Search Results (1,886)

Demand for camel milk products is growing in Morocco and worldwide, creating opportunities to strengthen the livelihoods of populations living in arid regions through the development of camel-based dairy value chains. In addition to their economic potential, such value chains may contribute to sustainability by supporting food systems adapted to arid environments, promoting the use of locally resilient livestock species, and enhancing the socio-economic viability of vulnerable rural communities. This exploratory qualitative study investigates urban consumer behavior related to dairy consumption with a specific focus on the potential integration of camel milk products into local dietary habits. To capture nuanced consumer perspectives, gender-segregated focus-group discussions were conducted in three Moroccan cities using a semi-structured questionnaire on dairy consumption habits. Key factors examined included milk types, product preferences, purchasing locations, consumption frequency and willingness to include camel products in the household diet. The results indicate that camel milk is rarely consumed outside areas where camels are raised. Nevertheless, participants expressed interest in several camel milk-based products, particularly fermented milk and spreadable cheeses. This interest was primarily driven by perceptions of camel milk as a healthy product and by its association with traditional food practices. These findings suggest that expanding camel milk consumption in urban markets could support more sustainable and territorially rooted dairy systems by linking consumer demand with production models suited to dryland conditions. This study indicates promising market opportunities for the development of camel milk products in urban areas, particularly if challenges related to pricing strategies, distribution network, and region-specific supply chains are strategically managed. Full article

Mediterranean forests are increasingly exposed to climate-related risks, including large wildfires, prolonged droughts and rural abandonment, making sustainable forest management (SFM) a key element for climate adaptation and territorial resilience. However, despite its recognised importance, the social acceptance of SFM remains insufficiently understood, particularly in relation to how public perceptions are shaped by media narratives and information ecosystems. This study addresses this gap by analysing the relationship between media framing and social acceptance of SFM in a Mediterranean context. A mixed-methods approach was applied in the Valencian region (Spain), combining (i) a systematic analysis of conventional and digital media, (ii) a system mapping exercise to identify dominant narratives and communication dynamics, and (iii) a population survey (n = 1070) focused on perceptions of forests, climate change and forest management. The results reveal a high level of environmental concern and climate awareness, coexisting with limited knowledge of SFM and simplified or distorted perceptions of forest dynamics. Media coverage is predominantly reactive and event-driven, strongly focused on wildfire events, while preventive and adaptive forest management practices remain largely invisible. In this context, support for SFM increases significantly when management practices are clearly explained and contextualised, indicating that resistance is more closely related to communication gaps than to ideological opposition. These findings highlight the critical role of media framing and communication processes in shaping the social acceptance of SFM. The study contributes to the literature by integrating media analysis and social perception within a forest governance perspective, and provides empirical insights to support more effective communication strategies and policy design in Mediterranean regions facing increasing climate pressures. Full article

Indigenous territories in Amazonia sustain forest cover through the practice of swidden-fallow agriculture, yet declining land availability threatens both the ecological sustainability of this agricultural system and its contributions to community livelihoods. While scholars recognize land scarcity’s potential to drive transformations in shifting cultivation systems, we lack a systematic understanding of how local institutional frameworks shape heterogeneous responses to resource constraints. This study examines how land access mechanisms, distribution dynamics and property regimes among Indigenous communities mediate experiences of and adaptations to land scarcity in the Peruvian Amazon. We conducted a comparative case study of Solidaridad and Tamboruna, two land-scarce Indigenous communities in Peru’s Napo River basin, employing mixed methods including household surveys (n = 74), plot-level assessments, and qualitative interviews with community leaders. Our findings reveal three critical pathways through which institutions mediate scarcity outcomes. First, land access mechanisms determine whether scarce resources produce equitable constraint or acute land inequality. Second, land use intensification emerges not from scarcity alone but from accumulated inequality and household labor capacity, with land accumulated over lifecycles showing stronger associations with management practices than initial endowments. Third, where scarcity manifests as extreme polarization, it precipitates renegotiation of land property norms shaped by Indigenous sociability and moral economies, defying straightforward trajectories toward either resource privatization or collective governance. These results demonstrate that land scarcity produces divergent trajectories mediated by community-specific institutions, with swidden-fallow systems likely diminishing their capacity to sustain forest regeneration in Indigenous communities where scarcity leads to acute land inequality. Rather than uniform solutions, sustainability policy must therefore tailor interventions to local institutional contexts—prioritizing territorial expansion, facilitating communities’ own governance development, and supporting household adaptive capacity to resource scarcity. Full article

Background: Contemporary coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is often performed in patients with diffuse atherosclerosis, severe calcification, prior percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and fragile myocardium, creating intraoperative scenarios that can compromise target selection, anastomotic quality, and completeness of revascularization. We synthesize operative strategies and outcomes across five predefined “complex CABG” scenarios. Methods: A focused literature review was performed targeting intraoperative CABG challenges in adult patients. Two reviewers independently screened titles/abstracts and selected studies describing operative details, technical considerations, or outcomes relevant to (1) intramyocardial/embedded coronaries, (2) severely calcified or diffuse disease requiring reconstruction, (3) small-caliber targets/flow-limited grafting, (4) iatrogenic right ventricular (RV) injury, and (5) failed PCI/stent-related surgical management. Disagreements were resolved through discussion and consensus. Results: Thirty core publications were synthesized across five complex intraoperative CABG scenarios (intramural/embedded coronaries n = 7; calcified/diffuse disease n = 7; small-caliber/flow-limited targets n = 7; iatrogenic RV injury n = 5; failed PCI/stent-related management n = 5). Intramural/embedded targets: reported intramyocardial LAD prevalence ranged from 2.2–13%, and studies emphasized structured localization strategies with a small but real risk of ventricular injury depending on technique. Severely calcified/diffuse disease: reconstructive approaches (endarterectomy, patch angioplasty, long-segment LAD reconstruction) were used to create graftable beds when standard anastomosis was not feasible, with series reporting acceptable early mortality and generally high early-to-midterm patency when paired with planned antithrombotic and imaging follow-up strategies. Small-caliber targets: vessel size alone did not preclude durable grafting when flow was optimized, with evidence supporting flow-augmenting designs (e.g., sequential grafting) and intraoperative flow verification to reduce low-flow failure in limited runoff beds. Iatrogenic RV injury: bailout techniques prioritized rapid hemostasis while preserving LAD/graft patency using buttressed closure concepts designed for constrained exposure and ongoing bleeding risk. Failed PCI/stent-related pathology: long stented segments shifted operative planning from distal target selection to target reconstruction (stentectomy/endarterectomy with long-segment LAD reconstruction), with angiographic follow-up cohorts demonstrating feasible revascularization but variable patency by territory and lesion extent. Conclusions: Complex CABG is best approached as structured, anatomy-driven problem-solving: deliberate target localization, creation of a graftable bed when needed, flow-augmenting graft design, and predefined bailout options. Standardized comparative studies are needed to define optimal strategies across these common clinically important scenarios. Full article

This research analyzed the role of Green Marketing (GM) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in promoting Corporate Sustainability (CS) across the environmental, social, and economic dimensions within the industrial sector in the Palestinian territories. Given the limited empirical evidence from developing and resource-constrained contexts, an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was employed. The quantitative phase involved a survey of 500 valid respondents, and the data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The quantitative findings were complemented by fifteen in-depth semi-structured interviews to further interpret and validate the survey results. The results indicate that GM showed the largest effect size and functions as a strategic approach for embedding sustainability values into organizational activities. AI also demonstrated a positive and supportive role by enhancing operational efficiency and monitoring capabilities within industrial processes. The interaction between AI and GM showed a statistically significant but relatively small effect, particularly in the social sustainability dimension, suggesting that AI may help reinforce the effectiveness of green marketing practices. The qualitative findings further illustrate how GM contributes to internal accountability, eco-design initiatives, stakeholder trust, and competitive positioning, while AI supports waste management, resource optimization, employee safety monitoring, forecasting accuracy, and sustainability reporting verification. Overall, the results suggest that GM and AI jointly contribute to improving corporate sustainability practices, with GM providing strategic direction and AI supporting operational implementation. This study contributes to the literature on sustainability, marketing, and digital transformation by providing empirical evidence on the interaction between green marketing and artificial intelligence in promoting corporate sustainability within a developing-country context. Full article

Large-scale urban tree donation campaigns are widely implemented worldwide as nature-based solutions for climate adaptation and mitigation; however, most programs lack individual-level traceability and post-donation monitoring, limiting accountability and evidence-based management. A fundamental prerequisite for longitudinal survival assessment is the existence of a reliable traceability infrastructure capable of linking individual trees to verified planting records over time. This study proposes and empirically evaluates a participatory digital traceability system that establishes this foundational infrastructure, conceptualized as a distributed data validation architecture for donation-based urban afforestation programs. The framework integrates (i) persistent digital identifiers, (ii) geospatial registration, (iii) distributed multi-stage validation, and (iv) structured citizen reporting, and is operationalized through an installation-free progressive web application (ArborizaCL). The approach was deployed in five real-world campaigns conducted in Valdivia, Chile (May–September 2025), registering 642 trees distributed to 240 participants. A total of 190 georeferenced planting reports were submitted, corresponding to an overall reporting rate of 29.6%. Reporting behavior varied substantially by institutional follow-up strategy: campaigns with active follow-up achieved a mean reporting rate of 54.0%, compared with 13.0% under passive strategies, yielding a 41.0 percentage point difference (315.8% relative increase). Spatial analysis of reported plantings showed a predominance of urban (51.1%) and peri-urban (42.1%) locations, enabling differentiated territorial assessment. These results indicate that while digital infrastructure enables traceability and transparent monitoring, sustained citizen engagement is strongly associated with institutional coordination mechanisms. Beyond environmental monitoring, the proposed framework contributes to information governance by demonstrating how participatory digital traceability systems can support distributed public-sector oversight and outcome-oriented evaluation. The framework provides a transferable methodological basis for strengthening monitoring capacity, transparency, and governance design in publicly funded afforestation initiatives and other distributed civic programs. Full article

Background and Clinical Significance: Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a reversible brain dysfunction typically associated with cirrhosis and portal hypertension. In these patients, portosystemic shunts allow ammonia and other toxins to bypass hepatic metabolism, leading to neurological symptoms. However, HE can also occur in non-cirrhotic patients through congenital shunts or, less commonly, through iatrogenic shunts following abdominal trauma or surgery. This case is clinically significant as it illustrates a rare presentation of recurrent HE caused by a de novo portosystemic shunt following major abdominal surgery in a patient without underlying liver disease. Case Presentation: A 76-year-old male was admitted with confusion, lethargy, and flapping tremors. His medical history included a total pancreatectomy for pancreatic adenocarcinoma six months prior. Laboratory tests revealed hyperammonemia and altered liver enzymes likely related to ongoing chemotherapy, but no signs of hepatic insufficiency or cirrhosis. A review of recent CT imaging identified a new portosystemic shunt between the portal territory and the azygous vein that was absent prior to his pancreatectomy. This iatrogenic shunt likely formed via the re-vascularization of vestigial vessels following surgical de-vascularization. The patient was successfully managed with lactulose and rifaximin. At 3-month follow-up, no further HE episodes had occurred. Conclusions: This case highlights that HE should be considered in patients without cirrhosis presenting with altered mental status and hyperammonemia, especially following abdominal surgery. It underscores the importance of a multidisciplinary approach and meticulous re-evaluation of imaging to identify iatrogenic vascular shunts that may be amenable to medical or interventional management. Full article

Cultural and natural heritage are increasingly framed as components of territorial governance rather than isolated conservation elements; yet, a structural gap persists between their strategic recognition in planning documents and their measurable integration into statutory land-use systems that guide spatial decision-making. This gap is particularly pronounced in protected areas, where ecological integrity, cultural and symbolic values, tourism functions, and socio-economic expectations converge within environmentally sensitive landscapes. This study develops and empirically applies a compatibility-based analytical framework that embeds Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) within the statutory spatial planning system of Kozara National Park. The framework combines (i) institutional analysis of legally binding planning instruments, (ii) zoning-aligned analytical units derived from the Special-Purpose Spatial Plan and Management Plan, and (iii) a weighted multi-criteria model incorporating ecological integrity, cultural–historical significance, tourism and recreation capacity under controlled use, and socio-economic feasibility. Climate-related disturbance exposure is incorporated as a planning-relevant modifier of ecological compatibility. Composite compatibility scores under the baseline configuration range from 2.55 to 3.85 across analytical units. Rank correlation analysis suggests a high degree of structural consistency across both alternative weighting configurations relative to the baseline scenario (Spearman’s ρ ≈ 0.90), with only limited rank reordering observed, primarily between the two highest-ranked analytical units. Dispersed low-intensity recreational configurations demonstrate the highest structural robustness, whereas infrastructure-intensive zones exhibit management-dependent compatibility. The findings show how spatial planning in protected areas can operationalize compatibility as a measurable decision-support principle without substituting statutory zoning logic. Full article

The European Union’s Just Transition Mechanism (JTM) is a public investment instrument aimed at supporting territorially differentiated pathways toward climate neutrality. The study aims to analyse territorial disparities in the implementation of the European Union’s JTM and to interpret these differences through the framework of multi-level public investment management. The study examines key dimensions of implementation, including territorial disparities, differences in instrument uptake, and temporal relationships between commitments and socio-economic outcomes. Methodologically, the research employs a comparative analytical approach based on the analysis of secondary EU data and programme sources. The empirical analysis focuses on NUTS3 transition regions under Territorial Just Transition Plans. The results indicate substantial cross-country variation in the territorial coverage of the mechanism and in the mobilisation of its three financial pillars. The implementation structure remains strongly dominated by grant-based financing, while the uptake of non-grant instruments remains uneven and relatively limited. The analysis also identifies time lags between commitments, payments, and socio-economic indicators. By linking public investment management with sustainability transitions and territorial resilience perspectives, the study contributes to understanding how sustainability objectives are translated into territorially embedded investment practices within the EU. Full article

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are the two dominant revascularisation strategies for obstructive coronary artery disease, yet their relative roles continue to shift because they address coronary pathophysiology differently with ever-evolving techniques. PCI has advanced through iterative improvements, including balloon angioplasty, bare-metal stents, and drug-eluting stents, with contemporary outcomes increasingly driven by procedural optimisation using intracoronary imaging and physiology-guided lesion selection rather than device category alone. CABG has progressed through perioperative management, improvements in operative safety, and, critically, conduit durability. Recognition of progressive saphenous vein graft failure has underpinned a conduit-optimisation era in which the left internal mammary artery to left anterior descending artery remains the gold standard. Further, broader arterial grafting (including radial artery use, multiple arterial grafting, and selected total-arterial strategies) has been increasingly applied, albeit with deliverability and competing-risk constraints highlighted in randomised evidence. This perspective review reframes the CABG versus PCI comparison not as a binary contest, but as a context-dependent assessment in which the relative value of each strategy depends on the specific technologies, techniques, and conduits available at the time of comparison. We summarise comparative effectiveness where evidence is most consistent and where it remains sensitive to anatomy, comorbidity, and endpoint definitions. In diabetes with multivessel disease, trial data favour CABG for long-term survival and clinical outcomes despite higher stroke risk. In left main disease, outcomes depend on lesion pattern and overall complexity, with trial-era stent technology and composite endpoint definitions influencing conclusions. In ischaemic left ventricular dysfunction, a long-term survival benefit is established for CABG added to medical therapy, while multi-vessel PCI has not demonstrated comparable prognostic modification in contemporary data. We then examine hybrid coronary revascularisation as territory-specific allocation, highlighting its physiological rationale, program dependence, and limited, adequately powered randomised evidence. Finally, we outline how artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics may accelerate a precision revascularisation paradigm by standardising lesion assessment, supporting procedural planning, improving procedural reproducibility, and enabling more patient-specific selection among PCI, contemporary CABG with optimised conduits, and hybrid pathways. Full article

Electricity demand forecasting is essential for optimizing energy management and planning in microgrids and institutional contexts. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how flexibility characterization can serve as a structural foundation for prediction, providing a contextualized framework that surpasses the limitations of traditional approaches. Representative trajectories (A–D), derived from entropy and variability metrics, were consolidated from historical user data and used as the basis for modeling. Two complementary approaches were implemented: ARIMA models, which capture endogenous dynamics, and ARX models, which extend this capacity by incorporating exogenous cyclical variables (hour, day of the week, month) and lagged predictors. A systematic grid search was conducted to identify optimal parameter configurations, followed by validation through rolling forecasts with a 24-h horizon, relevant for operators of microgrids, institutional managers, and energy planners. Performance was evaluated using MAE, RMSE, MAPE, and SMAPE, ensuring comparability across trajectories. Results show that ARIMA consistently achieved lower error rates in stable trajectories (A and C), with SMAPE values around 2.0%, while ARX provided substantial improvements in irregular ones (B and C), reducing SMAPE from 3.7–5.9% to approximately 2.2–2.6%. In highly irregular profiles (D), all models converged to similar accuracy (SMAPE ≈ 9.0%). When applied to individual users, predictive errors varied more widely depending on trajectory assignment: stable users showed SMAPE values around 3–4%, while irregular users exhibited much higher errors, exceeding 18–21%. Unlike conventional methods that treat characterization and prediction as separate processes, this study integrates both into a unified framework, enabling forecasts to capture stability, cyclicity, and adaptability. The methodology was further applied to individual users by assigning them to representative trajectories and adjusting predictions through baseline scaling. Overall, the findings demonstrate that embedding forecasts within characterized trajectories transforms prediction into a contextualized analysis of flexibility, enabling accurate short-term forecasts and supporting practical applications in energy planning, demand management, and economic dispatch. The framework has been designed to support electricity demand forecasting across multiple contexts, from microgrids and institutional systems to larger territorial and national scales. Through contextual calibration, the methodology ensures adaptability and broader relevance for energy forecasting and demand-side management. Full article

In response to worsening environmental challenges, ensuring the continuity of energy services during extreme weather events has become increasingly urgent. A proactive and coordinated approach is therefore required, encouraging cooperation among stakeholders to share knowledge, provide training, and adopt common strategies. Such an approach is intended to mitigate both direct and indirect impacts of power outages on territorial systems, while enhancing their ability to manage and promptly recover from disruptions, thereby reinforcing the protection and resilience of the energy sector infrastructures. Based on the experience gained with the Lombardia Region (Northern Italy), operational recommendations are proposed to strengthen territorial resilience and reduce power network vulnerabilities to weather-related power outages. These recommendations are elaborated in accordance with the current European and national regulatory frameworks on the topic and account for emerging exposure and vulnerability factors in Lombardia by explicitly addressing differences between mountain and plain areas. They provide local authorities with coordinated planning tools to manage blackout risks across all disaster phases, supporting risk prevention and preparedness, facilitating emergency management, and enabling the rapid restoration of normal conditions in territories potentially exposed and vulnerable to electrical blackouts. Full article

Rapid digitalization and artificial intelligence are restructuring land systems by altering the functional relationship between built environments, socio-ecological processes, and territorial capital accumulation. This paper provides a conceptual and literature-based analysis of how hybrid physical–digital infrastructures are reshaping urban–rural interactions, land-use intensity, and long-term sustainability conditions. Rather than developing a fully operational measurement model, the study critically examines the limitations of aggregate productivity indicators and existing evaluation frameworks in capturing spatial reorganization processes, capital durability, and long-term dynamics. Building on insights from sustainability economics and socio-ecological systems research, the paper proposes a stock–flow interpretative perspective to better understand the interaction between physical, natural, and intangible capital within evolving land systems. The analysis focuses on three structural drivers of land system transformation: (i) the virtualization of services and the expansion of cyberspace-based infrastructures; (ii) demographic contraction and aging processes affecting land demand and settlement structures; and (iii) capital deepening in energy-intensive digital networks with implications for land–climate interactions. Within this context, particular attention is given to infrastructure life-cycle dynamics, entropy-related capital decay, and the role of artificial intelligence in reshaping labor–land relationships. The paper highlights the need for new evaluation approaches capable of distinguishing between value generated through material land transformation and value emerging from intangible and digital layers. In this sense, it aims to contribute to ongoing debates on land management and spatial planning by outlining a research agenda for the development of spatially grounded, stock–flow-based sustainability metrics. The findings suggest that future land governance and urban development strategies will need to explicitly account for hybrid spatial architectures and their long-term resource and climate implications in order to preserve territorial resilience and intergenerational equity. Full article

The aspiring United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Global Geopark of Chefchaouen includes part of the Talassemtane National Park (TNP), classified by UNESCO as an exceptional natural heritage site within the Intercontinental Mediterranean Biosphere Reserve (RBIM). The other section corresponds to the Ghomara Coast (GC), characterized by an outstanding succession of metamorphic rocks. This study identifies and highlights the most significant sites of geological interest (geosites and geodiversity sites) in the territory. Forty-two sites are proposed as geological heritage sites, thirty of which are organized into four accessible georoutes (Oued Laou Valley, Ghomara Coast, Talambote–Akchour, and Chaouen–Ametrasse), while the other twelve are located along trails and forest tracks inside or near the TNP. These sites cover a wide range of geological typologies, including structural geology, stratigraphy–sedimentology, paleontology, geomaterials, petrology, geomorphology, and hydrogeology. To classify and rank the sites objectively, a numerical methodology based on the recent literature was applied. Scientific value (SV), Potential Educational Use (PEU), and Potential Touristic Use (PTU) were quantified using multiple criteria, facilitating route selection according to user needs. Degradation Risk (DR) was also measured, providing managers with essential guidance for an appropriate geoconservation plan. Actions consistent with UNESCO Global Geoparks Network criteria are proposed to improve conservation, support education, and promote sustainable tourism, thereby enhancing economic activity in the region. The initiative aims to promote the region’s exceptional geological, cultural, and natural heritage. The Chefchaouen Geopark was designated a deferred candidate during the UNESCO Global Geoparks Council meeting of 8–9 September 2024. According to Section 5.5 of its guidelines, the Council may defer an application for up to two years to allow improvements without requiring a second field evaluation. To consolidate the Chefchaouen candidacy, we developed a strategy to strengthen compliance with UNESCO requirements, reduce the risk of final rejection, and maintain the territory’s credibility with international networks and partners. This work presents an operational, costed, and scheduled roadmap enabling stakeholders at all levels to converge toward a complete and coherent application. Full article

The increasing frequency of disasters caused by landslides, mainly due to climate change leading to more intense extreme events, requires reliable predictive models for risk mitigation. Italy, in particular, is a country at high risk of landslides, but the lack of an updated catalogue of landslide activation dates poses a significant challenge for defining reliable activation thresholds. This study develops a methodology for mapping landslide susceptibility based on events in a pilot area of central Italy, integrating a database of landslides with known activation dates with predisposing and triggering parameters. Two statistical techniques were compared to assess their predictive performance in discriminating landslide from non-landslide conditions during extreme precipitation events. A comparison between binary logistic regression (BLR) and decision trees (QUEST) revealed the clear superiority of the BLR model, which achieved excellent predictive accuracy (AUC = 0.913). The model identified clay-rich lithology, gentle slopes (0–16°) and maximum daily precipitation as the most significant controlling factors. This result led to the generation of three derivative products: a susceptibility map, a hazard map for an extreme precipitation scenario with a 100-year return period, and a spatially distributed map of activation thresholds. This threshold map quantifies the intensity of precipitation required to exceed a critical probability of landslide initiation (p > 0.7) at any point in the territory. The susceptibility map highlights critical areas within the study area, while the hazard map also includes the return period of the event. The threshold map is a direct and operational tool for early warning systems, transforming a statistical model into a guide for real-time risk management. The study area serves as a pilot area that could allow this methodology to be replicated. With the integration of real-time meteorological data, it could function as a real-time warning system. The proposed framework therefore provides a directly actionable tool for civil protection agencies, land-use planning authorities, and emergency managers, enabling location-specific rainfall alert thresholds to be issued rather than a single regional value, with the potential to reduce both false alarms and missed warnings. Full article