Search Results (410)

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face ongoing challenges in balancing agricultural sustainability with economic growth due to limited land resources, rapid urbanisation, climate change, and reliance on food imports. This study explores the evolution of land use and the future of agriculture in Mauritius from 2002 to 2022, using satellite imagery, policy reviews, and stakeholder interviews. Findings show a 9% decrease in agricultural and non-agricultural vegetation cover, alongside a doubling of built-up areas from 10% to 20%, indicating continued land conversion pressures. The analysis highlights major barriers to agricultural sustainability, including declining food self-sufficiency, an ageing farming population, and slow movements towards sustainable practices caused by low profitability and weak institutional support. Diverging priorities among government agencies, sugar companies, smallholder farmers, and NGOs further hinder coordinated policy efforts. To address these challenges, the study identifies strategies for aligning economic and environmental goals through integrated land-use planning, boosting productivity, and providing targeted support for sustainable ecological farming systems. Policy recommendations include protecting agricultural land, encouraging agroecological practices, alleviating labour shortages, and promoting multi-stakeholder engagement within policy development. Overall, this research enhances understanding of land-use dynamics and agricultural resilience in SIDS, offering practical insights for policymakers and practitioners working towards sustainable food systems amid spatial and climatic constraints. Full article

The use of liquid hydrogen (LH₂) as an energy carrier is gaining traction across sectors such as aerospace, maritime, and large-scale energy storage due to its high gravimetric energy density and low environmental impact. However, the cryogenic nature of LH₂, with storage temperatures near 20 K, poses significant thermodynamic and safety challenges. This review consolidates the current state of modelling approaches used to simulate LH₂ behaviour during storage and transfer operations, with a focus on improving operational efficiency and safety. The review categorizes the literature into two primary domains: (1) thermodynamic behaviour within storage tanks and (2) multi-phase flow dynamics in storage and transfer systems. Within these domains, it covers a variety of phenomena. Particular attention is given to the role of heat ingress in driving self-pressurization and boil-off gas (BoG) formation, which significantly influence storage performance and safety mechanisms. Eighty-one studies published over six decades were analyzed, encompassing a diverse range of modelling approaches. The reviewed literature revealed significant methodological variety, including general analytical models, lumped-parameter models (0D/1D), empirical and semi-empirical models, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models (2D/3D), machine learning (ML) and artificial neural network (ANN) models, and numerical multidisciplinary simulation models. The review evaluates the validation status of each model and identifies persistent research gaps. By mapping current modelling efforts and their limitations, this review highlights opportunities for enhancing the accuracy and applicability of LH₂ simulations. Improved modelling tools are essential to support the design of inherently safe, reliable, and efficient hydrogen infrastructure in a decarbonized energy landscape. Full article

Background: Antibiotic resistance is a pressing public health concern, exacerbated by the prescribing of antibiotics in primary care settings when they are not clinically indicated. Research shows that providers often feel pressured to prescribe antibiotics in response to patients’ expectations. To address this challenge, we developed a theory-informed video intervention to enhance antibiotic stewardship communication skills among current and future primary care providers, with emphasis on college health settings. The intervention consisted of five videos targeting core skills: explaining diagnosis and treatment, discussing antibiotic risks, advising on symptom management, offering patient support, and navigating visits with emerging adults. Program effectiveness was assessed immediately and three months post-intervention. Methods: Providers and medical students (N = 135) completed a three-wave study. At baseline, they reported demographics, perceived importance of the five skill sets, as well as self-efficacy, and completed closed- and open-ended skill assessment. Two weeks later, participants viewed the intervention videos, reassessed their skills, and rated their motivation to improve. Three months after video exposure, they completed the same skill assessments. Results: Participants showed improvements in all communication skills immediately post-intervention, except for supporting patients. While some skills showed sustained improvements at three months, the overall long-term effects were less pronounced. Perceived skill importance, baseline self-efficacy, and post-intervention motivation moderated these effects. Conclusions: A brief video-based intervention effectively enhanced current and future providers’ antibiotic stewardship communication skills. Sustaining these gains, however, requires ongoing reinforcement. Notably, the intervention was especially beneficial for those with low motivation and self-efficacy, key targets for such programs. Full article

Self-harm is a growing public health concern, particularly among university students facing academic anxiety. This study explored the underlying factors driving suicide planning and attempts in this population. Using a qualitative design, we conducted thematic analysis of interviews with eight counselors and eight students from five public and private universities. Analysis via NVivo Software revealed six core themes: (1) current mental health support and coping strategies, (2) triggers of suicidal ideation linked to family and psychological stressors, (3) perceptions of campus mental health services, (4) cultural and societal misconceptions surrounding suicide, (5) institutional barriers to accessing mental health care, and (6) student-driven recommendations for prevention and support. These findings highlight the complex interplay between academic pressure, emotional distress, and limited institutional support. The study emphasizes the need for universities to enhance access to mental health services, reduce stigma through open dialogue and peer support, and engage families through targeted workshops. Tailored interventions addressing academic, emotional, and familial challenges—such as flexible deadlines and improved counseling access—can significantly reduce suicidal ideation and promote student well-being. Full article

Background/Objectives: Emergency healthcare professionals are continually exposed to high clinical and organizational demands that compromise their mental, physical, and occupational health. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the prevalence and interrelations of biopsychosocial and work-related health outcomes among emergency personnel, providing an integrated synthesis of recent empirical evidence. Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and CINAHL identified 6214 records, of which 50 studies met inclusion criteria and were analyzed (total n = 278,000 emergency professionals). Eligible studies (2020–2025) evaluated biopsychosocial outcomes (burnout, depression, stress, resilience, sleep quality) and occupational indicators (workplace violence, job satisfaction, effort-reward imbalance, engagement, turnover intention). Meta-analyses were conducted using random-effects models (DerSimonian-Laird method), producing pooled prevalence estimates for each outcome based on the number of studies that reported the corresponding variable. Risk of bias was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute tools, with most studies rated as moderate-to-high quality. Results: Pooled estimates showed fair self-perceived health in 44.0%, severe burnout in 10.7%, depressive symptoms in 35.1%, moderate-to-severe stress in 74.6%, and poor sleep quality in 40.1% of staff. Workplace violence affected 76.9% of professionals. Job satisfaction averaged 68.1%, turnover intention 62.1%, and effort-reward imbalance 61.9%. Resilience was predominantly moderate (33.9%). Considerable heterogeneity was observed; however, patterns were consistent across regions and professional roles. Conclusions: Emergency healthcare personnel face substantial biopsychosocial strain and occupational risks, driven by persistent structural pressures. Health systems should implement integrated organizational strategies to reduce violence, enhance psychological support, ensure safe staffing, and protect rest and recovery. Improving staff well-being is essential for maintaining a resilient and effective emergency care workforce. Full article

China possesses abundant tight conglomerate oil resources. However, these reservoirs are typically characterized by low porosity and permeability, high clay mineral content, and complex pore structures, resulting in poor performance of conventional waterflooding development. Challenges including insufficient energy replenishment and high flow resistance ultimately lead to low oil recovery factors. This study systematically investigates surfactant-assisted CO₂ huff-n-puff (SA-CO₂-HnP) for enhanced oil recovery in tight conglomerate reservoirs. For a tight conglomerate reservoir in a Xinjiang block, a fully implicit, multiphase, multicomponent dual-porosity numerical model was established. By integrating pore–throat distributions acquired through high-pressure mercury intrusion with a self-developed MATLAB PVT package, nanoconfinement-induced shifts in the phase envelope were rigorously embedded into the simulation framework. The calibrated model was subsequently employed to conduct a comprehensive sensitivity analysis, quantitatively delineating the influence of petrophysical, completion, and operational variables on production performance. Simulation results demonstrate that compared to conventional CO₂ huff-n-puff, the addition of surfactants increases the cumulative recovery factor by 3.5 percentage points over a 20-year production period. The enhancement mechanisms primarily include reducing CO₂–oil interfacial tension (IFT) and minimum miscibility pressure (MMP), improving reservoir wettability, and promoting CO₂ dissolution and diffusion in crude oil. Sensitivity analysis reveals that injection duration, injection pressure, and injection rate significantly influence recovery efficiency, while soaking time exhibits relatively limited impact. Moreover, an optimal surfactant concentration (0.0003 mole fraction) exists; excessive concentrations lead to diminished enhancement effects due to competitive adsorption and pore blockage. This study demonstrates that SA-CO₂-HnP technology offers favorable economic viability and operational feasibility, providing theoretical foundation and parameter optimization guidance for efficient tight conglomerate oil reservoir development. Full article

Background: Body image, physical self-concept and anxiety are closely intertwined aspects of psychological well-being among youth. The growing influence of social media and appearance-focused culture has intensified self-evaluation pressures, making it essential to understand whether physical activity fosters protective effects or, conversely, contributes to anxiety. Methods: The study examined the relationship between body appreciation, physical self-concept, self-esteem, and anxiety among 246 young adults aged 18–35 years (47.6% athletes, 52.4% non-athletes). Participants completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the short form of Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (PSDQ-S). Group differences were analyzed using the Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis H tests, and associations were explored with Spearman’s correlations. Moderation analyses (PROCESS Model 1) tested whether physical activity buffered BMI-related effects, and structural equation modeling (SEM) evaluated direct and indirect pathways. Results: Athletes reported higher self-esteem and body appreciation and scored higher on all PSDQ-S subscales, alongside lower trait anxiety but higher state anxiety than non-athletes. Higher BMI predicted lower self-esteem, body appreciation, and less favorable self-perceptions. Physical activity moderated the BMI—self-esteem and BMI—body appreciation relationships, buffering negative effects among athletes. SEM showed that physical activity positively influenced physical self-concept and body appreciation, which in turn reduced trait anxiety. Gender differences were minimal. Conclusions: Regular sport participation supports psychological resilience by enhancing self-esteem and body appreciation while reducing anxiety. However, the findings also highlight the complexity of body–mind dynamics where individuals with strong body appreciation may still experience transient anxiety in evaluative contexts. Promoting body functionality, self-compassion, and positive physical self-concept in educational and sport settings may help prevent maladaptive behaviors and foster lasting mental well-being among youth. Full article

Team resilience is a critical capacity in sports, enabling teams to adapt to adversity and sustain performance under pressure. Although transformational leadership (TFL) has been identified as a key correlate of resilience, the distinct contributions of head coaches, captains, and athlete leaders through motivational climate remain unclear. This study examined associations between TFL and team resilience among elite high school male rugby players, focusing on motivational climate as a pathway. A total of 370 athletes (aged 16–18) from eight nationally competitive teams completed validated self-report questionnaires. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that captains’ TFL was associated with stronger task-involving climate and greater resilience, while athlete leaders’ TFL was associated with both more task-involving and less ego-involving climate, which was related to higher resilience and fewer vulnerabilities under pressure. Head coaches’ TFL was also associated with a more task-involving and less ego-involving climate, indirectly supporting resilience outcomes. Importantly, no direct effects of head coaches’ or athlete leaders’ TFL on resilience were observed, underscoring the central role of climate-related pathways. These findings highlight motivational climate as a key mechanism connecting leadership roles to resilience and suggest that empowering both captains and athlete leaders alongside coaches may be critical for enhancing adaptability in elite Japanese youth sports. Full article

The self-excited oscillation pulsed waterjet (SOPW) offers simplicity and effective pressure source separation, making it widely utilized. This study investigates the oscillation characteristics and flow field effects of SOPW generated by a Helmholtz nozzle. A transfer function model for the nozzle is established, and the natural frequency is found to correlate with structural parameters such as the oscillation chamber’s cross-sectional area, length, and downstream nozzle diameter. Numerical simulations reveal optimal structural parameters that closely match experimental results, with errors under 15%. Notably, submerged pulsed jets exhibit faster velocity decay compared to non-submerged jets. Additionally, the study examines the effect of area discontinuity at the nozzle inlet on axial velocity, showing that the area enlargement or contraction enhances velocity at lower pressures but inhibits it at higher pressures. This work advances the understanding of nozzle design and the flow field behavior of SOPW. Full article

The construction industry has long been recognized as one of the world’s most hazardous sectors, with safety issues remaining a persistent challenge. To enhance sustainable safety management in this field, this study employs Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to explore the psychological mechanisms underlying construction workers’ safety behaviors. Through structural equation modeling using SPSS 27 and AMOS 28 software on 334 questionnaires, the research reveals that safety awareness and work pressure not only directly influence safety behaviors but also mediate through psychological factors. Notably, social identity significantly moderates the cognitive–behavioral pathway, while autonomous and control motivations moderate the psychological–behavioral relationship. This study breaks through the limitations of traditional safety management that focuses solely on external factors, constructing a multi-level theoretical model that encompasses cognitive, stress, psychological, motivational, and social factors. The research provides a theoretical foundation and practical pathway for construction enterprises to implement people-oriented safety management, contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals centered on the health and safety of employees. Full article

Background: Medical education is highly demanding and often entails stress, pressure, and competition. Understanding what drives students’ satisfaction is essential to support learning and well-being. This study aims to identify factors associated with satisfaction with medical education among Polish medical students, focusing on motivation, personal circumstances, resilience, and the long-term impact of COVID-19. Methods: In a cross-sectional online survey, 334 students from years one, four, and six completed measures of satisfaction with medical studies (nineteen items), motivation (ten items), resilience (using the Brief Resilience Scale), self-rated health, financial situation, global life satisfaction, and study-related stress, plus eight items on COVID-19 impact. Associations were assessed using Spearman correlations and Mann–Whitney U tests. Results: Higher satisfaction was associated with intrinsic motivation (e.g., personal decision to study medicine or interest in medicine), more favorable personal circumstances (better health, financial situation, higher global life satisfaction, and lower stress), and greater individual resilience. Students reporting pandemic-related setbacks (knowledge gaps, reduced confidence, curtailed clinical exposure, and interpersonal skills) showed lower satisfaction with overall experience, relationships, theoretical and practical classes, and perceived future competence. Conclusions: Intrinsic motivation, resilience, and supportive personal circumstances were linked to higher satisfaction, whereas enduring pandemic disruptions coincided with lower satisfaction across domains. Targeted strategies that cultivate intrinsic motivation and resilience and address financial/health stressors and COVID-19 learning gaps may enhance student satisfaction. Full article

Internal combustion engines (ICEs) are prone to faults such as abnormal injection pressure and valve clearance, but traditional diagnosis methods struggle with feature extraction and require large data volumes, limiting real-time applications. Deep learning approaches like CNN and LSTM have improved accuracy but often fail to capture both time and frequency domain features efficiently. This study proposes a Time–Frequency Domain Diagnosis Network (TFDN) that integrates a time-domain path (using residual networks and self-attention mechanisms for sequential feature extraction) and a frequency-domain path (using CNNs for spatial feature extraction). The model employs Swish activation functions and batch normalization to enhance training efficiency. Validated on a six-cylinder diesel engine with 12 fault types, TFDN achieved an accuracy of 98.12%~99.79% in full-load conditions, outperforming baselines like CNN, ResNet, and LSTM. Under mixed operating conditions, TFDN maintained high accuracy, precision, and recall, and demonstrated robustness with limited data (60%~70% accuracy at 5 samples per fault). TFDN effectively combines time-frequency features to improve diagnostic accuracy and stability, enabling real-time fault detection with reduced data dependency. It offers a practical solution for ICE condition monitoring. Full article

The increasing burial depth of deep shale formations in the southern Sichuan leads to more complex in situ stresses and geological structures, which in turn raises the challenges of hydraulic fracturing. Although enlarging the treatment scale and injection rate can enhance reservoir stimulation, the intensive development of faults and fractures in deep shale formations aggravates stress instability, inducing casing deformation, fracture communication, and other engineering risks that constrain efficient shale gas production. In this study, a cross-scale geomechanical model linking the regional to near-wellbore domains was constructed. A dynamic evolution equation was established based on flow–stress coupling, and a numerical conversion from the geological model to the finite element model was implemented through self-programming, thereby developing a simulation method for dynamic geomechanical evolution during hydraulic fracturing. Results indicate that dynamic variations in pore pressure dominate stress redistribution, while near-wellbore heterogeneity and mechanical property distribution significantly affect prediction accuracy. The injection of fracturing fluid generates a high-pressure gradient that drives pore pressure diffusion along fracture networks and faults, exhibiting a strong near-wellbore but weak far-field non-steady spatial attenuation. As the pore pressure increases, the peak value reaches 1.4 times the original pressure. The triaxial stress shows a negative correlation and decreases. The horizontal minimum principal stress shows the most significant drop, with a reduction of 15.79% to 20.68%, while the vertical stress changes the least, with a reduction of 5.7% to 7.14%. Compared with the initial stress state, the horizontal stress difference increases during fracturing. Rapid pore-pressure surges and fault distributions further trigger stress reorientation, with the magnitude of rotation positively correlated with the intensity of pore-pressure variation. The high porosity and permeability characteristics of the initial fracture network lead to a rapid attenuation of the stress around the wellbore. In the middle and later stages, as the pressure balance is achieved through fracture filling, the pore pressure rises and the stress decline tends to stabilize. The findings provide significant insights into the dynamic stress evolution of deep shale reservoirs during fracturing and offer theoretical support for optimizing fracturing design and mitigating engineering risks. Full article

Background: Drinking alcohol of adolescents is an important issue in Taiwan. The purpose of the research is to determine how drinking expectancy and drinking refusal self-efficacy influence drinking behavior among Taiwanese adolescents based on a cognitive model of alcohol consumption. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 908 students, selected from 10th to 12th grade of six high schools in Taiwan, were stratified randomly. Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationships among drinking expectancy, refusal self-efficacy, and alcohol use, including drinking frequency and drunkenness frequency. Results: There was significant positive relationship between drinking expectancies, and drinking and drunkenness frequency; and negative correlation between drinking refusal self-efficacy, and drinking and drunkenness frequency. Multiple regression analysis revealed that (1) tension reduction, sexual enhancement, social pressure, emotional relief, and opportunity to drink significant predicted drinking frequency (Adjusted R² = 0.352, p < 0.001) and (2) tension reduction, increased confidence, cognitive enhancement, and social pressure significant predicted drunkenness frequency (Adjusted R² = 0.226, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Adolescents have positive outcome expectancies regarding increased drinking frequency. Under the pressure of social interaction, drinking was the most difficult to refuse. Alcohol expectancy and drinking refusal self-efficacy have both shown notable influences on Taiwanese adolescents. Full article

Pipeline transportation of petroleum products remains one of the safest and most efficient methods of bulk energy delivery, yet overpressure events continue to pose serious operational and regulatory challenges. Traditional fixed-gain PI controllers, commonly used with centrifugal pump drives, cannot adapt to varying product densities or transient disturbances such as valve closures that generate water hammer. This paper proposes a self-tuning adaptive controller based on Recursive Least Squares (RLS) parameter estimation to improve safety and efficiency in pipeline pump operations. A nonlinear simulation model of a centrifugal pump driven by an induction motor is developed, incorporating pipeline friction losses via the Darcy–Weisbach relation and pressure transients induced by rapid valve closures. The RLS algorithm continuously estimates effective loop dynamics, enabling online adjustment of proportional and integral gains under changing fluid and operating conditions. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed RLS-based adaptive controller maintains discharge pressure within ±2% of the target setpoint under density variations from 710 to 900 kg/m³ and during severe transient events. Compared to a fixed-gain PI controller, the adaptive strategy reduced pressure overshoot by approximately 31.9% and settling time by 6%. Model validation using SCADA field data yielded an $R^2$ = 0.957, RMSE = 3.95 m³/h, and normalized NRMSE of 12.6% (by range), confirming strong agreement with measured system behavior. The findings indicate that RLS-based self-tuning provides a practical enhancement to existing pipeline control architectures, offering both improved robustness to abnormal transients and greater efficiency during steady-state operation. This work establishes a foundation for higher-level supervisory and game-theoretic coordination strategies to be explored in subsequent studies. Full article