Search Results (1,322)

This article examines how the Park Chung Hee regime reshaped the public memory of the Neo-Confucian philosopher Yi I (penname Yulgok, 1536–1584) by recasting him as a model of patriotic nationalism. Beginning with the inauguration of the Yulgok Festival in 1962, Yi I was no longer commemorated solely as a scholar of the Chosŏn dynasty; instead, the regime portrayed him as a patriotic sage who advocated for military preparedness. Drawing on archival materials (presidential speeches, heritage management reports, newspaper articles), this study reconstructs the policy discourse surrounding Yulgok and traces the state-driven mechanisms that reframed his public image. The analysis shows that Yulgok’s image became embedded in political rituals, monumentalized in public spaces, circulated in everyday life through currency iconography, and materialized in physical heritage sites transformed to embody a purified, idealized vision of the past. Together, these initiatives positioned the state as the custodian of Yulgok’s memory, aligning his image with the ideological priorities of the militarist state. Full article

Late bedtimes and insufficient sleep duration among children and adolescents have been consistently associated with daytime sleepiness, irritability, and poorer academic performance. To mitigate these adverse consequences of insufficient sleep, it is essential to provide children, students, teachers, and parents with not only knowledge about sleep improvement but also practical tools that facilitate behavioral change. This review synthesizes existing evidence from studies that have addressed this issue by evaluating students’ individual sleep behaviors using checklists of sleep-promoting practices. Drawing on practical examples from school-based interventions, the review highlights the effectiveness of sleep education programs for children and adolescents. These programs aim to bridge the gap between sleep-related knowledge and actual behavioral change by targeting daily sleep habits. Typically, such programs consist of a single 50 min educational session focusing on the importance of sleep and strategies for improvement, followed by a two-week self-help period during which students actively practice and monitor specific target behaviors. Overall, the findings indicate that sleep education programs incorporating self-help components not only enhance sleep-related knowledge but also promote healthier sleep behaviors and improve sleep patterns. Moreover, these programs effectively reduce daytime sleepiness and irritability among children and adolescents, thereby contributing to a healthier and more adaptive school life. Full article

Therapeutic horse riding (THR) is a non-traditional intervention that may support mental well-being in individuals with autism spectrum conditions. Despite growing interest, most research has focused on children and has tended to privilege practitioner or caregiver perspectives, leaving autistic adults underrepresented. This qualitative study explores the psychological benefits and systemic barriers associated with THR among Autistic adults, drawing on perspectives from both clients and practitioners. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six Autistic clients and four practitioners, and the data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Five overarching themes were constructed: Facing the Puissance: barriers to accessing THR, Pathways to Participation, Embodied Engagement, To Understand and To Be Understood, and Beyond the Arena—Impacts That Last. Participants described enjoyment, increased confidence, and a sense of achievement, with effects accumulating over time and often extending beyond the riding arena into daily life. Barriers included cost, accessibility, and limited availability of appropriately trained staff and facilities. These findings add to the limited evidence base on THR for Autistic adults by providing an in-depth, contextually grounded account of participants’ experiences. They suggest that, for verbally fluent Autistic adults who choose to access THR in similar settings, THR can enhance well-being, self-agency, and relationship-building, whilst also revealing structural obstacles that restrict equitable access. Full article

This paper explores the potential of patristic theology to offer therapeutic resources for evangelical Christians who experience a crisis of hope: affirming hope doctrinally while struggling to feel hopeful in daily life. Drawing on recent psychological research, we use a tripartite model of hope—cognitive, agentic, and affective—to describe how hopeful experience can be sustained or undermined. We suggest that some theological frameworks, shaped by individualistic and goal-oriented assumptions, can unintentionally constrict believers’ capacity to experience hope. In dialogue with this psychological model, we read Gregory of Nyssa as a resource for each dimension of hope: his account of epektasis reframes the content of hope; his expansive understanding of divine agency widens the horizon of hope; and his use of imagery supports the affective experience of hope. The paper illustrates how patristic ressourcement can enrich theological imagination and can play a role in renewing believers’ capacity to hope. Full article

This article examines how the Ahiska Turks—deported from Georgia’s Meskheti region to Central Asia in 1944—sustained their religious belonging under shifting Soviet and post-Soviet political and social conditions, and how this religious continuity became intertwined with processes of collective memory formation. Drawing on published archival materials, existing scholarship, and a long-term ethnographic corpus composed of fourteen life-history oral interviews conducted between 2006 and 2025 in Turkey and Kazakhstan, the study traces the multigenerational trajectories of ritual practice. The findings show that funeral ceremonies, mevlid gatherings, Ramadan practices, and domestic prayer circles function as “sites of memory” through which the trauma of displacement is reinterpreted and intergenerational belonging is continually reconstituted. These ritual forms generate a meaningful sense of continuity and communal resilience in the face of prolonged experiences of loss, uncertainty, and “placelessness.” Situated at the intersection of the anthropology of religion, cultural trauma theory, and Soviet/post-Soviet diaspora studies, the article conceptualizes Islam as more than a realm of belief: for the Ahiska Turks, it operates as a core cultural infrastructure that anchors post-displacement resilience, social organization, and collective memory. The study contributes to the literature by offering an integrated analytical framework that places the Ahiska community within broader debates on religion, memory, and forced migration; by examining rituals not only as emotional practices but also as institutional and cultural scaffolding; and by foregrounding the understudied post-traumatic religious experiences of Muslim diasporas. Full article

Amphibians are among the most threatened vertebrate groups globally, with over 40% of species at risk of extinction. However, a gap remains in understanding how to effectively develop and implement amphibian conservation strategies at local and global scales to minimize extinction risk. This review synthesizes multidisciplinary evidence to frame amphibian conservation as a priority not only for species preservation but for safeguarding ecosystem functioning and human well-being. Drawing on ecological, physiological, biomedical, and technological literature, we highlight the foundational roles amphibians play in various biomes: regulating invertebrate populations, mediating nutrient and energy flows, modifying physical habitats, and supporting biodiversity through trophic interactions. Their dual aquatic–terrestrial life cycles and highly permeable skin make them highly sensitive to environmental change, positioning them as bioindicators for ecosystem health. We further explore emerging tools and concepts such as environmental metabolomics, remote sensing, and citizen science for monitoring population trends and environmental stressors. Additionally, we discuss conservation challenges in relation to land-use change, climate disruption, invasive species, emerging diseases, and institutional underinvestment. We argue for the recognition of amphibians as ecological allies and the increased integration of amphibian conservation into broader frameworks such as ecosystem service valuation, climate resilience planning, and public health policy improvement. Finally, we identify key research gaps and suggest future directions to remedy these oversights, including the incorporation of traditional knowledge, socio-cultural engagement, and technological innovations for sustainable amphibian conservation. Realizing this vision will require globally coordinated, locally grounded strategies that fuse scientific insight, inclusive governance, and long-term investment—ensuring that amphibian conservation advances ecosystem stability and benefits both nature and society. Full article

The nexus of rapid demographic transition and underdeveloped geriatric infrastructure poses a critical, yet understudied challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). As global life expectancies rise, SSA’s older population is projected to triple by 2050, intensifying the need for sustainable age-friendly environments (AFEs) and robust healthy ageing interventions. Informal or family caregiving structures, while vital, are under strain from rapid urbanisation and shifting social dynamics, creating a compelling gap between need and provision. This expert viewpoint draws on the authors’ professional and scholarly experience regarding population ageing, AFEs, and healthy ageing to provide a comprehensive outlook on these issues in SSA. Selective literature searches were conducted in Google Scholar, Scopus and PubMed using targeted keywords and MESH terms, including “ageing in Africa”, “ageing in Sub-Saharan Africa”, “healthy ageing in Africa”, “healthy ageing in Sub-Saharan Africa”, “population ageing in Africa”, “population ageing in Sub-Saharan Africa”, “age-friendly environment in Africa”, and “age-friendly environment in Sub-Saharan Africa.” The authors argue that rapid population ageing in SSA is outpacing existing informal care arrangements, necessitating a strategic shift towards the development of age-friendly environments and more coordinated healthy ageing interventions to bridge the widening gap between demographic change and geriatric support systems. This paper underscores the necessity of proactive, evidence-based policy implementation to secure the well-being of SSA’s burgeoning older population. Full article

Huysmans’s novel À rebours can be seen as an epitome of the dialectic implied by the term peccata lectionis: reading can only come into its own through certain ‘sins’ inherent to it while possibly compromising it. Such ‘sins’ are involved in the decision of the novel’s single protagonist and anti-hero, Des Esseintes, to withdraw into the solitude of his country house to live a life dedicated to aesthetic and intellectual pleasure. While celebrating his own eccentric fancies and artificiality of taste, the protagonist’s days of decadence, in their very antagonism towards both society and nature, are spent pursuing what can be called ‘reading of culture’. As ‘the reading of culture’ and its dialectics in the novel extend to and draw upon a wealth of references to the Catholic cultural tradition, the latter leads to a textual logic and a particular kind of lectio. It is in keeping with the novel being widely regarded as a harbinger of the ‘Catholic turn’ in its author’s career, Des Esseintes, at one point of the narrative, comes to explore the so-called ‘Catholic idiom’. Whereas his critique is aimed at 19th century Catholic writers in France and their indebtedness to the definitive rhetoric of the French Grand Siècle, the ‘Catholic idiom’, its particular textuality and the ‘reading of culture’ that is manifest in it may lie elsewhere in Huysmans’s novel itself. These likely reside in the textual logic of catalogues or ‘compendia’, that is, the listing of names within a category, which evokes mediaeval textual practices. The catalogue or ‘compendium’ as a genre within Huysmans’s novel fulfils the artificiality and vigour of the protagonist’s ‘reading of culture’—and the whole dialectic of the peccata lectionis. Full article

Taiwan’s rural regions face aging populations, digital divides, and fragmented heritage narratives that limit sustainable cultural revitalization. This study investigates how a community-based Alternate Reality Game (ARG) can integrate dispersed cultural assets in Shiding District into a coherent, immersive experience that supports intergenerational learning and community engagement. Drawing on ARG/transmedia narrative theory, scaffolding theory, intergenerational learning, and value co-creation, the research adopts an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design: qualitative interviews and co-design workshops inform ARG system development, followed by field implementation and pre–post evaluation with 78 participants across three age groups. The results show large improvements in user experience and immersion, while quantitative changes in cultural understanding, perceived learning support, and community engagement are modest and not consistently positive, despite rich qualitative accounts of heightened awareness of local history and community life. Participants’ narratives highlight a reciprocal scaffolding dynamic, in which younger visitors provide digital assistance and older residents contribute local knowledge, as well as strong perceptions of co-creation with community hosts. These findings suggest that a low-cost, participatory ARG can effectively reduce on-site narrative fragmentation and foster emotionally engaging, intergenerational experiences, but that deeper and more durable cultural learning effects likely require refined measurement and longer-term engagement. The study contributes an integrated design and evaluation framework for rural ARG applications and offers practical guidelines for communities and policymakers seeking inclusive, story-driven models of digital heritage revitalization. Full article

The PICO framework determines the scope of the Joint Clinical Assessment (JCA) under the EU HTA Regulation (EU HTAR), with PICO consolidation being a critical final step of the scoping process. Due to limited clarity on how consolidation works in practice, Health Technology Developers (HTDs) may simulate PICO scoping as a strategic tool to guide the development of robust JCA submissions. A review of 14 publications, representing 35 individual PICO exercises across 20 indications (74% in oncology), showed an average of 7 countries participating per exercise and 8 consolidated PICOs per analysis. A separate PICO scoping simulation focused on a first-line immuno-oncology treatment for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (mNSCLC) generated 67 PICOs, reflecting the anticipated perspectives of 25 countries, largely driven by biomarker and histology-based sub-populations. The limited number of published examples and country participation restricts the ability to draw clear conclusions or confidently predict the output of PICO scoping in a real life JCA processes. The simulation also raised questions about whether all sub-populations should be included or consolidated further. Overall, there is a need for greater clarity in the JCA PICO scoping process, in particular the consolidation step, to facilitate high-quality evidence generation and support the EU HTAR to meet its goals of efficiency, transparency, and equity in health technology evaluation across Europe, along with more consistent patient access. Full article

This article examines the complex interplay between plurality and neutrality in Slovenian education in the context of increasing religious and cultural diversity associated with global migration. Drawing on a pilot study conducted with five primary school counsellors working in high-diversity school environments, it explores the tensions between the normative principles of plurality and neutrality and their practical implementation in everyday school life. The aim is to highlight the concrete challenges that schools and school staff encounter when addressing religious and cultural diversity. The pilot study shows that schools react differently to religious and cultural diversity, depending on the challenges faced by pupils, staff, school management and family-school co-operation. While the study included pupils from various religious backgrounds, only certain minority groups, particularly Muslim pupils, emerged as the minority group most clearly observed in the interviews. This visibility reflects the combination of cultural and religious differences from the majority and the more explicit demands these pupils and their families raised within the school context. In contrast, Orthodox Christian pupils were generally perceived as culturally and institutionally aligned with the majority population, and their practices (such as observing their New Year or other holidays) were accommodated by the existing school system without specific challenges. It also suggests that there are different understandings of how schools should teach neutrality and plurality beyond the official curriculum. The study identifies common challenges that schools face in relation to religious and cultural diversity, some of which are closely linked to the multicultural approach to education. The challenges identified are illustrated using Muslim pupils as an example of the minority group most prominently observed in the data, while acknowledging that other minority groups may experience different or less visible challenges. The findings are therefore limited to the context observed in this pilot study and cannot be generalised to all minority pupils in Slovenia. Full article

Neurometabolic diseases encompass a diverse group of rare and often progressive genetic disorders affecting the nervous system due to abnormalities in metabolic pathways. These conditions, including mitochondrial disorders, lysosomal storage diseases, and others, can manifest in adults with a range of neurological symptoms, which will be reviewed here. Given their complexity and chronic nature, comprehensive management is crucial for improving patients’ quality of life. In this Invited Perspective, we review the neurological signs and symptoms of the most commonly encountered inherited metabolic disorders in adult neurology. Furthermore, drawing on our clinical experience, we demonstrate that an integrated local care approach is fundamental for these patients, as it enables continuous monitoring, early intervention, and coordinated multidisciplinary support. Full article

Background/Objectives: Healthcare discrimination poses significant challenges to the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of people living with type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, the role of social support in alleviating these effects has not been fully explored. Drawing on Cohen and Wills’ social support buffering model, this study examined whether social support moderates the association between healthcare discrimination and HRQoL among individuals with T2D. Methods: We analyzed data from 5180 adults with T2D enrolled in the All of Us Research Program. Healthcare discrimination was assessed using the modified Everyday Discrimination Scale (mEDS), social support with the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS), and HRQoL (physical and mental domains) with the PROMIS Global Health Scale. Moderation analyses were conducted through linear regression models. Results: Greater exposure to healthcare discrimination was associated with poorer physical and mental HRQoL. Social support demonstrated a significant moderating effect on mental HRQoL: as social support increased, the negative association between healthcare discrimination and mental well-being weakened. However, this buffering effect was not observed for physical HRQoL. Conclusions: Findings suggest that social support can mitigate the adverse mental health consequences of healthcare discrimination among individuals with T2D. Interventions aimed at strengthening social support networks warrant investigation as potential strategies to improve the mental HRQoL of people with T2D who encounter discrimination in healthcare environments. Full article

This study examines how social media platforms function as arenas for identity construction among minority student groups. Social media fosters a culture of connectivity, openness, and positive affect, projecting images of belonging that often contrast with the challenges faced by marginalized communities in everyday campus life and their yearning for distinction and communal boundaries. Drawing on Butler’s framework, identity online is understood as performative, emerging through repeated acts and recognizable signs, rather than as a reflection of fixed essence. Against this backdrop, the study investigates the Instagram presence of Hillel centers in the United States. A semiotic analysis of over one thousand Instagram images, supported by informal conversations with students, staff, and social media managers, reveals a communicative repertoire we term Celebrating Identity. This repertoire integrates Jewishness, youthfulness, national belonging, and institutional affiliation to produce a diffuse and inclusive Jewish identity. While such representations foster community and affirm multiple affiliations, they also risk masking the vulnerabilities and tensions experienced by Jewish students amid campus unrest and antisemitism. Social media thus emerges as both a resource of empowerment and a fragile form of support for minority identity work in contemporary higher education. Full article

This article examines Daniel Suarez’s techno-thrillers Daemon (2006) and Freedom™ (2010) as works of speculative fiction that critically engage with themes of posthuman identity, algorithmic governance, and ecological agency. Rather than portraying artificial intelligence as a dystopian threat, the novels imagine the Daemon, which is a self-replicating system launched upon its creator’s death, as an infrastructural force that reorganizes global systems of power, labor, and survival. Through a posthumanist reading, drawing on thinkers such as Donna Haraway, Karen Barad, Rosi Braidotti, and N. Katherine Hayles, this article interprets the Daemon not as malevolent code, but as an ecological actor embedded in material networks, capable of fostering adaptive forms of life and governance. By reading Suarez’s fiction through the lens of posthuman ecocriticism and infrastructural media theory, the article offers a model for understanding freedom, not as a static right, but as a relational capacity earned through participation in sympoietic systems. It argues that speculative fiction can function as a cartographic tool, mapping not only future technologies but future ontologies. Full article