Search Results (1,078)

Nanoemulsions are thermodynamically unstable but kinetically stable colloidal dispersion systems with droplet sizes ranging from 20 to 500 nm. With their high specific surface area, excellent optical properties, tunable rheology, and remarkable penetration ability, these systems demonstrate enormous potential in enhanced oil recovery (EOR). This paper systematically reviews the significant advances in nanoemulsion characterization techniques and oil displacement mechanisms. The nanoemulsion characterization techniques are examined, covering a comprehensive multi-scale characterization system from particle size and distribution analysis (e.g., dynamic light scattering, laser diffraction), micro-morphology and structure visualization (e.g., transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy), and interface and surface property characterization (e.g., interfacial tension measurement, zeta potential analysis) to stability and rheology assessment, as well as chemical composition and structure analysis. Furthermore, core mechanisms of nanoemulsions in oil displacement processes are briefly summarized, revealing multiple synergistic enhancement mechanisms including ultra-low interfacial tension and oil film stripping, rock wettability alteration, emulsification and viscosity reduction, improved fluid flow and injection pressure reduction. Finally, prospects for the potential application of nanoemulsion oil displacement technology in the development of low-permeability, tight, and heavy oil reservoirs are described by analyzing the current challenges such as unclear structure–activity relationships, full-chain stability (including storage, transport, injection, and reservoir aging), and environmental safety, and future research directions are pointed out, including clarifying structure–activity relationships, smart responsive system development, artificial intelligence-assisted design, and pilot-scale validation. Clarifying the link between nanoemulsion characterization techniques and oil displacement mechanisms is of significant academic and engineering value for promoting the transition from empirical application to rational design of related technologies. Full article

This paper explores how higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) amid rapidly evolving national development agendas. This study reviews publicly available institutional documents and global SDG ranking data to identify patterns of SDG integration: through academic programs, research, and community engagement. The data shows active engagement of the universities in the region linked with varying SDGs. The analysis also reveals that sustainability initiatives in Gulf universities are not purely educational or environmental undertakings; rather, they function as strategic instruments aligned with national visions, international positioning and soft power objectives. Accordingly, this study assesses institutional commitment to the SDGs as expressed through, and made visible by, publicly available reporting, rather than the effectiveness or real-world impact of that engagement, which the available data cannot establish. Guided by theoretical perspectives, the paper argues that SDG engagement remains largely shaped by global ranking frameworks and policy imperatives. While the GCC higher education sector is increasingly embedded in the global sustainability discourse, meaningful localization of SDG practices and data transparency remain limited. By drawing attention to these dynamics, the study contributes to the literature on higher education and sustainable development in the Arab Gulf, emphasizing the need for context-sensitive frameworks and stronger regional collaboration to advance the 2030 Agenda. It calls for strengthened collaboration, capacity development, and tailored policy approaches to fully harness the transformative potential of the SDGs. Future research should explore the sociopolitical drivers of SDG adoption to deepen understanding of HEIs’ contributions to sustainable development in the region. Full article

While reading habits strongly correlate with academic success, empirical data regarding higher education (HE) literacy in Portugal remains scarce, particularly across the private sector. This study addresses this gap through a cross-institutional analysis comparing public and private HEIs alongside the island regions of Madeira and the Azores, challenging the assumption that digital natives universally reject print. A survey was administered to 558 students across 140 study cycles from 33 public and private HEIs, with data evaluated via non-parametric inferential methodologies. The sample displayed high reading appreciation, yielding a mean enjoyment score of 7.54 out of 10 (SD = 2.29) and an annual median of 4 books. Significant demographic variations (p < 0.05) emerged: female and older (23+) students demonstrated a significantly higher love of reading and voluntary book consumption, whereas males and younger cohorts gravitated toward technical texts and digital periodicals. Conversely, groups converged regarding internet usage and the primary structural barrier to literacy: an acute lack of time (67.9%). Crucially, while HEI type did not impact genre or platform choices, public university students reported significantly higher reading enjoyment and read more books annually than their private-sector peers (p < 0.05). These findings underscore that individual literacy is actively moderated by institutional micro-climates, providing administrators with precise empirical targets to design tailored reading initiatives. Full article

Incorporation of carbon-11 radiotracers for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging requires close coordination between cyclotron operation, radiochemistry production, quality control, and clinical administration. A persistent challenge exists is the minimization of the carbon-12 isotopologue mass of the radiotracer, which reduces molar activity and can compromise PET image quality. This challenge can be particularly acute at facilities where cyclotron operation and carbon-11 radiochemistry are realized by separate organizations with distinct operational priorities. Here, we describe how the Radiochemistry Group at New York University Grossman School of Medicine and Siemens Healthineers have developed an integrated operational framework for consistent, high-quality carbon-11 production within an academic–industry partnership. Cyclotron target maintenance and conditioning protocols, remote chemistry module maintenance schedules, a validated radio-HPLC method (UV LOD = 0.9 µg/mL, UV LOQ = 3.0 µg/mL) for trending methyl iodide isotopologue mass, and structured inter-team communication protocols are presented in this manuscript. Quality analysis demonstrates molar activities consistently exceeding the recommended minimum of 40 GBq/µmol for reversibly binding radiotracers used in human PET studies. This work is intended as a practical resource for radiochemists, cyclotron engineers, and facility managers working to establish or improve institutional carbon-11 programs. Full article

Although prior research indicates that expert reviewers identify AI-generated academic texts with low accuracy, the quantitative analysis presented in this paper has revealed marked, measurable differences between human-authored and AI-generated works. We investigate this duality in the context of Hungarian as an under-represented training language: on one hand, we perform a quantitative text analysis of the lexical, syntactic, and stylistic features of Hungarian-language academic essays by human authors (doctoral candidates) and those generated by Google Gemini, OpenAI GPT, and Anthropic Claude models. On the other hand, using a blind experimental design, we analyze how human reviewers (N = 391) with varying levels of expertise perceive and assess the quality of the texts. The quantitative analysis showed that AI-generated essays are characterized by lower lexical diversity and an absence of epistemic markers. The human evaluation yielded complex results: reviewers active in academic practice (members of the academically active and academically passive clusters) acknowledged the formal and logical precision of the AI-generated texts, yet they noted a lack of originality and critical depth. Reviewers less engaged with academic practice (members of the non-academic and inactive clusters), in contrast, were primarily persuaded by the more natural style and originality of the human-authored texts. The findings suggest that with moderate-level prompting and the provision of source literature, an AI-generated essay can be created in a few hours that reviewers deem superior to human work in certain aspects, such as formal and logical precision. Furthermore, our findings suggest that with targeted, more sophisticated prompt engineering, the quality gap between AI-generated and human-authored texts could narrow further. These findings have significant implications for assessment methods in higher education and for the regulation of academic publishing. Full article

Ship exhaust emissions have become an increasingly prominent global atmospheric environmental issue, triggering a series of ecological disturbances and adverse public health consequences. However, comprehensive analyses of the research progress and evolution trends in this field remain scarce. This study systematically retrieved 1346 scholarly publications in the ship exhaust emissions field for the period 2011–2025 from the Web of Science Core Collection and carried out a bibliometric analysis encompassing publication outputs, contributing countries/regions, and keyword characteristics. The findings reveal a sustained and robust growth trajectory in global research output, with annual publications increasing nearly fivefold over the 15-year study period. Notably, academic interest in this field has increased significantly since 2020 due to the implementation of the global sulfur cap regulation. Core thematic clusters (mean silhouette S = 0.7205) in this field include source apportionment, numerical modeling analysis, atmospheric criteria pollutants, and technological emission reduction strategies. The geographical distribution of research output shows a significant positive correlation with the importance of regional maritime economies. China, the United States, and Germany are the leading contributors in terms of publication outputs, while frequent research collaborations have been observed among European countries. Since 2021, the emergence of Automatic Identification System data as a keyword with high burst strength (intensity = 3.60) marks a paradigm shift toward a “big data-enabled refined management” framework. Concurrently, the sustained burst activity of keywords including nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and traffic-related emissions from 2023 to 2025 indicates rapidly growing scholarly attention to secondary aerosol precursors from shipping, and the critical need for coordinated multi-pollutant control strategies. Future research directions for ship exhaust emissions are expected to transition from fundamental characterization research to big data-driven monitoring and estimation methods, as well as advanced emission reduction technologies. The bibliometric insights derived from this study provide a valuable reference framework for subsequent in-depth studies on ship exhaust emissions. Full article

Background: The aim of the study was to compare the effort intensity levels between various futsal training drills designed according to the non-linear pedagogy (NLP) approach and official female academic league matches. Methods: Nine female players representing a university futsal team participated in this study. The analysis involved four official league matches (OM), evaluated across both the first and second halves (H1 and H2), as well as eleven training drills. The drills were conducted using contemporary NLP methods and were classified as: CSD (drills without active opponents), STG (small tactical games with reduced complexity based on the constraints-led approach), and FG (drills based on the full futsal format). The recorded variables included the percentage of peak heart rate (%HRpeak) and average heart rate (HRavg) across five distinct intensity zones. To account for the repeated-measures design, data were aggregated and averaged for each participant within each drill category prior to the main analysis. Results: The overall pairwise comparisons regarding global activity-period intensity failed to reach statistical significance. Although differences in absolute mean values were observed between the training tasks and official match conditions, these variations were not statistically significant. Conclusions: The NLP approach in female academic futsal sessions elicited a comparable cumulative physiological load (expressed via HR metrics and time spent in different intensity zones) to match conditions. However, due to the small sample size and corresponding wide confidence intervals, this lack of significant differences must be interpreted cautiously as exploratory trends rather than definitive evidence of physiological equivalence. Future research with larger cohorts is warranted to evaluate the motor learning potential of these constraints. Full article

Psychosocial factors are associated with the well-being of university students, influencing their academic demands, degree of autonomy and control, and perceived support within their learning environment. Based on the demand–control–support model, the Questionnaire of Psychosocial Factors in University Environments (CFPAU, for its acronym in Spanish) was developed. This newly created instrument was designed to assess risk and protective factors in university students. This study included a total sample of 1221 Mexican students from two public universities in Mexico. The samples were randomly divided into two equivalent groups. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed on the first group (n₁ = 611), and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed on the second group (n₂ = 610) via the diagonally weighted least squares (DWLS) method. The final structure consisted of 5 global dimensions and 13 specific subscales, including psychological demands, active study and professional development opportunities, institutional quality and social relationships, recognition and career certainty, and school–life conflict. The CFA results showed adequate fit across the five dimensional models (CFI range = 0.921–1.00; TLI range = 0.910–1.00; RMSEA range = 0.000–0.065; SRMR range = 0.003–0.072). Factorial invariance by sex showed stability in the configural, metric, and scalar models, and subscale reliability was adequate (α and ω = 0.71–0.90). Furthermore, convergent and divergent validity were verified through correlations in the expected direction via the WHO-5 and DASS-21. These findings support the structural validity and internal consistency of the CFPAU, confirming its usefulness in identifying psychosocial risk and protective factors in university students. Full article

Higher education institutions (HEIs), engaged in education, research and community services, play an important role in promoting sustainable development. This study investigated the relationships between carbon emission-related variables—Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP)—and the amount of carbon emissions in HEIs. A cross-sectional design was adopted, and data were collected via an online questionnaire from September to December 2024. The participants were students from eight colleges and universities in central Taiwan, yielding 293 valid responses. The average daily per capita carbon emissions were calculated based on activity categories and emission coefficients. Carbon emissions from daily life contributed 87.7%, followed by transportation and academic activities (9.7% and 2.6%). The average carbon emission was 11.82 kg CO₂e/day/person. Statistical analysis showed that living arrangements and household size exhibited significant differences (p < 0.05). Regarding the KAP analysis, attitude and practice showed a significant positive correlation (r = 0.59, p < 0.01), while practice and individual-level Scope 3 emissions were negatively correlated (r = −0.12, p < 0.01), indicating that carbon reduction behaviors can effectively decrease individual carbon emissions. This study quantified the carbon emission in HEIs and addressed a research gap by linking individual-level energy behaviors with carbon emission estimates in Taiwan. The findings provide a basis for policy-making and promoting low-carbon behaviors. Future campus initiatives should focus on equipment upgrades, environmental education, and low-carbon actions to achieve sustainability and net-zero carbon goals. Full article

Preparing students to engage with sustainability challenges requires not only teaching key concepts and competencies but also supporting students in recognizing and taking ownership of their learning in ways that connect to future professional and civic roles. This study examines what reflective self-assessment reveals about sustainability competency and skill development in a large-enrollment introduction to sustainability course. Drawing on qualitative analysis of an end-of-semester reflective assignment, we examine patterns in what students emphasize, how they describe their learning, and which course learning activities and contexts they associate with competency development. The findings indicate that students frequently identify systems thinking and other sustainability competencies while also prominently emphasizing general and professional skills such as communication, teamwork, and problem-solving. Learning is most often grounded in lab-based active learning contexts and, when students are prompted to articulate their learning in professional narratives, they are integrated into accounts that identify sustainability competencies and broader skill development. Taken together, the findings suggest that reflective self-assessment can function not only as an assessment approach, but also as a pedagogical strategy that supports student sense-making, recognition, and ownership of sustainability learning relevant to future academic, civic, and professional pathways aligned with the aims of SDG 4.7. Full article

Chromatography represents a cornerstone of modern analytical chemistry, enabling the separation, identification, and quantification of constituents of complex chemical systems. Its development in the Republic of North Macedonia is closely linked to the evolution of national academic institutions and industrial analytical capacity. This study provides a combined historical overview and Scopus-based scientometric analysis of chromatography research in North Macedonia, focusing on institutional development, research groups, methodological evolution, and industrial contribution. Data were obtained from Scopus-indexed publications, institutional records, and key publications. Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje (UKIM) emerges as the dominant research hub, particularly through the Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and the Faculty of Pharmacy, Faculty of Agriculture, supported by the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (MANU), Goce Delčev University in Štip, and several specialized applied research institutions. The pharmaceutical industry, particularly Alkaloid AD Skopje and Replek Farm, plays a significant role in chromatographic method application and validation. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography (GC), and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) dominate research applications, primarily in phytochemistry, pharmaceutical analysis, food chemistry, and environmental science, while MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry has been integrated into the proteomics activity at MANU. The results demonstrate a highly centralized but scientifically productive research system with increasing methodological sophistication and international cooperation. Full article

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is intended to function as a predictive, spatially grounded decision-support mechanism. Yet in many developing contexts, its operationalization remains fragmented, descriptive, and weakly standardized. Thus, this study addresses limitations in conventional EIA systems related to transparency, reproducibility, and uncertainty integration by proposing a spatially explicit, digital rule-based decision-support framework that operationalizes hierarchical receptor-based structuring, lifecycle-sensitive modelling, risk classification, and uncertainty propagation within an integrated Geographic Information Systems (GISs) architecture. The academic objective is to advance computational environmental assessment methodologies by formalizing EIA logic into a structured computational workflow that translates spatial interactions (including land use, population density, ecological sensitivity, hydrological zones) and project attributes (including project type, activities and operational conditions) into quantified risk profiles and mitigation mappings. This necessitates combining receptor proximity, overlap intensity, contextual sensitivity, operational conditions, and receptor vulnerability. The framework was applied to three airport case studies in Egypt—representing urban, peri-urban/desert expansion, and coastal–ecological environmental contexts—using standardized spatial preprocessing and normalized analytical scales. Validation was conducted using Monte Carlo uncertainty simulation, sensitivity analysis, Spearman rank correlation, and Cohen’s Kappa agreement analysis. The results demonstrated stable comparative risk classification across receptor categories, lifecycle phases, and impact mechanisms under moderate parameter perturbation (±15%). Cohen’s Kappa agreement values ranging from 0.71 to 0.79 indicated substantial consistency between model-generated exceedance zones and regulatory environmental classifications. In sum, the results demonstrate that receptor proximity, operational intensity, and lifecycle stage function as primary determinants of differentiated environmental risk configurations, and that the proposed framework can support transparent, reproducible, and spatially explicit environmental assessment. Full article

Student dropout remains a critical challenge in higher education, requiring early detection and targeted intervention. This study aims to develop an interpretable two-level monitoring framework for identifying at-risk students—those with academic debts but not yet dismissed—across successive stages of the academic debt lifecycle. Using digital profile data and LMS digital footprints from a large public university (18,192 records covering the years 2022–2024), we trained CatBoost, XGBoost, LightGBM, and Random Forest for each of two stages: initial retakes and final commission retakes. SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) were applied for post hoc interpretation. SHAP analysis identified key indicators of initial retake failure: semester, year of study, number of academic debts, GPA in the previous semester, and LMS activity in the previous and current semesters. The strongest indicator of success on commissions was the presence of a digital footprint at the beginning of the current semester, which eliminated dropout risk regardless of prior academic history. Dismissal risk increases for junior-year students and those with higher debt counts. These findings enabled student profiling into Red, Yellow, and Green risk categories for optimized allocation of administrative and tutoring resources. Utilizing the proposed framework, educators can streamline pedagogical support and enhance student retention. Full article

The concept of awareness in the visual arts has become an ethical, professional, and social imperative. Adopting a sustainable approach to creative practice is no longer a trend but an established and necessary field of inquiry. Within this context, awareness has been expressed not only through eco-branding and design campaigns but also through artworks and contemporary artistic practices that embody sustainable values both aesthetically and philosophically. Visual arts thus function as a reflective and critical tool, capable of reassessing past and present paradigms, encouraging more responsible uses of resources, promoting environmental sustainability, and shaping public attitudes through conscious and critical forms of expression. This study adopts a qualitative approach to examine transformations in contemporary art practices within the Saudi Arabian art scene. Selected artworks are analysed to explore historical and conceptual narratives shaping artistic production. The research is based on a bibliographic and documentary review that includes academic literature, exhibition catalogues and press sources related to the Saudi cultural context. Data are gathered through observing artworks and, where possible, through interviews with artists. A comparative analysis was developed, with the study framed by art practices, their concepts, and their ecological contributions, leading to a sustainable awareness and their potential role in encouraging social change. The comparative study among artists provides an innovative research framework and initiates a broader dialogue on sustainable creative practices rooted in Saudi cultural contexts. The findings highlight how visual arts contribute to ecological awareness and climate activism through art installations, recycled materials, and digital practices, reinforcing sustainability as a core value within contemporary Saudi society. Full article

University endowments provide long-term support for academic activities. Universities rely on the investment returns of endowments to continuously fund these activities. To pursue better investment performance, university endowments of all sizes have adopted the endowment model, which reduces holdings of public securities and increases allocation to alternative assets such as hedge funds, private equity, commodities, and real estate. This study documents the trend toward increasing allocation to alternative assets and evaluates the investment performance. Large university endowment funds have allocated a higher portion to alternatives and have higher rates of returns. Conversely, smaller university endowments have increased a lower percentage to alternatives and their performance trails that of larger peers, supporting prior studies showing that smaller endowments would achieve better performance by adopting the conventional 60/40 allocation in equity and fixed income strategy. We perform a regression analysis to examine the link between asset allocation and investment performance. The empirical results show that the impacts of equities and alternatives on performance are positive and significant. Furthermore, a comparative analysis indicates that investment returns exhibit high year-to-year volatility while the spending rates are stable and that the average rate of return is higher than the average spending rate. Full article