Search Results (2,861)

The periphery of Lomami National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) is experiencing intense and increasing hunting pressure, driven by both local subsistence needs and growing urban demand for bushmeat. This situation poses a serious challenge to sustainable natural resource management and underscores the need to realign protected-area policies with the realities faced by surrounding communities. In the absence of comprehensive ecological monitoring, this study used hunters’ perceptions to assess the current availability of mammalian wildlife around the park. From October to December 2023, surveys were conducted using a snowball sampling method with 60 hunters from nine villages bordering the park. Results show that hunting is a male-dominated activity, mainly practiced by individuals aged 30–40 years, with firearms as the primary tools. It occurs both in the park’s buffer zones and, alarmingly, within its core protected area. This practice has contributed to the local disappearance of key species such as African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), African buffalo (Syncerus caffer), and African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus), and to the marked decline of several Cephalophus species. These patterns of overexploitation reveal critical weaknesses in current conservation strategies and point to the urgent need for integrated, community-based resource management approaches. Strengthening law enforcement, improving ranger support, and enhancing participatory governance mechanisms are essential. Equally important is the promotion of sustainable alternative livelihoods—including livestock farming, aquaculture, and agroforestry—to reduce hunting dependence and build long-term resilience for both biodiversity and local communities. Full article

Castles situated in rural areas occupy a distinctive position within the European heritage landscape, serving economic, residential and symbolic functions. While the great urban royal residences have benefited from constant attention, conservation and valorisation in Central and Eastern Europe, castles in rural areas have often been subjected to systematic neglect. The objective of this study is to analyse three castles (Bulci, Căpâlnaș and Petriș) in the Lower Mureș Valley in Romania, with a view to observing how these symbols of a fragmented past have been marked by historical ruptures, regime changes and marginalisation policies, and the current potential of these castles to be transformed from derelict spaces into spaces of local importance. Should our research contribute to the study of the transformation of derelict spaces of historical castles into invigorating spaces, from a methodological point of view the following three steps were taken: (1) an assessment of the state of conservation and the factors that led to the degradation of these noble domains was carried out; (2) research was conducted on the perception of stakeholders regarding how castles can become a generator of local development; and (3) an analysis of the development proposals around these castles from stakeholders was performed. The study is based on 35 semi-structured interviews conducted with stakeholders and residents of the castle communities analysed, and on a thematic content analysis of these interviews. The findings of the research suggest a state of conservation that is insecure, and the perceptions of stakeholders indicate a necessity for institutional intervention and public–private partnerships. There is also a conviction that attracting large-scale investors is essential for the revitalisation of these monuments. The responses indicate a genuine concern for the future of the castles. The proposals for the development of the castles are oriented towards their utilisation in cultural tourist circuits. Full article

This study investigates the economic viability of a new composting station dedicated to the recycling of date palm by-products. A field experiential analysis was performed in the Figuig Oasis (Morocco), providing the first evidence on the agronomic quality of the compost. The compost produced from date palm by-product was compared to cattle manure and unamended soil and can be considered as a good-quality amendment, demonstrating its ability to enhance soil fertility. Second, a socio-economic survey was conducted to explore farmers’ perceptions and adoption of sustainable agricultural practices. A total of 201 farmers out of 450 farmers registered in Figuig’s municipal administration were surveyed. In terms of fertilisation, farmers preferred locally produced organic fertiliser when available in order to improve soil organic matter content and reduce dependence on chemical inputs. The selling price for the compost was set at 0.14 EUR/kg to reflect the current market price for compost and the willingness of about 38% of the farmers surveyed to buy it. Third, a detailed cost/benefit analysis was performed, with a breakdown of the station’s operational and investment expenses. This illustrates the minimum scale needed to generate a viable business model. Financial projections show that increasing production capacity from 350 tonnes/year to 3500 tonnes/year reduces unit production costs while increasing profits. As illustrated by the application of the Ecocanvas framework, the socio-economic analysis reveals the potential to generate positive environmental, economic, and social impacts, as the circular approach could be replicable and scalable in similar oases agro ecosystems. Full article

Large-scene space-borne SAR images with a high resolution are particularly effective for monitoring vast oceanic areas globally. However, ships are easily overlooked in such large scenes due to their small size and cluttered backgrounds, making SAR ship detection challenging for the existing methods. To address this challenge, we propose a progressive saliency-guided (PSG) method, which uses saliency-derived positional priors to guide the model in focusing on small targets and extracting their features. Specifically, a dual-guided perception enhancement (DGPE) module is developed, which introduces additional target saliency maps as prior information to cross-guide and highlight key regions in SAR images at the feature level, enhancing small object feature representation. Additionally, a saliency confidence aware assessment (SCAA) mechanism is designed to strengthen small object proposal learning at the proposal level, guided by classification and localization scores at key locations. The DGPE and SCAA modules jointly enhance small object learning across different network levels. Extensive experiments demonstrate that the PSG method significantly improves the detection performance (+4.38% AP on LS-SSDD and +4.35% on HRSID) for small ships in large-scene SAR images compared to that of the baseline, providing an effective solution for small ship detection in large scenes. Full article

As protected areas (PAs) expand globally at an accelerating rate, reconciling biodiversity conservation with socioeconomic development in adjacent communities has become a critical challenge for landscape sustainability. This systematic review synthesizes literature (1990–2025) to trace three interconnected transitions: (1) the conceptual evolution from exclusionary to inclusive PA–community paradigms, grounded in shifting perceptions of cultural landscapes; (2) the governance transformation from tokenistic participation to power-sharing co-management frameworks; and (3) the spatial planning progression from fragmented “island” models to integrated protected area networks (PANs) leveraging ecological corridors. Our analysis reveals that disconnected PA–community relationships exacerbate conservation–development conflicts, particularly where cultural landscapes are undervalued. A key finding is that cultural–natural synergies act as pivotal mediators for conservation efficacy, necessitating context-adaptive governance approaches. This study advances landscape planning theory by proposing a rural landscape network framework that integrates settlement patches, biocultural corridors, and PA matrices to optimize ecological connectivity while empowering communities. Empirical insights from China highlight pathways to harmonize stringent protection with rural revitalization, underscoring the capacity of PANs to bridge spatial and socio-institutional divides. This synthesis provides a transformative lens for policymakers to scale locally grounded solutions across global conservation landscapes. Full article

With so many people becoming distanced from the world of agriculture, what is the best way to bridge the knowledge gap? Studies have shown that video messaging could be a key factor in lessening this gap. This study assessed the perceptions of young adults about animal agriculture and the effectiveness of emotional and cognitive videos featuring local farmers and industry experts to alter perception and build trust in the beef industry. An invitation to participate was sent to 10,000 Auburn University students, and responses were closed after 500 complete responses were received. Participants were directed to a Qualtrics (2022) survey with a 5-point Likert scale and open-ended questions. The questionnaire included opinions on animal welfare, the diet/health of red meat consumers, and environmental/sustainability aspects of the beef industry. After viewing one emotional and one cognitive video, each lasting four minutes, participants retook the survey. Data were analyzed using paired t-tests in SPSS (Version 28). Results showed participants’ views improved by 82% after watching the videos. ATLAS (Series 9) was used to code key positive and negative words in open responses. Participants reported a stronger preference for the emotional video compared to the cognitive video (190 vs. 99, p < 0.05). However, because the videos were always shown in the same order, this finding should be interpreted with caution, as order effects may have influenced participants’ responses. Full article

This study explores the practice of “soundtalking”, a novel method of participant-led sound practice, across the Dee Estuary in the UK. Over the course of twelve months, the Our Dee Estuary Project facilitated monthly meetings where participants engaged in sound workshops, in-depth discussions, and sound-making activities, with the aim of fostering a deeper connection with both their local and sonic environments. This longitudinal practice-based research study created an environment of sonic learning and listening development, documenting how participants’ interactions and narratives both shape and are shaped by the estuarial environment, its soundscape, and their sense of place. Participant-led conversations formed the basis of the methodology, providing rich qualitative data on how individuals perceive, interpret, and interact with their surroundings and the impact that the soundscape has on the individual. The regular and unstructured discussions revealed the intrinsic value of soundscapes in participants’ lives, emphasising themes of memory, reflection, place attachment, environmental awareness, and well-being. The collaborative nature of the project allowed for the co-creation of a film and a radio soundscape, both of which serve as significant outputs, encapsulating the auditory and emotional essence of the estuary. The study’s initial findings indicate that “soundtalking” as a practice not only enhances participants’ auditory perception but also fosters a sense of community and belonging. The regularity of monthly meetings facilitated the development of a shared acoustic vocabulary and experience among participants, which in turn enriched their collective and individual experiences of the estuary. Soundtalking is proposed as an additional tool in the study of soundscapes to complement and extend more commonly implemented methods, such as soundwalking and soundsitting. Soundtalking demonstrates the efficacy of longitudinal, participant-led approaches in capturing the dynamic and lived experiences of soundscapes and their associated environments, over methods that only create fleeting short-term engagements with the soundscape. In conclusion, the Our Dee Estuary Project demonstrates the transformative potential of soundtalking in deepening our understanding of human–environment interactions and, in addition, has shown that there are both health and well-being aspects that arise from the practice. Beyond this, the project has output a film and a radio sound piece, which not only document but also celebrate the intricate and evolving relationship between the participants and the estuarine soundscape, offering valuable insights for future soundscape research and community engagement initiatives. Full article

Underwater imaging is affected by spatially varying blur caused by water flow turbulence, light scattering, and camera motion, resulting in severe visual quality loss and diminished performance in downstream vision tasks. Although numerous underwater image enhancement methods have been proposed, the issue of addressing non-uniform blur under realistic underwater conditions remains largely underexplored. To bridge this gap, we propose PMSPNet, a Progressive Multi-Scale Perception Network, designed to handle underwater non-uniform blur. The network integrates a Hybrid Interaction Attention Module to enable precise modeling of feature ambiguity directions and regional disparities. In addition, a Progressive Motion-Aware Perception Branch is employed to capture spatial orientation variations in blurred regions, progressively refining the localization of blur-related features. A Progressive Feature Feedback Block is incorporated to enhance reconstruction quality by leveraging iterative feature feedback across scales. To facilitate robust evaluation, we construct the Non-uniform Underwater Blur Benchmark, which comprises diverse real-world blur patterns. Extensive experiments on multiple real-world underwater datasets demonstrate that PMSPNet consistently surpasses state-of-the-art methods, achieving on average 25.51 dB PSNR and an inference speed of 0.01 s, which provides high-quality visual perception and downstream application input from underwater sensors for underwater robots, marine ecological monitoring, and inspection tasks. Full article

In recent years, Transformer-based target tracking algorithms have performed well in ordinary scenarios. However, when applied to satellite video scenarios, the tracking effect of the algorithms is not satisfactory due to the small size of satellite video targets, blurred features, and complex background interference. To address this issue, this paper proposes an algorithm for Enhancing Spatial Perception for Satellite Video Target Tracking (ESPTrack). This algorithm, through the spatial collaborative attention module, integrates local and global spatial information to enhance the multi-level representation of the target’s detailed features and overall structure. Meanwhile, a Gaussian prior cross-attention module is constructed. The Gaussian distribution weighting is utilized to enhance the key context information, improving the model’s ability to perceive the target’s spatial position and reducing the impact of background interference. To verify the effectiveness of the algorithm proposed in this paper, experiments were conducted on the satellite video datasets SatSOT and OOTB. The results show that the proposed algorithm has better performance compared with the existing target tracking algorithms, and it is verified that enhancing spatial perception in complex satellite video scenarios can effectively improve tracking performance. Full article

In off-road scenes, segmentation targets exhibit significant scale progression due to perspective depth effects from oblique viewing angles, meaning that the size of the same target undergoes continuous, boundary-less progressive changes along a specific direction. This asymmetric variation disrupts the geometric symmetry of targets, causing traditional segmentation networks to face three key challenges: (1) inefficientcapture of continuous-scale features, where pyramid structures and multi-scale kernels struggle to balance computational efficiency with sufficient coverage of progressive scales; (2) degraded intra-class feature consistency, where local scale differences within targets induce semantic ambiguity; and (3) loss of high-frequency boundary information, where feature sampling operations exacerbate the blurring of progressive boundaries. To address these issues, this paper proposes the ProCo-NET framework for systematic optimization. Firstly, a Progressive Strip Convolution Group (PSCG) is designed to construct multi-level receptive field expansion through orthogonally oriented strip convolution cascading (employing symmetric processing in horizontal/vertical directions) integrated with self-attention mechanisms, enhancing perception capability for asymmetric continuous-scale variations. Secondly, an Offset-Frequency Cooperative Module (OFCM) is developed wherein a learnable offset generator dynamically adjusts sampling point distributions to enhance intra-class consistency, while a dual-channel frequency domain filter performs adaptive high-pass filtering to sharpen target boundaries. These components synergistically solve feature consistency degradation and boundary ambiguity under asymmetric changes. Experiments show that this framework significantly improves the segmentation accuracy and boundary clarity of multi-scale targets in off-road scene segmentation tasks: it achieves 71.22% MIoU on the standard RUGD dataset (0.84% higher than the existing optimal method) and 83.05% MIoU on the Freiburg_Forest dataset. Among them, the segmentation accuracy of key obstacle categories is significantly improved to 52.04% (2.7% higher than the sub-optimal model). This framework effectively compensates for the impact of asymmetric deformation through a symmetric computing mechanism. Full article

Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) is an essential biomarker for the evaluation and diagnosis of early pregnancy, multiple pregnancies, and ectopic pregnancies. However, the accuracy of test strip interpretation is often compromised by inconvenient and uncomfortable professional testing, the black-box nature of AI-based detection methods, and variations in image quality caused by mobile photography and lighting conditions. To address these challenges, we propose 2SLOD-HCG, a novel network for test strip concentration detection. Our approach introduces an enhanced spatial pyramid pooling (SPP) module to better integrate multi-scale receptive field information and incorporates an elastic variational cross-FPN structure augmented with lightweight transformer blocks to strengthen global feature perception. Furthermore, a SimAM attention mechanism is applied to highlight critical local features. These improvements collectively enhance the network’s ability to capture both fine-grained and global contextual information. We constructed a dataset of 50,000 augmented test strip images collected under three lighting conditions and four mobile photography scenarios. The results demonstrate that 2SLOD-HCG achieves superior accuracy and robustness compared to existing YOLO-based baselines, particularly in detecting the small color-developing regions of test strips. Full article

Background/objectives: Treating pediatric brain tumors remains challenging due to the limitations of conventional therapies, which often damage healthy cells. Ketogenic diets (KDs)—high in fat and low in carbohydrates—have emerged as potential adjunct therapies by limiting glucose availability and offering ketones as an alternative energy source proposed to hinder tumor growth. However, due to limited awareness, there is hesitancy to recommend KDs. Methods: This study assessed oncologists’ knowledge and perceptions in Saudi Arabia regarding KD use in pediatric brain cancer patients. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 94 oncologists from five major Riyadh healthcare centers, examining their knowledge, safety concerns, feasibility, and perceived efficacy of KDs. Results: Results showed that 67% correctly identified the basic composition of KDs, though 43% were neutral about its safety. Concerns about malnutrition and side effects were common and 53% found adherence to the diet challenging in pediatric patients. While 48.9% believed KDs could improve outcomes when combined with standard therapies, many stressed the importance of tailoring recommendations to individual medical conditions, including patient age, treatment stage, and overall nutritional status. Participants’ responses revealed variability in knowledge and perception levels regarding KDs, with consultants and internationally educated oncologists generally expressing more favorable views compared to fellows, who showed greater hesitancy. Conclusions: This study shows a mixed level of knowledge and perceptions among oncologists, reflecting a lack of consensus about KDs’ safety, feasibility, and potential benefits. These findings suggest the need for further education, clearer guidelines, and interdisciplinary collaboration to support informed decision-making, particularly in the local context. Full article

Deep space exploration missions face technical challenges such as long-distance communication delays and high-precision autonomous positioning. Traditional ground-based telemetry and control as well as inertial navigation schemes struggle to meet mission requirements in the complex environment of deep space. As a vision-based autonomous navigation technology, image-based navigation enables spacecraft to obtain real-time images of the target celestial body surface through a variety of onboard remote sensing devices, and it achieves high-precision positioning using stable terrain features, demonstrating good autonomy and adaptability. Craters, due to their stable geometry and wide distribution, serve as one of the most important terrain features in deep space image-based navigation and have been widely adopted in practical missions. This paper systematically reviews the research progress of deep space image-based navigation technology, with a focus on the main sources of remote sensing data and a comprehensive summary of its typical applications in lunar, Martian, and asteroid exploration missions. Focusing on key technologies in image-based navigation, this paper analyzes core methods such as surface feature detection, including the accurate identification and localization of craters as critical terrain features in deep space exploration. On this basis, the paper further discusses possible future directions of image-based navigation technology in response to key challenges such as the scarcity of remote sensing data, limited computing resources, and environmental noise in deep space, including the intelligent evolution of image navigation systems, enhanced perception robustness in complex environments, hardware evolution of autonomous navigation systems, and cross-mission adaptability and multi-body generalization, providing a reference for subsequent research and engineering practice. Full article

The Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is framed as a flagship of Türkiye’s national low-carbon transition. This study examines how domestic economic actors perceive the project’s socio-economic and environmental impacts, and how those perceptions align with—or diverge from—official assessments and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Using a qualitative phenomenological approach, the research draws on 28 semi-structured interviews with members of the Silifke Chamber of Commerce and Industry Council. This lens captures how locally embedded businesses read the project’s risks and rewards in real time. Four themes stand out. First, respondents see a clear economic uptick—but one that feels time-bound and vulnerable to the project cycle. Second, many feel excluded from decision-making; as a result, their support remains conditional rather than open-ended. Third, participants describe environmental signals as ambiguous, paired with genuine ecological concern. Fourth, skepticism about governance intertwines with sovereignty anxieties, particularly around foreign ownership and control. Overall, while short-term economic benefits are widely acknowledged, support is tempered by procedural exclusion, environmental worry, and distrust of foreign control. Conceptually, the study contributes to energy-justice scholarship by elevating sovereignty as an additional dimension of justice and by highlighting the link between being shut out of processes and perceiving higher environmental risk. Policy implications follow directly: create robust, domestic communication channels; strengthen participatory governance so local actors have a real voice; and embed nuclear projects within regional development strategies so economic gains are durable and broadly shared. Full article

This study investigates the transformations of the Hungarian Catholic clergy during the 20th century in its social relations, self-perception, and attitudes, with a particular focus on the Diocese of Pécs. It concentrates on events that caused collective shock, such as the advance of the front and the Soviet occupation during World War II; the confiscation of church property; the enforced migration processes; and the impact of the Communist regime’s ecclesiastical and social policies. The analysis emphasizes the role- and context-dependent patterns discernible in the documents produced by the clergy concerning these events, particularly in the parish Historia Domus. The study models the impact of these violent reconfigurations on clergy dispositions within the framework of Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, specifically the notions of “cleft” and “plural habitus”, highlighting the significance of behavior patterns in praxis transmitted through generations of clergy. It interprets the discrepancy between the altered context of action and the long-established, “interiorized” habitus, considering the phenomenon of asynchronicity, and identifies general and context-specific characteristics through a method of historical comparison. Overall, the study offers a perspective that perceives the historically evolved specificities of the norm as intrinsically linked to the local context. Full article