Search Results (662)

In the context of the Carbon Generalized System of Preferences (CGSP), this paper develops a three-tier reverse supply chain model comprising the government, recyclers, and consumers. Differential game analysis is employed to investigate the evolutionary dynamics of consumers’ perceived recycling value and to examine how government recycling efforts and recyclers’ point rewards levels influence this perception. Furthermore, the study explores the dynamic trajectory of consumers’ perceived recycling value across three decision-making models—collaborative-driven, government-driven, and market-driven—and evaluates its impact on supply chain efficiency. The research shows that (1) enhanced recycling efforts by both the government and recyclers significantly improve consumers’ perceived recycling value, thereby promoting the recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment, with the most pronounced improvement observed under the collaborative-driven strategy; (2) in the government-driven model, the government’s subsidy rate affects recyclers’ decisions regarding point-based incentives but does not influence the government’s own recycling effort; (3) the evolutionary trajectories of consumers’ perceived recycling value and system efficiency differ among the models, with the highest levels achieved under the collaborative-driven model, followed by the government-driven model, and the lowest under the market-driven model. This study fully accounts for the dynamic nature of consumers’ perceived recycling value, offering theoretical and practical guidelines for effective WEEE recycling. Full article

Given the importance of plants for ecosystem functioning, sustainability, and human well-being, children should be introduced to local species as early as possible. This study investigated whether kindergarten children (n = 24) can acquire knowledge of trees through a motion-based educational game and a subsequent half-day excursion. During the game, illustrations of trees were shown, their names were called out, and the children were asked to perform certain movements relating to features/names of the trees they had practiced. In semi-structured interviews directly after the activities and three months later, the children were asked to identify the trees by their leaves and to provide reasons why they had remembered their names. Already, after playing the game for four weeks, species with large and iconic leaves such as Norway maple (Acer platanoides) were correctly identified in nature by about 80% of the children. The interviews showed that even after three months, children correctly identified more than half of the species presented. They recognized the trees by their shape and the texture of their leaves but also by remembering the corresponding movements. The combination of motion-based play and hands-on, sensory investigations can be recommended to promote plant knowledge right from kindergarten age. Full article

Wireless Sensor Networks are composed of a set of sensors distributed within an area that monitor physical variables of the environment and send back information to a central node. Nodes cannot always remain active since they would swiftly drain the system’s energy. As such, some works have proposed the use of different on/off schemes to monitor the phenomena of interest efficiently but also to conserve energy as much as possible. To this end, the use of on/off protocols has been used before, but has no relation to the characteristics of the monitored events. However, in scenarios where the phenomena to monitor occur in a certain pattern or specific region, the use of more suited techniques to activate the nodes can yield better results. In this sense, we propose the use of cellular automata (CA), based on the Game of Life (GoL), in order to turn the nodes on and off, according to the patterns described by the automata. Cellular automata are discrete models consisting of a lattice or grid of cells in a finite number of states that remain or change into another state following pre-established rules commonly associated with the states of their neighbors. As such, we propose to activate/deactivate the nodes following the natural behavior of the GoL scheme. Since the initial state of the cellular automata directly modifies the pattern evolution of the GoL, we consider several possible patterns that can occur in practical systems in order to prove the effectiveness of our proposal. We evaluate the system performance in terms of successful event report probability and energy consumption, comparing our results to the conventional on/off schemes with a certain probability of nodes being in the on state. With this premise, we think CA is a good alternative to determine the on/off process in WSNs. We compared the system performance of the GoL patterns compared to the classical approach and found the cases where the GoL scheme performs better. Full article

Natural disasters in agriculture considerably threaten food security and the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy. With the rapid development of new approaches in organizing agricultural production, traditional disaster relief mechanisms are encountering new adaptive dilemmas. Particularly, the active participation of farmers in disaster relief is remarkably insufficient in the context of the reduction in the proportion of agricultural production income. Thus, it is urgent to establish a modernized agricultural disaster relief synergy mechanism. In this study, an agricultural disaster relief synergistic model was constructed with the participation of the government, agricultural service enterprises, and farmers based on the evolutionary game theory, and the strategy interaction law of each subject and its evolution path was systematically analyzed. The following results were revealed: First, the government, agricultural service enterprises, and farmers tended toward an equilibrium state under three different modes. Second, the cost of farmers’ concern and complaint behavior was the crucial driving factor of the three-party synergy. Third, the increasing cost of agricultural service enterprises’ participation in disaster relief significantly affected the evolution path of the system. Additionally, a three-dimensional synergistic optimization path of “incentive-constraint-information” was proposed, laying a quantitative foundation for improving the agricultural disaster relief mechanism and promoting the transition from “passive emergency response” to “active synergy”. This research is of great practical significance to improve the resilience of agricultural disaster response and resource allocation efficiency. Full article

Supply chains are increasingly exposed to sudden disruptive events (SDEs) such as natural disasters and trade wars. We develop a multi-stage game-theoretical model to investigate a novel coping mechanism: when a firm is forced to exit the market because of SDEs, the firm can regain profits by licensing its proprietary production tech to a competitor. We find that, compared with the scenario before SDEs, such events can even increase the profit of each manufacturer under certain conditions. Under certain conditions, the cooperative strategy (i.e., supply chain reshaping) yields a higher supply chain system profit than the non-cooperative strategy. After SDEs, the common manufacturer may either accept or reject cooperation, depending on the customer transfer rate and the cooperation cost. Notably, under the cooperation strategy, the high-tech manufacturer extracts part of the common manufacturer’s profit through patent licensing, and the existence of cooperation cost further contributes to a misalignment between the common manufacturer’s optimal decision and the supply chain system optimum. These findings contribute to the literature by identifying a novel supply chain reshaping mechanism driven by patent licensing and offer strategic guidance for firms and policymakers navigating SDE-induced market exits. Full article

Joint attention, the capacity of two or more individuals to focus on a common event simultaneously, is fundamental to human–human interaction, enabling effective communication. When considering the field of social robotics, emulating this capability might be necessary for promoting natural interactions and thus improving user engagement. Responding to joint attention (RJA), defined as the ability to react to external attentional cues by aligning focus with another individual, plays a critical role in promoting mutual understanding. This study examines how RJA impacts user engagement during human–robot interaction. The participants play a turn-taking game against a social robot under two conditions: with our RJA system active and with the system inactive. Auditory and visual stimuli are introduced to simulate real-world dynamics, testing the robot’s ability to detect and follow the user’s focus of attention. We use a twofold approach to evaluate the system’s impact on the user’s experience during the interaction. On the one hand, we use head pose telemetry to quantify attentional aspects of engagement, including measures of distraction and focus during the interaction. On the other hand, we use a post-experimental questionnaire incorporating the User Engagement Scale Short Form to assess engagement. The results regarding telemetry data reveal reduced distraction and improved attentional consistency, highlighting the system’s ability to maintain attention on the current task effectively. Furthermore, the questionnaire responses show that RJA significantly enhances self-reported engagement when the system is active. We believe these findings confirm the value of attentional mechanisms in promoting engaging human–robot interactions. Full article

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate Achilles tendon ruptures (ATR) in NHL players and the effects on return to play and player performance metrics. The incidence, mechanism of injury, management strategy, return to play (RTP), and post-injury were assessed from official online sports databases. Methods: A retrospective review of NHL players who sustained a partial or complete tear of the Achilles tendon from 2008 to 2024 was performed. Data were collected from NHL injury databases and media reports, and included player demographics, injury mechanism, treatment, and post-injury performance metrics. A Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare pre-injury and post-injury performance metrics, with significance set at p < 0.05. Results: Here, 15 NHL players with a mean age of 27.8 years were identified, with a prevalence rate of 0.125 injuries per 10,000 athletic exposures. Overall, 73.3% of ATRs were non-contact in nature, with 60.0% of ATRs occurring during off-season training. Fourteen players were managed with non-operative treatment, with no re-ruptures reported. The RTP rate was 93.3%, with players missing a mean number of 45.7 games. However, there was a deterioration in post-injury performance metrics, including games played per season, plus/minus rating, and time on ice per game post-injury. Conclusions: This study found that Achilles tendon ruptures are an uncommon injury in NHL players, with a prevalence rate of 0.125 injuries per 10,000 athletic exposures. A high RTP rate of 93.3% was observed in this cohort. However, there was a deterioration in post-injury performance metrics, including games played per season, plus/minus rating, and time on ice per game post-injury, highlighting the potential devastating sequelae of ATRs in elite NHL athletes. Full article

This literature review provides an overview of the food safety and toxicological characteristics of various heavy metals and metalloids and the public health significance of their occurrence in food. Metals also occur as natural components of the environment, but they can enter food of animal origin and the human body primarily due to anthropogenic (industrial, agricultural, transport-related) activities. The persistent heavy metals (e.g., Hg, Pb, Cd) found in the environment are not biodegradable, can accumulate, and can enter the bodies of higher animals and subsequently, humans, where they are metabolized into various compounds with differing toxicity. Thus, due to their environmental contamination, they can accumulate in living organisms and their presence in the food chain is of great concern for human health. Regulations of the European Community in force lay down maximum levels for a limited number of metals, and the types of regulated foodstuffs of animal origin are also narrower than in the past, e.g., wild game animals and eggs are not included. The regulation of game meat (including offal) deserves consideration, given that it is in close interaction with the environmental condition of a given area and serves as indicator of it. Full article

Power system infrastructure is exposed to a range of threats, including both naturally occurring events and intentional attacks. Traditional vulnerability assessment models, typically based on the N-1 criterion, do not account for the intentionality of disruptive agents. This paper presents a game-theoretic approach to protecting power system infrastructure against deliberate attacks, taking into account the effects of demand response. The interaction between the disruptive agent and the system operator is modeled as a leader–follower Stackelberg game. The leader, positioned in the upper-level optimization problem, must decide which elements to render out of service, anticipating the reaction of the follower (the system operator), who occupies the lower-level problem. The Stackelberg game is reformulated as a bilevel optimization model and solved using a metaheuristic approach. To evaluate the applicability of the proposed method, a 24-bus test system was employed. The results demonstrate that integrating demand response significantly enhances system resilience, compelling the disruptive agent to adopt alternative attack strategies that lead to lower overall disruption. The proposed model serves as a valuable decision-support tool for system operators and planners seeking to improve the robustness and security of electrical networks against disruptive agents. Full article

The innovation of multi-material offers significant benefits to architectural systems. The fusion of multiple materials, transitioning from one to another in a graded manner, enables the creation of fused space without the need for mechanical connections. Given that plastic is a major contributor to ecological imbalance, this research on fused space aims to recycle plastic and use it as a multi-material for building applications, due to its capacity for being 3D printed and fused with other materials. Furthermore, to generate diverse properties for the fused space, several nature-inspired forming algorithms are employed, including Swarm Behavior, Voronoi, Game of Life, and Shortest Path, to shape the building enclosure. Subsequently, digital analyses, such as daylight analysis, structural analysis, porosity analysis, and openness analysis, are conducted on the enclosure, forming the color mapping digital diagram, which determines the distribution of varying thickness, density, transparency, and flexibility gradation parameters, resulting in spatial diversity. During the fabrication process, Dual Force V1 and Dual Force V2 were developed to successfully print multi-material gradations with fused plastic following an upgrade to the cooling system. Finally, three test sites in London were chosen to implement the fused space concept using multi-material. Full article

Knowing the specific characteristics and animal tuberculosis risk factors present and applying good practices are crucial points in combating tuberculosis (TB) in a Mediterranean multi-species scenario. The objective of this work is to statistically analyze the association between the existence of TB in areas with a marked game–livestock interface, with various complementary factors found in 30 extensive farms in southern Portugal, such as the number of animals of each large game species present in the territory and the frequency of their sightings. Collecting this information, an inferential statistical analysis was conducted to obtain information on the association type between TB occurrence in the farms and the presence of highlighted factors. The main statistical results show an association between the presence of large game species and TB occurrence in the analyzed areas. Thus, in a multi-species scenario, large game species are a crucial component in TB maintenance, namely when stricter contact occurs. This could be one of the reasons why TB continues to circulate and why the eradication process is so difficult; the risk of zoonotic transmission is evident. It is crucial to apply biosecurity tools to improve the alignment and structure of natural resource management strategies. Full article

The integration of digital serious games into speech learning (rehabilitation) has demonstrated significant potential in enhancing accessibility and inclusivity for children with speech disabilities. This review of the state of the art examines the role of serious games, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Natural Language Processing (NLP) in speech rehabilitation, with a particular focus on interaction modalities, engagement autonomy, and motivation. We have reviewed 45 selected studies. Our key findings show how intelligent tutoring systems, adaptive voice-based interfaces, and gamified speech interventions can empower children to engage in self-directed speech learning, reducing dependence on therapists and caregivers. The diversity of interaction modalities, including speech recognition, phoneme-based exercises, and multimodal feedback, demonstrates how AI and Assistive Technology (AT) can personalise learning experiences to accommodate diverse needs. Furthermore, the incorporation of gamification strategies, such as reward systems and adaptive difficulty levels, has been shown to enhance children’s motivation and long-term participation in speech rehabilitation. The gaps identified show that despite advancements, challenges remain in achieving universal accessibility, particularly regarding speech recognition accuracy, multilingual support, and accessibility for users with multiple disabilities. This review advocates for interdisciplinary collaboration across educational technology, special education, cognitive science, and human–computer interaction (HCI). Our work contributes to the ongoing discourse on lifelong inclusive education, reinforcing the potential of AI-driven serious games as transformative tools for bridging learning gaps and promoting speech rehabilitation beyond clinical environments. Full article

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI)-assisted Virtual Reality (VR) heritage serious game design constitutes a complex adaptive socio-technical system in which natural language prompts act as control levers shaping designers’ cognition and action. However, the systemic effects of prompt type on agency construction, decision boundaries, and process strategy remain unclear. Treating the design setting as adaptive, we captured real-time interactions by collecting think-aloud data from 48 novice designers. Nine prompt categories were extracted and their cognitive effects were systematically analyzed through the Repertory Grid Technique (RGT), principal component analysis (PCA), and Ward clustering. These analyses revealed three perception profiles: tool-based, collaborative, and mentor-like. Strategy coding of 321 prompt-aligned utterances showed cluster-specific differences in path length, first moves, looping, and branching. Tool-based prompts reinforced boundary control through short linear refinements; collaborative prompts sustained moderate iterative enquiry cycles; mentor-like prompts triggered divergent exploration via self-loops and frequent jumps. We therefore propose a stage-adaptive framework that deploys mentor-like prompts for ideation, collaborative prompts for mid-phase iteration, and tool-based prompts for final verification. This approach balances creativity with procedural efficiency and offers a reusable blueprint for integrating prompt-driven agency modelling into GenAI design workflows. Full article

The increasing number of natural and man-made disasters registered at the global level is causing a significant amount of damage. This represents one of the main sustainability challenges at the global level. The collapse of the Twin Towers, Hurricane Katrina, and the nuclear accident at the Fukushima power plant are some of the most representative disaster events that occurred at the beginning of the third millennium. These relevant disasters need an enhanced level of preparedness to reduce the gaps between the plan and its implementation. Among these actions, training and exercises play a relevant role because they increase the capability of planners, managers, and the people involved. By focusing on the exposure risk component, the general objective of the research is to obtain quantitative evaluations of the exercise’s contribution to risk reduction through evacuation. The paper aims to analyze serious games using a set of methods and models that simulate an urban risk reduction plan. In particular, the paper proposes a transparent framework that merges transport risk analysis (TRA) and transport system models (TSMs), developing serious game activities with the support of emerging information and communication technologies (e-ICT). Transparency is possible through the explicitation of reproducible analytical formulations and linked parameters. The core framework of serious games is constituted by a set of models that reproduce the effects of players’ choices, including planned actions of decisionmakers and travel users’ choices. The framework constitutes the prototype of a digital platform in a “non-stressful” context aimed at providing more insights about the effects of planned actions. The proposed framework is characterized by transparency, a feature that allows other analysts and planners to reproduce each risk scenario, by applying TRA and relative effects simulations in territorial contexts by means of TSMs and parameters updated by e-ICT. A basic experimentation is performed by using a game, presenting the main results of a prototype test based on a reproducible exercise. The prototype experiment demonstrates the efficacy of increasing preparedness levels and reducing exposure by designing and implementing a serious game. The paper’s methodology and results are useful for policymakers, emergency managers, and the community for increasing the preparedness level. Full article

Sophisticated voluntary movements are essential for everyday functioning, making the study of how the brain controls muscle activity a central challenge in neuroscience. Investigating corticomuscular control through non-invasive electrophysiological recordings is particularly complex due to the intricate nature of neuronal signals. To address this challenge, we present a novel experimental methodology designed to study corticomuscular control using electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG). Our approach integrates a serious gaming biofeedback system with a specialized experimental protocol for simultaneous EEG-EMG data acquisition, optimized for corticomuscular studies. This work introduces, for the first time, a method for assessing brain–muscle functional connectivity during the execution of a demanding motor task. By identifying neuronal sources linked to muscular activity, this methodology has the potential to advance our understanding of motor control mechanisms. These insights could contribute to improving clinical practices and fostering the development of novel brain–computer interface technologies. Full article