Search Results (320)

Background/Objectives: Large-scale (epi)genomic studies have substantially advanced our understanding of the molecular landscape of meningiomas, most recently embedded in the cIMPACT-NOW update 8. As a result, molecular data are increasingly integrated into risk-adapted treatment algorithms. However, it remains uncertain to what extent non-invasive MRI can capture underlying molecular variation and risk. Methods: We assembled a large, single-institution cohort of 225 newly diagnosed meningiomas (WHO grades 1–3) with available preoperative MRI, as well as comprehensive epigenome-wide methylation and copy-number profiling. Tumors were segmented into core and edema regions using a state-of-the-art automated pipeline from the BraTS challenge. Radiomic features were extracted and used to train Random Forest classifiers to predict WHO grade, molecular risk, and specific alterations such as 1p loss in a hold-out test set. Results: Our models achieved accuracy above 91% for integrated molecular risk classification, 87.5% for 1p chromosomal status, and 76.8% for WHO grade prediction, with corresponding AUCs of 0.91, 0.90, and 0.89, underscoring the robustness of radiomic features in capturing histopathological and, especially, molecular characteristics. Conclusions: Preoperative MRI effectively captures the underlying molecular biology of meningiomas and may enable rapid molecular assessment to inform decision-making and prioritization of confirmatory testing. However, it is not yet ready for clinical use, showing lower accuracy for current WHO grade classification. Full article

This paper assesses the green tourism readiness of six EU member states from Central and Eastern Europe—Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania—using a hybrid multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model. As tourism sectors face increasing pressure to align with the European Green Deal and sustainability goals, integrating green skills, environmental protection, and institutional governance becomes essential. The study applies a three-step framework that combines the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Best-Worst Method (BWM), and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to evaluate national performance across four criteria: natural capital, rural infrastructure, governance readiness, and green skills in vocational education and training (VET). Results show that environmental sustainability and governance are the dominant enablers of green tourism transformation, with Slovenia and Croatia leading in overall readiness. Although green skills have a lower relative weight, their integration significantly strengthens performance in more advanced systems. The hybrid model demonstrated methodological robustness through sensitivity and consistency checks. This research contributes to both methodological innovation and evidence-based policymaking by offering a replicable tool for evaluating sustainable tourism development in transition economies. It provides actionable insights for aligning education, tourism, and environmental policy within the broader EU green transition framework. Full article

Background/Objectives: Local production is a global priority for increasing access to routine, outbreak, and pandemic vaccines and leads to a variety of direct and indirect benefits for countries. This study aimed to characterize the enabling environment for the sustainable production of influenza vaccines, including for epidemic and pandemic preparedness. Methods: National/local vaccine manufacturers were surveyed to capture data on influenza vaccine market contributions, government support for local production, and involvement in national pandemic preparedness activities. Using a conceptual framework for sustainable local production of influenza vaccines for epidemic and pandemic preparedness, manufacturers described 41 global/regional, national, and institutional sustainability factors across policy, health system, research and development (R&D), and regulatory thematic domains. In addition to the survey, key findings from country-level sustainability assessments of vaccine production in Bangladesh, Brazil, Indonesia, Serbia, and Viet Nam were analyzed to complement survey results. Results: This study included 12 participants representing 11 manufacturers from 10 countries. Of the 11 manufacturers, six reported that their countries have policies that support local production, but most manufacturers reported benefiting from some level of direct or indirect support by the government. Manufacturers considered 40/41 factors as important for sustainable production of influenza vaccines, and among the four domains, influenza prevention and control policies, influenza burden data, quality management, and regulatory filing capacity ranked highly. Additionally, manufacturers ranked factors related to cohesive policies for local production promotion and business/strategic planning at the manufacturer level as the top sustainability factors. Conclusions: Manufacturers broadly agreed on the importance of cohesive policies, evidence-based public health priorities, robust R&D and manufacturing investments, and regulatory readiness, though perceptions varied across contexts and company characteristics. Sustainable local production of influenza vaccines should be driven by the alignment of policies, investments, and demand. Full article

This study examines Pakistan’s steel sector’s readiness to comply with the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which mandates verified emissions disclosures for carbon-intensive imports. Although the sector primarily uses electric arc furnace (EAF) technology, recognized for its lower emissions, Pakistan lacks a formal Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) framework to support product-level emissions certification. Through qualitative research, including stakeholder engagements and policy analysis, the study identifies key barriers related to emissions data, institutional capacity, and trade exposure. This study proposes actionable policy recommendations to strengthen MRV systems, facilitate compliance, and enhance the sector’s competitiveness in regulated markets. Full article

Over the last two years, with the rapid development of artificial intelligence, Large Language Models (LLMs) have obtained significant attention from the academic sector, making their application in higher education attractive for students, managers, faculty, and stakeholders. We conducted a Systematic Literature Review on the adoption of LLMs in the higher education system to address persistent issues and promote critical thinking, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. Following the PRISMA 2020 protocol, a systematic search was conducted in the Web of Science Core Collection for studies published between 2023 and 2024. After a systematic search and filtering of 203 studies, we included 22 articles for further analysis. The findings show that LLMs can transform traditional teaching through active learning, align curricula with real-world demands, provide personalized feedback in large classes, and enhance assessment practices focused on applied problem-solving. Their effects are transversal, influencing multiple dimensions of higher education systems. Consequently, LLMs have the potential to improve educational equity, strengthen workforce readiness, and foster innovation across disciplines and institutions. This systematic review is registered in PROSPERO (2025 CRD420251165731). Full article

This research adapts and tests the Smart Village Index (SVI) as a multidimensional technological model designed to assess the digital readiness, institutional maturity, and infrastructural connectivity of rural areas in Serbia. The research was undertaken in 10 rural municipalities that are representative of various phases of digital transformation and development typologies. The dimensions included in the analysis were six, which are information and communication technologies, digital governance, leadership and local competences, community participation, a sustainable economy, and infrastructure. The results indicated significant regional differences: About 30% of the municipalities, including Aranđelovac, Kanjiža, and Arilje, fall into the group of smart villages with developed infrastructure and high institutional readiness. About 40% of the municipalities, such as Titel, Knjazevac, and Despotovac, are in the phase of transiting to digital, while the remaining 30% (Knić, Rekovac, Žabari, and Crna Trava) still present a low level of digital connectivity, with limited capacities in their institutions. This research supports the fact that the successful digital transformation of rural communities requires a balance between technological development, institutional support, and social inclusion. The Smart Village Index (SVI) proposed is a robust way to evaluate the digital readiness of villages and to inform targeted policies on achieving sustainable rural development in Serbia. In addition to its analytical and evaluative role, the Smart Village Index (SVI) is a digital–technological innovation and a computational tool that unites data modeling, algorithmic standardization, and digital analytics in order to measure the level of digital readiness of a rural community. It therefore crosses over the thresholds of the conventional social scientist construct and gives a technological implementation that is within the threshold of technology being a reproducible and data-driven instrument for the real-life planning of digital governance and rural development. Full article

This study conducts a systematic scoping review to explore how universities are integrating digital and emerging technologies into administrative processes. Following the PRISMA-ScR methodology, we systematically searched four major databases—Web of Science, Scopus, IEEE Xplore, and Google Scholar—for peer-reviewed publications between 2019 and 2024. Fifty-two studies met the inclusion criteria after rigorous screening and quality assessment using the CASP and JBI checklists. The originality of this review lies in synthesizing cross-disciplinary perspectives—encompassing digital marketing, artificial intelligence (AI), learning management systems (LMSs), open data, and collaborative digital tools—into a unified framework of administrative innovation. Findings reveal that digital marketing strategies enhance student engagement and institutional visibility, AI improves efficiency and decision-making, LMSs streamline academic and administrative coordination, and open data initiatives promote transparency but encounter legal and cultural resistance. Despite the potential of these technologies, persistent challenges include data privacy concerns, uneven digital infrastructure, and limited institutional readiness. This review contributes to the literature by mapping the intersection of technological innovation and university governance, identifying research gaps, and outlining directions for sustainable digital transformation in higher education. Full article

Energy efficiency presents significant potential, especially for Western Balkan (WB) countries, if effectively addressed through energy efficiency measures. The building sector, which includes residential, commercial, and public buildings, is the most energy-intensive sector globally. Public buildings in the Western Balkan countries are characterized by poor energy efficiency performance. The average energy consumption in public buildings is anticipated to exceed double the European Union (EU) requirement, given that more than 60-70% of these structures were built over 60 years ago with no regard for energy efficiency. This study assesses the Public Building–Energy Efficiency Readiness Index (PB-EERI) to evaluate how legislative specificity, institutional capacity, financing mechanisms, renovation guidelines, energy market conditions, and societal awareness collectively influence the readiness of Western Balkan economies to enhance energy efficiency in public buildings. The index serves as an operational diagnostic to identify the presence of enabling conditions, determine the most significant gaps, and prioritize policy efforts accordingly. This study presents a novel approach by integrating, within a single transparent index, (i) the existence of energy laws, (ii) market feasibility, (iii) renovation needs of public buildings, and (iv) societal awareness. The awareness pillar is both central and novel. By utilizing harmonized Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) data, this article quantifies societal awareness, thereby ensuring that the index accurately reflects the importance of stakeholder comprehension in the success of renovating initiatives for public buildings. The theoretical framework derives from the application of composite indicators in numerous studies and reports to illustrate the status of energy or energy efficiency. The methodology for developing this indicator is derived from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Handbook on Constructing Composite Indicators. For the aggregation method, the summation of weighted and normalized sub-indicators was used. The PB-EERI reveals considerable regional variations, with total scores ranging from around 39 to 72% and concentrating around the mid-0.5s. The findings reveal systematic differences in most indicators’ performance. The legal framework indicator significantly influences variation between countries, together with market conditions and societal awareness. Energy efficiency in public buildings, praised as the “first fuel”, should be prioritized beyond mere compliance with EU regulations. The PB-EERI emphasizes that success relies more on the capacity to transform formal strategies into concrete renovation programs, quantifiable objectives, and higher awareness of society to ensure uptake of the renovation measures. Full article

In this article, digital transformation is examined as a key driver of structural and pedagogical change in higher education. This process is shown to expand access to learning, increase flexibility, support personalized educational trajectories, and enhance data-driven decision-making. At the same time, the effectiveness of digital transformation depends on institutional readiness, the quality of technological infrastructure, and the professional competencies of teaching staff. This research of this study is to assess the influence of digital transformation on the quality of higher education. This research employs a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data from surveys of 4971 students and 483 instructors were analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance ANOVA, and multivariable regression, while qualitative focus group findings were examined through thematic analysis. The results indicate generally positive attitudes toward digitalization. The respondents emphasized flexibility and improved conditions for independent learning as key advantages of digital environments. However, this study also identifies several challenges, including infrastructural inequality, limited digital skills, and insufficient pedagogical adaptation. The article concludes that successful digital transformation requires a comprehensive strategic vision and sustained institutional support. For universities, strengthening digital competencies, modernizing infrastructure, and implementing management models focused on continuous improvement are essential conditions for ensuring sustainable development and enhancing the quality of education. Full article

Financial Technology (FinTech) is fundamentally reshaping the accounting profession, accelerating the shift from routine transactional activities to more strategic, data-driven functions. This transformation demands advanced digital competencies, yet the scholarly understanding of these skills remains fragmented. To provide conceptual and analytical clarity, this study defines FinTech as an ecosystem of enabling technologies, including artificial intelligence, data analytics, and blockchain, that collectively drive this professional transition. Addressing the lack of systematic synthesis, the study employs a systematic literature review (SLR) guided by the PRISMA 2020 framework, complemented by bibliometric analysis, to map the intellectual landscape. The review focuses on peer-reviewed journal articles published between January 2020 and June 2025, thereby capturing the accelerated digital transformation of the post-pandemic era. The analysis identifies four dominant thematic clusters: (1) the professional context and digital transformation; (2) the educational response and curriculum development; (3) core competencies and their technological drivers; and (4) ethical judgement and professional responsibilities. Synthesising these themes reveals critical research gaps in faculty readiness, curriculum integration, ethical governance, and the empirical validation of institutional strategies. By offering a structured map of the field, this review contributes actionable insights for educators, professional bodies, and firms, and advances a forward-looking research agenda to align professional readiness with the realities of the FinTech era. Full article

Digital twins are emerging as promising yet underexplored tools for addressing overtourism, sustainability, and governance challenges in tourism. This study assessed their acceptance using a mixed-methods design that combined a large-scale survey of tourists (N = 1286) with semi-structured stakeholder interviews across four Spanish destinations (Barcelona, Málaga, Valencia, and Benidorm). Factor analyses validated a six-dimensional acceptance model comprising trust, usefulness, ease of use, perceived risks, sustainability attitudes, and awareness. The quantitative results demonstrated that trust, usefulness, and ease of use strongly predicted adoption intentions, while risk perceptions negatively influenced acceptance. Sustainability orientations and digital familiarity further enhanced support. Qualitative insights revealed that governance capacity, equity concerns, and readiness critically shaped stakeholder evaluations, highlighting that adoption is mediated not only by individual perceptions but also by local infrastructural and institutional contexts. The study advances technology acceptance theory by integrating sustainability and awareness as domain-specific constructs and by showing how governance dynamics condition adoption across destinations. Practically, it underscores the need for institutional trust, transparent risk management, equitable participation, and alignment with sustainability agendas. While limited to Spanish destinations, the findings offer broader lessons for European cities seeking to embed digital twins in tourism governance. Full article

This research investigates various stakeholder perspectives on AI-powered teacher education, focusing on its potential benefits, strengths, and limitations for integrating this promising technology into a sustainable educational future. It was designed as an exploratory mixed-methods study. It involved five distinct groups: curriculum developers in teacher-training institutions, artificial intelligence experts, department heads and deans in education faculties, private sector managers in teacher-training companies, and over 500 pre-service teachers. The findings reveal promising smart opportunities that AI offers for reimagining teacher training, contributing to the social and long-term institutional sustainability of teacher education. Key components of AI-powered teacher education identified include “Intended use of AI in teacher education context,” “Machine learning with data monitoring,” “AI-human interaction in teacher training,” “AI-powered feedback for better faculty management,” and critically, “Digital vision, risks, and AI ethics for responsible and sustainable implementation.” Prominently stressed codes within these themes include “AI readiness, automated teacher education curriculums, a new recruitment system, designing AI-guided smart faculties, measuring on-entry skills, identifying risky pre-service teachers, improving teachers’ assessment capacity, creating smart content, and criticisms over its value.” The results of the multiple regression analysis demonstrate that curiosity about AI use has the strongest impact on pre-service teachers’ openness and readiness for AI-empowered teacher education, followed by institutional AI support. The research concludes by implicitly calling for a holistic and ethical strategy for leveraging AI to prepare educators to successfully navigate the demands of a sustainable future. Full article

Successful health promotion involves messages that are quickly captured and held long enough to permit eligibility, credibility, and calls to action to be coded. This research develops an exploratory eye-tracking atlas of breast cancer screening ads viewed by midlife women and a replicable pipeline that distinguishes early capture from long-term processing. Areas of Interest are divided into design-influential categories and graphed with two complementary measures: first hit and time to first fixation for entry and a tie-aware pairwise dominance model for dwell that produces rankings and an “early-vs.-sticky” quadrant visualization. Across creatives, pictorial and symbolic features were more likely to capture the first glance when they were perceptually dominant, while layouts containing centralized headlines or institutional cues deflected entry to the message and source. Prolonged attention was consistently focused on blocks of text, locations, and badges of authoring over ornamental pictures, demarcating the functional difference between capture and processing. Subgroup differences indicated audience-sensitive shifts: Older and household families shifted earlier toward source cues, more educated audiences shifted toward copy and locations, and younger or single viewers shifted toward symbols and images. Internal diagnostics verified that pairwise matrices were consistent with standard dwell summaries, verifying the comparative approach. The atlas converts the patterns into design-ready heuristics: defend sticky and early pieces, encourage sticky but late pieces by pushing them toward probable entry channels, de-clutter early but not sticky pieces to convert to processing, and re-think pieces that are neither. In practice, the diagnostics can be incorporated into procurement, pretesting, and briefs by agencies, educators, and campaign managers in order to enhance actionability without sacrificing segmentation of audiences. As an exploratory investigation, this study invites replication with larger and more diverse samples, generalizations to dynamic media, and associations with downstream measures such as recall and uptake of services. Full article

This study examines the role of psychological factors on Greek K-12 teachers’ perceptions of the European Union (EU) and their readiness to integrate EU-related content into class-room practice. Grounded in self-determination theory and burnout literature, it focuses on the role of personality traits, psychological needs, self-efficacy, and mental health. A sample of 171 teachers (M_age = 47.67, SD = 8.61) completed validated instruments assessing EU perceptions, Big Five traits, psychological need satisfaction and frustration, well-being, self-efficacy, and symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, and burnout. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the factorial validity of the instruments, along with proper indices for assessing their internal consistency. Cluster analysis identified three distinct teacher profiles: Skeptically Exhausted, Realistically Cautious, and Optimistically Engaged. These groups differed significantly in burnout, self-efficacy, and openness to EU programs. Teachers with high well-being and self-efficacy demonstrated stronger readiness to adopt EU-related pedagogy, while those experiencing elevated burnout reported low institutional trust and limited involvement. These findings highlight the psychological heterogeneity of the teaching workforce and suggest that differentiated, context-sensitive policy interventions are essential for fostering inclusive readiness for European initiatives. Enhancing teacher well-being and strengthening professional development pathways may serve as strategic entry points for promoting meaningful and sustainable EU integration in school curricula. Full article

Artificial intelligence is becoming a defining force in public governance, yet many institutions still struggle to adopt it in ethical, sustainable, and scalable ways. This article reports on a systematic literature review in line with PRISMA 2020 guidelines, covering 67 peer-reviewed studies published between 2014 and 2024. The review shows that AI can help public institutions work faster and more transparently, but it also reveals several common problems. Many organizations still face fragmented data, weak connections between systems, limited digital tools, a lack of staff skills, and ethical risks such as bias and privacy concerns. To address these problems, the study introduces the AI Integration Capability Model, a framework based on the Technology Acceptance Model, Digital-Era Governance, and Dynamic Capabilities theory. The model highlights four institutional pillars: data access and interoperability, digital infrastructure and redesigned processes, workforce skills and learning capacity, and leadership and management reform. Its relevance was tested through a three-round Delphi study with 15 senior experts from Moroccan public institutions, who agreed on the feasibility and urgency of all four pillars. The findings offer policymakers practical guidance for AI adoption and outline a roadmap for aligning innovation with institutional readiness and public trust. Full article