Search Results (1,104)

This study analyzes the potential impact of integrating bicycles with the Quito Metro transport system to address connectivity barriers and improve urban mobility. Based on data from surveys carried out on students of the Central University, it was identified that a significant percentage of users face difficulties in accessing metro stations due to the lack of direct connections with other transport systems. In addition, the time savings by complementing access to the metro with bicycles were evaluated, suggesting that stations such as Quitumbe and Morán Valverde could particularly benefit from this strategy. Recommendations include the implementation of cycling infrastructure, awareness campaigns and integrated fare policies to maximise adoption of the system Full article

Timely recognition of type 1 diabetes (T1D) in children and adolescents is crucial to prevent acute complications such as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). This narrative review examines the pathophysiology, clinical presentation, and diagnostic challenges of childhood T1D, including the young age of onset, clinician training gaps, and overlapping symptomatology between T1D and other common pediatric illnesses. Despite increased awareness, a significant proportion of children still present with DKA at diagnosis due to misinterpretation of symptoms, such as polydipsia, polyuria, and weight loss. This work emphasizes the importance of early recognition, timely intervention, and the use of structured management algorithms for primary care clinicians. Strategies to reduce DKA incidence, based on existing literature, successful real-world examples, and current guidelines, include enhanced screening for high-risk populations, educational initiatives, and improved diagnostic protocols. By implementing systematic approaches and public health campaigns, healthcare providers can improve early T1D detection and prevent severe DKA complications, ultimately enhancing patient outcomes and reducing long-term morbidity. Full article

This study uses the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), a quantitative approach, with interval regression and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) models to assess the non-use values of the Zhongjieshan and Liuheng Marine Ranches. The aim of the study is to quantify the monetary value of non-market benefits, examine socioeconomic influences on stakeholders’ Willingness to Pay (WTP), and provide a basis for ecological compensation mechanisms. Zhongjieshan’s annual non-use value is estimated at 28.99–30.81 million CNY (Chinese Yuan) (median WTP 74.33–78.99 CNY per person), while Liuheng’s value is higher at 108–111 million CNY (median WTP 150.20–153.89 CNY per person), suggesting greater ecological and recreational potential at Liuheng. The results show robust model performance, with minimal WTP differences. WTP for Liuheng is primarily influenced by income and environmental awareness, while Zhongjieshan shows a distance-decay effect. Visitor profiles reveal that Zhongjieshan attracts younger, moderately educated visitors, while Liuheng draws more highly educated, economically diverse groups. These findings suggest that Zhongjieshan should prioritize community-based co-management, while Liuheng should focus on high-quality, technology-driven ecological leisure development. The study also emphasizes the need for targeted awareness campaigns and supports the creation of diversified ecological compensation mechanisms beyond government funding. Full article

Fault-tolerant control in safety-critical industrial systems demands adaptive responses to equipment degradation, parameter drift, and sensor failures while maintaining strict operational constraints. Traditional model-based controllers struggle under these conditions, requiring extensive retuning and dense instrumentation. Recent safe multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) frameworks with control barrier functions (CBFs) achieve real-time constraint satisfaction in robotics and power systems, yet assume comprehensive state observability—incompatible with sensor-hostile industrial environments where instrumentation degradation and contamination risks dominate design constraints. This work presents a safety-aware multi-agent deep reinforcement learning framework for adaptive fault-tolerant control in sensor-lean industrial environments, achieving formal safety through learned implicit barriers under partial observability. The framework integrates four synergistic mechanisms: (1) multi-layer safety architecture combining constrained action projection, prioritized experience replay, conservative training margins, and curriculum-embedded verification achieving zero constraint violations; (2) multi-agent coordination via decentralized execution with learned complementary policies. Additional components include (3) curriculum-driven sim-to-real transfer through progressive four-stage learning achieving 85–92% performance retention without fine-tuning; (4) offline extended Kalman filter validation enabling 70% instrumentation reduction (91–96% reconstruction accuracy) for regulatory auditing without real-time estimation dependencies. Validated through sustained deployment in commercial beverage manufacturing clean-in-place (CIP) systems—a representative safety-critical testbed with hard flow constraints (≥1.5 L/s), harsh chemical environments, and zero-tolerance contamination requirements—the framework demonstrates superior control precision (coefficient of variation: 2.9–5.3% versus 10% industrial standard) across three hydraulic configurations spanning complexity range 2.1–8.2/10. Comprehensive validation comprising 37+ controlled stress-test campaigns and hundreds of production cycles (accumulated over 6 months) confirms zero safety violations, high reproducibility (CV variation < 0.3% across replicates), predictable complexity–performance scaling ($R^2=0.89$), and zero-retuning cross-topology transferability. The system has operated autonomously in active production for over 6 months, establishing reproducible methodology for safe MARL deployment in partially-observable, sensor-hostile manufacturing environments where analytical CBF approaches are structurally infeasible. Full article

This study investigates consumer perceptions, behaviors, and the barriers to adopting superfoods. It explores familiarity with the term “superfoods”, factors influencing consumption, and obstacles to broader adoption. The originality of this research lies in highlighting the significance of superfoods not only for consumers but also for the scientific community and the food industry, in an era where consumers are increasingly focused on health and sustainability. Data was gathered from 227 participants using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS Statistics 20. The findings indicate that most participants are familiar with the term “superfoods”, with health enhancement, well-being, and immune system improvement as the main motivations for consumption. However, high costs, limited availability, and knowledge gaps are the primary barriers. Social influences, especially among women, were also found to impact consumer behavior. Future research should address the role of awareness campaigns and consumer information sources, alongside socio-economic factors. Full article

The global population aged 65 and older is expected to double from 761 million in 2021 to 1.6 billion by 2050. Despite often being treated separately in clinical practice and policy, oral health and mental health are fundamentally interconnected in older adulthood, forming a bidirectional relationship that exacerbates disability, social inequity, and systemic healthcare challenges. This narrative review aims to summarize the two-way relationship between mental and oral health and emphasize their combined impact on systemic health, social engagement, and independence among ageing populations. The bidirectional relationship has profound clinical significance. Untreated oral diseases induce chronic pain and cause social embarrassment, aggravating pre-existing depression and anxiety. Periodontal disease can worsen systemic conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and dementia via a shared inflammatory pathway. Conversely, mental health issues—including depression, anxiety, cognitive decline, and the use of psychotropic medications—reduce motivation for oral care, prompt dental neglect, and affect salivary function, deteriorating oral health. Despite clear connections, systemic gaps persist, including fragmented healthcare systems, financial barriers, stigma, lack of awareness, and caregiver burnout. To address these challenges, strategies such as developing integrated care models to unify dental and mental health services, reforming policies to prioritize oral and mental health parity, advocating anti-stigma campaigns to clear the misconceptions, and implementing community-based healthcare programmes to reach underserved older adults are essential. By recognizing oral health as a vital component of mental resilience, societies can transform ageing into an era of empowered well-being, where the mouth–mind connection promotes holistic health rather than functional decline. Full article

Background/aim: Despite the fact that qualitative research on postpartum depression (PPD) has been extensively researched globally, women’s perceptions of PPD misconceptions are mostly ignored in developing countries like Jordan. Thus, this study aims to explore Jordanian women’s sociocultural perceptions and misconceptions about PPD using the descriptive phenomenological design. Methods: Fourteen women who had either a normal or caesarean (C-section) delivery and resided in Irbid, Northern Jordan, participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews, which lasted 15 to 25 min in May 2025. Data were gathered via field note transcriptions of interviews, and analysis followed Colaizzi’s data analysis methodology. Results: Among participants, five women (all C-section deliveries) reported a PPD diagnosis, while the remaining normal delivery women reported experiencing depression before giving birth. The women’s sociocultural perceptions and misconceptions about PPD were found to be reflected in a number of themes. The theme “perceiving PPD as normal baby blues” captures the general lack of awareness regarding this disorder. Three important themes—“myths”, “psychological”, and “spiritual and religious failure”—show how little is known about the causes. The two primary themes that are impacted by sociocultural perspectives are “stigma” and “mistrust of professional care services”. The accuracy and misconceptions around this disorder are summed up in four basic themes: “emotional misconceptions”, “cultural misconceptions”, “false beliefs about health”, and “think of PPD as indolence”. Conclusions: Jordanian women have limited understanding and misconceptions of PPD. Adopting culturally relevant awareness campaigns is essential to disseminating the knowledge required to facilitate improved treatment pathways. Full article

Growing climate concerns and rising consumer awareness of sustainability have reshaped strategic interactions in platform-based supply chains. This study examines how a manufacturer and an e-commerce platform make channel and fulfillment decisions under cap-and-trade regulation. The manufacturer chooses between non-encroachment and agency encroachment, while the platform decides between conventional and sustainable fulfillment. To capture the dynamic adaptation of boundedly rational agents, we develop an evolutionary game model (EGT) and characterize the evolutionary stable strategies. The findings indicate the following: (1) Platform investment in sustainable fulfillment exerts a strategic stabilizer effect, effectively protecting the reselling channel by reducing the manufacturer’s incentive to encroach even under moderate commission rates; (2) there exists a regulatory substitution effect between carbon pricing and commissions, where high carbon prices force manufacturers to encroach for survival, while low commissions encourage encroachment for profit; (3) consumer sensitivity exhibits a critical threshold behavior, where a synchronized transition to joint sustainability is impossible unless awareness exceeds a specific tipping point. Managerial insights suggest that platforms should view green logistics as a retention strategy to prevent channel fragmentation, while policymakers must coordinate carbon taxation with consumer awareness campaigns to avoid locking the system into non-green equilibria. Full article

Seabed mining has gained widespread attention under the blue economy concept, offering economic opportunities while posing significant environmental risks. In Sri Lanka, where mining of seabed resources is growing, understanding public perceptions and preferences for seabed conservation remain crucial to ensure sustainable resource management. This study, therefore, represents the first empirical assessment of public preference and Willingness to Pay (WTP) for seabed conservation in Sri Lanka. A Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE)-based approach was employed to assess public preferences for seabed conservation. Data were collected from 630 respondents across Sri Lanka using a pre-tested self-administered structured survey. The analysis employed Conditional Logit (CL) and Random Parameter Logit (RPL) models to estimate preference heterogeneity and attribute trade-offs. The findings of the study reported strong public support, with a WTP of Sri Lankan Rupees (LKR) 3532 per household per year for seabed conservation. Younger, well-educated individuals demonstrated a significantly higher preference for seabed conservation. Biodiversity loss (66.9%), physical damage to seabed (40.7%) and exploitation of natural resources (17.8%) were recognized as major consequences of sea bed mining, highlighting the need for stringent regulatory frameworks (34%) and public engagement (44%) in sustainable seabed conservation. The RPL model revealed significant preference heterogeneity for key attributes. A significant positive preference for a 30% reduction in mineral extraction (coefficient = 0.894, p < 0.05) reinforces public preference for stricter extraction limits. A 25% reduction for biodiversity and habitat destruction (coefficient = 0.010, p < 0.05) reflects public concern for seabed conservation in the context of ongoing marine resource related economic development activities. These results underscore the importance of integrating economic valuation into seabed conservation policies, ensuring that seabed mining activities align with sustainability goals. The study suggests targeted awareness campaigns, financial incentives, and inclusive policymaking to bridge socio-economic disparities and foster long-term public support for seabed conservation. These insights provide a critical foundation for policymakers to develop balanced approaches that promote economic benefits, while safeguarding marine ecosystems within Sri Lanka’s blue economy framework. Full article

Tick-borne diseases (TBDs) pose a significant threat to livestock productivity and rural livelihoods in South Africa, particularly among resource-poor communal farmers. This narrative review synthesises findings from case studies on communal farmers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) toward TBDs and their control. The analysis reveals that while many farmers can identify TBDs and their symptoms, significant gaps exist in understanding acaricide resistance and effective tick management. Socioeconomic factors, including age, gender, education, and access to veterinary services, strongly influence knowledge and practices. Indigenous ethnoveterinary practices are commonly used alongside conventional methods, although their efficacy remains understudied. The review emphasises the importance of integrated pest management, participatory approaches, and targeted awareness campaigns. A One Health framework is recommended to enhance surveillance, collaboration, and sustainable TBD control. Empowering farmers through training and inclusive communication strategies is crucial for mitigating the impacts of TBDs on communal farming systems. Full article

Background: Vaccinations are essential to protect travelers from infectious diseases, especially in high-risk destinations. However, awareness and adherence to vaccination recommendations vary, influenced by communication, personal beliefs, and behavior. Methods: A focus group was conducted in February 2025 at a local health authority in central Italy, specifically within its travel clinic, to explore travelers’ awareness, attitudes, and behaviors regarding vaccination. The discussion was analyzed using the “3Cs” Vaccine Hesitancy model. Participants were purposively selected to ensure diversity and representativeness. Discussions included past travel experiences, knowledge of required vaccines, motivations for immunization, and barriers to access. Results: Four key thematic areas emerged: socio-cultural/environmental factors, psychological/emotional influences, knowledge/information access, and general health perceptions. Communication gaps often weakened belief in vaccine efficacy and necessity. Cultural background, past experiences, and risk perception heavily influenced decisions. Discussion: Although vaccination is widely viewed as a protective measure, vaccine hesitancy persists due to misinformation and limited institutional trust. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified both awareness and skepticism. The 3Cs model clarified hesitancy levels and barriers, emphasizing the need for effective communication and trust-building. Conclusions: Enhancing access to accurate information, strengthening healthcare professionals’ communicative role, and reducing economic obstacles are crucial. Tailored awareness campaigns and integrated health policies are essential to increasing vaccine uptake, safeguarding traveler health, and limiting global disease spread. Patient or Public Contribution: Members of the public contributed to this study by participating in a focus group, where they shared their personal experiences, perceptions, and opinions regarding travel-related vaccinations. Their insights provided valuable qualitative data that helped inform the study’s findings. However, they were not involved in the study design, the analysis of the data, or the preparation of the manuscript. The role of participants was limited to the data collection phase of the study. Full article

This study presents an in-depth exploration of an innovative monitoring system that contributes to precision agriculture (PA) and supports sustainability and biodiversity. Amidst the challenges of global population growth and the need for sustainable, high-yield agricultural practices, PA, supported by modern technology and data-driven methodologies, emerges as a pivotal approach for optimizing crop yield and resource management. The proposed monitoring system integrates Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) into PA, enabling real-time acquisition of environmental data and multimodal observations through cameras and microphones, with data transmission via LTE and/or LoRaWAN for cloud-based analysis. Its main contribution is a physically modular, pole-mounted station architecture that simplifies sensor integration and reconfiguration across use cases, while remaining solar-powered for long-term off-grid operation. The system was evaluated in two field deployments, including a year-long wild-flora monitoring campaign (three stations; 365 days; 1870 images; 63–100% image-based operational availability), during which stations remained operational through a wildfire event. In the viticulture deployment, the acoustic module supported bat monitoring as a bio-indicator of ecosystem health, achieving bat call detection performance of 0.94 (AP Det) and species classification performance of 0.85 (mAP Class). Overall, the results support the use of modular, energy-aware monitoring stations to perform sustained agricultural and ecological data collection under practical field constraints. Full article

Introduction: Women and LGBTQ+ undergraduates face higher rates of sexual assault and rape compared to cisgender male peers—the overwhelming majority of perpetrators. Federal policies have aimed to curb campus sexual violence, yet questions remain about the efficacy of consent education, particularly among cisgender heterosexual men. Methods: This study surveyed 1567 undergraduate students at a large Northeastern public university in 2017 and 2022. Responses to a nine-item consent scale were analyzed by gender, sexuality, and demographic factors. Results: Cisgender heterosexual (cis-het) men had poorer understanding of consent compared to women and LGBTQ+ students, both in 2017 and 2022. Cis-het men’s consent scores showed no improvement, and for some items worsened from 2017 to 2022, while other groups showed significant improvements in recognizing the nuances of consent. Conclusions: Findings suggest that, despite increased focus on sexual assault prevention and social awareness campaigns like #MeToo, cisgender heterosexual men’s understanding of consent has not improved, highlighting the persistent challenge in shifting deeply ingrained beliefs about consent. Educational efforts should address these beliefs more directly, focusing on transforming societal norms around masculinity and sexual entitlement. Policy Implications: These results underscore the need for more comprehensive, gender-transformative education on consent. Current programs primarily focus on victims rather than perpetrators, which fails to address the root causes of sexual violence. To reduce sexual assault, consent education, delivered K-12 and in higher education, must consistently challenge harmful gender norms and promote equitable relationships. More targeted strategies are necessary to engage cisgender heterosexual men in these discussions. Full article

The growing density of Earth-orbiting objects demands improved Space Situational Awareness (SSA) to mitigate collision risks and sustain space operations. This study demonstrates a dual-purpose star tracker (ST) for SSA using data from the Resident Space Object Near-space Astrometric Reconnaissance (RSONAR) stratospheric balloon campaign under the 2022 Canadian Space Agency–Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CSA–CNES) STRATOS program. The low-cost optical payload—a wide-field monochromatic imager flown at 36 km altitude—acquired imagery subsequently used for post-processed attitude determination and Resident Space Object (RSO) detection. During stabilized pointing, over 27,000 images yielded sub-pixel astrometry and stable image quality (mean full-width-Half-maximum ≈ 388 arcsec). Photometric calibration to the Tycho-2 catalog achieved 0.37 mag root mean square (RMS) scatter, confirming radiometric uniformity. Apparent angular velocities of $7\times {10}^2$ to $8\times {10}^3$ arcsec ${\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$ corresponded to sunlit low-Earth-orbit (LEO) objects observed at 25°–35° phase angles. Covariance-weighted Mahalanobis correlation with two-line elements (TLEs) achieved sub-arcminute positional agreement. The Proximity Filtering and Tracking (PFT) algorithm identified 22,036 total RSO and 387 total streaks via image stacking. Results confirm that commercial off-the-shelf STs can serve as dual-use SSA payloads, and that stratospheric ballooning offers a viable alternative for optical SSA research. Full article

The Cyber Kill Chain (CKC) is a prevalent concept in cyber defense; nevertheless, its emphasis on post-reconnaissance phases limits the capacity to foresee attacker activities outside the organizational boundary. This study introduces and empirically substantiates a pre-chain phase, referred to as contextual anticipation, which broadens the temporal framework of the CKC by methodically identifying subtle yet actionable signals prior to reconnaissance. The methodology combines the STEMPLES+ framework for socio-technical scanning with General Morphological Analysis (GMA), generating internally coherent scenarios that are translated into Indicators of Threats (IOT). These indicators connect contextual triggers to threshold-based monitoring activities and established courses of action, forming a reproducible and auditable relationship between foresight analysis and operational defense. The application of three illustrative cases—a banking merger, the distribution of a phishing kit in underground marketplaces, and wartime contribution scams—illustrated that contextual anticipation consistently provided quantifiable lead-time benefits varying from several days to six weeks. This proactive stance enabled measures such as registrar takedowns, targeted awareness campaigns, and anticipatory monitoring before distribution and exploitation. By formalizing CKC-0 as an integrated socio-technical phase, the research enhances cybersecurity practice by demonstrating how diffuse contextual drivers can be converted into organized, actionable mechanisms for proactive resilience. Full article