Search Results (1,385)

In the era of digital intelligence, digital media landscapes increasingly influence cultural tourism consumption. Consumerism capitalizes on tourists’ superficial aesthetic commonalities, constructing a homogenized media imagination that leads to collective convergence in travel decisions, which obscures aspects of local culture, poses safety risks, and results in fleeting local tourism booms. In this study, semistructured interviews were conducted with 36 tourists, and NVivo12.0 was used for three-level node coding in a qualitative analysis to explore the digital media attributions of conformist travel behavior. The findings indicate that digital media landscapes exert a “digital persuasion” effect by reconstructing self-experience models, directing the individual gaze, and projecting idealized self-images. These mechanisms drive tourists to follow digital traffic trends and engage in imitative behaviors, ultimately shaping the phenomenon of “group roaming”, grounded in the psychological effect of herd behavior. Full article

This study examines the development of the digital economy and society in the Republic of Kazakhstan by combining international benchmarking with a context-specific national framework. It highlights the limitations of existing global indices such as DESI, NRI, and EGDI in capturing the structural and institutional dimensions of digital transformation in emerging economies. To address this gap, the study introduces a novel composite metric, the Index of Digital Economy Development (IDED), which integrates five sub-indices: infrastructure, usage, human capital, economic digitization, and transformation effectiveness. The methodology involves comparative index analysis, the construction of the IDED, and statistical validation through a public opinion survey and regression modeling. Key findings indicate that cybersecurity is a critical yet under-represented component of digital development, showing strong empirical correlations with DESI scores in benchmark countries. The results also highlight Kazakhstan’s strengths in digital public services and internet access, contrasted with weaknesses in business digitization and innovation. The proposed IDED offers a more comprehensive and policy-relevant tool for assessing digital progress in transitional economies. This study contributes to the literature by proposing a replicable index structure and providing empirical evidence for the inclusion of cybersecurity in national digital economy assessments. The aim of the study is to assess Kazakhstan’s digital economy development by addressing limitations in global measurement frameworks. Methodologically, it combines comparative index analysis, the construction of a national composite index (IDED), and statistical validation using a regional survey and regression analysis. The findings reveal both strengths and gaps in Kazakhstan’s digital landscape, particularly in cybersecurity and SME digitalization. The IDED introduces an innovative, context-sensitive framework that enhances the measurement of digital transformation in transitional economies. Full article

Enhancing farmers’ digital literacy is both an inevitable requirement for adapting to the digital age and an important measure for promoting the sustainable development of livestock and poultry manure resource utilization. This study surveyed and obtained data from 1047 farm households in Ningxia and Gansu, two provinces in China that have long implemented livestock manure resource utilization policies, from December 2023 to January 2024, and employed the binary probit model to analyze how digital literacy influences farmers’ willingness to adopt two livestock manure resource utilization modes, as well as to analyze the moderating role of three policy regulations. This paper also explores the heterogeneous results in different village forms and income groups. The results are as follows: (1) Digital literacy significantly and positively impacts farmers’ willingness to adopt both the “household collection” mode and the “livestock community” mode. For every one-unit increase in a farmer’s digital literacy, the probability of farmers’ willingness to adopt the “household collection” mode rises by 22 percentage points, and the probability of farmers’ willingness to adopt the “livestock community” mode rises by 19.8 percentage points. After endogeneity tests and robustness checks, the conclusion still holds. (2) Mechanism analysis results indicate that guiding policy and incentive policy have a positive moderation effect on the link between digital literacy and the willingness to adopt the “household collection” mode. Meanwhile, incentive policy also positively moderates the relationship between digital literacy and the willingness to adopt the “livestock community” mode. (3) Heterogeneity analysis results show that the positive effect of digital literacy on farmers’ willingness to adopt two livestock manure resource utilization modes is stronger in “tight-knit society” rural areas and in low-income households. (4) In further discussion, we find that digital literacy removes the information barriers for farmers, facilitating the conversion of willingness into behavior. The value of this study is as follows: this paper provides new insights for the promotion of livestock and poultry manure resource utilization policies in countries and regions similar to the development process of northwest China. Therefore, enhancing farmers’ digital literacy in a targeted way, strengthening the promotion of grassroots policies on livestock manure resource utilization, formulating diversified ecological compensation schemes, and establishing limited supervision and penalty rules can boost farmers’ willingness to adopt manure resource utilization models. Full article

Background: This study aims to compare the logistical challenges of Home Health Care (HHC) services in Portugal and Brazil, highlighting the structural and operational differences between both systems. Methods: Guided by an abductive research approach, data were collected using a semi-structured survey with open-ended questions, applied to 13 HHC teams in Portugal and 18 in Brazil, selected based on national coordination recommendations. The data collection process was conducted in person, and responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. Results: The results reveal that Portugal demonstrates higher productivity, stronger territorial coverage, and a more integrated inventory management system, while Brazil presents greater multidisciplinary team integration, more flexible fleet logistics, and more advanced digital health records. Despite these strengths, both countries continue to address key logistical aspects, such as scheduling, supply distribution, and data management, largely through empirical strategies. Conclusions: This research contributes to the theoretical understanding of international HHC logistics by emphasizing strategic and systemic aspects often overlooked in operational studies. In practical terms, it offers insights for public health managers to improve resource allocation, fleet coordination, and digital integration in aging societies. Full article

Hemorrhoidal disease remains a prevalent yet often overlooked condition, affecting millions worldwide and imposing a substantial healthcare burden. Despite the availability of multiple treatment options, gaps persist in patient education, early symptom recognition, and optimal treatment selection. Recent advancements are evolving the pharmacist’s role in hemorrhoid management beyond traditional over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription approaches. The 2024 American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) guidelines introduce updates on the use of phlebotonics, a class of venoactive drugs gaining recognition for their role in symptom management, yet largely underutilized in U.S. clinical practice. In parallel, novel clinical tools are reshaping how pharmacists engage in assessment and care. The integration of digital decision-support platforms and structured evaluation algorithms now empowers them to systematically evaluate symptoms, identify red flag signs, and optimize patient triage. These tools reduce diagnostic variability and improve decision-making accuracy. Given their accessibility and trusted role in frontline healthcare, pharmacists are well-positioned to bridge these critical gaps by adopting emerging treatment recommendations, leveraging algorithm-driven assessments, and reinforcing best practices in patient education and referral. This narrative review aims to equip pharmacists with updated insights into evidence-based hemorrhoid management strategies and provide them with structured assessment algorithms to standardize symptom evaluation and treatment pathways. By integrating these innovations, pharmacists can enhance treatment outcomes, promote patient safety, and contribute to improved quality of life (QoL) for individuals suffering from hemorrhoidal disease. Full article

The construction and development of digital infrastructure have emerged as a crucial indicator of national competitiveness, which holds significant importance in driving the sustained growth of the national economy and the comprehensive advancement of society. This paper explores the impact of digital infrastructure on farm households’ scale management, aiming to reveal the role and potential of digital technology in agricultural modernization. Additionally, it seeks to offer a scientific foundation for the government to formulate agricultural policies and advance agricultural modernization. Using the OLS (Ordinary Least Squares) model, moderating effect model, and other methods, this study investigates how digital infrastructure affects farm households’ scale management based on micro-level research data of 2510 farm households from the CRRS (China Rural Revitalization Survey). The following conclusions are drawn: Firstly, the enhancement of digital infrastructure can motivate farm households to expand the land management area and increase the unit output of land. Secondly, farm households’ digital literacy positively moderates the effect of digital infrastructure on their land unit output; moreover, digital skills training for farm households exhibits a positive moderating effect on the influence of digital infrastructure on their management area. Finally, there is a heterogeneity in the impact of digital infrastructure on farm households’ scale management. Specifically, the promotion of farm households’ scale management is stronger in plain areas and weaker in hilly and mountainous areas; stronger for middle-aged and older and small-scale farm households; and weaker for youth groups and large-scale farm households. Based on this, this paper suggests increasing the investment in digital infrastructure construction, improving farm households’ digital literacy, carrying out digital skills training, and formulating differentiated regional policies for reference. Full article

With continuous advancements in semiconductor technology, mastering efficient designs of high-quality and advanced chips has become an important part of science and technology education. Chip performances will determine the futures of various aspects of societies. However, novice students often encounter difficulties in learning digital chip designs using Verilog programming, a common hardware design language. An efficient self-study system for supporting them that can offer various exercise problems, such that any answer is marked automatically, is in strong demand. In this paper, we design and implement a web-based Verilog programming learning assistant system (VPLAS), based on our previous works on software programming. Using a heuristic and guided learning method, VPLAS leads students to learn the basic circuit syntax step by step, until they acquire high-quality digital integrated circuit design abilities through self-study. For evaluation, we assign the proposal to 50 undergraduate students at the National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan, who are taking the introductory chip-design course, and confirm that their learning outcomes using VPLAS together are far better than those obtained when following a traditional method. In our final statistics, students achieved an average initial accuracy rate of over 70% on their first attempts at answering questions after learning through our website’s tutorials. With the help of the system’s instant automated grading and rapid feedback, their average accuracy rate eventually exceeded 99%. This clearly demonstrates that our system effectively enables students to independently master Verilog circuit knowledge through self-directed learning. Full article

As digital transformation progresses, schools are increasingly confronted with psychosocial challenges such as technostress, digital overload, and unequal participation in digital (learning) environments. This article investigates the conceptual relevance of digital well-being for school development, particularly in relation to social inequality. Despite growing attention, the term remains theoretically underdefined in educational research—a gap addressed through a theory-driven review. Drawing on a systematic search, 25 key studies were analyzed for their conceptual understanding and refinement of digital well-being, with a focus on educational relevance. Findings suggest that digital well-being constitutes a multidimensional state shaped by individual, media-related, and socio-structural factors. It emerges when individuals are able to successfully manage the demands of digital environments and is closely linked to digital inequality—particularly in terms of access, usage practices, and the resulting opportunities for participation and health promotion. Since the institutional role of schools has thus far received limited attention, this article shifts the focus toward schools as key arenas for negotiating digital norms and practices and calls for an equity-sensitive and health-conscious perspective on school development in the context of digitalization. In doing so, digital well-being is repositioned as a pedagogical cross-cutting issue that requires coordinated efforts across all levels of the education system, highlighting that equitable digital transformation in schools depends on a critical reflection of power asymmetries within society and educational institutions. The article concludes by advocating for the systematic integration of digital well-being into school development processes as a way to support inclusive digital participation and to foster a health-oriented digital school culture. Full article

This study investigates the cybersecurity landscape of Aotearoa-New Zealand through a culturally grounded lens, focusing on the integration of Indigenous Māori values into cybersecurity frameworks. In response to escalating cyber threats, the research adopts a mixed-methods and interdisciplinary approach—combining surveys, focus groups, and case studies—to explore how cultural principles such as whanaungatanga (collective responsibility) and manaakitanga (care and respect) influence digital safety practices. The findings demonstrate that culturally informed strategies enhance trust, resilience, and community engagement, particularly in rural and underserved Māori communities. Quantitative analysis revealed that 63% of urban participants correctly identified phishing attempts compared to 38% of rural participants, highlighting a significant urban–rural awareness gap. Additionally, over 72% of Māori respondents indicated that cybersecurity messaging was more effective when delivered through familiar cultural channels, such as marae networks or iwi-led training programmes. Focus groups reinforced this, with participants noting stronger retention and behavioural change when cyber risks were communicated using Māori metaphors, language, or values-based analogies. The study also confirms that culturally grounded interventions—such as incorporating Māori motifs (e.g., koru, poutama) into secure interface design and using iwi structures to disseminate best practices—can align with international standards like NIST CSF and ISO 27001. This compatibility enhances stakeholder buy-in and demonstrates universal applicability in multicultural contexts. Key challenges identified include a cybersecurity talent shortage in remote areas, difficulties integrating Indigenous perspectives into mainstream policy, and persistent barriers from the digital divide. The research advocates for cross-sector collaboration among government, private industry, and Indigenous communities to co-develop inclusive, resilient cybersecurity ecosystems. Based on the UTAUT and New Zealand’s cybersecurity vision “Secure Together—Tō Tātou Korowai Manaaki 2023–2028,” this study provides a model for small nations and multicultural societies to create robust, inclusive cybersecurity frameworks. Full article

This paper examines the epistemological transformation prompted by the integration of generative artificial intelligence technologies into social science research, proposing the “adaptive epistemology” paradigm. In today’s post-digital era—characterized by pervasive infrastructures and non-human agents endowed with generative capabilities—traditional research approaches have become inadequate. Through a critical review of historical and discursive paradigms (positivism, interpretivism, critical realism, pragmatism, transformative paradigms, mixed and digital methods), here I show how the advent of digital platforms and large language models reconfigures the boundaries between data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Employing a theoretical–conceptual framework that draws on sociotechnical systems theory, platform studies, and the philosophy of action, the core features of adaptive epistemology are identified: dynamism, co-construction of meaning between researcher and system, and the capacity to generate methodological solutions in response to rapidly evolving contexts. The findings demonstrate the need for reasoning in terms of an adaptive epistemology that could offer a robust theoretical and methodological framework for guiding social science research in the post-digital society, emphasizing flexibility, reflexivity, and ethical sensitivity in the deployment of generative tools. Full article

Pressures applied to horses via nosebands are of growing concern. The current study applied noseband pressure to the head of a dead horse. Pressure sensors were placed on the left nasal bone to record pressures as the noseband was progressively tightened. Tightness increased as predicated by holes in the strap of the noseband (as supplied) through eight steps from two fingers’ space, assessed using the standard International Society for Equitation Science Taper Gauge through to zero space. Sensors were also placed at the midline frontal plane and intra-orally at the level of the second premolar tooth. A strain gauge integrated into the noseband recorded tensions within the noseband at each tightness level, and a digital taper gauge under the noseband recorded forces on the face. Pressures at the left nasal bone rose to 403 kPa, while those at the frontal nasal plane reached 185 kPa. Pressures rose rapidly once the noseband was tightened at the equivalent of 1.4 fingers’ space under the noseband. These findings may help to explain cases of bone and skin damage at the noseband location and indicate the need to ensure that nosebands can accommodate more than the equivalent of 1.4 fingers beneath them in the nasal midline. Given that pressures are expected to rise from those reported here when horses wear bits, locomote, and when the reins are under tension, we conclude that the traditional provision of two fingers’ space should be retained. Full article

The gradual recovery of the economy has positioned the digital economy as a vital force driving global economic growth. However, the sustainability of this emerging economic sector is being tested by unexpected systemic shocks. There is a scarcity of research on the factors influencing the sustainable development of the digital economy. Therefore, developing a framework to assess the sustainability of the digital economy is significant. Building on previous research, this study established an evaluation system that extracts key indicators across four dimensions: society, the economy, the environment, and technology. Data were then collected through questionnaires and in-depth interviews with experts. Subsequently, this study employed the fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory–Analytical Network Process (fuzzy DANP) method to determine the weight of each indicator and used the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method to evaluate the sustainability of the digital economy in three cities. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to validate this comprehensive evaluation method. The results indicate that society and the economy are the two most crucial dimensions, while the regional economic development level, enterprise innovation culture, and digital divide are the top three indicators affecting the sustainable development of the digital economy industry. This work suggests that the digital economy industry should enhance regional economic levels, strengthen technological and innovative corporate cultures, and narrow the digital divide to achieve the goal of sustainable development in the digital economy sector. Full article

This position paper proposes a conceptual framework (CF-BIAI-SXT) for integrating blockchain with AI to enhance ethical governance, transparency, and privacy in high-risk AI applications that ensure societal resilience through the mitigation of sexual exploitation. Sextortion is a growing form of digital sexual exploitation, and the role of AI in its mitigation and the ethical issues that arise provide a good case for this paper. Through a combination of systematic and narrative literature reviews, the paper first explores the ethical shortcomings of existing AI systems in sextortion prevention and assesses the capacity of blockchain operations to mitigate these limitations. It then develops CF-BIAI-SXT, a framework operationalized through BPMN-modeled components and structured into a three-layer implementation strategy composed of technical enablement, governance alignment, and continuous oversight. The framework is then situated within real-world regulatory constraints, including GDPR and the EU AI Act. This position paper concludes that a resilient society needs ethical, privacy-first, and socially resilient digital infrastructures, and integrating two core technologies, such as AI and blockchain, creates a viable pathway towards this desideratum. Mitigating high-risk environments, such as sextortion, may be a fundamental first step in this pathway, with the potential expansion to other forms of online threats. Full article

This conceptual paper explores how artificial intelligence—particularly machine learning-based algorithmic systems—is reshaping cultural transmission and symbolic power in the digital age. It argues that algorithms operate as cultural agents, acquiring a form of operative agency that enables them to intervene in the production, circulation, and legitimation of meaning. Drawing on critical pedagogy, sociotechnical theory, and epistemological perspectives, the paper introduces an original framework: Critical Algorithmic Mediation (CAM). CAM conceptualizes algorithmic agency through three interrelated dimensions—structural, operational, and symbolic—providing a lens to analyze how algorithmic systems structure knowledge hierarchies and cultural experience. The article examines the historical role of media in cultural transmission, the epistemic effects of algorithmic infrastructures, and the emergence of algorithmic hegemony as a regime of symbolic power. In response, it advocates for a model of critical digital literacy that promotes algorithmic awareness, epistemic justice, and democratic engagement. By reframing education as a space for symbolic resistance and cultural reappropriation, this work contributes to rethinking digital literacy in societies increasingly governed by algorithmic infrastructures. Full article