Encyclopedia, Volume 5, Issue 3 (September 2025) – 27 articles

This paper presents a comprehensive review of the environmentally friendly management and reutilization of electronic waste (e-waste) plastics in flexible pavement construction. The discussion begins with an overview of e-waste management challenges and outlines key recycling approaches for converting plastic waste into asphalt-compatible materials. This review then discusses the types of e-waste plastics used for asphalt modification, their incorporation methods, and compatibility challenges. Physical and chemical treatment techniques, including the use of free radical initiators, are then explored for improving dispersion and performance. Additionally, in situations where advanced pretreatment methods are not applicable due to cost, safety, or technical constraints, the application of alternative approaches, such as the use of low-cost complementary additives, is discussed as a practical solution to enhance compatibility and performance. Finally, the influence of e-waste plastics on the conventional and rheological properties of asphalt binders, as well as the performance of asphalt mixtures, is also evaluated. Findings indicate that e-waste plastics, when combined with appropriate pretreatment methods and complementary additives, can enhance workability, cold-weather cracking resistance, high-temperature anti-rutting performance, and resistance against moisture-induced damage while also offering environmental and economic benefits. This review highlights the potential of e-waste plastics as sustainable asphalt modifiers and provides insights across the full utilization pathway, from recovery to in-field performance. Full article

This entry explores the multifaceted intersections of gender and digital technologies, offering a comprehensive analysis of how structural inequalities are reproduced, contested, and transformed in digital contexts. It is structured into six interrelated sections that collectively address key dimensions of gendered digital contexts. It begins by addressing the gender digital divide, particularly in the Global South, emphasizing disparities in access, literacy, and sociocultural constraints. The second section examines gendered labor in the tech industry, highlighting persistent inequalities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education, employment, and platform-based work. The third part focuses on gender representation in digital spaces, revealing how algorithmic and platform design perpetuate biases. The fourth section discusses gender bias in AI and disinformation, underscoring the systemic nature of digital inequalities. This is followed by an analysis of online gender-based violence, particularly its impact on marginalized communities and participation in digital life. The final section considers the potentials and limitations of digital activism in advancing gender justice. These sections collectively argue for an intersectional, inclusive, and justice-oriented approach to technology policy and design, calling for coordinated global efforts to create equitable digital futures. Full article

Patient blood management (PBM) is a multidisciplinary approach aimed at improving patient outcomes through targeted anemia treatment that minimizes allogeneic blood transfusions, employs blood conservation techniques, and avoids inappropriate use of blood product transfusions. Viscoelastic testing (VET) techniques, such as thromboelastography (TEG) and rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM), have led to significant advancements in PBM. These techniques offer real-time whole-blood assessment of hemostatic function. This provides the clinician with a more complete hemostasis perspective compared to that provided by conventional coagulation tests (CCTs), such as the prothrombin time (PT) and the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), which only assess plasma-based coagulation. VET does this by mapping the complex processes of clot formation, stability, and breakdown (i.e., fibrinolysis). As a result of real-time whole-blood coagulation assessment during hemorrhage, hemostasis can be achieved through targeted transfusion therapy. This approach helps fulfill an objective of PBM by helping to reduce unnecessary transfusions. However, challenges remain that limit broader adoption of VET, particularly in hospital settings. Of these, standardization and the high cost of the devices are those that are faced the most. This discussion highlights the potential of VET application in PBM to guide blood-clotting therapies and improve outcomes in patients with coagulopathies from various causes that result in hemorrhage. Another aim of this discussion is to highlight the limitations of implementing these technologies so that appropriate measures can be taken toward their wider integration into clinical use. Full article

Over the past two decades, rising concerns about teacher stress and professional sustainability have fueled the development of instruments assessing teacher resilience. This review aims to map the existing resilience assessment tools specifically designed for educators, evaluating their theoretical frameworks, psychometric soundness, and contextual relevance. Twelve instruments were analyzed through an extensive literature review of peer-reviewed studies published over the past twenty years, including general, preservice, EFL, and teacher-specific scales for special education. Findings reveal a progression from early instruments emphasizing intrapersonal traits to current tools incorporating ecological and contextual dimensions. While several scales demonstrate satisfactory reliability and cross-cultural applicability, many still suffer from conceptual limitations, insufficient cultural adaptation, or marginal psychometric robustness. This review concludes that despite significant advances, future research must prioritize culturally grounded frameworks, broader subgroup validation, and advanced psychometric methodologies to ensure accurate, inclusive, and practical assessments of teacher resilience across diverse educational settings. Full article

More than 50 years ago, children were viewed as naturally resilient and often labeled invulnerable or invincible. Resilience is now understood to be the result of dynamic interactions between individual, familial, social, and environmental systems, decentralizing the focus from the individual to the global society. Experiences with adversity may emanate from the youth’s family environment, their community, the school system, and larger structural challenges related to poverty, discrimination, health disparities, and educational inequities. Youth experiences with adversity, trauma, and tragedy have the potential to negatively impact youth well-being, with consequences manifesting across the lifespan. Children and adolescents generally hold limited power to change their circumstances and are often ill-equipped to resolve the adverse or traumatic experiences occurring within their ecosystem. The value of social supports in the young person’s ability to be resilient has been affirmed. This understanding is particularly important for children growing up in poverty or in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) where significant challenges occur as a result of economic and social disadvantage. Resilience at the individual level is unlikely to eliminate macrolevel issues. Developing and deploying strategies to enhance the ability of youth to rebound from adversity represents a positive step at the micro level, but the larger issues of economic and social disadvantage are unlikely to change without macro-level interventions. Glancing toward the future, traumatized youth may grow into traumatized adults without appropriate interventions and changes in social policies, programs, and protections. Full article

Spiritual intelligence (SI) is defined as a unique form of hermeneutic–relational intelligence that enables individuals to integrate cognitive, emotional, and symbolic dimensions to guide their thoughts and actions with reflection, aiming for existential coherence rooted in a transcendent system of meaning. It functions as a metacognitive framework that unites affective, cognitive, and symbolic levels in dialog with a sense of meaning that is considered sacred or transcendent, where “sacred,” in this context, refers inclusively to any symbolic reference or value that a person or culture perceives as inviolable, fundamental, or orienting. It can derive from religious traditions but also from ethical, philosophical, or civil visions. It functions as a horizon of meaning from which to draw coherence and guidance and which orients the understanding of oneself, the world, and action. SI appears as the ability to interpret one’s experiences through the lens of values and principles, maintaining a sense of continuity in meaning even during times of ambiguity, conflict, or discontinuity. It therefore functions as a metacognitive ability that brings together various mental functions into a cohesive view of reality, rooted in a dynamic dialog between the self and a value system seen as sacred. Full article

China’s internal control framework follows the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) framework, emphasizing enterprise risk management and encompassing financial reporting, operations, compliance, and strategies. The authors review research that uses the COSO-based Internal Control Index to assess internal control quality among all publicly listed firms in China. Unlike the binary classification of internal control weaknesses under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act Section 404, this continuous index captures more nuanced variations in internal control effectiveness and provides two key advantages over traditional assessment of internal control over financial reporting (ICFR). First, while financial reporting can enhance a firm’s monitoring and decision-support systems, the underlying information is determined by operations. Thus, internal control over operations has a greater impact on a firm’s performance than ICFR. While U.S.-based research argues that the effects of ICFR extend to operations, the COSO-based index includes operational controls, allowing for a more direct study of internal control effects. Second, many U.S. corporations fail to report internal control weaknesses, particularly during misstatement years. In contrast, the COSO-based index, compiled by independent scholars, avoids managerial incentives to withhold negative internal control information. Covering institutional background and research evidence from China, the authors survey a wide range of internal control studies related to various aspects of enterprise risk management, such as earnings quality, crash risk, stock liquidity, resource extraction, cash holdings, mergers and acquisitions, corporate innovation, receivable management, operational efficiency, tax avoidance, and diversification strategy. Full article

For the majority of human history, humans lived in sustenance hunter–gatherer tribes. Due to rapid cultural evolution in the past few thousand years, our biological evolution has not kept up, and many of the adaptations are, as a result, better suited to ancestral conditions than they are to modern conditions. This is known as evolutionary mismatch. While evolutionary mismatches can be seen across many facets of contemporary human life (e.g., diet, exercise, online communication), evolutionary mismatches are particularly pervasive in our elementary schools. Due to the critical nature of social learning and cultural transmission, there is a long history of learning that has shaped the evolved learning mechanisms of children. Rather than learning from hands-on, collaborative experiences as was typical for our ancestors, children today often learn in age-segregated classrooms through passive instruction and standardized curricula. In this entry, eight common school-related issues are identified and the associated evolutionary mismatch is outlined. The goal is to provide educators with a model of how an evolutionary lens can be used to better understand, and potentially improve, modern schooling systems. Full article

Fever above 38 °C is a common phenomenon in the first few days after any major surgery. In many cases, it is caused by the inflammatory response triggered by surgical aggression, which subsides spontaneously. However, fever can also be indicative of a complication. The differential diagnosis should include infectious and non-infectious conditions. In patients in the postoperative period following oncologic surgery, the tumor process itself may also cause the onset of fever. Full article

Inclusive music education refers to the use of musical experiences and practices as tools for promoting participation, equity, and meaningful engagement among all learners, including those with Special Educational Needs (SEN). Music education has long been recognized not only for its value in emotional expression and cultural transmission but also for its cognitive and relational benefits. This entry examines the inclusive and transformative potential of music, highlighting how it can foster equitable, accessible, and culturally relevant learning environments. Drawing from pedagogy, neuroscience, and educational technology, the entry explores how music contributes to cognitive, emotional, and social development, with a focus on learners with SEN. It emphasizes the importance of early exposure to music, the strong connections between music and language acquisition, and the need to challenge persistent misconceptions about innate musical talent. The findings demonstrate that when supported by digital tools and educational games, music education becomes a powerful driver of inclusion, enhancing participation, relational dynamics, and cognitive engagement. The entry concludes by advocating for a reimagining of music not as a secondary subject, but as a foundational component of holistic and inclusive education, capable of building more empathetic, connected, and equitable societies. Full article

This encyclopedia entry provides an updated appreciation of the evolution of morphing aircraft wings, organized as follows: first, lift concepts are briefly examined; second, patents related to lift enhancement are discussed, showcasing existing technology and its evolution; finally, several technologies for morphing wings and the role of UAVs as testbeds for many innovative concepts are highlighted. The background of morphing wings is presented through a recap of lift concepts and the presentation of representative patents that describe the evolution of leading-edge and trailing-edge devices, such as flaps, slats, spoilers, and control surfaces. Although these topics are not usually detailed in reviews of morphing wings, they are deemed relevant for this encyclopedia entry. Full article

A partially ordered set (or a poset, for short) is a set endowed with a partial order relation, i.e., with a reflexive, anti-symmetric, and transitive binary relation. As mathematical objects, posets have been intensively studied in the last century, coming to play essential roles in pure mathematics, logic, and theoretical computer science. More recently, they have been increasingly employed in data analysis, multi-criteria decision-making, and social sciences, particularly for building synthetic indicators and extracting rankings from multidimensional systems of ordinal data. Posets naturally represent systems and phenomena where some elements can be compared and ordered, while others cannot be and are then incomparable. This makes them a powerful data structure to describe collections of units assessed against multidimensional variable systems, preserving the nuanced and multi-faceted nature of the underlying domains. Moreover, poset theory collects the proper mathematical tools to treat ordinal data, fully respecting their non-numerical nature, and to extract information out of order relations, providing the proper setting for the statistical analysis of multidimensional ordinal data. Currently, their use is expanding both to solve open methodological issues in ordinal data analysis and to address evaluation problems in socio-economic sciences, from multidimensional poverty, well-being, or quality-of-life assessment to the measurement of financial literacy, from the construction of knowledge spaces in mathematical psychology and education theory to the measurement of multidimensional ordinal inequality/polarization. Full article

The Field Guide “Paleopathology Collection at the University of Granada” includes one of the most important collections of human bone remains that present anomalies or specific characteristics that can be used to determine the existence of diseases, accidents or malformations in each subject’s life, as well as the probable cause of death. The collection consists of several thousand skeletons or parts of them. It is located at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Granada and has been created and managed by Professor Miguel C. Botella López, founder and director of the Anthropology Laboratory of the University of Granada, between 1971 and 2024. Professor Botella is the author of the diagnoses made for each specimen from different geographical areas of Spain in a time period ranging from the Neolithic to the present day. The collection is of special interest to students and professionals in medicine, archaeology, criminology or law. Full article

This entry gives an overview of the main data structures and approaches used for a two-dimensional representation of the terrain surface using a digital elevation model (DEM). A DEM represents the elevation of the earth surface from a set of points. It is used for terrain analysis, visualisation and interpretation. DEMs are most commonly defined as a grid where an elevation is assigned to each grid cell. Due to its simplicity, the square grid structure is the most common DEM structure. However, it is less adaptive and shows limitations for more complex processing and reasoning. Hence, the triangulated irregular network is a more adaptive structure and explicitly stores the relationships between the points. Other topological structures (contour graphs, contour trees) have been developed to study terrain morphology. Topological relationships are captured in another structure, the surface network (SN), composed of critical points (peaks, pits, saddles) and critical lines (thalweg, ridge lines). The SN can be computed using either a TIN or a grid. The Morse Theory provides a mathematical approach to studying the topology of surfaces, which is applied to the SN. It has been used for terrain simplification, multi-resolution modelling, terrain segmentation and landform identification. The extended surface network (ESN) extends the classical SN by integrating both the surface and the drainage networks. The ESN can itself be extended for the cognitive representation of the terrain based on saliences (typical points, lines and regions) and skeleton lines (linking critical points), while capturing the context of the appearance of landforms using topo-contexts. Full article

Tectonic activity in the Mediterranean region has been driven by the convergence of the confining plates (Nubia, Arabia and Eurasia). This convergence has been accommodated by the consumption of the oceanic domains that were present in the late Oligocene. It is suggested that this process has been enabled by the lateral escape of orogenic belts in response to constrictional contexts. Where this condition was not present, subduction did not occur. This interpretation can plausibly and coherently account for the very complex pattern of tectonic processes in the whole area since the early Miocene. It is also suggested, by providing some examples, that the geodynamic context proposed here might help us to recognize the connection between the ongoing tectonic processes and the spatio-temporal distribution of past major earthquakes. A discussion is then reported about the incompatibilities of the main alternative geodynamic interpretation (slab pull) with the observed deformation pattern. Full article

The authors propose considering the structure and evolutionary changes in the biosphere from the standpoint of a biogeomics approach. It is necessary to study biogeomes as systems of ecosystems that are similar in their structural and functional organization. Biogeomes are structural units of the biosphere and elements of biospheromerons. Based on an analysis of the concept of the “biome”, it is concluded that its primary use is limited, since it is only based on the phytocenotic approach; however, it should be noted that it is this aspect that is currently developing most successfully. The authors note that A. Tansley (1935), critically examining the concept of the biome, essentially introduced the concept of the biogeome, which is broader than the concept of the “ecosystem”. The authors consider the characteristics of five main terrestrial and atmobiontic biogeomes (hylea, grass biogeome, tundra, and desert biogeome), as well as seven hydrosphere biogeomes (shelf, pelagic ocean biogeome, bathyal–abyssal bottom, hydrothermal, bioherm, limnobiogeome, and rheobiogeome). They are grouped, based on the physiognomic approach and an analysis of the “biogeomic formulas”, into the following three types: biotic (the appearance of ecosystems is determined by the biome), oligobiotic (the appearance of ecosystems is determined by both the biome and abiotic elements, as well as the geome), and nanobiotic, where the general appearance of ecosystems is determined by the elements of the geome. The biogeomic approach allows us to consider the organization of terrestrial and hydrosphere ecosystems in a general way and to introduce important elements into the structure of the Earth’s biosphere, which has gone through complex and lengthy stages during its evolution. Full article

This entry explores the psychological, developmental, and organizational dynamics of people-pleasing behavior, analyzing its roots in childhood conditioning, cultural reinforcement, and evolutionary mechanisms. It highlights how chronic approval-seeking compromises authenticity, mental health, and workplace productivity, while proposing interventions for individuals and organizations to cultivate assertiveness and healthier relational patterns. Full article

Presenteeism, characterized by going to work sick, has become increasingly prevalent in nursing, a profession with high social and interpersonal demands. It is associated with a deterioration of the health of nurses, a reduction in the excellence of care, and a decrease in safety for users. Burnout is related to stress and mental overload and is characterized by exhaustion and fatigue. Objective: To map the evidence on the relationship between presenteeism and burnout in nurses. Methods: A literature review was carried out using the EBSCOHost Research search engine in various databases. Eight studies were selected and analyzed. Results: The studies identify a consistent relationship between burnout and presenteeism in nurses. Emotional exhaustion, resulting from burnout, can lead nurses to go to work despite being ill, due to a sense of responsibility, ethical duty, or organizational pressures. Most studies are cross-sectional, which limits the ability to establish causal relationships and identify specific interventions to reduce burnout-related presenteeism in nursing. Conclusions: It is essential to invest in health management policies for nurses to reduce burnout and minimize the consequences of presenteeism. Full article

The Underground Built Heritage (UBH) class, introduced at a methodological and theoretical level in 2021, collects cultural assets excavated throughout history from underground that, today, are significant elements of local cultural heritage, having strongly impacted on the “sense of place” of local communities. Those cultural assets have been at the core of several national and international regeneration processes, and, recently, new tools have been developed to support their classification and sustainable reuses. This entry introduces tools for the classification of historical uses of UBH elements and their historical reuses, as well providing guidelines for their sustainable regeneration for the social and economic benefit of local populations based on the analysis of some worldwide case studies. Full article

Nose-to-brain drug delivery is an innovative approach that leverages the unique anatomical pathways connecting the nasal cavity to the brain, including the olfactory and trigeminal nerve routes. This method bypasses the blood–brain barrier, enabling direct and efficient transport of therapeutic agents to the central nervous system. It offers significant advantages, such as rapid drug action, reduced systemic side effects, and improved patient compliance through non-invasive administration. This entry summarizes factors affecting the nose-to-brain delivery of drugs and the recent development of nanoparticle-based nose-to-brain delivery. Full article

Chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) are common among children and adolescents. Asthma and cystic fibrosis are two main conditions that affect this population. Young patients face physical limitations due to structural and functional abnormalities of the airways and other lung structures. Moreover, the route of everyday life is influenced by responsibilities derived from treatments, and exacerbations imposed by the disease impacting silently their social life. To date, discussions in the literature have mostly focused on the physical limitations that face children and adolescents. On the contrary, social aspects are less investigated, even their important role in rehabilitation patterns. On this basis, we provide an overview of the social determinants that affect children and adolescents with CRDs in different social environments, such as family and school; discuss coping strategies that can be developed to attenuate the impact of CRDs on youngsters’ lives; and present the role of healthcare professionals and digital technology in social support. Full article

Local governments provide numerous services to their citizens. In doing so, they utilize two primary methods to deliver them: (1) producing them in-house with their own employees and equipment or (2) outsourcing them to external actors, which may take the form of other public agencies, for-profit firms, or non-profit organizations. In this entry, the authors review the logic of why local governments might choose one mechanism over another. The goal is to give readers a feel for the state of the academic literature in this regard. After reviewing basic concepts, such as the difference between the “provision” and “production” of services, the authors frame the discussion in terms of a variety of lenses used by scholars attempting to better understand the determinants of such decision-making. These include agency theory, transaction cost economics, and New Public Management. The authors also consider the role that management capacity plays in allowing cities to successfully deliver services to their constituents. Additionally, the authors offer a discussion regarding how local governments partner with non-profits in less formal ways than contracting to ensure their citizens have access to needed services. Finally, there is a review of the tradeoffs between efficiency and other values that should be accounted for when arranging service production. Full article

Running enjoys worldwide popularity across age groups and sexes. Because of this, it serves as an excellent benchmark to compare male and female performance across the lifespan with respect to developmental progression, peak athletic performance, and age-related regression. The purpose of this review is to examine and discuss how sex and aging affect running performance in sprints, middle-distance running, and long-distance running. Based on the scientific literature and running world records from age 5–99, male running performance exceeds that of females across the lifespan, with the greatest divide beginning at puberty, which remains through old age. However, there appear to be few differences in the rate of progression in youth and the age of peak performance, but it is unclear whether the rate of decline, beginning in middle age, differs by sex and sport for record performances. Future analyses should examine changes in all running performances across the lifespan. Full article

This entry reviews the evolution from Digital Twins (DT) to Predictive Digital Twins (PDT) and Digital Triplets (DTr), culminating in Predictive Digital Ecosystems, which focus on economic and financial decision-making. It discusses historical developments, technical foundations, practical applications, ethical and regulatory challenges, and future directions. The overview integrates mature knowledge from engineering, data science, and economic domains to provide a structured reference framework for understanding and deploying Predictive Digital Ecosystems. Full article

Social media refers to digital platforms that enable users to create, share, and engage with content within virtual communities. Platforms like Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok have democratized content creation, allowing individuals to share ideas, opinions, and experiences with global audiences. Social media has revolutionized the way information is shared and consumed, offering unprecedented opportunities for learning, engagement, and democratic participation. However, this accessibility comes with significant ethical challenges, particularly centered around the paradox of freedom versus harm—the tension between upholding freedom of expression and mitigating the harms of misinformation, privacy violations, and AI-driven bias. This entry explores the dilemmas and opportunities associated with social media, examining how these platforms shape public discourse, influence consumer behavior, and challenge traditional notions of truth and accountability. It aims to provide policymakers, educators, and platform designers with actionable insights to foster ethical social media environments. Full article