Search Results (1,421)

As ecological crises intensify—characterized by the collapse of familiar ecosystems and vanishing of ancestral landscapes—growing numbers of people report experiences of ecological grief: mournful responses to loss of cherished more-than-human lives and environments. This paper examines how eco-grief unsettles existing ontological narratives and creates space for renewed ways of thinking, feeling, and relating. In doing so, it reframes ecological disorientation as a liminal state which facilitates spiritual reimagining and renewal. Drawing on a comparative analysis of Heideggerian phenomenology with Dagara and Ubuntu philosophy, the essay conceptualizes ecological grief not as a retreat into despair, but as an invitation to reorient within the more-than-human world, thereby scrutinizing existing and persisting habits of separation and linear progress. It subsequently examines how spiritual and symbolic expressions of eco-grief can help to articulate notions such as affect, reciprocity, and care in an eco-centric manner. By explicitly incorporating underrepresented perspectives and aligning contributions across cultural and spiritual spheres, the paper explores how moments of spatial and existential rupture may be approached in a novel manner, thereby bridging existing eco-grief research gaps and framing spiritual notions as a generative force within the realm of ecological engagement. Full article

Background and Objectives: Residual filling material may persist on the walls of oval root canals after mechanical retreatment, and the influence of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) concentration and supplementary irrigation procedures on its removal remains unclear. This laboratory study used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to evaluate the effects of three NaOCl concentrations and five final irrigation protocols on residual filling material in retreated oval canals of mandibular premolars. The protocols tested were conventional needle irrigation (CNI), EDDY, passive ultrasonic irrigation (PUI), XP-endo Finisher R (XPFR), and Shock Wave Enhanced Emission Photoacoustic Streaming (SWEEPS). Materials and Methods: One hundred twenty extracted mandibular premolars with a single root and an oval canal were instrumented with Reciproc R25 and filled with CeraSeal and a matching gutta-percha cone using the single-cone technique. Root canal retreatment was performed using ProTaper Universal Retreatment instruments followed by Reciproc R40. The teeth were then distributed among 15 experimental subgroups according to the final irrigation protocol and NaOCl concentration used: 2.5%, 5.25%, or 8.25% (n = 8). After irrigation, each root was divided longitudinally, and one undamaged canal half was randomly chosen for SEM evaluation. Residual filling material was scored in the coronal, middle, and apical regions using an ordinal scale ranging from 1 to 5. Examiner agreement was determined with quadratically weighted Cohen’s kappa, while treatment effects were examined using a cumulative link mixed model (CLMM). Results: Residual filling material scores differed significantly according to the final irrigation protocol (p < 0.001) and root canal region (p = 0.007), but not according to NaOCl concentration (p = 0.236). The interaction between protocol and canal region was also significant (p = 0.036). In the overall comparisons, CNI produced the highest scores, whereas SWEEPS produced the lowest, and EDDY, PUI, and XPFR did not differ significantly from one another. Apical scores were higher than coronal and middle scores in the EDDY, PUI, and SWEEPS protocols, while XPFR showed no significant variation among canal regions. Conclusions: Residual filling material scores after retreatment were influenced by the final irrigation protocol and root canal region, whereas NaOCl concentration had no significant main effect. SWEEPS resulted in the lowest overall residual filling material scores and CNI in the highest, while EDDY, PUI, and XPFR showed comparable overall performance, although protocol performance varied across root canal regions. Full article

NR sidelink groupcast provides no group channel-quality report, yet one modulation and coding scheme (MCS) must serve every member. We propose PROBE, a reactive MCS adaptation scheme that operates directly on the summarized HARQ outcome. PROBE increases the MCS index by one after a group ACK and retreats by D after a group NACK. We show that, away from the index boundaries, this update has a zero-drift group-NACK probability $q^{\ast }$ = 1/(D + 1), which gives the retreat parameter a direct operating-point interpretation and provides a principled basis for selecting it from group-level feedback. We characterize BLER for MCS 0–28 with an NR SL-SCH coding chain and use the resulting curves throughout the evaluation. Across the evaluated group sizes, topologies, and transmission periods, PROBE remains within 1.26% of the per-condition best fixed retreat and improves goodput over the conventional 10%-target reference by 1.09–15.50 percentage points. PROBE also outperforms a feedback-matched discounted Thompson-sampling learner across the evaluated steady-state conditions. These results show that a constant-complexity controller driven only by summarized HARQ feedback can adapt the groupcast MCS without CSI or changes to the NR sidelink framework. Full article

Background/Objectives: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) affects up to 60% of men by age 90. With Singapore’s aging population, minimally invasive surgical therapies (MIST) have emerged as effective alternatives for patients unsuitable for traditional surgery. We sought to evaluate real-world outcomes of MIST procedures: Water Vapor Thermal Therapy (WVTT) and Prostatic Urethral Lift (PUL) in treating BPH-related LUTS. Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of 62 MIST patients treated at a tertiary hospital in Singapore between August 2021 and February 2025, with a minimum of three-month follow-up. Primary outcomes included improvements in maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax), International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), and Quality of Life (QoL) scores. Secondary outcomes included complications, re-treatment rates, and healthcare utilization metrics. Results: Thirty-six patients underwent WVTT, and 26 underwent PUL. Median age was 67 years, with a mean prostate volume of 61 cm³. At three months, both procedures showed improvements: Qmax increased by 4.28 mL/s (WVTT, p < 0.001) and 3.46 mL/s (PUL, p = 0.06); IPSS decreased by 12.8 (WVTT, p < 0.001) and 12.5 (PUL, p < 0.001); QoL scores improved by 2.53 (WVTT, p < 0.001) and 3.31 (PUL, p < 0.001). The complication rate was 32.3%, with complications being predominantly Clavien–Dindo grades 1–2. Day surgery was achieved in 83.9% of cases, with only 4.8% requiring readmission within 30 days. At three months, 98.4% were catheter-free, and excluding prior catheter-dependent patients, 82.4% were medication-free. At a median follow-up of 5.9 months, the re-treatment rate was 3.2%. Conclusions: MIST procedures are safe and effective for BPH-LUTS, showing comparable outcomes between WVTT and PUL while optimizing healthcare resource utilization. Full article

Understanding river channel evolution is essential for effective management, as lateral erosion shapes riverbeds, floodplains, and riparian habitats. Despite advancements in remote sensing, translating these technologies into operational tools for institutional monitoring remains a challenge. This study introduces a semi-automated framework designed to bridge this gap by quantifying lateral mobility and bank retreat rates in high-energy, gravel-bed rivers. The methodology utilizes a Random Forest classifier applied to Copernicus Sentinel-2 time series (2016–2024) across five rivers in Piedmont (Italy). By detecting pixel-level class shifts between water, vegetation, and sediment, the procedure provides a proxy for lateral mobility. Validated against 120 km of manual delineations, the model achieved high spatial accuracy for both bank retreat rates and eroded bank lengths measurements (Mean Absolute Deviation of 2.64 m/yr and 4.34%, respectively). Integrating discharge data and the hydraulic infrastructure cadaster of the Sesia River, the proposed framework effectively detects reaches prone to significant geomorphic changes, isolates their underlying drivers, simulates 10-year evolutionary trajectories, and demonstrates strong predictive capabilities regarding future channel–infrastructure interactions. This study marks a shift from sporadic, labor-intensive assessments to a dynamic, systematic monitoring framework. Leveraging free satellite data, it provides competent authorities with an objective, cost-effective tool to prioritize interventions, supporting flood risk reduction and river restoration. Full article

Coastal erosion is commonly assessed from shoreline-position change using methods such as the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS). However, on microtidal sandy beaches with strong seasonal wave variability, shoreline retreat may reflect temporary sediment redistribution rather than permanent erosion. This study evaluates the morphodynamic behaviour of a ~280 km sandy coastline along the Mexican Caribbean (Isla Blanca–Punta Allen) between 2009 and 2024 using high-resolution RapidEye and PlanetScope satellite imagery. Beach-area changes were quantified for 160 sedimentary cells and analysed with the Mann–Kendall test to identify long-term morphological trends, while shoreline mobility was assessed separately using the DSAS End Point Rate (EPR) and Linear Regression Rate (LRR). The results indicate that the coastline is predominantly characterised by dynamic equilibrium and seasonal sediment redistribution: 64.4% of the cells remained stable, 15.0% exhibited redistributive behaviour, and only 12.5% showed persistent beach-area loss. In contrast, the DSAS analysis based on Total EPR showed shoreline retreat (EPR < 0) in 78.1% of the cells, whereas only 12.5% showed persistent beach-area loss, indicating that shoreline-position change alone may overestimate chronic erosion along this seasonally dynamic coast. Although DSAS rates were moderately to strongly correlated with beach-area trends (r = 0.59–0.64), the two approaches led to markedly different management interpretations. These findings demonstrate that multi-temporal beach-area analysis provides a valuable complement to shoreline-based methods, enabling a clearer distinction between seasonal variability and chronic erosion on highly dynamic microtidal coasts. Full article

Is an Islamic modern polity attainable? How is it perceived, and how is it possible to accommodate a transcendental reference within modern political structures? Where is the line between the political and the religious to be drawn? This article examines these puzzles through the narratives of 48 members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. With reference to a growing literature on the notion of secularism and post-Islamism, the article examines two critical issues that are at the heart of the debate over the secularization of Islamists: (1) the stance towards the limits of the state’s legal intervention in the personal sphere, and (2) the notion of popular sovereignty and the transcendental reference of the state. By shifting attention from movement ideologues to grassroots actors, the article shows how “post-Islamist” adaptation can reflect an internally reasoned negotiation of sovereignty, morality, and authority rather than a retreat of religion from public life. It also examines that participants’ political reasoning functions not merely as an internalization of Islamic imperatives, but as a critical engagement with the limits of modern secular-democratic governance itself. Full article

Mountain glaciers constitute sensitive indicators of climate variability and represent essential freshwater reservoirs for downstream ecosystems and societies. Although glacier change in the Greater Caucasus has been extensively investigated at regional scales, detailed long-term reconstructions of individual glacier systems remain comparatively scarce. In this study, we reconstruct two centuries of evolution of Georgia’s largest Lekhziri Glacier and document the recent formation of its proglacial lake. The Little Ice Age glacier extent (AD ~1820) was reconstructed from moraine complexes, whereas later glacier outlines were derived from historical topographic maps, Landsat, SPOT, PlanetScope, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) data spanning 1890–2025. Glacier terminus elevation was analysed using the Copernicus Digital Elevation Model, whereas long-term climatic variability was evaluated from summer air temperature and winter precipitation records obtained from the local meteorological station. The results demonstrate that Lekhziri Glacier experienced substantial and accelerating retreat during the past two centuries. Glacier area decreased from 46.67 ± 2.53 km² in ~1820 to 28.31 ± 0.62 km² in 2025, representing a net reduction of −18.36 km² (−39.34%) with an average annual decrease of −0.19% yr⁻¹. Area loss accelerated markedly after 2000, reaching −0.66% yr⁻¹ during 2000–2014 and −0.87% yr⁻¹ during 2014–2025. Over the last two centuries, the glacier terminus retreated by approximately −4.78 km, equivalent to an average retreat rate of −32.4 m yr⁻¹, while the terminus elevation migrated upward by nearly 600 m, from ~1718 to ~2317 m a.s.l. The glacier also underwent pronounced structural fragmentation after 2014, fundamentally altering its geometry and flow configuration. Concurrently, a proglacial lake first identified in 2019 with an area of 10,805 m² expanded rapidly to 28,947 m² in 2022 and 38,260 m² in 2025, with its continued existence confirmed by UAV observations in 2026. Meteorological records indicate a persistent increase in summer air temperature since the mid-twentieth century, accompanied by a decline in winter precipitation, consistent with the observed acceleration of glacier recession. This study provides one of the most comprehensive reconstructions of glacier evolution to date for an individual glacier in the Greater Caucasus and contributes new insights into the changing dynamics of glacierized mountain landscapes under continued climate warming. Full article

This conceptual paper examines how dominant frameworks of college access and equity in U.S. higher education marginalize undocumented and international students by anchoring inclusion to citizenship, legal eligibility, and institutional risk management. In the context of intensified anti-DEI and anti-immigrant politics, legally precarious students face overlapping yet distinct legal, financial, emotional, and symbolic forms of exclusion that conventional access and equity models do not fully capture. Institutional retreat, anticipatory obedience, and the re-coding of equity work can further make supports for these students harder to locate, defend, and sustain. Synthesizing scholarship on college access, undocumented and international student experiences, critical citizenship studies, legal status stratification, border theory, anticipatory obedience, and coalitional politics, the paper argues for moving “beyond legality” as the organizing framework of access. It advances a conceptual model of College Access Beyond Legality centered on four interlocking structures: emotional safety and trust, informal resource networks, campus and community organizing, and identity-based and status-conscious advocacy. The model conceptualizes cross-status coalition-building among students, institutional stakeholders, faculty, and community partners as both a survival strategy and a practice of institutional accountability. It also emphasizes that access beyond legality must begin before matriculation and extend through persistence, belonging, and post-graduation transitions. The model aims to reduce harm, strengthen belonging, expand access to material supports, support persistence, and deepen institutional accountability. The paper concludes with implications for institutional policy, equity practice, basic-needs and community-connection infrastructures, and future research aimed at expanding access for marginalized students in legally and politically hostile contexts. Full article

The Paleozoic–Modern Evolutionary Fauna transition is defined by the ecological replacement of brachiopods by bivalves. However, it remains debated whether post-Paleozoic brachiopods experienced a simple, continuous global decline or a complex macroevolutionary reorganization. Previous studies are often limited by ecological mismatches, uncorrected sampling biases, and single taxonomic scales. To resolve this, this study presents a high-resolution analysis of brachiopod evolution from the Triassic to the Quaternary. Using Paleobiology and Geobiodiversity Database records, I applied coverage-based standardization and, for guild-level comparisons, strict ecological filtering, comparing brachiopods only to ecologically equivalent bivalves and echinoderms. Results reveal three major patterns. First, regional and global diversity decoupled: global diversity showed Mesozoic diversification pulses, whereas the Chinese record exhibited a sustained post-Triassic collapse, showing global aggregates mask regional extirpations. Second, brachiopods displayed strong hierarchical resilience: environmental crises drastically pruned species richness (causing generic monotypy), yet family-level diversity remained remarkably stable. Third, brachiopods underwent a macroecological reorganization, retreating from carbonate reefs and shifting poleward to establish their modern anti-tropical distribution. Ultimately, the post-Paleozoic history of brachiopods is not a passive decline, but a multi-dimensional reorganization driven by regional habitat loss, geographic redistribution, and deep-lineage survival. Full article

The retreating roadway is a critical passage for the safe and efficient retreat of equipment from a fully mechanized longwall face. Its roof stability directly affects the transportation safety of large equipment such as hydraulic supports and the shearer. However, the structural evolution of the overlying strata of the retreating roadway and the roof stability under monorail crane loading have not been systematically investigated. Therefore, taking the retreating roadway of the 1093 fully mechanized longwall face in a coal mine in Anhui Province as the engineering background, this study combined physical similarity simulation, digital image correlation (DIC), and theoretical analysis to investigate the evolution of overlying strata fracture, caving, displacement, and stress fields during face extraction and retreating roadway formation. An analytical model was established to calculate bed separation between the immediate roof and the main roof under an equivalent static concentrated monorail crane load. The results indicate that the vertical displacement field of the overlying strata exhibits an overall trapezoidal distribution and continuously extends toward the higher overlying strata as the longwall face advances. In the physical model, no further propagation of fractures or bed separation toward the retreating roadway was observed after either roof-cutting operation. The withdrawal of hydraulic supports caused no significant changes in the stress or displacement of the overlying strata of the retreating roadway, indicating that the integrity of the overlying strata structure was well maintained. The model predicted a maximum bed separation of 6.39 mm between the immediate roof and the main roof at the gob-side end. The model can assist in identifying critical roof locations susceptible to bed separation and in prioritizing roof monitoring and support optimization during monorail-assisted equipment withdrawal. Full article

Virtual reality (VR) survival horror is often discussed in terms of heightened fear and immersion, yet less attention has been paid to how fear is organized across different atmospheric conditions and how this organization differs from non-VR gameplay. This study approaches immersive fear as a process emerging from the interaction among atmospheric configuration, embodied regulation, and post-play interpretation. A sequential mixed-methods design was employed using Resident Evil Village as the empirical context. Study 1 combined scene-based observation, synchronized gameplay recordings, and post-play interviews with eight participants to examine how fear was enacted across three contrasted atmospheric configurations: combat pressure, psychological ambiguity, and spatial disorientation. Study 2 extended this analysis through a within-subject experiment with 30 participants who completed both VR and non-VR versions of the same gameplay content under standardized conditions. The findings show that immersive fear is not a uniform increase in emotional intensity. In Study 1, different atmospheric configurations elicited distinct modes of embodied regulation, including defensive retreat, hesitant exposure, and cautious reorientation, while behavioral responses and retrospective accounts often diverged in systematic ways. In Study 2, paired-samples tests showed that VR produced lower valence, higher arousal, reduced perceived control, higher fear ratings, stronger immersion, and greater motion sickness than non-VR gameplay. Although VR increased fear ratings across all scenes, the display mode × scene interaction was not significant; descriptively, psychologically ambiguous environments produced the highest absolute fear ratings under VR. Across both studies, prior VR and genre experience appeared to shape how players interpreted and narrated threat, while short-term residual effects suggested that fear may extend beyond gameplay. These results suggest that VR modifies not only the intensity but also the organization of fear, while the scene-level and experience-related patterns should be interpreted cautiously. More broadly, the study reframes immersive fear as a temporally distributed process linking atmospheric configuration, embodied regulation, and post-play interpretation in survival horror gameplay. Full article

The spatio-temporal variation of Arctic sea ice is one of the key indicators of polar climate change. This study used NOAA/NSIDC Climate Data Record of Passive Microwave Sea Ice Concentration, Version 5, and Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2) reanalysis data to quantitatively analyze the spatio-temporal patterns and primary drivers of changes in Arctic sea ice area (SIA), melt onset, and concentration from 1979 to 2025. The results show a significant decline in sea ice, with an annual reduction of 1.98 × 10⁴ km² in area and a decrease in concentration at a rate of 2.6%/decade. Edge concentrations fall below 25% from June to September. Spatial differences are pronounced: the Greenland and Barents Sea regions experience the most intense retreat, while the central Arctic remains relatively stable. The frequency of multi-year sea ice (MYI) cover has dropped from 6.7% to 3.5%, shifting the sea ice structure from ‘thick ice-dominated’ to ‘thin ice-dominated’. This research provides a scientific basis for early warning of Arctic climate change and the development of regional adaptation strategies. Full article

Depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders continue to rise globally, with South Africa’s burden intensified by structural inequalities and a 91% mental health treatment gap, making accessible complementary interventions urgently needed. This exploratory mixed-methods pilot study examined the feasibility and acceptability of astronomy-based mental health support grounded in Attention Restoration Theory and awe research and sought a preliminary signal of change in psychological well-being. Two sequential retreat iterations combined guided naked-eye and telescope-based stargazing with nature immersion: a proof-of-concept peer camp (n = 19, Glencairn) and a family-focused retreat (n = 22 across nine family groups, Sutherland). The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) was administered before (T1) and after (T2) the Glencairn retreat; qualitative data comprised the Most Significant Change focus groups (Glencairn) and asynchronous text-based interviews (Sutherland). Mean depression, anxiety and stress scores were lower at T2 than at T1. Because questionnaires were completed anonymously, individual T1 and T2 responses could not be linked. A valid paired analysis was therefore not possible, and inferential significance testing was not undertaken. These results represent descriptive cohort level patterns and should not be interpreted as evidence of within person change. Qualitative findings across both settings indicated calm, perspective shifts, and relational connection, while environmental novelty and family dynamics introduced competing cognitive demands at Sutherland. These preliminary findings suggest that astronomy-based interventions may support short-term psychological well-being and highlight three design considerations for implementation in African contexts, offered as provisional insights rather than established implementation principles with the design considerations being: cognitive spaciousness, contextual onboarding and relational anchoring. Full article

Climate change and glacial retreat in the tropical Andes—as evidenced by environmental changes in the Carihuairazo volcano area and human-induced alterations to the páramo—reveal complex environmental dynamics that require an integrated understanding. This study evaluates edaphic variation along a periglacial–agricultural spatial gradient, relating soil properties to sustainable management strategies. Using a methodological approach that includes multi-criteria spatial delineation, altitude-stratified sampling, and multivariate modeling via HJ-Biplot, the physical, chemical, and biological properties were analyzed, with a focus on basal microbial respiration. The data show that periglacial soils exhibit geochemical–mineral control and high basal respiration, potentially influenced by moisture peaks, despite their low organic matter content. In contrast, lowland andisols exhibit biological–structural control conditioned by organic matter accumulation, reflecting distinct conditions associated with agricultural management and land use. It is concluded that understanding these spatial edaphic patterns and their vulnerability to human intervention is essential for designing sustainable management and conservation frameworks that mitigate the impact of climate change on high-mountain ecosystems. Full article