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The Impact of Architectural Facade Attributes on Shopping Center Choice: A Discrete Choice Modeling Approach
No full textThis study, performed in an Iranian context, explores how specific architectural attributes of shopping centers can influence public preferences, with the aim of supporting the development of more sustainable and user-oriented urban environments. A discrete choice experiment involving 260 participants was conducted to assess preferences across seven architectural variables, each presented at varying levels: entrance position, openness (i.e., transparency through windows), architectural style, materials, window shape, scale, and symmetry. Participants evaluated paired facade images and selected their preferred designs, enabling an analysis of how these attributes impact consumer choices. The findings indicate that most variables significantly influenced facade preferences, except for arched windows and low levels of openness. In contrast, high openness emerged as the strongest positive predictor of preference. Participants also showed a marked preference for large-scale (inhumanly scaled) facade attributes, rectangular windows, extruded entrances, asymmetrical compositions, and concrete materials. Moderate preferences were observed for symmetrical designs, mixed window shapes, contemporary and postmodern styles, and brick materials. Conversely, neoclassical style, recessed entrances, stone material, and smaller-scale (humanly scaled) facades received the lowest preference ratings. These results might offer valuable insights for architects and urban planners and guide the creation of more attractive and functional shopping centers, ultimately enhancing the quality of urban life
Human contributions to global soundscapes are less predictable than the acoustic rhythms of wildlife
No full textAcross the world, human (anthropophonic) sounds add to sounds of biological (biophonic) and geophysical (geophonic) origin, with human contributions including both speech and technophony (sounds of technological devices). To characterize society's contribution to the global soundscapes, we used passive acoustic recorders at 139 sites across 6 continents, sampling both urban green spaces and nearby pristine sites continuously for 3 years in a paired design. Recordings were characterized by bird species richness and by 14 complementary acoustic indices. By relating each index to seasonal, diurnal, climatic and anthropogenic factors, we show here that latitude, time of day and day of year each predict a substantial proportion of variation in key metrics of biophony-whereas anthropophony (speech and traffic) show less predictable patterns. Compared to pristine sites, the soundscape of urban green spaces is more dominated by technophony and less diverse in terms of acoustic energy across frequencies and time steps, with less instances of quiet. We conclude that the global soundscape is formed from a highly predictable rhythm in biophony, with added noise from geophony and anthropophony. At urban sites, animals experience an increasingly noisy background of sound, which poses challenges to efficient communication
Perceptions of undergraduate students on ladybugs and social wasps in ecosystems
No full textBeneficial insects play a vital role in agricultural food production by providing essential ecosystem services. While bees and butterflies are widely recognized as key pollinators, the roles of other beneficial insects, such as ladybugs and social wasps, remain underappreciated. In Cambodia, little is known about students' perceptions of these insects and their ecological functions. To address this gap, we conducted an online survey to assess how Cambodian undergraduate students perceive ladybugs and social wasps. Our findings revealed that students rated ladybugs and social wasps as moderately beneficial compared to other study animals. Bees and butterflies were regarded as the most beneficial insects, whereas ants and spiders were considered the least beneficial. Ladybugs were more accepted in shared habitats than social wasps, as students expressed more positive emotions toward ladybugs. This preference is likely due to ladybugs' ecological contributions and appealing appearance. Despite demonstrating a good understanding of social wasps' ecological roles, students were less willing to share habitats with them, primarily due to fear. These results suggest that enhancing public education, promoting citizen science, and increasing media exposure about beneficial insects could improve perceptions and support conservation efforts for these ecologically important species
Advances in genomics-assisted breeding strategies for enhancing nutrient uptake and use efficiency in cereals: A pathway toward sustainable agriculture
No full textStaple cereals such as rice, wheat, and maize are key to food security by providing the bulk of calories consumed worldwide. However, cereal productivity is often limited by inefficient uptake and utilization of essential nutrients, including N, P, Fe, and Zn especially under stress conditions. Enhancing nutrient uptake efficiency (NutrUE) in staple crops is crucial to reducing fertilizer inputs, supporting sustainable agriculture, and securing food and nutrition for future generations. The present review discusses recent advancements in genomics-assisted breeding (GAB) aimed at improving nutrient uptake (NU) in major cereals. This review delineates the biochemical and molecular underpinnings of NU, emphasizing how genomics tools such as QTL mapping, GWAS, GS, and CRISPR/Cas9 enable the dissection and targeted improvement of multifactorial NU and NutrUE-related traits. Additionally, it also explored the high-throughput phenotyping (HTP) and genotyping (HTG) platforms, including imaging techniques like MRI, X-Ray CT, and UAV-based RGB/Multispectral imaging, aligned with nextgeneration sequencing which enable precise and rapid characterization for NU and NutrUE-related traits. Furthermore, the review addresses how multi-omics approaches (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics) contribute to the identification of candidate genes and regulatory pathways associated with NU. Ultimately, this integrated approach provides valuable strategies and insights for researchers, breeders, and policymakers working in accelerating the development of NU and NutrUE cereal cultivars, thereby supporting agricultural sustainability and global hunger prevention
Insights into the production and versatile agricultural applications of nanochitin for sustainable circularity: a review
No full textChitin exhibits remarkable biocompatibility and biodegradability; nonetheless, its potential remains largely unexplored due to its hydrophobic nature, which makes it insoluble in water. Industrial marine food wastes, including crustacean shells, are the most plentiful and the potential source of chitin. High-performance chitin nanoparticles have been developed by understanding their biological characteristics and advanced preparation methods. The creation of nano-chitin materials is a significant topic due to its distinct dimensional, optical, mechanical, and other properties i.e. high surface area, low density and high dispersibility. Chitin nanocrystals and nanofibers could be fabricated by depolymerizing and demineralizing crustacean shell waste following various top-down and bottom-up methods, viz. acid hydrolysis, deep eutectic hydrolysis, TEMPO-mediated oxidation, self-assembly, etc. Morphology of the nanochitin and applications pertaining to respective nano-fibrillation have been tabulated using the aforementioned methods. The present review summarizes the significant current developments in the synthesis of chitin nanoforms, i.e., nanochitin, nanofiber, or nanocrystal, along with their impact on enhancing plant growth and quality. Nanochitin could be utilized as fertilizers, biostimulant, plant elicitor, biocide as well as for seed treatment and appeared as an organic substitute for sustainable agricultural practices
Biochar potential for long-term pharmaceutical remediation in flow-through tertiary wastewater systems
No full textWastewater treatment plants are not designed to remove pharmaceuticals from wastewater and upon release pharmaceuticals end up in the environment. This study investigated the adsorption capacity of five different biochar materials under dynamic flow conditions utilising a packed bed column test. Tertiary wastewater effluent was used to evaluate the breakthrough of the biochar columns. Two conditions were tested during this experiment: (i) biochar remediation under high pharmaceutical loads, where wastewater was spiked with 16 pharmaceuticals; and (ii) biochar remediation under normal working conditions, where 42 non-spiked pharmaceuticals were evaluated. The concentrations of pharmaceuticals were measured over 45 weeks (635 bed volumes), and the adsorption capacity was assessed by plotting relative concentration against bed volumes. The results show a high adsorption efficiency (>99 %) for the sewage sludge and forest biomass biochar, emphasising the role of packing density, feedstock and physicochemical properties of the biochar. Furthermore, fitted breakthrough curves allowed for the assessment of the adsorption capacity of individual pharmaceuticals. The results demonstrate a strong correlation between the charge and molecular size of pharmaceuticals and their adsorption capacity. This study provides key insights into the remediation potential of biochar for the removal of pharmaceuticals in wastewater effluent
Innovative Solutions for Palm Oil Mill Effluent Treatment: A Membrane Technology Perspective
No full textPalm oil mill effluent (POME) presents significant environmental challenges in palm oil-producing countries due to its complex composition and high organic content. Membrane technology has emerged as a viable treatment option that offers efficient separation processes. This review examines various POME treatment methods with an emphasis on membrane bioreactor (MBR) applications. MBRs, including aerobic, anaerobic, and hybrid configurations, have demonstrated effectiveness in pollutant reduction, with a key emphasis on fouling minimization. Despite their advantages, membrane fouling remains a major limitation, leading to reduced performance and increased maintenance costs. This review critically evaluates factors influencing fouling and explores sustainable mitigation strategies. Furthermore, life cycle analysis (LCA) is highlighted as a vital tool for evaluating the environmental impact of POME treatment. Various chemical and biological pollution assessment methods used in existing risk evaluations are also discussed. The main objective of the insights offered is to improve knowledge of the opportunities and limitations related to using membrane technology for the efficient and sustainable treatment of POME. This review encourages the continuous development of novel membrane-based solutions, promoting environmental sustainability and improved wastewater management in the palm oil industry by addressing key challenges and developments
Plant proteins for human consumption – from local to global opportunities and challenges in a full value chain context
No full textEnvironmental concerns together with a growing global population and health benefits call for an increased use of plant proteins in the human diet. This review paper summarizes opportunities and challenges of such an increased use and reveals the way forward for plant proteins for human consumption. The results clearly emphasize the increased consumer interest, especially in certain consumer segments, of the use of plant protein-based food alternatives, the positive environmental impact of the use of such alternatives and the wide array of crops available to be developed into novel protein-rich food choices. Major challenges identified are; i) how to combine different plant sources to receive highly nutritional and tasty food products, ii) how to produce crops with a high and easily extractable protein content, which simultaneously contain low amount of unwanted components such as antinutritional factors, iii) environmental effects of the production of the plant protein to be utilized for the protein-rich food items, and iv) economic feasibility of the plant protein food products. Opportunities exist to develop the processing methods for protein fractionation, although consumer preferences, environmental effects, economic feasibility and impact on protein functionality have to be taken into account in such developments. Plant breeding is summarized as a major way forward to target crops high in easily available protein and low in unwanted components, thereby fitting consumer desires simultaneously as contributing to economic feasibility and reduced environmental impact. Cultivation is the main source of the environmental impact in the plant protein value chain, while protein content, composition and extractability affect consumer preferences and both their economic and environmental impact
Agreement of Specific Lung Sounds Auscultation by Veterinarians for the Detection of Bronchopneumonia in Calves
No full textBackground Lung auscultation is a common method for the routine diagnosis of calf bronchopneumonia. However, its repeatability among operators has been criticized. Objective Determine agreement among veterinarians for specific lung sounds after a short tutorial to standardize the definition of lung sounds. Animals Forty lung sounds from a larger dataset collected at 4 veal calf farms that housed 495-815 animals were submitted online to 10 different veterinarians. Methods After a short tutorial on lung sound auscultation, the raters were asked to detect the presence of any abnormal sounds and to differentiate among wheezes, crackles, and bronchial sounds. Raw percentage of agreement (PA), Gwet's agreement coefficient type 1 (AC1), Krippendorff's alpha (K-a), and Fleiss kappa (K-Fleiss) were chosen as agreement indicators in the absence of a gold standard indicator to assess agreement. The different indicators were interpreted based on a priori reported benchmarks. Results The agreements were fair to good for almost all lung sound indicators. For the presence of any abnormal lung sound, the reported agreements (95% confidence intervals [CI]) were 0.781 (0.716-0.845), 0.646 (0.514-0.777), 0.403 (0.351-0.455), and 0.293 (0.137-0.493) for PA, AC1, K-a, and K-Fleiss, respectively. The same indicators were 0.769 (0.694-0.845), 0.615 (0.446-0.784), 0.426 (0.378-0.475), and 0.425 (0.293-0.563) for wheezes, 0.754 (0.685-0.823), 0.643 (0.503-0.782), 0.21 (0.146-0.275), and 0.208 (0.097-0.327) for crackles, and 0.636 (0.571-0.701), 0.345 (0.179-0.512), 0.182 (0.131-0.232), and 0.18 (0.081-0.279) for bronchial sound detections, respectively. Conclusion and Clinical Importance Agreement among raters auscultating calf respiratory sounds was higher than previously reported. However, improvement is still possible to increase auscultation agreement
