Search Results (6,686)

Objective: Due to the increasing prevalence of rheumatological conditions worldwide, especially among women, and their known negative impact on body image, there is a growing demand for cosmetic procedures. Therefore, it is imperative to develop an evidence-based understanding of the safety of these procedures and their potential effects on the disease course to prevent undesirable exacerbations. Methods: An observational cross-sectional survey was conducted among adult patients diagnosed with rheumatic diseases. Data were collected using an electronic questionnaire that addressed demographics, disease characteristics, comorbidities, and perceptions of cosmetic procedures. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of King Saud University and King Saud University Medical City. Appropriate descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were performed. Results: A total of 212 participants were included; among them, 92 participants considered or underwent cosmetic procedures, while 120 did not. A significant difference was observed between groups regarding disease-related impact on self-confidence (p = 0.01). Factors associated with undergoing cosmetic procedures included gender (female sex) (OR 12.02; 95% CI: 1.55–93.17; p = 0.017), higher educational level (OR 14.00; 95% CI: 1.32–147.42; p = 0.028), a monthly income of SAR 1000–5000 (OR 2.39; 95% CI: 1.03–5.53; p = 0.041) or SAR 5000–10,000 (OR 2.75; 95% CI: 1.19–6.33; p = 0.017), and employment status (OR 1.81; 95% CI: 1.03–3.18; p = 0.038). Conclusions: A substantial proportion of patients with rheumatic diseases considered or had undergone cosmetic procedures, primarily driven by appearance-related concerns and reduced self-confidence. Female sex, higher education, higher income, and employment status were significant predictors. Fear of disease flare-ups and potential side effects were the most common reasons for avoiding cosmetic procedures. Full article

Sustainability challenges increasingly require higher education institutions (HEIs) to demonstrate measurable social, institutional, and environmental impacts through their extension and social outreach activities. Within this context, social innovation has emerged as a key mechanism for advancing sustainable development, particularly when framed through collaboration models involving multiple actors, such as the Quintuple Helix (QH) framework. Although the QH model emphasizes the strategic role of academia in innovation oriented toward sustainability, the contribution of HEIs to generating sustainable social impacts remains insufficiently measured. This study proposes and validates a statistical model to assess social innovation impacts oriented toward sustainability and generated by university extension projects, based on the articulation among academia, industry, government, civil society, and the natural environment. Using data from 77 Colombian universities collected between 2019 and 2024, the research applies a methodological approach implemented in two sequential phases, combining Principal Component Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling. The results confirm the robustness, reliability, and empirical validity of the proposed model, allowing HEIs to be classified according to their levels of global and governmental sustainability impact. This article is a revised and extended version of the conference paper titled “Incidence of the Quintuple Helix Model on Social Innovation Generated in University Extension Projects from the ‘Impact’ Variable”, presented at the International Conference on Project Management (ICPM2024), held in Bogotá, Colombia, on 6 September 2024. Full article

Co-created research outputs are considered the gold standard in research translation projects. It is often a requirement for gaining funding to work with affected community members and partners when working to provide resources or support communities with a lived experience of trauma. However, there is limited literature on combining a co-creation framework and trauma-informed approaches. This paper adds to these studies by describing our project, which combined co-creation with trauma-informed principles to work with potentially vulnerable communities, specifically service families who experience high family mobility (e.g., military and first responder families). The approach taken prioritised safety, trust, transparency, peer support, collaboration, empowerment, and voices of those with lived and living experiences, while also emphasising participant choice to ensure safe engagement and maintain research partner commitment. After many rounds of feedback from those with lived and living experience (over 35 initial co-creation participants), we tested the suitability of the resources on other affected community and research partners. Twelve (additional) participants provided rich feedback that was analysed using inductive thematic analysis. This included the appropriateness of the resources for the age group, the use of children’s narrative story techniques and engagement, increasing caregiver capacity and knowledge, and integration into family, educational and professional settings. We examine here potential strategies to better support this type of research and propose an improved research framework that combines co-creation and a trauma-informed approach. Although complex and time-consuming, this combined approach offers an effective means of developing targeted supports. Further testing, research and refinement with potentially vulnerable populations are needed, and successful implementation may require institutional research systems to adapt to support this approach in the future. Full article

The rapid digital transformation of higher education institutions (HEIs) has created new opportunities to promote sustainability-focused teaching, learning, and assessment. At the same time, traditional assessment methods often fail to accurately measure complex skills needed for sustainability, such as systems thinking, critical reflection, and real-world problem-solving. This study examines the integration of adaptive learning platforms with performance-based assessment (PBA) as an innovative way to support inclusive, sustainability-oriented learning in higher education. Based on principles of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and constructivist learning theory, the study investigates how adaptive learning technologies tailor instruction for diverse learners while PBAs offer genuine measures of sustainability skills. Using a mixed-methods approach, data were gathered from forty-eight undergraduate students enrolled in an inclusive education course that used an adaptive learning module and PBA tasks. Learning analytics, rubric-based performance scores, and student perception surveys were analyzed to explore effects on engagement, accessibility, and skill development. The results show that this combined method enhances student inclusion, supports differentiated learning pathways, boosts engagement in sustainability tasks, and yields more complete evidence of sustainability competencies than traditional assessments. The study provides a framework for HEIs aiming to align digital transformation initiatives with sustainability objectives. It emphasizes the potential of integrating adaptive learning and PBA to promote innovative, inclusive, and sustainability-focused assessment practices. Implications for policy, curriculum design, and future digital sustainability efforts are also discussed. Full article

The pivotal moment of 23 August 1944 thrust Romania into alliance with the Soviet Union and launched over four decades of communist rule. The Romanian Orthodox Church actively resisted communist ideology, but was swiftly targeted by state oppression. Soviet troops entering Banat executed atrocities, seized property, arrested citizens, and terrorized communities. These actions marked the start of communist domination. A critical review of this era shows that authorities deliberately and systematically dismantled the Church and other Romanian institutions in Banat. Most significantly, they dissolved the Caransebeş Diocese, the principal ecclesiastical authority for Romanians in South Banat. Authorities shut down theological academies in Caransebeș and Timișoara, and forced hierarchs Veniamin Nistor and Vasile Lăzărescu into exile. These actions severely crippled the Church’s role. Collectively, these measures devastated the Banat Church’s religious, educational, and social capacities. Full article

As universities expand their e-learning systems, it becomes increasingly important to understand how the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) changes the skills needed for effective formative assessment. This study uses the principles of human–computer interaction (HCI) to create a framework for examining how digital tools, interfaces, and modes of interaction influence the way teachers assess students in higher education. The research relies on the information provided by 115 Mohammed V University teachers, who filled out a competency-based assessment grid regarding online assessment practices. The results remain exploratory and context-dependent and do not make claims of statistical representativeness beyond the studied institutional context. The findings attest to the virtues of digital technology in improving methodological and techno-pedagogical skills, without excluding the existence of serious shortcomings in semio-ethical and evaluative skills. It is certainly useful to leverage feedback to correct imperfections in evaluation practices and make them more responsive to digital interfaces. It is becoming imperative to rethink professional skills as the regulatory halo of the online formative assessment system, in order to evaluate a more synergistic framework that can give better visibility to virtual classrooms. Full article

Active and healthy ageing has become a strategic objective in European and national policy agendas, grounded in grounded in internationally recognised definitions and policy frameworks such as the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) and the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIPAHA). In Italy, the translation of this paradigm has taken place within a fragmented welfare system characterised by strong regional autonomy and persistent social and territorial inequalities, particularly along regional and gender lines. This scoping review has a twofold aim: (1) to map the Italian scientific and grey literature on active and healthy ageing, identifying dominant dimensions, priorities and gaps, and (2) to examine how policies and interventions frame, address or overlook social, territorial and gender inequalities across the life course Following established scoping review methodological frameworks and PRISMA-ScR guidelines, the review systematically identified, selected and synthesised Italian scientific studies and institutional documents published between 2012 and 2024. An inductive thematic analysis was conducted across four main areas—health and wellbeing; social inclusion and participation; indicators and measurement tools; and governance and public policies—with specific attention to the explicit and implicit treatment of inequalities. The analysis reveals a heterogeneous and regionally unbalanced policy landscape. While some territories have developed more integrated approaches linking prevention, participation and social inclusion, others remain largely confined to sectoral and fragmented interventions. Gendered patterns of unpaid care, differential access to programmes and services, and uneven territorial distribution of resources emerge as key dimensions of inequality shaping opportunities for active ageing. A partial discontinuity can be observed after 2019, with the introduction of national coordination mechanisms, although substantial differences in regional implementation capacity persist. The findings highlight the need for more coherent and equity-oriented strategies capable of integrating health, social and educational dimensions through a life-course and intersectional perspective. Strengthening multi-level governance and explicitly addressing social, territorial and gender inequalities as structural determinants—rather than residual variables—appears crucial to enhancing both the effectiveness and the fairness of active and healthy ageing policies in Italy. Full article

The study examines the relationship between entrepreneurial education and society’s approach to green energy. The findings highlight the crucial importance of this process for promoting an ecological and responsible economy. The starting point is the assumption that entrepreneurial competencies, particularly innovation and communication competencies and learning ability, can foster the perception of RES technologies as solutions that combine economic profitability with environmental benefits. Based on a literature review, a research gap was identified regarding the insufficient number of empirical analyses demonstrating the relationship between entrepreneurship education, key competencies, and attitudes toward renewable energy technologies. The study is quantitative in nature and is based on the analysis of survey data collected among high school and university students. The obtained results indicate that the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education is determined by the interaction of individual competencies and environmental conditions. Innovation and communication competencies and learning ability enhance educational outcomes, while technological barriers can significantly limit their positive impact. The analysis highlights the importance of a supportive institutional environment for the effective utilization of educational potential. On this basis, recommendations were formulated for the design of entrepreneurial education programs, emphasizing the need to integrate content related to renewable energy sources, the development of future competences and the reduction in technological barriers as elements supporting the transformation towards sustainable development. Full article

The escalating threats of zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), climate change, and environmental degradation have intensified the need for a unified health approach. One Health—integrating human, animal, and environmental health—is critical for national and global health security. India, with its high population density, biodiversity, and socio-ecological complexity, stands poised to lead in operationalizing this integrated vision. This review analyzes India’s evolving One Health ecosystem, focusing on policy development, inter-ministerial collaborations, surveillance systems, grassroots implementation, and education. Institutions like the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), and Department of Biotechnology (DBT) are discussed. We propose a strategic blueprint built on integrated surveillance (One Network), cross-sectoral governance (One Nation), and field-level implementation (One Health). Highlighting successful case studies and India’s role in global platforms, the article presents a roadmap to bridge fragmented efforts into a resilient, community-driven national mission to protect human, animal, and environmental health. Full article

This article analyses the official Catholic Religious Education (CRES) programmes in Chile, Brazil, Costa Rica and Colombia from the perspective of complexity sciences, using the concept of self-organisation as a central analytical axis. Given Latin American contexts marked by religious pluralism, cultural transformation, institutional crisis and youth subjectivities, it is proposed that the adequacy of CRES does not depend solely on content or methodologies, but also on the systemic architecture that articulates students, classrooms and institutions in relation to their environment. Methodologically, the study develops a framework of three thresholds of educational self-organisation—reactive, reflective, and ecological—and applies it comparatively to the four national programmes, examining how they distribute agency, learning capacity, and openness to context at the student, classroom, and school-environment levels. The analysis reveals that, although all programmes activate relevant forms of reactive and reflective self-organisation, only some partially enable thresholds of ecological self-organisation capable of sustainably integrating contemporary sociocultural and religious complexity. The results allow us to identify structural tensions between current curriculum designs and the demands of increasingly complex environments. Full article

The Construction Industry-related degree programs in higher education institutions are substantially significant platforms for mandating the excellence of Construction Management Education (CME). The quality enhancement in the built environment is achieved through CME, where contemporary education and research yield advanced construction methods for Industry. The education delivery in Building Construction Science/Technology/Management disciplines is planned through the designated policies of the State and regulatory authorities in the United States of America, in addition to the individual vision and mission of the institutions. With the advent of Artificial Intelligence, the rubrics and teaching methodologies have shifted to an advanced mechanism in higher education. In this research, concentrating on the same aspect of transformations in Construction Education allied with the use of modern tools, various undergraduate programs like Building Construction Science or Construction Management, use of modern education has been focused on; thereby concentrating on ‘Studio’ education as the key objective of this research. The continuing education goal in CME is to deliver life-long learning skills to students, so that they achieve sustainable development as qualified professionals later on. Henceforth, Studio teaching is discussed in this research for its impact on students’ expertise, knowledge development and life-long learning. Studio education is a unique dimension in technical disciplines such as Architecture and Construction Science, and, therefore, to achieve the essential objectives of ‘Studio Instructional Technology’, the students are introduced to real-world challenges, so that they can visualize and ultimately innovate solutions for the industry. This paper determines the effectiveness of teaching practices that instructors are expected to utilize while formulating the concepts and skills in students during Design or Structural Studios at the undergraduate level. Utilizing a structured and methodologically robust analytical research, the study formulates evidence-based recommendations for optimizing Studio-instruction pedagogies within undergraduate degree programs of CME. Full article

In this study, 7647 scrapped pieces of teaching and research equipment (T&R equipment) in an application-oriented university in China in 2024 were employed to assess their carbon emissions using lifecycle analysis. A lifecycle accounting framework was established based on expenditure–environmental expansion input–output (EEIO) models, and the greenhouse gas emissions across the producing, using, and scrapping stages of the T&R equipment at this type of university were estimated. Carbon emission reduction pathways for T&R equipment at this type of university were proposed. It is clear that the lifecycle emissions of the scrapped equipment at this type of university equal 8350.8 tCO₂, including producing, using, and scrapping stage emissions of 2277.9 tCO₂, 5848.9 tCO_2, and 223.9 tCO₂, respectively. It is noted that the producing stage accounts for the dominant contributor to carbon emissions, with 70.0% of the total amount. In view of subcategory emissions, information technology equipment (A0201) contributes the most emissions, with 18.0% during the producing and scrapping stages, whereas instruments (A0210) and electrical/electronic production equipment (A0233) contribute the most, with 21.4% and 15.7%, in the using stage. The results of scenario analysis show that, for most equipment, total carbon emissions can be reduced by about 233 tCO₂/a on average if scrapped one year in advance. However, for information technology equipment (A0201), emissions increase by 48 tCO₂/a. This method offers comparability and replicability in scenarios lacking physical measurements, providing quantitative evidence and carbon reduction pathways for green procurement, asset renewal, and end-of-life recycling in higher education institutions. Full article

Laboratories across educational levels have traditionally required in-person attendance, limiting practical activities to specific times and physical spaces. This paper presents a technological architecture based on a system-on-chip (SoC) and a connectivist model, grounded in Connectivism Learning Theory, for implementing a remote laboratory in digital logic design using FPGA devices. The architecture leverages an Internet-of-Things (IoT) environment to provide applications and servers that enable remote access, programming, manipulation, and visualization of FPGA-based development boards located in the institution’s laboratory, from anywhere and at any time. The connectivist model allows learners to interact with multiple nodes for attending synchronous classes, performing laboratory exercises, managing the remote laboratory, and accessing educational resources asynchronously. This approach aims to enhance learning, knowledge transfer, and skills development. A four-year evaluation was conducted, including one experimental group using an e-learning approach and three in-person control groups from a Digital Logic Design course. The experimental group achieved an average performance score of 9.777, surpassing the control groups, suggesting improved academic outcomes with the proposed system. Additionally, a Technology Acceptance Model-based survey showed very high acceptance among learners. This paper presents a novel connectivist model, which we call the Massive Open Online Laboratory. Full article

This study synthesizes the evidence on effective interventions for the prevention of breastfeeding-related nipple-areolar injuries. A systematic review was performed and guided by the evidence synthesis manual of the Joan Briggs Institute, carried out in six databases, with only intervention studies. Interventions with a positive outcome for the prevention of nipple-areolar lesions were considered effective. Methodological quality was assessed by the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation. The final sample of 14 articles found the following to be effective strategies: educational practices (simulations and demonstrations of the breastfeeding technique, with a qualified professional or by video) and the use of peppermint (aqueous solution or gel), extra virgin olive oil, honey, guaiazulene ointment, and venix caseosa. Each intervention was used in specific situations and ways, which should be considered for use in clinical practice. The interventions discussed can help prevent nipple-areolar lesions and breastfeeding difficulties, encouraging breastfeeding. Full article

This study proposes a multi-objective, multi-class explainable modeling framework to explain country performance profiles in PISA Mathematics (PISAM), Reading (PISAR), and Science (PISAS). Instead of treating PISA as a simple ranking, the study models each country’s Low/Medium/High-achieving class and asks which structural signals the model relies on when assigning a country to this class. To this end, the study combines governance quality (e.g., accountability, control of corruption, and political stability, etc.), economic and administrative capacity, and regional/institutional location in a single prediction pipeline and explains the resulting classifications with SHAP contributions conditional on class. While the findings do not point to a single, universal determinant, in mathematics, high-level profiles cluster around political stability, economic scale barriers, and regional location, along with governance indicators; in reading, economic capacity is explicitly integrated into this institutional core; and in science, in addition to these two dimensions, the shared institutional dynamics of regional blocs come into play. Furthermore, the study not only produces explanations but also quantitatively reports their reliability. The fit with the model output (Fidelity) and the traceability of the decision logic (Faithfulness) are 0.95/0.85 for PISAM, 0.89/0.92 for PISAR, and 0.89/0.89 for PISAS, which demonstrates high internal consistency and traceability of the decision process. Overall, the study reframes the PISA results not as isolated test scores but as structural profiles generated by the combination of governance, capacity, and region, revealing the policy-relevant levers behind “high performance” as a transparent and reproducible decision-making pipeline. This provides policymakers with an important roadmap for creating a sustainable education policy. Full article