Search Results (614)

Background/Objectives: Asthma, type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), and epilepsy are prevalent chronic diseases among school-aged children, affecting safety, attendance, and academic performance. This systematic review evaluated school teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, and preparedness regarding these conditions and identified gaps that hinder effective management and inclusion. Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched between 20 September and 9 October 2025. Forty-nine quantitative cross-sectional studies assessing teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, or preparedness toward asthma, T1DM, or epilepsy were included. The AXIS tool assessed methodological quality, focusing on clarity of objectives, sample justification, ethical transparency, and instrument validation. Results: Teachers’ knowledge was generally moderate and varied by region. Studies on epilepsy (n = 21) highlighted misconceptions and limited understanding of seizure first aid. Diabetes studies (n = 9) indicated moderate awareness but insufficient preparedness for hypoglycemia and insulin management. Asthma studies (n = 19) revealed inconsistent knowledge, particularly regarding symptom recognition and emergency response. AXIS assessment identified recurring limitations, including unjustified sample sizes, limited instrument validation, and poor reporting of non-responders. Conclusions: These findings emphasize the need to enhance school preparedness through targeted, evidence-based teacher training, clear health policies and emergency protocols, awareness and inclusion initiatives, improved collaboration among teachers, parents, and healthcare providers, and strengthened school health infrastructure. Addressing these areas is critical to ensure safe, inclusive, and supportive learning environments for children with chronic illnesses. Full article

Cybersecurity education requires practical activities such as malware analysis, phishing detection, and Capture the Flag (CTF) challenges. These exercises enable students to actively apply theoretical concepts in realistic scenarios, fostering experiential learning. This article introduces an innovative pedagogical approach relying on gamification in cybersecurity courses, combining technical problem-solving with human factors such as social engineering and risk-taking behavior. By integrating interactive challenges into the courses, engagement and motivation have been enhanced, while addressing both technological and managerial dimensions of cybersecurity. Observations from course implementation indicate that students demonstrate higher involvement when participating in supervised offensive security tasks and social engineering simulations within controlled environments. These findings highlight the potential of gamified strategies to strengthen cybersecurity competencies and promote ethical awareness, paving the way for future research on long-term cybersecurity learning outcomes. Full article

Although the American Academy of Pediatrics has long recommended universal autism-specific screening at well-child pediatric visits, implementation challenges in primary care settings interfere with high-fidelity universal autism screening. These challenges delay autism identification for some children, leading to delays in needed services and supports. Prior findings indicate that new solutions must be developed to bridge the gap in access to autism screening for families, particularly among those who are under-resourced. One approach is expanding screening to other community settings, such as childcare centers, but there are barriers to this approach, which this commentary aims to address. We discuss challenges and barriers in childcare screening identified through our recently completed pilot study screening for autism in childcare centers, with suggested strategies to address them. These challenges include hesitation among childcare staff to guide conversations or concerns about autism, and stigma around autism diagnosis and presentation. Other challenges relate to emerging concerns regarding legal, ethical, and professional roles and responsibilities surrounding informed consent and data privacy, as well as the identification of children without timely follow-up evaluation and services. There is a need for increasing public awareness as an essential component of autism screening across settings. Our commentary discusses different considerations and practice strategies to meet these needs. Full article

Whistleblowing is a key mechanism of financial governance; however, its effectiveness varies across institutional and cultural contexts. This study examines the factors influencing whistleblowing effectiveness in Qatar’s banking sector, employing an integrated model grounded in the Stimulus–Organism–Response framework and Prosocial Behavior theory. A mixed-methods design combined survey data from 354 banking employees with qualitative text analysis. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) revealed that Training and awareness were the strongest predictors of whistleblowing effectiveness, followed by Transparency and Accountability, and Reporting and Monitoring Mechanisms. At the same time, Legislative and Policy Framework were not significant. Fear of Retaliation partially mediated these relationships, underscoring the importance of psychological safety and trust. Thematic analysis confirmed these findings, highlighting leadership credibility, anonymity, and independent reporting as key enablers, while cultural norms such as hierarchy and loyalty remained barriers. The results indicate that effective whistleblowing in Qatar is less dependent on formal regulation and more on cultivating trust, transparency, and credible protection mechanisms. The study extends behavioral theory to financial ethics, offering practical insights for strengthening integrity systems in emerging financial sectors. Full article

Consumer demand for organic products has grown substantially in Southern Europe, driven by health, environmental, and ethical concerns. Understanding cross-country differences in attribute preferences and sociodemographic influences is critical to inform marketing strategies and policy interventions targeting organic food consumption. To perform a comparative study across Portugal, Spain, and Greece, regular organic consumers were surveyed (250 per country) using a culturally adapted Best–Worst Scaling questionnaire. Socio-demographic variables and ten organic food attributes were analysed using MANOVA, Kruskal–Wallis tests, PCA, and cluster analysis. Spanish and Portuguese consumers prioritised health, environmental impact, absence of GMOs, and certification, while Greeks emphasised price, appearance, taste expectation, and nutrition. Age, gender, and education influenced attribute importance differently across countries, revealing distinct national consumption patterns and preferences. Findings highlight substantial heterogeneity: health and environmental attributes dominate in Portugal and Spain, reflecting strong certification and sustainability awareness, whereas Greek consumers focus on value, sensory qualities, and nutrition, indicating lower organic uptake and stronger price sensitivity. Older and more educated consumers valued certification and provenance, women emphasised health and environmental benefits, and men responded more to convenience and status cues. These patterns suggest that marketing and policy strategies should combine universal motivators with tailored approaches addressing national, demographic, and cultural differences to enhance organic consumption. Cross-country differences reveal the need for context-specific interventions promoting organic food while leveraging common health and sustainability drivers. Full article

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and smart technologies is transforming hospitality operations, yet guest acceptance remains uneven, shaped by utilitarian, experiential, ethical, and cultural evaluations. This study develops and empirically tests a multicomponent framework to explain how these factors jointly influence two behavioral outcomes: whether AI-enabled features affect hotel choice and whether guests are willing to pay a premium. A cross-sectional survey of 689 hotel guests in Tirana, Albania, an emerging hospitality market and rapidly growing tourist destination in the Western Balkans, was analyzed using cumulative link models, partial proportional-odds models, nonlinear and interaction extensions, and binary robustness checks. Results show that prior experience with smart or AI-enabled hotels, higher awareness, and trust in AI, especially trust in responsible data handling, consistently increase both acceptance and willingness to pay. Perceived value, operationalized through the breadth of identified benefits and desired features, also exhibits robust positive effects. In contrast, privacy concerns selectively suppress strong acceptance, particularly financial willingness, while cultural–linguistic fit and support for human–AI collaboration contribute positively but modestly. Interaction analyses indicate that trust can mitigate concerns about reduced personal touch. Open-ended responses reinforce these patterns, highlighting the importance of privacy, human interaction, and staff–AI coexistence. Overall, findings underscore that successful AI adoption in hospitality requires aligning technological innovation with ethical transparency, experiential familiarity, and cultural adaptation. Full article

An effective response to the socio-environmental crisis requires the education of critical citizens, capable of articulating local action with collective socio-political engagement. Teachers occupy a central position in educating for Environmental Citizenship (EC), yet in-service professional development models in this area remain scarce. Within a Design-Based Research framework, this article discusses the expert evaluation of a training prototype. 32 experts—comprising EC researchers, TPD researchers, and specialist teachers—responded to a qualitative questionnaire regarding the model’s design. Data underwent inductive content analysis, with categories emerging directly from the responses. While results strongly validate the prototype’s structure, crucial recommendations emerged for its improvement. Pedagogically, experts suggested focusing on structuring methodologies like Problem-Based Learning and Case Studies to avoid fragmentation. Conceptually, they highlighted the need to deepen critical theoretical foundations and incorporate explicit training in activism and communication skills, enriched by ethical considerations. These findings inform the redesign of a model whose implementation aims to reduce the gap between ecological awareness and transformative civic action, preparing teachers to foster genuine agency in their students. Full article

In Brazil, the presence of capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) in urban environments has raised concerns due to ecological, sanitary and coexistence challenges. This study investigates the growing presence of capybaras on Santa Catarina Island, Brazil, exploring their integration into urban areas. We interviewed 1505 residents of the Island to understand capybara distribution, public perceptions and associated risks. Beliefs about management strategies were also assessed. The findings reveal that capybaras are present in all neighborhoods of Florianópolis, the sole city in the Island. Participants expressed positive views of capybaras, describing them as “beautiful” and “cute” and showing concerns for their well-being in urban environments. Despite these positive perceptions, participants demonstrated limited knowledge about capybara biology (88%) and potential problems, such as disease transmission (37%), traffic accidents (10%), pet conflicts (56%) and garden damage (42%). Most respondents agreed with the statements: “Capybaras are part of nature and should be left undisturbed, even in urban areas” (70%) and “It is important for people to see capybaras in the city, as long as their population is not causing problems” (82%). After risk awareness, more participants rated these issues as highly relevant: disease transmission (97%), destruction of urban gardens (77%), pet incidents (92%) and traffic accidents (98%). This led to greater acceptance of population control, though elimination remained unpopular. Sociodemographic factors influenced opinions. Addressing knowledge gaps can foster ethical, supported management strategies. This case places Florianópolis within a broader South American phenomenon of urban capybara conflicts, highlighting the global challenge of managing human–wildlife interactions in cities. Full article

Eco-anxiety—emotional distress arising from awareness of environmental collapse—has become a critical dimension of social sustainability, linking mental well-being, professional functioning, institutional trust, and climate governance. This study investigates how higher education professionals (HEPs) experience and interpret eco-anxiety within their professional contexts, situating it as a lens on institutional legitimacy from the perspective of those who produce, teach, and steward climate knowledge. A cross-sectional mixed-methods survey of 556 HEPs was conducted across a month in 2023, combining an adapted climate anxiety scale with open-ended narratives. Quantitative analyses identified perceived governmental inadequacy as the strongest correlate of climate worry (β = 0.48, p < 0.001), accounting for 26% of the variance, whereas institutional inadequacy had a weaker effect. Qualitative findings revealed pervasive emotions of moral injury, solastalgia, and exhaustion when sustainability rhetoric outpaced genuine action, with many respondents describing governmental and institutional “betrayal.” Integrating Cognitive Appraisal Theory with concepts of moral legitimacy, the study conceptualises eco-anxiety as a relational and ethically grounded emotion reflecting the perceived misalignment between knowledge and governance. Addressing it requires transparent climate leadership, participatory governance, and organisational care infrastructures to sustain motivation and trust within universities. Eco-anxiety thus may function not only as a personal pathology but also as a psychosocial response that can illuminate HEPs’ perceptions of institutional misalignment with sustainability commitments, with implications for higher education’s contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals. Full article

The contribution of members of the agri-food system to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals is a key element in the global transition to sustainable development. The use of sustainable management systems supports the development of an integrated approach with a spirit of continuous improvement. Such organization is based on risk-management tools that are applied to multiple stakeholders, e.g., those responsible for product quality, occupational health and safety, and environmental impact, thus enabling better global performance. In this review, the term “ethical food systems” is used in our discussion of the concrete methods that can be used to endorse fairness and concern across the food chain. This comprises safeguarding equitable access to nutritious foods, defending animal welfare, assisting ecologically accountable production, and addressing social and labor justice within supply chains. Ethical factors also include transparency, cultural respect, and intergenerational responsibility. Consequently, the objective of this review is to address how these ethical values can be implemented within a One Health framework, predominantly by assimilating plant-based diets, developing governance tools, and resolving nutritional insecurity. Within the One Health framework, decoding ethical principles into practice necessitates a set of concrete interventions: (i) raising awareness of animal rights; (ii) distributing nutritional and environmental knowledge; (iii) endorsing plant-based food research, commercialization, and consumption; (iv) development of social inclusion and positive recognition of vegan/vegetarian identity. At the same time, it should be noted that this perspective represents only one side of the coin, as many populations continue to consume meat and rely on animal proteins for their nutritional value; thus, the role and benefits of meat and other animal-derived foods must also be recognized and discussed. This operational definition provides a foundation for asking how ethical perspectives can be applied. A case study from Africa shows the implementation of a sustainable and healthy future through the One Health approach. Full article

In contemporary education, learners face the challenge of navigating an overwhelming abundance of information. Traditional search methods, often limited to keyword matching, fail to capture the nuanced meaning and relationships within educational materials. Our multimodal approach combines Sentence Transformer for text and Inception V3 for images to generate vector embeddings for textbooks which are stored in an Elasticsearch database. Learners’ queries again are converted to vector embeddings which are matched through cosine similarity with stored embeddings, resulting in retrieval of relevant material which is ranked and then synthesized using large language model (LLM) APIs. The approach retrieves answers based on semantic search rather than keywords. The system also integrates GenAI capabilities separately, specifically leveraging LLM APIs, to generate context-aware answers to user-posed questions at varying levels of complexity, e.g., beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Through comprehensive evaluation, we demonstrate the system’s ability to retrieve coherent answers across multiple sources, offering significant advancements in cross-text and cross-modal retrieval tasks. This work also contributes to the international discourse on ethical GenAI integration in curricula and fosters a collaborative human–AI learning ecosystem. Full article

This study critically examines the technological feasibility, regulatory challenges, and societal acceptance of Pilotless Passenger Aircraft (PPAs) in commercial aviation. A mixed-methods design integrated quantitative passenger surveys (n = 312) and qualitative pilot interviews (n = 15), analyzed using SPSS and NVivo to capture both statistical and thematic perspectives. Results show moderate public awareness (58%) but limited willingness to fly (23%), driven by safety (72%), cybersecurity (64%), and human judgement (60%) concerns. Among pilots, 93% agreed automation improves safety, yet 80% opposed removing human pilots entirely, underscoring reliance on human adaptability in emergencies. Both groups identified regulatory assurance, demonstrable reliability, and human oversight as prerequisites for acceptance. Technologically, this paper synthesizes advances in AI-driven flight management, multi-sensor navigation, and high-integrity control systems, including Airbus’s ATTOL and NASA’s ICAROUS, demonstrating that pilotless flight is technically viable but has yet to achieve the airline-grade reliability target of 10⁻⁹ failures per flight hour. Regulatory analysis of FAA, EASA, and ICAO frameworks reveals maturing but fragmented approaches to certifying learning-enabled systems. Ethical and economic evaluations indicate unresolved accountability, job displacement, and liability issues, with potential 10–15% operational cost savings offset by certification, cybersecurity, and infrastructure expenditures. Integrated findings confirm that PPAs represent a socio-technical challenge rather than a purely engineering problem. This study recommends a phased implementation roadmap: (1) initial deployment in cargo and low-risk missions to accumulate safety data; (2) hybrid human–AI flight models combining automation with continuous human supervision; and (3) harmonized international certification standards enabling eventual passenger operations. Policy implications emphasize explainable-AI integration, workforce reskilling, and transparent public engagement to bridge the trust gap. This study concludes that pilotless aviation will not eliminate the human element but redefine it, achieving autonomy through partnership between human judgement and machine precision to sustain aviation’s uncompromising safety culture. Full article

Background: Therapeutic exercises have gained great prominence due to the benefits shown in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (OA). However, to date, there is no evidence on the effects of an exercise program combined with balance and gait training with visual feedback. Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic effect of an intervention program combining lower-limb muscle strengthening, balance training, and gait exercises with visual feedback on the chronic pain, functional, and biomechanical aspects of older women with and without OA knee. Methods: Clinical trials study with stratified allocation based on disease status (two-arm, triple-blind—assessor, interventionist, and data manager, parallel-group). In total, 40 older women were recruited: 20 in the OA knee group (OAG, n = 20) and 20 in the control group (CG, n = 20). The intervention included a muscular resistance training program in the lower limbs, and reactive and proactive balance and gait training associated with visual feedback. Both groups received the same intervention. The primary outcomes were pain measured by the Visual Analogue Scale and the questionnaires Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index and Lequesne Algofunctional Index. The secondary outcomes were the six-minute walk test, the Falls Risk Awareness Questionnaire, the Timed Up and Go Test, plantar load distribution during gait, and patients’ acceptability. Results: The intervention was effective in improving pain and increasing functionality in older women with OA knee, as measured pre- and post-intervention, compared to the control, with a moderate to high effect size. Body balance increased in older women with OA, as indicated by perceptions of fall risk and walk-test pre- and post-intervention. During gait, a reduction in plantar load (midfoot and rearfoot areas) was observed pre- and post-intervention in OAG compared to the CG. Both groups showed excellent acceptability, suitability, and feasibility of the intervention program. Conclusions: The intervention protocol was effective over 2 consecutive months in reducing pain and increasing knee functionality, balance, walking distance, and perception of falls in older women with OA of the knee compared with women without the condition. During gait, when visual feedback was combined with the intervention protocol, it promoted a better distribution of plantar load over the midfoot and the medial and lateral rearfoot regions in older women with knee OA. Clinical Trial: ReBEC (RBR-5w67pz4). Ethics Committee approval (number: 4.091.004). Full article

Although much research in environmental and sustainability education has focused on knowledge and awareness, fewer studies have examined how school-based projects can foster young learners’ capacity for action. This study investigates how emancipatory, school-based environmental projects can foster young learners’ foundational capacities for contributing to a more sustainable and caring future. Grounded in the Bildung perspective and the action competence framework, a 16-week intervention was implemented with Grade 8 students who collaboratively identified and addressed authentic environmental issues—such as waste mismanagement, sanitation concerns, and safety risks—within their school community. Using a concurrent mixed-methods design, quantitative data from the Student Action Competence Questionnaire were integrated with qualitative evidence from worksheets and reflective journals. Results show consistent improvement across all dimensions of action competence, particularly in democratic collaboration and students’ willingness to take shared responsibility for environmental well-being. Qualitative findings reveal the development of critical reflection, co-creation with school stakeholders, and a growing sense of social responsibility, as students engaged in activities ranging from redesigning waste systems to proposing improvements through official communication channels. Rather than focusing on large-scale environmental outcomes, the projects cultivated everyday practices of care, participation, and ethical awareness—key dispositions for inspiring long-term change toward a greener and more sustainable future. The study highlights how context-based, dialogic learning can empower students as emerging environmental citizens within their immediate communities. Full article

This study presents a fairness-aware framework for modeling the Probability of Default (PD) in individual credit scoring, explicitly addressing the trade-off between predictive accuracy and fairness. As machine learning (ML) models become increasingly prevalent in financial decision-making, concerns around bias and transparency have grown, particularly when improvements in fairness are achieved at the expense of predictive performance. To mitigate these issues, we propose a model-agnostic, post-processing threshold optimization framework that adjusts classification cut-offs using a tunable parameter, enabling institutions to balance fairness and performance objectives. This approach does not require model retraining and supports a scalarized optimization of fairness–performance trade-offs. We conduct extensive experiments with logistic regression, random forests, and XGBoost, evaluating predictive accuracy using Balanced Accuracy alongside fairness metrics such as Statistical Parity Difference and Equal Opportunity Difference. Results demonstrate that the proposed framework can substantially improve fairness outcomes with minimal impact on predictive reliability. In addition, we analyze model-specific trade-off behaviors and introduce diagnostic tools, including quadrant-based and ratio-based analyses, to guide threshold selection under varying institutional priorities. Overall, the framework offers a scalable, interpretable, and regulation-aligned solution for deploying responsible credit risk models, contributing to the broader goal of ethical and equitable financial decision-making. Full article