Search Results (1,004)

Background: Telehealth is increasingly positioned as a solution for healthcare access among older adults; yet for transgender older adults, its application remains undertheorized, inconsistently implemented, and frequently reductive. Structural barriers, including provider incompetence, administrative misgendering, insurance precarity, and the clinical invisibility of aging transmasculine bodies, shape this population’s relationship to telehealth in ways that existing frameworks have not adequately addressed. Objective: This study examines the structural conditions shaping transmasculine and gender-nonconforming older adults’ engagement with healthcare and telehealth, and centers their visions for transformed, justice-oriented virtual care. Methods: Four semi-structured focus groups (n = 14 transmasculine and gender-nonconforming older adults, ages 40–67) were conducted via Zoom in June 2024 and analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis. The study was designed according to community-based participatory research (CBPR) principles. This study followed the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research guidelines to ensure methodological transparency in reporting. Results: Analysis yielded five themes: (1) the provider competency crisis; (2) administrative violence and the architecture of misgendering; (3) insurance, politics, and the precarity of access; (4) the aging transmasculine body as uncharted clinical territory; and (5) participants’ collective vision for relational, community-centered care. Conclusions: We introduce the Campfire Model of Relational Telehealth, a conceptual framework comprising five empirically derived pillars: gathering, warmth, collective knowledge, safety, and accountability. The model argues that telehealth must move beyond transactional encounters toward a relational ecosystem of care grounded in justice, belonging, and structural transformation. We conclude with a call to action for providers, policymakers, and researchers to dismantle structural barriers and advance telehealth that cultivates dignity, belonging, and equity. Full article

To explore the distribution patterns of plant communities in southwestern Xizang and their relationships to environmental factors, this study focused on providing a theoretical basis for the conservation of biodiversity and ecological restoration of plant communities in the study area. Based on survey data from 87 sample plots in southwestern Xizang, in this study, two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) were employed for quantitative classification and ordination purposes, respectively. Additionally, the diversity of the classified community types obtained was analyzed, along with the factors influencing them. The results indicated that: a total of 295 species of vascular plants belonging to 171 genera and 61 families were recorded in the 87 sample plots; according to TWINSPAN classification, the plants in southwestern Xizang were divided into 17 associations, with the vegetation types being dominated by tussock-forming grass alpine steppes and tussock-forming Kobresia alpine meadows; CCA ordination revealed that the annual average temperature, annual precipitation, and altitude exhibited significant explanatory power; both the α- and β-diversity indices of the coniferous forest community type were the highest, indicating notable community stability; and annual average temperature and annual precipitation significantly affected plant diversity, while the altitude was negatively correlated with the above diversity indices. In summary, the temperature and precipitation were the main environmental factors influencing the composition and distribution of plant communities in southwestern Xizang. The research results could provide a theoretical basis for further investigation and conservation of plant diversity as well as ecological restoration in southwestern Xizang. Full article

Obtaining amorphous forms of drugs is one of the ways to increase bioavailability. This is especially important for active pharmaceutical ingredients belonging to class II and IV according to the biopharmaceutical classification. These compounds include the currently widely used fluoroquinolone antibiotics. They have low solubility in water and are therefore typically used as hydrochlorides. The presence of a strong acid and a charged active pharmaceutical ingredient in the drug increases solubility, but can also lead to additional side effects and decreased permeability. One way to improve the properties of active pharmaceutical ingredients is to convert them to amorphous form. In this study, an amorphous form of the fluoroquinolone antibiotic norfloxacin was obtained, its stability was determined, and its solubility was studied. It was shown that the resulting amorphous form has good temporal stability. The optimal models describing the cold crystallization process are the Nakamura and Sbirrazzuoli models. Despite the slower dissolution kinetics compared to the crystalline sample, the amorphous form shows higher equilibrium solubility values. These results can be used in pharmaceutical engineering to produce amorphous forms of active pharmaceutical ingredients and determine their stability. Full article

Research communities refer to the learning and social environments within which members engage in scholarly activities. Consisting of diverse actors involved in research processes, research communities provide opportunities for doctoral students to become familiar with the shared norms, values and cultures that are particular to each group. Research communities not only allow members to access pertinent knowledge, information and resources, but also offer social support and foster a sense of belonging in academia, helping students to develop into independent scholars. During their studies, doctoral students often participate in various research communities, ranging from the research lab at their institution to international networks connecting researchers from different countries. This paper focuses on ways to guide doctoral students into research communities, both within and outside of their institutions. In addition, it examines the formal and informal processes that facilitate their integration into these communities. Full article

The modern power system is characterized by large-scale networks, diverse types of sources and loads, and complex grid structures. Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) are proposed to address the operation problem after the integration of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs). Optimization problems in the VPP operation are predominantly mixed-integer programming (MIP) problems belonging to the class of NP-hard problems, motivating the application of quantum computers. Focusing on the VPP optimal dispatch problem under wind and solar uncertainty, we employ the Model Predictive Control (MPC) framework to conduct the VPP intraday rolling dispatch. The classical model and the Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) model for the MPC-based intraday rolling dispatch problem are formulated, respectively. The QUBO formulation of the VPP dispatch problem renders it directly solvable by a specialized quantum computer based on dissipative optical systems: the Coherent Ising Machine (CIM). Compared with the benchmark classical solvers, the experimental results demonstrate the significant computational time reduction capability of CIM. Specifically, compared to Gurobi, Simulated Annealing and Tabu Search, the CIM achieves relative computational time reductions of $75.25\%$, $99.95\%$ and $99.96\%$, respectively, while maintaining competitive solution quality. Our work demonstrates the applicability of CIM and its acceleration potential in VPP intraday rolling dispatch, paving the way for the practical application of specialized photonic quantum computers in smart grids. Full article

Regulated cell death is essential for development, tissue homeostasis, host defense, and disease. Beyond apoptosis, it is now clear that other forms of cell death, including ferroptosis, pyroptosis, and necroptosis, also contribute to pathology, often in interconnected rather than isolated ways. Within this broader framework, the transcriptional intermediary factor 1 (TIF1) family, comprising TRIM24, TRIM28, TRIM33, and TRIM66, has emerged as an important group of regulators linking stress adaptation, cell-state control, and cell death susceptibility. Although these proteins belong to the same family, they influence cell death through distinct and context-dependent mechanisms. Across the TIF1 family, apoptosis is by far the most extensively studied cell death phenotype, whereas links to ferroptosis, pyroptosis, and necroptosis remain more limited, more context dependent, and more unevenly distributed across individual members. Cell death often becomes evident when TIF1-dependent stress-buffering programs are disrupted, highlighting both their biological importance and potential therapeutic relevance. At the same time, family-level differences are emerging, while the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood, and recent advances in this field have not been synthesized. This review summarizes how TIF1 family members intersect with different cell death programs, discusses emerging translational opportunities and challenges, and highlights key mechanistic questions for future study. Full article

This study examines how Syrian migrants in Turkey—who generally have temporary protection status—adapt to their new environment, focusing on their sense of belonging, social acceptance, and social interaction. In this research, acculturation is considered not only as a one-way adaptation process but also as a multidimensional and mutually evaluated process that emerges through various variables such as the relationships migrants establish with the host society, their intercultural communication experiences, and their daily life practices. The study, conducted using a qualitative research design, is based on data obtained from in-depth interviews with semi-structured questions conducted with 20 Syrian migrants who have resided in various cities in Turkey for at least 5 years. The data emerging from the interviews were analyzed using descriptive-thematic analysis. The findings reveal that positive social contact and interaction within the social structure reinforce the sense of belonging; conversely, discrimination, exposure to exclusion, and legal uncertainty negatively affect acculturation processes. The study contributes to the literature by providing a context-sensitive analysis of acculturation, emphasizing the role of social interaction, belonging, and social acceptance in shaping migrants’ experiences. Full article

In geometric communication networks, a backbone is useful only if it is inexpensive to build and, at the same time, close enough to the demand points it must serve. This paper studies a backbone design problem in geometric communication networks that explicitly captures this trade-off between connectivity and user coverage. Two classical combinatorial optimization paradigms—the minimum spanning tree (MST), which promotes low-cost connectivity, and the dominating tree (DT), which additionally enforces that every node either belongs to the backbone or is adjacent to an active backbone node—are considered. To compare both paradigms within a common framework, this paper proposes a unified mixed-integer optimization model that balances backbone-construction and user-assignment costs. Three classes of exact formulations, namely MTZ, single-flow, and cut-set formulations, are developed. In particular, the single-flow model with valid inequalities and root-aware connectivity cuts is strengthened. For larger instances, the exact approach is complemented with a local branching matheuristic. Finally, theoretical results on computational complexity, formulation structure, and dominance relations between the MST and DT models are provided. Computational experiments show that the single-flow formulation achieves the best scalability. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis with respect to the communication radius and the weighting parameter $\alpha$ reveals a structural transition: as the network becomes denser or the objective becomes more coverage-oriented, MST and DT solutions tend to converge. The results give a concrete way to identify when domination constraints are worth imposing and when a simpler spanning tree design already captures the relevant structure. Full article

Engineering programs in the United States continue to struggle with high attrition and limited diversity. This study investigates an unconventional solution: a narrative-based intervention where students write and perform their own engineering stories to build resilience and improve retention. While engineering curricula typically emphasize technical rigor, this research explores how a storytelling intervention influenced undergraduate students’ perceptions of their sense of belonging, professional identity, and persistence. The intervention, implemented across six semesters in diverse engineering disciplines, engaged students in developing and performing personal stories about their engineering journeys. Utilizing inductive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 17 participants, we investigated how the narrative process influenced student perceptions. Results: Participants reported that the intervention positively influenced their identity development. Most participants reported a strengthened or reaffirmed intention to remain in the field. Our findings suggest that storytelling provided students with a structured way to discuss struggle, connect with peers, and see themselves more clearly as part of engineering. Those shifts may matter for retention, especially for students who otherwise feel isolated. Full article

Religion, culture, and ethnic heritage play a significant role in shaping migrant identities. This paper examines the interplay of these factors in the identity formation of African Christian migrants in Europe, with a particular focus on second-generation (2G) migrants. It analyzes how 2G individuals negotiate Western secular values alongside Pentecostal orientations in ways that facilitate upward social mobility. The study is based on a critical review of the existing literature, compared with lived realities of migrants in the Netherlands. Drawing on empirical research from various European contexts, the paper aims to provide a rigorous and multidimensional account of intergenerational identity reconstruction among 2G African Christians. By centring the Pentecostal family as a primary site of socialization, the paper explores how 2G African Christians simultaneously distance themselves from, and selectively adapt, elements of indigenous African spirit cosmologies in pursuit of secular, achievement-oriented goals. This dialectical engagement reflects a broader generational shift: while first-generation migrants tend to rely heavily on religion and religious institutions as mechanisms of integration, 2G migrants increasingly prioritize secular aspirations while navigating socioeconomic structures, negotiating belonging, and constructing hybrid forms of transnational identity. In doing so, the paper contributes to scholarship on how 2G African migrants in Europe mobilize Pentecostal spirituality as a resource for achieving secular objectives. Full article

In recent years, young people have often been portrayed as increasingly detached from traditional forms of religious belonging. Nevertheless, religious affiliation continues to shape how individuals interpret the world—that is, the cultural frameworks and value systems through which, in Weberian terms, they ascribe meaning to an otherwise indeterminate reality. Drawing on a survey conducted among a sample of young Italians in Rome, this study examines the relationship between youth and values by comparing believers and non-believers. The data are weighted to reflect the demographic structure of a comparable population in the European Social Survey. The article explores the intersections between religiosity, spirituality, value orientations, and forms of social participation among young Romans. It relies on a wide range of indicators capturing attitudes toward religion and society, religious and spiritual practices, and the perceived importance of various social issues. The analysis focuses on differences between spiritual and non-spiritual believers, practicing and non-practicing believers, and non-believers. The central questions guiding the study are: What distinguishes young believers from their non-believing peers in these domains? And how do these groups differ in their orientations when classified in this way? Full article

Perhaps one of the most defining ‘techniques of the body’ for human beings is bi-pedal walking. This study brings together studies in socio-cultural anthropology to reflect on the nature of walking as a field method in different social-environmental contexts. The study offers an account of walking in relation to natural history, urban studies and contemporary conservation science. How has walking served as a field method in different knowledge-making contexts, and how does it afford an experiential way of being and belonging (or not) in urban and rural settings? By reflecting on such themes, this paper sheds light on the many ways that people walk, and the places, physical and metaphorical, that it takes them and allows them to discover, reveal, and understand. Full article

The ambition of policymakers to ‘raise aspirations’ among young people from disadvantaged backgrounds as a means for improving social mobility in Britain has been a mainstay of political rhetoric for the last three decades. Reports such as Higher Education in the Learning Society in 1997, Unleashing Aspiration in 2009, and Success as a Knowledge Economy in 2016 are all underpinned by an ideology of neoliberal meritocracy that has transcended political parties and governments since the Thatcher administration. Even those who lean more to the left of the Labour Party within contemporary Britain have perpetuated this narrative by reframing it as ‘working-class ambition’. This paper advances an alternative view which reconceptualises the way in which young people from non-privileged backgrounds experience and perceive the world, and their place within it. Drawing upon our work on Connected Belonging in 2025 and our research on the From the Centre to the Periphery project in 2025, we suggest that ‘hopeful optimism’ offers a more realistic lens through which to understand what is needed to address the ‘personal troubles and public issues’ that young people face. Unlike aspiration, which has an inherently individualistic and future-orientated framing, with value systems directed by dominant hegemonic notions of ‘success’ that are commonly positioned in economic terms, we recognise optimism as being a holistic and relational process that resides in the present as well as looks to the future. Optimism, grounded within principles of hope, allows young people the freedom to be and to dream; by celebrating who they are and their interconnectedness, it protects them from fears of failure; by reimaging what success might mean, it liberates them as creators. Full article

This article investigates narrative and storytelling as critical methods for understanding how relationships with land in Aotearoa New Zealand are shaped by colonial histories and ongoing systemic displacement of Māori (Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa). Colonialism is not a past event; it continues to structure daily life, disrupting our embodied connections to whenua (land) and reshaping what we call home. Drawing on the research project Tō mātou kāinga, tō mātou ūkaipō, Whānau conceptions of home we explore the concept of body–land, emerging from Indigenous women’s struggles and grounded knowledges, to examine how the land is not only a living genealogical ancestor but also a maker of our bodies and identities. Through narrative, we trace the ways land has been taken and commodified under colonial logics that frame it as property to be owned and extracted from, which contrasts with Indigenous ontologies that understand land as kin and relationality as central to existence. By centering Māori women’s embodied experiences, this article articulates home as a relationship rather than a fixed place and considers how these understandings open pathways toward relational, sustainable futures. This work contributes to broader conversations on decolonial praxis, Indigenous feminist theory, and the embodied politics of land and belonging. Full article

Metformin has stood as the primary clinical tool for type 2 diabetes for decades, yet its potential reach into oncology and gerontology is only now being critically dissected. This review evaluates how metformin might actually pull the levers of cancer progression and biological aging. Evidence from across various models suggests that the drug works by recalibrating cellular energy homeostasis—specifically by triggering AMPK and dampening the mTOR pathway. This signaling shift ripples through downstream processes like autophagy and oxidative stress regulation, theoretically slowing tumor growth and pushing back against cellular senescence. However, our look at the literature from PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science shows a messy reality where preclinical success often stalls during clinical translation. Even though observational data point toward lower cancer rates in diabetic cohorts, these “wins” are frequently skewed by clinical confounders and inconsistent data. This makes the leap from metabolic control to a broad-spectrum anti-aging or anticancer therapy a point of serious contention. We argue that only large-scale, randomized trials can truly verify if metformin is safe and effective for non-diabetic populations. In the end, untangling these molecular routes is the only way to see if metformin belongs in future oncological or healthy aging strategies. That being said, at least mechanistically, metformin definitely offers potential that warrants such large-scale research. Full article