Search Results (5,905)

Universities must prepare future professionals with critical thinking skills to effectively address complex social and environmental challenges. In engineering degrees, while technical competences are strongly developed, the acquisition of ethical and social skills remains challenging within the framework of traditional subjects. This paper explores how the integration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), following a competence-based educational model, can contribute to the development of ethical, social, and sustainability-related competences in an engineering degree. A set of activities, exercises, and tasks grounded in real professional contexts was designed to encourage students to explore sustainable solutions to social and environmental problems, supported by experiential learning and visible thinking routines. These activities were coherently aligned through interdisciplinary coordination among professors teaching in the degree. The results indicate that the proposed approach was positively received by both professors and students, who valued its contribution to personal and professional development. Students demonstrated enhanced critical thinking and greater awareness of the social and environmental implications of engineering decisions. This work aims to support and inspire educators seeking to integrate SDGs into their teaching by offering a feasible, transferable, and easy-to-implement framework for embedding ethical, social and sustainability-related competences in engineering teaching. Full article

Background and Objectives: Bladder cancer (BC) represents a significant global health burden, ranking as the tenth most commonly diagnosed malignancy worldwide, with an incidence rate of 5.6 per 100,000 person-years annually. The research team aimed to summarize evidence on specialized nursing-led interventions for bladder cancer management across the disease continuum. Materials and Methods: This scoping review used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) methodology to search four databases from January 2018 to November 2025. Results: This concise but informative scoping review of 20 studies revealed substantial clinical and patient-reported benefits from specialized nursing interventions. Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols incorporating structured nursing care demonstrated a 35% reduction in postoperative complications. Integrated nursing interventions during postoperative intravesical therapy significantly improved patient satisfaction, treatment compliance, and self-efficacy while reducing anxiety and depression. Digital health platforms, including internet-based and mobile applications, proved effective in reducing caregiver burden, enhancing disease knowledge, and improving coping strategies. Preoperative stoma education and postoperative ostomy care management significantly improved self-efficacy, stoma care knowledge, and overall health-related quality of life. Psychosocial interventions, including cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based approaches, demonstrated significant improvements in quality of life and reductions in fear of recurrence, depression, and anxiety. However, a critical evidence gap exists regarding bladder cancer-specific mental health interventions. Conclusions: Specialized nursing-led care plays a critical role in strengthening clinical and assistive practice in bladder cancer. Evidence from this scoping review shows that nursing-led interventions significantly improve clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, symptom management, and quality of life across all phases of bladder cancer care while reducing caregiver burden and enhancing psychological well-being for both patients and families, reinforcing the value of integrating specialized nursing roles into routine bladder cancer management. Full article

Ultrasound-guided femoral vascular access (UFVA) is a crucial step in cardiovascular intervention, yet training models remain costly, anatomically limited, or insufficiently durable. This research aimed to develop and evaluate a reusable, self-healing vascularised leg phantom in collaboration with clinicians. This bifurcating vascular model was cast in Plastisol using a customisable silicone mould design. The material exhibited a Shore OO hardness of 18.0 ± 2.2, a speed of sound of 1454 ± 15 m/s, an acoustic attenuation of 1.66 ± 0.02 × 106 kg/m²s, and healed 18G needle lesions within 3 h. Training capabilities were evaluated in a workshop involving 18 medical students: FVA times improved by more than 60% after 5 min of free practice. Qualitative feedback was collected from 31 medical educators via a seven-question Likert survey, with most reporting they would adopt the phantom for teaching. Phantoms cost £7.87 for materials, yet educators valued the models at £100–£500, underscoring its perceived utility. Compared to commercial alternatives, this in-house production approach reduced costs by 10–60 times, achieving comparable durability and anatomical fidelity. This study establishes a scalable, ultra-low-cost method for producing anatomically realistic, self-healing vascular phantoms, validated for effective skill acquisition in both educational and research settings. Full article

This study explores the integration of Georgi Lozanov’s Suggestopedia with Alain Berthoz’s theory of simplexity as a pedagogical paradigm for inclusive and creative educational design. The research, conducted within the specialization courses for educational support at the University of Salerno, involved 230 trainee teachers engaged in a participatory action-research process aimed at translating suggestopedic principles, positive suggestion, music, and relational harmony into didactic planning. Through a combination of theoretical training, laboratory design activities, and reflective evaluation, participants produced 21 interdisciplinary educational projects assessed according to the properties and rules of simplexity. The results show a high degree of methodological coherence, aesthetic quality, and curricular inclusiveness, with music emerging as a key factor in fostering attention, cooperation, and emotional engagement. Data analysis indicates that the fusion of suggestopedic and simplex approaches promotes adaptive, modular, and meaning-oriented design processes that enhance teachers’ creativity and metacognitive awareness. Overall, the findings highlight the educational value of a pedagogy of resonance, in which body, mind, and environment interact harmoniously. The study concludes that the suggestopedic—simplex model represents a regenerative framework for contemporary didactics, capable of transforming complexity into harmony and restoring to education its aesthetic, relational, and human dimension. Full article

The Erasmus+ YOU4BLUE project represents an interdisciplinary educational initiative aimed at fostering a youth culture of sustainability through hands-on learning, scientific literacy, and critical thinking focused on the marine environment. The project aimed to encourage lasting behavioural change and empower young people to act. It engaged secondary school students aged 14 to 18 on three Mediterranean islands (Sardinia, Crete, and Mallorca) through a blended Place-Based Education (PBE) model that integrates online learning with local, experiential activities. Forty-nine students completed a pre-assessment questionnaire measuring baseline marine ecosystem knowledge, sustainability-related behaviours, and attitudes toward the sea. Following three international exchanges involving the learning activities, roughly the same cohort of students completed post-activity surveys assessing self-perceived knowledge gains and intercultural interaction. Qualitative data from emotional mapping, field observations, and group reflections complemented the quantitative analysis. The results indicate substantial self-perceived increases in students’ understanding of marine ecosystems (+1.0 to +1.7 points on a 5-point scale), enhanced collaboration with international peers, and strengthened environmental awareness. Across all three sites, students applied their learning by co-designing proposals addressing local coastal challenges, demonstrating emerging civic responsibility and the ability to integrate scientific observations into real-world problem solving. These findings suggest that combining place-based education, citizen science, and participatory methods can effectively support the development of sustainability competences among youth in coastal contexts. This study contributes empirical evidence to the growing literature on education for sustainable development and highlights the value of blended, experiential, and intercultural approaches in promoting environmentally responsible behaviour. Full article

Physical Education (PE) is envisioned differently across generations, yet these perspectives can be aligned with contemporary curriculum reform. Guided by Strauss–Howe generational theory and Turkey’s 2025 Türkiye Century Education Model, this qualitative study examines lesson design preferences among teachers (Generations X and Y) and students (Generation Z). Thirty-two purposively selected participants from provinces identified by Ministry success indicators completed semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed through directed content analysis alongside thematic analysis. Findings indicate convergence on gamified, technology-supported, and individualized PE with process-oriented, fair assessment. Teachers endorse this vision while foregrounding constraints associated with infrastructure, time, space, and class size. The emergent profile mirrors the 2025 curriculum’s virtue–value–action orientation and its literacy and socio-emotional competencies. Four priorities translate the framework into implementable design: (i) multi-evidence assessment that captures performance and growth, (ii) systematic differentiation via station-based and modular activity designs, (iii) short feedback cycles coupled with structured student-voice mechanisms, and (iv) strengthened school digital infrastructure with targeted professional learning to build digital pedagogical competence. Overall, the study articulates a generationally informed, feasible architecture for PE that bears implications for curriculum development, teacher education, and school improvement. Full article

Background/Objectives: Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most prevalent musculoskeletal disorders globally, significantly impacting quality of life across diverse populations. Despite its association with middle-aged and older populations, evidence indicates that LBP is increasingly prevalent among younger age groups. Health science students are considered a potential risk factor for LBP; however, longitudinal studies are scarce. This study aims to determine the risk factors for LBP among health science students over a 2-year follow-up. Methods: One hundred ninety-seven of the third-class health science students (Nursing, Physiotherapy, Medical laboratory science, and Emergency Medical services) were contacted in June 2024. A self-administered modified version of the Standardized Nordic Questionnaire, and data about sedentary and physical activity behavior, as well as 1-month LBP (lasting at least 12 h and numeric rating scale > 5) and stress scores, were recorded. Results: A total of 172/197 (87.3%) respondents completed the questionnaire at the end of the 2-year follow-up. The mean age was 25 ± 3.5 (years) and body mass index (BMI) value 23.5 ± 4.3 (kg/m²). About 49% (n = 84) and 20% (n = 34) of the participants had 1-month LBP and functional disability, respectively. No significant association was found between health science programs and the presence of 1-month LBP (χ² = 0.55, p > 0.05). The logistic regression analyses found that males (OR = 0.269, p = 0.005) and a history of pain frequency (OR = 3.377, p = 0.001) had a significant association with LBP over time. Conclusions: This prospective study shows a high prevalence of 1-month LBP (48.8%) among health science students at Zefat Academic College. LBP was significantly related to sex (female) and pain frequency, but not to health science students. We believe that implementing ergonomic and educational strategies is recommended for this population. Full article

(1) Background: Developing cultural competence and reflective communication skills remains a challenge in nursing education. Traditional teaching methods often provide limited opportunities for safe practice of culturally sensitive interactions in emotionally complex situations. Artificial intelligence (AI)–based patient simulations may offer a scalable approach to experiential and reflective learning. (2) Aim: This study explored the educational potential of AI-based patient simulations in supporting nursing students’ self-assessed cultural competence, reflective awareness, and communication confidence. (3) Methods: A convergent mixed-methods pre–post study was conducted among 24 s-cycle nursing students. Participants engaged in individual AI-based patient simulations with simulated patients representing diverse cultural contexts. Quantitative data were collected using an exploratory cultural competence self-assessment scale administered before and after the simulation. Qualitative data included post-simulation reflection forms and AI-student interaction transcripts, analysed using inductive thematic analysis. (4) Results: A statistically significant increase in overall self-assessed cultural competence was observed (Wilcoxon signed-rank test: Z = 4.05, p < 0.001, r = 0.59), with the greatest improvements in communication adaptability and perceived communication sufficiency. Qualitative findings indicated an emotional shift from uncertainty to engagement, heightened awareness of cultural complexity, reflective reassessment of assumptions, and high perceived educational value of AI simulations. (5) Conclusions: AI-based patient simulations represent a promising pedagogical tool for fostering reflective and communication-oriented learning in culturally complex nursing contexts. Their primary value lies in supporting experiential learning, emotional engagement, and the development of cultural humility, suggesting their potential role as a complementary educational strategy in advanced nursing education. Full article

To address the limitations of the original Preschool Education Optimization Algorithm (PEOA) in population diversity preservation and late-stage convergence accuracy, this paper proposes a Multi-strategy Enhanced Preschool Education Optimization Algorithm (MEPEOA). The proposed algorithm integrates an improved population initialization strategy, a multi-strategy collaborative search mechanism, adaptive regulation, and boundary control to achieve a more effective balance between global exploration and local exploitation. The performance of MEPEOA is comprehensively evaluated on IEEE CEC2017 and CEC2022 benchmark suites and compared with several state-of-the-art metaheuristic algorithms, including EWOA, MPSO, L_SHADE, BKA, ALA, BPBO, and the original PEOA. Experimental results demonstrate that MEPEOA achieves superior optimization accuracy and stability on the majority of benchmark functions. For example, on CEC2017 with 30 dimensions, MEPEOA reduces the average fitness value of multimodal function F9 by approximately 73.6% compared with PEOA and by more than 47% compared with EWOA. In terms of stability, the standard deviation of MEPEOA on function F6 is only 4.13 × 10⁻³, which is several orders of magnitude lower than those of EWOA, MPSO, and BKA, indicating highly consistent convergence behavior. Furthermore, MEPEOA exhibits clear advantages in convergence speed and robustness, achieving the best Friedman mean rank across all tested benchmark suites. In addition, MEPEOA is applied to a two-dimensional grid-based path planning problem, where it consistently generates shorter and more stable collision-free paths than competing algorithms. Overall, the proposed MEPEOA demonstrates strong robustness, fast convergence, and superior stability, making it an effective and extensible solution for complex numerical optimization and practical engineering problems. Full article

This paper investigates the knowledge, attitudes, and practical adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (MD) among students of the Teacher Education Study Program in Split. Recent trends indicate a decline in adherence within Mediterranean regions, a phenomenon known as the Mediterranean paradox. Studying the relationship between students’ knowledge and practice is critical within the context of SDG 3 and SDG 4, as it highlights the role of future educators in promoting healthy communities. A quantitative approach was employed using the MDNK methodology, supplemented with the MEDAS test, to assess adherence to the Mediterranean Diet. Statistical analysis included p-values and effect size measures to assess practical relevance. Students averaged 13.39/18 on the MDNK test, with most showing moderate MEDAS adherence and only 5 reaching high adherence. The year of study or employment status has not been shown as an influential factor. While most students possess a high level of knowledge on the MD’s key components and express a positive attitude toward this dietary pattern, a significant knowledge-practice gap exists, confirming the Mediterranean paradox among future teachers. The need for nutritional and food education within the university curriculum is essential to move beyond theoretical instruction and actively promote food literacy and practical skills. Full article

Digital technologies have become increasingly crucial during and, after the COVID-19 pandemic, have sparked significant scientific interest around their impact on sustainable well-being. Despite extensive research, conclusive evidence on whether digital technologies enhance or undermine sustainable well-being remains elusive. Saudi Arabia has made significant progress in its technological infrastructure, but comprehending the implications of this progress still poses a challenge. Drawing on the prior literature and grounded in the theoretical perspective of the Capability Approach, this study proposes five dimensions of digital inclusion (accessibility, usability, digital skills, affordability, and connectivity) and examines their collective influence on students’ sustainable well-being, specifically happiness and life satisfaction. This study employs a cross-sectional design, with data collected from 238 university students in Saudi Arabia using convenience sampling. Ten hypotheses were tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling in SmartPLS-4. This study supports the conceptualization of digital inclusion as a multidimensional construct comprising five key dimensions. The results indicate that affordability, usability, connectivity, and digital skills have a substantial impact on happiness, whereas accessibility, usability, connectivity, and digital skills have a considerable effect on life satisfaction. Nonetheless, the correlations between accessibility and happiness, as well as between affordability and life satisfaction, were not found to be supported. This implies that these dimensions might have different effects on the affective and cognitive aspects of sustainable well-being. These results suggest that digital inclusion may play a role in shaping individuals’ interactions with technology and their perceived sustainable well-being. This study proposes and evaluates a strategic framework that may guide efforts to promote digital inclusion and support sustainable well-being among university students. It provides valuable insights for policymakers, educational institutions, and industry stakeholders seeking to enhance digital access and capabilities. The findings highlight the potential value of developing strategies that address students’ digital needs as part of a holistic approach to sustainable well-being. The findings also highlight the importance of viewing digital inclusion as an interconnected framework, rather than as a set of discrete, unrelated factors. By demonstrating how digital inclusion promotes sustainable well-being, this study contributes to the broader sustainability agenda by highlighting digital equity as an essential component of socially sustainable development in the Saudi context. Full article

Globally, more than 60,000 abandoned open-pit mines have been identified. Most of these sites lack effective management or ecological restoration measures. As a result, they pose substantial environmental and socioeconomic challenges. Against this backdrop, the reuse of quarry wastelands has emerged as a critical strategy for improving resource efficiency and promoting sustainable development in mining regions. Current domestic research mainly concentrates on ecological restoration techniques for abandoned quarry sites. However, systematic methods for prioritizing and ranking alternative reuse models remain limited. This study investigated four quarry reuse models: agricultural production, ecological protection, recreation-based education, and new energy development. The analysis integrated site suitability (${\mathrm{U}}_1$) with residents’ demands (${\mathrm{U}}_2$). Four representative quarry sites in Jiawang District, Xuzhou City, were selected as case studies. Based on coupled matching analysis, a priority identification method for quarry site reuse models was developed. Results indicated divergent prioritization between site suitability and resident demand. Site suitability composite values ranged from 3.9548 to 6.3094. Qishan and Kanshan sites demonstrated high suitability for recreation-based education and agricultural production, while the Dongshan site showed the highest ecological protection suitability. Suitability for emerging energy applications was generally low across all sites. Resident demand composite values showed significant variation across the four models. Recreation-based education demand (${\mathrm{U}}_2$ ranging from 0.3273 to 0.3778) substantially exceeded the other three land use types, with residents generally harbouring a degree of reluctance towards new energy development models. After coupling these factors, the original site suitability rankings were restructured: Qishan and Dongshan were selected for the recreation-based education model; Kanshan for agricultural production; and Changshan for ecological protection. This study offers insights for the diversified utilization of abandoned quarries in rural areas and provides a reference for ecological restoration and transformative development in mining regions. Full article

This study presents a modular battery charging system based on a DC–DC buck converter with proportional–integral (PI) control, developed to support hands-on learning in power electronics education. In response to the need for flexible experimental platforms, the system is designed to bridge theoretical concepts of power conversion and control with practical implementation. The proposed setup employs cascaded current and voltage control loops to achieve constant current (CC) and constant voltage (CV) charging modes, while its modular hardware architecture allows modification of key parameters such as inductance, capacitance, and circuit topology. The control algorithms are implemented on a microcontroller, and real-time data acquisition is integrated using the ThingSpeak platform for monitoring system behaviour. Experimental results show that the current control loop recovers to its reference value within approximately 6 ms under abrupt load variations, whereas the voltage control loop settles within approximately 15 ms, demonstrating stable closed-loop performance. In addition, the system successfully charges a 12 V lead-acid battery following a standard CC–CV charging profile. Overall, the proposed experiment kit provides an effective educational platform and a practical basis for further exploration of battery charging strategies and power converter control. Full article

This article presents a conceptual framework linking responsible leadership competencies to organizational processes relevant for sustainability transformation. A leader’s personal impact is conceptualized as indirect through organizational governance, prioritization, collaboration, and innovation. The article provides a conceptual mapping approach that systematically connects individual leadership competencies with strategic organizational impact areas. The framework builds on the Competency Assessment for Responsible Leadership (CARL) and the Positive Impact Organization (PIO) concept to relate leadership capabilities to organizational transformation requirements. Five responsible leadership competencies—ethics and values, self-awareness, stakeholder relations, change and innovation, and systems thinking—are mapped to five organizational impact areas: governance alignment, sustainability culture, external stakeholder validation, purpose-driven product and service innovation, and transformative sustainability. The article identifies how specific leadership competencies align with distinct organizational leverage points, clarifying the mechanisms through which leaders shape structures, decision processes, cultural norms, and innovation pathways associated with sustainability transformation. By specifying these relationships, the framework distinguishes leadership impact at the organizational level and provides a structured basis for analyzing how leadership competencies contribute to an organization’s capacity for societal and environmental contribution. The framework is applicable to research on responsible leadership and business sustainability and informs leadership development and management education concerned with sustainability-oriented organizational change. Full article

This article documents abrupt lower distribution limits of sessile invertebrates and seaweeds from rocky intertidal habitats on Pacific and Atlantic shores from both hemispheres. The common feature of these striking patterns is that they are caused primarily by slow-moving predators or herbivores coming from lower elevations. This contribution aims at stimulating comparative studies on these fascinating systems as well as providing visual materials of educational value. Full article