Search Results (23,387)

Against the backdrop of intertwined economic advancement and ecological governance dilemmas confronting developing economies, this paper centers on the green growth objective embedded within China’s New Energy Vehicle Pilot (NEVP) Policy as its analytical focal point. Adopting the propensity score matching difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) framework, this study empirically evaluates the causal impacts of the NEVP policy on green economic development efficiency. The results indicate that the promotion of new energy vehicles yields a statistically significant improvement in green economic efficiency. Notably, the effect of the NEVP policy is more pronounced in cities with higher levels of economic development. Through mechanism analysis, we find that new energy vehicles play a crucial role in promoting green economic growth and sustainable development. Furthermore, this study also highlights the spatial effects of new energy vehicle promotion on green economic development. This research provides empirical evidence to guide the strategic promotion of new energy vehicles in developing regions to improve environmental quality and underscores the sustainable growth potential of aligning economic and environmental goals. Full article

Product replacement is often driven by changes in users’ personal circumstances, contributing to shortened product lifespans and increased resource consumption. In this context, upgradability and adaptability are recognized as key design strategies for extending product lifespan, as they enable products to accommodate evolving user needs through functional enhancements or the integration of new features. By supporting continued use despite contextual changes, these attributes contribute to resource efficiency and the mitigation of environmental impacts associated with product obsolescence. Therefore, considering potential changes in users’ life contexts is essential during the early stages of the design process from a sustainability perspective. This study investigates the degree of upgradability and adaptability in conceptual outcomes generated by 28 designers using the QuChaNe methodology—a structured set of questions designed to elicit design concepts that address evolving user needs—with the aim of determining whether its application fosters concepts with greater potential for product lifespan extension. The results are compared with those obtained under a no-method condition (NM), in which the same participants generate concepts without using prescribed ideation method. To assess these attributes, an evaluation tool grounded in eco-design and circular economy principles was employed, given its capacity to encompass a comprehensive set of parameters related to upgradability and adaptability strategies. These parameters serve as indicators of the potential for product lifespan extension. The findings suggest that the use of scenario-based question sets facilitates the generation of a higher number of concepts oriented toward adaptable and upgradable products, thereby increasing their potential for product lifetime extension. These results highlight the potential of the QuChaNe methodology as a design support tool for integrating product lifetime extension strategies into early-stage product development, in line with circular economy principles. Full article

The extent to which environmental regulation yields a “weak” or “strong” Porter effect is fundamentally shaped by the trade-off between industrial output and productivity improvements, a complex dynamic that requires granular, sub-national empirical evidence. This study employs a continuous multi-period DID approach to evaluate the impact of China’s prohibited breeding zone policy (PBZP) on sustainability indicators—specifically, pig green total factor productivity (PGTFP) and its components, green technology efficiency (GEC) and green technology progress (GTC)—across 371 counties in the Yangtze River Basin from 2013 to 2021. The results indicate that PBZP significantly boosts county-level PGTFP and GTC in the basin, with an effect size of 0.206 for PGTFP and GTC identified as its primary driver, thereby supporting the “strong Porter hypothesis”, as confirmed by robustness and endogeneity tests. Channel exploration shows that PBZP has enhanced PGTFP through capital factor optimization and spatial restructuring. Heterogeneity analysis identifies significant regional differences across the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Further analysis reveals a trade-off between the impact of PBZP on PGTFP and the production capacity of pigs. Finally, this study outlines several policy recommendations for fostering new quality productive forces in pig farming by improving PGTFP while safeguarding effective pig production capacity. Full article

As a new generation of general technology, artificial intelligence (AI) provides crucial technical support for addressing the dilemmas of carbon emission reduction in cities. This paper selects data from 273 prefecture-level cities in China from 2010 to 2024 to examine the impact of AI on urban carbon emission intensity (CEI) and its mechanism of action. The results show that AI is negatively associated with CEI. AI lowers the threshold for scientific research, expands the scale of patent output, and generates groundbreaking high value patents, which indicates that both the quantity and quality of innovation are key paths to facilitating urban carbon emission reduction. The results of the heterogeneity test indicate that the carbon reduction effects of AI exhibit stratified characteristics, with cities southeast of the Hu Line, northern industrial cities, and resource-based cities demonstrating more prominent emission reduction effects. Accordingly, policy recommendations such as establishing regional digital low-carbon layouts and allocating policy resources based on resource endowments are put forward. The research provides a theoretical basis for reducing carbon emissions and achieving sustainable development goals relying on AI. Full article

The global oil-processing industry generates substantial quantities of by-products and secondary streams, including oilseed cakes, pomaces, hulls, and wastewaters, which remain largely underutilized despite being rich sources of high-value bioactive compounds. The development of sustainable strategies for the valorization of these residues is increasingly recognized as a key component of circular bioeconomy and biorefinery frameworks. In this context, deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have attracted considerable attention as a new generation of designer solvents owing to their tunable physicochemical properties, low vapor pressure, ease of synthesis, and potential environmental compatibility. This review critically discusses the current state of knowledge regarding the application of DESs in the processing and valorization of oil industry by-products. Particular emphasis is placed on the relationship between DES composition, physicochemical characteristics, and extraction performance. Recent advances in the recovery of phenolic compounds, proteins, saccharides, and tocopherols from oilseed-derived residues are comprehensively examined, including the integration of DESs with intensified extraction techniques such as microwave-, ultrasound-, and ohmic-assisted extraction. Furthermore, the role of DESs in oil purification processes and the treatment of technological waste stream is evaluated. Emerging evidence indicates that DES-based systems not only enhance extraction efficiency and selectivity but may also improve the stability, bioaccessibility, and purity of the recovered compounds. Finally, the opportunities and challenges associated with the implementation of DES-based technologies within integrated biorefinery schemes are discussed, including solvent recovery, product scalability, sensory acceptability, and regulatory considerations. The available literature demonstrates that DESs constitute a versatile platform for the sustainable valorization of oil-processing residues, supporting the transition from conventional waste management approaches toward resource-efficient and circular production systems. Full article

This study examines the structural drivers of carbon emission changes across 30 Chinese sectors from 2002 to 2023, employing a nested input–output structural decomposition analysis model grounded in both producer and consumer principles. We further construct a carbon inequality-adjusted network decoupling index to eliminate the systematic carbon transfer bias inherent to the conventional Tapio decoupling indicator. The core empirical findings are as follows: declining carbon intensity has served as the primary driver of emission reductions over the past two decades; however, its effect has been persistently offset by economic expansion. Upstream sectors, such as electricity generation, transfer substantial emissions downstream through sectoral chains, leading to a systematic overestimation of their decoupling performance, whereas the emission reductions in downstream manufacturing sectors are underestimated owing to embodied carbon imports. Inter-industry carbon inequality underwent a structural transformation following the launch of supply-side structural reforms in 2015, which substantially narrowed the arbitrage space for cross-sector carbon shifting. Cluster analysis further reveals that most industries continue to face considerable emission growth pressure. This study offers novel analytical perspectives and empirical evidence for designing carbon allowance allocation and differentiated emission reduction pathways that reconcile economic growth with environmental sustainability. This study offers a new analytical perspective and empirical evidence. It focuses on differentiated emission pathways and allowance allocations. The goal is to balance growth and sustainability. The findings also highlight a key point. Carbon markets must correct for sectoral chain carbon transfers. This study focuses on carbon emissions from 30 broadly defined sectors covering agriculture, mining, manufacturing, energy production and supply, construction, transportation, and commercial services. The accounting scope does not include direct fuel combustion emissions from residential consumption. Full article

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a highly aggressive neuroendocrine malignancy associated with rapid proliferation, early metastatic spread, and poor long-term survival. Despite high initial responsiveness to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, most patients experience relapse, and therapeutic progress historically remained limited. Recent years, however, have seen meaningful advances that are beginning to reshape the management of SCLC. In extensive-stage disease, the incorporation of PD-L1 inhibitors into platinum-etoposide chemotherapy has established chemoimmunotherapy as the first-line standard, while underscoring the continued need for more durable disease control. In limited-stage SCLC, consolidation durvalumab following concurrent chemoradiotherapy has emerged as a practice-changing strategy with significant survival benefit. In relapsed disease, DLL3-targeted therapy has opened a new therapeutic avenue, with tarlatamab demonstrating clinically relevant efficacy in previously treated extensive-stage SCLC and becoming the first approved bispecific T-cell engager in this setting. Alongside these milestones, ongoing investigation is focused on maintenance strategies, novel targeted agents, biomarker development, molecular subtyping, and more effective integration of systemic therapy with radiation-based approaches. Nevertheless, resistance, toxicity management, central nervous system involvement, and the absence of validated predictive biomarkers remain major barriers to sustained progress. This narrative review examines recent advances in the biology and clinical management of SCLC, with emphasis on practice-changing developments, emerging therapeutic platforms, and future strategies aimed at improving outcomes in this historically difficult-to-treat disease. Full article

Under the carbon neutrality context, underground coal gasification combined cycle (UGCC) power generation with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology can effectively mitigate climate change and reduce pollutant emissions. However, due to the complexity of the UCG process and significant fluctuations in syngas composition, the overall power generation efficiency of the plant may be affected to some extent. Existing studies have predominantly focused on single-link energy efficiency analysis, with a lack of full life-cycle resource–environment synergistic evaluation based on the extended exergy analysis framework, and comparative sustainability research between UGCC and integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) systems remains inadequate. Accordingly, this study establishes an exergy Life-Cycle Assessment model for UGCC power plants based on Aspen Plus, systematically evaluates the resource utilization rate and environmental sustainability index, identifies key influencing factors, and conducts a comparative analysis with IGCC power plants. The results indicate that the comprehensive sustainability performance of UGCC power plants is significantly enhanced after CCS retrofitting, with exergy efficiency reaching 37.56% at an oxygen-to-coal ratio of 0.6 and a water-to-coal ratio of 0.1; compared with IGCC, UGCC demonstrates a superior resource utilization rate but relatively weaker environmental sustainability; and the underground gasification unit is the critical link affecting exergy efficiency. This study offers a new perspective for sustainability assessment of energy systems and provides theoretical support and technical reference for the construction of a low-carbon reliable supply system in the power industry, thereby facilitating the implementation and refinement of a novel sustainable energy system. Full article

The digitalization and intelligent transformation of transportation have emerged as technological solutions for enhancing traffic efficiency and reducing traffic-related pollutants. However, existing studies primarily focus on traditional traffic emission reduction measures, and there is limited empirical evidence demonstrating how the digitization and intelligence of road infrastructure can reduce carbon dioxide emissions and air pollutants. To address this research gap, this study employed a difference-in-differences methodology to investigate the causal effects of the Smart Highways Pilot (SHP) policy on carbon emission intensity (i.e., CO₂ emissions per unit of GDP) and air pollution (i.e., PM_2.5 concentrations), using data from 272 Chinese cities spanning 2012 to 2023. Our estimation results demonstrate that the implementation of the SHP policy led to an average reduction of about 4.7% in CO₂ emissions per unit of GDP and a 5.1% decrease in PM_2.5 concentrations, translating to an average annual abatement of approximately 707,008 tons of CO₂ and a 2.204 μg/m³ drop in PM_2.5 concentrations among the sample pilot cities. Furthermore, the carbon reduction and pollution mitigation effects of the SHP policy were more pronounced in regions emphasizing pilot themes, such as infrastructure digitalization and vehicle–road collaboration, cities promoting new-energy vehicles, and eastern regions. This study provides robust causal evidence for policymakers to assess the synergistic carbon abatement and pollution reduction benefits of SHP policies, while contributing to the literature on smart transportation and sustainable development, and offering valuable insights for other countries and regions on building green, low-carbon transportation systems through the digitalization and intelligent upgrading of road infrastructure. Full article

Effective sustainable environmental governance requires feedback between institutional risk management and lived public experience. We propose a hierarchical Topic–Aspect–Frame framework to compare pollution discourse across news and social media. Using 30,635 chunk-level Taiwanese Chinese texts collected from OpView Product Insight in May 2026, treated as an early summer one-month validation window, we analyze topic selection, aspect foregrounding, and frame-based risk construction. Category-balanced audits yielded conditional label precision among analyzable chunks of 91.3% for topics, 85.8% for aspects, and 90.1% for frames. Among 30,304 frame-eligible chunks, Governance/Regulation was more prevalent in news (gap = +4.47 pp; 95% CI = [+3.11, +5.88]), whereas Health and Lived Risk was more prevalent in social media (gap = −9.84 pp; 95% CI = [−10.68, −9.02]). Under the aspect-conditioned prototype design, sequential decomposition attributed the latter gap mainly to topic selection (−5.40 pp) and aspect foregrounding (−4.14 pp), with a smaller within-aspect component (−0.30 pp). Both core directions persisted across four fixed windows and 100 same-fraction subsamples. The framework offers a preliminary, auditable approach for identifying cross-media governance-experience mismatches, subject to seasonal, platform, denominator, and model-support constraints. Full article

The twentieth (20th) century represents a radical transformation in architectural history. Unlike previous centuries, characterized by gradual stylistic continuity, it witnessed a succession of theoretical ruptures, technological innovations, material discoveries, and experimental design paradigms. Each movement emerged by questioning the assumptions of its predecessors, generating an experimentation laboratory that transformed the relationship between buildings, resources, climate, and society. Despite this exceptional intellectual and technological legacy, 20th-century architecture is still predominantly interpreted through its technological shortcomings, while the historical evolution of its contributions to environmental sustainability and energy efficiency is still lacking. This study reconstructs the historical genealogy of environmental sustainability and energy efficiency across the principal architectural movements of the 20th century. Through a comparative analysis of design theories and architectural principles, it identifies environmental and energy paradigms, drawbacks, and design lessons. Environmental sustainability evolved around material durability, adaptability, resource optimization, contextual integration, and life cycle thinking, whereas energy efficiency developed through passive climatic strategies, building morphology, envelope performance, daylight, natural ventilation, and environmental control. The study demonstrates that many of the principles underpinning contemporary sustainable and energy-efficient architecture originated during the 20th century. Approaches such as Parametricism, Computational Design, Biomimetic Architecture, Climate-Responsive Design, Circular Architecture, and Regenerative Design extend these concepts through new scientific understanding, digital technologies, and environmental performance objectives. Full article

Wetlands constitute critical habitats sustaining cyanobacterial diversity. Nevertheless, taxonomic research on wetland benthic filamentous cyanobacteria is far from complete, largely limited by phenotypic plasticity and challenges in strain isolation and cultivation. To unravel the species diversity and taxonomic affiliations of epiphytic cyanobacteria in an urban wetland, cyanobacterial strains were isolated from riparian rocks of the Sanyang Wetland (Zhejiang Province) and characterized via morphological observation, 16S rRNA phylogenetic analysis and 16S–23S ITS structural comparison. Strain WZU 2025, sheathless with occasionally conical apical cells, fell into the genus Kamptonema. It shared less than 97.5% sequence similarity with K. animale and possessed distinctive ITS signatures, hereby proposed as Kamptonema schistus sp. nov. Strain WZU 2023, featuring colorless rigid sheaths and conical apical cells, formed a stable clade with Microcoleus but exhibited distinct ITS structures, and is designated Microcoleus wenzhouensis sp. nov. Strain WZU 2030 bears colourless rigid sheaths and trichomes mostly filled with chromatophores; it clustered reliably with known Wilmottia species yet differed in ITS traits, and is described as Wilmottia sanyangensis sp. nov. Conflicts between morphological taxonomy and molecular phylogeny reveal ambiguous intergeneric relationships within Coleofasciculaceae and Microcoleaceae. The present study expands the known diversity of Microcoleaceae and provides evidence for future taxonomic revisions of cyanobacteria. Combined with the new genus Paludothrix reported from this wetland in 2024, our data demonstrate that cyanobacterial diversity in Sanyang Wetland has been severely underappreciated. Full article

To address the challenges in understanding the raceway failure mechanisms of bearings under dynamic radial excitations, this study proposes a vibration evolution analysis method based on multi-source data fusion and a Granger causality test. Firstly, a vertical bearing vibration test bench that can simulate the dynamic excitation in engineering practice is built, and the bearing acceleration, inner ring displacement and cage data are collected at the same time. Subsequently, the evolution law and correlation relationship of bearing vibration signals during the expansion process of bearing raceway damage were studied. Based on this, a multi-source vibration data fusion method was proposed, and the effectiveness of different data fusion schemes in characterizing raceway damage expansion was compared. Finally, the Granger causality test was applied to analyze the causal relationship between the evolution of various vibration behaviors during the damage propagation process. Research results demonstrate that under complex loading conditions during sustained operation, the “False Brinelling” indentation gradually develops into raceway surface damage. The vibration behavior of bearings exhibits distinct stage-specific characteristics under dynamic radial excitations. Notably, variations in vibration behavior amplitude and transition timing between different operational phases demonstrate significant discrepancies. Significant alterations in causal relationships between vibration behaviors were observed throughout different degradation phases. The combined approach proposed in this paper, encompassing complex load simulation, multi-source data fusion, and causal analysis, offers a new understanding of the raceway failure mechanism of bearings under real-world operating conditions. Full article

Background/Objectives: Synthetic cathinones are a rapidly evolving class of new psychoactive substances whose structural diversity complicates toxicological risk assessment. Methylenedioxy cathinones occupy a pharmacological space between MDMA-like entactogens and more dopaminergic stimulant cathinones, but their direct cardiac liabilities remain poorly characterized. This study aimed to compare the cardiotoxic and neurobehavioral profiles of methylone, butylone, pentylone and their N,N-dimethyl analogues, and to determine how alkyl-chain extension and terminal amine substitution shape functional toxicity. Methods: Wild-type short-fin zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos were used as a multiparametric New Approach Methodology. Cardiac rhythmicity was assessed in 3 days post-fertilization embryos after acute exposure to methylone, butylone, pentylone, dimethylone, dibutylone, dipentylone, dihexylone and diheptylone by high-speed video microscopy and dynamic pixel-based analysis, focusing on atrial chronotropy and atrioventricular conduction. Basal locomotor activity was evaluated in 5 days post-fertilization eleutheroembryos over 120 min using automated video tracking. Results: Negative chronotropy increased with alkyl-chain extension, with the monoalkyl subset following the rank order methylone < butylone < pentylone. Among dialkyl analogues, dihexylone and, especially, diheptylone produced the strongest atrial-rate inhibition. AV conduction impairment was more heterogeneous but became prominent among higher-liability analogues, with diheptylone showing the lowest AV-block midpoint descriptor and complete lethality at 1000 µM. Locomotor profiling revealed predominantly hypoactive phenotypes, with sustained late-phase inhibition especially for dipentylone, dihexylone and diheptylone. Conclusions: Alkyl-chain extension and terminal amine substitution shaped cardiac and neurobehavioral toxicity in a structure-dependent manner. The zebrafish workflow provides a structure-oriented framework for prioritizing emerging methylenedioxy cathinones with comparatively higher functional cardiac liability. Full article

Lignocellulosic waste materials (LWM), such as wood ash (WA) and sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA), have emerged as promising alkali-activated precursors. In this study, WA- and SCBA-based matrices were modified with metakaolin (MK) and volcanic ash (VA) as complementary reactive precursors, while recycled expanded polystyrene (EPS) was incorporated as a lightweight modifier. Composites were prepared using a 15 M NaOH activator and characterized by compressive strength, Vickers hardness, and ball-on-disc tribological tests under dry sliding conditions to establish the relationship among precursor composition, mechanical behavior, and surface performance. SCBA-based composites exhibited higher compressive strength than WA-based systems, reaching 4.47 MPa in SCBA–VA formulations, whereas the hybrid WA–SCBA–VA formulation achieved the highest compressive strength (7.55 ± 0.25 MPa, n = 5). Although EPS reduced compressive strength, it increased surface hardness, with the highest value recorded for formulation 9BPS (25.4 HV). The WA–SCBA–VA formulation also exhibited the lowest wear rate (0.09 mm³/N·m), indicating superior tribological performance. Overall, VA was more effective than MK in enhancing the combined mechanical and tribological behavior of WA–SCBA-based composites. This study provides a systematic comparative assessment of the tribological performance of lignocellulosic ash-based alkali-activated composites, offering new insights into the relationship between precursor composition and surface performance in lightweight sustainable materials. Full article