Search Results (380)

Ex vivo liver perfusion (EVLP) sustains human or large animal livers outside the body under near-physiological conditions, enabling functional monitoring for lactate clearance, bile production, and oxygen consumption and allowing targeted therapeutic interventions. Originally developed to optimize donor grafts for transplantation, EVLP has evolved into a powerful translational research platform bridging preclinical discovery and early clinical translation. This review discusses EVLP as a platform for gene therapy, immunotherapy, pharmacology, and personalized medicine, with particular emphasis on gene- and immune-based interventions as mechanistically mature exemplars. We consolidate advances in pharmacological testing and toxicity modeling, viral and non-viral gene delivery, genome engineering, and immunomodulation using perfused livers. We further describe emerging applications, including autologous EVLP pathways for organ-confined therapy, ex vivo liver surgery, and bioengineering strategies such as biliary organoid repair, RNA interference, and mitochondrial transfer. We highlight how these applications align with a paradigm shift in biomedical research, including the NIH’s recent initiative to prioritize human-based experimental models over animal-only studies. By leveraging transplant-declined or surgically resected organs that would otherwise be unused, ex vivo perfusion bridges the gap between pre-clinical testing and clinical practice, enabling real-time evaluation of interventions in functional human tissue. We discuss both the scientific opportunities afforded by EVLP and the technical, biosafety, and ethical challenges that must be addressed to enable responsible clinical translation. Full article

The study of sobriety in fashion can be understood as a form of spiritual exercise within a Christian ecological framework. This article argues that sobriety, understood as a virtue that shapes desire and moderates consumption, offers a theological response to the environmental and social consequences of contemporary fashion. Drawing on biblical sources, patristic and medieval theology, and early modern reflections, it traces the evolution of sobriety from a principle of bodily moderation to a broader philosophy of life. Through a theological analysis of fashion consumption, the article shows how sobriety can function as an ethical and spiritual practice capable of resisting hyperconsumerism and fostering ecological responsibility. The shift from modesty to sobriety thus provides a renewed framework for linking Christian virtue ethics, fashion consumption, and care for the planet. Full article

Automated warning messages for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) desistance are scalable, real-time digital interventions designed to interrupt user behaviors associated with the search for, access to, consumption, or distribution of CSAM by delivering salient prompts—such as pop-ups, overlays, embedded alerts, or chatbot interactions—when high-risk online actions are detected (e.g., the use of flagged search terms, attempts to access known URLs, or engagement with borderline exploitative content). Unlike traditional law enforcement responses that typically occur after an offence, these systems intervene at the point of risk, adopting a preventive rather than punitive approach grounded in situational crime prevention theory and behavioral science, particularly cognitive interruption, to reduce perceived anonymity, increase awareness of legal and moral consequences, reinforce social norms, and redirect users toward desistance or support services. When deployed credibly and ethically, automated warning messages function as a critical complement to conventional enforcement by enabling early, scalable intervention that promotes behavioral reflection, desistance, and harm reduction within digital environments. Full article

As digital consumption increasingly unfolds in hybrid phygital environments, algorithmic systems play a growing role in shaping user choices, perceptions of fairness, and sustainability-related behaviour. Prior research has examined sustainable consumption, digital nudging, platform trust, and consumer behaviour in digital settings, but has rarely integrated perceived algorithmic fairness, digital resilience, and algorithmic responsibility perception within a single user-centered framework. Addressing this gap, this study develops and tests a multidimensional model of sustainable platform behavior (SPB). Using a triangulated design that combines bibliometric support analysis, PLS-SEM modelling, multi-group analysis, and cluster-based user segmentation, the study identifies three distinct user types and examines the relationships among the focal constructs. The results show that perceived fairness significantly predicts ARP (β = 0.493, p < 0.001), while both ARP (β = 0.427, p < 0.001) and digital resilience (β = 0.263, p < 0.001) independently contribute to SPB. The findings indicate that sustainable platform behavior is shaped not only by intention, but also by fairness perceptions, adaptive user capacity, and responsibility-based evaluations of platform systems. The study offers a user-centered framework with practical implications for designing more responsible, transparent, and sustainability-oriented digital platforms. Full article

The sharing economy has become a significant phenomenon of the modern economy in recent years, enabling more efficient use of resources through digital platforms. At the same time, the development of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has begun to reshape the functioning of these platforms. This article explores the intersection of sustainability and AI within sharing economy platforms, focusing on environmental, economic and social dimensions. The study adopts a conceptual and exploratory research design combining a literature review with a comparative case study analysis of selected sharing economy platforms, namely Airbnb and BlaBlaCar, complemented by an industrial platform example (Xometry). The analysis examines how generative AI can support sustainable consumption, operational efficiency, and user engagement while raising important ethical concerns related to data usage, trust, bias, and algorithmic governance. The findings suggest that AI integration can improve resource utilization, accessibility, and platform efficiency, but simultaneously introduces new ethical challenges related to transparency, data governance, and algorithmic decision-making. These results highlight the dual role of AI as both a driver of sustainability and a source of emerging ethical risks in digital platform ecosystems. Full article

The algorithmic overproduction of images that increasingly characterizes our media environment reveals a radically new relationship with visual representation. What emerges is not merely an inability to distinguish an iconographic model from its real referent, nor simply the dissolution of the boundary between true and false, reality and simulacrum (Baudrillard), but rather a growing indifference toward such distinctions. The incapacity to discern between “real” and “fabricated” images no longer appears problematic; the very categories of true and false tend to collapse into one another, resulting in the abandonment of interpretative engagement. After analyzing this phenomenon, the article proposes a pedagogical framework designed to respond to such a condition. It argues that neither image decoding (visual literacy) nor creative production alone are sufficient. What is required is a form of training in imagination, enacted through an ethics of the gaze and a digital archeology; through practices of digital estrangement; as well as through exercises in embodiment and sensory re-anchoring. The ultimate goal is to develop tools that shift the relationship with images from consumptive to interrogative—fostering what we call Exit Literacy: the capacity not only to read the world, but to desire to exit its passively offered version, reclaiming an active role in critique and meaning-making. Full article

Systems that farm non-typical (wild) species for human consumption are on the rise globally, in contrast to more typical livestock production. In some instances, wildlife farming may arguably help alleviate poverty, provide sustainable animal protein, and be a useful strategy for conservation through reducing wildlife poaching or breeding some animals on farms for reintroduction. However, it is unclear whether farming non-typical species within variable and often unregulated systems truly offers these benefits or outweighs the costs including animal welfare implications, public health concerns, and normalising or intensifying the consumption of wild animals. A previous study proposed a sentiocentric ethical decision-making framework for the farming of wild species. In the present study we invited academic ‘key informants’ with specialised knowledge about farming non-typical species to pilot the framework via an online survey using a species of their choice and requested their feedback on its strengths and weaknesses. Thirteen respondents applied ten different mammalian, reptilian, insect, and avian species to the framework, spanning all continents. Ultimately, the framework outcome for 11 appraisals was that the chosen species may be suitable for farming. However, erroneous responses were likely in places, and there was some uncertainty over definitions of framework terminology. We publish resultant amendments to the ethical framework to clarify meaning and suggest that it can be applied proactively or reactively by different stakeholders (e.g., governments, businesses, and NGOs). We reflect our informants’ views, acknowledging the need to solicit expertise from additional stakeholders (e.g., farmers) and the role of cultural significance and rural communities when considering farming non-typical species. Full article

By delving into the waste crisis in Western hyperconsumerist societies as an analytical case study, this study advances an actionable theory of minimalism to address systemic overproduction and overconsumption. Drawing on the interdisciplinary literature, the study analyses the structural, cultural, and psychological drivers of waste generation, synthesising critiques of hypercapitalism and hyperhedonism into a unified theoretical framework that exposes systemic lock-ins and the conflation of wants with socially legitimised needs. In response, the study develops a minimalist ethics framework that repositions sufficiency as a guiding principle for systemic transformation. Minimalism is conceptualised not as an individual restraint but as a multidimensional governance strategy capable of informing economic, technical/technological, regulatory, ecological, and cultural interventions to effectively tackle the waste crisis in Western hyperconsumerist societies. Full article

As digital transformation accelerates in tourism and hospitality, sustainability-related information on booking platforms has become increasingly relevant to consumer decision-making. However, prior research has not sufficiently explained how such information operates as part of digital choice architecture or how it becomes meaningful for sustainable consumption decisions. To address this gap, this study introduces sustainable informativeness as a sustainability-specific and platform-contextual construct reflecting the visibility, interpretability, usefulness, comparability, and decision-facilitating role of sustainability-related information. Drawing on digital choice architecture, value theory, and trust theory, this study examines the structural relationships among sustainable informativeness, sustainable functional value, ethical–emotional value, trust, and sustainable consumption behavior. Data were collected through an online survey of 304 Korean adult consumers with experience using digital accommodation booking platforms and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results show that sustainable informativeness was positively associated with both value dimensions, and both value dimensions were positively associated with trust. Trust showed the strongest direct association with sustainable consumption behavior, whereas the direct association between sustainable informativeness and behavior was not significant. Significant indirect associations through value and trust suggest that sustainability-related information is more closely related to sustainable consumption behavior when it is useful, meaningful, and trustworthy. Practically, the findings suggest that platforms should design sustainability-related information to be not only visible but also comparable, interpretable, useful, and credible. Full article

Nacer Khemir’s Bab’Aziz (2005) treats the dervish cloak (khirqa) as more than costume: a site where ascetic practice contests fashion’s novelty-driven logic. Focusing on the narrative shift from the Prince’s conspicuous consumption of silk to the dervish’s adoption of rough wool, this article argues that the film visualizes an “anti-fashion” stance rooted in Sufi discourses. In this cinematic setting, the khirqa functions as a kind of haptic archive—a tactile record of transmission and wear—through which spiritual lineage, authority, and continuity become legible. Bringing Ibn ʿArabī into dialogue with film theory’s concept of haptic visuality, the study shows how the cloak operates as a primary cinematic signifier of sartorial regulation, where disciplined appearance is figured as ethical formation rather than fashion trend. Bridging history, sociology, and material culture studies, the article suggests that the khirqa endures as a transhistorical emblem mediating spiritual identity across changing spatiotemporal contexts. Full article

Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan transmitted via environmentally resistant oocysts present in food and water, as well as through the consumption of meat containing infective bradyzoites. This study evaluated the inactivation of T. gondii oocysts and bradyzoites (ME-49 strain) by Pulsed Electric Field technology (PEF). Treatment efficacy was determined by mouse bioassay combining brain qPCR and indirect immunofluorescence (IFA), with complementary qPCR in Hs27 cells. The infectious dose (ID₅₀) of T. gondii was estimated at 34.6 oocysts. PEF-treated oocysts (15 kV/cm; 50 kJ/kg; 225 µs) showed a significant reduction in infectivity compared with untreated controls; accordingly, the dose required to establish infection increased to 85.3 oocysts after PEF treatment. Brain qPCR and IFA were highly correlated, whereas heart tissue was less sensitive. Bradyzoites recovered from PEF-treated meat (3.3 kV/cm; 27 kJ/kg; 1600 µs) showed a 50% infectivity reduction compared with untreated samples. In vitro assays confirmed an in vivo reduction in infectivity, indicating that cell cultures can serve as an ethical and efficient tool for preliminary viability assessment. This is the first evidence of T. gondii inactivation by PEF, highlighting its potential as a non-thermal strategy. Further studies are needed to optimize treatment parameters. Full article

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly embedded in digital marketing, enabling organisations to personalise communication, analyse consumer data, and optimise decision-making processes. Despite its widespread adoption, limited empirical research has examined whether AI-driven digital marketing contributes to responsible consumption and production, as articulated in Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG 12). Grounded in a capability-based and marketing intelligence framework, this study investigates the mechanisms through which AI-driven digital marketing influences responsible marketing outcomes. Using survey data from 120 professionals in multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in South Africa, the study examines how AI-driven digital marketing influences responsible marketing outcomes aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG 12), with particular emphasis on the mediating roles of predictive consumer analytics and sentiment-based consumer understanding as distinct dimensions of AI-enabled marketing intelligence. Instead, its influence operates indirectly through sentiment-based consumer understanding, while predictive consumer analytics show no significant effect. These results suggest that AI contributes to responsible consumption primarily when it enhances firms’ capacity to interpret consumer values, emotions, and ethical concerns. The study advances the digital marketing and sustainability literature by reframing AI as a relational and sense-making capability while offering practical guidance for aligning AI-driven marketing strategies with SDG 12 in emerging markets. Full article

This study examines how Saudi consumers evaluate the commodification of cultural symbols in fashion amid intensified heritage branding and symbolic market expansion. It addresses a gap in the literature on internal cultural commodification, where tensions surrounding authenticity, legitimacy, and commercialization emerge within the same cultural community rather than across clearly separate cultural groups. Drawing on a culturally grounded application of the Theory of Planned Behavior and related literature on consumer ethnocentrism and moral evaluation, the study investigates how perceived authenticity, perceived cultural appropriation, ethical sense, and consumer ethnocentrism shape attitudes toward cultural commodification and purchase intention in the Saudi fashion context. Data were collected through an Arabic-language questionnaire-based survey of Saudi consumers (N = 552) using a non-probability purposive sampling approach. The measurement model employed reflective scales adapted from prior literature and was assessed for reliability and validity. To strengthen methodological rigor, the analysis also considered common method bias diagnostics. The proposed relationships were tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with bootstrapping. The findings indicate that perceived authenticity is positively associated with attitudes toward cultural commodification and relates to purchase intention primarily through attitudes. Perceived cultural appropriation is negatively associated with both attitudes and purchase intention, suggesting both a direct deterrent effect and an indirect pathway via attitudes. Consumer ethnocentrism shows a negative association with purchase intention and a weaker negative association with attitudes, while its moderating role appears statistically significant but limited in magnitude. Ethical sense displays a more complex pattern, combining negative indirect effects through evaluative pathways with a positive direct association with intention, consistent with qualified rather than purely restrictive participation in symbolic consumption. The study contributes to the literature by clarifying how consumer responses to heritage-based fashion commercialization are shaped by representational, ethical, and normative evaluations in a non-Western setting. Practically, it suggests that fashion brands operating in Saudi heritage markets should manage authenticity claims, symbolic legitimacy, and appropriation risk with greater cultural and ethical sensitivity. Full article

Cultured meat holds the potential to reduce environmental impacts and offer ethical advantages while replicating the nutritional, taste, and texture attributes of conventional meat. To date, most research on consumer acceptance of meat has focused on European and North American markets. In contrast, Muslim-majority countries remain underexplored, particularly regarding the compatibility of cultured meat with Islamic dietary laws. These societies are experiencing rising meat consumption, and countries such as Saudi Arabia and Malaysia rely heavily on meat imports. This narrative perspective article aims to systematically examine how specific stages of cultured meat production align with, or challenge, Islamic dietary (halal) principles. To this end, we adopt a stage-based analytical approach, mapping key technological steps in cultured meat production onto core requirements of Islamic jurisprudence. To this end, we critically and comprehensively examine the intersection between cultured meat production methods and the Islamic concept of halal, which extends beyond ingredient permissibility to encompass ethical, spiritual, and hygienic dimensions of food production. Key challenges to halal certification include the origin and status of starter cells, whether donor animals were slaughtered according to Islamic law, the permissibility of biopsied tissue, and the use of fetal bovine serum in growth media. The analysis indicates that while halal-compliant cultured meat is scientifically feasible, its adoption remains constrained by unresolved religious interpretations, regulatory fragmentation, and limited availability of halal-certified inputs. We emphasize the need for interdisciplinary collaboration among Islamic scholars, food scientists, certification bodies, and policymakers. From a policy perspective, harmonized halal standards, targeted investment in serum-free and animal-free culture media, and early regulatory engagement with Islamic authorities are essential to facilitate responsible market entry. Therefore, we suggest a multi-level governance and stage-gated halal decision framework for cultured meat. Proactive regulation and open dialogue with religious leaders are vital to ethically introduce cultured meat into Muslim markets, aligning innovation with Islamic values while supporting national sustainability and food security goals. Full article

Sustainability meanings in platform-mediated food tourism circulate through digital infrastructure, yet how they stabilize when sensory experience contradicts hedonic expectations remains theoretically underspecified. Expectation Disconfirmation Theory (EDT) predicts dissatisfaction when performance falls short of expectations, but this logic does not account for sustainability-driven consumption, where restraint is ethically valorized rather than treated as deficient. This study introduces the Ethical–Visual Feedback Loop (EVFL) as a process-level extension of EDT, explaining how ethical priming modifies satisfaction formation under conditions of sensory disconfirmation. Drawing on 900 multilingual reviews, 300 user-generated images, and expert interviews with institutional practitioners of Korean Buddhist Temple Food across Western, Korean, and Chinese visitor markets, the study integrates visual semiotic analysis, reflexive thematic analysis, and institutional triangulation. The findings reveal that sustainability meanings are mobile yet fragile: portable across platforms through visual aesthetics but culturally contingent at ethical appraisal. Western reviewers stabilize satisfaction through secular environmental narratives, Korean reviewers through somatic trust and sincerity, and Chinese reviewers through disciplined participation in moral economies. By specifying how ethical appraisal resolves disconfirmation across cultural contexts, the EVFL extends EDT’s appraisal logic into sustainability-oriented consumption and offers governance implications for sustaining ethical legitimacy and sufficiency-oriented tourism practices in platform-mediated heritage tourism. Full article