Search Results (222)

As chemical pollution and food safety risks in agriculture have increased due to global population growth and a food demand surge, the development of new environmentally friendly pesticide carriers is urgently needed to build a sustainable agricultural system. Owing to the excellent biocompatibility and controlled degradation of biomass materials and their specific interactions with active ingredients, biomass-based composites have unique advantages in the field of pesticide delivery. By regulating the carrier structure, the targeted controlled release of the pesticides can be achieved, leading to improvements in the chemical stability of the active substance and target absorption efficiency, and a significant reduction in environmental impact. This paper summarizes the innovative applications of biomass-based composites in agricultural scenarios, focusing on the breakthroughs in the three core areas of intelligent protection of seed coating, soil microcosm regulation, and foliar environment-responsive delivery. Through an in-depth analysis of the efficiency mechanism of composites on insecticides, antimicrobials, and herbicides, this review elucidates the scientific pathway of pesticide delivery through interfacial modification, slow-release kinetic modulation, and multilevel structural design, which will provide theoretical support and a practical paradigm for the development green agricultural technology. Full article

Experts have long associated West Africa’s drylands with extensive and severe land degradation. In fact, the term “desertification” was coined in reference to the great Sahelian droughts of the 1970s and 1980s. Thus, much research has focused on Sahelian countries where there have also been numerous large-scale projects to combat desertification. Wetter, southern Sudanian savannas have received less attention. At the same time, scientific experts and policymakers have seriously questioned desertification as a concept and advocate for a new paradigm of land degradation neutrality (LDN). This entails assessing both land degradation and rehabilitation. The northern Sudanian savannas of Togo had been previously identified as an area with widespread and increasing land degradation based on regional analyses with coarse satellite imagery. Little or no rehabilitation had been either studied or detected. This study sought to follow up on these previous works to investigate local-scale patterns of both land degradation and rehabilitation. Fieldwork entailed a place-based approach using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) and participatory exercises with local stakeholders across nine sites. The spatial analysis incorporated local perceptions to classify the drone imagery. Results indicate that LDN varies markedly among the communities and that patterns of LDN are highly heterogeneous at these local scales. Full article

Time and frequency standards constitute fundamental requirements for diverse applications spanning daily life technologies to advanced scientific research. Among precision time dissemination methods, microwave-clock-based dual comb time transfer has emerged as a promising approach that achieves ultra-precise time interval measurements through linear optical sampling. However, conventional peak detection methodologies employed in such systems exhibit critical limitations: vulnerability to amplitude noise interference and inherent accuracy constraints imposed by analog sampling rates. To address these challenges, we present a novel digital time differential measurement paradigm integrating three key algorithmic innovations: (1) adaptive signal detection and extraction protocols, (2) multi-stage noise suppression processing, and (3) optimized centroid determination techniques. This comprehensive digital processing framework significantly enhances both measurement stability and operational efficiency, demonstrating single-shot temporal resolution at 17.6 fs stability levels. Our method establishes new capabilities for high-precision time-frequency transfer applications requiring robust noise immunity and enhanced sampling dynamics. Full article

The advent of artificial intelligence marks a decisive turning point in the evolution of Industry 5.0, redefining the paradigms of industrial performance. This holistic transformation affects not only technological aspects but also the entire industrial ecosystem. Industrial performance is amplified by AI through two major axes: operational excellence and strategic differentiation of solutions. These drivers of performance are structured around concrete strategic advantages, particularly in terms of technological leadership and operational resilience. However, this transformation raises significant challenges on both the human, technical, and financial levels. The managerial implications require a structured approach to the adoption of AI, supported by appropriate organizational development. Future prospects suggest an ever-deeper integration of AI within the industrial ecosystem, paving the way for new models of performance and innovation. In this paper, we strive to make a scientific contribution aimed at shedding light on the impact of artificial intelligence on Industry 5.0, highlighting its implications for the pillars of industrial transformation: operational efficiency and optimization of industrial processes, technological innovation, and competitiveness. We have opted for a theoretical analysis of research related to the integration of AI into industrial systems, in order to provide a synthetic and critical review of this phenomenon. Full article

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex and multifactorial neurodevelopmental condition whose pathogenesis remains only partially elucidated. Earlier accounts of oxidative stress in ASD often relied on the reductive paradigm of an imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants. In contrast, this narrative review, based on a systematic examination of 1102 publications indexed in scientific databases from 2002 to July 2025, reframes the discussion in terms of redox system dysfunction, a broader and more integrative construct. Here, reactive oxidant species, molecular targets, and reducing/antioxidant counterparts are considered elements of a dynamic circuitry whose maladaptation progressively undermines homeostasis. The sequence of events unfolds in three stages. The first is primary redox dysfunction, manifesting as alterations in metabolic, signaling, and defense pathways. From this disturbance, a second stage arises, marked by functional derailment of cellular compartments—from membranes and cytosol to organelles and nuclei—including mitochondrial and peroxisomal deficits. Ultimately, a third stage emerges, defined by neurodevelopmental alterations such as impaired neurotransmission, synaptic dysfunction, abnormal plasticity, morphogenetic defects, neuroinflammation, and gut–brain–microbiota disarrangements. This progression situates the redox system as a central hub at the interface between human cells and the microbiota, resonating with the ecological and evolutionary principles of the holobiont and the One Health framework. By weaving dispersed evidence into a coherent perspective, this review advances beyond previous analyses, offering a unifying paradigm that connects biochemical dysfunction to clinical heterogeneity in ASD and opens new directions for interdisciplinary research. Full article

Academic researchers in technical and policy fields tend to pay little attention to the metaphysical and ontological ‘priors’ that nevertheless structure and determine scientific strategies and results. Green political agendas rooted in ecological modernization (EM) are distinguished from antecedent visions predicated on biophysical limits. Net zero is shown to be rooted in a project of global EM. Ecomodernism is analyzed in relation to its principal actors, geopolitical context and underlying metaphysics and anthropology. It is driven by non-negotiable societal priorities (‘ends’), which themselves derive from a particular set of technical ‘means’. The top-down version of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0) and new paradigm of global net zero constitute an integrated agenda of eco-modernism. Global net zero cannot hope to achieve its own metabolic goals in respect of either energy flows or the circular economy. A competing, bottom-up and distributed model of the IR4.0 could potentially achieve these targets without falling prey to the Jevons paradox. This potential turns on the greater capacity of low-overhead, prosumer models to nurture less materialist cultural priorities that are more communitarian and family-oriented. A smart energy system that emerges in the context of distributed, domestic and informal production is much more likely to mirror the complex, infinitely gradated and granular pattern of oscillating energy transfers that are characteristic of biological systems. From an ecological economic perspective, such a bottom-up approach to the IR4.0 is much more likely to see the orders of magnitude reduction in the unit energetic cost of social complexity envisaged, in principle, by net zero. Through this comprehensive review of the metaphysical and ontological priors of mainstream IR4.0, researchers in the linked fields of energy and circular economy are presented with a wider range of potential options less constrained by preconceived assumptions about the ‘ends’ of societal development and progress. Full article

This paper presents a flexible approach to a multipurpose, heterogeneous archive and data management system model that merges the robustness of legacy grid-based technologies with modern cloud and edge computing paradigms. It leverages innovations driven by big data, IoT, AI, and machine learning to create an adaptive data storage and processing framework. In today’s digital age, where data are the new intangible gold, the “gold rush” lies in managing and storing massive datasets effectively—especially when these data serve governmental or commercial purposes, raising concerns about privacy and data misuse by third-party aggregators. Astronomical data, in particular, require this same thoughtful approach. Scientific discovery increasingly depends on efficient extraction and processing of large datasets. Distributed archival models, unlike centralized warehouses, offer scalability by allowing data to be accessed and processed across locations via cloud services. Incorporating edge computing further enables real-time access with reduced latency. Major astronomical projects must also avoid common single points of failure (SPOFs), often resulting from suboptimal technological choices driven by collaboration politics or In-Kind Contributions (IKCs). These missteps can hinder innovation and long-term project success. The principal goal of this work is to outline best practices in archival and data management projects—from policy development and task planning to use-case definition and implementation. Only after these steps can a coherent selection of hardware, software, or virtual environments be made. The proposed model—CTAARCHS (Cloud-based Technologies for Astronomical Archiving Research Contents and Handling Systems)—is an open-source, multidisciplinary platform supporting big data needs in astronomy. It promotes broad institutional collaboration, offering code repositories and sample data for immediate use. Full article

Maieutics is a remarkable method for discovering new insights through deep dialogue. Defined as “relating to or resembling the Socratic method of eliciting new ideas from another”, the term originates from the Greek word for “midwifery”—as noted in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Recently, maieutics has gained renewed relevance in advanced discussions about artificial intelligence, the nature of the mind, and scientific inquiry. This contribution presents a real and extended dialogue, illustrating the power of the maieutic method in addressing key developments in the field of Automatic Control. Over the past 40 years, the authors have followed a unique intellectual path shaped by this method. Inspired by recent research, they have also applied maieutics in interaction with AI systems—particularly ChatGPT. This experiment aimed to replicate, in a condensed timeframe, the long intellectual journey taken over decades. The preliminary results suggest that although AI systems can retrieve historical information, they struggle to capture the deeper, guiding principles of this journey. The authors also identify a significant concern: while the maieutic approach with ChatGPT can serve as a valuable educational tool, it must be complemented by a strong knowledge of dynamical systems leading to innovative paradigms of learning. Full article

With the increasing attention to China’s ecological environment protection and the prominence of lake water environment problems, the impact of soil erosion on lake ecosystems has become an important research topic for regional sustainable development. Based on the CiteSpace bibliometric method, this study systematically analyzed 225 research articles on the impact of soil erosion on the water environment of lakes in China in the core collection of Web of Science from 1998 to 2025, aiming to reveal the research hotspots, evolution trends and regional differences in this field. The results show that China occupies a dominant position in this field (209 papers), and the Chinese Academy of Sciences is the core research institution (93 papers). The research hotspots show obvious policy-driven characteristics, which are divided into slow start periods (1998–2007), accelerated growth periods (2008–2015), explosive growth periods (2016–2020) and stable development periods (2021–2025). A keyword cluster analysis identified nine main research directions, including sedimentation effect (#0 cluster), soil loss (#2 cluster) and nitrogen and phosphorus migration (#11 cluster) in the Three Gorges Reservoir area. The study found that the synergistic effects of climate change and human activities (such as land use change) are becoming a new research paradigm, and the Yangtze River Basin, the Loess Plateau and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau constitute the three core research areas (accounting for 72.3% of the total literature). Future research should focus on a multi-scale coupling mechanism, a climate resilience assessment and an ecological engineering effectiveness verification to support the precise implementation of lake protection policies in China. This study provides a scientific basis for the comprehensive management of the soil erosion–lake water environment system, and also contributes a Chinese perspective to the sustainable development goals (SDG6 and SDG15) of similar regions in the world. Full article

Against the backdrop of ongoing degradation of ecosystem services and the increasing demand for sustainable development, the scientific delineation of ecological management zones has become a critical means by which to balance human wellbeing and ecological conservation. This study takes Jiangxi Province as the research area and selects four typical ecosystem services—food production, water supply, carbon storage, and soil retention—to systematically evaluate their supply–demand relationships from both static and dynamic dimensions. By introducing the entropy weight method to construct a comprehensive supply–demand index and integrating a coupling coordination degree model with a four-quadrant dynamic evolution model, this paper proposes a coupled “static–dynamic” analytical framework. The findings reveal significant spatial heterogeneity in various ecosystem services; high-supply areas are concentrated in the southern and peripheral mountainous regions while demand is closely linked to population distribution, exhibiting a pattern of high demand in the central areas and high supply in the peripheral areas. Our supply–demand matching analysis uncovers a distinct gradient distribution characterized by core imbalance and peripheral coordination, with prominent supply–demand conflicts in urban expansion areas and enhanced coordination in peripheral ecological barrier zones. Based on these insights, we divide Jiangxi Province into five types of ecological management zones: Degraded Restoration, Conflict Mitigation, Coordination Enhancement, Potential Development, and Maintenance Conservation, with tailored management strategies proposed for each zone type. As a result, this study not only provides scientific support for regional ecological spatial optimization but also offers a new methodological paradigm for ecosystem services management. Full article

China’s liquor industry continues to steadily expand and develop. The industry is currently transforming, shifting its focus from scale to quality and efficiency. This transformation is significantly increasing the demand for quality and safety testing. Currently, the testing system relies mainly on manual operation or traditional mechanical equipment. Technical bottlenecks include low testing efficiency, a significant imbalance in the cost–benefit ratio, and difficulty meeting the modern industry’s dual technical index requirements of testing accuracy and systematicity. In this context, the innovative research and development of new detection technology is key to promoting technological upgrades in the liquor industry. Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is a core, competitive analytical method for non-destructive wine quality testing due to its technical advantages, such as non-destructive analysis, real-time online detection, and the absence of sample pretreatment requirements. This study systematically elaborates on the optical principle and detection mechanism of NIR spectroscopy and explores the application paradigm of chemometrics in spectral data analysis. This study covers the quantitative analysis of alcoholic strength, the determination of main ingredient content (sugar, acidity, esters, etc.), the construction of trace flavor substance fingerprints, the authentication and origin tracing of alcoholic products, and the monitoring of wine aging quality dynamics, among other key technology areas. Additionally, we review the fusion and innovation trends of artificial intelligence and big data technology, the R&D progress of miniaturized testing equipment, and the technical bottlenecks of spectral modeling and algorithm optimization. We also make scientific predictions about the evolution path of this technology and its industrial application prospects. Full article

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a major global public health challenge. Aerobic exercise (AE) can be a key strategy for non-pharmacological intervention in T2DM through multi-targeted modulation of glucose and lipid metabolism, inhibition of chronic inflammation, and reduction of oxidative stress. This study aims to investigate the current status of AE intervention in T2DM research and analyze its future evolution. Methods: Using the R-based bibliometric software package and the Java-based visualization software CiteSpace and VOSviewer, we analyzed the literature and cited references related to AE intervention in T2DM research included in the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) from 2014 to 2024. Results: This study included a total of 882 relevant literature sources (488 of which were indexed in WOSCC and 394 in CNKI). From the perspective of research trends, the number of literature sources on AE interventions for T2DM has shown fluctuating changes over time. In terms of research output, the United States, China, and Canada are at the forefront. It is worth noting that, although China has a relatively high number of published papers, there is still a significant gap in terms of the depth of international collaboration and the presentation of results in top-tier journals. Among researchers, Dai Xia (China) and Riddell MC (Canada) are the scholars with the highest number of published articles in this field. Keyword analysis indicates that mechanisms such as oxidative stress, insulin resistance, inflammatory responses, and glucose metabolism disorders remain core research hotspots. Time-series analysis reveals that the research paradigm in this field has evolved from single exercise methods to comprehensive exercise prescription studies, and multi-dimensional intervention studies combining exercise, diet, and pharmacological interventions are emerging as new research frontiers. Conclusions: This study uses bibliometric methods to visualize and analyze the progress of AE in T2DM intervention research from a broader perspective, providing a scientific overview and macro-level predictions for the research landscape in this field. Full article

COVID-19 and deep learning have each marked pivotal milestones in the evolution of modern science. Since the onset of the pandemic, researchers from diverse disciplines have converged to address urgent, real-world challenges, while deep learning has catalyzed methodological innovation across fields. These two phenomena exemplify distinct scientific paradigms: spread-out science, which propagates novel ideas and methods, and merge-in science, which synthesizes existing knowledge to solve complex problems. We introduce the concept of sci-entropy, defined as the difference between the semantic entropy of a paper’s citations and references. Positive sci-entropy reflects the diffusion of new ideas (spread-out), whereas negative values indicate knowledge consolidation (merge-in). Our analysis, spanning deep learning, COVID-19, and 19 additional disciplines, reveals that scientific progress is governed by the dynamic interplay between these two forces. Excessively high sci-entropy may fragment research, while overly low values can stifle innovation. Our findings suggest that the balance between innovation and synthesis is fundamental to the trajectory of scientific development, offering a new framework for understanding interdisciplinary research and knowledge integration. Full article

Nanotechnologies bring a rapid paradigm shift in hard and soft bone tissue regeneration (BTR) through unprecedented control over the nanoscale structures and chemistry of biocompatible materials to regenerate the intricate architecture and functional adaptability of bone. This review focuses on the transformative analyses and prospects of current and next-generation nanomaterials in designing bioactive bone scaffolds, emphasizing hierarchical architecture, mechanical resilience, and regenerative precision. Mainly, this review elucidated the innovative findings, new capabilities, unmet challenges, and possible future opportunities associated with biocompatible inorganic ceramics (e.g., phosphates, metallic oxides) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approved synthetic polymers, including their nanoscale structures. Furthermore, this review demonstrates the newly available approaches for achieving customized standard porosity, mechanical strengths, and accelerated bioactivity to construct an optimized nanomaterial-oriented scaffold. Numerous strategies including three-dimensional bioprinting, electro-spinning techniques and meticulous nanomaterials (NMs) fabrication are well established to achieve radical scientific precision in BTR engineering. The contemporary research is unceasingly decoding the pathways for spatial and temporal release of osteoinductive agents to enhance targeted therapy and prompt healing processes. Additionally, successful material design and integration of an osteoinductive and osteoconductive agents with the blend of contemporary technologies will bring radical success in this field. Furthermore, machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) can further decode the current complexities of material design for BTR, notwithstanding the fact that these methods call for an in-depth understanding of bone composition, relationships and impacts on biochemical processes, distribution of stem cells on the matrix, and functionalization strategies of NMs for better scaffold development. Overall, this review integrated important technological progress with ethical considerations, aiming for a future where nanotechnology-facilitated bone regeneration is boosted by enhanced functionality, safety, inclusivity, and long-term environmental responsibility. Therefore, the assimilation of a specialized research design, while upholding ethical standards, will elucidate the challenge and questions we are presently encountering. Full article

The paradigm-shift idea of murburn concept is no hypothesis but developed directly from fundamental facts of cellular/ecological existence. Murburn involves spontaneous and stochastic interactions (mediated by murzymes) amongst the molecules and unbound ions of cells. It leads to effective charge separation (ECS) and formation/recruitment of diffusible reactive species (DRS, like radicals whose reactions enable ATP-synthesis and thermogenesis) and emission of radiations (UV/Vis to ELF). These processes also lead to a chemo-electromagnetic matrix (CEM), ascertaining that living cell/organism react/function as a coherent unit. Murburn concept propounds the true utility of oxygen: generating DRS (with catalytic and electrical properties) on the way to becoming water, the life solvent, and ultimately also leading to phase-based macroscopic homeostatic outcomes. Such a layout enables cells to become simple chemical engines (SCEs) with powering, coherence, homeostasis, electro-mechanical and sensing–response (PCHEMS; life’s short-term “intelligence”) abilities. In the current review, we discuss the coacervate nature of cells and dwell upon the ways and contexts in which various radiations (either incident or endogenously generated) could interact in the new scheme of cellular function. Presenting comparative evidence/arguments and listing of systems with murburn models, we argue that the new perceptions explain life processes better and urge the community to urgently adopt murburn bioenergetics and adapt to its views. Further, we touch upon some distinct scientific and sociological contexts with respect to the outreach of murburn concept. It is envisaged that greater awareness of murburn could enhance the longevity and quality of life and afford better approaches to therapies. Full article