Search Results (28,792)

Food waste is one of the most pressing obstacles to sustainable development. Reducing food waste in schools and kindergartens constitutes an important component of sustainable waste management. To achieve this reduction, various interventions targeting food waste can deliver multiple benefits across environmental, social, and economic dimensions. Among these, behavioral “nudges” aim to steer consumer choices without restricting options. This study evaluated a novel nudging intervention in the canteens of two primary schools and one kindergarten, with the goal of reducing plate waste. The nudging intervention consisted of a simple, interactive installation designed to encourage children to reflect on their food consumption and portion choices. The installation was integrated into routine lunch service and it combined ball-based voting with visual prompts: the emptier the returned plate, the greater the voting weight for the pupil. Across all institutions the food waste level (soup and second dish combined) was significantly decreased during the nudging intervention: by 31% for primary school no. 84, 18% for school no. 1, and 33% for kindergarten no. 56, although part of this reduction was attributable to lower food production volumes. Plate waste for the second dish decreased in all the considered schools: by 10 g/meal (11%), 19 g/meal (22%), and 52 g/meal (51%), respectively. After the intervention a larger share of the second dish served was consumed than was left on the plates compared to the situation during the baseline monitoring. A shift from plate waste to unserved food, which was one of the goals of the study, could not be unambiguously confirmed. Overall, the new nudging installation appears effective. Substantial changes in food production complicate the possibility of determining the effects of the nudging intervention. Future research should maintain constant production levels across the baseline and intervention periods. In addition, pupils should be given maximum freedom to determine their portion sizes during the nudging intervention. The long-term effects of the nudging approach should also be evaluated. Full article

DNA vaccines have emerged as a promising immunization platform, offering key advantages over conventional vaccine approaches, including superior stability, a favorable safety profile, rapid and flexible antigen design, and scalable manufacturing. However, their clinical efficacy has remained limited, primarily due to inefficient cellular uptake, poor endosomal escape, and degradation of the plasmid DNA within host cells. Recent advances have highlighted minicircle DNA (mcDNA) as a next-generation alternative to conventional plasmid vectors. mcDNA constructs are compact, backbone-free episomal vectors containing only the expression cassette, including the promoter, transgene, and polyadenylation signal, while lacking bacterial sequences such as antibiotic resistance genes and origins of replication. This reduced vector size reduced vector-driven innate immune activation and susceptibility to epigenetic silencing, thereby improving transfection efficiency and supporting more sustained transgene expression in both dividing and non-dividing cells. This review provides a comprehensive overview of mcDNA technology in the context of vaccine development, discussing its structural design and production principles, mechanistic advantages over conventional plasmid DNA, and current applications across infectious disease and cancer vaccine platforms. In addition, we explore recent delivery strategies to enhance mcDNA transfection and immunogenicity, summarize existing limitations that hinder translation into applications, and outline future directions to optimize mcDNA-based vaccine technologies. Full article

Oral mucosal repair is a redox-regulated process that may be impaired by diabetes, chronic inflammation, infection, and chemotherapy- or radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) support host defense, epithelial migration, angiogenesis, extracellular matrix remodeling, and adaptive repair when their production is transient and compartmentalized. In contrast, persistent ROS promote lipid, protein, and DNA oxidation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and extracellular matrix damage. Photobiomodulation (PBM) is increasingly used to support oral tissue repair, but its effects should be interpreted as dose- and context-dependent redox modulation rather than as simple antioxidant activity. This narrative review synthesizes oxidative stress biomarkers and redox-sensitive pathways relevant to oral mucosal repair and PBM, including oxidant–antioxidant balance, lipid and protein oxidation, oxidative DNA damage, antioxidant defense, thiol/disulfide homeostasis, mitochondrial and NADPH oxidase-derived ROS, Nrf2/HO-1, NF-κB, HIF-1α/VEGF, MAPK/ERK, PI3K/Akt, and MMP/TIMP signaling. The review emphasizes the distinction between transient mitochondrial ROS/nitric oxide signaling and sustained NADPH oxidase-driven oxi-inflammatory stress. It proposes a practical redox-guided framework for biomarker selection, PBM response interpretation, and future study design, while noting that this framework remains conceptual and is not yet a validated clinical decision algorithm. Full article

The purpose of this article is to conduct a systematic literature review on the role of deep learning in credit risk prediction for fintech lending, with particular emphasis on model architectures, imbalanced data handling techniques, and the mathematical foundations underpinning these methods. Open-access scientific publications retrieved from three complementary databases (Scopus, IEEE Xplore Digital Library, and Web of Science Core Collection) were used to conduct the systematic literature review. Following the PRISMA 2020 protocol, 30 publications were selected after a rigorous multi-stage screening process involving deduplication across databases, temporal filtering (2015–2026), and thematic eligibility assessment. Data for analysis were processed using Python-based bibliometric tools and network analysis (replicating R Bibliometrix and VOSviewer functionalities). The results of the analysis indicate a sustained growth in research on deep learning applications for fintech credit risk, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 29.2% and an average of 27.17 citations per document. The segmentation of the studied conceptual landscape made it possible to identify four interconnected thematic clusters: (1) peer-to-peer lending and default prediction architectures; (2) explainability and XAI-based methods for credit scoring; (3) imbalanced data and hybrid deep-learning frameworks; and (4) credit risk assessment combining deep learning and statistical approaches. The following research areas on the deep learning-based transformation of fintech credit risk prediction have been identified: (1) feedforward deep neural networks and attention-based architectures (LSTM, CNN) as dominant predictive engines; (2) hybrid deep ensemble and deep-boosting frameworks (e.g., LightGBM-Attention, GBDT-Deep FFM) as emerging high-performance paradigms; (3) specialized techniques for imbalanced data handling—including ADASYN, SMOTE, cost-sensitive learning, and balanced stratified prioritized experience replay—as critical methodological frontiers; and (4) transformer-based and XAI-integrated architectures as the emerging frontier. The originality of this article lies in its explicit focus on the mathematical and methodological challenges of deep learning-based credit risk prediction in fintech lending, providing an actionable research agenda that addresses class imbalance, uncertainty quantification, loss function design, concept drift, and regulatory compliance. The findings provide valuable insights for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers, and outline a concrete roadmap for developing more accurate, robust, and explainable credit risk models in the rapidly evolving fintech ecosystem. Full article

This study aims to reveal the synergistic degradation and conversion of lignocellulose by spatially distributed gastric microorganisms, facilitating efficient anaerobic fermentation of plant biomass. Contents from camel stomach compartments, feces, and plant biomass were collected for analyses of total carbon, total nitrogen, lignocellulose, FTIR, and XRD. Portions were cultured in vitro to measure gaseous products, organic acids, and ammonia nitrogen, combined with high-throughput sequencing for microbial community analysis. The results indicate a compartment-specific degradation pattern of protein, cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin across stomach compartments, driven by distinct pH environments: cellulose in the rumen (pH 7.71), hemicellulose and protein in the reticulum (pH 7.78), and lignin in the abomasum (pH 3.72). Synergistic interactions among key degraders in the reticulum, including Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group (15.9%), Cyllamyces (5.1%), Prevotella (7.4%), and Methanobrevibacter (39.6%), enhanced production of reducing sugars, organic acids, and ammonia nitrogen, with CO₂, CH₄, and NH₃ yields being 1.3, 3.1, and 2.0 times those in the rumen. These findings reveal an efficient sequential bioconversion system, highlighting the reticulum as a key region with a stable microbial network, and offer a biomimetic basis for expanding enzyme resources and designing staged anaerobic bioreactors, thereby contributing to sustainable bioenergy development and conversion of lignocellulosic resources. Full article

Low-carbon development (LCD) and intensive urban land use (IULU) are critical objectives for sustainable urban development. Existing studies have usually evaluated LCD or IULU separately, whereas the dynamic relationship between carbon-transition capacity and land-use intensification under rapid urbanization remains insufficiently clarified. This gap limits the ability of policymakers to design spatially differentiated and synergistic actions for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study investigates the relationship between LCD and IULU and its transformation within the sustainable development framework, using the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River Urban Agglomeration (MRYRUA) in central China as a case study. Results indicate a strong positive correlation between LCD and IULU. Crucially, their coupling exhibited a distinct U-shape trajectory from 2005 to 2020; it decreased from 0.89 in 2005 to 0.73 in 2013 and then recovered to 0.84 in 2020, suggesting a relative weakening of the interaction followed by recoupling rather than complete decoupling. The identified U-shaped trajectory holds vital implications for other developing nations, suggesting that integrating low-carbon goals into spatial planning and land policies from the early stages of urbanization can pave the way for a faster transition to a green, intensive, and high-quality development model. Moreover, although both LCD and IULU exhibited positive trends, a widening gap was observed between provincial capitals and non-provincial cities. We, therefore, recommend integrating multi-stakeholder collaboration and implementing differentiated strategies to enhance the synergistic effects of LCD and IULU for cities at different phases of the LCD–IULU transition. Full article

This study evaluates publicness and spatial quality along the Çoruh Riverfront in the city center of Bayburt through the Project for Public Spaces (PPS) framework. The research is based on a literature review, interpretation of satellite imagery, on-site observation, production of visual documentation, and surveys conducted with a total of 210 participants, including 30 users in each of seven public spaces. The findings show that the presence of parks along the riverfront alone does not produce continuous and inclusive public life. In the composite PPS index, July 15 Martyrs Park showed the strongest profile (63.4%), whereas the surroundings of Kıyasi Şentürk Mosque showed the most vulnerable profile (44.1%). The mean values indicate that Access and Linkages are relatively strong (62.5%), whereas Comfort and Image constitute the weakest dimension (46.2%). This result suggests that although the Çoruh Riverfront is physically accessible, it has difficulty producing continuity in terms of staying, shade, orientation, maintenance, safety, and inclusive social programming. The study argues that, in small-scale Anatolian cities, riverfronts should be planned not as fragmented recreational areas but as accessible, socially inclusive, and ecologically sensitive blue-green public spines. Therefore, this study does not use PPS merely as a scoring tool. It uses it as a placemaking framework that makes it possible to read public continuity, place-led management, and social-ecological sustainability together on small-city riverfronts. The findings are interpreted as exploratory and diagnostic evidence for planning and design, rather than as inferential statistical proof of site-level differences or direct ecological performance. Full article

Despite the significant reduction in the overall cultivated area registered in recent decades, poplar still plays an important economic role in the Po Valley–Italy, where many farms involved in the plantation of this species are present, and the leading wood-processing industries are located. This paper describes the current organization of the poplar plywood wood-chain and explores the challenges in introducing new cultivars into the sector. In particular, it analyzes the main physico-mechanical properties of solid wood from five selected poplar clones (‘Dvina’, ‘Lux’, ‘Mella’, ‘Soligo’, ‘Taro’) that are characterized by fast growth, more sustainable agronomic practices, and increased disease resistance. These clones were cultivated in a seven-year-old linear plantation located in Northern Italy. This model, widely used in the past, is being re-proposed as a complement to the traditional system with square planting distances. The peeling yields and some performances of plywood manufactured from their veneers were also investigated. Results indicate that all clones have a much higher (from +30% to +56%) wood basic density than the ‘I-214’, which remains the lighter and preferred reference. These clones appeared also suitable for rotary cutting, but only ‘Lux’ and ‘Soligo’, and to a lesser extent ‘Mella’, provided veneers of the best quality class. Interesting mechanical features were registered for the sample plywood produced, especially in relation to the age of the harvested timber, which reached a diameter adequate for processing in a shorter time compared to the turnover adopted in conventional plantations. Except for ‘Dvina’, for all the clones, bending MOE and MOR were found to be comparable with those of spruce plywood made of similar thickness and the same lay-up. The findings suggest that the availability of new poplar cultivars and that of different cultivation models designed to enhance fast growth, when supported by targeted research and cooperation among multiple stakeholders (including farmers and industrial manufacturers), can lead to new applications where their plywood performances are valued. This, in turn, allows the resulting panels to meet specific needs in previously unexplored sectors, offering additional market opportunities. Full article

Prolonged cultivation of cereal-based cropping systems in the Indo-Gangetic Plain has contributed to soil degradation, groundwater depletion, and declining soil organic carbon levels, highlighting the urgent need for climate-resilient, sustainable crop diversification strategies that enhance soil carbon sequestration and improve overall soil health. A 6-year field experiment assessed 10 cropping systems (CSs) using a randomized complete block design with four replications, focusing on their effects on soil carbon stocks and sequestration at two soil depths (0–15 cm and 15–30 cm). It was inferred from the results that there is a significant variation in soil carbon stocks, with maize–peas–spring groundnut (CS6) having the highest surface carbon stock (13.0 Mg ha⁻¹) and baby corn–potato–okra (CS10) having the highest sub-surface carbon stock (11.9 Mg ha⁻¹). Carbon sequestration peaked in CS6 at 5.06 Mg ha⁻¹ at 0–15 cm, and its sequestration rate was the highest (0.84 Mg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹). Total organic carbon (TOC) ranged from 0.63% in Rice–Wheat (CS1) to 0.73% in CS6, with similarly high values in other diversified systems. Very labile carbon (VLC) was highest in basmati rice, late-sown wheat, and cowpea (CS3) and CS6, demonstrating the benefits of legume-based systems. At depths of 15–30 cm, trends were consistent but lower. Water-soluble carbon (WSC) and hot water-soluble carbon (HWSC) showed significant differences across systems, with CS3 recording the highest values. The findings indicate that cropping systems incorporating legume diversification and green manuring enhance carbon stocks, sequestration rates, and soil carbon stability, demonstrating that crop diversification is an effective means of increasing soil carbon storage, promoting soil health, and supporting sustainable agricultural production in Northwestern India. Full article

Non-isocyanate polyurethanes (NIPUs) produced by the aminolysis of cyclic carbonates are often presented as safer and more sustainable alternatives to conventional polyurethanes. Their monomer sourcing and synthetic pathways are by now fairly well explored, but the physical principles controlling their properties remain much less understood. This perspective challenges the notion that these materials follow the paradigm of conventional polyurethanes. Emphasis is placed on the hydroxyl group formed next to the urethane moiety, which distinguishes these materials from conventional polyurethanes and makes them more precisely poly(hydroxy urethanes). The available evidence indicates that this pendent hydroxyl is not a minor structural detail but a central actor affecting hydrogen bonding, microphase separation, and through them, many macroscopic physical properties of NIPUs, such as glass transition, mechanical response, water uptake and reprocessability. In addition, it enables thermally activated bond-exchange reactions, which dynamically change chain connectivity and, in networks, topology. As a result, concepts borrowed from conventional segmented polyurethanes cannot be transferred directly to non-isocyanate ones. Instead, a new, physics-oriented predictive framework is the necessary next step for the rational design of non-isocyanate polyurethanes. Such a framework should take bond-exchange reactions into account and connect molecular structure and thermal history with the macroscopic physical properties. Full article

In order to investigate the suppression effect of different extinguishing agents on lithium-ion battery fires in real confined spaces, a comparative experiment was conducted using aerosols, heptafluoropropane, and perfluorohexanone. In tests without any fire suppression measures, the peak heat release rate reached up to 69.09 kW, and a total of 8.05 MJ of heat was generated along with multiple deflagration events. Moreover, the heptafluoropropane and perfluorohexanone both effectively extinguished the flames with extinguishing times of 12 and 20 s, respectively. The aerosol agent caused a significant contraction of the flames, but it was unable to achieve complete extinguishment. Regarding cooling performance, the heptafluoropropane decreased the front surface temperature of the battery by 147 °C, while perfluorohexanone achieved a reduction of 230 °C. Additionally, the liquid-phase adhesion characteristics of perfluorohexanone enabled sustained cooling. A comprehensive comparison indicates that the perfluorohexanone agent exhibits outstanding performance in flame extinguishment, cooling efficiency, and the suppression of thermal propagation. Heptafluoropropane demonstrates rapid fire suppression and is suitable as a fast-response agent, whereas the aerosol requires a multi-discharge design to achieve reliable performance. Based on these findings, it is recommended that energy storage systems adopt a composite suppression strategy for fire protection. Full article

The article examines how India and Pakistan have interpreted the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) in the broader context of their preference, needs, and constraints. Rather than treating the IWT as a static legal instrument or as a case of institutional resilience, the analysis conceptualizes the Treaty as a performance-based regime, where treaty stability emerges from how states perform their obligations over time rather than from institutional design alone. Adopting a qualitative process-tracing approach grounded in treaty interpretation as operationalized through state practice, this article advances three interrelated arguments: first, the durability of the IWT cannot be explained solely by institutional design, but must be understood as a “performance-based equilibrium” sustained through state practice. Second, this stability historically relied on a pattern of “compliance asymmetry,” in which India, as the upper riparian, exercised restraint well beyond minimal entitlement while Pakistan consolidated downstream dependence through infrastructural development. Third, the growing juridification of dispute resolution since the 2000s, driven by escalating infrastructural friction, has altered the political meaning of compliance, narrowed interpretive flexibility, and reshaped reciprocal expectations. The article contributes to the scholarship of international legal theory and hydro-politics, particularly by reconceptualizing treaty resilience as a function of material and political performance, rather than the formal text alone. Full article

This study investigates the role of spirituality/religiosity (S/R) in meaning-making processes following stressful life events (SLEs) within the framework of Crystal Park’s Meaning Making Model (MMM). A qualitative phenomenological design was applied, using semi-structured interviews with N = 27 German participants who had experienced psychological and/or physical SLEs. As the majority of the participants identified themselves primarily as spiritual rather than religious, the study initially focused on spirituality as a potential resource for meaning-making following SLEs. Data were analyzed using mainly ideal-type analysis. Participants were categorized into low-, moderate-, and high-spirituality groups based on dimensions derived from Anton Bucher’s conceptualization of spirituality. Contrary to what might have been expected from the predominantly spiritual orientation of the sample, the most extensive meaning-making processes and meanings made according to the MMM were observed not among participants with more individualized forms of spirituality but among those with a highly integrated spiritual and religious orientation. This group was characterized by coherent belief systems, regular spiritual practices, communal and institutional religious embeddedness, and strong trust in transcendent guidance. The results suggest that not spirituality alone but its integration with religiosity into a coherent spiritual–religious meaning system may be associated with more sustained meaning-making processes, meanings made, and participant-reported positive outcomes following SLEs. Beyond the study’s limitations, implications for future research and professional practice are also briefly outlined. Full article

While existing curricula often focus on theoretical aspects of sustainability, they frequently fail to equip students with practical design skills required by the green industry. To address this disconnect, this study seeks to answer: How can a structured pedagogical framework effectively enhance students’ ability to translate abstract sustainability principles into concrete technical solutions? This study introduces a comprehensive CDIO-based framework reform for Embedded Intelligent Systems education, weaving sustainability throughout every phase. We put forward a “Sustainable CDIO Capability Model” that charts a progressive pathway—starting from basic resource awareness and advancing through to sophisticated sustainable system innovation. Our four-dimensional teaching strategy brings this model to life: first, project-based learning driven by real sustainability challenges; second, a hybrid ecosystem blending online resources, hands-on practice, and immersion in green industry contexts; third, hierarchical team-based pedagogy backed by personalized support mechanisms; and fourth, a multi-dimensional assessment system that weights energy efficiency, resource stewardship, and social value creation alongside conventional metrics. We implemented this approach with Intelligent Science and Technology majors at Wuhan Institute of Technology. The results show the model effectively bridges the persistent gap between dry technical content and the practical demands of green industry. Students made substantial gains not merely in core engineering capabilities—system architecture, hardware-software co-development—but crucially in sustainable design awareness and their capacity to untangle complex sustainability challenges. This work offers a readily transferable framework for embedding Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into engineering curricula worldwide. It provides practitioners with a concrete, tested model for cultivating the next generation of engineers who naturally think and act with sustainability in mind. Full article

Namibia’s rural communities continue to experience limited and unreliable electricity access despite the potential of the country’s exceptional solar, wind, and biomass renewable energy resources. Conventional grid extension remains financially and technically impractical for dispersed off-grid settlements, underscoring the need for cost-effective, renewable-based alternatives. This paper presents a resource-driven design and multi-objective optimization framework for Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems (HRESs) tailored to Namibia’s off-grid communities. The proposed model integrates solar PV, wind turbines, biomass generators, and hydrogen-based fuel cells with a hybridized energy storage consisting of batteries, supercapacitors, and hydrogen tanks. Using the Non-dominated sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II), the system simultaneously minimizes Total Life Cycle Cost (TLCC), Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE), Loss of Power Supply Probability (LPSP), carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, and Wasted Renewable Energy (WRE). The framework is applied to three rural villages, Oluundje, Ombudiya, and Onguati, using high-resolution, site-specific renewable resource datasets and community-level load forecasts. The results demonstrate that resource-aligned configurations substantially improve system reliability (up to 99.28%), reduce LCOE (0.0023–0.0811 USD/kWh), and optimize dispatch behaviour across seasonal variations. Storage hybridization further enhances stability by balancing transient and long-duration deficits. Compared to existing diesel mini-grids, the optimized HRESs achieve markedly superior techno-economic and environmental performance. The proposed framework offers a scalable, adaptable, and policy-ready tool for accelerating sustainable rural electrification in Namibia. Full article