Search Results (5,521)

The 15-minute city (15minC) concept has gained popularity in policy circles as a model of sustainable transportation systems, but there has not been enough empirical study done on its application to suburban peripheries with low-density residential patterns and a significant reliance on cars. In two Southern European suburban living labs—Las Rozas de Madrid, Spain, and Alverca do Ribatejo (Vila Franca de Xira), Portugal—the study examines the impact of 15minC policy initiatives on urban social equity from four distinct angles: proximity equity, modal equity, digital equity, and participatory equity. It is clear from SWOT analysis and focus group data that both study areas’ spatial layouts are geared toward promoting the use of private vehicles, which poses significant accessibility challenges for the elderly, low-income families, and the digitally marginalized population. Modal accessibility research reveals accessibility disparities of 40–60 percentage points for key amenities between walking and driving. Because digital transformation initiatives prioritize technology advancements above expanded service accessibility, they may worsen disparities in urban accessibility. Conversely, social strata whose mobility is particularly vulnerable are still not included in participation plans. It is concluded that a more redistributive transportation strategy is necessary for a fair suburban mobility transition. Full article

The development of biodegradable composite materials offers a sustainable alternative to conventional synthetic polymers, particularly in short-lived applications. In this context, the incorporation of nanoscale reinforcements can improve mechanical properties without compromising the material’s degradability. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the composting behavior of a composite material based on low-density polyethylene (LDPE), potato starch, and cellulose acetate nanofibers (NFCA). The material’s degradability and mechanical stability were analyzed over 180 days according to the ASTM D5988 standard. The nanofibers were produced via electrospinning, yielding an average diameter of approximately 85 nm. The composite material was prepared using twin-screw extrusion followed by injection molding to produce ASTM D638 test specimens. The effects of biodegradation were evaluated through mass loss, CO₂ generation in a desiccator, tensile testing, Shore D hardness measurements, and microstructural analysis via scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results demonstrated a progressive increase in CO₂ generation, particularly in the reinforced formulations (up to 111.76%). The formulation containing 3% NFCA exhibited the greatest mass loss (20.28%). Tensile testing revealed moderate reductions in maximum stress (1.66–8.44%), whereas hardness increased by up to 5.4% in the reinforced formulations. SEM analysis revealed increased porosity as the composting period progressed. The findings suggest that the incorporation of NFCA enhances biodegradative performance, as evidenced by increased CO₂ evolution, mass loss, and morphological changes during composting. Full article

Background/Objectives: Traditional community oral health programs (COHPs) often remain reactive, clinic-based, and insufficiently integrated with medical, social, and aged-care systems. As a result, they may be poorly positioned to address the needs of older adults experiencing multimorbidity, mobility limitations, cognitive impairment, care dependency, and financial or geographic barriers. This paper proposes SPACES, an implementation-oriented conceptual framework for designing, delivering, and evaluating community oral health programs for older adults. Methods: SPACES was developed through a targeted interpretive synthesis of peer-reviewed literature, policy guidance, and implementation-oriented sources related to oral health, healthy aging, integrated care, access barriers, workforce development, and sustainable service delivery. Results: The framework comprises six interconnected domains: Scalable Prevention and Education, Partnerships Across Sectors, Adaptive Care Coordination, Community Access Solutions, Empowered Workforce Development, and Sustainable Service Models. It is intended primarily for adults aged 60 years and older, while allowing adaptation in jurisdictions that use 65 years and older as the eligibility threshold. The framework applies across community, home care, assisted living, and long-term care settings. SPACES organizes evidence-informed components for older-adult oral health, including routine screening, caregiver-supported daily mouth care, risk-stratified prevention, referral pathways, proximity-based service delivery, geriatric workforce competencies, task sharing, sustainable financing, governance, and quality improvement. Conclusions: SPACES is presented not as a tested intervention but as a conceptual and program-planning tool to help planners clarify responsibilities, identify equity gaps, align cross-sector resources, and select measurable implementation indicators. Future stakeholder refinement and empirical evaluation are needed through co-design, pragmatic implementation studies, and real-world assessment of feasibility, acceptability, cost, equity impact, and oral health outcomes. Full article

Thomas Aquinas holds a dual role as a profound philosopher and theologian and root of the Thomist thinking that has shaped Catholic thought for centuries. The paper distinguishes four operations through which the Thomist tradition has sustained itself across the centuries—exegesis, translation, application, and friendly amendment. The paper argues that Analytic and Grammatical Thomism share a common genealogy in mid-century Catholic Oxbridge philosophy but a different method. Analytic Thomism translates Thomas’s thought into analytic terms and places Thomas in dialog with contemporary philosophy. Grammatical Thomism reorders Thomas’s thought to place forms of life and language prior to metaphysics using Wittgenstein’s philosophical grammar. The paper defends Grammatical Thomism as a legitimate, though controversial, form of the tradition against the claim that such amendment is a capitulation to other forms of thought rather than a proper extension of Thomism. The paper concludes by examining the substantial and resolute readings of religious language as an example of Thomism engaging with a live debate within the Wittgenstein scholarship. Full article

This study was developed within the framework of the GOLL (Green Olympic Living Lab and Environment Change) project, promoted by the Municipality of Coimbra, Portugal. The project uses the Mário Mexia Multisport Pavilion (MMMP) and the Olympic Swimming Pools Complex (OSPC) as living lab case studies for sustainability-oriented sports infrastructure management. The study combines a review of best practices in sustainable sports facilities with an applied case study focusing on infrastructure characterisation and the identification of intervention requirements (InRs). The review addresses the environmental, economic, and social dimensions of sustainable sports facilities, including energy and water efficiency, digital technologies, renewable energy integration, waste management, mobility, certification systems, and user inclusion. The adopted methodology integrates a literature review, technical inspections, and the analysis of building systems and resource consumption. The findings highlight the significant potential for improving operational performance, resource efficiency, and overall sustainability by adopting more integrated maintenance and management approaches. However, practical implementation remains dependent on overcoming challenges related to costs, data integration, and stakeholder engagement. The paper also discusses the potential adoption of integrated maintenance approaches, including the potential adoption of tailored digital management solutions and certification schemes, which may support more structured and proactive management. Within the GOLL living lab environment, this contributes to more informed technical, operational, and policy decision-making for the sustainable rehabilitation and management of sports facilities. Full article

Background: Processed extracellular lipid–protein preparations require rigorous analytical characterization to determine whether their compositional profile, processing stability, and short-term cellular compatibility are preserved across storage and handling conditions. Methods: In this study, we quantitatively characterized a processed phospholipoproteic secretome-derived formulation under fresh, concentrated, cryopreserved, and lyophilized conditions. Results: Label-free quantitative proteomic analyses performed using timsTOF Pro mass spectrometry coupled to dia-PASEF acquisition identified 574 human proteins across all experimental conditions following predefined analytical quality criteria. Comparative analyses demonstrated preservation of the overall structural proteomic profile following processing and storage procedures, with retention of membrane-associated and extracellular structural proteins consistently exceeding 90% relative to the fresh reference condition. Quantitative reproducibility remained high across all experimental groups, with coefficients of variation ranging from 3.0% to 4.5% and strong inter-replicate Pearson correlations. Principal component analysis, hierarchical clustering, peptide/protein overlap analyses, and differential expression profiling demonstrated limited proteomic divergence while preserving the majority of quantified proteins within conserved abundance ranges. Complementary real-time live-cell kinetic imaging performed in non-malignant dermal-derived cells using the IncuCyte^® S3 platform demonstrated stable short-term confluence kinetics and cellular viability exceeding 92% over 48 h across all evaluated formulations. No sustained proliferative suppression or detectable morphological evidence of cytotoxicity was observed. Collectively, these findings support the preservation of compositional stability, analytical reproducibility, and short-term ex vivo cellular compatibility across defined processing and storage conditions. These integrated proteomic and kinetic datasets provide a quantitative framework for the analytical evaluation of processed extracellular phospholipoproteic preparations, while functional barrier activity, membrane incorporation, lipid raft engagement, and long-term tissue-level effects remain to be addressed in dedicated future studies. Full article

Tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV are infectious diseases that have become major global health problems. Efforts to reduce the incidence and mortality of tuberculosis have undergone a long process, resulting in a significant annual decrease of up to 2%. In a single year, malaria cases can reach nearly 230,000,000, with up to 400,000 deaths worldwide. Meanwhile, approximately 37,000,000 people were living with HIV worldwide in 2020, with about 690,000 deaths due to AIDS reported in the same year. Within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 3 on good health and well-being, one of the key targets is to end the epidemics of tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV. This research examines the effects of various interventions on tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV coinfection. The interventions considered include preventive measures, mosquito nets, insecticides, contraception, tuberculosis treatment, malaria treatment, and antiretroviral (ARV) therapy for HIV. The mathematical model of tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV coinfection is well-defined, as it is proven to have non-negative solutions, to be bounded, and to remain within the positive invariant region. The tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV sub-models each have an asymptotically stable equilibrium when the basic reproduction number is less than one. Based on the results of numerical simulations of the sub-models, it can be observed that when the basic reproduction number exceeds one, the disease spreads throughout the population. Full article

Background: Immune fitness (IF) reflects the body’s ability to mount appropriate immune responses. Monitoring IF could improve tailored treatment in oncological rehabilitation. The Immune Status Questionnaire (ISQ) and the Single-Item Scale (SIS) were developed to assess IF, but their clinimetric properties in cancer rehabilitation remain unknown. Aims: To evaluate the construct validity, responsiveness, and correlation between the ISQ and the SIS in oncological rehabilitation. Methods: The study population included people participating in oncological rehabilitation during or within one year after medical treatment. Data were collected prospectively via questionnaires. Construct validity and responsiveness were assessed through predefined hypotheses, including correlations with fatigue, sleep problems, malnutrition risk, activity impairment, and physical functioning. Results: In total, 97 individuals were included in the analyses. Median ISQ and SIS scores were 8/10 and 7/10, respectively. Correlations ranged from r = −0.21 to r = −0.50. Only the SIS correlations with fatigue and physical functioning, and the ISQ correlation with fatigue, met the predefined thresholds. Responsiveness hypotheses were not confirmed. Conclusions: The ISQ and the SIS demonstrated low construct validity and responsiveness in this population. IF scores were higher than expected. Correlations showed links between fatigue, physical functioning, and IF. Future research should develop tools tailored to the complex immune disturbances experienced by cancer survivors. Full article

Higher education is increasingly asked to prepare learners for societies shaped by artificial intelligence, ecological destabilization, labour-market reconfiguration, and declining institutional trust. Yet many universities remain governed by a scarcity model: knowledge transmission, durable credentials, and economic productivity. This article argues that the model is structurally misaligned with emerging conditions because the central educational challenge is shifting from knowledge scarcity to power abundance. The deeper crisis is not a deficit of knowledge production but a deficit of formation: higher education has underdeveloped the human capacities required to use technologically amplified power wisely, meaningfully and responsibly. The article develops this argument through a conceptual design with an embedded systematized scoping review and thematic synthesis across higher education studies, AI governance, futures and foresight, sustainability transitions, human flourishing, wisdom science, and research metrics. It proposes flourishing stewardship as a new first principle for higher education: the cultivation of persons and institutions capable of pursuing meaningful lives while preserving and advancing the conditions for shared human and planetary flourishing. The article contributes the Flourishing Stewardship Transformation Model, linking external transition conditions, scarcity-model misalignment, the power–wisdom gap, six formation capacities, and five institutional transformation levers. The model is operationalized through design questions, researchable indicators, and propositions for future empirical testing. The paper contributes to technological forecasting and social change by positioning higher education as a socio-technical transition infrastructure whose purpose is not merely to adapt learners to technological change, but to form the human agency needed to govern it. Full article

This study examines all 48 members of the Japanese Geoparks Network to explore how human societies live with the Active Earth in one of the world’s most tectonically active regions. Rather than treating geoparks as separate sites, the study analyzes them collectively in terms of geoheritage, geohazards, hydrological environments, and community-based activities. The study is organized around four interconnected perspectives: (1) local geoheritage and Deep Time, (2) geohazards linking Human Time and Deep Time, (3) human life within Earth-system circulation, and (4) people and local communities connected through geopark participation. The results show that Japanese geoparks collectively preserve records of plate subduction, magmatism, accretion, crustal deformation, uplift, erosion, and hydrological processes that have shaped the Japanese active margin over hundreds of millions of years. These same processes continue to influence contemporary society through earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, water resources, ecosystems, agriculture, fisheries, and regional livelihoods. This nationwide analysis suggests that Japanese geoparks can be understood not only as sites for geoheritage conservation or tourism, but also as places where people recognize and sustain relationships among Earth-system processes, everyday life, and local communities. Full article

The future of the planet depends largely on human beings, who currently occupy a dominant position among living species. This condition highlights the importance of global efforts to ensure that the sustainability of life on Earth remains a central priority, as articulated in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This paper investigates how sustainability and education have been represented in research publications in Indonesia. This study reviews the development of sustainability and education research in Indonesia using a systematic literature review (SLR) supported by structured content analysis and descriptive mapping. A total of 362 documents were retrieved from the Scopus database using specific keywords. The systematic review reveals an upward trend in publications over the past nine years, with universities in Java playing a dominant role, and a significant acceleration in knowledge production during the last five years. This increase is accompanied by growing diversity in research topics, domains, keywords, and methodological approaches. One of the most notable findings is the prominence of service-based learning (SBL), which appears to be a distinctive feature of higher education pedagogy in Indonesia. Full article

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection remains a major cause of chronic liver disease worldwide, with potential progression to advanced fibrosis, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and extrahepatic disease. According to World Health Organization estimates, approximately 50 million people worldwide live with chronic HCV infection, and nearly 1 million new infections occur each year. In 2022, approximately 242,000 deaths were attributed to hepatitis C, mainly from cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Chronic infection develops when antiviral immune response fails to eliminate the virus. Viral clearance requires early innate immune activation, effective antigen presentation, broad HCV-specific CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T-cell responses and durable immune memory. Dendritic cells play a pivotal role in this process by linking innate and adaptive immunity. In chronic HCV infection, dendritic cells may be reduced in number and show impaired maturation, lower interleukin (IL)-12 production, higher IL-10 expression and weaker stimulation of HCV-specific CD4⁺ T-cell responses. This review discusses the role of dendritic cells (DCs) in HCV infection, with emphasis on DCs’ phenotype and function in acute and chronic disease. It also summarizes immune changes after direct-acting antiviral (DAA)-induced sustained virologic response (SVR), including partial recovery of innate immune responses and persistent residual immune dysregulation. When accessible and appropriately selected, modern direct-acting antiviral therapy substantially improves outcomes for patients with HCV infection. Full article

Previous morphological studies have confirmed that Canton settlements maintain a stable cultural landscape sequence consisting of ponds, open spaces, ancestral halls, residences, and forests. Villages in the Dongjiang River Basin exhibit an inherent coordination between cultural landscape patterns and rainwater drainage and storage systems, contributing to strong resilience against frequent heavy rainfall events. This study selects Jiangbian Village in Dongguan as a case study and develops a quantitative analysis framework by integrating GIS and SWMM (Storm Water Management Model). Using DEM-derived terrain data and land use interpretation, a hydrological model incorporating ponds, drainage channels, paddy fields, and threshing floors was established. Five levels of functional failure severity and five design rainfall return periods were applied to systematically evaluate hydrological regulation performance. The results show that (1) ponds serve as the core water-storage component of the entire system, and a 25% reduction in their functionality leads to a substantial decline in flood mitigation capacity. Paddy field ridges and drainage channels jointly provide secondary buffering functions, while village boundary structures play a significant role in flood regulation. These landscape elements possess distinct hydrological functions and collectively shape the production, living, and ecological landscapes of the village. (2) Influenced by steep topographic gradients, the village adopts a spatial configuration characterized by horizontal alleys and terraced forms, which enhance transverse drainage and connect ponds through longitudinal channels. This comb-like settlement pattern demonstrates strong adaptation to local terrain conditions. This study reveals the terrain-adaptation characteristics of traditional Canton villages and provides valuable insights for the sustainable conservation of rural cultural landscapes. Full article

Artificial feeds are considered a sustainable alternative to natural live feeds for mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi) aquaculture, but their impacts on hepatic metabolism and growth remain unclear. In this study, a total of 800 adult mandarin fish with an initial mean body weight of 152.4 ± 8.7 g were reared for 150 days, and we compared growth performance, liver histology and liver metabolomics of fish fed artificial (AF) or natural live feeds (NF). No significant differences were observed in body length, weight, or condition factor, but the hepatosomatic index (HSI) was significantly higher in the AF group (p < 0.01), accompanied by visible hepatomegaly, pale liver color and severe hepatic steatosis. Partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) showed clear separation of liver metabolomes between groups. Metabolic correlation network analysis revealed tightly connected functional modules of amino acids and lipids, and key metabolites demonstrated significant group-specific changes: energy metabolism intermediates (L-alanine, α-ketoglutarate, phosphoenolpyruvate) and stress-related indicators (cortisol, γ-aminobutyric acid) were significantly upregulated in the NF group, whereas lipid metabolites (cholesterol, phosphatidylcholine, ceramide) and progesterone were remarkably elevated in the AF group. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis revealed upregulation of lipid-related pathways in the AF group and FoxO signaling pathway in the NF group. These findings confirm that artificial feeds drive hepatic lipid metabolism reprogramming without altering growth, but induce obvious hepatic steatosis in mandarin fish. Our findings provide a metabolic foundation for optimizing artificial feed formulations to improve hepatic health and sustainable culture of mandarin fish. Full article

Urban traffic congestion is a primary driver of greenhouse gas emissions, wasted fuel, and degraded air quality, presenting a significant barrier to achieving sustainable cities (SDG 11) and climate action (SDG 13). Standard Adaptive Traffic Signal Control (ATSC) systems are either financially prohibitive for developing countries or lack certified safety mechanisms for physical deployment on live roads. This paper proposes and validates SYTRAC (System for Adaptive Traffic Control), a low-cost, safety-critical Adaptive Traffic Signal Control system designed for resource-constrained urban environments. SYTRAC implements an asynchronous co-design that combines real-time visual vehicle detection on an NVIDIA Jetson Nano GPU with deterministic safety execution on a Siemens S7-1200 Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). The core of the system is the Density-Weighted Adaptive Green Extension (DWAGE) algorithm. DWAGE provides a stable, interpretable, and computationally lightweight alternative to complex optimization methods such as genetic algorithms, particle swarm optimization, or Deep Reinforcement Learning. We establish a formal mathematical queue-stability guarantee using a closed-form Foster–Lyapunov drift argument. A three-mode fault-tolerant state machine with a 2 s watchdog automatically transitions to fixed-time fallback in the event of hardware or camera stream failures, protecting physical intersection safety. The system was validated through hardware-in-the-loop field deployments at a live intersection in Ouargla, Algeria. SYTRAC achieved a statistically significant 22.1% reduction in average vehicle delay ($p<0.001$), while microscopic simulations confirmed up to 28.0% delay suppression during lane-blockage incidents. Critically, this delay reduction translates to an environmental saving of 53.5–72 kg of CO₂ avoided per day, alongside annual fuel savings of 8430 L. Assembled within a $1257 hardware budget, SYTRAC delivers a cost-effective, open-source, and reproducible platform that bridges the gap between adaptive intelligence and industrial safety, providing a scalable blueprint for sustainable urban traffic management in emerging economies. Full article