Finding common ground: Assessing the Co-location potential of California's blue food and clean energy sectors

Sacha inchi (P. volubilis L.), an ancient oilseed crop native to the Amazon, is gaining attention for its high nutritional value particularly due to its ω-3-, -6-, -9-rich oil. However, most research has focused mainly on oil characterization, neglecting the potential of its by-products, such as the Sacha inchi oil-press cake (i.e., the solid residue after oil extraction). This study explores the chemical composition of Sacha inchi oil press-cake powder, focusing on fatty acid and amino acid profiles, antinutrient factors, total phenolic content, antioxidant activity, and the bioactivity of its extracts on cellular models. Fatty acid analysis revealed a high proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially α-linolenic acid (42.52%), making it a valuable resource for health-promoting applications. The protein content was also significant (41.86%), with a balanced amino acid composition, including essential amino acids such as leucine, valine, and isoleucine, which are vital for muscle protein synthesis and energy metabolism, in food and/or feed applications. Antinutritional factors were detected, including saponins (1050.1 ± 1.1 mg/100 g), alkaloids (2.1 ± 0.5 mg/100 g), and tannins (6.2 ± 0.9 mg/100 g). While these phytotoxins could limit their use in food applications, their potential antimicrobial activity highlights promising pharmacological opportunities. Total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity (AO) were evaluated using two extract mixtures differing in composition and polarity, with the acetone/water/acetic acid solvent (80/19/1 v/v/v) showing the highest antioxidant properties. The extract obtained showed cytotoxic effects against Panc-1 cancer cells, highlighting its potential in nutraceutical and pharmaceutical applications. This study underscores the unexploited potential of Sacha inchi by-products, such as the oil press-cake, as a sustainable resource of bioactive compounds for functional products, supporting circular bio-economy strategies by plant-based waste and local biodiversity valorization.

ABSTRACT Accurate prediction of climate variables is important in reducing the effects of natural disasters and taking preventive measures for agriculture and food security, energy sector, public health, and water resources management. For agricultural production, it is essential for producers to determine strategies for their agricultural activities and to increase agricultural productivity. Issues such as determining planting and harvest times, determining pesticides to be used against agricultural pests, selecting products to be planted, irrigation, and sustainable agriculture are directly related to climate variables. In this study, a GA‐TCN‐LSTM hybrid prediction model was created to determine climate variables such as relative humidity, temperature, wind speed, and dew point in Bhopal, Indore, Kanpur, Ludhiana, and Patna, which are among the prominent cities of India in terms of agricultural production. The hyper‐parameters of the developed model using the temporal convolutional networks (TCN) and long short‐term memory (LSTM) were optimized with the genetic algorithm (GA), and the GA‐TCN‐LSTM hybrid model was created. GA‐TCN‐LSTM was extensively compared with the base TCN‐LSTM, convolutional neural network (CNN), LSTM, TCN, and CNN‐LSTM. The compared models were tested using approximately 15 years of hourly, up‐to‐date, and real‐time data of the cities. Experiments showed that GA‐TCN‐LSTM outperformed the compared models and had above 0.9 R‐Squared (R 2 ) for the majority of cities and climate variables.

This article presents estimates of the social minimum in the first quarter of 2025. On an annual basis (compared to the first quarter of 2024), modelled household expenditures grew faster than inflation. The social minimum increased from 6.1% in households of parents with one older child to 7.1% in two-person pensioner households, with the consumer price index (CPI) at 4.9%.In contrast, in relation to the previous quarter, the values of the social minimum increased from 1.8% (single work-ing-age person) to 2.0% (households of two pensioners and working households with two or three children), with a slightly lower CPI (1.4%).The increase in the value of the social minimum was largely due to higher valuations in two main groups of needs: food and housing and energy expenses. Food expenditures increased from 2.6% to 2.7%, with a CPI of 2.3%. Model ex-penditures on housing and energy carriers increased from 2.3% to 2.4% with a slightly lower CPI (2.1%). Housing charges in housing communities increased from 2.5% to 2.9%, with a lower CPI (1.2%). Expenditures on energy carriers increased from 1.7% to 2.2%, with a lower CPI (1.5%).

The ability of consumers to adjust their diet in response to resource shifts is a key mechanism allowing the persistence of populations and underlying species' adaptive capacity. Yet on coral reefs, one of the marine habitats most vulnerable to global change, the extent to which species alter their diet and the consequences of dietary shifts for consumer performance and ecosystem functioning remain poorly understood. Here, we tested how dietary versatility can mediate the effects of habitat degradation on two invertivorous reef fishes-Chaetodon capistratus, a browser, and Hypoplectrus puella, an active predator-and whether diet shifts relate to variation in body condition and growth. We integrated DNA-based gut content analyses (metabarcoding), otolith analysis, body condition and field surveys to link diet profiles to growth and relative body condition across reefs differing in coral cover. Metabarcoding revealed significant dietary variation in both species across reefs with different levels of coral cover. However, the response was more pronounced in the browser, whose diet was anthozoan-dominated on healthier reefs, whereas it was annelid-dominated on degraded reefs. We found significantly more variable body condition on degraded reefs in the browser, while the body condition of the active predator decreased in larger individuals on degraded reefs. Our results suggest that while dietary versatility serves as a mechanism to cope with degraded environments, the degree to which dietary shifts can buffer against the effects of habitat degradation varies between species. Overall, the variation in trophic niche across sites suggests that food webs and energy flow differ at relatively small scales between healthy and degraded reefs.

Inadequate oral intake among hospitalized adults contributes to malnutrition and adverse outcomes. While guidelines advocate meals with higher energy and protein content, how meal composition relates to intake under routine conditions is unclear. In this cross-sectional study, 392 lunch and dinner meals were recorded across six departments at a tertiary hospital. Intake was measured by weighing food before and after consumption, and nutrient content was derived from standardized recipes and food composition tables. Meals were stratified by relative energy and protein content (per 100 g food), categorized as above or below the median. Associations between meal composition and intake outcomes were analyzed using non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis). Median consumption was 205 g [IQR: 119-286], providing 250 kcal [137-385] and 10.0 g [5.8-15.6] of protein per meal. Meals above the median for relative energy content were associated with higher energy (+117 kcal; p < 0.001) and protein intake (+3.6 g; p < 0.001) compared with meals below the median, with no difference in food weight. Meals above the median for relative protein content provided +4.9 g more protein (p < 0.001) despite a 23 g reduction in weight (p = 0.007). Hospitalized patients consume modest energy and protein. Higher relative energy and protein content of foods was associated with greater intake despite similar or smaller portions. These findings support targeted meal-composition strategies focusing on energy and protein enrichment.

Background/Objectives: Physical activity (PA) and energy intake (EI) are central targets of community initiatives to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity. The general effects of PA and EI in influencing energy balance and body composition are clear. However, the independent impacts of PA and EI on the adiposity of children growing up amidst westernized lifestyles are inconclusive, as few studies have employed sufficiently robust methodology to provide solid independent associative data. Methods: We carried out a systematic review of the research addressing the independent associations of adiposity with each of PA and EI in free-living town or city-dwelling children and adolescents. Acceptable publications included objective measures of fat mass and PA, best standard practice EI assessments, and appropriate statistical modeling. Results: Of approximately 700 publications explored, only four satisfied all the pre-set methodological standards. All four studies involved predominantly White participants from westernized cities and had the same outcomes. Adiposity was strongly independently and negatively related to PA, but there was no evidence of any independent relationship between adiposity and EI. Potential misreporting was considered, especially under-reporting by participants with greater adiposity, butpost-hoc assessments were unable to find any evidence that this influenced the outcomes. Conclusions: In general, children with higher adiposity consumed no more food and beverage energy than their leaner counterparts, but they were less active. However, despite some support for the validity of the commonly used and validated EI assessments, their subjective nature raises the possibility that inaccuracy masked relationships. Additional well-designed research is needed, and notwithstanding the vital role that sound nutrition plays in the healthy development of our youth, the consistency of outcomes of the well-executed studies in this review suggests that campaigns targeting youth obesity would benefit from strategies focusing strongly on increasing PA.

Although many studies have demonstrated acute behavioral and metabolic effects of glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists, few have assessed long-term effects of these drugs on these phenotypes. We assessed changes in various behavioral and metabolic phenotypes throughout a 21-day treatment regimen with semaglutide and posttreatment. Weight loss in response to prolonged semaglutide treatment can be divided into distinct phases, and each phase is characterized by different effects on food intake, meal patterns, energy expenditure, and substrate oxidation. Our findings suggest that differences in behavioral changes and/or metabolic adaptations may underlie the degree of weight loss responsiveness to GLP-1R agonists.

Children's satiety responsiveness moderates the association between food reinforcement and eating in the absence of hunger.

Malaysian Healthy Diet Online Survey (MHDOS) is an online survey designed to measure diet quality of Malaysian adults. This study aimed to assess the relative validity and test-retest reliability of the MHDOS. This nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted from May to November 2022 among 218 Malaysian adults. Participants completed the MHDOS, underwent an interview-administered 24-hour diet recall (24DR), and repeated the MHDOS within two weeks. Relative validity was assessed by correlating food group servings from the MHDOS and 24DR using Spearman's cor-relation coefficients. Construct validity was evaluated by comparing Diet Score tertiles with food group servings, energy, and nutrient intakes from the 24DR. Linear trend analysis was used to compare food group and nutrient intakes across the Diet Score tertiles. Reliability was measured using the Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) between the initial and repeated MHDOS administrations. The MHDOS demonstrated moderate-to-good reliability, with ICC ranging from 0.70-0.86 for different components and 0.90 for the total Diet Score. Spearman correlation coefficients for mean food group intakes estimated from the MHDOS and 24DR ranged from 0.21-0.44 (p <0.001). Higher Diet Scores were associated with greater intake of total fibre, vitamin C, thiamine, niacin, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, and iron, as well as increased consump-tion of vegetables, fruits, and water (p-trend <0.01). MHDOS has good test-retest reliability and its derived Diet Score is associated with better nutrient and food group intake as estimated from 24DR. The MHDOS is a valid and reliable tool for assessing diet quality among Malaysian adults.

Food drying technologies and their contributions to the UN 2030 agenda for sustainable development.

A literature review of the food–energy–water nexus trade-offs and synergies research at the household level

Background/Objectives: There is a lack of food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) specifically designed to assess food consumption based on processing levels in younger populations. This study evaluates the validity and the reliability of a 107-item FFQ (NFFQ-Kids) in estimating the intake (g/day) and the weight and energy ratios of Nova groups in Italian children and adolescents aged 2-18 years. Methods: The NFFQ-Kids was administered twice (T0 and T1), with a four-week interval. A total of 73 participants completed the questionnaire at T0, and 53 completed it at T1. Participants were selected from the ICARO Study (December 2023-April 2024), a web-based cohort study in Southern Italy. Questionnaire validity was assessed by comparison with a 3-day food record (two weekdays and one weekend day) collected between the two NFFQ-Kids administrations. Test-retest reliability was evaluated to assess the consistency of the questionnaire over time. Results: A moderate correlation was found between the NFFQ-Kids and the 3-day food record for the energy ratio of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) (r = 0.48; p < 0.001; ICC = 0.46; 95% CI 0.29-0.64) and the weight ratio for both unprocessed or minimally processed foods (r = 0.49; p < 0.001; ICC = 0.50; 95%CI 0.33-0.66) and ultra-processed foods (UPFs) (r = 0.58; p < 0.001; ICC = 0.58; 95%CI 0.42-0.72). Overall, the NFFQ-Kids showed good test-retest reliability across all Nova group intakes, total food, and relative energy and weight ratios of UPFs (r = 0.71, ICC = 0.67; and r = 0.79, ICC = 0.67, respectively), indicating stable measurements over time. Conclusions: The NFFQ-Kids demonstrated acceptable validity and good reliability, proving useful for assessing food intake by processing level in Italian youth.

Abstract The North Sea has been undergoing long‐term transformations driven by shifts in human activities and climate change, which have jointly reshaped the composition of marine communities. Despite existing studies, the functional mechanisms driving community changes remain poorly understood. Here, we analyzed a 43‐year time series of meso‐ and macro‐zooplankton (&gt; 500 μ m) monitored at Helgoland Roads to assess long‐term changes in functional biodiversity. We applied functional diversity indices and trait‐based uni‐ and multivariate analyses to (1) investigate the temporal variability in functional biodiversity components, (2) relate structural community changes to environmental drivers, and (3) interpret patterns in the context of community assembly mechanisms. Our results reveal asynchronous changes across biodiversity components, with pronounced structural shifts occurring in the early 2000s. These shifts were tightly linked to modifications in the food web: feeding traits together with predation‐risk traits contributed most to diversity changes, shaped by the abundance of diatoms and fish biomass. Environmental filtering processes could be identified as key mechanisms driving the reorganization of the community, leading to a significantly altered functional structure after 2005, with potential implications for food web dynamics and energy transfer to higher trophic levels. Our findings underscore the value of trait‐based approaches in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the mechanistic processes driving community change and support their integration into ecological models to improve projections of ecosystem responses under future conditions.

IntroductionOptimal nutrition during early childhood is crucial for psychosomatic development and for preventing diet-related diseases. However, evidence from Poland highlights significant deviations from recommended dietary practices. The previous Polish Infants and Toddler Nutritional Study conducted in 2016 (PITNUTS 2016) revealed imbalances in nutrient intake among children aged 5–36 months. The aim of this study (PITNUTS 2024) is to assess the diet and nutritional status of infants and children aged 5–72 months, providing a broader understanding of eating behaviours across critical stages of growth and development and allowing evaluation of how dietary practices changed in recent years.Methods and analysisThis cross-sectional study will recruit a nationally representative sample of Polish infants and children aged 5 to 72 months using stratified random sampling. Survey interviews will be conducted with parents or legal guardians as proxy reporters for the children. Dietary practices will be evaluated through validated qualitative and quantitative dietary assessments, ensuring a comprehensive evaluation of food consumption and energy and nutrient intake. Dietary data will be collected using the 3 day food record and the survey questionnaire, including a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Daily energy and nutrient intake will be compared with national dietary standards and WHO guidelines. Dietary patterns will be derived based on the FFQ data. Nutritional status will be assessed based on measured anthropometric parameters. Energy, macro- and micronutrient intake as well as dietary patterns identified among children will be associated with nutritional status, including body mass index z-score and body weight status.Ethics and disseminationThe study has been approved by the ethics board of the Institute of Mother and Child. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants’ parents or legal guardians before the interviews began. The results from this study will be presented at scientific conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals, contributing to nutrition policies in Poland and informing educational materials and dietary consultation services.Trial registration numberNCT06417151, results.

Abstract Background Migration, a widespread ecological phenomenon, significantly influences the spatial and temporal distributions of organisms by altering community structure and shaping food web dynamics and ecosystem functioning. In marine ecosystems, a combination of biotic and abiotic factors shapes species behaviors, reproductive patterns, and phenological traits, ultimately driving seasonal adaptive migrations across habitats. Throughout this process, shifts in species composition and resource density can not only modify the structure of trophic networks but may also lead to functional changes within the ecosystem. However, our understanding of how the adaptive migration of fish at relatively fine temporal scales in subtropical coastal waters affects food webs remains limited. This study employs regional-scale ecosystem survey and high-resolution trophic interaction data, constructing a comprehensive metaweb and seasonal subnetworks of the Beibu Gulf ecosystem, while applying topological network analysis and energy flux modeling to quantify how adaptive fish migration reshapes food web structure and energy flow dynamics. Results We found that the adaptive migration of fish in the Beibu Gulf enhanced connectivity between regions and caused community boundaries to shift northward along environmental isoclines, which results in the increased structural similarity of subnetwork among these regions. Simultaneously, this migration altered the community structure of fish within regions and led to spatial and temporal variability in fish species diversity and biomass. Although the increase in fish species diversity increased the complexity of the subnetworks, it did not fundamentally alter the topology of the subnetworks within the region or diminish the modularity of reconnected networks. Changes in species biomass transformed energy flux pathways in the northern Gulf from two pathways, which are dominated by benthic detritivore flows and pelagic phytoplanktivorous flows, to a single pathway that is predominantly reliant on benthic detritivore flows, whereas the energy flux pathways in the southern Gulf exhibited the opposite trend. These results suggest that natural boundaries formed between submodules, the trophic structure within these modules, and the consistency of the topological roles of certain super-generalist fish species contribute to the stability of the food web structure in the Beibu Gulf. Furthermore, changes in species biomass may have altered the relative utilization of resources by consumers across different habitats or the relative availability of these resources to consumers, and thereby affects the intensity of interactions between consumers and prey and potentially alters the pathways of energy flux transfer. Conclusions Our study examined the effects of seasonal environmental changes on fish migration and their subsequent impact on the structure and function of food webs in subtropical coastal waters. This research offers new perspectives on how global climate change may drive species migration, trigger food web reorganization, and induce cascading effects. Furthermore, the findings provide compelling evidence for prioritizing the monitoring of super-generalist fish species and adopting food web structural indicators in marine ecosystem management.

The concept of the Anthropocene raises the idea of change, in terms of both changes in human societies, and the changes humans have caused in the natural world. The three major innovative leaps—hunting/fire, agriculture, and industrialization—followed by a population growth. At present a mismatch between human’s needs and wants, and the natural processes that conserve ecological integrity. Worldwide sustainability concerns, such as food security, energy and water conservation all rooted in human behaviour. Addressing these problems requires an understanding of how to support people to initiate and maintain changes to their behaviour. Human behaviour is of significance in shaping paths to sustainability. A nudge aids people make better choices for themselves without limiting their freedom of choice, making it easier for people to make a convinced decision. A Green Nudge is a subtle intervention or persuasion technique designed to influence individuals to make environmentally friendly choices without restricting their choices. These nudges encourage eco-conscious behaviour and have been effective in addressing environmental issues by guiding people toward sustainable decisions. The application of nudges proves to be beneficial in achieving objectives within the realm of sustainability and the change from a linear to a circular economy. The study highlights the concept and applications of green nudges in achieving sustainability.

Seasonality in temperate ecosystems shapes species phenology, influencing interactions and food web structure. Variations in species richness and biomass affect trophic interaction strength, a crucial factor for community stability, which can be assessed through energy fluxes – an essential indicator of ecosystem function. Yet, we still have limited understanding on how energy fluxes and food web structure vary overtime and how the seasonal dynamics influence stability. We examined how the structure, energy fluxes and stability of a highly resolved multitrophic lake food web change across seasons. Two estimates representing different facets of stability were considered: resilience and reactivity. We found a strong seasonal pattern in food web structure, with higher complexity observed in summer and autumn. In addition, we found that more complex food webs are more reactive to perturbations, and consequently, less stable than simpler ones over short time‐scale. This was influenced by a lower proportion of strong energy fluxes. Resilience was unaffected by seasonality, food web structure and energy fluxes, highlighting the need to account for multifaceted nature of stability. The seasonal variability of stability suggests that food webs may vary temporally in their vulnerability to environmental perturbations, which has important implications for ecosystem management.

Throughout geological time, an intertwined relationship between ecology and evolution has enabled distant clades to attain gigantism. By synthesizing fossil and modern data, we identify key tipping points in the rise of extreme-sized ocean animals—from early Cambrian arthropods and Ordovician mollusks to Triassic ichthyosaurs, Neogene sharks, and Quaternary whales. We show that ecological opportunities—from vacant niches to shifts in ocean productivity—have promoted the evolution of key adaptations to enhance prey intake, such as predatory appendages, specialized dentition, and baleens, ultimately enabling species to reach extreme sizes. The presence of ocean giants, in turn, has reshaped marine food webs, energy flow, nutrient cycling, and overall ecosystem structure. As such, their extinction or decline can have profound and lasting ecological consequences. Understanding the coevolutionary dynamics between marine giants and their environments is essential for predicting their resilience and conserving their critical roles in ocean ecosystems.

Genome-wide association of pica within a cohort of volunteer blood donors implicates the gene encoding neuropeptide VF