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Toward safer gold: Policy pathways for reducing mercury related health risks in artisanal small-scale gold mining in Ghana
No full textAlthough small-scale gold mining plays a vital role in supporting livelihoods and local economies in Ghana, it is associated with the widespread use of mercury, which poses significant environmental and public health risks across the country. This study examines artisanal miners’ knowledge, perceptions, and practices related to mercury use, with particular attention to its health and sustainability implications. Based on qualitative interviews conducted during field work in Ghana, the study reveals that while miners are aware of some immediate risks associated with mercury use, there is limited understanding of the long-term environmental and health consequences. The study explains the importance of incorporating local perspectives into policy responses to better align economic development with environmental protection in artisanal mining communities. It concludes by proposing a comprehensive policy framework to phase out mercury use in artisanal small-scale mining and offers avenues for future research. © 2025 Elsevier Ltd
Professional values of dentists in the Republic of Korea: Influence of clinical experience and competitive pressure
No full textBackground: Dentists’ professional values are shaped by means of both career stage and competitive environments. The authors examined how clinical experience and perceived competitive pressure influence Korean dentists’ professional values and explored their broader applicability. Methods: An online cross-sectional, web-based survey was conducted in May 2024 among 28,949 members of the Korean Dental Association, of whom 1,932 completed the questionnaire. Professional values (eg, prestige, service, business expansion, scholarly pursuit, lifestyle, autonomy, and the dentist-patient relationship) were assessed as outcome variables and the following 2 explanatory variables were examined: years of clinical experience and perceived competitive pressure. Data were analyzed using t tests, 1-way analysis of variance, and multivariable linear regression analyses (α = .05). Results: Among respondents, 40.0% had 20 years or more of clinical experience and 57.0% reported experiencing high competitive pressure. Dentists with more experience placed greater importance on prestige, service, and scholarly pursuit, and those with fewer years emphasized lifestyle and business expansion. Competitive pressure had weaker effects; dentists experiencing high competitive pressure valued lifestyle more but service less. Autonomy and the dentist-patient relationship consistently had no significant group differences (P value of autonomy .369 and .597, P value of dentist-patient relationship .075 and .380 for years of clinical experience and competitive pressure, respectively). Multivariable regression confirmed that clinical experience was a stronger and more consistent predictor of professional values than competitive pressure. Conclusions: Dentists’ professional values are dynamic and context-dependent, evolving with career stage while retaining stable core elements of professionalism. Understanding these dynamics requires a life course perspective that accounts for practice environments. Practical Implications: Dental workforce planning and continuing education programs should account for generational and practice environment differences, providing targeted support for younger dentists, strengthening professional identity, and ensuring sustainability of the profession. © 2025 American Dental Associatio
Do Variations in State Consultation Programs Affect Construction Fatality Rates?
No full textBackground: Along with its enforcement program, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a voluntary consultation program that responds to requests from firms to identify hazards at their workplaces. We studied the effects of this program on fatal work injuries in the construction industry. Methods: We first examined differences across states in their consultation programs using data from 2016 through 2022, during which time 47,418 consultation visits were conducted in construction. These included differences in frequency of consultation visits at construction firms, the average number of hazards identified per visit, and the scope of those visits. We then used regression analysis to identify the connection between those characteristics and the state\u27s construction fatality rate. We distinguished between the 21 State Plan states which ran their own OSHA enforcement programs and the 29 states where Federal OSHA did the enforcement. Results: State Plan states generally had higher rates of consultation visits that covered more of the worksite and identified higher rates of serious hazards per 1000 workers than Federal states. In regression analyses, State Plan consultation rates were negatively and significantly related to their construction fatality rates. Interactions of consultation rates and average visit hazards or visit scope showed a significant negative relationship with construction fatality rates. The relationship for Federal states was similar though not always significant. Conclusions: More frequent consultation visits to a state\u27s construction firms and more hazards identified or greater visit scope were associated with lower construction fatality rates. © 2026 The Author(s). American Journal of Industrial Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC
Aligning place-making, community investment, and sustainability experiments: Ecodistricts in the Pittsburgh metro region
No full textUrban sustainability experiments are arising in cities worldwide to facilitate sustainability transitions. Experiments engage diverse coalitions in generating innovative solutions to on-the-ground development challenges in neighborhoods, campuses, and other districts. To interrogate experiments’ transformative potential, it is essential to unpack how they engage with uneven urban development patterns at multiple scales. Through a comparative qualitative case study of two ecodistricts in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania metropolitan region, this research engages a relational place-making lens to assess how experiments shape community investment dynamics. The analysis shows that the inclusivity of and the strength of alignments between place narratives, governance networks, and material landscapes within and beyond experiments influences how communities attract investment to sustainability projects and derive value from these investments. This highlights the importance of place-making to the embedded and multi-scalar dynamics through which experiments are mediated by and transform community investment and development patterns in cities. © 202
Stability of Positive Mass Theorem for Static Quasi-Local Energy of Compact (Locally) Hyperbolic Graphical Manifolds
No full textIn this paper, we consider compact graphical manifolds with boundary over a (locally) hyperbolic static space. We establish the stability of the positive mass theorem with respect to the Federer–Fleming flat distance, for the static quasi-local Brown–York energy of the outer boundary of compact (locally) hyperbolic graphical manifolds. © Mathematica Josephina, Inc. 2025
A bioinspired approach for adaptive solid-solid phase change material coatings with optimized surface features for passive thermal regulation
No full textThe necessity to reduce global energy consumption calls for innovative strategies in building thermal management. Passive thermal regulation, particularly through bio-inspired designs, offers a promising avenue by mimicking nature\u27s efficient control of optical properties. This research introduces a novel, climate-responsive coating that integrates optimized bio-inspired surface features with a solid-solid phase change material (SS-PCM) to dynamically manage solar absorptivity without adding additional thickness, enabling both heating and cooling as needed. Drawing on the photonic architectures of the Saharan silver ant and Morpho Didius butterfly, we employed a modeling and multi-objective optimization framework to tailor these surface features. Simulations reveal that surface texture, rather than the intrinsic phase transition of the SS PCM, dominates optical control. Relative to a flat SS PCM coating, optimized isotropic random roughness and broader range features yielded the highest passive heating power increase of about 144 % and 319 % respectively suitable for cold climates. Saharan ant-inspired features enhanced passive cooling for hot climates, achieving a 21.8 % improvement. For moderate climates, Butterfly-wing-inspired surface features provided a balanced enhancement of 19 % for heating and 7 % for cooling. Across all cases, the optimized surface features reduced combined heating and cooling energy demand more effectively than the baseline coating, while preserving material thickness. These findings demonstrate that climate-adaptive, optimized bio-inspired surface features can unlock the full potential of SS PCM coatings, providing a versatile pathway to significant energy savings in buildings and other applications. The methodology establishes a framework for designing next-generation adaptive envelopes that leverage natural photonic principles for high-impact, low-cost thermal regulation. © 2025 The Author(s)
Rhythms in Migration: Whispering Sidewalks and Japan\u27s Jazz Age Cinema
No full textThis chapter discusses the 1936 film Whispering Sidewalks (Hodo no sasayaki), a striking yet long-neglected Japanese jazz musical starring the Nisei (second-generation Japanese American) performer Fumiko Betty Inada (1913-2011). A semi-fictionalized account of Inada\u27s own career in Tokyo in the 1930s, Whispering Sidewalks serves both as a rare document of Japan\u27s vibrant and tumultuous interwar jazz age as well as a window into the under-researched experience of Nisei performers who traveled to and gained fame in Japan during this period. Just as compelling, however, is the story of the film\u27s production and circulation, where a thwarted domestic release yielded a fortuitous second life in Hawai\u27i and California. In tracing the transpacific journey of the film and its lead actress, this chapter argues that a full accounting of Japan\u27s jazz age cinema requires us to expand our view beyond the nation itself. © 2026 Editorial selection and matter, Sean O\u27Reilly; individual chapters, the contributors. All rights reserved
The visible built-up index: advancing the detection of high-albedo urban areas
No full textThis study introduces the Visible Built-up Index (VBI), a novel spectral index derived from the visible bands of Sentinel-2 satellite imagery. VBI is designed to enhance the extraction of built-up areas, particularly in regions dominated by high-albedo building materials. The index was evaluated against 11 other spectral indices. Our statistical and visual assessments demonstrate that VBI outperforms existing indices in detecting built-up surfaces, with area under the total operating characteristic curve (TOC AUC) values for VBI = 0.97, NDBI = 0.808 and BU = 0.916. VBI effectively highlights highly reflective roofs, distinguishes water bodies and vegetation from built-up areas, and partially separates bare soil from urban regions. Because VBI relies solely on visible bands, it enables built-up area extraction from Sentinel-2 imagery at 10 m resolution. Moreover, its simplicity broadens its applicability across various sensors, historical datasets, and drone platforms. © 2025 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Invasion biology: The golden oyster mushroom in North America
No full textThe golden oyster mushroom, Pleurotus citrinopileatus , is native to Asia and is rapidly expanding across North America. Two recent studies describe the genetic diversity of naturalized populations of P. citrinopileatus and their impact on indigenous fungal communities. © 2025 Elsevier Inc
Economic priorities shape protected area placement: The role of land competition in Argentina
No full textProtected areas (PAs) are a cornerstone of global conservation efforts, and their coverage is expected to increase. However, many PAs are less effective than envisioned because they have historically been established in landscapes with low human pressure (e.g., remote areas). While a growing emphasis on effectiveness and additionality in conservation planning could reduce this location bias over time, intensifying land competition may make it more difficult to place PAs in the most valuable conservation areas. As a result, it remains unclear how the residuality of PA networks has evolved in many regions. Here, we assess changes in Argentina\u27s PA network residuality from 1934 to 2022 by modeling the suitability of intensive agriculture—Argentina\u27s main competitor for conservation land—and analyzing how agricultural suitability varied in newly designated PAs. We found a pronounced and persistent bias toward less suitable areas, with no changes during the study period. This bias was evident at both local and regional levels, highlighting the persistence of this pattern across scales. Moreover, it was particularly pronounced in the most agriculturally productive regions and the most restrictive PA categories. Overall, our results suggest that competition for land has historically shaped, and continues to shape, the allocation of PAs to less contested areas. A stronger focus on increasing the representativeness and effectiveness of PA networks should be a priority when expanding these networks—particularly toward the 30 × 30 target—in Argentina and elsewhere. © 2025 Elsevier Lt