Functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) is a prevalent valvular disorder driven by adverse remodeling of the left ventricle and/or left atrium. This review synthesizes the contemporary evidence on multimodality imaging and its role in mechanism-specific evaluation and management of FMR, with particular emphasis on distinguishing ventricular FMR (VFMR) from atrial FMR (AFMR). FMR is mechanistically heterogeneous, requiring precise phenotyping to guide therapy. A mechanism-based framework differentiating VFMR, driven by left ventricular dilation and leaflet tethering, from AFMR, driven by left atrial and annular enlargement with preserved ventricular function, is central to contemporary management. Echocardiography remains the cornerstone for real-time assessment of MR severity, hemodynamics, and valve–ventricle interactions. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) provides the gold standard for volumetric quantification and myocardial tissue characterization, enabling improved risk stratification by assessing ventricular remodeling and fibrosis. Computed tomography (CT) offers high-resolution anatomic phenotyping and is essential for procedural planning, particularly for transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) and transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR). Integration of multimodality imaging supports individualized selection between guideline-directed medical therapy alone, TEER, surgical intervention, or TMVR, based on the dominant mechanism and myocardial substrate. The discordant outcomes of landmark trials such as MITRA-FR and COAPT have underscored the importance of precision in patient selection, highlighting the controversial but clinically relevant proportionate/disproportionate FMR framework and the extent of myocardial fibrosis as key modifiers of treatment response. Emerging advances in advanced imaging and artificial intelligence hold promise for automated phenotyping, improved reproducibility, and earlier identification of patients most likely to benefit from intervention, ultimately enabling a more personalized, mechanism-driven approach to improving outcomes in FMR.
This article examines the emancipatory potential of the rights of nature in Aotearoa New Zealand through Bruno Latour’s concept of political ecology. We argue that the legal recognition of entities such as Te Urewera Forest and the Whanganui River as legal persons constitutes a paradigmatic experiment in reconfiguring the modern division between nature and politics. Drawing on Latour’s critique of Western modernity and his notion of hybrids and actants, we show how Māori struggles for land, mana, and “geographical identity” generate a political collective in which decolonial and ecological motives are inseparably intertwined. Rights of nature function here not merely as environmental protection instruments, but also as devices for redistributing power and legally encoding Māori concepts such as kaitiakitanga, whakapapa, and ‘listening to Papatūānuku’. In this sense, ecological and decolonial objectives converge rather than compete. We then contrast these developments with global biodiversity governance, focusing on Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and its Life Framework of Values. While Life framework of values (IPBES) has significantly broadened its conceptual framework—particularly through the recognition of the relational and cultural values of nature—the challenge lies in translating this expanded recognition into governance practice. Policy and decision-making processes still often tend to privilege measurable and instrumental, and benefit-oriented valuation frameworks, which can make the integration of relational values difficult. The New Zealand cases thus illuminate both the radical promise and the structural limits of institutionalizing Latourian political ecology: they realize a non-modern governance of human and non-human actors domestically, while exposing the continued dominance of capitalist modernity at the global level.
The genus Viburnum (Adoxaceae) comprises deciduous broad-leaved shrubs with a thicket-like growth habit, and globally about 150–200 species are recognized. In Korea, several native Viburnum taxa have recently been listed as threatened, emphasizing the need for robust genetic information to support conservation and management. This study aimed to evaluate genetic diversity and interspecific relationships among 33 Viburnum taxa and to establish a practical framework for their identification and management using start codon targeted (SCoT) markers. SCoT markers were chosen because they are easier to apply than simple sequence repeat (SSR) and generally provide richer nuclear variation than chloroplast DNA (cpDNA), offering a simple yet informative tool for distinguishing closely related members of this shrub genus. Seventeen SCoT primers produced 489 polymorphic bands, revealing substantial nuclear variation among the 33 Viburnum taxa. An unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA), we grouped the 33 accessions into four major genetic clusters, and this clustering pattern was in good agreement with the structure inferred from principal component analysis. These clusters highlighted the genetic isolation of the V. plicatum group and the close affinity of the V. carlesii complex, while also indicating complex relationships among East Asian species. In contrast, V. plicatum formed Cluster IV, highlighting the taxonomic positions of these lineages and their potential priority for conservation and breeding. Overall, the results demonstrate that SCoT markers provide an efficient, operationally simple system for discriminating between closely related accessions and major genetic lineages within Viburnum. The SCoT-based approach developed here provides baseline information for species and cultivar identification. It also supports germplasm conservation and the selection of genetically divergent parents for future breeding programs.
This article argues that the discipline of Philosophical Anthropology is directly relevant for comprehending the present human condition, especially regarding our collective ecological predicament and the consequences of climate change. By centralizing relations, focusing on lived experience at various levels, and adopting an interdisciplinary approach, Philosophical Anthropology provides powerful conceptual instruments for making sense of human–biosphere relations. Its focus on explaining the human condition in an antireductionist fashion, emphasizing biological and chemical processes and multiple lifeforms, is a valuable approach. These approaches are critically examined with refers to the works of Scheler, Gehlen, and Plessner, combined with a discussion of the concept of responsivity. This theoretical foundation resonates with current trends in anthropology, environmental philosophy, 4E cognition, and ecocriticism, allowing for greater appreciation of the embeddedness of organisms and the agency of non-human actors, as well as of emotional responses such as eco-anxiety and solastalgia. By integrating results from philosophy, anthropology, the exact sciences, and life sciences, a reinvigorated PA could well provide the conceptual and methodological foundation for a comprehensive theory of the Age of Extinction.
Bucket foundations have been widely used in marine engineering, such as offshore wind power, due to their anti-overturning performance and convenient installation. In China’s coastal areas, clay soil is widely distributed, and most of the seabed has layered clay. However, the bearing capacity of bucket foundations in layered soil is significantly different from that in homogeneous soil. Currently, there is relatively little research on the bearing capacity of bucket foundations in layered clay. Therefore, the finite element analysis method is adopted to establish a bearing capacity calculation method of bucket foundations in double-layer clay. The axial failure mechanisms and ultimate bearing capacity of bucket foundations in double-layer clay are deeply discussed, and the corresponding ultimate bearing capacity calculation method is given based on the numerical analysis results. The combined bearing capacity of bucket foundations in double-layer clay is fully analyzed, and the evolution method of V-H, V-M, H-M, and V-H-M failure envelopes is given.
