Search Results (19,641)

Soil health is essential for food security, ecosystem stability, and sustainable development, yet its spatial heterogeneity and driving mechanisms remain insufficiently understood at regional scales. This study investigates soil health in Heilongjiang Province, China. A Soil Health Index (SHI) was constructed using eight indicators covering physical, chemical, and biological properties based on multi-source datasets at 1 km spatial resolution. A random forest (RF) model was applied to identify key environmental drivers, and Moran’s I and Getis–Ord Gi* statistics were used to analyze spatial clustering. The results showed that SHI values ranged from 0.19 to 0.70, with a mean of 0.45. The RF model achieved strong performance (R² = 0.6666, RMSE = 0.03184, MAE = 0.02372), significantly outperforming linear regression (R² ≈ 0.17). Significant spatial clustering was observed, where “hotspots” refer to statistically significant clusters of high SHI values, and “coldspots” indicate clusters of low SHI values based on Getis–Ord Gi* analysis. Climate factors (temperature and precipitation) and elevation were the dominant drivers. Significant spatial clustering was observed, with clear hotspot and coldspot patterns. These findings provide spatial evidence for sustainable land-use planning and zonal soil management. However, the analysis is limited by data resolution and model interpretability, which may affect the representation of fine-scale variability. Full article

This study advances the conceptual and practical scope of social education by integrating Security and Safety Education (SSE) categories into its theoretical foundation. We demonstrate that SSE encompasses multidimensional areas highly relevant to social education and offer a structured competence model to guide curriculum design. Using a mixed-methods approach, 2926 Web of Science publications were analysed through an NVivo Word Frequency Query to identify key domains associated with security and safety. The temporal scope of the corpus (2019–2021) provides a coherent analytical baseline, capturing intensified security and health-related discourse during the COVID-19 period while preceding geopolitical disruptions that could otherwise distort thematic patterns. The results show that security is associated with broad social and geopolitical issues, including food, political, economic, public, national, and international affairs, as well as health and information. In contrast, safety is mainly linked to transport-related concerns, although both domains converge in areas such as health, social, public, national, and information matters. These findings indicate that SSE encompasses multidimensional areas relevant to social education. To support curricular integration, we propose an eMEDIATOR-derived competence model that structures SSE content into measurable, outcomes-based components. Ultimately, this research provides actionable tools to elevate social education and promote active, informed citizenship in times of global uncertainty. Full article

Smallholder poultry farming contributes enormously to rural livelihoods, food security, and nutrition in South Africa, yet the poultry industry remains constrained by limited participation and low ICT utilisation. This study investigated the socioeconomic and demographic factors influencing decisions and choices of smallholder poultry farmers towards the adoption of ICT and market engagement in Jozini Local Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal. A cross-sectional research design was used to collect primary data from respondents. Data were collected through face-to-face surveys from 162 participants, who were randomly selected. Descriptive statistics were employed to profile the use and extent of ICT, while the multivariate probit model was used to analyse the determinants of ICT adoption and market engagement. The findings revealed that most farmers own ICT tools such as mobile phones (98.15%), which they mainly use for communication purposes (98.77%) rather than for accessing production and market related information. Smallholder characteristics like age, faming experience, marital status, and household size significantly influenced farmers decisions and choices to adopt ICT and participate in markets. The study recommends improving the traditional extension through digital integration and farmer support by means of training on ICT and formal market linkages. These interventions can significantly market participation and profitability in smallholder poultry farming, stabilising rural economic development. Full article

The integration of blockchain technology with the Internet of Things (IoT) presents a paradigm shift in securing decentralized networks, yet it introduces critical trade-offs among security, privacy, and scalability. This systematic analytical review examines the inherent tensions within blockchain-enabled IoT systems, focusing on how consensus mechanisms, cryptographic primitives, and architectural choices affect these three pillars. Through a comprehensive analysis of the contemporary literature, we identify that no single blockchain configuration simultaneously optimizes security, privacy, and scalability. Instead, these properties exist in a triadic relationship where enhancing one dimension typically compromises at least one other. Our review categorizes existing solutions based on their approach to balancing these trade-offs, including sharding, layer-2 protocols, zero-knowledge proofs, and hybrid architectures. We further analyze the applicability of these solutions across different IoT domains, identifying context-specific optimal configurations. The findings reveal that while significant progress has been made in addressing individual challenges, integrated frameworks that holistically consider all three dimensions remain underdeveloped. This review contributes a novel analytical framework for evaluating blockchain–IoT systems and identifies critical research directions, including adaptive consensus mechanisms, privacy-preserving scalability solutions, and domain-specific architectural patterns. Unlike prior studies that primarily focus on conceptual discussions of blockchain–IoT integration, this work synthesizes insights from systematically reviewed literature to propose a conceptual lightweight blockchain framework tailored for resource-constrained IoT environments. This study combines a SLR with a conceptual and experimentally evaluated framework, where the review findings and the proposed solution are presented as distinct but complementary contributions. Full article

This paper aims to secure sensitive data generated by IoT devices by introducing a lightweight hybrid approach that combines steganography and cryptography. While classical cryptography offers confidentiality guarantees, the visibility of the produced ciphertexts keeps them at risk of traffic analysis, which could reveal communication patterns. Although some studies use Curve25519-based protocols, ECC paired with RDWT, or VLSB-based steganography, there is no complete approach that combines cryptographic and steganographic methods that is tailored to IoT devices. Our proposed scheme addresses this gap by integrating X25519 with Elligator 2 for efficient key exchange, using Ascon-AEAD128 for encryption, and finally hiding the encrypted payload within cover images using hybrid DWT-DCT steganography. When compared to similar hybrid approaches, our method achieves better performance, with results showing high imperceptibility, low computational overhead, and good resistance to noise. The cryptographic-steganographic combo adopted by our proposed framework improves confidentiality, integrity, and resistance to detection in resource-constrained IoT systems. Full article

This study investigates European citizens’ perspectives on farmers’ roles, highlighting gender, age, education, political orientation, community size, social class, and attitudes towards the EU. This study was developed using 21,002 interviews with European Citizens from all 27 EU countries. A quantitative data analysis methodology was used from the European Eurobarometer 97.1 survey. Seven models were formulated and tested. It is shown that men prioritise economic growth and food stability, while women emphasise environmental protection and animal welfare. Younger individuals focus on rural job creation, whereas older citizens value food security. Higher education levels correlate with environmental and animal welfare concerns. Right-leaning citizens favour economic development, whereas left-leaning individuals prioritise ecological issues. Larger communities emphasise economic growth, while smaller ones focus on environmental preservation. Social class influences priorities, with higher classes concerned about sustainability and lower classes about job creation. Pessimistic views about the EU correlate with food safety concerns, while optimistic views align with environmental and animal welfare priorities. These findings suggest that aligning agricultural and food policies with citizens’ diverse needs can foster a more sustainable and resilient European food system. Full article

Nuclear energy has emerged as a crucial technological solution for ensuring energy security and achieving carbon neutrality goals, given its ultra-high energy density and near-zero carbon emissions against the backdrop of rapid socioeconomic development, increasing energy demands, and accelerated global transition toward low-carbon energy structures. As the core component for energy conversion in nuclear reactors, fuel elements critically determine reactor efficiency and safety performance, with the fission product retention capability of silicon carbide layers in multilayer-coated fuel particles having been thoroughly validated through high-temperature gas-cooled reactor irradiation tests. The precise sphericity control of large-sized UO₂ fuel kernels represents a fundamental requirement for enhancing tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel particle performance and advancing Generation IV nuclear power plant development. This study presents a sphericity control strategy based on sol–gel processing that synergistically integrates physicochemical regulation of gelling media with multi-field washing flow field optimization. By implementing silicone oil-mediated interfacial tension gradient control, we effectively suppressed gel sphere destabilization while developing an innovative three-phase sequential washing technique involving kerosene washing, anhydrous ethanol interfacial transition, and ammonia solution replacement, which significantly enhanced mass transfer diffusion in stagnant liquid films and revolutionized fuel microsphere washing technology with improved efficiency and quality. Experimental results demonstrate that this integrated approach increases kernel sphericity qualification to 99.8%, reduces washing solution consumption by 79%, and achieves an average sphericity of 1.03. The research establishes a coupling mechanism between gelling media and multi-field washing processes, elucidating the synergistic effect between interfacial tension regulation and washing optimization, thereby providing both theoretical foundations and engineering application basis for the precision manufacturing of high-performance nuclear fuels. Full article

Livestock represent a key asset in the livelihood of smallholder farmers and play a critical role in the social dynamics and nutritional security of resource-poor communities. However, within these resource-poor communities, livestock productivity remains low. This is often due to seasonal changes in the quantity and quality of available feed from the natural veld, which in turn also contributes to methane production. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of supplementing Eragrostis curvula hay with Searsia lancea leaf or silage meal on in vitro fermentation efficiency and gas and methane production. Therefore, an in vitro study using a semi-automated pressure transducer technique was conducted on grass hay alone (control) and grass hay supplemented with 15% or 30% of either S. lancea leaf or silage meal. The dietary treatments were arranged in a complete randomized design, with each treatment replicated four times. Total gas and methane production was recorded at 3, 6, 12, 24 and 48 h using a pressure transducer attached to a data logger. After incubation, samples were collected to determine volatile fatty acids. Supplementing grass hay with 15% S. lancea leaf meal increased gas production by 76%, 52%, 32% and 12% in the first 24 h of incubation. Similarly, increasing the supplementation level to 30% increased gas production by 75%, 63%, 45% and 14%. However, supplementing grass hay with silage meal at 15% significantly reduced gas production by 37% during the first 3 h of incubation, whereas supplementation at 30% had no effect. Supplementing grass hay with S. lancea meals effectively reduced methane production at 24 and 48 h. Grass hay supplemented with 15% or 30% silage meal reduced methane by 46% and 39% at 24 h, while at 48 h, methane was reduced by 39% and 49%, respectively. Supplementing grass hay with S. lancea meals, however, did not affect volatile fatty acids. In conclusion, S. lancea can be strategically used as a supplementary feed source to modulate the rumen ecosystem by attenuating enteric methane production. Further studies are required to determine the effect of S. lancea on rumen microbial composition and its metabolic function. Full article

Ecological zoning is a critical instrument for coordinating economic development with environmental conservation, ensuring regional ecological security, and fostering sustainable development. Using the Western Sichuan Plateau (WSP) as a case study and taking 2000, 2010, and 2020 as the time nodes, this research employed an optimized landscape ecological risk assessment model to comprehensively evaluate the spatiotemporal evolution of regional landscape ecological risk (LER) and ecosystem services (ESs). By analyzing the spatial correlation between LER and ESs, we constructed an ecological zoning framework, identified key driving factors, and proposed differentiated management strategies. The results showed the following: (1) The LER generally declined from 2000 to 2020, with the high-risk areas mainly distributed in the high-elevation meadow belt in the west and north, and the low and lowest-risk areas concentrated in the eastern part of the plateau continued to expand in area. (2) The overall level of ESs showed a downward and then upward trend, with a spatial pattern of “high in the east and low in the west”. (3) LER was significantly negatively correlated with most ESs (except WY), and localized agglomeration was clearly characterized. (4) Based on the four-quadrant model, the study area was categorized into four types of ecological zones, high LER–high ES, low LER–high ES, low LER–low ES and high LER–low ES, whose spatial patterns were mainly significantly influenced by factors such as elevation, per capita GDP and precipitation (PRE). The “risk-service” synergistic zoning framework proposed in this study provides a spatially explicit decision-making basis for ecological protection and restoration on the WSP, and is useful for the sustainable management of similar ecologically fragile areas. Full article

The fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) is a major global migratory pest. Its increasing insecticide resistance poses a severe threat to food security. Developing biopesticides such as SfMNPV is critical for sustainable control. Nevertheless, the early molecular mechanisms underlying the S. frugiperda midgut response to oral SfMNPV challenge remain poorly understood. This study utilized high-throughput transcriptome sequencing to systematically characterize the dynamic transcriptional profiles of the larval midgut at 1, 12, and 24 h after oral SfMNPV inoculation. Results showed that the midgut transcriptional response to SfMNPV is time and stage-specific. During this period, the physical midgut barrier underwent remodeling, with core components of the peritrophic matrix downregulated at 1 h, followed by the basal lamina at 12 h, alongside the activation of cytoskeleton genes during 12–24 h. Concurrently, sustained endoplasmic reticulum stress, autophagy, and ubiquitin system responses occurred from 12 to 24 h. At the metabolic level, the defense system exhibited a functional succession, shifting from ABC transporters and UDP-glycosyltransferases at 1 h to glutathione S-transferases and superoxide dismutase at 12–24 h. Additionally, the midgut tissue exhibited a cascade transition from pro-apoptotic signaling at 1 h to compensatory regenerative repair mediated by the Wnt, mTOR, and Hippo pathways at 12–24 h. This study elucidates the molecular process of barrier damage, homeostatic imbalance, and tissue remodeling during early oral SfMNPV challenge. These findings provide a global perspective on baculovirus-host interactions and establish a theoretical foundation for designing novel biopesticides targeting the midgut interaction. Full article

Same-sex sexual behavior is an enigma in behavioral ecology as it does not result in reproduction. Previous studies on the evolution of same-sex sexual behavior have primarily focused on factors such as recognition mechanisms, resource constraints, and challenges in securing an opposite-sex partner, while overlooking the investigation into active same-sex sexual behavior without environmental stress. Here, through experimentation, we investigated the stability of same-sex pairs in tandem running, the mating behavior of pairs that form same-sex tandem runs, and the occurrence of same-sex sexual behavior (SSB) when opposite-sex partners are available. Results indicated that while the stability of same-sex tandems is lower than that of opposite-sex tandems, both males and females are capable of expressing sex-specific behaviors typical of the opposite sex and forming same-sex tandems. Notably, SSB was observed not only in same-sex pairing contexts but also when individuals had the autonomy to choose between same-sex and opposite-sex partners. These results demonstrate that same-sex sexual behavior in termites is not a behavioral response to environmental stress (e.g., the absence of opposite-sex partners) but rather an actively expressed behavior. These findings highlight the role of sex role plasticity in the evolution of same-sex sexual behavior, providing a new mechanistic perspective for understanding same-sex sexual behavior in social insects. Full article

Drought stress poses a significant challenge to food security in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly for smallholder farmers in dryland systems. Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.), an underutilised legume with inherent drought tolerance, remains underexplored in terms of its root system traits. This greenhouse study investigated the early root and shoot responses of six Bambara groundnut genotypes under well-watered (100% field capacity) and water-stressed (50% field capacity) conditions using rhizotron-based phenotyping. Significant genotypic differences (p < 0.01) were observed in root traits such as root system depth (RSD: 11.0–19.9 cm), root system width (RSW: 6.96–12.2 cm), and root dry mass (RDM: 0.42–1.27 g). The ARC genotype exhibited a strong drought-avoidance strategy, increasing RSD from 12.2 to 19.9 cm and RDM from 0.42 to 1.16 g under stress. The Tiga Nicuru DIP-C-F7471 genotype showed adaptive plasticity, maintaining deeper roots (11.0–14.5 cm), high convex hull area (CHA), and root–shoot ratio (RSR) values, despite a reduction in RDM, suggesting a resource-conserving strategy. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) captured 93.6% of the total variability among genotypes. Root traits, particularly total root length (TRL), convex hull area (CHA), root system width (RSW), and root dry mass (RDM), were the main contributors to genotype differentiation. Strong positive correlations (r = 0.88–0.97) between root and shoot traits suggest that genotypes with more developed root systems also supported greater shoot growth, highlighting the coordinated response of above- and below-ground traits under drought stress. These findings provide valuable targets for breeding and highlight the value of rhizotron-based screening for root trait selection. Future field validation and full-season studies are recommended to confirm their relevance for improving yield stability in dryland agriculture. Full article

Hydrogen is increasingly recognized as a key vector for sustainable energy transitions, deep decarbonization, and enhanced energy security. This review evaluates major hydrogen types, grey, blue, and green, through a comparative assessment of production pathways, cost structures, technological maturity, and market readiness, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Grey hydrogen, while currently dominant due to established fossil-based infrastructure and low costs, is associated with high carbon emissions and climate-related risks. Blue hydrogen offers a transitional pathway via carbon capture and storage but faces constraints in SSA from high capital requirements, limited CCS infrastructure, and methane leakage. Green hydrogen, produced through renewable-powered electrolysis, represents the most sustainable long-term option, aligned with global net-zero goals and SSA’s abundant solar and wind resources, despite higher upfront costs. Synthesizing recent techno-economic, policy, and regional studies, the review highlights that prioritizing green hydrogen deployment supported by enabling policy frameworks, targeted investments, and capacity building is critical for unlocking SSA’s hydrogen potential, promoting low-carbon development, and advancing sustainable energy transitions across the region. Full article

The Western Songnen Plain, a critical yet ecologically fragile grain-producing area, is facing sustainability risks arising from rapid land use changes, which demand scientific assessment and regulation. From an ecological security standpoint, this study synthesizes multiple data sources, including GlobeLand30 data, climate, topography, and soil data. Based on the assessment of water conservation, soil conservation and biodiversity maintenance, combined with minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR) and the CLUMondo model, this study comprehensively reveals the dynamic evolutionary patterns of land use in the Western Songnen Plain over the past two decades, concurrently analyzed the spatial heterogeneity pattern of ecosystem services, and further simulated land use changes under natural growth, farmland protection, and ecological security scenarios. According to the results, the grassland area decreased significantly, while cropland and construction land continued to expand. Water conservation, soil conservation, and habitat quality displayed remarkable regional differences, with high values predominantly situated in wetlands, grasslands, and mountainous regions. In contrast, low values exhibited strong spatial correspondence with regions of heightened anthropogenic disturbance. Although the cropland protection scenario promoted agricultural intensification, it reduced ecological heterogeneity. In contrast, the ecological security scenario achieved a higher patch density (0.408) and landscape diversity (1.142) compared to the natural growth scenario, with moderate increases in aggregation. This study identified 27 ecological pinch points, 24 ecological barrier points, and 97 ecological corridors, which provide direct support for regional water and soil resource protection and further underpin the constructed ecological security pattern of “two belts, three zones, and multiple nodes”. These findings have important reference significance for optimizing regional land use structure and maintaining the stability of terrestrial ecosystems in the Western Songnen Plain. Full article

As a crucial pathway for optimizing land factor allocation, farmland transfer plays a pivotal role in implementing the “storing grain in land and technology” strategy and safeguarding national grain security. Based on panel data from 30 provinces in China spanning 2009 to 2023, this study employs a two-way fixed effects model and a Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) to systematically examine the mechanisms, heterogeneity, and spatial spillover effects of farmland transfer on grain production capacity. The results indicate that: (1) Farmland transfer significantly enhances grain production capacity, and this conclusion remains robust after multiple robustness and endogeneity tests. (2) Farmland transfer boosts grain production capacity by promoting cultivated land connectivity and facilitating the substitution of machinery for labor; however, the accompanying non-grain tendency and land governance disputes exert inhibitory effects on capacity release. (3) Transfers to farming households and professional cooperatives, as well as the adoption of leasing and informal exchange arrangements, exhibit the strongest positive effects on production capacity, and the scale-efficiency gains of farmland transfer are particularly pronounced in major grain-consuming areas. (4) Improvements in a region’s farmland transfer level drive the enhancement of grain production capacity in neighboring regions through the diffusion of management experience and the sharing of social services. This study provides empirical evidence and policy insights to optimize farmland transfer mechanisms and safeguard food security. Full article