Search Results (1,333)

Fungi in tropical ecosystems remain an understudied yet critical component of climate change mitigation, particularly within the Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF) sector. This review highlights their dual role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by regulating carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxides (N₂O) while enhancing long-term carbon sequestration. Mycorrhizal fungi are pivotal in maintaining soil integrity, facilitating nutrient cycling, and amplifying carbon storage capacity through symbiotic mechanisms. We synthesize how fungal symbiotic systems under LULUCF shape ecosystem networks and note that, in pristine ecosystems, these networks are resilient. We introduce the concept of Nature-based Culture (NbC) to describe symbiotic self-cultures sustaining ecosystem stability, biodiversity, and carbon sequestration. Case studies demonstrate how the NbC concept is applied in reforestation strategies such as AeroHydro Culture (AHC), the Integrated Mangrove Sowing System (IMSS), and the 4N approach (No Plastic, No Burning, No Chemical Fertilizer, Native Species). These approaches leverage mycorrhizal networks to improve restoration outcomes in peatlands, mangroves, and semi-arid regions while minimizing land disturbance and chemical inputs. Therefore, by bridging fungal ecology with LULUCF policy, this review advocates for a paradigm shift in forest management that integrates fungal symbioses to strengthen carbon storage, ecosystem resilience, and human well-being. Full article

Gut microbial modulation through diet is central to human health and disease. Despite tremendous effort in understanding the impact of nutrients and drugs on the gut microbiota, and attempts to develop dietary strategies that facilitate gut-beneficial effects, several erroneous gut microbiota-associated concepts remain prevalent in popular belief. This article discusses widespread misconceptions about the gut microbiota, contrasting them with contemporary scientific facts. In this article, ten prevalent myths, including the obsolete 10:1 bacteria-to-human-cell ratio, the reductive categorization of microbes as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, and the discredited universal biomarker status of the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio in relation to metabolic diseases, have been debunked. Essential facts highlighting the context-dependency of the microbiome, considerable inter-individual heterogeneity, and dynamic reactivity to dietary changes are discussed. This questions the assumptions that increased diversity always signifies health, that probiotics are intrinsically safe, that fecal microbiota transplantation is a universal remedy, or that leaky gut syndrome constitutes a clearly defined diagnosis. It is highlighted that eubiosis and dysbiosis do not possess uniform criteria, and microbiome–drug interactions are extremely individualized. The gut microbiota operates as a dynamic, adaptive ecosystem, necessitating sophisticated, evidence-based methodologies for study and therapeutic application, transcending simplistic misconceptions in favor of tailored insights and therapies. Full article

The aim of our study is to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the global distribution of suitable habitats for Sophora alopecuroides L., as well as how these habitats might change in response to climate change. We employed the MaxEnt niche model to integrate distribution data from the Global Biodiversity Information Platform, incorporating 19 bioclimatic factors. This approach enabled us to predict the potential geographic distribution of S. alopecuroides L. worldwide under both current climatic conditions and future greenhouse gas emission scenarios. The results were visualized via ArcGIS 10.8 software. The findings indicate that currently, the suitable habitat for S. alopecuroides L. spans 12,897,100 km², with the majority situated in the arid regions of Central and Eastern Asia. The key environmental variables influencing its distribution are annual mean temperature, maximum temperature of the warmest month, precipitation of the warmest season, and mean temperature of the coldest season. For future climate projections, suitable habitats generally exhibit a shrinking trend. The most pronounced decrease is anticipated under the moderate greenhouse gas emission scenario (SSP245). However, under the high greenhouse gas emission scenario (SSP585), the suitable habitat area is projected to increase marginally by 2060. This dynamic change warning suggests that it is necessary to optimize climate adaptation strategies, strengthen ecological protection and restoration in suitable areas, so as to maintain the ecological service functions of S. alopecuroides L. in arid and semi-arid ecosystems, such as sand fixation and soil conservation, and maintain biodiversity, and provide basic guarantee for the sustainable development and utilization of its medicinal and forage resources. This study reveals the dynamic impact of climate change on the distribution of S. alopecuroides L. suitable areas, which not only provides a scientific basis for ecological restoration and S. alopecuroides L. resource protection in arid and semi-arid areas, but also has important practical significance for promoting the regional practice of the concept of sustainable development of “harmonious coexistence between man and nature.” Full article

The entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) concept is widely popular, but it has recently attracted criticism. This paper aims to critically construct this tension and build on the contributions of complexity economics, which are currently limited in entrepreneurial studies, as well as the absence of entrepreneurship in economic complexity. This paper contributes to understanding how economic transformation—entrepreneurship, growth, development—starts, evolves, diffuses, and declines with a novel perspective and moves closer to unravelling the mystery of economic growth. Proceeding from the divergent views of economic complexity and entrepreneurship, this article finds the missing components to understand the role of entrepreneurialism in economic growth. Agency, culture, and collective action are the missing pieces to fill in the puzzle; however, the key element overarching all of them is the transmission of entrepreneurialism, the moving force enabling interactions that shape actors’ actions. The article finds narrative to be both the research object and approach and concludes by setting the research agenda and pointing to novel methods of inquiry on the what, how, and why of entrepreneurialism in entrepreneurial ecosystems. The implications of this research are useful to policymakers who prioritise setting, planning, and achieving economic growth. Full article

This study investigates whether firm-specific narratives extracted from the news add predictive content to monthly stock return models. Using bidirectional encoder representations from transformer-based topic modeling (BERTopic), we processed Microsoft (MSFT) news and constructed monthly narrative activations (binary presence and decay weighting). These narrative activations are used in autoregressive moving-average models with exogenous regressors (ARIMA-X) to analyze MSFT monthly log returns alongside the U.S. Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) index from February 2021 to March 2025. Decay models using a similarity-distilled BERT embedding yielded three significant narratives: Media and Public Perception (MPP) (β = 0.0128, p = 0.002), Currency and Macro Environment (CME) (β = −0.0143, p < 0.001), and Tech and Semiconductor Ecosystem (TSE) (β = −0.0606, p = 0.014). Binary activation identifies reputational shocks: the Media and Public Perception (MPP) indicator predicts lower returns at one- and two-month lags (β = −0.0758, p = 0.043; β = −0.1048, p = 0.007). A likelihood-ratio test comparing ARIMA-X models with narrative regressors to a baseline ARIMA (no narratives) rejects the null hypothesis that narratives add no improvement in fit (p < 0.01). Firm-level narratives enhance monthly forecasts beyond conventional predictors; decay activation and similarity-distilled embeddings perform best. Demonstrated on Microsoft as a proof of concept, the ticker-agnostic design scales to multiple firms and sectors, contingent on sufficient firm-tagged news coverage for external validity. Full article

The successful integration of Terrestrial and Non-Terrestrial Networks (T/NTNs) in 6G is poised to revolutionize demanding domains like Earth Observation (EO) and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSs). Still, it requires Distributed Machine Learning (DML) frameworks that are scalable, private, and efficient. Existing methods, such as Federated Learning (FL) and Split Learning (SL), face critical limitations in terms of client computation burden and latency. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a novel hierarchical DML paradigm. We first introduce Federated Split Transfer Learning (FSTL), a foundational framework that synergizes FL, SL, and Transfer Learning (TL) to enable efficient, privacy-preserving learning within a single client group. We then extend this concept to the Generalized FSTL (GFSTL) framework, a scalable, multi-group architecture designed for complex and large-scale networks. GFSTL orchestrates parallel training across multiple client groups managed by intermediate servers (RSUs/HAPs) and aggregates them at a higher-level central server, significantly enhancing performance. We apply this framework to a unified T/NTN architecture that seamlessly integrates vehicular, aerial, and satellite assets, enabling advanced applications in 6G ITS and EO. Comprehensive simulations using the YOLOv5 model on the Cityscapes dataset validate our approach. The results show that GFSTL not only achieves faster convergence and higher detection accuracy but also substantially reduces communication overhead compared to baseline FL, and critically, both detection accuracy and end-to-end latency remain essentially invariant as the number of participating users grows, making GFSTL especially well suited for large-scale heterogeneous 6G ITS deployments. We also provide a formal latency decomposition and analysis that explains this scaling behavior. This work establishes GFSTL as a robust and practical solution for enabling the intelligent, connected, and resilient ecosystems required for next-generation transportation and environmental monitoring. Full article

The research on river and lake resilience management, ecological restoration, and disaster reduction technologies aims to comprehensively improve the health, stability, and sustainability of aquatic ecosystems. It seeks to reduce the natural disaster risk, promote the sustainable use of water resources, protect biodiversity, strengthen water ecological environment supervision, and advance the widespread practice of the green development concept. This study integrates remote sensing, geographic information system (GIS), and biological slope protection technologies, supported by investigation and geomorphological surveys, to achieve real-time monitoring and data analysis of river and lake ecosystems. Additionally, the application of innovative ecological restoration materials and technologies significantly improves restoration outcomes and operational efficiency. The construction of multi-level wetlands, combined with active community participation, further enhances ecological resilience and stability. Experimental results show that the river and lake resilience management structure increases the strength of slope protection by more than 1.5 times and improves the overall stability by more than 25%. These findings underscore the critical role of integrated ecological and engineering approaches in achieving sustainable development of river and lake ecosystems while effectively reducing the risks of natural disasters. Full article

Delegation of authority remains a critical yet insufficiently addressed capability in Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) systems. Building on an existing delegation model that introduced the concept of a Verifiable Mandate (VM) for expressing authority and access rights, this paper extends the approach with a rigorous formalization of delegation semantics, enabling unambiguous reasoning over roles, grants, and constraints. The formal model is aligned with standards from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and its constructs are embedded into an extended credential schema that preserves compatibility with the Verifiable Credentials (VC) data model while introducing delegation-specific attributes. A generalized VM schema is defined, supporting both generic and business-specific instantiations, and ensuring structural and semantic interoperability. Policy compliance is operationalized through a policy-based enforcement architecture, where rules are authored in the Rego language and evaluated at runtime by the Open Policy Agent (OPA). The architecture incorporates trusted registries for schema and policy distribution, allowing verifiers to define and enforce context-specific delegation rules in a modular and interoperable manner. Validation through realistic scenarios, such as postal service and academic use cases, demonstrates how formal semantics, schema validation, and language-based policy enforcement can be combined to enable secure, verifiable, and context-aware delegation in SSI ecosystems. Full article

Background/Objectives: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has emerged as a grave threat to human health, and a One Earth–One Health (OE-OH) concept was proposed for addressing this challenge in 2024. Here, this concept was systematically defined, clarified, and refined, for better understanding, interpreting related results, and taking some measures to combat the crisis. Methods: Using logical reasoning and deductive methods, a dual mutation pattern was put forward for microbial resistance, adhering to the principle of parsimony and integrating Lamarckian, Darwinian, and Niche construction theories, and the evolutionary origins of current AMR were schematically presented. Subsequently, its theoretical foundation, together with a fundamental mathematical model, was defined and clarified based on the robust self-regulation and perpetual reconstruction of ecosystems, and then the generation, dissemination, and elimination of AMR and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were sorted out and elucidated from abiotic and biotic factors. Finally, learning from the approach of problem management, some crucial measures are suggested for the research and development, application, and management of antibiotics, emphasizing the key role of simulating and utilizing the self-regulation of ecosystems. Results: A dual mutation pattern of microbial resistance and the evolutionary origins of current AMR was put forward. The theoretical foundation of the OE-OH concept, together with a fundamental mathematical model, was presented. Some unique perspectives, such as the emergence of AMR and ARGs 3.5 billion years ago and their ubiquity across the globe prior to antibiotic use, were clarified. Moreover, some crucial measures are proposed for addressing AMR. Conclusions: It is essential to implement the OH Joint Plan of Action from the OE-OH perspective, strongly emphasizing the key role of simulating and utilizing the self-regulation of ecosystems on addressing AMR. Full article

This article reconceptualises London as a learnt city, a dynamic learning ecosystem co-produced through digital mediation, affective experience, and embodied practice. Focusing on international university students in London, a transient, hyper-digital city, we employ a participatory reflective-mapping methodology to examine how urban learning unfolds across mediated, affective, and experiential layers of city life. The mediated city describes students’ imaginaries shaped by digital media and mapping apps. The affective city captures emotional registers, such as nostalgia, autonomy, and (dis)orientation, that emerge during urban adaptation. The experiential city foregrounds embodied engagements: movement, infrastructure use, routine navigation, and elective belonging. These three dimensions interweave to form an “urban collage,” revealing how students continuously remake both their identities and the city itself through integrated online and offline practices. The article advances critical urban and communication studies by contesting technocratic and neoliberal framings of urban learning. It positions learning as inherently spatial, affective, and relational—a sense-making process enacted in everyday urban experiences. By framing the city as a contested site of knowledge production and identity formation, this article contributes to debates in digital urbanism and critical digital pedagogy. The learnt city concept offers a novel lens for understanding how global cities—characterised by frictions of belonging and mobility—are lived, known, and shaped by those negotiating their multiple mediated, affective, and material dimensions. Full article

The integration of sustainability competences into education presents significant challenges, particularly in embedding Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into contextually relevant learning experiences. This study presents the design and validation of the Art Nouveau Path, a Mobile Augmented Reality Game (MARG) developed within the EduCITY ecosystem to foster competences, such as sustainability values, systems thinking, and future literacy. Grounded in the GreenComp framework and employing a Design-based Research (DBR) approach, the intervention was validated with 33 in-service teachers through a simulation-based workshop and a curricular review and complemented by a diagnostic questionnaire was administered to 221 students. This questionnaire (S1-PRE) provided the baseline data on sustainability awareness, digital readiness, and heritage-related learning interest. The teachers confirmed the MARG’s curricular adequacy value and interdisciplinary potential, while the students’ diagnostics revealed mixed conceptions; although 73.30% considered sustainability competences important, only 61.10% expressed interest in learning more about them. Also, 72.40% showed interest in learning about sustainability through local Art Nouveau heritage, and 79.60% considered the theme attractive, indicating potential for emotional and cognitive engagement. The Art Nouveau Path provides an exploratory and replicable model of curriculum-integrated ESD, connecting cultural heritage with competence-based learning for the operationalization of the GreenComp framework in support of SDG 4.7. Full article

The rapid development of smart home and building technologies requires educational methods that facilitate the integration of theoretical knowledge with practical, system-level design skills. Computer-assisted tools play a crucial role in this process by enabling students to experiment with complex Internet of Things (IoT) and building automation ecosystems in a risk-free, iterative environment. This paper proposes a pedagogical framework that integrates simulation-based prototyping with collaborative and spatial design tools, supported by elements of design thinking and blended learning. The approach was implemented in a master’s-level Smart Building Systems course, to engage students in interdisciplinary projects where virtual modeling, digital collaboration, and contextualized spatial design were combined to develop user-oriented smart space concepts. Analysis of project outcomes and student feedback indicated that the use of simulation and visualization platforms may enhance technical competencies, creativity, and engagement. The proposed framework contributes to engineering education by demonstrating how computer-assisted environments can effectively support practice-oriented, user-centered learning. Its modular and scalable structure makes it applicable across IoT- and automation-focused curricula, aligning academic training with the hybrid workflows of contemporary engineering practice. Concurrently, areas for enhancement and modification were identified to optimize support for group and creative student work. Full article

This empirical investigation explores the complex interdependencies between the concept of the Smart University Campus and the broader ecosystem of Smart City policies, with a particular focus on the New European Bauhaus initiative as a catalyst for educational transformation. The study examines how university campuses can evolve into paradigmatic models of innovation, sustainability, and inclusion through the strategic integration of emerging technologies, circular bioeconomy principles, and holistic ecological strategies. A comprehensive case study, grounded in rigorous quantitative analysis, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA), and Cluster Analysis (CA), based on questionnaires administered to a sample of 245 high school and university students—primarily from the academic community of the “King Mihai I” University of Life Sciences in Timișoara (USVT)—provides empirical insights into perceptions and expectations regarding the Smart Campus ecosystem and its core components: Smart Learning, Smart Living, Smart Safety and Security, Smart Socialization and Smart Health. The distinctive contribution of this research lies in its empirical demonstration that the strategic alignment between university campuses and Smart City initiatives, guided by the principles of the New European Bauhaus, can enhance educational efficiency by creating integrated learning ecosystems that simultaneously address academic needs, sustainability imperatives, and goals of sustainable urban development. Full article

Plants are crucial for sustaining community livelihood and should be thoroughly integrated into education; however, students often suffer from Plant Awareness Disparity (PAD). This phenomenon causes students to fail to appreciate the value of plants, often because they fail to notice or value them in their surroundings. Although numerous interventions have been suggested to address PAD, we still lack a comprehensive instrument with which to measure the interconnectedness of plant awareness knowledge and the effectiveness of such interventions. To address this gap, this study developed and validated a new scale to measure plant awareness knowledge in elementary school students. We used the Nipa palm (Nypa fruticans Wurmb) as a specific case study within the Pak Phanang Basin of Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Thailand. This study was conducted in two phases, following the standards for education and psychology testing. In the first phase, a systematic literature review based on the Plants, People, and Planet (PPP) concept was used to identify the dimensions and components of the scale. In the second phase, the scale was developed, and its construct validity was analyzed through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The EFA and CFA provided evidence of a three-factor structure, confirming three distinct yet correlated dimensions of plant knowledge. The three subscales are as follows: Nature of Life, which focuses on students’ knowledge of the physical and biological characteristics of the plant; Interconnectedness of All Things, which measures knowledge of the plant’s relationship with its ecosystem and the community’s way of life; and Greatest Public Benefit, which assesses knowledge of the plant’s economic and cultural value to the community. The scale, comprising 13 items, demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha values above 0.75 across the three subscales. These findings provide educators with a valuable tool for assessing plant awareness and implementing interventions that foster ecological literacy and community sustainability. Full article

To promote sustainable development and guide the responsible use of natural ecosystems, the United Nations introduced the concept of ecosystem accounting. Ecosystem services are key components of ecosystem accounting. Water-related ecosystem services (ES) are of primary importance for Armenia due to relatively dry climate, and dependence on irrigation water for agriculture. This study aims to conduct a pilot-level quantitative scoping assessment and mapping of key water-related regulating ES in accordance with the SEEA-EA guidelines, and to offer recommendations to initiate their accounting in Armenia. We used three Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) models—Seasonal Water Yield, Sediment Delivery Ratio, and Urban Flood Risk Mitigation. Input data for these models were sourced from global and national databases, as well as ESRI land cover datasets for 2017 and 2023. Government-reported data on river flow and water consumption were used to assess the ES supply–use balance. The results show that natural ecosystems contribute between 11% and 96% of the modeled ES, with the strongest impact on baseflow supply and erosion prevention. The average current erosion is estimated at 2.3 t/ha/year, and avoided erosion at 46.4 t/ha/year. Ecosystems provide 93% of baseflow, with an average baseflow index of 34%, while on bare ground it is only 3%. Changes in land cover from 2017 to 2023 have resulted in alterations across all assessed ES. Comparison of total water flow and baseflow with water consumption revealed water-deficient provinces. InVEST models show their general operability at the scoping phase of ecosystem accounting planning. Advancing ES accounting in Armenia requires model calibration and validation using local data, along with the integration of InVEST and hydrological and meteorological models to account for the high diversity of natural conditions in Armenia, including terrain, geological structure, soil types, and regional climatic differences. Full article