundations interact continuously with deformable media. To represent this interaction mathematically, researchers have developed a variety of single-parameter, two-parameter and three-parameter models as well as continuous models. Among the structural elements employed to investigate these models, functionally graded material (FGM) beams have emerged as an attractive platform due to their continuously varying material properties and extensive use in modern engineering applications. Over the past two decades, extensive research has been conducted on the behavior of graded beams resting on elastic foundations using various beam theories, foundation models and analytical as well as numerical solution techniques. The present paper puts forward a detailed review of the existing literature concerning static bending, buckling, free and forced vibration analyses of FG beams supported by elastic foundations. Various material gradation schemes, including power law, exponential, sigmoid, porous and carbon nanotube-reinforced FGMs, are discussed. The review further examines the application of different classical foundation models, such as the Winkler, Pasternak, Kerr and Vlasov models. These classical models may be linear or nonlinear depending on the nature of the foundation medium. A comparative evaluation of the available studies is provided to identify current trends and limitations. Finally, potential future research directions involving multi-physics coupling, advanced foundation modelling, machine-learning-assisted prediction and micro/nanoscale applications are highlighted. The review aims to serve as a valuable reference for researchers and engineers working in the field of FG beams interacting with elastic foundations. Full article