Search Results (9,793)

Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.), a horticultural crop with significant edible, medicinal, and ornamental values, has garnered increasing attention from breeders to markets, leading to continuous emergence of new varieties. Accurate phenotypic characterization and robust Distinctness, Uniformity, and Stability (DUS) testing are fundamental for plant variety protection and breeding innovation. Employing the Chinese DUS Test Guidelines for Hawthorn (LY/T 3208-2020) as an analytical framework, this study systematically evaluated 197 germplasm accessions from the Chinese National Field Genebank. Results demonstrated: (1) Coefficients of Coincidence (COC) for example varieties and test traits ranged between 0.980 and 1.000, fully meeting the testing requirements; (2) the 22 qualitative (QL) and pseudo-qualitative traits (PQ) were categorized into 2–5 classes with Shannon-Wiener indices of 0.032–1.174, indicating high polymorphism; (3) correlation analysis of 11 quantitative traits (QN) revealed coefficients from 0.006 to 0.922, with 23 trait pairs showing statistical significance, while principal component analysis identified fruit and leaf traits as primary drivers of phenotypic variation; (4) grading schemes were established by using Least Significant Difference (LSD) for eight normally or near-normally distributed traits (5–7 classes) and range-based grading approach for three non-normal traits (5 classes). Based on the above results, this study evaluated China’s current DUS testing guidelines for hawthorn. Subsequently, 197 hawthorn accessions were used to evaluate the QL, PQ, and QN traits, based on which corresponding optimization recommendations were proposed. Ultimately, an optimized testing framework for hawthorn DUS testing was established. The resulting analytical insights and phenotypic grading system will enrich the current descriptor framework and provide a foundational dataset for trait-DNA association and marker-assisted breeding. Notably, this optimization strategy serves as a methodological template for updating DUS guidelines in other taxa. Overall, these insights strengthen the protection, development, and breeding of new hawthorn varieties while advancing the standardization of DUS testing. Full article

The European Union Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 on novel foods has created new opportunities for the valorization of marine by-products within the framework of the circular bioeconomy and sustainable blue economy. Refined shrimp peptide concentrate (RSPC), obtained through enzymatic hydrolysis of Pandalus borealis shells and heads, represents a relevant case study for examining the interaction between food innovation, regulatory assessment, sustainability, and value-chain development. This study analyzes the EFSA scientific opinion on RSPC and reviews available compositional, toxicological, allergenicity, and clinical evidence, contextualizing the ingredient within European policies on circular economy, resource efficiency, and sustainable food systems. The assessment indicates that RSPC consists mainly of 8 low-molecular-weight peptides with demonstrated angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity and potential applications in blood pressure management. Beyond its functional properties, the valorization of shrimp processing by-products offers opportunities to reduce waste generation, increase resource efficiency, and create new economic value within the seafood sector. The case study highlights how the novel food regulatory framework can support the safe market introduction of innovative marine-derived ingredients while contributing to circular economy objectives. Although challenges related to allergenicity management, consumer acceptance, and industrial scalability remain, RSPC demonstrates the potential of marine by-product valorization to foster more sustainable, resilient, and economically viable food systems. Full article

Systemic risk measures are crucial for the stability of financial markets. However, traditional frameworks, such as those relying on fixed exponent spaces, rest on an assumption of globally consistent moment conditions, which fails to capture the time-varying and state-dependent nature of financial market volatility. In this paper, we propose a new framework for systemic risk measurement on the variable-exponent Bochner–Lebesgue space $L^{p(·)}$, where the exponent $p(·)$ is a random variable rather than a deterministic constant parameter. The variable exponent $p(·)$ can be regarded as an endogenous risk-sensitivity adjuster. This design imbues the systemic risk measure with inherent adaptability, enabling it to move beyond applying a fixed scale across all market states and instead allowing its criterion to adjust dynamically in response to the evolving nature of risk amid shifts in market conditions. By constructing suitable deterministic auxiliary functions and single-firm risk measures, we decompose the quantification of systemic risk in $L^{p(·)}$ into two sequential steps, ultimately deriving its dual representations. Several examples are provided to illustrate the theoretical results. Full article

Sustainable fresh sweetcorn-based rotations require nutrient- and pest-management inputs that are both agronomically effective and economically feasible. This study evaluated vermicompost (VC) and vermicompost tea (VCT) as nutrient-management inputs and an azadirachtin nanopesticide as a potential threshold-based pest-management intervention within an integrated management framework. Previously published agronomic, soil, fall armyworm, and nanopesticide data were used; no new field or efficacy experiments were conducted. The analysis compared VC-only, VCT-only, and integrated VC + VCT enterprises; developed partial budgets for the 2022 fresh sweetcorn–strawberry and 2024 fresh sweetcorn–soybean rotations; assessed VCT application intensity; and separately evaluated the economics of annualized nanopesticide production and price sensitivity. Under retail-market assumptions, VCT-only and VC + VCT production were economically favorable, with cost–benefit ratios (CBR) of 3.15 and 1.91, whereas VC-only production did not recover annual costs. In 2022, only the fertilized control and VC1 recovered the included fresh sweetcorn variable costs under six VCT applications, and VC1 generated the strongest subsequent strawberry and rotation-level returns. In 2024, VCT20 and VCT40 produced the highest fresh sweetcorn yields and achieved complete fall armyworm suppression, but neither fresh sweetcorn treatment nor a full rotation recovered the included costs. Subsequent soybean production generated positive partial-budget returns, with VC1 + VCT20 performing best. Lowering VCT volume or frequency increased the number of modeled scenarios that reached partial-budget break-even, while observed yield was held constant. Nanopesticide production generated an estimated annual net profit of USD 4378, a 3.1% margin, and a CBR of 1.032. Because the nanopesticide was not applied in the rotations, its integration remains prospective. These results should also be interpreted considering small-plot yield extrapolation, deterministic price assumptions, partial budgeting, and the availability of only two fresh sweetcorn experiments. These findings support moderate VC use, further field validation of lower-intensity VCT schedules, and evaluation of threshold-triggered nanopesticide intervention within an integrated decision-support framework. Full article

Concentrated sourcing is a structural property of the world economy rather than an occasional accident: across 168 national economies and 1118 four-digit product markets reconstructed from harmonized cross-border flow records, 27.7% of macro-level economy–product supply systems draw more than half of their imports from a single origin and 19.3% are critically dependent. Treating each such market as a system rather than as a set of bilateral links changes what can be asked of it, and this paper specifies the economy–product supply system in systems-engineering terms—boundary, elements, internal relations, external environment, state and state transition—and represents it as a time-evolving hyperedge over source countries. Three coupled questions follow, answered jointly by HyperSRM: which dependency state a system will occupy next year, whether it will diversify, reconcentrate, hold, or merely substitute one origin for another, and which origins are most consistent with the observed conditions preceding a material entry. Shared country and product embeddings support two temporal set-encoding branches, a candidate-conditioned branch for origin ranking and a candidate-free branch for state and mode forecasting, a sign-constrained gravity–capability–connectivity prior supplies an observational plausibility score with end use and maritime reachability as its context, and risk weights derived from the state head direct effort toward the most exposed systems. Developed on CEPII BACI, rebuilt independently on Eurostat Comext and audited against U.S. Census data at the level of the labels themselves, the framework returns calibrated state probabilities and a ten-origin shortlist that captures 58.1% of the following year’s risk-weighted material-entry mass and is accompanied by explicit out-of-pool diagnostics. These outputs describe the import-sourcing layer of resilience and are intended for analytical triage rather than a complete assessment of supply resilience. Three system-level regularities carry beyond the model: the arrival of a new origin is a weak proxy for diversification, critical dependency is close to absorbing for specified intermediate inputs but not for final goods, and the 2020–2021 contraction rearranged source sets without widening them—so resilience monitoring built on source counts misreads the direction of change. Full article

Next-day stock direction forecasting combines market signals with news, but many trading days contain no firm-specific articles. We develop Gated News-Event Fusion (GNEF), an availability-aware model mapping price sequences, engineered market features, and news features to direction probabilities and a nonnegative return-magnitude estimate. GNEF retains price as a residual representation and uses a scalar sigmoid gate to interpolate between technical and news representations. We prove that the gated component is a norm-bounded convex combination whose gate-logit sensitivity is at most one quarter of the distance between these representations. We also establish conditional Lipschitz stability and forward complexity linear in sequence length. GNEF has 67,625 trainable parameters. Evaluation covers ten large-cap equities under prospective expanding walk-forward testing, paired moving-block bootstrap inference, and transaction-cost analysis. Across five random initializations, the residual design has higher mean directional accuracy than a gated mixture of price, technical, and news representations on 7 of 10 tickers. In a single-seed ablation, full GNEF exceeds no-gate and no-news variants in directional accuracy on 3 of 10 tickers. A broader validation-selected policy exceeds momentum in directional accuracy on 5 of 10 tickers. These findings provide selective support for residual fusion but do not establish a consistent advantage across equities. Full article

As China’s new energy vehicle (NEV) market shifts from basic electrification toward competition over integrated technological capability and in-cabin user experience, understanding how consumers evaluate green technology and smart-cockpit configurations has become increasingly important. This study examines how perceived green technological innovation (PGTI) and smart-cockpit scenario-based configuration (SCSC) shape young Chinese consumers’ NEV purchase intentions. Drawing on the Theory of Consumption Values and signaling theory, the study combines hierarchical regression with fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Data were collected in multiple Chinese cities through Wenjuanxing and on-site surveys at authorized NEV dealerships and brand experience centers. Of the 500 questionnaires collected from consumers aged 18–35, 420 valid responses were retained, yielding a valid response rate of 84.0%. The regression results show that perceived value is the strongest positive correlate of purchase intention, while SCSC, technology trust, PGTI, and charging convenience also have significant positive associations. The negative PGTI × SCSC interaction indicates diminishing marginal returns rather than simple additive synergy. The fsQCA results identify eight alternative configurations leading to high purchase intention, including integrated flagship, technology-assurance, and smart-cabin-oriented pathways. The study contributes by distinguishing average net effects from equifinal configurational mechanisms and by showing that smart-cockpit value depends on its combination with technology, charging, price, and trust conditions. Full article

In South Africa, the culture and creative industry still faces structural constraints and rapid technological change. While digital infrastructure has opened new paths for creative production, distribution, and commercialisation, the extent to which digital connectivity and innovation translate into tangible, measurable performance in the creative economy remains a question. In this paper, the study investigates the short- and long-run relationships among technological innovation, telecommunications infrastructure, digital services intensity, and the performance of South Africa’s creative economy over the period 1999–2023 using an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model. The study uses patent applications as an indicator of formal innovation, as well as of fixed telecommunications infrastructure, digital services exports, and overall economic activity. The negative and marginally significant long-run association of digital services exports is also observed, while overall GDP is insignificant. The error-correction mechanism is negative and statistically significant, although its small magnitude suggests a slow recovery toward the long-run equilibrium. The study’s results show that the development of the creative economy is not only about increasing overall digital connectivity but also about innovation capacity and technological infrastructure within the creative innovation ecosystem. The study further observes that technological access alone is insufficient to achieve sector-level benefits and that it must be accompanied by stronger innovation support, commercialisation capabilities, and institutional support for creative companies. From a policy perspective, the findings call for greater attention to intellectual property development, innovation capabilities, digital production capacity, and infrastructure to help creative companies translate their technology into business. The study provides time-series evidence on the link between technological innovation, digital infrastructure, and creative economy performance in an African emerging-market context, and it offers policy-relevant insights for developing innovation-led creative sector development in South Africa amid uneven digital and economic development. Full article

In this paper, by proposing a new risk measure called CoRVaR, we explore the risk spillover effect within a financial system consisting of the banking, security and insurance industries. To be precise, we examine the risk spillover effect from each industry to the other. Moreover, we also examine the risk spillover effect from each industry to the system. The dependence structure between industries is modeled using the vine copula. By employing the Monte Carlo simulation technique, an empirical study via data from Chinese financial markets is implemented. Finally, backtesting and comparisons with existing results are also performed. It turns out that the proposed risk measure can well quantify the risk spillover effect. In addition, the copula employed can also well reveal the interdependence structure of the financial system. Full article

Carob has traditionally been used as a nutritious alternative to cocoa. The present study evaluated the physicochemical, microbiological, nutritional, sensorial, phenolic, and antioxidant profile, along with the bioaccessibility of phenolics and antioxidants, of a developed carob-based spreadable product in comparison with two commercially available similar chocolate–hazelnut spreads popular in Greece. Moreover, the implemented food safety management system and the economic impact of the new product were also considered. The carob-based product was slightly more acidic (pH 5.3) and had an increased water activity (a_w = 0.67) when compared to the commercial chocolate spreads. Consumer acceptability for the developed product was almost 80%, and it had a shelf-life of over six months. In terms of nutritional value, the product is suitable for vegans with no added animal protein and preservatives, while it is also low in saturated fat, high in fiber, and very low in sodium. Comparatively, the carob-based product exhibited higher total phenolic (TPC) but lower total flavonoid (TFC) contents and increased DPPH activity than the other two cocoa-based spreads (p < 0.05). Predicted bioaccessibility in the newly developed product was 67% for TPC (p ≥ 0.05) and 10% for total antioxidant capacity (TAC; p < 0.05). Market analysis indicates that there is a considerable margin of profit for the developed product against competition. Conclusively, this research demonstrates that carob-based food products with functional properties can constitute a suitable, promising alternative to conventional cocoa-based similar products. Full article

Against the background of increasing styling convergence in the new energy vehicle (NEV) market, rear-end styling has gradually become a key visual interface for communicating brand identity, shaping product differentiation, and eliciting users’ Kansei cognition. However, existing Kansei design studies on automotive styling have mainly focused on whole-vehicle forms or front-face morphology, while systematic modeling methods for local rear-end styling remain limited. Under small-sample conditions, the nonlinear mapping between the Kansei semantic space and styling parameters also faces the risk of overfitting. To address these issues, this study proposes a data-driven Kansei Engineering (KE) framework integrating non-negative matrix factorization (NMF), grey relational analysis (GRA), and deep feedforward neural network (DFNN), aiming to achieve a continuous translation from Kansei need identification to parametric scheme generation for rear-end styling. First, the original seven-dimensional Kansei evaluations were aggregated into three latent Kansei dimensions through the non-negative low-rank decomposition of NMF. Second, GRA was used to screen key morphological features and reduce modeling complexity at the feature level. Third, DFNN and random forest (RF) were constructed as prediction models, and DFNN showed better average test RMSE and R² than RF. Finally, the optimal codes predicted by the DFNN were transformed into design schemes constrained by morphological coding, and their consistency in expressing the target Kansei images was verified, thereby establishing an engineering constraint-oriented and interpretable decoding pathway distinct from free-association-based Kansei design. The ablation experiment indicates that the performance advantage of the proposed framework does not arise solely from DFNN, but from the mathematical coupling among NMF-based semantic aggregation, GRA-based feature screening, and DFNN-based nonlinear mapping. This framework reformulates Kansei design as a hierarchical decomposition and modeling process, establishing a data-driven decision-support tool jointly driven by mathematical algorithms and artificial intelligence for NEV rear-end styling design. Full article

POI and EOI are rare but impactful conditions among adolescents and young adults (AYAs). Little is known about the timing and incidence of mental health (MH) conditions among AYAs diagnosed with POI/EOI. Data were collected using MarketScan Medicaid administrative claims among females aged 12–25 with POI/EOI. Merative™ MarketScan^® Research Databases are large, de-identified U.S. administrative healthcare claims databases that contain individual-level information on enrollment, inpatient and outpatient medical services, and outpatient prescription drug claims. The databases include commercially insured individuals, Medicare beneficiaries with employer-sponsored supplemental coverage, and selected Medicaid populations. Claims are linked longitudinally using unique encrypted patient identifiers, allowing individuals to be followed over time across healthcare settings. In addition to healthcare utilization, the databases include demographic characteristics, diagnosis and procedure codes, dates of service, and payment information, making them well suited for epidemiologic, health services, and outcomes research. We characterized prevalence and timing of MH diagnoses, examined MH subtypes, and estimated new-onset MH among those without prior MH. Comparisons were made to demographically matched controls without POI/EOI (matched on age and calendar time) and to diagnosis-anchored comparator groups. Among 859 AYAs with POI/EOI, 53.9% had any MH diagnosis, including 32.9% with MH diagnoses before and after POI/EOI diagnosis and 11.9% with new-onset MH after POI/EOI diagnosis. Of all anxiety disorders, 60.1% were present pre- and post-diagnosis, while 25.4% were new-onset after diagnosis. Depressive disorders showed a similar pattern, with 58.1% being pre- and post-diagnosis MH group and 22.3% being new-onset. In total, 49.4% of individuals with trauma-related disorders had the diagnosis both before and after POI/EOI diagnosis, while 30.1% had it as a new-onset. In adjusted models, POI/EOI was associated with increased odds of MH diagnoses after diagnosis (aOR ~2.1, 95% CI ~1.4–3.1). Prior MH diagnoses were the strongest predictor of MH after diagnosis (aOR ~12.1). AYAs with POI/EOI experience substantial MH burden, with elevated risk of new-onset MH conditions following diagnosis. Findings highlight the importance of early MH screening and integrated care models for AYAs. Full article

As critical minerals required for the production of new energy batteries, the demand forecasts and trends for Li, Co, Ni, and Mn are of crucial importance for ensuring the energy transition and China’s sustainable development. This study has developed a comprehensive analytical framework, combining dynamic material flow analysis, stock-driven forecasting, and scenario analysis to conduct a life-cycle assessment of the critical mineral resources (2010–2060). (1) Retrospective estimates show that in 2024, demand for Li, Co, Ni, and Mn reached 117 kt, 79 kt, 78 kt, and 45 kt, respectively. By 2060, the maximum demand for these minerals is projected to rise to 651 kt, 1090 kt, 1080 kt, and 757 kt, respectively. (2) Li is the mineral with the highest demand. Under different recovery scenarios, the lithium substitution rates reach 55.4%, 68.3%, and 85.3%, respectively. Given that the demand in cascade utilisation is far lower than the volume of retired new energy vehicle batteries, a cascade utilisation rate exceeding 23% would theoretically suffice to meet the entire relevant market demand. To secure the supply of critical minerals for energy batteries, this study suggests accelerating the construction of standardised recycling systems and implementing strict entry approvals to prevent overcapacity. Full article

Almería’s high-yield Mediterranean agricultural model is based fundamentally on eight main greenhouse vegetables, with tomato, peppers, and cucumber identified as the principal crops. To facilitate regional diversification, the biological adaptation and techno-economic viability of Vanilla planifolia are examined. The physiological requirements of this orchid, an obligate CAM plant, regarding light intensity and water-use efficiency highlight the need to implement active heating systems, a double internal roof, high-density shading, and misting to emulate the tropical conditions required for this crop in Mediterranean-climate greenhouses. Globally, the market value fell from 898 million USD in 2020 to nearly 328 million USD in 2025, revealing extreme price volatility. Around 75% of global production is absorbed by European and North American markets. While primary production is concentrated in Madagascar, Indonesia, Uganda, and Papua New Guinea, strategic commercial roles are maintained by traders in non-producing nations such as France, the Netherlands, and Germany. Between 2022 and 2024, a systemic collapse was recorded in export revenues. During this period, mean prices fell from 130.83 USD/kg to 44.57 USD/kg. In 2025, wholesale prices rose slightly to 48.59 USD/kg, and global vanilla demand stands at around 6760 t, a volume similar to that of previous years. Viable cultivation of Vanilla planifolia in southeastern Spain and processing it into cured pods are favored by its geographical proximity to European markets. This strategic positioning can ensure optimal harvest maturity and achieve superior biochemical quality through the incorporation of agro-industrial procedures. This information will provide the knowledge necessary to design a field trial aimed at validating Vanilla planifolia as a crop of interest for Mediterranean greenhouses. Full article

Against the backdrop of increasing global supply chain disruption risks, supplier diversification has emerged as a critical strategy for enhancing economic resilience and sustainable trade performance. Using matched supplier–customer transaction data for Chinese listed firms and Chinese Customs data from 2009 to 2016, this study examines the impact of supplier diversification on firms’ export product scope and its underlying mechanisms. The results show that supplier diversification significantly expands firms’ export product scope by mitigating resource and technological lock-in effects associated with concentrated supply chains. Specifically, a 0.1-unit increase in supplier diversification is associated with an average increase of approximately 0.074 distinct HS 6-digit product categories exported by a firm. Mechanism analyses indicate that this effect operates primarily through promoting technological innovation and reducing production costs. The positive effect is more pronounced among larger firms, firms facing weaker financial constraints, and firms operating in highly competitive or technology-intensive industries. Further analyses show that supplier diversification facilitates the entry of new products into export markets and supports the continued export of existing products, while having no significant effect on product exit. These findings identify supplier diversification as an important micro-level supply-side determinant of firms’ export product scope and provide implications for supplier portfolio design, supply chain resilience, and sustainable export strategies. Full article