The escalating impacts of climate change are compelling individuals to flee their homes, giving rise to a new category of refugees known as climate refugees. Despite clear evidence linking climate change to forced migration, the protection of these refugees’ human rights remains unaddressed by any existing international legal framework. This paper explores the necessity of embracing a new comprehensive international legal framework tailored to climate refugees. It advocates for a legal framework that addresses prevention and remedies the issues faced by climate refugees and ensures their human rights are safeguarded. We also argued that the Comprehensive International Legal Framework should have a collective obligation to safeguard the rights of climate refugees on the global scale and to provide a solution that integrates the various rules of law, meets humanitarian needs, and is tailored to the protection of the rights of climate refugees.

This study explores the seismic performance of steel diaphragm walls in underground structures, a critical aspect of structural engineering. The study focuses on the effects of slab diaphragm flexibility, an often overlooked factor in seismic design. Traditional seismic designs often assume the slab acts as a rigid diaphragm, leading to inaccuracies in predicting how forces are distributed between the slab and walls during an earthquake. To address this, the authors model steel diaphragm walls using equivalent cross-sections and analyze shear forces in both rigid and semi-rigid diaphragm scenarios. Results show that semi-rigid diaphragms reduce the shear forces on the exterior walls while increasing them on the internal core, thereby affecting the overall stiffness of the structure. The study emphasizes the importance of considering diaphragm flexibility in seismic design to achieve more accurate predictions of structural behavior and improve construction efficiency.

The role of the gut microbiota in colorectal cancer (CRC) development has garnered attention, highlighting probiotics as potential adjuncts in CRC prevention and treatment. In recent years, probiotics and their derivatives have demonstrated mechanisms that may contribute to anticancer properties. This study investigates the cytotoxic effects of Bifidobacterium bifidum KCTC 3357, Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus KCTC 5033, Limosilactobacillus reuteri VA 103, Bacillus galactosidilyticus VA 107, and Lactococcus taiwanensis VE101 on CT-26 mouse colon carcinoma cells using live cells, heat-killed cells (paraprobiotics), and cell-free supernatants (CFS, postbiotics) through an MTT assay. The results indicate that live bacterial strains, such as KCTC 3357, VA 103, and VA 107, promoted CT-26 cell viability, while heat-killed cells and CFS exhibited dose-dependent cytotoxicity. Inactivated forms of KCTC 3357 and VE 101, as well as CFS at 10 mg/mL concentration of KCTC 5033, VA 103, and VE 101, showed the strongest antiproliferative effects. These findings suggest that non-viable probiotic derivatives, such as paraprobiotics and postbiotics, offer promising therapeutic potential for CRC, providing a safer and more stable alternative to live probiotics. However, further research is required to explore their mechanisms of action, in vivo efficacy, and potential clinical applications.

This study examines consumer perceptions of vase life (VL) guarantees for cut flowers based on artificial intelligence (AI) predictions. Data were collected through surveys conducted in Osaka and Fukuoka, Japan, targeting both general customers and individuals in the flower industry. Results revealed that although awareness of AI technology was widespread, trust in AI’s ability to predict VL varied among customer groups. General customers in Fukuoka showed greater interest in VL guarantees, a willingness to pay higher prices, and higher trust levels in AI-based prediction systems compared with customers in Osaka. Conversely, flower industry professionals expressed less interest in VL guarantees and were less inclined to pay higher prices regarding AI systems, despite moderate trust in AI’s capabilities. Consumer preferences highlighted demand for VL guarantees, particularly in Osaka, whereas guarantees of up to 7 days were preferred. Notably, 48.3% of general customers favored a 7-day guarantee, whereas 44.7% of flower industry professionals preferred a 10-day guarantee. Understanding these differences in consumer perceptions of VL guarantees and AI can inform the development of effective guarantee systems for cut flowers and enhance public relations strategies in distribution and export markets.

Probiotics have been evaluated as therapeutic agents for cancer treatment in an increasing number of studies. This study investigated the inhibitory and cytotoxic effects of specific Lactobacillus strains on a human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line (HT-29). The strains assessed were Limosilactobacillus (L.) reuteri VA 102, Ligilactobacillus (L.) animalis VA 105, and Limosilactobacillus (L.) reuteri KCTC 3594 (ATCC 23272). The viability of HT-29 cells was evaluated using the MTT assay. The findings revealed that cell-free supernatants (CFS) exhibited significant anticancer effects. Heat-inactivated L. reuteri VA 105 and L. reuteri KCTC 3594 induced a pronounced reduction in cell viability. Furthermore, live cultures of L. reuteri VA 105 and L. reuteri VA 102 also showed reduced cell viability compared to the control group. These results suggest that CFS and heat-inactivated cells may be more suitable for therapeutic applications than live bacteria owing to their improved safety profiles and reduced potential for adverse effects. Our findings also emphasize the potential anticancer benefits of these LAB strains.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of various washing pre-treatments of native Codium fragile as a feed additive on in vitro ruminal fermentation and CH4 production in ruminants. Seaweed was included at 0.5% dry matter (DM) based on the experimental feed (forage : concentrate = 3:7). Treatment groups were classified as follows: experimental feed (C), no washing (T1), washing at 0°C (T2), washing at 22°C (T3) and washing at 70°C (T4) each immersed for 6 minutes in distilled water. The pH consistently fell within the ruminal stability range. In vitro dry matter digestibility was significantly highest in T2, T3, T4 and C, T4 was the lowest at 48 h (p<0.05). NH3-N concentration was significantly highest in T4 at 48 h (p<0.05). Total gas production at 48 h was 19% lower in T4 compared to C (p<0.01). CH4 production (mL/g DM) at 48 h was lower in all treatment groups compared to C, with T3 showing a 31% reduction (p<0.01). Similarly, CH4 production (mL/g dry matter degradability, DMD) at 48 h was 39% lower for T3 compared to C (p<0.01). At 24 h, total VFA was significantly highest in T1 and T4 (p<0.05). The proportions of acetate was significantly highest in C and T3 was the lowest at 48 h (p<0.01). The proportions of propionate was significantly highest in T3 and C was the lowest at 48 h (p<0.01). The acetate to propionate ratio was singnificantly highest in C at 48 h (p<0.01). The proportions of butyrate at 24 h was lower for T3 compared to C (p<0.05). Therefore, this study confirms that Codium fragile can reduce CH4 production when used as a feed additive for ruminants and this effect is not significantly influenced by the washing pre-treatment. However, if washing process is necessary, washing at 22°C is the most appropriate method to remove foreign objects.

This study investigates the listening comprehension performance of Korean university students when exposed to unscripted and scripted English speech, as well as their perceptions of various linguistic features associated with each speech type. A total of 115 participants were divided into two groups, both of which had the same level of listening proficiency. The unscripted group listened to spontaneous, unscripted dialogues during the listening comprehension test, while the scripted group listened to scripted versions from which features typical of unscripted speech had been removed. Following the listening test, participants completed a questionnaire assessing their perceived level of difficulty regarding a range of features that typically distinguish the two speech types. The results revealed that the unscripted group scored significantly lower on the listening test compared to the scripted group. Additionally, the survey indicated that participants found unscripted speech significantly more challenging, especially due to factors such as pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. Features typical of unscripted speech, including filled pauses, false starts, and a natural speech rate, were identified as obstacles to L2 listening comprehension. Based on these findings, the study suggests implications for L2 learning materials, instructional methods, assessment practices, and teacher education programs.

Under Trump and Biden, the US trade policy has veered away from its traditional approach, developed since World War II, from multilateralism to focusing primarily on national and unilateral concerns. At the center of this approach have been tensions with China. This includes a renewal of industrial policies, protectionism and, most importantly, reliance on national security, manifested by newer and unexpected geopolitical developments. The discussion of trade policy today has become very toxic, especially during this presidential campaign season, with its renewed focus on tariffs. The trade debate in the US is now entering a new stage with the nomination of Kamala Harris and J.D. Vance. I believe the US drift away from the postwar policies of promoting global trade and investment will continue. Nationalist and protectionist policies will continue as part of a new economic and industrial policy, fused with national security concerns and rhetoric, no matter who wins.

Regional economic integration organizations (REIOs) can ratify climate change agreements as mixed agreements, including the Paris Agreement, with their member states. A question may arise on what responsibilities can REIOs have under the Paris Agreement in relation to the member states. Analyzing the draft articles on the responsibility of international organizations reveals that REIO can have derived (indirect) responsibility for non-fulfilling the obligations by member states due to the normative control resulting from the adoption of binding resolutions. Also, under Article 4.18 of the Paris Agreement, REIO will be jointly responsible for non-realization of the goals communicated in the NDCs together with non-compliant member. This will make the non-compliant states responsible externally to the third parties and to REIO internally in achieving the goals of NDC and will encourage the compliant member states to participate in realizing the collective goal of REIO because of influence of not realizing the collective goal.

Electrochemical oxidation and reduction reactions are fundamental in various conversion and energy storage devices. Functional materials derived from MOFs have been considered promising as electrical catalysts for ORR, HER, and OER, which can be used in Zinc-air batteries and water electrolysis. Herein, we designed a novel approach to fabricating the ultrafine Co9S8 embedded nitrogen-doped hollow carbon nanocages ( Co9S8@N-HC). The method involved a process of sulfidation of cobalt-based metal–organic frameworks (ZIF67) and then coating them with polypyrrole (PPy). PPy has notable properties such as high electrical conductivity and abundant nitrogen content, rendering it highly promising for catalytic applications. The Co9S8@ N-HC catalyst was successfully synthesized via the carbonization of CoSx@ PPy. Remarkably, the Co9S8@ N-HC catalyst demonstrated exceptional electrocatalytic activity, requiring only low overpotentials of 285 mV and 201 mV at 10 mA cm‒ 2 for OER and HER, respectively, and exhibited high activity for ORR, with an onset potential ( Eonset) of 0.923 V and half-wave potential ( E1/2) of 0.879 V in alkaline media. The electrocatalytic efficiency displayed by Co9S8@ N-HC opens a new line of research on the synergistic effect of MOF-PPy materials on energy storage and conversion.