Search Results (48,869)

In this publication we investigate in depth the design, architecture and implementation of a bio and cultural guiding system with augmented capabilities. Our platform will be able to provide a flexible and user-friendly application for smart mobile devices with Android OS, which will be able to provide to the user the ability to discover nearby places of interest such as museums, archeological sites, religious sites, natural beauty sites, etc. In addition, our application is able to offer users an enhanced, comprehensive and augmented tour experience, based on visual and audio smartphone services, using asynchronous and real-time user–server communication mechanisms, thus eliminating the need for a human tour guide operator in cases of a remote area, guiding service cost or unavailable time slot. The proposed platform integrates visual overlays, audio narration, Geolocation services, and cloud-based data management to enable users to explore cultural, historical, and natural points of interest without the need for a human tour guide. A modular, layered system architecture is developed, combining Firebase Realtime Database, RESTful web services, OpenStreetMap-based navigation, and Android-native components to ensure scalability, flexibility, and real-time responsiveness. UML modeling, including class and sequence diagrams, is employed to formally describe system structure and behavior, while a mathematical data model validates the consistency of the underlying database schema. The implementation demonstrates how AR guiding systems can enhance spatial understanding, accessibility, and user engagement while supporting sustainable tourism practices and efficient destination management. The results indicate that the proposed solution is technically feasible, user-centered, and adaptable to diverse bio-cultural contexts, contributing to the advancement of intelligent, inclusive, and sustainable digital tourism platforms. Full article

Overtourism management increasingly uses public communication to frame how visitors are expected to move, behave, and understand their responsibilities in pressured destination spaces. Yet, in heritage cities, such communication is often examined through isolated signs, etiquette campaigns, visitor advisories, or congestion notices rather than as part of a wider visitor-management communication system. This paper examines Kyoto as a case of overtourism communication in an urban heritage setting. Using document-based content analysis supported by exploratory statistical tests, it maps 64 public-facing communication artifacts published between 2016 and 2025 and codes them by message orientation, artifact type, source environment, and spatial focus. The findings show that exclusionary messaging does not dominate Kyoto’s public-facing overtourism communication within the analyzed corpus. Dispersal and behavioral guidance is the most common orientation, while restriction is targeted and secondary, and invitational place guidance remains comparatively limited. Message orientation is significantly associated with artifact type, with restriction concentrated in signs and posters and invitational place guidance appearing mainly in guides and brochures. Semi-institutional actors account for most artifacts, indicating the central role of destination-management organizations and other visitor-facing tourism bodies in translating management concerns into public guidance. Spatially, guidance-oriented communication appears broadly across the city, while restriction has its clearest place-based concentration in Eastern Kyoto, especially Gion-related areas. A smaller set of messages invites visitors to explore wider Kyoto or less conventional places beyond standard guidebook routes. Drawing on the lens of soft urban governance, the paper argues that public-facing overtourism communication can be understood as one visible layer through which visitor-management expectations are framed, spatially differentiated, and made publicly legible. As a document-based analysis, the study does not measure visitor reception, compliance, or behavioral effects, which remain priorities for future research. Full article

Background: Adolescents in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) continue to face substantial challenges related to sexual and reproductive health (SRH), including high rates of unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and limited access to accurate reproductive health information and services. Rural provinces of South Africa, such as Limpopo, are no exception, with notably higher pregnancy rates. Aim: This study aimed to explore adolescent girls’ perceptions and experiences associated with school-based comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) programs and their perceived role in pregnancy prevention in Bolobedu, Limpopo province, South Africa. Methods: A qualitative, descriptive, and contextual design was employed. Data were collected through individual interviews and field notes from adolescent girls aged 14–19 years who were accessing contraceptives or had given birth. Content analysis was conducted using Tesch’s method. Findings: Results suggest that the quality and contents of CSE programs varied widely, leading to CSE intervention programs not being successfully implemented, leading to poor uptake and no behavior change. Implications: While research on CES programs shows that the CSE programming varies and can be vital to reducing adolescent pregnancy, its success depends on the quality of the implementation, which leads to behavior change. The research finds that the adoption of Comprehensive Sexual Education in schools and communities is vital to tackling the high incidence of adolescent pregnancy. However, its success depends on the quality of implementation, facilitator training, and resource availability. Full article

To investigate the effects of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) on ruminal fermentation characteristics and bacterial community structure, 5-HMF was supplemented at the levels of 0, 7500, and 30,000 mg/kg DM under two dietary concentrate-to-roughage ratios (20:80, T1; 80:20, T2) in in vitro rumen incubation, mainly focusing on gas production, fermentation parameters, nutrient digestibility and bacterial community. The results showed that 24 h gas production (GP₂₄), 72 h gas production (GP₇₂), the gas production rate (c) and dry matter digestibility (DMD) in T2 were higher than those in T1 (p < 0.01). With increasing levels of 5-HMF supplementation, GP₇₂ and asymptotic gas production (B) increased linearly and quadratically (p < 0.05). T2 also had a higher butyrate concentration and a lower acetate/propionate (A/P) ratio than T1 (p < 0.05). With the increase in 5-HMF supplementation level, ruminal ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N) concentration showed a quadratic response. In contrast, the concentrations of total volatile fatty acids (TVFAs), acetate and isobutyrate decreased linearly. Propionate concentration showed linear and quadratic decreasing trends, while the A/P ratio exhibited linear and quadratic increasing trends (p < 0.05). The supplementation of 5-HMF at 30,000 mg/kg DM reduced propionate and isobutyrate concentrations under both dietary conditions (p < 0.05). No differences were observed in the alpha diversity indices of the bacterial community among different 5-HMF levels or substrates (p > 0.05). PCoA and PERMANOVA revealed that community structure differed between the 7500 mg/kg DM group and the 0 mg/kg DM group in the T1 diet (p = 0.011), whereas no difference was detected among T2 treatments. LEfSe revealed that 6 and 13 differential bacterial taxa were identified in T1 and T2 at the 5-HMF level of 7500 mg/kg DM, respectively. Correlation analysis revealed that, in T1, GP₇₂ was positively correlated with Pseudomonadota, and the A/P ratio was positively correlated with fibrolytic taxa including Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group and Christensenellaceae_R-7_group. In T2, c was positively correlated with Fibrobacterota and Fibrobacter, while NH₃-N was positively correlated with Desulfovibrio, indicating diet-specific microbial associations with rumen fermentation (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the high-concentrate diet exhibited stronger rumen fermentation activity. 5-HMF exerted diet-specific effects: In the low-concentrate diet, 5-HMF at 7500 mg/kg DM enriched fibrolytic microbes and shifted fermentation toward an acetate-type pattern. In the high-concentrate diet, it modulated hydrogen-metabolizing bacteria while selectively enriching Pseudomonadota capable of participating in carbohydrate metabolism. The 30,000 mg/kg DM level inhibited rumen fermentation. The findings provide a theoretical reference for the application of 5-HMF in ruminant feeds. However, further in vivo trials are required to validate its effects, and future studies with refined dose gradients based on realistic 5-HMF concentrations in feedstuffs are needed to comprehensively evaluate its efficacy and safety. Full article

Safe human–robot collaboration remains a critical challenge in manufacturing. Traditional safety approaches, such as cages and proximity sensors, are often insufficient for dynamic human interaction. This paper presents a digital twin-based collision avoidance framework for industrial collaborative robot manipulation. The system integrates RGB-D sensing, human pose estimation using Ultralytics YOLO26s-pose, Kalman-filter-based 3D arm tracking, short-term motion prediction, and QP-based reactive motion control. Human arm keypoints detected from RGB-D images are reconstructed in 3D, transformed into the robot base frame, and tracked during temporary occlusion using Kalman filtering with kinematic constraints. Predicted human–robot clearance is evaluated to trigger speed reduction, stopping, or collision avoidance commands. The framework was implemented with a UR10e robot, an Intel RealSense D435 camera, a Unity3D digital twin, and ROS communication. Controlled laboratory experiments demonstrated the proof-of-concept feasibility of the integrated framework for tracking human arm motion, anticipating proximity risk, and triggering protective robot responses. The results do not establish deployment readiness in complex industrial or multi-participant environments. Full article

Tuberculosis (TB) and malnutrition remain major health challenges among migrant children living in low-resource urban settings. Identifying clinically relevant patterns associated with these conditions may support standardized clinical assessment and public health planning. The present study aimed to identify clinical, anthropometric and sociodemographic factors associated with TB and malnutrition among migrant children under five years of age in urban Pakistan. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in migrant settlements of Rachna Town, Lahore, Pakistan. Clinical, demographic and anthropometric data were collected from 300 children under five years of age. A Genetic Algorithm (GA) combined with Random Forest analysis was applied to identify the most informative variables associated with TB and malnutrition. Model performance was assessed using internal cross-validation. The analytical approach identified a concise subset of variables showing stable internal performance. Key factors associated with malnutrition included Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination status, formula feeding, chest X-ray findings and gastrointestinal symptoms. The most relevant variables associated with TB were Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination score, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, gastrointestinal indicators and parental occupation. The final models demonstrated good internal discrimination and substantial agreement. These findings suggest that routinely collected clinical, anthropometric, laboratory, radiological, and sociodemographic variables may support the identification of clinically relevant patterns associated with TB and malnutrition during standardized community-based assessments. The proposed data-driven approach should be interpreted as an analytical and decision-support framework for prioritizing informative variables and supporting clinical assessment, rather than as a pre-diagnostic or early risk prediction tool. Full article

Children with Down syndrome may experience developmental differences in communication, social participation, adaptive functioning and peer interaction. However, they also possess individual strengths, learning potential and adaptive capacities that can be enhanced through structured, responsive and contextually relevant early intervention. This study aimed to design and develop an Early Intervention Module for Social Skills of Children with Down Syndrome in Malaysian Taska OKU settings. A Design and Development Research approach was applied across three phases: needs analysis, module design and development, and usability evaluation. Phase 1 involved semi-structured interviews with teachers to identify contextual challenges, existing strengths, available practices and support needs in teaching social skills to children with Down syndrome. Phase 2 focused on module development through expert consensus using the Fuzzy Delphi Method. Phase 3 examined the usability of the developed module among teachers in real daycare settings. The findings from the needs analysis showed that teachers required a structured module that could support children’s social participation, communication, turn-taking, emotional expression and interaction with peers and adults. At the same time, the findings highlighted the importance of recognising children’s strengths, including their responsiveness to visual cues, enjoyment of routine-based activities, imitation skills and ability to participate when appropriate support is provided. The developed module consists of structured social skill domains, learning outcomes, teaching activities, visual support, play-based strategies, parental involvement components and progress monitoring tools. The usability evaluation indicated that the module was practical, understandable and relevant for use in Taska OKU settings. Teachers reported that the module supported clearer planning, more consistent implementation and better opportunities for children to participate socially. This study contributes to the development of a locally adapted early intervention module that is grounded in stakeholder input, expert consensus and inclusive education principles. The module also reflects strength-based and functioning-oriented terminology aligned with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework. The findings suggest that contextually developed modules can support teachers and caregivers in enhancing the social participation of children with Down syndrome in Malaysian early childhood settings. Full article

Background: Individuals with complex communication needs (CCNs) require comprehensive communication profiles to guide effective interventions, yet the clinical literature offers limited tools to support this process. To address this gap, the “Italian CP & Language Network”—a multidisciplinary group of speech–language pathologists, psychologists, and child neuropsychiatrists—developed a novel, comprehensive clinical instrument specifically designed to evaluate the communication skills of children and adolescents with CCNs. Methods: The development process was informed by an initial preliminary survey conducted across participating clinical centres to map out the observation tools routinely used in daily practice. Results: Based on these insights, the network designed a structured clinical interview named the Italian IVCAA (Intervista sulla Valutazione delle Competenze e delle Abilità Comunicative). The instrument was structured to systematically assess four core areas: core communication abilities, communicative behaviours, communicative functions, and communicative modalities (vocal, gestural, graphic/symbolic, and written). The Italian IVCAA provides a structured framework that successfully describes an individual’s unique communication profile. It maps out specific strengths and weaknesses across diverse modalities, establishing a standardized baseline for clinical use. Conclusions: The Italian IVCAA serves as a valuable clinical tool for identifying communication profiles in individuals with CCNs. It offers a practical starting point for setting tailored goals in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions and establishes a reliable framework for monitoring changes in communicative competence over time. Full article

Spherical/aspherical mirrors are widely used in satellite communication and imaging systems, but their reflectivity is affected by the surface roughness value. The vibration of the machine tool system is one of the most important factors affecting the surface roughness. This paper systematically suppresses vibration through different ways, reduces the peak and valley value of workpiece surface roughness, and improves the specular reflectivity (i.e., zero-order diffraction efficiency) of the machined surface. This paper establishes a reflectance model for machined surfaces considering surface aberration using rigorous coupled wave theory. Based on this model, the relationship between reflectivity and processed surface morphology was calculated. According to the influence of different vibration modes on surface morphology, the influence of different vibration morphology on reflectivity is studied. In order to reduce cutting vibration, a new adaptive interpolation point planning algorithm has been innovatively proposed for planning the position of each interpolation point on the meridian of the workpiece. The specular reflectivity of uncoated bare spherical/aspherical mirror surfaces processed by adaptive interpolation point planning algorithm can reach over 90%, providing a high-quality substrate for subsequent high-reflection optical coatings. Full article

This paper examines the concept of the culture of space in early childhood education and care (ECEC), building on contemporary perspectives that understand space as an active factor in children’s development, learning, and socialization. The study aims to identify and define the dimensions of the culture of space in relevant interdisciplinary literature and to examine their representation in national and international strategic documents related to ECEC. The analysis is based on socio-constructivist perspectives, the phenomenology of space, the concepts of place identity and sense of place, and the Reggio Emilia approach. The findings indicate that the culture of space comprises interconnected physical, social, symbolic, cultural, digital, and pedagogical dimensions that shape children’s experiences and support belonging, identity formation, cultural awareness, spatial competences, and sustainable relationships with the environment. International policy documents published by OECD, UNESCO, and UNICEF emphasize that well-designed learning environments and sensitivity to cultural context are essential indicators of ECEC quality. Space should be understood as a culturally and pedagogically constructed medium that actively supports children’s development, identity formation, and community building. Full article

Low Earth orbit mobile satellite system (LEO-MSS) is a major system that provides communication support for mobile terminals beyond the coverage of terrestrial communication systems. However, passive handover happens frequently, caused by the quick movement of LEO satellites, making it hard to guarantee quality of service (QoS) for handover users while maintaining a large number of users. To tackle this problem, we propose a novel soft handover scheme and combine it with uplink power-domain non-orthogonal multiple access (PD-NOMA) for the first time to guarantee QoS for handover users and improve uplink throughput. We analyze the uplink PD-NOMA-based soft handover scheme with three users in two beams and give the closed-form expression of the optimal uplink transmission power allocation. Afterward, we introduce this method into a practical multi-beam LEO-MSS system with multiple users and sub-channels and formulate the optimization problems to maximize system throughput. Numerical results show that the proposed uplink PD-NOMA-based soft handover scheme provides much better performance on throughput and fairness for heavy loads. Full article

Ovarian function is essential for fertility in dairy cattle, yet the cellular and molecular features associated with physiological ovarian states and ovarian dysfunction remain incompletely characterized. In this study, serum and follicular-fluid hormone measurements showed distinct endocrine profiles among ovarian states, and the follicular-fluid estrogen to progesterone was highest during the follicular phase and lowest in luteal and luteal cystic ovaries. Then, single-nucleus RNA sequencing was performed on ovarian tissues from 18 Holstein cows representing follicular, luteal, mid-gestation pregnancy, inactive, and luteal cystic states. After quality control, 154,054 nuclei were retained for cell-type annotation, granulosa cell (GC) subclustering, trajectory inference, co-expression analysis, ligand-receptor and ligand-target prediction, and transcriptome-based metabolic flux estimation. Twenty-seven ovarian cell clusters and five GC subtypes were identified, with state-associated variation in relative nuclear composition and transcriptional profiles. Luteal cystic ovaries showed a higher relative representation of immune cells and enrichment of inflammation-related transcriptional signatures, whereas inactive ovaries exhibited lower levels of predicted intercellular communication. GC analyses indicated differences among ovarian states in transcriptional programs related to proliferation, steroidogenesis, extracellular-matrix organization, inflammation, and metabolism. Transcriptome-based metabolic inference further suggested subtype-associated variation in tricarboxylic acid cycle, lipid, polyamine, phosphoinositide, and gamma-aminobutyric acid-related pathways. This study provides a multi-state single-nucleus transcriptomic resource for bovine ovarian research and identifies candidate cell populations and molecular features for future experimental validation. Full article

During the last decade, there has been an emergence of isolated scientific studies that have been selectively cited to support claims apparently contradicting the broader evidence base, thus opening the door for scepticism on the one hand and “evidence-based” conspiracies on the other. This dangerous development in science and its wider perception within the population have been facilitated by the rapid growth and digital discoverability of the scientific literature, making it easier to search selectively for the publications that lend support to any, and often the most bizarre, hypotheses. This bias of selective reading of literature constitutes a major challenge for modern science and scientific communication. AI-based tools may help broaden evidence retrieval, yet their outputs require transparent validation and expert oversight to minimise selection bias and to ensure reliable interpretation. Full article

In DC microgrid (DC-MG) clusters, distributed generation units rely on electronic communication networks to exchange voltage measurements, current information, and coordination signals for voltage recovery and current sharing. As the degree of system clustering and communication coupling increases, nodal denial-of-service (DoS) attacks may interrupt the information exchange of leaders and followers, resulting in communication topology switching and degraded cooperative control performance. Accordingly, this paper proposes an event-triggered(ET) resilient control scheme with high communication efficiency for networked DC-MG clusters under nodal DoS attacks. First, a distributed secondary control model with a cross-layer communication mechanism is constructed in accordance with the requirements of the system’s overall power distribution, which incorporates the two-layer node architecture of leaders and followers in DC-MG clusters. Second, a statistical multimode nodal DoS attack model is developed to characterize heterogeneous communication interruptions through topology-dependent attack modes and their occurrence probabilities. Finally, an exponential threshold ET mechanism based on bus-voltage recovery errors is designed within the distributed secondary control framework to reduce redundant information transmission while preserving resilience against nodal communication attacks. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method can maintain accurate voltage recovery and current sharing in networked DC-MG clusters under large-scale DoS attacks, while improving communication efficiency through ET updates. Full article

Efficient robotic teleoperation for industrial inspection requires interfaces that maximize intuitive control and situational awareness. While traditional mixed reality (MR) systems offer alternatives, standard controller-based methods lack environment customization and demand external peripheral hardware. This study introduces a peripheral-hardware-free, customizable 3D spatial virtual cockpit application deployed on a Meta Quest 3 headset for long-distance, non-line-of-sight teleoperation of the Improbability Roller-2, a mobile robotic platform that dynamically adjusts its wheel geometry to traverse varied terrain over a Virtual Private Network (VPN). The system’s novel spatial cockpit architecture allows operators to scale multi-channel parameters dynamically without relying on physical hardware controllers. The framework was evaluated using transmission-quality benchmarks, an active industrial machine shop deployment, and a 20-participant user study assessing usability and cognitive load. Experimental results yielded a mean System Usability Scale (SUS) score of 82.75, corresponding to an excellent usability rating, and a low mean operator workload, with a NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) score of 5.19 out of 21. Participants also rated the workspace customization feature positively, assigning it a rating of 4.6 out of 5. In terms of communication performance, the system successfully completed all inspection tasks even under severely degraded VPN conditions. These findings demonstrate that the proposed customizable 3D spatial interface provides a robust, scalable alternative to traditional controller-based setups for long-distance remote robotic inspection in real-world industrial settings. Full article