Advancing Open Science

Coastal ecosystems represent a complex and dynamic interface for renewable energy development, combining solar radiation, coastal winds, and marine biomass. In regions such as La Guajira (Colombia), these resources create a unique opportunity to design hybrid systems that integrate solar, wind, and bio-based energy generation. This study applied a multicriteria assessment encompassing technical, economic, environmental, and social dimensions to evaluate the feasibility of this integration. The study adopts a narrative review approach supported by peer-reviewed literature, satellite-derived environmental datasets, and regional technical reports. Three criteria were used to assess the potential of these bioresources: (i) availability and spatiotemporal variability, (ii) physicochemical and energetic characteristics, and (iii) suitability for thermochemical and biochemical valorisation routes. Reported data indicate that pelagic Sargassum reaching the wider Caribbean contains 20–30% ash, 25–35% carbohydrates, and lower heating values between 8 and 12 MJ kg⁻¹, while cactus biomass in arid environments can reach LHV of 13–16 MJ kg⁻¹ and moisture contents below 15%. The coastal region of La Guajira also receives solar irradiation levels exceeding 6 kWh m⁻² day⁻¹ and wind speeds above 8 m s⁻¹, creating favourable conditions for hybrid bioenergy–renewable systems. Finally, the multicriteria analysis reveals that integrating coastal renewable resources could drive the transition towards a circular, inclusive, and low-carbon bioeconomy in coastal territories such as La Guajira.

The intensification of urban heat islands in high-density coastal slope areas poses significant challenges to sustainable development. From the perspective of sustainable urban design, this study investigates adaptive greening strategies to mitigate thermal stress, aiming to elucidate the key microclimate mechanisms under the combined influence of sea breezes and complex terrain to develop sustainable solutions that synergistically improve the thermal environment and energy efficiency. Combining field measurements with ENVI-met numerical simulations, this research systematically evaluates the thermal impacts of various greening strategies, including current conditions, lawns, shrubs, and tree configurations with different canopy coverages and leaf area indexes. During summer afternoon heat episodes, the highest temperatures within the building-dense sites were recorded in unshaded open areas, reaching 31.6 °C with a UTCI of 43.95 °C. While green shading provided some cooling, the contribution of natural ventilation was more significant (shrubs and lawns reduced temperatures by 0.23 °C and 0.15 °C on average, respectively, whereas various tree planting schemes yielded minimal reductions of only 0.012–0.015 °C). Consequently, this study proposes a climate-adaptive sustainable design paradigm: in areas aligned with the prevailing sea breeze, lower tree coverage should be maintained to create ventilation corridors that maximize passive cooling through natural wind resources; conversely, in densely built areas with continuous urban interfaces, higher tree coverage is essential to enhance shading and reduce solar radiant heat loads.

Background and Objectives: Para-aortic lymph node involvement is a key prognostic factor in high-risk endometrial cancer. This study aimed to identify factors associated with para-aortic lymph node metastasis and to assess their predictive value for surgical decision-making. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 81 patients with high-risk endometrial cancer who underwent systematic pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy between January 2015 and December 2024. Factors evaluated included histologic subtype, lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI), cervical stromal involvement, depth of myometrial invasion, and tumor diameter. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify independent predictors of para-aortic metastasis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to determine the optimal tumor size threshold. Results: Para-aortic lymph node metastasis was identified in 21.0% of patients, and isolated para-aortic metastasis was observed in 2.5%. In univariate analysis, pelvic lymph node positivity, LVSI, cervical stromal invasion, deep myometrial invasion, and tumor size ≥ 3.55 cm were significantly associated with para-aortic spread. Multivariate analysis revealed that pelvic lymph node positivity was the only independent predictor (OR 39.0; 95% CI 5.06–301.46; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Pelvic lymph node status serves as a strong and independent predictor of para-aortic metastasis in high-risk endometrial cancer. A tumor diameter greater than 3.5 cm may also indicate an increased risk of para-aortic spread. These findings suggest that selective and individualized para-aortic assessment strategies may be considered to improve staging accuracy and optimize surgical planning in this patient population.

The insulation performance of vacuum arc interrupters greatly affects the reliability of vacuum circuit breakers. Optimizing the electric field distribution of a vacuum arc interrupter can improve its insulation performance. Here, we establish a two-dimensional model of vacuum arc interrupter with a shield system and study the electric field distribution of the vacuum arc interrupter under different structures through finite element simulation. Research has shown that as the electrode gap, contact chamfer radius, and main shield radius increase, the maximum value of the electric field in the vacuum arc interrupter decreases. The conductive rod at the static end of this vacuum arc interrupter is thickened, and the structure of the moving and static ends is asymmetric, resulting in asymmetric distribution of electric fields at the moving and static ends, which is not conducive to uniform electric fields. Optimization can be achieved by adjusting the structure of the main shielding cover. The research results will provide a basis for optimizing the electric field distribution of vacuum arc interrupters.

The invasive plant Sphagneticola trilobata (Asteraceae), known for its rapid growth and strong adaptability, has spread widely across tropical and subtropical regions worldwide, posing a serious threat to local plant diversity. Traditional weed control approaches have limited effectiveness, and the overuse of chemical herbicides such as glyphosate not only leads to resistance but also harms the environment. This study elucidated the important roles of jasmonic acid (JA) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in jointly promoting the herbicide resistance of S. trilobata. Firstly, the herbicide tolerance of S. trilobata was tested. Then, a field experiment was conducted to test the relation between AMF colonization and herbicide resistance in S. trilobata by high-throughput sequencing, and the metabolomics analysis was conducted to test the secondary metabolite difference by AMF colonization. Lastly, a greenhouse experiment was conducted to assess the synergistic effects of JA and AMF on S. trilobata’s herbicide resistance. Results showed that invasive S. trilobata has stronger glyphosate tolerance than its native congener. The field experiment showed that glyphosate treatment significantly increased the AMF colonization in S. trilobata and altered the composition of the rhizosphere AMF community. Metabolomics analysis revealed that AMF colonization upregulates the expression of stress-related metabolites, especially JA content. The greenhouse experiment further validated that both AMF colonization and JA application could enhance the stem and root length and plant biomass. Under glyphosate application, AMF and JA enhanced plant growth and relative chlorophyll content, while reducing relative flavonol and anthocyanin contents. Furthermore, the interaction of AMF and JA treatments led to a significant synergistic effect in plant growth and resistance to glyphosate. Our findings emphasize the necessity to simultaneously consider eliminating the promoting effects of JA and AMF on the herbicide resistance when implementing chemical control management strategies for the control of S. trilobata. This study provides new theoretical bases and sustainable control strategies for invasive plant management, as well as important references for research on plant-microbe interactions and stress resistance mechanisms.

Aiming at the problems of complex background interference and partial occlusion of fault targets during UAV transmission line inspection, this paper proposes an MRA-YOLOv8-based fault detection method for transmission line components. Firstly, the YOLOv8 network is adopted as the baseline framework, and a self-attention mechanism is incorporated into its backbone network to enhance the detection accuracy for occluded targets. Subsequently, a Multi-scale Attention Aggregation module is introduced into the neck network to improve the feature extraction capability for fault targets against complex backgrounds. Furthermore, the bounding box loss function is optimized to mitigate class imbalance issues, thereby boosting the model’s fault detection performance. Finally, the proposed algorithm is validated using inspection data collected over the past three years from an electric power inspection department. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves an average detection precision of 92.5% and a recall rate of 90.9%.

In response to the urgent need for full-process mechanization in Xinjiang’s cotton–cumin intercropping system, and to address the prominent bottlenecks of missing equipment for key harvesting steps and reliance on manual operations, we developed a cumin harvester and investigated its operating mechanisms. Guided by the agronomic parameters of the intercropping system, we executed a system-level design centered on the header unit, performed multi-objective optimization using orthogonal experiments and regression modeling, and conducted field validation. Results show: stubble height of 32.6 mm, harvester reel speed of 28 r/min, and forward speed of 3.26 km/h. Under this parameter configuration, the harvest rate was 89.54%, and the average damage rate was 7.33%. Field trials indicated a harvest rate of 88.2% and an average damage rate of 5.6%, with deviations from model predictions of 1.34% and 1.73%. The optimal reel index (λ = 1.69), the longitudinal component of the reel tine motion, prevents repeated impacts on the plants, reducing shattering and threshing damage; the axial component provide reliable support and smooth guidance to the stalks, ensuring continuous, steady cutting; the optimized stubble height is lower than the plant’s center of mass.

Background/Objectives: Enthesitis is a hallmark feature across the spondylarthritis spectrum, including psoriatic arthritis (PsA). In recent years, advanced imaging techniques, particularly musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS), have demonstrated higher sensitivity than clinical examination in detecting enthesitis. This study aimed to evaluate the inter-observer agreement for the diagnosis of Achilles enthesitis in a cohort of PsA patients. A secondary objective was to explore specific ultrasound diagnostic criteria for identifying active, inflammatory enthesitis in this population. Methods: Adult patients with PsA, all fulfilling CASPAR classification criteria, were recruited and underwent both clinical and ultrasonographic assessment of the bilateral Achilles tendons. Each patient was scanned by 4 rheumatologists in a direct study, followed by a blinded evaluation of static images of the same patients. The examiners assessed the presence of enthesitis components according to the OMERACT criteria. In addition, the images were subsequently evaluated by 10 MSUS-experienced rheumatologists who were asked to classify the enthesitis as inflammatory by selecting one of the following responses: “yes”, “no,” or “possible”. Results: Ten PsA patients, with a median age of 60 and a median DAPSA score of 21, were included. Both direct and image-based inter-observer studies showed high agreement values for enthesophytes (κ > 0.6), erosions (κ > 0.5), and entheseal thickness (κ > 0.5). In both, low agreement was observed for hypoechogenicity (κ between 0.1 and 0.4). Erosions and power Doppler (PD) signal in erosions showed statistically significant differences between the “possible” and definite (“yes”) inflammatory enthesitis groups. A PD signal of grade 2 or 3 within the enthesis or erosions was observed exclusively in cases classified as definite (“yes”) inflammatory enthesitis. Similarly, a grade 3 PD signal in the bursa was found only in patients with definite inflammatory enthesitis. This study proposes a novel ultrasound scoring system for defining inflammatory enthesitis. The score demonstrated overall good diagnostic performance, with a sensitivity of 67% and a specificity of 100%. Conclusions: The relatively low inter-observer agreement regarding hypoechogenicity and the presence of PD highlights the need for targeted educational interventions to improve interpretation in MSUS. Erosions and PD signal within erosions appear to be significant discriminatory features for identifying inflammatory enthesitis.