Search Results (848)

The digital creative industries have emerged as a critical driver of regional economic transformation, upgrading, and sustainable development. While previous research has primarily focused on creative industry layout and agglomeration in urban areas, with the integration of digital technology and the creative industry, existing research has an insufficient explanation for the digital creative industry. Specifically, few people have studied the spatial distribution and diffusion of digital creative industries in emerging economies from the macro-regional level. To address this gap, this study analyzes the spatial diffusion mode and regional spatial response law of digital creative industries in the Yangtze River Delta during three critical time windows (2016, 2019, and 2022) in the context of national strategy implementation. A range of spatial analysis technologies is utilized to process the full sample of big data from digital creative industries. This study utilizes OLS and a quantile regression model to determine the dominant factors that affect spatial diffusion and response in the digital creative industries. The results demonstrate that, against the backdrop of regional development strategies, digital creative industries exhibit a variety of diffusion modes, including contagious, hierarchical, corridor, and jump diffusion. The response of industries to regional strategies has different rules in terms of regional space, urban development, and sub-industries. Furthermore, the comprehensive influence of institutional environment, urban economy, development and innovation significantly impacts industrial spatial diffusion and regional response. Among them, government investment in science and technology and the number of universities have consistently been important influencing factors, and policy exhibits nonlinear effects and asymmetric characteristics on industry agglomeration and diffusion. This study enhances the understanding of digital creative industry development in the YRD and offers a theoretical basis for optimizing regional industrial spatial structure and promoting the sustainable development of digital industries. Full article

The Qinghai-Xizang Plateau (QXP), as Asia’s “Water Tower” and a global climate regulation hub, provides essential ecosystem services that sustain global ecological security and the well-being of 2 billion people. However, the fine-scale relationship between land use changes and ecosystem services on the QXP, as well as the underlying driving mechanisms, remain under researched. Therefore, the InVEST model was used in this study to assess the distribution of key factors of ecosystem services—habitat quality (HQ). A four-quadrant diagram method was proposed to quantitatively identify the dynamic relationship between land use changes and habitat quality. The XGBoost-SHAP algorithm was used to determine the main driving factors affecting the conversion between coordinated and conflicting areas. This study finds the following: (1) the proportion of land area undergoing land use change on the QXP is approximately 7.5%, with significant grassland degradation; (2) habitat quality distribution shows a high edge-low northern pattern, and forest land has the greatest impact on habitat quality changes; (3) in the past 20 years, the relationship between land use changes and habitat quality has shown a trend of coordinated development, with a 50:1 ratio of coordination to conflict evolution. The relationship between cities and water source areas has experienced the most dramatic changes; moreover, in the conversion between coordination and conflict regions, natural factors are the main drivers, followed by socio-cultural factors. This study reveals the dynamic relationship between land use changes and habitat quality interactions on the QXP, providing a scientific basis for regional sustainable development and related planning. Full article

As hybrid organizations that combine market-related logic with social logic, social enterprises (SEs) play a crucial role in addressing the challenges faced by people in employment while creating economic benefits through innovative solutions to drive economic and social rural revitalization. Focusing on social enterprises, this study employs environmental analysis and theoretical reasoning to examine the logic and approaches through which social enterprises participate in rural revitalization in China’s northwest regions from the perspective of “new-quality productive forces.” Research findings indicate that in the face of an external environment characterized by weakened investment and consumption and the decline of the demographic dividend, and an internal environment marked by lagging socio-economic development and ecological fragility, SEs should integrate devotion and profit logic based on a mixed action logic of multi-value co-creation. Through approaches such as cultivating new quality talent, constructing a new quality industrial system, shaping a new quality rural environment, promoting synergistic innovation between science and technology and culture, and actively participating in the revitalization of rural areas in China’s northwest region, SEs can play an active role in China’s rural revitalization efforts. Full article

The Community-Based Conservation (CBC) approach views local people as interested parties who should actively participate in and control conservation efforts, which contrasts with the conventional 'fortress conservation' common in government-protected areas isolated from human disturbance. The transition from fortress conservation to CBC, however, has not been a smooth journey for many African countries, especially in the sub-Saharan Africa region. This is because, in some cases, local communities do not see themselves as part of the governance structure of these conservancies, which affects the long-term ecological sustainability of the conservancies. Using eight (8) conservancies in the arid and semi-arid counties of Isiolo and Samburu, Kenya, this study used exploratory research to gather data from 24 Focus Group Discussions (FDGs) and forty-eight (48) key informant interviews (KIIs) to assess the influence of communities’ involvement on ecological outcomes of the conservancies. Other secondary sources also supported the primary data sources. Our findings showed that the governance model does influence community support for conservancies, and the benefits that communities receive or expect from the conservancies also have a strong influence on their support for conservation. However, it was established that community conservancies have brought positive changes to the wildlife population trends and habitat health. The study recommends the development of the National Rangelands Resources Management Policy and institutional arrangements to strengthen and safeguard the future of wildlife conservation within those conservancies and to provide clarity on the roles of different stakeholders. The study also recommends further studies on the actual impact of governance on community perception, the value of existing investments in community benefits, and the long-term implications of climate change impacts on conservancy ecosystems. Full article

Despite substantial investments to curb tropical deforestation, effective conservation incentives for Indigenous peoples and local communities is not well-defined and generally under-researched. This study assessed an incentive mechanism in Peru for Indigenous communities that protect enrolled forests to explore whether the stated program goals are actualized in programmatic elements like the requirements, monitoring, and assessment of prioritized outcomes. The research team worked with Indigenous partners to develop key questions regarding how the mechanism could better support their values of conservation and development. Data were sourced from interviews with implementation experts and participants in eight Indigenous communities, a review of programmatic documents, and an assessment of nationally aggregated community data. The results revealed challenges in program capacity, a lack of cultural awareness, and a reliance on capitalistic economic indicators that exclude other aspects of well-being important for Indigenous peoples. We find that the program’s success indicators do not adequately align with conservation or social realities on the ground and that enhanced indicators are needed to ensure success and avoid negative unintended consequences. We demonstrate that enhancing the assessment of governance, economics, engagement, and social inclusion can improve the design, implementation, and monitoring in this and similar programming. We conclude with generalizable recommendations for establishing requirements and monitoring in existing and future conservation incentive programs that target Indigenous communities. Full article

The National Adaptation Plan of Bangladesh identifies eleven climate-stressed zones, placing nearly 100 million people at high risk of climate-related hazards. Vulnerable groups such as the poor, floating populations, daily laborers, and slum dwellers are particularly affected. However, there is a lack of data on climate-sensitive diseases and related hospital visits in these areas. This study explored the prevalence of such diseases using the Delphi method through focus group discussions with 493 healthcare professionals from 153 hospitals in 156 upazilas across 21 districts and ten zones. Participants were selected by district Civil Surgeons. Key climate-sensitive diseases identified included malnutrition, diarrhea, pneumonia, respiratory infections, typhoid, skin diseases, hypertension, cholera, mental health disorders, hepatitis, heat stroke, and dengue. Seasonal surges in hospital visits were noted, influenced by factors like extreme heat, air pollution, floods, water contamination, poor sanitation, salinity, and disease vectors. Some diseases were zone-specific, while others were widespread. Regions with fewer hospital visits often had higher disease burdens, indicating under-reporting or lack of access. The findings highlight the need for area-specific adaptation strategies and updates to the Health National Adaptation Plan. Strengthening resilience through targeted investment and preventive measures is crucial to reducing health risks from climate change. Full article

Suicide is a growing public health concern in Brazil, with significant increases in mortality rates over the last decade and disparities among vulnerable populations. This study aimed to systematically synthesize the recent literature reviews on suicidality and suicide prevention in Brazil, providing an overview of key findings, research gaps, and implications for future studies. This systematic review of reviews follows a pre-registered PROSPERO protocol (CRD42024561892). Searches across five databases (MEDLINE, Scopus, CINAHL, SciELO and LILACS) identified 10 eligible reviews, published between 2019 and 2024, including systematic, integrative, narrative reviews, and meta-analyses. The reviews examined populations such as Indigenous peoples, adolescents, university students, older adults, and healthcare professionals. Findings showed that the risk of suicidal behavior was associated with mental health conditions, social vulnerability, and limited access to mental health services. Particularly high suicide rates were observed among Indigenous populations and adolescents. Across reviews, a lack of interventional studies, limited geographical coverage, and the inadequate training of health professionals were recurrent themes. This review highlights the urgent need for culturally sensitive suicide prevention strategies, greater research investment in underserved populations, and improved healthcare training and coordination. These findings aim to support the development of more effective national suicide prevention policies. Full article

Despite decades of intense interest and investment in cognitive science, there remains a not only incomplete but also highly inconsistent body of evidence regarding how adult brains recover from even the most focal injuries associated with stroke. In this paper, I provide a broad narrative review of the studies of post-stroke aphasia recovery that have sought to identify the mechanisms of language recovery through longitudinal functional imaging. I start with studies that used functional imaging in groups of neurotypical individuals that have revealed areas of the brain that are reliably activated by language tasks and are functionally connected, referred to here as the “language network.” I then review group studies in which functional imaging data were averaged across groups of people with post-stroke aphasia to characterize the neurobiology of recovery. These group studies of post-stroke aphasia have yielded very different results and have led to conflicting conclusions. Subsequently, I examine results of studies of single subjects that have employed longitudinal functional imaging to identify mechanisms of language recovery. Together, these single subject studies make it clear that mechanisms of neural recovery are far from uniform, even in people with very similar lesions and time since stroke. On this basis, I argue that it is not justifiable to average functional imaging data across individuals with post-stroke aphasia to draw meaningful insights into how brain networks change to support language recovery. Each individual’s brain networks change over time, but in divergent ways that depend on the extent of disruption to the normal language network, interventions to facilitate recovery, the health of the intact brain, and other variables yet to be identified. While averaging results across participants with post-stroke aphasia might be able to identify certain changes in the networks that are correlated with specific language gains, uncovering the range of mechanisms and dynamics of language recovery after stroke requires longitudinal imaging of individuals. Full article

Background: The number of people with heart failure (HF) is rapidly increasing globally. Self-care plays a key role in improving HF outcomes. The readiness to engage in heart failure self-care (HFSC) behaviors encompasses a commitment to change and the capacity to make the change. Commitment is a personal investment and value toward enacting self-care and health-related behaviors. Capacity includes an individual’s skills, knowledge, beliefs, previous experience, and resources. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe patient-identified commitment and capacity factors influencing their readiness to carry out HFSC behaviors. Methods: A qualitative study using thematic analysis was conducted using data from 21 interviews to develop readiness for HFSC themes. Results: The commitment themes identified were cultural values and beliefs, social roles, will to live, attitude, self-efficacy, HF perceptions, and general emotional state. Capacity themes included HF literacy, functional capacity, environmental resources, comorbidities, time, cognitive functioning, and social support. Conclusions: Novel themes related to an individual’s commitment to HFSC activities included their will to live and social roles, while time emerged as a consideration in the capacity to engage in self-care. To optimize HF outcomes, people with HF must be ready to engage in HFSC. Evaluating an individual’s readiness for HFSC can focus healthcare team efforts on targeting specific self-care activities that require intervention. Enhancing readiness by intervening with specific commitment and capacity factors is a step toward optimizing HFSC and improving patient outcomes. Full article

The Harry Potter fandom community around the world prefers a universe of wizards and witches that includes all people, but also has concerns about the author’s perspective regarding gender identity. This disjunction paralyzes the cultural reader with moral confusion, which is a danger to their emotional investment in the text. Although scholars have analyzed this phenomenon using fragmented prisms, such as social media activism, cognitive engagement, translation, pedagogy, and fan creativity, there is no unifying model that can be used to understand why reading pleasure endures. This article aims to fill this gap by examining these strands of research in a divergent manner, adopting a convergent mixed-methods study approach. Based on neurocognitive (EEG) values, cross-cultural focus groups, social media analysis, and corpus linguistics, we outline the terrain of reader coping mechanisms. We identify separate fan fractions and examine the corresponding practices. The results are summarized by proposing a model called the MDRL (Moral dissonance repair loop) which is a theoretical model that shows how translation smoothing, pedagogical reframing and fan-based re-moralization interact with one another in creating a system that enables the reader to be collectively able to obtain their relations with the text back to a manageable point and continue being engaged. This model makes a theoretical contribution to new areas in the study of fans, moral psychology, and cognitive literature. Full article

The European Union’s developing rural development plan places digital and precision agriculture at the centre of agricultural modernisation and economic development. This article examines how agricultural practices in rural EU regions are being influenced by smart technology, such as drones, IoT sensors, satellite-based research, and AI-driven platforms, through an analysis of recent data from sources across the European Union. This study applies a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative analysis of strategic policy documents and EU databases, to evaluate the ways in which precision agriculture reduces input consumption, increases productivity, reduces labour shortages and rural area depopulation, and improves sustainability. By investing in infrastructure, developing communities for data exchange, and organising training for farmers, European policies such as the Strategic Plans of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the SmartAgriHubs initiative, and the AgData program actively encourage the transition to digital agriculture. Cyprus is analysed as a case study to show how targeted investments and initiatives supported by the EU can help smaller countries, with limited natural resources, to realise the benefits of digital transformation in agriculture. A special focus is placed on how solutions adapted to agro-climatic and socioeconomic conditions can contribute to strengthening the competitiveness of the agricultural sector, attracting young people to get involved in this field and opening up new economic opportunities. The results of previous research indicate that digital agriculture not only improves productivity but also proves to be a strategic mechanism for attracting and retaining young people in rural areas. Thus, this work additionally contributes to the broader goal of the European Union—the development of smart, inclusive, and sustainable rural areas, in which digital technologies are not only seen as tools for efficiency but also as key means for integrated and long-term rural development. Full article

The future of marine sustainability depends on public understanding and trust in the policy recommendations that emerge from scientific research. For common pool marine resource decisions made by the people who depend on these resources for their food, employment, and economic future, understanding the current status of these marine systems and change is essential to ensure these resources will persist into the future. As such, the informal learning infrastructure is essential to increasing marine science literacy in a changing world. This mixed-methods research study analyzed the distribution and accessibility of marine science education and research across Alaska’s five geographic regions. Using the PRISMA framework, we synthesized data from 198 institutions and analyzed peer-reviewed literature on marine ecosystems to identify geographic and thematic gaps in access to informal science learning and research focus. In parallel, we undertook geospatial analysis and resource availability to describe the distribution of resources, types of informal learning infrastructure present across the state, regional presence, and resources to support informal marine science learning opportunities. Findings from this multifactor research revealed a concentration of resources in urban hubs and a lack of consistent access to learning resources for rural and Indigenous communities. The configurative literature review of 9549 publications identified topical underrepresentation of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, as well as a lack of research on seabirds across all regions. Considered together, these results recommend targeted investments in rural engagement with marine science programming, culturally grounded partnerships, and research diversification. This review concludes that disparities in learning resource support and government-funded priorities in marine wildlife research have created conditions that undermine the local people’s participation in the sustainability of sensitive resources and are likely exacerbating declines driven by rapid change in Arctic and sub-Arctic waters. Full article

This study investigates the complex dynamics of new-type urbanization in resource-based county-level cities, using Wuan City in Hebei Province, China, as a representative case. As China pursues a high-quality development agenda, cities historically dependent on resource extraction face profound challenges in achieving sustainable and inclusive urban growth. This research employs a multi-method approach—including Theil index analysis, industrial shift-share analysis, a Cobb–Douglas production function model, and a composite urbanization index—to quantitatively diagnose the constraints on Wuan’s development and assess its transformation efforts. Our empirical results reveal a multifaceted situation: while the urban–rural income gap has narrowed, rural income streams remain fragile. The shift-share analysis indicates that although Wuan’s traditional industries have regained competitiveness, the city’s economic structure is still burdened by a persistent negative structural component, hindering diversification. Furthermore, the economy exhibits characteristics of a labor-intensive growth model with inefficient capital deployment. These underlying issues are reflected in a comprehensive urbanization index that, after a period of rapid growth, has recently stagnated, signaling the exhaustion of the city’s traditional development mode. In response, Wuan attempts an “industrial transformation-driven new-type urbanization” path. This study details the three core strategies being implemented: (1) incremental population urbanization through development at the urban fringe and in industrial zones; (2) in situ urbanization of the existing rural population; and (3) the cultivation of specialized “characteristic small towns” to create new, diversified economic nodes. The findings from Wuan offer critical, actionable lessons for other resource-dependent regions. The case demonstrates that successful urban transformation requires not only industrial upgrading but also integrated, spatially aware planning and robust institutional support. We conclude that while Wuan’s model provides a valuable reference, its strategies must be adapted to local contexts, emphasizing the universal importance of institutional innovation, human capital investment, and a people-centered approach to achieving resilient and high-quality urbanization. Full article

As digital connectivity transforms financial decision-making, this study offers one of the first empirical investigations into the relationship between social media use and socially responsible investing (SRI). Using data from the 2021 National Financial Capability Study, multinomial regression analysis was used to explore whether people who rely on social media for investment decisions were more likely to invest in ways that reflect their values. The results show that investors who use social media for investment information are more likely to value being socially responsible as an important reason for investing. Younger, less experienced, and more risk-tolerant investors were especially likely to follow SRI strategies, and certain platforms like Twitter were more associated with SRI interest than others. These findings suggest that social media is not just a platform for sharing information; it may also shape how people think about investing and the role their money can play in making a societal difference. As online platforms continue to influence financial behavior, understanding their impact on values-based investing becomes increasingly important. This research contributes novel insights to the emerging intersection of social media, behavioral finance, and values-driven investing. Full article

Background/Objectives: Artificial intelligence (AI) offers opportunities to enhance healthcare accessibility for people with disabilities (PwDs). However, their application in Saudi Arabia remains limited. This study explores PwDs’ experiences with AI technologies within the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 digital health framework to inform inclusive healthcare innovation strategies. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine PwDs across Riyadh, Al-Jouf, and the Northern Border region between January and February 2025. Participants used various AI-enabled technologies, including smart home assistants, mobile health applications, communication aids, and automated scheduling systems. Thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke’s six-phase framework was employed to identify key themes and patterns. Results: Four major themes emerged: (1) accessibility and usability challenges, including voice recognition difficulties and interface barriers; (2) personalization and autonomy through AI-assisted daily living tasks and medication management; (3) technological barriers such as connectivity issues and maintenance gaps; and (4) psychological acceptance influenced by family support and cultural integration. Participants noted infrastructure gaps in rural areas, financial constraints, limited disability-specific design, and digital literacy barriers while expressing optimism regarding AI’s potential to enhance independence and health outcomes. Conclusions: Realizing the benefits of AI for disability healthcare in Saudi Arabia requires culturally adapted designs, improved infrastructure investment in rural regions, inclusive policymaking, and targeted digital literacy programs. These findings support inclusive healthcare innovation aligned with Saudi Vision 2030 goals and provide evidence-based recommendations for implementing AI healthcare technologies for PwDs in similar cultural contexts. Full article