Search Results (156)

Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education) requires innovative and inclusive approaches that sustain attention, foster engagement, and build digital literacy in primary education. This study examined the impact of Scratch on sustaining attention among third- and fourth-grade students (ages 9–11). A total of 89 students participated, divided into control and experimental groups, to evaluate the effects of integrating Scratch into classroom activities. Data were collected through anonymous surveys with parental consent and analyzed using nonparametric statistical tests. The results showed that Scratch-based instruction enhanced sustained attention, particularly in interactive and digital activities such as active participation, video, and web-based tasks. In contrast, traditional textbook and workbook tasks showed weaker effects. Scratch also reduced common reasons for attention loss, with significant decreases in perceptions of excessive lesson length and loss of interest. Gender differences were minimal, confirming Scratch’s inclusivity, and strong correlations between problem-solving activities indicated that engagement, collaboration, and multimedia tasks mutually reinforce attention. These findings provide empirical support for Scratch as a tool that sustains attention, reduces disengagement, and promotes equity in learning. Although limited by reliance on self-reported data and a single educational context, the study offers evidence that Scratch advances innovative pedagogy aligned with SDG 4. Full article

The dual assessment of environmental risks and energy consumption of solid waste is crucial for ensuring environmental safety and energy consumption management. Using risk assessment tools to inform best management practices for reclamation is very important. In this paper, a former Extended Environmental Multimedia Modeling System (EEMMS) combined with the Monte Carlo Method (MCM) of risk assessment was further used for exploring the fate and migration of pollutant leakage in the CFSWMA landfill. Specifically, MODFLOW combined with the EEMMS–MCM system has been applied using Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) as a typical indicator to model the behavior of leachate components. An EEMMS–MCM integrated risk assessment for a 20-year period was conducted. The case study of BOD emissions from the CFSWMA landfill shows that even the leachate did not have a serious impact on Canadian territory during the 20 years; however, non-sorption chemicals are mainly affected by the groundwater flow, whereas sorption chemicals are affected by the partition coefficient (or sorption). Further, this study introduces energy consumption factors such as soil and surface water bodies, and constructs an integrated dual assessment framework for the environmental risks and energy consumption of pollutants. In summary, by integrating the EEMMS pollutant migration model with an environmental risk and energy consumption assessment, a dual assessment of environmental risks and energy consumption is achieved. Full article

Fractional-order chaotic systems have emerged as powerful tools in secure communications and multimedia protection owing to their memory-dependent dynamics, large key spaces, and high sensitivity to initial conditions. However, most existing fractional-order image encryption schemes rely on fixed-order chaos and conventional solvers, which limit their complexity and reduce unpredictability, while also neglecting the potential of variable fractional-order (VFO) dynamics. Although similar phenomena have been reported in some fractional-order systems, the coexistence of hidden attractors and stable equilibria has not been extensively investigated within VFO frameworks. To address these gaps, this paper introduces a novel discrete variable fractional-order dark matter–dark energy (VFODM-DE) chaotic system. The system is discretized using the piecewise constant argument discretization (PWCAD) method, enabling chaos to emerge at significantly lower fractional orders than previously reported. A comprehensive dynamic analysis is performed, revealing rich behaviors such as multistability, symmetry properties, and hidden attractors coexisting with stable equilibria. Leveraging these enhanced chaotic features, a pseudorandom number generator (PRNG) is constructed from the VFODM-DE system and applied to grayscale image encryption through permutation–diffusion operations. Security evaluations demonstrate that the proposed scheme offers a substantially large key space (approximately $2^{249}$) and exceptional key sensitivity. The scheme generates ciphertexts with nearly uniform histograms, extremely low pixel correlation coefficients (less than 0.04), and high information entropy values (close to 8 bits). Moreover, it demonstrates strong resilience against differential attacks, achieving average NPCR and UACI values of about 99.6% and 33.46%, respectively, while maintaining robustness under data loss conditions. In addition, the proposed framework achieves a high encryption throughput, reaching an average speed of 647.56 Mbps. These results confirm that combining VFO dynamics with PWCAD enriches the chaotic complexity and provides a powerful framework for developing efficient and robust chaos-based image encryption algorithms. Full article

The integration of multimedia technologies is transforming teaching and learning in higher education, offering innovative ways to improve student engagement and learning outcomes. Although numerous studies investigate the impact of multimedia, there is still a clear need for a synthesis that brings together the latest evidence from a variety of disciplines and contexts. To address this need, this systematic review aims to summarize the empirical evidence and provide a clearer understanding of how multimedia is applied in higher education, to outline how educators can effectively design and the implications for curriculum design. This article focuses on three key research questions: (1) How does the integration of multimedia in higher education classrooms influence student engagement and learning outcomes? (2) How does the use of multimedia affect the development of specific skills? (3) What are the challenges and opportunities to integrate multimedia technologies into higher education? Relevant studies were systematically retrieved and screened from major academic databases, including ScienceDirect, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, Wiley Online Library, Springer, Taylor & Francis, and Google Scholar. In total, 48 studies were selected from these sources for detailed analysis. The findings showed that multimedia tools enhance student engagement, motivation, and performance when integrated with clear pedagogical strategies. In addition, multimedia helps to develop skills such as creativity, digital literacy, and independent learning. However, challenges such as technical limitations, uneven infrastructure, and the need for ongoing teacher training remain significant difficulties in fully exploiting the benefits in higher education. Addressing these challenges requires coordinated institutional support, investment in professional development, and careful alignment of multimedia tools with pedagogical goals. Full article

Multimedia Forensics (MMF) investigates techniques to automatically assess the integrity of multimedia content, e.g., images, videos, or audio clips. Data-driven methodologies like Neural Networks (NNs) represent the state of the art in the field. Despite their efficacy, NNs are often considered “black boxes” due to their lack of transparency, which limits their usage in critical applications. In this work, we assess the interpretability properties of Deep High-Frequency Residuals (DHFRs), i.e., noise residuals extracted from images by NNs for forensic purposes, that nowadays represent a powerful tool for image splicing localization. Our research demonstrates that DHFRs not only serve as a visual aid in identifying manipulated regions in the image but also reveal the nature of the editing techniques applied to tamper with the sample under analysis. Through extensive experimentation on spliced amplitude Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images, we establish a correlation between the appearance of the DHFRs in the tampered-with zones and their high-frequency energy content. Our findings suggest that, despite the deep learning nature of DHFRs, they possess significant interpretability properties, encouraging further exploration in other forensic applications. Full article

Background/Objective: Video games offer an innovative tool for delivering active aging interventions. The objective of this study was to analyze the efficacy of an enhanced version of a cognitive–behavioral intervention to promote active aging, administered through a video game, on perceived health and healthy lifestyle habits. Methods: A total of 556 participants aged 45 or older (74.3% women, mean age of 60.8 [SD = 8.0]) were randomly assigned to a cognitive–behavioral intervention to promote active aging administered via an interactive, multimedia, online, and serious video game with a complementary smartphone app (CBI-V; n = 279) or to a control group receiving non-specific online information (CG; n = 277). Perceived health (General Health, Body Pain, Physical Functioning, Physical Role, Vitality, Social Functioning, Emotional Role, Mental Health, Physical and Mental Summary Indices); healthy habits, including sleep hygiene behaviors, physical activity, and eating habits; dropouts; adherence to the intervention (completed modules; total playtime; time devoted to cognitive training; number of cognitive task attempts and tasks completed between modules); and satisfaction with the intervention were assessed by independent, blind evaluators via an online platform before and after the intervention. Results: At the post-intervention, the CBI-V group obtained significantly better scores in General Health (p < 0.001), Mental Health (p = 0.015), sleep hygiene (p < 0.001), physical activity (p = 0.024), and eating habits (p = 0.001) than the CG. The effect sizes were small (d = −0.188 to 0.334). Clinically significant changes were higher in the CBI-V group than in the CG in General Health (p = 0.029), Physical Function (p = 0.028), Social Function (p = 0.011), Emotional Role (p = 0.008), Mental Health (p = 0.026), Physical Summary Index (p = 0.010), sleep hygiene (p = 0.020), and eating habits (p = 0.019). Participants reported a high level of satisfaction with the intervention, with a mean score of 25.4 (SD = 4.0) out of a maximum of 32 on the intervention satisfaction measure. Conclusions: These findings support the efficacy of a cognitive–behavioral video game intervention in enhancing perceived health and promoting healthy lifestyle habits among people aged 45 and above. Full article

Learning and implementing algorithms is a fundamental but challenging aspect of Computer Science education. One of the key tools used in teaching algorithms is pseudocode, which serves as an abstract representation of the logic behind a given algorithm. This study explores the educational value of the FLoCIC (Few Lines of Code for Image Compression) algorithm, which is designed to teach lossless image compression through algorithmic implementation, particularly within the context of multimedia data. Image compression represents a typical multimedia task that combines algorithmic thinking with practical problem-solving. By analysing questionnaire responses (N = 121) from undergraduate and graduate students, this study identifies critical challenges in pseudocode-based learning, including understanding complex algorithmic components and debugging recursive functions. This paper highlights the influence of prior knowledge in areas such as data structures, compression, and algorithms in general on the success of students in completing the task, with graduate students demonstrating stronger results compared to undergraduates. The study analyses the role of external resources and online code repositories, further revealing their utility in supporting implementation efforts but highlighting the need for a fundamental understanding of the algorithm for successful implementation. The findings highlight the importance of promoting conceptual understanding and practical problem-solving skills to improve student learning in algorithmic tasks. Full article

This study examines the transformative role of educational technologies in higher education, with a focus on their impact on student engagement and collaboration in online and hybrid learning environments. It draws on data from 11 educators at an Australian university across Education, Health Sciences, and Humanities disciplines. Utilising the online tool Padlet, these educators facilitated interactive activities that enhanced teaching and learning. This article analyses Padlet’s unique features and how they were employed to optimise student engagement and learning outcomes. Semi-structured interviews reveal how Padlet supported multimedia presentations, group work, and discussions. The findings underscore the versatility of Padlet in promoting critical thinking and knowledge sharing, ultimately enhancing the student experience in both online and hybrid learning settings. This study encourages educators to adopt innovative strategies that incorporate Padlet and similar technologies to enhance their teaching practices. Full article

The security of video data requires cryptographic techniques that are resilient to both classical and quantum threats. This study presents an encryption framework based on association schemes and algebraic combinatorial tools that enable systematic and secure data transformations. In the classical setting, video encryption is achieved through random matrix transformations applied to the relations of an association scheme, producing secure and imperceptible ciphertext. Experimental evaluations, including statistical and error analyses, confirm the robustness and efficiency of the proposed method. We extend the framework to quantum cryptography by exploring unitary encryption operators derived from the Bose–Mesner algebra of association schemes. These operators are used to encrypt quantum-encoded multimedia data. The results demonstrate the potential of association schemes to support secure multimedia encryption in both classical and quantum domains. Full article

Informed consent is a fundamental component of both the right to health and self-determination. Its violation, which occurs when the acquisition process is absent or flawed, can also lead to legal proceedings for isolated harm, regardless of the simultaneous existence of those related to biological and psychological harm. Across Europe, this remains a legal and ethical cornerstone, increasingly important in the context of cross-border care and culturally diverse healthcare settings. Many countries have enacted specific laws to ensure patients receive adequate information, while courts continue to refine its interpretation—often highlighting the inadequacy of informed consent in daily clinical practice. In Italy, in particular, recent rulings underscore the need for clear, comprehensive, and properly documented consent formats for health treatments. This review synthesizes rulings, regulations, and the scientific literature to offer practical guidance for improving informed consent practices in Italy, valuing the role of forensic experts in the integration in healthcare settings of the different interests at stake. The aim is to support both legal compliance and the delivery of high-quality, patient-centred care. Courts and legislation in Italy demand clear and tailored informative disclosure for health treatments, with indications of the treatment and outcomes, to be in written form. Yet, foreseeable risks, more common complications, and alternative treatment options are often poorly communicated in practice—frequently forming the basis of claims for compensation. Integrating team-based consultations and multimedia tools can significantly enhance patient understanding and secure the informed consent process. Those key points are summarized in a brief table, ideally suggesting the minimal requirements for an informed consent form. Investing in standardizing informed consent protocols, and also fostering the sharing of best practices with forensic medicine experts, are crucial steps in ensuring shared decision-making in healthcare and trying to reduce legal disputes. Full article

As communities rely on technology for information dissemination, Barangays must keep pace. Training Barangay officials, a key source of local information, enhances their ability to promote and communicate efficiently. The project offered capability training in Records Management, Basic Computer Maintenance, and Multimedia Technology. Objectives included the following: providing knowledge on ICT, streamlining document processes, introducing multimedia tools, conducting hands-on training, and evaluating outputs. A framework was adapted to guide the project, from needs assessment to implementation. The training averaged a 4.64 rating, indicating success. This model supports digital literacy for marginalized sectors and can be replicated in other municipalities for greater impact. Full article

As information technology advances, digital content has become widely adopted across diverse fields such as news broadcasting, entertainment, commerce, and forensic investigation. However, the availability of sophisticated multimedia editing tools has significantly increased the risk of video and image forgery, raising serious concerns about content authenticity at both societal and individual levels. To address the growing need for robust and accurate detection methods, this study proposes a novel video forgery detection model that integrates both spatial and frequency-domain features. The model is built on a ResNet-LSTM framework enhanced by a Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) for spatial feature extraction, and further incorporates Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) to capture frequency domain information. Comprehensive experiments were conducted on several mainstream benchmark datasets, encompassing a wide range of forgery scenarios. The results demonstrate that the proposed model achieves superior performance in distinguishing between authentic and manipulated videos. Additional ablation and comparative studies confirm the contribution of each component in the architecture, offering deeper insight into the model’s capacity. Overall, the findings support the proposed approach as a promising solution for enhancing the reliability of video authenticity analysis under complex conditions. Full article

Metaverse Recordings (MVRs), screen recordings of user experiences in virtual environments, represent a mostly underexplored field. This article addresses the integration of MVR and Multimedia Information Retrieval (MMIR). Unlike conventional media, MVRs can include additional streams of structured data, such as Scene Raw Data (SRD) and Peripheral Data (PD), which capture graphical rendering states and user interactions. We explore the technical facets of recordings in the Metaverse, detailing diverse methodologies and their implications for MVR-specific Multimedia Information Retrieval. Our discussion not only highlights the unique opportunities of MVR content analysis, but also examines the challenges they pose to conventional MMIR paradigms. It addresses the key challenges around the semantic gap in existing content analysis tools when applied to MVRs and the high computational cost and limited recall of video-based feature extraction. We present a model for MVR structure, a prototype recording system, and an evaluation framework to assess retrieval performance. We collected a set of 111 MVRs to study and evaluate the intricacies. Our findings show that SRD and PD provide significant, low-cost contributions to retrieval accuracy and scalability, and support the case for integrating structured interaction data into future MMIR architectures. Full article

This study reviews how technology-based interventions have been designed and implemented to promote lung cancer screening (LCS), support shared decision-making, and enhance patient engagement. A systematic search of six databases in February 2025 identified 28 eligible studies published between 2014 and 2025. Most interventions were home-based and self-guided, including videos, websites, mobile apps, telehealth, and patient portal messages. Common features included risk calculators, multimedia content, simplified navigation, and integration with electronic medical records. These tools aim to raise awareness, improve informed decision-making, and support smoking cessation. While 82% of studies reported positive effects on knowledge and decision-making confidence, only some showed an increased screening uptake. Key barriers included limited internet access, low digital literacy, provider time constraints, fear or anxiety, and concerns about radiation or cost. Despite these challenges, digital tools show promise in advancing LCS promotion. Their effectiveness, however, depends on thoughtful design, integration into clinical workflows, and equitable access. Future work should address structural and contextual challenges to scale digital health solutions and reduce disparities in screening participation. This review identifies both the potential and limitations of current interventions and offers guidance for enhancing impact through targeted, accessible, and user-informed approaches. Full article

With the ongoing advancement of industrialization and rapid urbanization, the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has increased significantly. As key precursors of PM_2.5 and ozone formation, VOCs pose a growing threat to the health of ecosystems. Due to their complex and dynamic transformation processes across air, water, and soil media, the ecological risks associated with VOCs have attracted increasing attention from both the scientific community and policy-makers. This study systematically reviews the core literature on the ecological impacts of VOCs published between 2005 and 2024, based on data from the Web of Science and Google Scholar databases. Utilizing three bibliometric tools (CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and Bibliometrix), we conducted a comprehensive visual analysis, constructing knowledge maps from multiple perspectives, including research trends, international collaboration, keyword evolution, and author–institution co-occurrence networks. The results reveal a rapid growth in the ecological impact of VOCs (EIVOCs), with an average annual increase exceeding 11% since 2013. Key research themes include source apportionment of air pollutants, ecotoxicological effects, biological response mechanisms, and health risk assessment. China, the United States, and Germany have emerged as leading contributors in this field, with China showing a remarkable surge in research activity in recent years. Keyword co-occurrence and burst analyses highlight “air pollution”, “exposure”, “health”, and “source apportionment” as major research hotspots. However, challenges remain in areas such as ecosystem functional responses, the integration of multimedia pollution pathways, and interdisciplinary coordination mechanisms. There is an urgent need to enhance monitoring technology integration, develop robust ecological risk assessment frameworks, and improve predictive modeling capabilities under climate change scenarios. This study provides scientific insights and theoretical support for the development of future environmental protection policies and comprehensive VOCs management strategies. Full article