Search Results (1,667)

This study introduces a systematic and optimised methodology for designing Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT) sensors and Voice Coil (VC) actuators, tailored for high-precision applications such as gravitational wave detectors and particle accelerators. Unlike prior studies, which focus primarily on industrial-grade LVDT design frameworks or isolated parameter studies, this work addresses the specific challenges of achieving both enhanced sensor response and actuation force within strict geometric and thermal constraints. Using a custom-developed simulation pipeline based on Finite Element Method Magnetics (FEMM), we evaluate the influence of key design parameters such as coil dimensions, radial gaps, and coil wire diameter on performance metrics such as response and linearity. The novelty of this work lies in its systematic exploration of design trade-offs, such as maximising performance while minimising heat dissipation, and its applicability to high-precision environments. In this work, particular emphasis is placed on the combination of the LVDT and VC functionalities in one unified sensor-and-actuator system designed for gravitational wave detectors. In addition, the methodology and simulation results are validated with experimental measurements of an optimised design, demonstrating a 2.8-fold increase in LVDT response and a 2.5-fold increase in VC actuation force compared to the initial configuration while preserving LVDT linearity and VC force stability. This work represents a significant advance over existing methodologies by offering a structured, scalable design process. Full article

Living Labs offer immersive learning in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), yet their core nature and value for competency development remain underexplored, particularly from the perspective of lab leaders. To address the knowledge gap, this study examines the perspectives of lab leaders on the potential of living labs as dynamic learning settings. Specifically, it explores two dimensions: (1) how living labs structure learning processes, and (2) the influence of collaboration with societal partners on learning outcomes, framed by the Quadruple Helix Model (academia, industry, government, and community). The study adopts a qualitative research design via semi-structured interviews with seven laboratory leaders across five well-established living labs in Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences. Interview transcripts were analyzed using Julius.ai and in vivo coding to identify and categorize themes. The respondents highlighted that in their experience, combining physical and digital settings often facilitates experiential, reflective, and innovative learning while equipping students with practical skills and competencies that improve their employability. Furthermore, the respondents reported that engagement with stakeholders fosters co-creation and well-rounded innovation. These collaborations also help ensure that the living labs can effectively sustain their operation, offering students the opportunities to engage in globally relevant issues such as digital transformation. Nonetheless, obstacles include resource limitations, maintaining enduring teamwork, and adjusting to rapid technological changes. The paper concludes that living labs serve as supplementary instruments and their adoption can help match academic learning curricula and practices with industry needs, while also enhancing student learning in preparation for the world of work. Full article

Specialized, Refined, Unique and Novel (SRUN) listed firms are pivotal to the high-quality development of China’s real economy, and their growth quality underpins the security of industrial and supply chains. This study empirically examines the relationship between R&D investment persistence and growth quality of Chinese A-share SRUN listed firms from 2006 to 2024, with technology conversion efficiency as the mediating variable. R&D investment persistence is measured from the dual dimensions of investment intensity and stability, and firm growth quality is a comprehensive indicator constructed via principal component analysis (PCA) from revenue growth, profitability and risk resilience. Panel data regression models, combined with mechanism, endogeneity, robustness and heterogeneity tests, are adopted for empirical analysis. The results show a significantly positive correlation between R&D investment persistence and SRUN firms’ growth quality, with the regression coefficient of R&D investment persistence on growth quality reaching 0.189 (p < 0.01); both investment intensity and stability exert significant positive effects on all dimensions of growth quality, with their regression coefficients on growth quality being 0.156 and 0.132 (both p < 0.01) respectively. Technology conversion efficiency plays a partial mediating role in this relationship, with the mediating effect ratio of R&D investment persistence on growth quality through technology conversion efficiency at 34.2%, as R&D investment persistence indirectly improves growth quality by enhancing patent output and new product conversion efficiency. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that this positive correlation is more pronounced in high-tech industries, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and eastern China-based firms, driven by differences in industrial R&D dependence, resource endowments and financing frictions. Though endogeneity is mitigated by instrumental variables, propensity score matching (PSM) and difference-in-differences (DID), strict causal identification is constrained by data availability. This study enriches the theories of R&D investment and firm growth, and provides empirical insights for SRUN firms to optimize their R&D strategies and for the government to formulate targeted support policies, so as to promote the high-quality development of SRUN firms and the transformation of China’s manufacturing industry. Full article

Pediatric pain remains a highly prevalent and under-addressed health problem worldwide, largely due to educational gaps, limited humanization of care, and insufficient integration of digital and pedagogical innovations in higher education, and the purpose of this study is to describe and implement an international, higher education–driven model to improve training in humanized pediatric pain management. This multicenter mixed-methods study involves 15 universities from Europe, Africa, and Latin America and includes the development and cross-cultural validation of the HUPEDCARE-Q questionnaire to identify knowledge gaps, the design of an open-access, multilingual digital learning platform (PEDCARE) that integrates learning management and social networking functions, and the implementation of capacity-building workshops based on a training-the-trainers model for students, educators, health professionals, and families. The expected outcomes of the project include the establishment of a standardized instrument for assessing educational needs, the creation of a scalable digital educational environment, and the feasibility of international academic collaboration to strengthen competencies in pediatric pain care. The study suggests that higher education, combined with digital transformation and culturally sensitive approaches, may support the humanization of pediatric pain management and address educational and health inequities, although further research is needed to confirm these potential impacts. Full article

During the critical period of agricultural green transformation, clarifying the evolutionary logic of farmers’ green production behavior under a multi-stakeholder framework provides significant insights for implementing “Dual Carbon” goals, establishing long-term mechanisms for high-quality agricultural development, and resolving deep-seated contradictions in agricultural non-point source pollution. Based on the social co-governance and public participation framework, this paper constructs a tripartite evolutionary game model involving government departments, farmer groups, and the general public, grounded in cost–benefit analysis, social governance friction, and evolutionary game theory. Through simulation, the study explores the equilibrium states and the specific impacts of varying parameter values on stable points. The findings reveal that: (1) The “interest price scissors” (benefit disparity) between green and conventional production is the key determinant of farmers’ strategic equilibrium. Once this structural contradiction is resolved, green production becomes the optimal strategy. (2) Farmers are highly sensitive to marginal cost–benefit fluctuations, leading to a sequential behavioral cascade: farmers retreat first, followed by the government, and finally the public. (3) Public participation cost is the pivotal variable for activating the co-governance mechanism, and the application of digital governance tools determines the time required to reach equilibrium. (4) A “Success Paradox” exists in government regulation; incentive mechanisms must be adjusted promptly after initial success. (5) Integrated policy combinations outperform single instruments; breaking the “locked-in” state requires a policy shock of sufficient intensity. This research offers a theoretical basis and policy enlightenment for optimizing the social co-governance landscape and promoting sustainable agricultural modernization. Full article

This paper explores the behavioural change process initiated within the Gdańsk Coastal City Living Lab (CCLL)—a site-based effort, initiated under the H2020 SCORE project and significantly deepened through the Horizon Europe PRO-CLIMATE project—through the lens of transforming human–nature relationships for sustainable urban biodiversity conservation. While SCORE established the technical baseline for Nature-based Solutions (NbSs), PRO-CLIMATE provides the critical behavioural framework to ensure these solutions are socially adopted and sustained. Located in a flood-prone coastal city, the Gdańsk CCLL addresses the critical need for nature-based solutions (NbSs) in minimizing the negative impacts of climate change, particularly pluvial flooding. At the heart of this initiative is a participatory change process facilitated by local Change Agents in collaboration with key stakeholders across water management, local government, academia, and civil society. Drawing on interdisciplinary insights from social science, the paper uses the Nature Futures Framework to analyse how conservation actions are influenced by the relational, intrinsic, and instrumental values that stakeholders and residents attach to nature. The paper situates these values in the Gdańsk context and examines how they shape motivations and willingness to engage in urban NbS, such as green roofs, retention parks, and rainwater gardens. The study presents qualitative findings from stakeholder engagement workshops, Change Agents’ reflections, and support mechanisms from behavioural change experts. It evaluates how behavioural change was facilitated through shared vision building, feedback loops, and trust-based relationships, and how barriers were negotiated. A key contribution of the paper is the exploration of how bottom-up and top-down processes intersect in urban adaptation strategies and how behavioural change frameworks can be designed to institutionalise sustainable human–nature interactions in urban governance. The Gdańsk case offers transferable insights for other cities facing climate vulnerabilities while striving to embed biodiversity conservation into everyday practice. Full article

Energy efficiency improvement represents a central strategic objective of the European Union (EU), essential for mitigating climate change and facilitating the transition toward a sustainable energy system. In 2023, renewable energy sources generated approximately 46% of the electricity produced in the EU, becoming the dominant component of the regional energy mix. This progress has been supported by coherent public policies, dedicated investment programs, and regulatory mechanisms aimed at accelerating the adoption of sustainable technologies. However, the existing literature highlights a research gap regarding the relationship between the dynamics of the European energy transition, the operational challenges generated by the rapid increase in the share of renewable energy sources, and the potential for energy savings in the residential sector through non-technological interventions. This paper analyzes the structural transformations of the European energy mix, the limitations of energy systems in the context of accelerated renewable energy integration, and the role of behavioral interventions in supporting the stability of the energy system. The study examines the dynamics of residential energy consumption, behavioral determinants of energy use, and the effectiveness of instruments such as information campaigns, real-time feedback, dynamic pricing, and demand response programs. The results indicate that these interventions can reduce peak loads, increase consumption flexibility, and alleviate pressure on energy networks under conditions of variable renewable energy generation. The integration of energy storage systems and the implementation of low-cost behavioral measures can act as complementary instruments for maintaining the dynamic stability of the energy system and for achieving the EU’s sustainability and climate neutrality objectives. Full article

In the last decade, as cities increasingly seek sustainable development pathways within the cultural and creative economy, cultural-creative events have gained prominence as strategic instruments for urban transformation. Among them, city design weeks have emerged as complex service systems that connect creative industries, urban governance, and tourism development. This research aims to understand how cultural-creative events (represented by design weeks) facilitate sustainable tourism development from a service design perspective. Adopting a qualitative comparative research design, the study examines 30 design weeks selected through a cross-validated process with the World Design Weeks global network and UNESCO City of Design network. Data from 2020 to 2025 is collected primarily through expert interviews, official reports, and media materials in relation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Grounded in the service design perspective, four Service Design Levels are summarized into 17 assessment dimensions, and experts applied Likert scale to evaluate the relative service intensity of each case. Through cross-case analysis, the findings reveal four distinct models of design weeks, reflecting different configurations of service intensity and strategic orientation. The study contributes theoretically by extending service design theory to cultural-creative tourism research, and practically by providing guidance for the organizers of cultural-creative events seeking to support sustainable city tourism development. Future research may incorporate quantitative impact assessments to further refine these models. Full article

Wind turbine blades are subjected to complex environmental conditions during long-term operation, which may lead to structural degradation and performance loss. To ensure structural integrity, fatigue testing prior to deployment is essential. This paper proposes a vision-based method for measuring the full-cycle breathing deformation of wind turbine blades during fatigue testing. The method captures dynamic image sequences of the blade’s hotspot cross-section using industrial cameras and employs a feature-based template matching approach to reconstruct the three-dimensional coordinates of target points. Through coordinate transformation, the deformation trajectories are obtained, enabling quantitative analysis of the blade’s dynamic responses in both flapwise and edgewise directions. A dedicated hardware–software system was developed and validated through full-scale fatigue experiments. Quantitative comparison with strain gage measurements shows that the proposed method achieves mean absolute deviations of 0.84 mm and 0.93 mm in two independent experiments, respectively, with closely matched deformation trends under typical loading conditions. These results demonstrate that the proposed method can reliably capture the global deformation behavior of the blade with millimeter-level accuracy, while significantly reducing instrumentation complexity compared to conventional contact-based approaches. The proposed method provides an effective and practical solution for full-field dynamic deformation measurement in blade fatigue testing, offering strong potential for structural health monitoring and early damage detection in wind turbine systems. Full article

Land expropriation remains an important instrument for industrialization and urbanization in developing countries, but its extensive use often generates fiscal dependence, social conflict, and governance strain. This article argues that these outcomes are rooted in the political and economic logics embedded in land governance. Using China’s rural collective land expropriation as the principal case, it traces how a century of institutional change produced a system that serves both political consolidation and economic accumulation. This configuration has fostered path dependence on land-based revenue, expanded the scope of expropriation, distorted the distribution of land value gains, and marginalized affected farmers. The article further argues that reform requires coordinated adjustment in four dimensions: narrowing expropriation to genuinely public purposes, aligning it with the market entry of collectively owned commercial construction land, moving compensation toward a more market-relevant standard, and strengthening procedures around participation, disclosure, and review. Together, these reforms offer a more systematic path for transforming land expropriation from a development tool into a mechanism of sustainable governance. Full article

This paper utilizes panel data of Chinese A-share listed manufacturing firms from 2006 to 2022 and measures regional digital infrastructure by the number of internet broadband access ports per capita. It systematically examines the moderating role of digital infrastructure in the relationship between labor protection policies and firms’ labor productivity. The findings are as follows: (1) Digital infrastructure exhibits a positive moderating effect on the relationship between the Labor Contract Law and firms’ labor productivity. This conclusion remains generally robust across multiple robustness tests and endogeneity treatments, and the direction of the results remains consistent after applying an instrumental variable approach to alleviate endogeneity concerns. (2) The digital transformation channel exhibits a negative relationship, indicating that compliance pressure associated with the institutional reform generates a short-term “crowding-out effect” on firms’ digital investment; the human capital channel shows a positive relationship, indicating that digital infrastructure strengthens the institutional effect by improving the level of urban human capital. (3) The moderating effect is particularly pronounced in cities with strong digital industry foundations, abundant fiscal resources, and firms that have not received government digital subsidies. These results provide empirical support for optimizing the supporting environment of labor protection policies, accelerating digital infrastructure development, and enhancing enterprise adaptability to institutional changes. Full article

The escalating global imperative for carbon neutrality demands a fundamental transformation in how we drive green technology innovation. This systematic review addresses a critical gap in understanding how institutional drivers, mediated through New Quality Productive Forces (NQPFs), catalyze green technology innovation (GTI). Through a comprehensive analysis of 80 peer-reviewed studies, we identify and validate a “Three-Engine” mechanism operating at micro (enterprise incentives), meso (resource allocation), and macro (ecosystem synergy) levels. Our findings reveal that institutional drivers operate through four distinct instrumental channels—supply-side policies (digital foundation push), demand-side policies (market pull validation), environmental regulations (institutional push), and market-based mechanisms (allocation and pricing)—each activating different dimensions of NQPFs. This research demonstrates that the integration of these mechanisms produces synergistic effects stronger than any single channel, with substantial implications for both theory and policy. This work extends the Porter Hypothesis into the digital era and provides policymakers with evidence-based guidance for designing integrated policy mixes that simultaneously accelerate green innovation and ensure inclusive technological transformation. Full article

This study examines whether and under what conditions the digital economy (DGE) improves the green development efficiency of China’s tourism industry. Drawing on panel data for 30 Chinese provinces from 2012 to 2023, we develop a multidimensional index of the DGE that captures digital infrastructure, digital industrialization, and industrial digitalization. To evaluate tourism green development efficiency, we employ a non-radial, non-angular super-efficiency slacks-based measure (SBM) model that incorporates both desirable outputs and undesirable environmental externalities. From a theoretical perspective, we extend the Cobb–Douglas production framework by embedding DGE-induced technological progress, showing that digitalization can improve green efficiency through two complementary pathways: it expands expected output while reducing carbon intensity. Empirically, the baseline two-way fixed-effects results show that DGE significantly promotes tourism green development efficiency (β = 0.0153, p < 0.05), and this result remains robust in instrumental-variable (IV) estimation (β = 0.0383, p < 0.05). We further show that this relationship is conditioned by three important external conditions. First, environmental regulation strengthens the enabling effect of digitalization, consistent with a compliance-induced Porter effect. Second, tourism industry agglomeration enhances the benefits of digital transformation by deepening knowledge spillovers and network complementarities. Third, green finance relaxes financing constraints and creates more favorable conditions for digital investment. By integrating a formal theoretical model with panel-data evidence, this study provides a unified explanation of both the mechanism and the boundary conditions through which the DGE promotes tourism green development efficiency. Overall, the findings suggest that the DGE is an important driver of sustainable tourism development and offer useful policy implications for coordinated digital and green transformation. Full article

This paper investigates women’s movements in German-speaking Europe that operate at the intersection of academic theology and activism, challenging the assumption that gender parity within theological institutions has been achieved. Despite broader European progress toward gender equality, theological faculties continue to exhibit structural disparities, including women’s underrepresentation in senior positions and persistent obstacles such as the “leaky pipeline,” the “glass ceiling,” and restrictive ecclesial procedures like the Nihil Obstat. These dynamics intensify the vulnerability of women theologians, particularly those advocating for gender justice within Church structures that do not consistently recognize women as full participants. The study also highlights the vulnerability experienced by women theologians who advocate for gender equality within ecclesial institutions that do not consistently recognize women as full participants. Interdisciplinary dialogue between theology and the social sciences is often met with suspicion, as religion is frequently portrayed as a source of division rather than a catalyst for transformation. Moreover, extremist and fundamentalist movements instrumentalize gender issues, polarizing European societies and suppressing interfaith initiatives that promote justice, care, and cooperation. The paper argues for transversal, intersectional, and inclusive approaches that bridge academic and activist networks. By fostering collaboration, critical reflection, and shared praxis, these movements reimagine the role of women in both Church and society, offering transformative models grounded in justice, dignity, and equality. Full article

Background: Rapid technological progress has transformed healthcare systems through integrating electronic health (eHealth) into clinical practice. Consequently, nursing students, upcoming healthcare professionals, face new challenges arising from this digital transition. Adequate technological skills and eHealth literacy are essential to meet the requirements of contemporary healthcare environments. The aim of this study was to translate, culturally adapt, and validate a questionnaire measuring technophilia, Internet use, eHealth literacy, and nursing students’ attitudes toward technology and eHealth. Methods: A cross-sectional validation study was conducted using a convenience sample of Albanian undergraduate nursing students. After forward and backward translation, the instrument’s construct validity was examined using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Cronbach’s alpha assessed internal consistency, and the relationships among the four constructs were explored using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results: A total of 357 undergraduate nursing students participated in the survey. EFA identified a clear four-factor structure corresponding to Technophilia, Internet Use, eHealth Literacy, and Technology and Electronic Health in Nursing Education, with all items demonstrating satisfactory factor loadings. Internal consistency of the four scales ranged from 0.692 to 0.852, indicating generally satisfactory reliability. Although the SEM model fit was below the recommended thresholds, the results provide some evidence for relationships among the constructs. Conclusions: The findings provide preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of the adapted instrument and set a baseline for assessing Albanian nursing students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding technology and eHealth literacy. Several strategies can be developed based on this evidence to prepare nursing students for technologically advanced healthcare systems. Full article