The existence of residential well-being of the locals in the sense of equilibrium-state is a competitive advantage for tourism in a given destination. The rise of overtourism could jeopardize this equilibrium and ultimately the effectiveness of tourism in a vulnerable destination. The research question of the study aimed to answer: what are the spiral dynamics of the multifactorial characteristics of the sense of place that can be mapped under the influence of overtourism. Answering the question draws attention to the sense of place—which can be interpreted as a synonym for local character—of the issues of overtourism and residential well-being. Mapping the mechanism of action of the multifactorial characteristic of locality can help to identify non-supportive functions, to pinpoint the balance point for moving towards a supportive quality, and to answer the “how yes” questions at individual, local and collective levels. The answer to the research question is the result of concluding three district-specific sub-questions. The assessment of the results was based on the content analysis of 251 posts (2017–2021) in the local public Facebook group (supplemented by a questionnaire survey of local residents (2022), 30 in-depth interviews with experts and residents (2022) conducted as part of the cross-sectional research, and 10 additional in-depth interviews with residents (2024) conducted for the last sub-question. The flowchart showing the current state of the district along a negative spiral dynamic, the possibility to turn it in a positive direction, and the mind-map-like summary of local, individual and collective mitigation and solution alternatives supporting the change of direction can be considered as a novel scientific result.

Our study investigates the relationship between firm profitability, board characteristics, and the quality of sustainability disclosures, while examining the moderating effects of financial leverage and external audit assurance. A key focus is the distinction between Big 4 and non-Big 4 audit firms. Using data from Malaysia’s top 100 publicly listed organizations from 2018 to 2020, we analyze sustainability reports based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. Unexpectedly, our results indicate a negative association between firm profitability and board characteristics, challenging traditional assumptions. We find that non-Big 4 audit firms significantly enhance sustainability disclosure quality, contradicting the widely held belief in the superiority of Big 4 firms. Our finding introduces the “Big 4 dilemma” in the Malaysian context and calls for a reassessment of audit firm selection practices. Our study offers new perspectives on the strategic role of board composition and audit firm selection in advancing sustainability disclosures, urging Malaysian organizations to evaluate audit firms on criteria beyond the global prestige of Big 4 firms to improve sustainability reporting.

With the continuous development of facilities and horticulture, the area of vegetable planting in facilities increased year by year. Watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris Schrad) as the main cultivars within the facility, the continuous cropping problem is very serious, resulting in continuous cropping obstacles become increasingly obvious, the incidence of fusarium wilt increased year by year. Grafted watermelon roots developed to improve the growth of grafted roots of the conditions, resulting in robust plant growth. At the same time, the use of different purposes of the rootstock can make watermelon in different soil conditions under normal growth, such as the use of low temperature, drought, salt tolerance, barren and other characteristics of the rootstock. Secondly, the rootstock of the strong absorption of water absorption capacity, to promote the growth of grafted watermelon plants strong, large watermelon fruit, high yields. In addition, grafted watermelon seedlings grow fast early, for early maturing cultivation and overcome the seedless watermelon early growth slow defects is extremely favorable. So the use of pumpkin as a watermelon grafting rootstock, can effectively improve the effect of watermelon resistance to Fusarium wilts. And provide the theoretical basis and scientific basis for the further study of photosynthetic characteristics, disease resistance breeding and effective control of watermelon. In this experiment, the watermelon varieties with different resistance to fusarium wilt were selected, and the anti-fusarium wilt watermelon was studied systematically. There are changes in physiological characteristics during growth and development. In conclusion, grafting promotes the growth of watermelon and physiological characteristics of the index rose.

KEYWORDS: watermelon; fusarium wilt; growth period; physiological characteristics

In order to replace conventional materials in the existing composite world, there has been a focus on adopting coir fibres, which are lightweight, adaptable, efficient, and have great mechanical qualities. This study describes the creation of environmentally responsible bio-composites with good mechanical characteristics that employ coir powder as a reinforcement, which has good interfacial integrity with an epoxy matrix. And these epoxy-coir composites supplemented with coir particles are predicted to function as a reliable substitute for traditional materials used in industrial applications. Here, untreated and alkali-treated coir fibres powder were employed as reinforcement, with epoxy resin serving as a matrix. An experimental investigation has been carried out to study the effect of coir powder reinforcement at different weight percentages (5 wt%, 10 wt%, 15 wt%, 20 wt%, 25 wt%, and 30 wt%). The morphological study, followed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and an optical microscope (OM), demonstrated that the powder and matrix had the strongest adhesion at 20 wt% coir powder-reinforced composite, with no voids, bubbles, or cracks. Based on the entire investigation, the polymer composite with 20 wt% reinforcement exhibited better mechanical qualities than the other combinations.

In this paper, the pollination and biology of apricot in Hongfeng and New Century were studied. The results are as follows: (1) The est pollination with the red variety is early, new century's best pollinating varieties is camel yellow. (2) The flowering period of different cultivars was different, and the flowering period of Hongfeng and other varieties was 3 - 7 days later than that of Baxing water apricot and other varieties, which provided germplasm for further breeding of late flowering varieties. (3) Hongfeng, the new century and other varieties of self-flowering rate of 0 - 3.61% range, is self-incompatible varieties. (4) The pollen germination rate of different cultivars was higher than 50%, which indicated that the pollen was mature and the fertility was strong, and the reason of low percentage of self-pollination was pollen abortion, the main reason was self and so on.