Search Results (2,794)

Social media platforms facilitate the dissemination of science and access to it. However, gender inequalities in the participation and visibility of communicators persist. This study examined the differences in reach and audience response between YouTube and TikTok from a gender perspective. To do so, the ten most influential science accounts on YouTube and TikTok were selected, with the sample divided equally between men and women, to conduct a comparative study. A total of 4293 videos on TikTok and 4825 on YouTube were analyzed, along with 277,528 comments, considering metrics of views and interaction. The results show that on YouTube, men received more likes and views, while on TikTok, audience response was more balanced. The participation of women on both platforms also had a differential impact, as the number of women engaging with content on YouTube negatively correlated with interaction levels, whereas on TikTok, their impact was slightly positive. In conclusion, TikTok emerges as a more inclusive space for scientific communication, though structural challenges remain on both platforms, encouraging further research into strategies that promote gender equity in online science communication. Full article

Rapid urbanization has exacerbated the urban heat island effect, posing a significant threat to human health and urban ecosystems. While numerous studies have demonstrated that urban morphology significantly influences land surface temperatures (LSTs), few have systematically explored the impact and contribution of urban morphology on LST across different functional zones. Therefore, this study takes Xi’an as a case and employs an interpretable CatBoost-SHAP machine learning model to evaluate the nonlinear influence of building landscape features on LST in different functional zones during summer. The results indicate the following: (1) The highest LST in the study area reached 52.68 °C, while the lowest was 21.68 °C. High-temperature areas were predominantly concentrated in the urban center and industrial zones with dense buildings, whereas areas around water bodies and green spaces exhibited relatively lower temperatures. (2) SHAP analysis revealed that landscape indicators exerted the most substantial impact across all functional zones, with green space zones contributing up to 62%. Among these, fractional vegetation coverage (FVC), as a core landscape factor, served as the primary cooling factor in all six functional zones and consistently demonstrated a negative effect. (3) Population density (POP) exhibited a generally high SHAP contribution across all functional zones, showing a positive correlation. Its effect was most pronounced in commercial zones, accounting for 16%. When POP ranged between 0 and 250 people, the warming effect was particularly prominent. (4) The mean building height (MBH) constituted a major influencing factor in most functional zones, especially in residential zones, where the SHAP value reached 0.7643. Within the range of 10–20 m, the SHAP value increased sharply, indicating a significant warming effect. (5) This study proposes targeted cooling strategies tailored to six functional zones, providing a scientific basis for formulating targeted mitigation strategies for different functional zones to alleviate the urban heat island effect. Full article

In his passion, Jesus Christ was a victim of the intentional violent acts of others, which were highly likely to have been traumatic for him and those around him. In the Eucharist, traumatizing acts and events are represented through symbolism, narrative and action. Although the body is a common doctrinal and eucharistic trope, particularly in Paul, the flesh, which is prominent in Johannine imagery, is a more distinctively Christian symbol as well as being more generative for a eucharistic theology of the victim. In the eucharistic elements of separated bread and wine, Christ the priest is presented as also the paradigmatic victim. His shed blood, which was not reassimilated into his flesh at his resurrection, indicates an abiding earthly humanity in solidarity with other victims. For traumatized victims, where space in the Eucharist is provided for the acknowledgement of suffering and other negativity, participation in it may be a pathway of transformation. Traumatized victims might themselves continue this priestly transformation in the world, bearing, like Christ, the sins and woundedness of others and contributing to Christian witness, instruction and healing. Full article

III-Nitride semiconductors (BN, AlN, GaN, and InN) exhibit exceptional electronic and mechanical properties that render them indispensable for high-performance optoelectronic, power, and high-frequency device applications. This study implements first-principles Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations to elucidate the influence of hydrostatic pressure on the electronic, elastic, and mechanical properties of these materials in the wurtzite crystallographic configuration. Our computational analysis demonstrates that the bandgap energy exhibits a positive pressure coefficient for GaN, AlN, and InN, while BN manifests a negative pressure coefficient consistent with its indirect-bandgap characteristics. The elastic constants and derived mechanical properties reveal material-specific responses to applied pressure, with BN maintaining superior stiffness across the pressure range investigated, while InN exhibits the highest ductility among the studied compounds. GaN and AlN demonstrate intermediate mechanical robustness, positioning them as optimal candidates for pressure-sensitive applications. Furthermore, the observed nonlinear trends in elastic moduli under pressure reveal anisotropic mechanical responses during compression, a phenomenon critical for the rational design of strain-engineered devices. The computational results provide quantitative insights into the pressure-dependent behavior of III-N semiconductors, facilitating their strategic implementation and optimization for high-performance applications in extreme environmental conditions, including high-power electronics, deep-space exploration systems, and high-pressure optoelectronic devices. Full article

Port green spaces are essential protective barriers, enhancing safety and environmental resilience in high-activity port regions. Given the intensity of human activities in these areas, understanding the factors influencing the carbon sequestration capacity and ecological benefits of port green spaces is crucial for developing sustainable green ports. This study integrated field investigations and remote sensing data to estimate carbon density and carbon sequestration capacity in the Dongjiakou Port area, examining their relationship with port green space planning. The results indicated that carbon density in green spaces showed a significant negative correlation with the number of lanes in adjacent roads, where an increase in lane numbers corresponded to lower carbon density. Additionally, carbon density decreased significantly with increasing distance from the shipping center. In contrast, a significant positive correlation was observed between carbon density and distance from large water bodies, indicating that green spaces closer to large water bodies exhibited smaller carbon density. Infrastructure development in Dongjiakou substantially negatively impacted vegetation carbon sequestration capacity, with effects not reversible in the short term. However, green space enhancement efforts provided additional ecological benefits, leading to a 50.9 ha increase in green space area. When assessing carbon density in urbanizing areas, geographical influences should be prioritized. Furthermore, the long-term environmental impacts of urban expansion must be considered at the early planning stages, ensuring the implementation of proactive protective measures to mitigate potential ecological disruptions. Full article

This study examined the influence of student–teacher relationships and school infrastructure on preschool children’s motor creativity, encompassing fluency, originality, and imagination. Twenty teachers completed the Student–Teacher Relationship Scale for 200 children (10 children per teacher). The research team recorded aspects of the school’s physical environment through Movement Play Scale and assessed children’s motor creativity via the Thinking Creatively in Action and Movement test. The results revealed that dimensions of the student–teacher relationship, such as conflict and dependency, negatively impacted fluency, and originality components of motor creativity. Contrary to expectations, teacher participation in movement activities did not significantly contribute to motor creativity, potentially due to over-direction limiting children’s autonomy. Similarly, the school’s infrastructures were negatively linked to fluency and originality. The findings underscore the importance of nurturing autonomy-supportive environments and balancing guidance with opportunities for independent exploration. Teachers should also invest in adaptable educational spaces to foster creativity without encouraging dependency. This study emphasizes the critical role of supportive relational and environmental factors in shaping preschool children’s creative movement abilities. Full article

Rapid urbanization in China has driven substantial rural population out-migration, raising concerns about its implications for the governance of land commons in villages. While existing studies have acknowledged the effects of migration on rural resource management, little attention has been paid to its influence on the self-governance of rural public open spaces (POSs). This study adopts the social–ecological systems (SES) framework to examine how rural out-migration shapes POS self-governance mechanisms. Based on survey data from 594 villagers across 198 villages in Taigu District, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and a mediation model grounded in the SES framework were employed for analysis. The results indicate that rural out-migration does not exert a direct impact on POS self-governance. Instead, it negatively influences governance outcomes through full mediation by villager organizations, the left-behind population, collective investment in POSs, and self-organizing activities. Notably, the mediating roles of the left-behind population and self-organizing activities account for 67.38% of the total effect, underscoring their critical importance. Drawing on these insights, the study proposes four policy recommendations to strengthen rural POS self-governance under conditions of demographic transition. This research contributes to the literature by being the first to incorporate an external social factor—rural out-migration—within the SES framework in the context of POS governance, thereby advancing both theoretical and practical understandings of rural commons management. Full article

To ensure the on-orbit safety of crewed spacecraft and avoid the threat of constellations such as Starlink to manned spacecraft, the industry has started to research equipping phased array radars for situational awareness of collision threat. In order to enhance the resource allocation capability of the space station’s protection radar system, this paper proposes a task scheduling method based on time shifting constraints and pulse interleaving. The time shifting constraint is designed to minimize the deviation between the actual execution and the desired execution time of the task, and it is negatively correlated with the threat degree of the target. Pulse interleaving is intended to utilize the idle time between the transmitted pulse and the received pulse of a task to perform other tasks, thereby improving the utilization of radar resources. Through computer simulation under typical parameters, our proposed method reduces the average time shifting ratio by about 60% compared to traditional task scheduling methods, and the scheduling success ratio is also higher than that of traditional scheduling methods. This demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed method in enhancing scheduling efficiency and overall system performance. Full article

Urban forests play a crucial role in enhancing vegetation cover and bolstering the ecological functions of cities by expanding green space, improving ecological connectivity, and reducing landscape fragmentation. This study examines these dynamics in Jinhua City, China, utilizing Landsat 8 satellite imagery for all four seasons of 2023, accessed through the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. Fractional vegetation cover (FVC) was calculated using the pixel binary model, followed by the classification of FVC levels. To understand the influence of landscape structure, nine representative landscape metrics were selected to construct a landscape index system. Pearson correlation analysis was employed to explore the relationships between these indices and seasonal FVC variations. Furthermore, the contribution of each index to seasonal FVC was quantified using a random forest (RF) regression model. The results indicate that (1) Jinhua exhibits the highest average FVC during the summer, reaching 0.67, while the lowest value is observed in winter, at 0.49. The proportion of areas with very high coverage peaks in summer, accounting for 50.6% of the total area; (2) all landscape metrics exhibited significant correlations with seasonal FVC. Among them, the class area (CA), percentage of landscape (PLAND), largest patch index (LPI), and patch cohesion index (COHESION) showed strong positive correlations with FVC, whereas the total edge length (TE), landscape shape index (LSI), patch density (PD), edge density (ED), and area-weighted mean shape index (AWMSI) were negatively correlated with FVC; (3) RF regression analysis revealed that CA and PLAND contributed most substantially to FVC, followed by COHESION and LPI, while PD, AWMSI, LSI, TE, and ED demonstrated relatively lower contributions. These findings provide valuable insights for optimizing urban forest landscape design and enhancing urban vegetation cover, underscoring that increasing large, interconnected forest patches represents an effective strategy for improving FVC in urban environments. Full article

Background/Objectives: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a prevalent disorder affecting both older adults and younger individuals, leading to compromised joint function and mobility. Early and accurate detection is critical for effective intervention, as treatment options become increasingly limited as the disease progresses. Traditional diagnostic methods rely heavily on the expertise of physicians and are susceptible to errors. The demand for utilizing deep learning models in order to automate and improve the accuracy of KOA image classification has been increasing. In this research, a unique deep learning model is presented that employs autoencoders as the primary mechanism for feature extraction, providing a robust solution for KOA classification. Methods: The proposed model differentiates between KOA-positive and KOA-negative images and categorizes the disease into its primary severity levels. Levels of severity range from “healthy knees” (0) to “severe KOA” (4). Symptoms range from typical joint structures to significant joint damage, such as bone spur growth, joint space narrowing, and bone deformation. Two experiments were conducted using different datasets to validate the efficacy of the proposed model. Results: The first experiment used the autoencoder for feature extraction and classification, which reported an accuracy of 96.68%. Another experiment using autoencoders for feature extraction and Extreme Learning Machines for actual classification resulted in an even higher accuracy value of 98.6%. To test the generalizability of the Knee-DNS system, we utilized the Butterfly iQ+ IoT device for image acquisition and Google Colab’s cloud computing services for data processing. Conclusions: This work represents a pioneering application of autoencoder-based deep learning models in the domain of KOA classification, achieving remarkable accuracy and robustness. Full article

Research on dolomite has long been central in geoscience, yet understanding the origin of Middle Ordovician dolomite in the northeast of the North China Platform remains limited. Based on this, this study focuses on dolomite of Majiagou Formation in Liujiang Basin, and analyzes its genetic process. The research is based on the measured geological section and conducts high-precision analysis and testing, encompassing major and trace elements, rare earth elements, stable carbon and oxygen isotopes, strontium isotopes, crystal structure parameters, and micro-area elements of dolomite. Analysis of V/(V + Ni), Th/U, Sr/Ba, Mn/Sr, (Eu/Eu*) _N, (Ce/Ce*) _N, and the dolomite crystal parameters indicates that the formation of dolomite is related to evaporation. Furthermore, REE and micro-area characteristics of dolomite, as well as the significant negative deviation of δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O, in conjunction with ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr deviating from the standard values of Ordovician seawater, suggest an origin of the dolomite in this formation with mixed-water dolomitization and burial dolomitization. A comprehensive assessment of dolomite formation suggests three distinct stages: early-stage evaporation dolomitization, subsequent mixed-water dolomitization, and later-stage burial dolomitization. The research further corroborated that dolomite formation is a complex outcome resulting from the interplay of various geological processes over space and time. Full article

The use of LUZs in urban environments is a critical factor for ensuring efficient vehicle mobility in cities. Poor utilisation of these zones can generate negative externalities, such as double parking or illegal occupation of pedestrian crossings or garage doors. The purpose of the study is to provide city governance with a methodology based on the OEE model to evaluate the efficiency of individual zones or sets of zones and to inform decisions that improve their use without disrupting the coexistence with other city users. To validate the methodology, all deliveries made in selected areas of the city of Zaragoza over the course of one month were studied. The results of the study reveal a considerable loss of efficiency and some recommendations are proposed achieve a better use: only 51.44% of deliveries used the LUZs correctly, and the total OEE ratio was just 0.37. This low level of efficiency is due to the incorrect use by delivery drivers, who often use LUZs as parking spaces, and the illegal occupation of the zones by unauthorised private vehicles. Full article

Putin’s Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and launched a massive invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This study is predicated on framing theory, which posits that the media contribute to the creation of individuals’ perceived reality. We analyzed how the European press presented Russian President Vladimir Putin during both episodes. Content analysis was used to examine a sample of 1009 opinion articles and editorials published in two leading newspapers in each of the five largest European economies. Subsequently, we quantified the frequency of the predominant frames as well as the tone (positive, neutral, or negative) the articles struck towards Putin. The results show that many more articles were published in 2022 than in 2014, and that the degree of negative views of Putin is also more pronounced in 2022. In both instances, historical motives were most often employed to frame Putin’s actions, such as Putin’s urge to reassert Russian influence in the former Soviet space and his reaction to the alleged lack of recognition of Russia as a superpower. Full article

Negative Poisson’s ratio (NPR) reinforcement offers a novel solution to the usual trade-off between strength gains and ductility loss. Incorporating NPR into ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) effectively overcomes the ductility limitations of structural elements. However, the interfacial bonding between NPR reinforcement and UHPC is not sufficiently studied, especially its patterns and mechanisms, impeding the application of the materials. In this paper, the effects of nine design parameters (rebar type, prestrain, etc.) on the bond performance of NPR-UHPC through eccentric pull-out tests are investigated, and a quantitative discriminative indicator K_c for NPR-UHPC bond failure modes is established. The results showed that when K_c ≤ 4.3, 4.3 < K_c ≤ 5.64, and K_c ≥ 5.6, the NPR-UHPC specimens undergo splitting failure, splitting–pull-out failure, and pull-out failure, respectively. In terms of bonding with UHPC, the NPR bars outperform the HRB400 bars, and the HRB400 bars outperform the helical grooved (HG) bars. For the NPR bars, prestrain levels of 5.5%, 9.5%, and 22.0% decrease τ_u by 5.07%, 7.79%, and 17.01% and s_u by 7.00%, 15.88%, and 30.54%, respectively. Bond performance deteriorated with increasing rib spacing and decreasing rib height. Based on the test results, an artificial neural network (ANN) model is developed to accurately predict the critical embedded length l_cd and ultimate embedded length l_ud between NPR bars and UHPC. Moreover, the MAPE of the ANN model is only 53.9% of that of the regression model, while the RMSE is just 62.0%. Full article

Vertical greening systems (VGSs) serve as an advanced ecological wastewater treatment technology, offering advantages such as a small spatial footprint and increased green space coverage. VGSs have been widely applied to treat various types of wastewaters, including blackwater and greywater. However, a systematic review of the pollutant removal efficiency of VGSs in treating blackwater and greywater, as well as the influencing factors, remains lacking. This study compiles data on the removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), and ammonium nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N) from greywater and blackwater using VGSs. Additionally, the effects of the hydraulic loading rate, substrate type, and the number of system layers on pollutant removal performance are assessed. When treating blackwater, the pollutant removal efficiency showed a positive correlation with hydraulic loading within the range of 85 L × (m² × d)⁻¹ to 200 L × (m² × d)⁻¹; substrates such as zeolite or vermiculite exhibited superior removal performance, and increasing the number of system layers enhanced the pollutant removal efficiency. When treating greywater, the hydraulic loading rate and system layers have limited influence on COD and TN removal, while excessive hydraulic loading or system layers may negatively affect TP removal. Substrate mixtures composed of perlite and coconut coir achieved a higher pollutant removal efficiency. In conclusion, optimizing key parameters such as the hydraulic loading rate, substrate composition, and the number of system layers can significantly enhance the pollutant removal efficiency of VGSs. Full article