Search Results (38,869)

Urban playgrounds are vital public spaces that support children’s play, social interaction, and well-being. However, many playgrounds in socially disadvantaged or aging urban areas experience physical deterioration, limited play diversity, and declining use. Although corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives have increasingly supported playground regeneration, many projects continue to emphasize short-term physical improvements rather than participatory processes and social value creation. This study conceptualizes CSR-supported, child-participatory playground regeneration as a social value creation process and examines how CSR enables process continuity through a structured six-stage participatory approach spanning planning, design, construction, and post-opening use. Two cases were selected from the “Save the Playground” program in Seoul, Korea: Saerok Children’s Park in a stable residential neighborhood and Mukjeong Children’s Park in a high-mobility, multicultural commercial district. Using a qualitative multiple-case study design, the study triangulates workshop outputs, observational records, facilitator field notes, and official program documents through thematic and cross-case analyses. The findings indicate that CSR support primarily ensured process continuity and facilitated multi-actor coordination across project stages. By securing implementation continuity and stabilizing governance arrangements, CSR support allowed participatory outputs to be iteratively translated into design development and post-opening evaluation. Post-opening outcomes differed by urban context; nevertheless, both cases showed social value creation through strengthened place attachment, responsibility-oriented use, and inclusive mixed-group play. This study advances a cross-case analytical framework linking urban context, participatory mechanisms, and post-opening social value outcomes, contributing to a more context-sensitive understanding of CSR-supported participatory design processes and their implications for sustainable urban public space development. Full article

Labour market integration of immigrants remains a key policy priority, yet practical implementation continues to face challenges. This study aimed to co-design and re-design solutions to strengthen support within an Active Labour Market Programme (ALMP) to promote immigrants’ sustainable working lives. Using a co-creative qualitative design, data were gathered through workshops with caseworkers, job coaches, immigrant participants, and workplace supervisors in a Swedish municipality. The findings identified four central aspects for improvement—providing timely and accurate information, aligning efforts toward shared goals, targeting individualised support, and integrating language learning at the workplace—emphasising the need for coherent and collaborative programme structures to facilitate a sustainable working life for immigrants. Full article

Gaze analysis often relies on hypothesised, subjectively defined regions of interest (ROIs) or heatmaps: ROIs enable condition comparisons but reduce objectivity and exploration; while heatmaps avoid this, they require many pixel-wise comparisons, making differences hard to detect. Here, we propose an advanced data-driven approach for analysing gaze behaviour. We use DNNs (adapted versions of AlexNet) to classify conditions from gaze patterns, paired with reverse correlation to show where and how gaze differs between conditions. We test our approach on data from an experiment investigating the effects of object-specific sounds (e.g., church bell ringing) on gaze allocation. ROI-based analysis shows a significant difference between conditions (congruent sound, no sound, phase-scrambled sound and pink noise), with more gaze allocation on sound-associated objects in the congruent sound condition. However, as expected, significance depends on the definition of the ROIs. Heatmaps show some unclear qualitative differences, but none are significant after correcting for pixelwise comparisons. We showed that, for some scenes, the DNNs could classify the task based on individual fixations with accuracy significantly higher than chance. Our approach shows that sound can alter gaze allocation, revealing task-specific, non-trivial strategies: fixations are not always drawn to the sound source but shift away from salient features, sometimes falling between salient features and the sound source. Crucially, such fixation strategies could not be revealed using a traditional hypothesis-driven approach. Overall, the method is objective, data-driven, and enables clear comparisons of conditions. Full article

Background: Healthy dietary behaviours are essential for maintaining health, functional independence, and quality of life in later life. Family members are a key source of social support for community-dwelling older adults, yet the ways in which family support shapes older adults’ dietary behaviours, particularly among those who retain autonomy, remain insufficiently synthesized. Therefore, this review aims to map how family support influences dietary behaviours among community-dwelling older adults by examining the forms, roles, and contextual influences of family support within a Social Support Theory framework. Methods: Following Joanna Briggs Institute guidance and PRISMA-ScR reporting standards, we conducted a scoping review of empirical studies published in English or Chinese. Searches were conducted across PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Scopus from inception to 2025. Quantitative and qualitative evidence was synthesised using a convergent–segregated mixed-methods approach. Qualitative findings were deductively mapped to instrumental, informational, emotional, and esteem support domains. Results: Nineteen studies were included. Quantitative evidence indicated that family support, particularly shared meal preparation, joint dietary adherence, and autonomy-supportive encouragement, was generally associated with better diet quality, dietary adherence, and nutritional outcomes. Qualitative findings showed that the influence of family support depended on relationship dynamics and contextual factors, including communication patterns, autonomy negotiation, shared responsibility, and cultural expectations. Conclusions: Family support plays a multifaceted and context-dependent role in shaping dietary behaviours among community-dwelling older adults. These findings can inform the development of family-inclusive strategies and interventions that promote healthy dietary behaviours while respecting older adults’ autonomy and relational contexts. Full article

Background: Prognostic heterogeneity in heart failure (HF) is substantial and not fully captured by conventional left-sided echocardiographic parameters. Growing evidence highlights the importance of right ventricular–pulmonary arterial (RV–PA) interaction in HF pathophysiology and outcomes. The echocardiographic tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion-to-systolic pulmonary artery pressure (TAPSE/sPAP) ratio has been proposed as a simple noninvasive surrogate of RV–PA coupling, yet its prognostic value across the HF spectrum remains incompletely defined. Methods: This systematic review followed PRISMA guidelines and was registered in INPLASY. PubMed, Scopus, and EMBASE were searched from inception through January 2026 for observational studies evaluating the prognostic value of TAPSE/sPAP in adult patients with HF. Study selection, data extraction, and risk-of-bias assessment were performed independently by two reviewers. Owing to substantial heterogeneity, a qualitative synthesis with weighted pooled descriptive statistics was performed. Results: Fifteen observational studies including 5389 patients were analyzed, with a median follow-up of approximately 1.9 years, ranging from in-hospital outcomes to long-term follow-up of up to 15 years. Study populations encompassed a wide range of HF phenotypes and clinical settings, including acute and chronic HF, preserved and reduced ejection fraction, valvular heart disease, infiltrative cardiomyopathies, and advanced HF. Across studies, reduced TAPSE/sPAP was generally associated with adverse outcomes, including all-cause mortality and HF-related events, with reported hazard ratios ranging from approximately two- to five-fold. Prognostically relevant TAPSE/sPAP cut-off values tended to cluster within a relatively narrow range, with most thresholds between 0.36 and 0.40 and a weighted median of approximately 0.36. When reported, TAPSE/sPAP showed favorable discriminative performance for adverse outcomes. Overall methodological quality was predominantly fair. Conclusions: Across heterogeneous HF populations, impaired TAPSE/sPAP appears to be a consistent marker of adverse prognosis. These findings support TAPSE/sPAP as a practical, noninvasive indicator of RV–PA uncoupling that may contribute to risk stratification and phenotyping in heart failure. Prospective studies focusing on specific HF phenotypes are needed to clarify its role in longitudinal monitoring and therapeutic decision-making. Full article

This paper investigates a class of coupled $\psi$-Hilfer fractional pantograph–Langevin equations with nonlocal integral boundary conditions. By reformulating the problem as an equivalent fixed point equation and employing Mönch’s fixed point theorem together with the Kuratowski measure of noncompactness, we establish sufficient conditions for the existence of at least one solution. Under additional Lipschitz-type assumptions, we prove Ulam–Hyers stability on a suitable closed ball and derive explicit, computable stability constants. A concrete numerical example is presented in which all hypotheses are verified and the stability constants are explicitly computed (e.g., $K_1\approx 3.811$, $K_2\approx 2.761$), illustrating the applicability of the theoretical results. The study contributes additional qualitative results to the analysis of fractional pantograph–Langevin systems within the unified framework of $\psi$-Hilfer fractional derivatives. Full article

Industrial metaverse systems enable shared, immersive environments for coordinating complex, data-intensive industrial workflows; however, ensuring effective and usable interaction remains a key barrier to professional adoption. This study examines immersive point cloud- and CAD-based inspection tasks in an industrial metaverse context using a mixed-methods evaluation that combines perceived usability ratings, cognitive workload assessment (NASA-TLX), validated presence and flow instruments, qualitative interviews, and structured observation. The results indicate that users generally experienced smooth navigation, manageable cognitive workload, and a meaningful sense of spatial presence, supporting focused and task-oriented engagement. At the same time, execution-level challenges—particularly related to tool discoverability, annotation flexibility, system feedback clarity, and interaction ergonomics—introduced workflow friction for some users. By triangulating quantitative, qualitative, and observational evidence, the study derives actionable design recommendations, including adaptive onboarding, improved feedback mechanisms, and refinements to interaction design. Overall, the findings provide empirical insight into how usability, cognitive workload, presence, and flow jointly shape user experience in industrial metaverse inspection environments and inform the development of more robust, user-centered industrial systems. Full article

This study investigates the synthesis, characterization, antimicrobial performance, and redox activity of sol–gel–derived TiO₂/TeO₂/CuO powders. The as-prepared gel with the nominal composition 80TiO₂/10TeO₂/10CuO was subjected to thermal treatment at 400 °C and 600 °C for 2 h, resulting in the formation of composite materials at both temperatures. By UV-Vis spectroscopy, it has been found that CuO is responsible for the red shifting of the absorption edge. The SEM-EDS analysis verified the elemental composition of the synthesized powders. The antimicrobial activity of the heat-treated powders was proved against Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, representative Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria frequently associated with hospital-acquired infections and antibiotic resistance. At physiological pH, the 600 °C-treated sample exhibited strong prooxidant properties, supporting antimicrobial activity. At alkaline conditions, the nanomaterials were effective against superoxide radicals. The variation in oxidation with changes in pH is indicative of the potential for controlled application. Antimicrobial activity was assessed through minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays and spot and luminescent tests, providing both quantitative and qualitative evaluations. Full article

Stunting remains a major public health challenge in Indonesia, with a national prevalence of 21.6% in 2022. Rural regions such as Madura face heightened vulnerability due to cultural dietary taboos, gendered caregiving structures, intergenerational authority, and digital disparities that shape household nutrition decision-making. This formative qualitative study explores stakeholders’ perceptions to inform the conceptual development of gender-sensitive serious games for nutrition communication in rural Indonesia. Using an exploratory design, 42 informants, including mothers of children under five, brides-to-be, health cadres, midwives, religious and community leaders, and local digital actors, were recruited across rural Madura. Thematic analysis examined trust-based communication patterns, gender dynamics, perceptions of artificial intelligence (AI), and contextual conditions influencing digital health acceptance. Findings indicate that acceptance of gender-sensitive serious games depends on cultural alignment, institutional endorsement, perceived credibility, and usability in low-resource settings. Participants consistently positioned serious games and AI-supported features as complementary communication layers rather than replacements for health workers. Game-based tools were considered potentially relevant when designed to support intergenerational co-play, integrate local narratives and religious values, and function in low-connectivity environments. Rather than evaluating an implemented intervention, this study proposes a conceptual design framework grounded in feminist communication perspectives, serious games scholarship, and technology acceptance theory. The findings provide context-sensitive insights to guide future prototype development and pilot testing within hybrid, community-based nutrition communication systems. Full article

Foodborne illness remains a persistent public health issue, yet domestic food safety practices are shaped by individual knowledge, social expectations, and gendered norms. This study examines how gender norms and expectations shape Australian consumers’ safe food-handling knowledge, perceptions, and practices. Guided by a social constructionist epistemology and feminist framework, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 participants aged 18–24 years recruited from a university research participation pool. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Three themes were identified: “I know what I am doing”, optimism bias and false confidence, “Men’s casualness versus women’s strictness”, gendered safe food handling practices and expectations, and “Careful about others, relaxed for myself”, food safety as a social performance. Participants often expressed false confidence in their practices, reflecting optimism bias and reduced perceived susceptibility to foodborne illness. Women tended to portray vigilance and responsibility, while men described more relaxed approaches, reflecting gendered socialisation. Food safety also emerged as performative, with heightened care displayed when cooking for others. These findings highlight that domestic food safety is socially embedded and both reflects and reproduces gender norms. Addressing these dynamics through socially informed, context-sensitive interventions may improve public health outcomes. Full article

Although smart-city benchmarking has produced many indices and rankings, cities still lack a practical way to assess whether successful initiatives can be transferred across institutional contexts and converted into implementable urban roadmaps. In this study, we aimed to develop and empirically test a paired donor–recipient “problem–solution” methodology that bridges comparative city analysis with implementation readiness gap assessment, addressing the persistent disconnect between smart-city benchmarking and actionable transfer guidance. The smart-city ecosystem was decomposed into eight functional dimensions covering digital foundations, service platforms, finance and procurement, innovation capacity, governance, legal adaptability, and citizen participation. The method was applied to the Ottawa-Astana pair using a systematic desk-based analysis of publicly available strategic documents, legislation and policy frameworks, and implementation materials (e.g., roadmaps, program guidelines, departmental plans, and monitoring outputs). Data were analyzed using a structured gap analysis algorithm employing a three-level qualitative compliance scale (Full Compliance, Partial Compliance, and Non-compliance) to assess recipient city status against donor benchmarks across all eight functional dimensions. The results reveal Astana’s partial compliance with the Ottawa benchmark, with moderate readiness and pronounced “hard-soft” asymmetry; that is, greater progress in regard to infrastructure and platforms, but persistent gaps in adaptive regulation, experimentation-friendly legal instruments, and participatory governance. These findings suggest that progressing toward a Smart City 2.0 model requires prioritizing regulatory sandboxes, adaptive procurement pathways for pilots, and scalable civic-tech mechanisms alongside continued investment in talent and innovation ecosystems—understood here as interconnected networks of universities, technology parks, civic-tech communities, and incubation infrastructure that collectively sustain capacity for technology absorption and local adaptation. The proposed paired framework is replicable and supports phased, actionable transfer roadmaps for policymakers. Full article

Background/Objectives: Accurate pedicle screw placement is critical in spine surgery, as malposition can cause neurological, vascular, or visceral injuries and compromise construct stability. The primary objective of this study was to develop and experimentally validate a dual quantitative framework for assessing pedicle screw placement accuracy, combining (1) coaxiality, a standardized geometric metric of trajectory alignment, and (2) pedicle wall distance (dpw), a novel parameter defined as the minimal distance between the screw axis and the pedicle cortex providing surgeons with direct, millimetric, clinically actionable feedback. A secondary objective was to compare these parameters: dpw, coaxiality, entry point errors and orientation angle errors between senior surgeons and residents to evaluate the influence of surgical experience. We hypothesized that this framework would provide reproducible quantitative measurements, demonstrate strong agreement with established CBCT-based grading systems, and allow meaningful subgroup comparisons by experience level. Methods: Eight operators (four senior surgeons, four residents) performed 240 pedicle screw insertions on synthetic polyurethane lumbar spine models using freehand, CBCT-assisted, and navigation-assisted techniques. Predefined 3D trajectories were compared with actual screw positions digitized with sub-millimetric precision. Errors, coaxiality, and dpw were computed, and dpw was validated against CBCT-based Gertzbein and Heary classifications. Agreement and diagnostic performance metrics (Kappa, sensitivity, specificity) were calculated. Results: Of 236 analyzable screws, coaxiality correlated with entry point errors (ρ = 0.41), target point errors (ρ = 0.85), and orientation angle errors (ρ = 0.48), confirming its robustness as an engineering metric. dpw provided immediate, interpretable feedback and demonstrated near-perfect agreement with CBCT grading (Kappa = 0.86; sensitivity = 0.96; specificity = 0.97), detecting breaches missed by qualitative classifications. Subgroup analyses indicated small but significant differences between senior and junior surgeons for target point errors (p = 0.006), orientation angle errors (p = 0.025), and coaxiality (p = 0.023), whereas entry point errors (p = 0.201) and dpw (p = 0.163) did not differ significantly. Conclusions: This dual-metric framework bridges engineering rigor and intraoperative applicability. Coaxiality supports reproducible research assessment, while dpw enables actionable surgical feedback. The framework allows objective comparison across operators of different experience levels. Together, these metrics offer a standardized, clinically relevant, and quantitative method for evaluating pedicle screw placement, with potential to enhance surgical safety, education, and patient outcomes. Full article

This study looks at a selection of newspaper content from 1995 to 2024 that mentions the names of SSRI drugs in passing as jokes, metaphors, or cultural references. These passing mentions of SSRIs are analyzed via qualitative textual analysis, considering stigma and trivialization. The results of the study suggest that stereotypes about SSRIs have been cemented via popular discourse and media coverage and persist today despite nearly 40 years of prescriptions. Mentions of the SSRI drugs in passing suggest the illusion of a post-Prozac society where mental illness has been “fixed” and therefore can be trivialized with little consequence. This work expands upon existing theoretical concepts to propose a new theoretical model—a continuum of trivialization and stigma which may aid researchers in parsing the ways that colloquialization, trivialization and stigma interact and overlap in media texts. Full article

The tourism and hospitality sector in Saudi Arabia is undergoing rapid sustainability transformation under the strategic direction of Vision 2030. This study examines the maturity of Sustainability Actions (SAs), their key drivers, and implementation barriers, comparing the perceptions of industry practitioners and academic experts. Using a qualitative abductive research design based on 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews with industry and academic experts in Saudi Arabia, followed by thematic analysis using a machine learning Qualcoder 3.7 software, the findings reveal both convergence and divergence between the two groups. While both recognize Vision 2030 as the primary catalyst and acknowledge financial costs and knowledge gaps as major barriers, industry experts emphasize operational efficiency and short-term performance outcomes, whereas academics advocate systemic transformation grounded in circular economy principles and long-term socio-ecological regeneration. The results demonstrate that sustainability adoption in Saudi Arabia is shaped not only by market demand but also by a strong government-led institutional framework that accelerates sectoral change. The findings are structured across environmental, social, and economic sustainability dimensions, offering differentiated implications for industry practitioners and academic stakeholders within emerging tourism economies. The study contributes to sustainability and tourism and hospitality literature by offering a comparative multi-perspective analysis and by conceptualizing sustainability transition as a hybrid model combining policy direction, market incentives, and knowledge collaboration. Managerially, the findings highlight the need for regulatory clarity, targeted financial mechanisms, capacity building, and stronger industry–academia integration to institutionalize sustainability practices in emerging tourism economies. Full article

A regenerative economy refers to an economic system that regenerates various forms of capital, including natural resources and social systems, for long-term use. Regenerating these forms of capital enables the sustained improvement of social well-being. This concept differs from a traditional consumption-based economy or a sustainable economy, which primarily aims to secure the satisfaction of future needs. Traditional capitalism has regenerated capital in production but has often consumed natural capital and sometimes degraded social capital. The concept of a regenerative economy provides principles for restoring these forms of capital. This paper discusses how digital transformation (DX) technologies can help realize a regenerative economy, using development projects for DX technologies as case studies. Airport-adjacent districts in three countries—Japan, the Philippines, and Thailand—representing different industrial sectors are examined, and the impacts of these technologies are analyzed based on Fullerton’s concept of a regenerative economy. Based on qualitative assessment, we found that these technologies are expected to contribute to improving some principles of a regenerative economy, but challenges remain in others. As a result, the concept of a regenerative economy can be useful for a conceptual yet holistic assessment of the regeneration of natural and social capital. Full article