Search Results (8,920)

Ultrafast laser processing enables the creation of functional surfaces in metals, semiconductors, ceramics, polymers and other materials through spatially controlled nonequilibrium energy deposition. However, the resulting surface functionality cannot be explained solely by laser parameters or geometric features. Femtosecond irradiation induces a sequence of coupled processes, including nanoscale structuring, phase transformation, chemical modification, defect formation, and relaxation, which define the final surface state. This review introduces the Surface-by-Design concept, where functional surfaces are considered as engineered material states formed through controlled laser–matter interaction rather than as predefined patterns. Representative examples including laser-induced periodic surface structures, hierarchical micro/nanotextures, modified oxide layers, and laser-generated functional interfaces are analyzed in relation to wettability, tribological behavior, corrosion resistance, optical response, and other properties. The review further examines how advanced characterization, digital engineering, beam shaping, in situ diagnostics, and data-driven methods contribute to controlling surface evolution. Remaining challenges include reproducibility, scalability, and reliable prediction of functional behavior during service conditions. Future progress in femtosecond laser surface engineering will depend on the ability to control not only the generated morphology but also the evolving structural and physicochemical state of functional interfaces. Full article

Seismic monitoring networks increasingly develop capabilities that function as geographic information infrastructure, transforming continuous geophysical observations into spatial information that supports research, decision-making, and public awareness. In Texas, seismicity linked to oil and gas operations has increased since 2009 across major producing regions, prompting the Texas Legislature to establish the Texas Seismological Network and Seismology Research program (TexNet) in 2015. This paper examines TexNet’s seismic monitoring network, field operations, data-processing pipeline, and the information products, data services, and decision-support tools that transform seismic observations into accessible earthquake information. Since routine earthquake reporting began in 2017, TexNet has grown from an inherited network of eighteen broadband stations to a system directly maintaining 207 stations and incorporating 421 active stations to locate earthquakes across Texas. TexNet provides a suite of information products, data services, and decision-support tools—including the TexNet Earthquake Catalog, near-real-time notification systems, and open data products—that connect geophysical observations with the needs of researchers, regulatory agencies, industry, and the public. TexNet remains fundamentally a seismic monitoring network, with additional capabilities that support scientific, regulatory, and public information needs in Texas and other regions with induced seismicity. Full article

With urban rail transit networks gradually entering a mature stage of development, whether newly added lines and stations can still improve local labour market outcomes remains an important question in transport planning and urban regeneration research. This paper examines light rail transit expansion in three mature UK cities: Manchester, Sheffield, and Nottingham. Using MSOA-level panel data from 2013 to 2024, this study applies a Difference-in-Differences (DID) approach to evaluate the impact of light rail transit expansion on local labour market vulnerability. MSOAs intersecting with the 500-m buffer zones of newly opened light rail stations are defined as the treatment group, while MSOAs not directly affected by light rail expansion are used as the control group. The Claimant Count is used as a proxy for welfare dependency and labour-market vulnerability. The results show that light rail transit expansion significantly reduces the Claimant Count in treated areas, with an estimated decline of approximately 7.52–7.56%. This finding remains robust after adding demographic, socio-economic, and built environment controls, applying MSOA-level clustered standard errors, implementing PSM-DID, and conducting placebo tests. Mechanism analysis further shows that light rail expansion is associated with changes in the functional structure of station areas, including increases in overall POI density and service-oriented facilities, while manufacturing and production-related facilities decline. These findings suggest that light rail expansion may reduce local unemployment-related welfare dependency by improving employment accessibility, alleviating spatial mismatch, and promoting service-sector agglomeration. This study provides new empirical evidence on the socio-economic effects of light rail expansion in mature UK cities. Full article

Background/Objectives: Achondroplasia is the most common skeletal dysplasia and the leading genetic cause of disproportionate short stature. Although its biological basis involves gain-of-function variants in the FGFR3 gene, achondroplasia is a lifelong multisystem disorder associated with neurological, respiratory, orthopedic, otolaryngological, cardiovascular, oral, functional, and psychosocial complications. This narrative review aims to synthesize the evidence on developmental and adaptive functioning, age-specific healthcare needs, multidisciplinary service delivery, transition to adult care, psychosocial well-being, caregiver burden, and patient- and family-centered outcomes in achondroplasia across the lifespan. Methods: A narrative literature review was conducted using PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, and CINAHL, with Google Scholar used as a supplementary source. Studies published between January 2010 and July 2026 were considered, together with earlier clinically relevant reports. Evidence addressing prenatal and postnatal diagnosis, age-specific manifestations, neurological and respiratory complications, orthopedic and otolaryngological care, cardiometabolic risk, growth monitoring, multidisciplinary management, transition to adult services, disease-modifying therapy, quality of life, and caregiver burden was evaluated. Results: The clinical priorities of achondroplasia change substantially across the lifespan. Infancy is characterized by an increased risk of foramen magnum stenosis, cervicomedullary compression, hypotonia, and sleep-disordered breathing, whereas orthopedic deformities, chronic pain, reduced mobility, spinal stenosis, hearing impairment, obesity, and cardiovascular risk become increasingly relevant during later childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Early diagnosis, condition-specific imaging, neurological and respiratory surveillance, growth monitoring, and coordinated specialist care are essential for preventing severe complications. Vosoritide has introduced a disease-modifying therapeutic option, but it does not replace comprehensive clinical surveillance, rehabilitation, orthopedic care, psychosocial support, or shared decision-making. Functional limitations, environmental barriers, treatment burden, and caregiver stress contribute substantially to reduced quality of life. Conclusions: Achondroplasia should be managed as a lifelong multisystem condition rather than solely as a disorder of short stature. Standardized surveillance, multidisciplinary coordination, planned transition to adult care, and patient- and family-centered management are essential for improving function, autonomy, long-term health outcomes, and quality of life. Full article

This study examines how residents evaluate local government within Japan’s Liveable Well-Being City Indicator (LWCI) framework, with a focus on public service delivery and the application of machine learning (ML). Using a nationwide survey of 66,085 respondents, two dimensions of local government evaluation (Service Accessibility and Government Responsiveness) were examined using correlation analysis and Random Forest classification models. The findings indicate that differences between the two evaluation dimensions are better understood through patterns of relative predictive importance among shared factors than entirely distinct sets of variables. Service Accessibility was more strongly associated with functional and usability-related service factors, whereas Government Responsiveness was associated with a broader range of service-related and community-level conditions. The Random Forest models further identified differences in the relative importance of predictors across the two outcomes, reinforcing the distinction between their broader predictive patterns. These findings demonstrate that integrating ML with well-being assessments complements conventional statistical analysis by providing additional insight into the comparative predictive structure of policy-related factors. Full article

Management accounting systems (MASs) are essential to organisations because they provide high-quality information that supports planning and decision-making when it is relevant, timely and reliable. The effectiveness of MAS depends on the delivery of relevant, timely, and understandable information, yet organisations often fail to evaluate the quality of these services systematically, thereby limiting their strategic impact. Our study addresses the underexplored area of MAS service quality, focusing on internal dynamics within accounting departments and gaps in service provision. We conduct a gap analysis within a single consistent cultural environment (Slovenia) to assess the functioning of accounting services. In our study, the statistically significant preparer–user mismatch is concentrated in the reliability dimension. The findings suggest that reliability should be prioritised in efforts to improve MAS service quality. We discuss practical implications for strengthening MAS service quality, particularly through data integrity, reporting reliability, process standardisation and user expectation management. Full article

Background: Mental health issues among university students are a growing global concern, including in Malaysia. This exploratory study aims to examine mental health support systems in Malaysian universities using a dyadic perspective, capturing both students’ and counsellors’ experiences. This addresses a key gap in the literature, which has largely relied on single-perspective accounts. Methods: A qualitative exploratory design was employed using purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 students receiving mental health support and 10 university counsellors. The data were analysed using hybrid deductive–inductive thematic analysis. Results: Three themes emerged from the findings. The first theme showed that students sought support once distress affected their daily functioning, valuing trust, safety, and emotional guidance, while counsellors described a parallel process of assessing student needs and facilitating longer term recovery. The second theme identified barriers shared by both groups, namely limited awareness of services and stigma, alongside additional constraints reported only by counsellors, including staffing shortages, unclear referral pathways, and limited institutional support. The third theme centred on strategies for improvement, including early assessment, awareness campaigns, digital accessibility, resilience building, and stronger collaboration among students, counsellors, and university stakeholders. Conclusions: This study contributes to the literature by integrating three complementary theoretical perspectives to explain university students’ mental health support experiences, support networks, and help-seeking behaviour. The findings also provide practical guidance for university administrators, counsellors, and policymakers seeking to develop more accessible, proactive, and student-centred mental health support systems. As the study is based on qualitative, cross-sectional data, the findings should be interpreted as indicative rather than causal. Nonetheless, they suggest that strengthening such initiatives may contribute to more supportive and responsive mental health provision within higher education institutions. Full article

Background/Objectives: Performance measurement and management is a key administrative function; however, its application to child and adolescent healthcare services remains poorly mapped in the international literature. This study attempts a systematic bibliometric mapping of the field. To the best of our knowledge, previous bibliometric studies in pediatric and related healthcare fields have primarily focused on specific clinical or service domains, whereas the intersection of performance measurement and management with child and adolescent healthcare services has not been specifically mapped. The novelty of the present study lies in addressing this intersection through an integrated bibliometric assessment of its thematic, temporal, and geographical structure. Methods: A bibliometric analysis was performed on the Scopus database, with a query that combined a proximity operator (W/10) and Boolean logic, yielding 643 documents (1990–2026). After metadata cleaning and application of an occurrence threshold (≥15), 111 keywords were analyzed with VOSviewer (network, overlay, density, targeted analysis, bibliographic coupling of countries). Results: Research production increased strongly since 2010, peaking in 2025. Four thematic clusters emerged—quality of care, clinical outcomes, administrative framework, emergency/operational care—with the term “quality of health care” as the central hub-bridge. The administrative cluster was linked to older publications relative to the clinical/operational clusters. Country-level bibliographic coupling identified distinct geographical patterns in cited-reference similarity, including a predominantly European cluster, a transcontinental cluster dominated by the United States and Canada, and a separate Australian cluster. The term “performance measurement” itself did not meet the inclusion threshold, reflecting the methodological effect of the selected occurrence threshold rather than the absence of the concept from the literature. Conclusions: The retrieved literature was strongly concentrated in clinical and health-related subject areas, while explicitly administrative and managerial perspectives appeared comparatively limited. This pattern indicates a potential research gap that warrants further investigation rather than confirming the absence of managerial performance frameworks in the broader field. Full article

University canteens occupy a structurally significant position within European higher education, functioning simultaneously as food security infrastructures, socioeconomic equalizers, and community-building spaces. Yet, access to these services remains deeply uneven, shaped by financial constraints, logistical barriers, and a frequently underexplored cultural and symbolic dimension that precedes and overrides direct experiential evaluation. Drawing on 56 semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted with university students in Milan between April and May 2025, this paper investigates how students organize and experience their midday lunch break and what motivates them to access or exclude themselves from the university canteen service. The findings reveal that the student sample departs substantially from the dominant framing in the contemporary literature of the canteen as an existential food-security resource, instead deploying a range of domestic and commercial food tactics that bypass institutional catering entirely. More significantly, the data demonstrates that canteen avoidance is driven less by objective assessments of food quality or pricing than by a stratification of memories in which childhood memories of institutional dining spaces trigger pre-emptive rejection of the university facility before any direct engagement takes place. Against this backdrop, peer socialization emerges as a particularly salient counterforce for overriding both affective aversion and economic and logistical inconvenience, symbolically transforming the canteen from a regimented site of institutional constraint into a shared territory of collective belonging. Taken together, these findings suggest that improving canteen access requires intervention not only at the level of food quality and pricing, but at the level of spatial culture, service typology, and the culinary imagery that students carry with them to campus. Full article

University campus design frequently emphasizes environmental comfort metrics, like shade provision and solar exposure, to optimize outdoor space usage. Nonetheless, the degree to which these ambient elements affect real user behavior remains ambiguous in relation to the functional attributes of space. This study examines the correlation between environmental factors and student spatial behavior on a university campus. Shadow and solar-hour assessments were performed to pinpoint regions providing optimal climatic comfort. Behavioral observations were utilized to record patterns of student presence and activity in various campus locations. The findings indicated a significant divergence between environmental performance and user conduct. Enclosed courtyards demonstrated the greatest shade levels and little solar exposure, signifying enhanced environmental comfort. Nonetheless, students primarily congregated in locations adjacent to the campus cafeteria, despite increased solar exposure and little shading. Users often congregated beneath dispersed trees instead of moving to the more comfortable enclosed courtyards. The data indicate that functional attractors, especially those related to food services and social contact, have a greater impact on occupancy patterns than environmental comfort by itself. The research contends that effective design of university open spaces must combine environmental efficacy with an awareness of activity generators and social hubs. The findings enhance current discourse on human-centered environmental design by illustrating that spatial function may exert a more significant influence than climatic comfort on outdoor behavior. Full article

The growing demand for scalable and cost-effective digital learning environments has increased interest in lightweight cloud-based learning management solutions that can support instructional delivery without the complexity and infrastructure requirements of conventional Learning Management Systems (LMSs). While enterprise LMS platforms provide extensive functionality, their deployment and maintenance often require substantial technical, financial, and administrative resources. This study proposes a lightweight cloud-based LMS architecture using low-code web technologies as an alternative framework for educational content management, learner engagement, resource distribution, and instructional support. The proposed architecture integrates four functional system layers: course management, performance management, content delivery, and productivity support. These components are designed to operate within a cloud-hosted environment that leverages web-based content management, embedded digital resources, collaborative productivity tools, and centralized storage services. The architecture emphasizes accessibility, modularity, low deployment overhead, and cross-platform compatibility, enabling rapid implementation in resource-constrained educational settings. To evaluate the feasibility of the proposed architecture, a large-scale deployment was conducted involving 1765 end users interacting with the platform within an educational environment. System functionality was assessed through feature-level evaluation across the core LMS components and supported by user capability indicators related to digital engagement and platform utilization. Analytical results demonstrated strong functional performance across all architectural modules, with course management and content delivery components exhibiting the highest operational effectiveness. Findings further indicated that the cloud-based architecture successfully supported essential LMS functions through integrated web services and low-code platform technologies. The study contributes a replicable systems architecture and deployment framework for lightweight learning management environments. The proposed model offers a practical foundation for the development of cloud-based educational platforms that support scalable content delivery, learner interaction, instructional management, and future integration with learning analytics, adaptive learning engines, and intelligent educational support systems. The framework provides an engineering-oriented approach for designing accessible and sustainable digital learning infrastructures using low-code technologies. Full article

Mental health counselors routinely work in emotionally demanding environments that require sustained psychological and occupational functioning. Identifying psychological resources and occupational factors that support adaptive functioning may inform strategies to enhance counselor well-being and reduce burnout. This study examined the relationships among counselors’ clinical service context, emotion regulation, growth mindset, self-compassion, job satisfaction, and burnout. Participants were 152 individuals with graduate degrees who provided counseling services and completed an anonymous online survey. Measures assessed burnout, job satisfaction, self-compassion, growth mindset, cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, and workplace and professional characteristics. Group comparisons and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. Burnout was significantly associated with lower job satisfaction, self-compassion, cognitive reappraisal, and growth mindset. Counselors providing services to children reported greater burnout and lower self-compassion, whereas those providing services to adults reported greater cognitive reappraisal, higher job satisfaction, and lower burnout. Job satisfaction varied across service settings, with the highest levels observed in outpatient community mental health and private practice and the lowest in detention centers and K–12 schools. In hierarchical regression analyses, only job satisfaction and self-compassion independently predicted burnout after controlling for counseling experience, degree characteristics, growth mindset, and emotion regulation. Counselors’ adaptive functioning appears to reflect the combined influence of workplace context and psychological resources. Self-compassion and job satisfaction emerged as key protective factors against burnout. These findings have implications for counselor education, clinical supervision, workforce development, and interventions designed to promote occupational well-being and strengthen the behavioral health workforce. Full article

The whole pavement life cycle is divided into five phases: raw material production, construction, service use, maintenance and rehabilitation, and end-of-life (EOL). Distinct system boundary definitions (cradle to gate, cradle to site, cradle to grave) are clearly distinguished, and two categories of vehicle-related emissions are strictly differentiated: baseline vehicle operation emissions (excluded) and pavement-induced incremental emissions (included only for full cradle-to-grave accounting). According to cited highway pavement inventory data (functional unit: 1 m² full cross-section composite pavement, cradle-to-gate material-only boundary), cement-related materials account for merely 4.7% of total structural material mass yet contribute over 84.5% of material-phase carbon emissions, while asphalt mixture construction emissions generally make up less than 10% of mixing-stage outputs. In the use phase, pavement deformation, rolling resistance elevation and surface texture loss trigger extra vehicle fuel consumption and associated greenhouse gas increments. Maintenance-stage emissions stem from repair material manufacturing, on-site machinery operation and traffic congestion delays during lane closure; milling, transportation and recycling dominate EOL carbon outputs. This review further classifies all emissions into direct engineering emissions and pavement-derived indirect emissions, compares carbon performance and service-life extension effects of eight mainstream maintenance strategies, and thoroughly decomposes milling, stockpiling, haulage and recycling links of waste asphalt, alongside multiple environmental burden allocation methods for reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP). A full spectrum of green low-carbon technologies is summarized, including biochar bio-materials, RAP, crumb rubber, industrial byproducts, warm-mix asphalt (WMA), cold recycling and CCUS negative-carbon materials. We also balance their emission reduction benefits against potential deterioration risks to rutting resistance, fatigue life and moisture stability. Combined with a life-cycle cost assessment (LCCA), this study analyzes cost-emission trade-offs of all technical routes, and deeply discusses multi-source uncertainty, sensitive input parameters and universal methodological limitations of pavement LCA. Core takeaways indicate that raw material production and long-term service use are the two dominant carbon emission stages; a medium RAP-WMA combination and cold in-place recycling represent the most economically and environmentally balanced mitigation solutions. Major research gaps and targeted future research directions are proposed, providing standardized theoretical support and dual environmental–economic decision references for low-carbon asphalt pavement design and full-life carbon accounting. Full article

The Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) provides a European framework for assessing the capacity of buildings to optimise operation, respond to occupants and interact with energy grids. Its current catalogue covers nine domains: heating, cooling, domestic hot water, ventilation, lighting, dynamic envelope, electricity, electric vehicle charging, and monitoring and control. This Perspective argues that this boundary is too narrow for complex buildings, where services such as lifts, security, fire safety, swimming pools, irrigation, outdoor lighting, kitchens, laundries, refrigeration, laboratories, and information and communication technology (ICT) rooms may significantly affect energy use, water use, safety, resilience, maintenance and user experience. The paper proposes five additional service families for SRI 2.0: mobility and accessibility; safety and security; water and outdoor environmental services; outdoor and site infrastructure; and special energy-intensive and facility services. These should be introduced as optional, building-type-specific modules assessed through familiar SRI functionality levels. This would make the SRI more realistic, actionable and relevant. Full article

Impervious surfaces create heterogeneous planting sites for urban trees, but whether crown-scale sealing is associated jointly with leaf economics and reproductive dispersal morphology remains unclear. We aimed to test these associations in mature female Populus tomentosa while treating impervious surface area (ISA) as a composite indicator of site context rather than a direct measure of thermal or hydrological stress. In a single-season, cross-sectional survey of 180 trees in Beijing (60 per low-, mid-, and high-ISA descriptive stratum), we measured crown-scale ISA, short-term midday ground-surface temperature, a pervious-soil access-moisture index (PSAMI), eight leaf traits, and five reproductive traits, and analyzed continuous associations, group contrasts, effect sizes, and multivariate patterns. Greater ISA was associated with lower PSAMI (R² = 0.581) and higher land surface temperature (R² = 0.845). Compared with low-ISA trees, high-ISA trees had lower specific leaf area (117.5 ± 29.1 vs. 90.9 ± 19.0 cm² g⁻¹; Hedges’ g = −1.07, 95% CI [−1.50, −0.71]) and longer seed hairs (0.564 ± 0.067 vs. 0.727 ± 0.078 cm; g = 2.24, 95% CI [1.82, 2.78]), together with greater fuzz biomass and lower seed mass. Multivariate analyses showed coordinated shifts in mean leaf and reproductive phenotype without stronger within-stratum cross-module integration. We conclude that the study’s principal contribution is the joint description of vegetative economics and reproductive dispersal morphology on the same mature urban trees. Because ISA co-varied with land use and management and PSAMI includes structural zeros, the findings are preliminary and do not establish causal stress mechanisms, plant-available water status, airborne exposure, or management effects; multi-year matched-site validation is required. Full article