Earth and Environmental Sciences

I want to begin this essay with a slightly apologetic admission. Years ago, when I was doing my PhD research on the struggles of middle-class youth in Egypt to locate employment that matched their ...

Abstract With the suppression of continuous tree canopies in cities, some arboreal mammals resort to using overhead power line networks to navigate urban landscapes. Surprisingly, although sightings of mammals moving on electrical wires are common in tropical and temperate cities, we still know very little about mammal activity patterns on these human-built structures. Importantly, electrocution is a significant cause of death for mammal species that travel along overhead wires and climb onto transformers. Here, we deployed arboreal camera traps to quantify spatial and temporal activity patterns of canopy-dwelling mammals moving on electric wires around one of the largest urban forests in Brazil. Also, we investigated seasonal variation in their temporal activity patterns across the austral dry and rainy seasons. We obtained 9,158 independent records of four species of arboreal or semi-arboreal mammals, with the Black capuchin monkey ( Sapajus nigritus ) accounting for most of the detections, followed by the Paraguayan hairy dwarf porcupine ( Coendou spinosus ). Overall, species-specific activity patterns remained consistent across seasons and aligned with those observed in natural habitats, indicating a convergent diel niche in urban and natural environments. Our results shed new light on the neglected ecology and natural history of mammals that use electric wires to navigate urban spaces, providing insights to attenuate human-wildlife conflicts and to inform the planning of more wildlife-friendly cities.

As climate change, geopolitical instability, and environmental degradation accelerate, urban infrastructures play a pivotal role in either enabling or inhibiting regenerative transformation. Drawing on a multidisciplinary theoretical review, this paper presents a conceptual framework for integrated social, ecological, and technological infrastructures as the connective tissues of autopoietic urban socio-technical ecosystems. This framework reimagines infrastructures as dynamic, interstitial networks that enable cities to sense, interpret, and reorganize in response to rapidly changing conditions. The paper concludes by identifying design lessons for infrastructures capable of recovering from disruptions, adapting to changing conditions, and proactively transforming to sustain long-term vitality in the face of increasingly uncertain times.

Abstract Municipal physical infrastructure assets provide communities with well-functioning urban systems. To ensure having the infrastructure in good condition, proper maintenance management of these assets that would result in an efficient use of resources is required. The absence of systematic maintenance practices in the Palestinian territories prompted the Municipal Development and Lending Fund to introduce an Operation and Maintenance Program for the two key municipal sectors of roads and buildings. This paper investigates the current maintenance practices in these sectors and identifies implementation challenges, bridging the research gap on the assessment of the maintenance management practices in the Palestinian municipalities, and proposes potentials for improvement. To achieve the objectives of the study, a mixed methods approach is utilized, considering a survey using questionnaires distributed across the Palestinian municipalities, which was followed by complementary interviews with key stakeholders’ representatives. Based on the conducted analysis, the findings identify the challenges facing the municipalities and indicate that the recently implemented Operation and Maintenance Program has significantly improved the municipalities’ services and performance, enhanced their classifications, and positively influenced fund allocations. The study outcome highlights the need for reengineering municipal organizational structures and updating the followed procedures to further enhance maintenance management. The research proposes a conceptual maintenance management framework that addresses the identified needs and challenges, and aims to enhance municipal performance. Furthermore, the framework suggests expanding the Operation and Maintenance Program to include all municipal services across all municipalities. This proposed approach is believed to be vital for enhancing the overall performance and sustainability of the municipalities.

In an era of climate change and increasing air pollution, accurately quantifying forest ecosystem services—particularly in urban and peri-urban contexts—is essential. Species selection for these areas requires identifying trees that are both climate-resilient and effective at carbon sequestration and pollutant removal. We present an upgraded version of the AIRTREE v1.0 multi-layer canopy model to assess ecosystem services provided by urban parks placed in 43 Italian sites established under a national reforestation program. Simulations were performed under two climate scenarios (Representative Concentration Pathways, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) projected for 2054. The analysis focused on Net Primary Productivity (NPP), ozone (O 3 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ), particulate matters PM 10 and PM 2 . 5 , as well as Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds (BVOCs), including isoprene and monoterpenes. Model reliability was tested against five Italian Integrated Carbon Observation System sites with measured carbon fluxes. Model calibration showed rapid convergence and robust performance, with high accuracy for gross primary productivity (Kling–Gupta Efficiency, up to 0.90). Sensitivity analysis highlighted photosynthetic capacity (e.g., Vcmax) driving NPP as the dominant control in Alpine and Continental biogeographic regions, whereas stomatal regulation and water stress parameters were more influential in Mediterranean sites. Across both climate scenarios, southern Mediterranean areas consistently showed the highest NPP. Under RCP8.5, NPP significantly increased (+9%), along with evapotranspiration (+8%) and BVOC emissions, while O 3 and NO 2 decreased and PM 10 slightly increased. Species-specific responses confirmed strong functional heterogeneity, with Sorbus torminalis maximising O 3 uptake, Pinus halepensis excelling in PM removal and Quercus pubescens showing high carbon sequestration. As an open-access tool, AIRTREE v2.0 provides robust support for evaluating ecosystem services under current and future climate scenarios.

This work investigates the potential of potato starch, an agro-industrial waste of natural and renewable origin, as an admixture in traditional cementitious mortars, aiming to contribute to the development of more sustainable and efficient building materials. Five compositions were formulated, maintaining a reference ratio of 1:3:0.6 (cement:sand:water), with partial substitutions of cement by potato starch in proportions of 0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75%, and 1% by mass. The specimens were characterized in the fresh state (consistency, calorimetry, and setting time) and in the hardened state (compressive strength, water absorption, and density) according to standardized test methods after 28 days of curing. Additionally, microstructural analyses by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were performed to understand the action of the admixture in the cementitious matrix. The results demonstrated that the incorporation of potato starch significantly influences the properties of cementitious mortars. Regarding fresh-state consistency, a non-linear trend was observed, with improved workability at a low dosage (0.25 wt%) followed by a progressive reduction as the starch content increased. This behavior is attributed to the higher water absorption capacity of the starch, which reduces the amount of free water available for lubrication within the cementitious matrix. Water absorption results did not show significant variations among the mixtures. In terms of compressive strength, the reference mortar (0% potato starch) achieved a compressive strength of 18.38 MPa. The incorporation of potato starch promoted a significant increase in strength up to 0.75 wt%, reaching 28.98 MPa, which corresponds to a 57.7% improvement compared with the reference mixture. Beyond this dosage, compressive strength decreased, indicating the existence of an optimum incorporation level. Calorimetry results revealed a retardation effect on cement hydration, while XRD analysis indicated a reduction in portlandite and a relative increase in C-S-H, suggesting microstructural refinement. SEM observations confirmed changes in the microstructure, including increased ettringite formation and higher porosity at elevated dosages. Overall, the results demonstrate that potato starch has considerable potential as a sustainable admixture for cementitious mortars, provided that an appropriate dosage is adopted. Among the investigated contents, 0.75 wt% exhibited the most favorable performance.

Blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs) store a significant amount of organic carbon (OC) in their soils, including OC sequestered by other ecosystems and transported into these ecosystems, referred to as allochthonous OC. This study reviews the state-of-the-art knowledge on the abundance and sources (including still unexplored ones) of allochthonous particulate organic carbon (POC) and reviews the ways allochthonous POC is managed under the current blue carbon policy frameworks for carbon benefits accounting in blue carbon restoration and conservation projects. Based on a review of 102 studies, we find that 56 ± 25% of the soil organic carbon (SOC) deposits in BCEs are allochthonous POC, most commonly identified as originating from terrestrial ecosystems, seston and macroalgae. Whether allochthonous POC should be included in blue carbon accounting is a matter of debate among the scientific community, due to the risks of overestimating carbon benefits and double-counting. Consequently, it is often excluded from voluntary carbon markets, but its inclusion can be justified given the role of BCEs in stabilising OC that may otherwise be remineralised. Based on existing knowledge, a deeper understanding of the stability and behaviour of different types of allochthonous POC under varying environmental conditions is needed to assess whether and to what extent these fractions can be counted toward carbon benefits.

Nitrogen (N) loss dynamics from winter wheat in humid agroecosystems remain uncertain due to variability in soil characteristics across yield zones and high interannual precipitation variability. We hypothesized that dominant N loss pathways vary significantly across yield zones, driven primarily by the interaction of soil hydrology and rainfall patterns. The objective of this study was to integrate field experimentation with process-based modeling to identify and quantify environmental N loss (Nenvloss) pathways across contrasting yield zones under long-term climatic variability. In this study, a commercial winter wheat field in the Southeastern U.S. was delineated into high-yielding (HYZ) and low-yielding (LYZ) zones based on the historic yield data to explicitly account for within-field heterogeneity. The DSSAT CSM-CERES-Wheat model was calibrated and evaluated using two growing seasons (2022-23 and 2023-24) and subsequently utilized to simulate soil N balance and long-term N losses over 32 years classified into drought, normal, and wet years using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). The model evaluation showed robust performance in simulating crop phenology, biomass accumulation, grain yield, soil water dynamics, and crop N uptake across yield zones, with normalized RMSE values of 6-7% for aboveground biomass, 17% for aboveground N, and 7-25% for soil moisture content. The nitrate (NO3-) leaching was identified as the dominant Nenvloss pathway across both seasons, accounting for 94-98% of total simulated N losses, whereas volatilization (1-2 kg[N] ha-1) and denitrification (0.4-1.0 kg[N] ha-1) contributed small fractions. The HYZ consistently showed higher leaching losses (39-98 kg[N] ha-1) than LYZ (69-70 kg[N] ha-1), driven by higher initial soil mineral N (Nsmn) at planting and higher soil permeability that facilitated rapid drainage, rather than by variations in crop N uptake, which were statistically insignificant between zones. The long-term simulations revealed that interannual precipitation variability substantially regulated N losses, with average leaching increasing from 65 ± 12 kg[N] ha-1 in drought years to 96 ± 21 kg[N] ha-1 in wet years. In contrast, volatilization losses (6.1 ± 10.1 kg[N] ha-1) increased during drought conditions. These findings demonstrated that soil hydrological properties and climate variability primarily govern Nenvloss in winter wheat systems. This highlights the need for weather-responsive, site-specific N management strategies in humid regions.

Urbanization represents one of the most consequential environmental transformations of the 21st century, necessitating a fundamental re-evaluation of biological capital within rapidly expanding anthropogenic systems. Within this burgeoning anthropogenic environment, the traditional concept of the natural tree is no longer a viable solitary unit for environmental management. As urbanization concentrates people, materials, and energy, it replaces resilient natural landscapes with surfaces that generate heat, combustion byproducts, and persistent chemical emissions (Fineschi and Loreto, 2020). As a result, urban forestry must be reimagined as an integrated systems approach rather than solely as a biological intervention. Future urban forests should function as engineered biological infrastructure that combines advances in biotechnology, computational design, sensor-based monitoring, and environmental engineering to optimize ecosystem service delivery under highly modified urban conditions. Within this systems framework, biotechnology serves as one component of a broader strategy for designing resilient, adaptive, and measurable urban green infrastructure (Wolf et al., 2020).A critical limitation of conventional urban forestry lies in its reliance on canopy cover as a proxy for ecosystem performance. While canopy metrics quantify spatial extent, they fail to capture functional outputs such as pollutant removal efficiency, thermal regulation, and survivability under stress. This discrepancy is particularly significant given that the average lifespan of urban street trees is approximately 13 years (Moll, 1987;Roman and Scatena, 2011), compared to over a century in natural environments, reflecting systemic failure under urban stress conditions (Smith et al., 2019). Compounded stressors, including urban heat island effects, soil compaction, hydrological disruption, and atmospheric pollutants, drive this mortality burden. These constraints create a physiological threshold beyond which traditional planting strategies become economically and ecologically inefficient. Therefore, incremental increases in planting density cannot resolve performance deficits. Instead, biotechnology must be positioned as a core infrastructural strategy, enabling the engineering of trees as highperformance biological systems optimized for survival and measurable ecosystem service delivery.The survival of the urban canopy in future cities will require genetic and cellular-level interventions that enhance the natural resilience of vegetation. To achieve this, urban forestry should deploy a biological toolkit across three distinct scales: cellular selection for contaminated substrates, genome engineering for resilience to multiple urban stressors, and strategic management of urban genetic resources. Cell selection enables the identification and propagation of plants capable of tolerating extreme urban stressors such as heavy-metal contamination, providing a practical strategy for improving urban tree resilience (Gladkov et al., 2022). Beyond heavy metal tolerance, genomic engineering offers opportunities to introduce traits that improve resilience to multiple urban stressors. In addition to genetic engineering, strategic management of genetic resources is essential for developing resilient urban forestry systems. Clonal propagation enables deployment of elite genotypes with predictable performance but should be balanced with genetic diversity to reduce landscapescale vulnerability (Politov et al., 2015). Maintaining diversity across species, genotypes, and provenances is essential for long-term resilience in engineered urban forests (Plant and Kendal, 2019;Love et al., 2025). We argue that cell selection, genome editing, propagation technologies, and genetic resource management should be integrated into a unified strategy for designing resilient, performance-engineered urban forests.Reconceptualizing urban forests as biological infrastructure requires a transition from passive management to active, data-driven management and modeling. Models such as UFORE and its hydrological version UFORE-Hydro are crucial to this process. These models quantify ecosystem services and support evidence-based planning by linking urban forest structure with environmental performance, thereby enabling urban forests to be managed as measurable infrastructure (Nowak et al., 2008). Computational design also enables trees to be managed as active biological systems. Trees function as active biological systems that regulate microclimate, capture pollutants, and support phyllosphere microorganisms involved in pollutant degradation, reinforcing their role as long-term components of urban environmental infrastructure (Bringel and Couée, 2015;Stevens et al., 2021). Several technologies are already operational or approaching widespread deployment. Artificial intelligence-based platforms combining satellite imagery, computer vision, and deep learning now enable large-scale urban tree inventory, health assessment, and risk monitoring (Velasquez-Camacho et al., 2023).Additional sensing technologies, including ground-penetrating radar, can further improve nondestructive assessment of root systems and tree stability.Established tree-improvement and propagation approaches, including genomic selection, tissue culture, and clonal propagation, contribute to the selection and multiplication of elite tree material. These biological advances can be integrated with IoT-enabled monitoring systems to support adaptive management and real-time assessment of urban forest performance. Although genetic engineering shows considerable promise for improving tree performance, most applications still require long-term field validation before deployment in urban environments.Emerging technologies such as plant nanobionics and advanced genome editing further expand the potential of engineered urban forests. However, their practical application remains dependent on long-term biosafety evaluation and field validation. Building on these modeling approaches, contemporary urban forest systems have evolved beyond static assessments toward dynamic, data-integrated frameworks that combine ecosystem service calculations with real-time environmental inputs. The integration of Internet of Things sensor networks enables continuous monitoring of air quality, soil moisture, and physiological plant responses, transforming trees into active nodes within smart city infrastructure (Uçar et al., 2020).Additionally, plant nanobionics extends this capability by embedding functional nanoparticles within plant tissues, enabling detection of pollutants such as NOx, heavy metals, and volatile organic compounds (Bringel and Couée, 2015;Stevens et al., 2021). Importantly, the phyllomicrobiome functions as a decentralized bioreactor, facilitating degradation of airborne pollutants. This integration enables urban forests to function as measurable, reportable, and regulated infrastructure components, supporting their inclusion in air quality management plans and climate mitigation accounting systems. Lifecycle pollutant management must account for defined stages of capture, transformation, sequestration, and final biomass handling to prevent re-release into the environment, thereby ensuring that urban trees function as longterm pollutant sinks rather than temporary reservoirs. From our perspective, the future of urban forestry depends not on individual technologies but on their integration into a unified, performance-based system that continuously links biological function, environmental monitoring, and adaptive management (Figure 1). A performance-based design framework for urban forestry moves beyond generalized planting principles toward the design of site-specific biological systems intended to deliver defined infrastructure and environmental outcomes (Verma et al., 2024). This framework prioritizes matching engineered biological traits with local environmental conditions, enabling species and genotypes to be selected according to site-specific stressors and desired ecosystem functions. Under a performance-based approach, urban forests can be incorporated into broader environmental planning and infrastructure management strategies. Lifecycle planning is a defining characteristic of this approach, recognizing that pollutants must be managed beyond initial capture through to final disposal. This requires systems that ensure contaminants retained within biomass are effectively contained and do not re-enter the environment. The performance metrics illustrated in Figure 1 are conceptual examples intended to demonstrate how engineered urban forests can be evaluated using measurable environmental indicators rather than fixed design thresholds. By integrating design, performance metrics, and lifecycle management, urban forestry is repositioned from a passive municipal amenity to a structured, technology-driven environmental infrastructure (Popek et al., 2013).Implementing a technologically enhanced canopy presents significant challenges related to public acceptance and equity. The transition from conventional urban forests to engineered biological systems must be managed carefully to avoid unintended consequences, including reduced genetic diversity and increased susceptibility to pests, diseases, and other environmental stressors. Therefore, adaptive governance is needed to prevent trade-offs in ecological performance when optimizing for high-performance traits. Policy strategies also need to account for potential negative impacts, such as biogenic volatile organic compound emissions, which can form other pollutants under certain conditions (Calfapietra et al., 2013).Ensuring that species selection aligns with environmental performance goals is therefore essential for maintaining the net benefits of engineered urban forests. Effective governance should combine public engagement, transparent decision-making, and biodiversity conservation to ensure socially acceptable implementation of engineered urban forests.The implementation of biotechnology-modified trees in urban landscapes is influenced by complex and jurisdiction-specific regulatory frameworks that can substantially affect research, field testing, approval, and deployment. Regulatory approaches differ in how they classify technologies, traits, and methods of genetic modification, creating considerable variation in approval requirements among jurisdictions. Recent analyses further indicate that regulatory systems are increasingly adopting adaptive and risk-proportionate approaches to accommodate the rapid evolution of genome-editing technologies while maintaining biosafety, transparency, and public trust (Bao et al., 2026). Although regulatory frameworks continue to evolve internationally, harmonized, science-based, and risk-proportionate governance will be essential for the responsible deployment of biotechnology in urban forestry.For long-lived and potentially reproductive tree species, considerations such as gene flow and environmental spread may form part of regulatory assessment. Still, their relevance and potential consequences depend on the engineered trait, reproductive biology, presence of compatible relatives, receiving environment, intended application, and applicable social and regulatory standards (Ellstrand, 2003). Biological containment approaches, including male sterility or complete reproductive sterility, represent potential management strategies where reproductive containment is considered desirable for a particular application or required by regulation; in urban settings, such traits may also reduce allergenic pollen production or nuisance fruiting (Brunner et al., 2007;Klocko et al., 2018). Ultimately, public acceptance remains fundamental to successful implementation, emphasizing the need for transparent communication regarding ecological benefits, potential risks, and regulatory safeguards to foster public trust and socially responsible deployment. We propose that future governance frameworks should move beyond technology-specific regulation toward adaptive systems that integrate biosafety, environmental performance, and public participation, thereby enabling responsible implementation of performance-engineered urban forests.Urban forestry must evolve beyond conventional tree planting toward integrated biological and engineering systems capable of delivering measurable ecosystem services under increasingly complex urban conditions. We argue that future urban forests should be designed as performance-engineered biological infrastructure in which biotechnology, computational modeling, sensor-based monitoring, and adaptive governance operate as interconnected components rather than independent technologies. Achieving this vision will require coordinated advances in biological innovation, robust biosafety frameworks, and transparent public engagement. Together, these elements provide a foundation for resilient, evidence-based urban green infrastructure capable of addressing future environmental challenges.

We investigated how approach and avoidance motivational sequences shape evaluations of interpersonal closeness-distance during second-person verbally simulated interaction episodes, and whether these effects are modulated by linguistic formulation and language context. Two parallel behavioral experiments were conducted in Spanish ( N = 20) and Mandarin Chinese ( N = 20; 39 participants retained for analysis after one exclusion). Participants read fictional interaction episodes in which they adopted the role of the protagonist and interacted with a character through three consecutive approach- or avoidance-oriented behaviors. Episodes followed either an approach-avoidance-approach (Ap_Av_Ap) or avoidance-approach-avoidance (Av_Ap_Av) sequence and were expressed using either attitudinal formulations (e.g., “Juan asked you for he being a part of your class group and you accepted-rejected him”) or equivalent behavioral formulations (e.g., you said yes , said no to him). Following each episode, participants evaluated perceived interpersonal closeness-distance toward the character. Linear mixed-effects analyses revealed a robust effect of motivational sequence: Ap_Av_Ap episodes elicited greater perceived interpersonal closeness than Av_Ap_Av episodes across both language groups and linguistic formulations. Attitudinal formulations facilitated sentence processing, yielding shorter reading times than behavioral formulations, although linguistic formulation did not influence final interpersonal evaluations. Sequence effects emerged during earlier sentence processing but disappeared at the final sentence, consistent with dynamic updating of interpersonal representations across the episode. Cross-linguistic differences were also observed: Chinese participants showed overall faster reading times and rated episodes as involving greater interpersonal closeness than Spanish participants. These findings support an embodied and language-mediated account of interpersonal cognition in which readers dynamically integrate approach and avoidance information to construct evaluations of interpersonal closeness-distance during second-person interaction simulation. The results further suggest that motivational sequence effects generalize across languages while remaining sensitive to cultural and linguistic modulation.

Physical activity and sport settings may become socially threatening when students anticipate negative evaluation of their bodies, competence, or behavior. Yet it remains unclear whether social interaction anxiety precedes exercise-related avoidance and whether such avoidance, in turn, precedes later anxiety. This study examined reciprocal longitudinal associations at both the between- and within-person levels between social interaction anxiety (SIA) and the tendency to avoid physical activity and sport (TAPAS), assessed with a 10-item self-report scale. A baseline cohort of 1,676 university students aged 18 years or older from nine universities in Sichuan Province, China, completed four assessments approximately 12 weeks apart during the 2024–2025 academic year. A random-intercept cross-lagged panel model separated stable between-person differences from time-specific within-person deviations, and longitudinal scalar invariance was supported for both measures. At the between-person level, higher average SIA was associated with higher average TAPAS ( r = 0.381, p < 0.001). At the within-person level, elevations in SIA relative to students’ usual levels predicted subsequent elevations in TAPAS (βs = 0.121–0.127), and elevations in TAPAS predicted subsequent elevations in SIA (βs = 0.126–0.133); all cross-lagged effects were significant at p < 0.001. Both constructs also showed significant within-person temporal continuity. The reciprocal pattern was stable across the three approximately 12-week intervals and remained substantively unchanged after adjustment for baseline sex, year of study, pre-university residence, and body mass index category. The findings are consistent with a reciprocal avoidance process across an academic year and suggest that campus mental-health and physical-activity initiatives may benefit from jointly addressing social-evaluative concerns and barriers embedded in exercise settings. Because the study was observational and relied on self-report measures, the associations should not be interpreted causally.

Background Academic anxiety is increasingly prevalent among college students and can negatively affect both academic performance and mental well-being. Virtual reality-based nature exposure has emerged as a promising approach for emotional regulation. This study examined whether integrating imagery dialogue with virtual natural environments could enhance the effectiveness of anxiety interventions. Methods A 2 (time: pre-test, post-test) × 4 (group: imagery dialogue-based virtual nature, virtual nature, imagery dialogue, control) mixed experimental design was adopted. Sixty college students with high academic anxiety were randomly assigned to one of the four groups and participated in a three-week intervention. Subjective measures, including the Academic Anxiety Questionnaire and the State Anxiety subscale of the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory, and physiological indicators, including heart rate and skin temperature, were collected before and after the intervention. Results All intervention groups showed significant reductions in academic anxiety from baseline, while the control group showed no significant pre-post change. The combined group showed the largest descriptive reduction, but superiority over single interventions was not established. Physiological indicators showed favorable pre-post changes, with significant time × group interactions for both indicators. Conclusion Imagery dialogue, virtual nature exposure, and their combination may all contribute to reducing academic anxiety among college students, with the combined approach showing potential as a digital intervention strategy.

Educational neuroscience has attracted substantial interest from teachers, but professional-development programs are often designed without a formal assessment of the difference between what educators believe they know and what they wish to learn. This secondary analysis of a cross-sectional survey examined perceived training needs in educational neuroscience among 204 active Brazilian teachers. Participants rated, on six-point scales (0–5), their self-perceived knowledge and their desire to learn more about 10 neuroscience-related topics. We defined a training-gap indicator as the within-participant difference between desired knowledge and self-perceived knowledge, ranging from −5 to +5. Positive values indicated a perceived need for further training. Overall self-perceived knowledge was 2.86 ± 1.04, whereas desire to learn was 3.88 ± 1.10, producing a mean global training gap of 1.01 ± 1.15. A positive global gap was present in 69.6% of participants. All 10 topics showed significant positive gaps after false-discovery-rate correction. The largest gaps concerned neurodevelopment and brain plasticity, the adolescent brain, dyslexia/dysgraphia/dyscalculia, learning disorders, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Global training needs did not differ by school sector or teaching level and were not independently associated with age, teaching experience, gender, or disciplinary background. Training-format preferences differed significantly, with individual reading and remote modalities rated more highly than in-person formats, although the overall effect size was small. These findings suggest that perceived demand for educational- neuroscience training is broad rather than confined to specific teacher subgroups. A topic-prioritized, flexible, and scientifically grounded curriculum may therefore be more useful than narrowly targeted initiatives based only on demographic or institutional characteristics.

Introduction Virtual learning environments have become an important context for higher education, yet the psychological mechanisms through which students achieve positive learning outcomes remain insufficiently understood. Informed by self-determination theory and flow theory, this study examined a sequential psychological pathway linking self-regulated learning to learning engagement and learning satisfaction through intrinsic motivation and flow experience. By integrating self-regulatory, motivational, and experiential processes within a single model, this study moves beyond research that has examined only direct relationships or treated intrinsic motivation and flow experience as parallel mechanisms. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 531 Chinese university students with experience in virtual learning. Data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 and SmartPLS 4.0. Partial least squares structural equation modeling and 5,000 bootstrap resamples were used to test the measurement model, direct effects, specific indirect effects, and sequential mediation paths. Results Self-regulated learning was positively associated with both learning engagement and learning satisfaction. Intrinsic motivation and flow experience each significantly mediated the relationships between self-regulated learning and the two learning outcomes. More importantly, significant sequential indirect effects were found from self-regulated learning through intrinsic motivation and flow experience to both learning engagement and learning satisfaction. This pattern indicates that higher self-regulated learning was associated with stronger intrinsic motivation, which was further associated with greater flow experience and more positive learning outcomes. The direct effects of self-regulated learning on both outcomes remained significant after the mediators were included, suggesting partial mediation. Discussion These findings indicate that positive learning outcomes in virtual learning environments are not only related to learners' self-regulatory capacity but are also associated with motivational activation and immersive learning experiences. By integrating self-regulated learning, intrinsic motivation, and flow experience within a sequential model, the study contributes to educational psychology by showing how self-regulatory capacity is linked to learning outcomes through successive motivational and experiential processes. Practically, this sequential pattern suggests that virtual learning environments should support goal setting, progress monitoring, autonomy, timely feedback, and optimally challenging tasks to promote engagement and satisfaction.

Introduction Sexual wellbeing is an important yet often overlooked aspect of quality of life for many Adolescent and Young Adult patients with sarcoma. Given the significant impact of this issue and the dearth of previous research, this study aims to explore the sexual wellbeing and psychosexual needs of this group. Materials and methods A descriptive, phenomenological, qualitative study was conducted. Open-ended, face-to-face interviews were used to achieve data saturation, following Giorgi’s approach. The Lincoln and Guba criteria and the COREQ guidelines were used to enhance methodological rigor and reporting quality. For descriptive purposes, information was collected on sociodemographic, clinical, quality of life and patient distress issues. Given the complexity of obtaining informed consent from parents or legal guardians of minors, the study included participants between the ages of 18 and 39 at the time of data collection. Results Twenty interviews with patients aged 18–39 years were collected. One overall domain, five themes, and 21 related sub-themes emerged from the thematic analysis. They were mainly related to the impact of the cancer diagnosis on patients’ priorities, scars and their symbolism and relationships with healthcare professionals and partners to promote sexual wellbeing. Patients reported relatively low levels of symptoms and high levels of functioning. The main symptom was insomnia, whereas fatigue and pain were less severe. Slight impairments were observed in the subject’s emotional functioning. 70% of patients had clinically significant Distress (≥4). Discussion Cancer significantly impacts the emotional relationships and sexual health of patients. A lack of information and taboos surrounding sexuality in oncology are significant barriers to patients’ psychological and physical wellbeing. Psychologists and nurses, in particular, should implement strategies to encourage open discussion about sexuality within this patient group.

Introduction The contemporary dance transformation of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) and traditional folk culture elements has become an important phenomenon in Chinese stage art practice, but systematic empirical research on the psychological characteristics of the creators and performers involved is still lacking. Methods This study adopted a cross-sectional questionnaire design with 915 creators and performers who have documented experience participating in contemporary dances and dance dramas containing ICH or traditional folk elements to examine the relationship between creativity disposition, psychological resilience, and positive/negative emotional states. Results The results showed that the sample’s psychological resilience score was M = 34.86, SD = 6.39, and the creativity disposition score was M = 41.31, SD = 5.64; the positive affect score was significantly higher than the negative affect score, t (914) = 24.02, p < 0.001, d z = 0.79. Correlation analysis indicated that creativity disposition was significantly positively correlated with psychological resilience and positive affect, and significantly negatively correlated with negative affect; psychological resilience was significantly positively correlated with positive affect and significantly negatively correlated with negative affect. Furthermore, cross-sectional mediation analysis revealed that while psychological resilience showed a statistically significant indirect association between creativity disposition and negative affect, the absolute magnitude of this indirect estimate was small, with an unstandardized indirect coefficient of B = −0.106, Bootstrap 95% CI [−0.136, −0.078]. K-Means clustering further identified three groups: high creativity-high resilience, low creativity-low resilience, and low creativity-high resilience. Discussion The findings suggest that psychological resilience may be an important psychological resource for understanding the relationship between the creativity disposition and negative affect of art creators and performers. However, given the cross-sectional design, the related findings should be interpreted as correlational evidence rather than causal conclusions.

Background This study utilises ERP technology and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) to compare the behavioral and EEG characteristics of adolescents with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and those with depression in response to negative emotional stimuli, with the aim of exploring the specific neural mechanisms underlying negative emotion processing and inhibitory control in adolescents with NSSI. Methods This study employed a cross-sectional between-groups design to compare 32 adolescents with NSSI and 34 adolescents with depression. All participants completed the emotion-face-based modified Iowa Gambling Task, whilst 64-channel EEG recordings were simultaneously acquired. The analysis focused on behavioral measures and ERP components such as the early posterior component and LPP. Results The net IGT score in the NSSI group was significantly lower than that in the Depression group [ F (1, 64) = 9.06, p = 0.004], and the Group × Emotion interaction was significant ( p = 0.030), with the largest difference observed under the anger condition. ERP analyses revealed a significant interaction: for the early posterior component (mean amplitude, 140–190 ms), the fear amplitude was significantly more negative (i.e., enhanced) in the Depression group, whilst there was no difference in the NSSI group; for the LPP (mean amplitude, 650–800 ms), the fear amplitude was significantly higher than the neutral amplitude in the NSSI group, whilst there was no difference in the Depression group. Conclusion Adolescents with NSSI exhibit a ‘differentiation between early and late stages’ in the processing of negative emotions: in the early stage, there is insufficient differentiation in the encoding of negative emotions, whilst in the late stage, there is a marked attentional bias toward fearful faces; this provides electrophysiological evidence for NSSI.