CONTEXT Crop diseases such as Fusarium head blight in wheat continue to spread globally, causing yield losses and threatening consumer safety. Despite substantial research in cultivar breeding, fungicide development, and agronomic management, the fragmented and black-box nature of scientific knowledge has hindered corresponding improvement in the decision-making capacity of farmers and agricultural advisors. OBJECTIVE This study proposes an actionable framework to enhance the translation of research outcomes into farmer decision support. The framework systematically integrates fragmented knowledge and explores the causal chains through which management practices influence crop disease. A quantifiable, modular model is developed to provide management-relevant risk information that could aid farmer decisions. METHODS Text mining is used to extract core findings from the literature. These findings are organized into a knowledge network to screen key management practices and explore their influence pathways to disease indicators. Potential pathways are introduced into a system dynamics model and iteratively calibrated using experimental data from eligible studies, yielding a quantifiable model for decision support. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Tillage practice, previous crop selection, nitrogen application, and sowing date were introduced as modules into a system dynamics model based on the Fusarium head blight life cycle. Using an Argentinean experiment as a case study, the model simulated a risk of Fusarium head blight incidence exceeding 70% for wheat sown between August 3 and August 15, 2018. The effect of sowing date on disease risk is regulated by multiple factors. Conventional results, such as advising late or early sowing, provide limited support for farmer decision-making. SIGNIFICANCE This study has explored a methodological approach that could support farmers and agricultural advisors in decision-making by leveraging scientific research outcomes, and has proposed an extensible, farmer-oriented framework. It provides a systematic methodological reference for constructing computable decision support tools from discrete scientific evidence, offering a pathway for further exploration in other crop–disease systems or agricultural sustainability problems.
Petal color fading in cut flowers of the herbaceous peony 'Coral Sunset' coincides with flower senescence, yet the underlying physiological and molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this study, we integrated physiological, transcriptomic, and metabolomic data to elucidate how 2 h pulse treatments with nanosilver (NS, an ethylene action inhibitor) and ethephon (CEPA, an ethylene-releasing agent) influence petal color fading in 'Coral Sunset' peonies. Compared with the control (CK), CEPA pretreatment markedly increased the rate of ethylene production and reduced the anthocyanin content, a* value and C value of the petals. Concurrently, CEPA increased the levels of H2O2 and MDA in the petals. CEPA downregulated the expression of anthocyanin biosynthesis-related genes (PlCHSY and PlUAGT, PlbHLH3), and upregulated the expression of anthocyanin degradation-related genes (PlPER4 and PlPER55). CEPA also affected the expression of genes associated with hormone signaling pathways, including those involving auxin, ethylene (ETH), jasmonic acid (JA), salicylic acid (SA), cytokinin (CTK), abscisic acid (ABA), and gibberellin (GA). Specifically, ETH and JA signaling-related genes were predominantly upregulated, whereas auxin-signaling-related genes were mainly downregulated. Metabolomic analysis indicated that CEPA primarily reduced the levels of peonidin, cyanidin, and pelargonidin glycosides in the petals. In contrast, NS delayed petal senescence and color fading, with most of its physiological effects being opposite to those of CEPA. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and proteinprotein interaction (PPI) analysis suggested that the interplay between the ethylene- and JA-signaling pathways may play an important role in ethylene-signal perception and the regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis. Collectively, color fading in 'Coral Sunset' petals resulted from the result of the synergistic effects of phytohormonal imbalance and oxidative stress. These findings provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying phytohormone-regulated petal color fading, and establish a theoretical framework for retarding color loss and formulating effective preservative solutions to improve the vase quality of cut peonies.
Limited substrate availability and competing metabolic reactions constrain photo-fermentative hydrogen production (PFHP) from lignocellulosic biomass. This study evaluated cobalt-iron–nitrogen-doped biochar (Co-Fe-NBC) for enhancing PFHP from corn straw by combining material characterization, abiotic electrochemical analysis and batch fermentation. Experiments used pure Rhodopseudomonas palustris with 6 g corn straw per reactor and 253 mL starting liquid under continuous illumination for 84 h. Co-Fe-NBC exhibited a BET surface area of 291.81 m2/g and scan-rate-dependent current responses in abiotic electrode measurements. At 20 mg/L, cumulative hydrogen production reached 567.65 ± 25.35 mL/reactor, compared with 165.95 ± 4.94 mL/reactor in the unamended control, representing a 242.06 % increase across three complete experiments (mean ± sample standard deviation). Production normalized to added corn straw was 94.61 ± 4.22 mL/g, and the maximum mean 12 h hydrogen-production rate reached 21.24 ± 0.96 mL/h. Increased reducing-sugar concentrations and changes in soluble products, pH and oxidation–reduction potential accompanied hydrogen enhancement; at 36 h, the triphenyl tetrazolium chloride reduction response and NAD+/NADH ratio were 24.73 μg/mL and 1.33, compared with 13.21 μg/mL and 0.83 in the control. These findings support Co-Fe-NBC as an effective additive for enhancing corn-straw PFHP and identify accompanying changes in substrate availability and cellular redox indicators. Future work should clarify the contributions of hydrolysis and material-cell redox interactions and assess metal leaching, toxicity, reuse and long-term performance.
The aviation sector is essential for global connectivity and economic growth but remains one of the most difficult industries to decarbonize due to its reliance on energy-dense liquid fuels and the anticipated increase in both carbon dioxide (CO2) and non-CO2 climate impacts. As the industry pursues net-zero emissions by 2050, Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) have emerged as the most practical near- and medium-term decarbonization pathway because they are compatible with existing aircraft and fuel infrastructure. However, uncertainties persist regarding the sustainability, scalability, economic viability, and long-term climate benefits of different SAF production routes. This review provides a comprehensive assessment of SAFs by integrating feedstock availability, conversion technologies, fuel properties, life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, techno-economic performance, and future deployment prospects within a unified sustainability framework. Major SAF pathways, including Oil-to-Jet (OTJ), Gas-to-Jet (GTJ), Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ), and Sugar-to-Jet (STJ), are critically evaluated, with particular focus on ASTM D7566-certified fuels such as Fischer–Tropsch Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (FT-SPK), Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA-SPK), and Hydroprocessed Algae-Based Fuels (HC-HEFA). Comparative analysis reveals significant differences in feedstock requirements, process efficiencies, production costs, fuel composition, and scalability. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) studies indicate GHG emission reductions ranging from 60% to over 100% relative to conventional jet fuel, with FT-SPK and FT-SPK/A offering the highest mitigation potential. Feedstock cultivation, resource extraction, and fuel conversion are identified as the most emission-intensive stages, underscoring the need for upstream process optimization. The review further examines critical barriers to large-scale SAF deployment, including feedstock scarcity, supply variability, high energy and hydrogen requirements, infrastructure constraints, and high production costs. While HEFA dominates current commercialization, scalable aviation decarbonization will require accelerated deployment of FT, ATJ, and Power-to-Liquid (PtL) pathways, supported by technological innovation, sustainable feedstock expansion, and enabling policies.
Fabrication of nanostructured composites from diverse functional building blocks is of great significance for advanced electrochemical energy storage. However, conventional nanocomposites normally exhibit inferior collective properties owing to insufficient interfacial coupling and weak intercomponent interactions. In this work, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and needle-shaped TiO2 crystals were surface-modified with long-chain hydrocarbon ligands, followed by co-assembly into uniform spherical nanocomposites via an emulsion-assisted strategy. After subsequent carbonization, the hydrocarbon chains of ligands entangled and in-situ transformed into ultrathin carbon layers, which robustly bridged TiO2 and CNTs to generate enhanced interfacial coupling within the obtained supraspheres. The effects of TiO2/CNTs ratios on the co-assembly behavior of supraspheres and their electrochemical performance as lithium-ion battery anode materials were systematically investigated. Leveraging the reinforced interfacial effect and conductive CNTs network, the optimized TiO2@C@CNTs supraspheres delivered a reversible specific capacity of 261 mAh g- 1 at 0.5 A g- 1, and retain 198, 156, 115, and 78 mAh g- 1 at high current densities of 2, 5, 10, and 20 A g- 1, respectively, demonstrating high lithium storage capacity, superior rate capability, and excellent long-term cycling stability. The developed emulsion-assisted coassembly approach provides a universal route to construct high-performance nanocomposites with enhanced collective electrochemical properties for advanced energy storage devices.
