Search Results (30,626)

Nitrogen (N) plays an important role in the growth and development of potatoes, but overapplication of the nutrient compromises environmental systems’ sustainability and limits tuber productivity and quality. A two-season study was carried out in 2022 and 2023 at Ofcolaco in the Mopane District of South Africa to determine the influence of N and nano micronutrients on tuber bulking rate (TBR), crop growth rate (CGR), and stomatal activities. A Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) fitted into a split-split plot arrangement with four replications was employed with the hypothesis that N and nano micronutrients applications will not have an effect on growth, stomatal activity, and bulking rate of potato cultivars. The main-plot factor was N rates (0, 80, 160, and 240) kg Nha⁻¹; the sub-plot factor was nano-zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) micronutrients, while cultivar, Mondial, and Valor were the sub-sub-plot factors. The application of N and nano Zn and Cu significantly influenced dry matter accumulation, TBR, CGR, and stomatal activities of both Mondial and Valor cultivars. From our study, the application of 160 kg Nha⁻¹ in conjunction with nano micronutrients resulted in an increase in dry matter in the two cultivars, in comparison with the application of 240 kg Nha⁻¹ without nano micronutrients. This observation was consistent in TBR and CGR in Mondial during the 2023 season. In 2022, the CGR under 160 kg Nha⁻¹, along with nano micronutrients in Valor, achieved 90% of the CGC of sole 240 kg Nha⁻¹. The physiological and plant growth parameters’ response to treatment in the two cultivars were generally optimized, when nano micronutrients were applied in conjunction with higher N rates of 160 and 240 kg Nha⁻¹. Significant principal component factors influencing variability in growth and physiological parameters varied between seasons. The findings generally demonstrated that 160 kg Nha⁻¹, in conjunction with micronutrients, has the potential to downsize N application in potato growth and development. Full article

Ratoon rice cultivation is a significant practice for enhancing land productivity and food security. Ratooning ability is a key determinant of ratoon season crop (RC) yield and is influenced by genetic, agronomic, and hormonal factors. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of foliar-applied ratooning enhancers, formulated with plant hormones and botanical extracts, on the growth and regeneration of a japonica–indica hybrid rice cultivar, ‘Qingxiangyou 19 Xiang’. Treatments included gibberellin (GA), low, medium, and high concentrations of brassinosteroid (BR), each with or without jasmine extract (JE), alongside proline and zinc chloride (ZnCl₂) as supporting components. These solutions were applied twice at 5 and 15 days after flowering (DAF) of the main crop (MC). The results showed that GA treatment increased plant height and panicle length but reduced MC tiller number. BR treatments did not affect plant height but significantly increased the 1000-grain weight. Crucially, while BR alone had no significant effect on ratooning ability, the BR-JE combined application, particularly at medium (MBR-JE) and high (HBR-JE) concentrations, significantly increased ratoon tiller number and enhanced ratooning ability. However, the HBR-JE combination increased grain chalkiness. In conclusion, the foliar application of BR combined with JE during the flowering stage effectively promotes ratooning ability without compromising MC yield, offering a promising agronomic strategy for sustainable ratoon rice production. Full article

This study investigates the relationship between Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) ratings and firm financial performance across a comprehensive global sample of over 10,000 companies from more than 80 countries observed in 2015–2022. Using panel data analysis, we examine how overall ESG scores and their components affect the Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), and Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC). We employ several econometric approaches designed for panel data, including the univariate approaches; static (Pooled OLS; Fixed Effects) and a multivariate approach (Panel Vector Autoregression; PVAR) to address potential endogeneity concerns and provide robust findings. Our results revealed a complex relationship between ESG performance and financial outcomes. While OLS models generally show positive associations between ESG scores and profitability measures, Fixed Effects models indicate some negative relationships, suggesting that unobserved firm-specific factors are crucial. PVAR results highlight important dynamic interactions between ESG performance and financial metrics over time. These findings contribute to stakeholder theory by demonstrating that the financial implications of ESG performance are contingent on methodological approaches, time horizons, and specific contexts. Our research has important implications for corporate managers, investors, and policymakers seeking to understand the financial consequences of sustainability practices. Full article

Microalgae-based regulation is increasingly recognized as an eco-friendly strategy for improving water quality and nutrient management in intensive aquaculture systems. Although its effects on bacterial communities have been extensively investigated, its ecological impacts on higher trophic levels—particularly eukaryotic plankton communities across different size fractions—remain poorly understood. In this study, two indigenous microalgae species, Nannochloropsis oculata and Thalassiosira weissflogii, were inoculated into shrimp rearing water to elucidate the dynamics and interactions among microalgae, nutrient factors, and eukaryotic plankton communities across the small-sized (0.22–3 μm) and large-sized (>3 μm) fractions. The results revealed significant differences in the composition and diversity of both plankton size fractions under different microalgae treatments. Partial least squares path modeling indicated that microalgae influenced plankton communities both directly and indirectly through nutrient-mediated pathways. According to the neutral community model, microalgae inoculation was associated with an increased contribution of deterministic processes to community assembly. Variance partitioning further revealed that the large-sized community was primarily governed by microalgae, whereas the small-sized community was mainly shaped by rearing time, indicating size-dependent assembly mechanisms. The average variation degree and coefficient of variation, combined with effect-size analyses, indicated that N. oculata inoculation was associated with higher short-term community stability, an effect most pronounced in the large-sized fraction. Overall, these findings demonstrate that microalgal inoculation modulates the structure, assembly processes, and short-term stability of eukaryotic plankton communities, providing new insights into size-dependent, microalgae-driven assembly mechanisms and their potential to stabilize plankton communities for sustainable aquaculture management. Full article

The cascading damage of expressways induced by extreme heavy rainfall presents a persistent threat to transportation safety and regional sustainable development. To investigate the chain-like evolution characteristics of expressway damage caused by heavy rainfall and to identify precise strategies for mitigating disaster risks by breaking the chain. Firstly, directed causal event pairs were extracted, and clustering generalization was performed on disaster events.; the asymmetric Jaccard index was used to calculate edge weights, thereby establishing a directed causal knowledge graph of disaster chain evolution; Secondly, based on systematic risk assessment and chain-breaking priority indicators, we achieved the precise identification and quantification of critical vulnerable links; finally, we selected three typical damage cases—the ‘5·1’ case on the Meida Expressway in Guangdong, the ‘7·19’ case on the Danning Expressway in Shaanxi, and the ‘8·3’ case on the Yakang Expressway in Sichuan—for case validation, and proposed chain-breaking strategies. The research findings indicate that: (1) under specific hazard-forming environment, secondary disasters can supplant the primary causative factors to become the dominant driving nodes in chain evolution; (2) edge vulnerability and source-path diversity loss indicators respectively point to two distinct categories of high-risk edges; the comprehensive chain-breaking index compensates for the assessment blind spots of single indicators through two-dimensional weighting; (3) core vulnerabilities in disaster chains vary significantly across different regions: the Meida Expressway, the Danning Expressway, and the Yakang Expressway correspond to terminal response, pavement control node, and dual vulnerabilities at the source and structural levels, respectively, necessitating tailored chain-breaking strategies adapted to local conditions. These research findings offer a quantitative tool for infrastructure risk governance, contributing to the safety and sustainability of expressway transportation. Full article

Global warming is associated with an increased frequency and intensity of heat waves, which severely threaten crop production and sustainable agriculture. As sessile organisms, plants evolved complex heat stress memory mechanisms to cope with recurring heat waves. Heat shock transcription factors (HSFs) are at the core of plant heat stress responses and memory. They regulate basal thermotolerance, acquired thermotolerance, and the maintenance of acquired thermotolerance. These processes involve multiple mechanisms, including temperature perception, activation of heat shock protein expression, and integration of hormonal and epigenetic signals. Here, we review the pivotal role HSFs play in the formation of heat stress memory, their structural characteristics, functional differentiation, and signal perception and transcriptional regulatory mechanisms. We further discuss the functional conservation and the diversity of HSFs across multiple species—for instance, HSFA2 acts as a conserved regulator of heat stress memory in Arabidopsis, tomato, wheat, and barley—and outline future research directions, including the functional characterization of heat shock transcription factor (HSF) subfamilies, investigation of their roles under stress combination, and strategies to balance stress tolerance with growth and development. We hope that our review will provide a theoretical foundation for the genetic improvement of crop thermotolerance as well as contribute to efforts directed at ensuring food security in the face of climate change. Full article

This study investigates the relationship between economic growth, health expenditure, institutional quality, gross fixed capital formation, and foreign direct investment in EU countries outside the euro area over the period 2000–2024. The analysis is grounded in neoclassical and endogenous growth theory, with particular emphasis on the role of institutional quality as a conditioning factor in the growth process. Methodologically, this study employs an integrated empirical time-series framework focusing on selected health, institutional and investment-related determinants of growth, including linear and nonlinear unit root tests, structural break analysis, and an Autoregressive Distributed Lag/Error Correction Model (ARDL/ECM) approach to capture both long-run equilibrium relationships and short-run dynamics. ECM-based Granger causality tests are further applied to examine the direction of causal interactions. The results confirm the existence of a long-run cointegration relationship across all countries, although the magnitude and direction of the effects vary considerably. Gross fixed capital formation exerts a robust positive influence on economic growth, while foreign direct investment mainly affects growth in the short run and is highly sensitive to external shocks. Health expenditure contributes to growth through human capital formation, with predominantly lagged effects. Institutional quality is associated with growth dynamics, although the direction and strength of this relationship vary across countries and should be interpreted in light of feedback effects identified in the causality analysis. Overall, the findings highlight significant cross-country heterogeneity and underscore the importance of institutional quality in enhancing the effectiveness of investment and public spending for sustainable economic growth. Full article

With rapid urbanization and increasing motorization, understanding the impact of parking facilities on urban metro ridership is crucial for alleviating traffic congestion and promoting public transport priority strategies. However, few studies have systematically examined the influence of built environment characteristics, especially parking facilities, on metro ridership. To address this research gap, this study utilizes metro ridership data and parking facility data, and employs a gradient boosting regression tree (GBRT) model to analyze the relationship between built environment factors (including parking) and metro ridership. Additionally, accumulated local effects (ALE) plots are used to reveal nonlinear effects and interaction patterns. The empirical results demonstrate that parking space density has a significant nonlinear influence on metro ridership. Furthermore, a clear threshold effect is observed in the joint impact of parking space density and distance to the central business district (CBD), providing valuable theoretical and practical insights for optimizing park and ride (P+R) facility planning around metro stations. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the interplay between built environment factors and metro ridership, offering evidence-based guidance for sustainable urban transport planning. Full article

This paper explores the development of authentic LGBTQ+ leadership through an identity-conscious leadership development programme for LGBTQ+ staff in UK higher education. Focus group data collected eighteen months after programme completion offered longitudinal perspectives into leadership outcomes and programme design. Reflexive data themes are synthesised into a conceptual framework that illustrates how LGBTQ+ authentic leadership developed. The framework shows that authentic mentoring relationships, supported by trust, hope, and positive emotions, reduced identity and minority stress whilst forming and sustaining leadership identities. Through these processes, participants enhanced their intrapersonal and interpersonal capabilities and constructed collective meaning, thereby enabling authentic LGBTQ+ leadership to flourish within the institution and the wider societal context. The findings underscore that authentic leadership for this minoritised group emerges through the dynamic interplay of individual, relational, organisational, and societal factors. The research emphasises the importance of identity-conscious leadership development programmes in supporting LGBTQ+ leaders, strengthening leadership capacity, and enhancing institutional effectiveness, resilience, and civic responsibility. Full article

For advancing carbon peaking and neutrality objectives and regional socio-ecological sustainability, it is critical to examine how land use change and ecosystem carbon storage may evolve under different development scenarios, and to reveal the spatiotemporal patterns and key drivers of carbon sink capacity across the Lower Yangtze River Basin. Such analysis bears both substantial scientific insight and practical relevance. By coupling the PLUS, InVEST, and Geographical Detector models, the present study conducted a comprehensive assessment of land use and carbon storage dynamics in the Lower Yangtze River region from 2000 to 2025. We further explored how different factors drive the spatiotemporal variation in carbon storage, and predicted the potential land use patterns and associated carbon storage values in the research area by 2030 under three hypothetical scenarios. Collectively, our analysis yielded four core conclusions. (1) Between 2000 and 2025, the land use transformation in the research area was dominated by the continuous shrinkage of arable land and the expansion of construction land. (2) The total carbon storage in the study area declined steadily throughout the study period, showing distinct phased characteristics with a steep drop in the early stage and a slower decline thereafter. (3) Implementing the S2 scenario could effectively curb regional carbon storage loss, whereas the S3 Scenario would result in the most severe carbon stock depletion. (4) The spatial configuration of carbon storage is primarily structured by natural environmental factors. In light of these research outcomes, several recommendations are proposed to guide regional sustainable development. Specifically, efforts should be made to improve the intensive use of urban construction land, thereby minimizing carbon storage loss caused by urbanization. Additionally, develop scientific and targeted ecological conservation policies based on the spatial distribution patterns of high carbon storage zones. Finally, implementing regionally tailored management measures will help achieve coordinated and sustainable development across the study area. Full article

Regular endurance exercise is consistently associated with lower cardiovascular mortality, a favorable cardiometabolic profile, and superior cardiorespiratory fitness. However, coronary imaging studies in master endurance athletes have raised a clinically relevant paradox: despite a low burden of conventional risk factors, some athletes—particularly older men with high lifetime exercise exposure—show a greater prevalence of coronary artery calcium and subclinical coronary plaque than sedentary or less active controls. This observation has challenged the long-standing assumption that high-volume endurance exercise is uniformly protective against coronary artery disease. A binary interpretation of this literature is inadequate. Coronary flow reserve and ischemic threshold may remain adequate in some athletes, although this concept is supported by limited functional and outcome data. Based on experimental vascular biology and indirect human evidence, repetitive high-flow states during endurance exercise generate sustained laminar shear stress, cyclic wall strain, and marked increases in coronary blood flow, thereby activating endothelial mechanotransduction pathways and influencing vascular smooth muscle cell behavior, extracellular matrix remodeling, and calcification biology. These adaptations may culminate in positive arterial remodeling, luminal enlargement, and, in some individuals, a predominantly calcified plaque phenotype. Importantly, structural remodeling does not necessarily equate to functional impairment. In selected athletes, when outward remodeling and endothelial responsiveness are preserved, coronary flow reserve and ischemic threshold may remain adequate, although this concept remains supported by limited functional and outcome data. This narrative review integrates the clinical imaging literature with current concepts in vascular mechanobiology to propose that coronary remodeling in endurance athletes exists along an adaptive–maladaptive continuum shaped by cumulative exercise load, aging, sex, conventional risk factors, and biological susceptibility. This framework may help clinicians interpret CAC/CCTA findings in athletes more appropriately and avoid equating plaque burden with equivalent functional or prognostic significance. Full article

The formation of peptide bonds under prebiotic conditions represents a major challenge due to both thermodynamic and kinetic constraints, particularly in aqueous environments where condensation reactions are disfavored. Mineral surfaces have long been proposed as key contributors to overcoming these limitations by providing structured and reactive interfaces that promote molecular organization and facilitate chemical transformations. In this context, hydroxyapatite emerges as a particularly promising system due to its structural versatility, surface heterogeneity, and ability to interact with a wide range of organic molecules. Its capacity to support adsorption, interfacial organization, and dynamic interactions makes it a promising platform for surface-mediated prebiotic chemistry. Furthermore, the incorporation of metal centers, especially zirconium-based species, introduces additional catalytic functionalities that can enhance bond activation and enable cooperative reaction mechanisms. The combination of mineral surfaces and metal-based catalysis thus provides a framework for understanding how complex chemical processes could have emerged under prebiotic conditions. Particular attention is given to hybrid hydroxyapatite–zirconium systems as multifunctional catalytic platforms integrating adsorption, activation, and spatial organization. Finally, the role of dynamic environmental regimes, including gradients, cyclic processes, and non-equilibrium conditions, is considered as a critical factor in sustaining chemical reactivity and promoting increasing levels of molecular complexity. Together, these elements support a scenario in which surface-mediated processes played a central role in the emergence of peptide-like structures and early protometabolic systems. Full article

Sustainable agricultural development requires regional agricultural systems to balance output growth, resource efficiency, ecological protection, and long-term resilience. In mountainous and ecologically sensitive regions, identifying the development constraints and statistically derived marginal contribution thresholds of agriculture is essential for promoting green transformation and sustainable land use. Taking Yunnan Province, China, as a representative plateau mountainous agricultural region, this study uses provincial annual data from 1990 to 2023 to quantitatively identify the key drivers and threshold characteristics of agricultural development under multidimensional constraints. A multidimensional indicator system was constructed covering fiscal and investment support, agricultural production inputs, rural infrastructure, and labor and population conditions. Ridge regression was employed to address multicollinearity among explanatory variables, Bootstrap approximate inference was used to improve the robustness of coefficient estimation, and the SHAP interpretation framework was introduced to rank key driving factors and identify marginal contribution thresholds. By integrating ridge regression, Bootstrap approximate inference, SHAP-based contribution ranking, and threshold identification, the proposed framework advances prior agricultural sustainability studies by linking coefficient-based factor analysis with interpretable marginal contribution thresholds under conditions of high multicollinearity and multidimensional resource constraints. The results show that agricultural development in Yunnan is characterized by multidimensional resource and infrastructure constraints. Rural electricity consumption, total reservoir storage capacity, fixed asset investment in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fisheries, local public fiscal budget expenditure, and agricultural population generally act as positive supporting factors. Rural electricity consumption is the most stable and core driver across the aggregate and three sectoral models. In contrast, pesticide and fertilizer inputs show significant negative associations in most models, suggesting that future agricultural development in Yunnan is unlikely to be sustainably supported by continued expansion of high-intensity chemical inputs. Sectoral heterogeneity is also evident: agriculture and animal husbandry are more dependent on energy, water resources, and mechanization, whereas forestry shows a more distinct operational structure. The SHAP dependence analysis identifies several statistically derived marginal contribution thresholds, including rural electricity consumption of approximately 6.055 billion kWh, total reservoir storage capacity of approximately 10.395 billion m³, total agricultural machinery power of approximately 19.8324 million kW, pesticide use of approximately 37,500 tons, and fertilizer application of approximately 1.5238 million tons. These values should be interpreted as empirical transition points in the modeled marginal contributions rather than definitive biophysical ecological limits. They indicate that the sustainability-related constraint structure of agricultural development in Yunnan is not a single output ceiling but a composite interval shaped by infrastructure support capacity, factor allocation conditions, and the declining marginal contribution of high-intensity chemical inputs. The findings provide directional quantitative evidence for sustainable agricultural governance, agricultural green transformation, and differentiated policy discussion in mountainous agricultural regions and offer reference implications for advancing SDG 2 and SDG 15 through the coordination of food-related production, resource use efficiency, and ecosystem conservation. The identified thresholds should be interpreted as model-derived marginal contribution transition points rather than operational policy cutoffs or directly enforceable ecological standards. Full article

Background/Objectives: Dietary habits are important modifiable factors influencing survival among cancer patients. The dietary quality among cancer survivors may differ from those of the general population and may vary according to age at cancer diagnosis. This study aimed to compare dietary quality between cancer survivors and the general population and to examine whether age at diagnosis is associated with dietary quality. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study used data from 8706 adults aged ≥ 30 years (641 cancer survivors and 8065 controls) from the 2019–2021 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Dietary quality was assessed using the Diet Quality Index-International (DQI-I; range 0–100). Survey-weighted multiple linear regression models were used to compare DQI-I scores between cancer survivors and controls. Subgroup analyses were stratified by age at diagnosis, and quadratic age terms were included to assess nonlinear associations. All analyses accounted for the complex survey design. Results: Cancer survivors had significantly higher mean DQI-I scores than controls (69.1 ± 0.4 vs. 66.1 ± 0.2; p < 0.001). Among survivors diagnosed before age 50, dietary quality was significantly higher in those currently under 65 years than in controls (mean difference +3.02, 95% CI 1.44–4.60), but notably lower in those aged ≥ 65 years (−3.18, 95% CI −6.16 to −0.20). In contrast, survivors diagnosed at age ≥ 50 consistently showed higher dietary quality than controls across all age groups (+3.76, 95% CI 2.83–4.68). Conclusions: While cancer survivors generally exhibit better dietary quality than the general population, this positive trend was not observed among younger-onset survivors in older age groups. These findings suggest that age at cancer diagnosis may be associated with dietary quality and highlight the need for sustained, age-specific nutritional support strategies in cancer survivorship. Full article

Data has become a strategic production factor, but the institutional logic underlying data’s tradability, priceability, and governability remains insufficiently theorized. In response, this study develops a coevolutionary framework that connects conventional factor market theory with digital political economy, platform theory, and comparative institutional analysis. This study adopts a conceptual–analytical research design, integrating three research methods: theory synthesis, comparative institutional analysis, and policy-process interpretation. Through theoretical synthesis, institutional comparison, and policy-process interpretation, it analyzes the conditions under which data circulation becomes feasible, lawful, and economically sustainable. In addition, by combining transaction data, exchange listings, property rights registrations, network indicators, and regional policy variations, it formulates testable propositions and an empirical agenda. The study finds that data factor markets do not emerge automatically with digitalization; their formation requires three mutually reinforcing conditions: technologically reducing search, verification, privacy protection, and contract enforcement costs; institutionally realizing a modular definition of rights and establishing compliance boundaries; and market demand from firms, public agencies, and research organizations generating use-case-specific value. Meanwhile, this study revises the three-stage model of market evolution as a contingent and testable pathway—from administrative pilot allocation, through hybrid state–market professionalization, to ecosystem-based cross-domain circulation. It also clarifies a closed-loop dynamic mechanism consisting of external shocks, internal strategic feedback, and adaptive governance, which jointly shapes market boundaries, pricing rules, and competition patterns. Full article