The expansion of Open World Video Games (OWVGs) has seen the emergence of multiple new fictional worlds. This type of video game is characterized by total immersion in a world built for the players entertainment. What videogames developers want when players enter an OWVG is that they could feel like if they were open a door to an entirely new world and leave the real world behind. These virtual worlds manifest as a complement, an alternative, or the successor to the physical universe, and in some way continue the philosophical tradition of possible worlds begun by Leibniz. Accustomed to ‘surviving’ in hostile environments, millions of people continued to improve their skills in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic while locked in their homes. Once the pandemic seems to start to be left behind, the paper analyzes the virtual worlds created by the video games and the relations between the pandemic and these fictional worlds.

Real-world evidence (RWE) is increasingly involved in the early benefit assessment of medicinal drugs. It is expected that RWE will help to speed up approval processes comparable to RWE developments in vaccine research during the COVID-19 pandemic. Definitions of RWE are diverse marking the highly fluid status in this field. So far, RWE comprises information produced from data routinely collected on patient’s health status and/or delivery of health care from various sources other than traditional clinical trials. These sources can include electronic health records, claims, patient-generated data including in home-use settings, data from mobile devices as well as patient, product and disease registries. The aim of the present update was to review the current RWE developments and guidelines mainly in the U.S., the UK, Europe and Germany field during the last decade. RWE has already been included in various approval procedures of regulatory authorities reflecting its actual acceptance and growing importance in evaluating and accelerating new therapies. However, since the RWE research is still in a transition process and since a number of gaps in this field have been explored, more guidance and a consented definition are necessary to increase the implementation of real-world data.

The deterioration of gait can be used as a biomarker for ageing and neurological diseases. Continuous gait monitoring and analysis are essential for early deficit detection and personalized rehabilitation. The use of mobile and wearable inertial sensor systems for gait monitoring and analysis have been well explored with promising results in the literature. However, most of these studies focus on the technologies for gait characteristic assessment, few of them have considered the data acquisition bandwidth of the sensing system. Inadequate sampling frequency will sacrifice signal fidelity, thus leading to an inaccurate estimation especially for spatial gait parameters. In this work, we developed an inertial sensor based in-shoe gait analysis system for real-time gait monitoring and investigated the optimal sampling frequency to capture all the information on walking patterns. An exploratory validation study was performed using an optical motion capture system on four healthy adult subjects, where each person underwent five walking sessions, giving a total of 20 sessions. Percentage mean absolute errors (MAE%) obtained in stride time, stride length, stride velocity, and cadence while walking were 1.19%, 1.68%, 2.08%, and 1.23%, respectively. In addition, an eigen-analysis based graphical descriptor from raw gait cycle signals was proposed as a new gait metric that can be quantified by principal component analysis to differentiate gait patterns, which has great potential to be used as a powerful analytical tool for gait disorder diagnostics.

Process mining offers significant services in the development of digital threads and digital twin applications for healthcare. One of the sub-emerging case studies is the use of patients’ location data in process mining analyses. While the streamlining of published works is focused on introducing process discovery algorithms, there is a necessity to address challenges beyond that. Literature analysis indicates that explainability, reasoning, and characterizing the root causes of process drifts in healthcare processes is an important but overlooked challenge. In addition, incorporating domain-specific knowledge into process discovery could be a significant contribution to process mining literature. To address this, we present the DIAG approach that consists of a meta-model and an algorithm that enables diagnosing in process mining through an ontology-driven approach. With DIAG, we modeled the healthcare semantics in a process mining application and diagnosed the causes of drifts in patients’ pathways. We performed an experiment in a hospital living lab to examine the effectiveness of the DIAG approach.

Background: The reference test for SARS-CoV-2 detection is the reverse transcriptase real time PCR (real time RT-PCR). However, evidences reported that real time RT-PCR has a lower sensitivity compared with the droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) leading to possible false negative in low viral load cases. Methods: We used ddPCR for viral genes N1 and N2 on 20 negative (no detection) samples from symptomatic hospitalized COVID-patients presenting fluctuating real time RT-PCR results and 10 suspected samples (Ct value>35) from asymptomatic not hospitalized subjects. Results: ddPCR performed on RNA revealed 65% of positivity for at least one viral target in the hospitalized patients group of samples (35% for N1 and N2, 10% only for N1 and 20% only for N2) and 50% in the suspected cases (30% for N1 and N2, while 20% only for N2). On hospitalized patients’ samples, we applied also a direct ddPCR approach on the swab material, achieving an overall positivity of 83%. Conclusion: ddPCR, in particular the direct quantitation on swabs, shows a sensitivity advantage for the SARS-CoV-2 identification and may be useful to reduce the false negative diagnosis, especially for low viral load suspected samples.

Establishment of diagnostic methods with low detection limits plays a critical role in the maintenance of early diagnosis, prevention of serious neurological complications, and control of the spread of ZIKA. In this study, we established the micro-droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) and real-time fluorescent quantification PCR (qPCR) protocols for the detection of Zika virus based on the NS5 gene. For the Zika standard plasmid, the standard curve of R² was 0.999, and the amplification efficiency was 92.203%, as determined by qPCR. Both ddPCR and qPCR were positive for cell culture of Zika nucleic acid.The minimum detection limit of ddPCR is 1–2 times lower than qPCR. Moreover, all tests of Dengue virus (1–4 serotypes) were negative in cell culture. Overall, these results suggested than ddPCR may have a lower limit of detection than qPCR.

Nowadays, the transactions carried out with digital currencies are increasing. Citizens are asked to respond to growing challenges related to the sustainable management of digital currencies in their daily lives. However, due to the lack of digital skills of users, the sustainable management of digital currencies hides risks. The methodology of this study was based on the Digital Competence Framework for Citizens (DigComp) and is applied through a questionnaire completed by 443 respondents. The main objective was to evaluate their digital skills from the perspective of digital currency use. The analysis of the responses was carried out by using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The most important result from this research reveals that users of digital currencies are significantly capable of developing sustainable communication to solve everyday problems. At the same time, users of digital currencies mostly detect digital threats and effectively manage fake news without being affected by them. However, users of digital currencies consider that security issues are important, but only for transactions and not for their supporting functions. The study concludes with suggestions for improving the experience of digital currency users through individual actions, thus having a positive impact on the state and banking institutions.

In the paper, we explore the notion of global digital citizenship, particularly with respect to museums and cultural heritage organizations. In this perspectives study, we explore current examples of how museums can adapt to the tenets of global digital citizenship necessary to navigate and participate in increasingly interconnected digital worlds and culture, and to collectively address global challenges.

A new method for short circuit fault location is proposed based on instantaneous signal measurement and its derivatives, and is based on the retardation phenomena. The difference between the times in which a signal is registered in two detectors is used to locate the fault. Although a description of faults in terms of a lumped circuit is useful for elucidating the methods for detecting the fault. This description will not suffice to describe the fault signal propagation hence a distributed models is needed which is given in terms of the telegraph equations. Those equations are used to derive a transmission line transfer function, and an exact analytical description of the short circuit signal propagating in the transmission line is obtained. The analytical solution was verified both by numerical simulations and experimentally.

Digital transformation has become the top priority for 80% of sports companies worldwide, but statistics show that between 70% and 95% of all digital transformation projects fail due to signif-icant and varied challenges that sports companies face during the process of digital transfor-mation. This is because strategy, not digital technology, drives digital transformation, and suc-cess is unlikely without a mature digital transformation model. Moreover, the digital transfor-mation model of developing and emerging markets is not the same and cannot be adopted as a blueprint. Therefore, the aim of this research was to propose a framework for the digital trans-formation maturity of esports businesses in developing and emerging markets. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 15 stakeholders of esports businesses in Iran. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the interviews, and three main perspectives were identified: (1) enablers, (2) digital resilience and capabilities, and (3) digital transformation ma-turity stages. The enablers were formed by six sub-themes, including governance and leader-ship, strategy, culture and skills, innovation, technology, and data. Digital resilience and capa-bilities were formed by four sub-themes, including business model and ecosystem, digital cus-tomer experience, digital employee experience, and digital processes. Additionally, it was found that digital transformation maturity stages are based on four stages of digital beginners, digital followers, digital conservatives, and digital leaders. The findings indicate that moving towards digital transformation and achieving digital resilience in esports businesses will be impossible without synergy between enablers and digital resilience and capabilities. This framework can be useful for esports businesses to evaluate their current digital status and effectively guide them towards a desirable digital status. Furthermore, esports businesses can prioritize their efforts and resources for digital transformation by focusing on targeted capabilities and enablers and ensure more effective and efficient allocation of resources towards digital transformation.

Cognitive scientists have paid very little attention to magic as a distinctly human activity capable of creating situations or events that are considered impossible because they violate expectations and conclude with the apparent transgression of well-established cognitive and natural laws. And even though magic techniques appeal to all known cognitive processes from sensing, attention and perception to memory and decision making, the relation between science and magic has so far been mostly unidirectional, with the primary goal of unraveling how magic works. Building up from the deconstruction of a classic magic trick, we provide here a cognitive foundation for the use of magic as a unique and largely untapped research tool to dissect cognitive processes in tasks arguably more natural than those usually exploited in artificial laboratory settings. Magicians can submerge every spectator into the precise experimental protocol they have previously designed, accounting with ease for both circumstantial and social contexts. Magicians do not base the success of their experiments in statistical measures that smear out the individual in favor of an average spectator that we know never exists in the real world. They target each and everyone in the audience and, often, with a complete accomplishment. Magicians deliver their cognitive manipulations in real-time, in tight closed-loop with the audience, and in a single trial (they cannot afford to repeat the trick if it fails). Magic has also an inherent and strong social component, merging the private cognitive processes of each spectator with the group dynamics. Finally, when combined with the wide range of precise measuring and wearable technologies available today, magic paves the way for a road not taken towards real-world cognitive science. We dare to speculate that some of the mysteries of how the brain works may be trapped in the split realities present in each magic effect.

Nowadays, security is a top priority. In fact, biometrics uses cutting-edge technologies to identify terrorists and criminals. But the practice of distinguishing humans based on intrinsic physical or behavior traits goes back thousands of years. With the widespread use of computers in the late 20th century, new possibilities for digital biometrics emerged and new technologies were generously used. Among these, we remember high resolution security video cameras and drones. So, the aim of the present project is to study and explain the features of these technologies, especially the ones of the the Phantom 4 Pro+ aircraft and analyze its operating methods in order to identify human faces during live streaming of videos. For this purpose, it will be used Paul Viola and Michael Jones’ face detection algorithm, which includes Haar features and cascade classifiers to identify faces, eyes and ears of an individual.

We investigate wealth accumulation in forestry, assuming that revenues are re-invested. Three different optimization criteria are compared, two of which are based on cash flows, the third financially grounded. Direct optimization of wealth appreciation rate always yields best results. Procedures gained by maximizing internal rate of return are only slightly inferior. With external discounting interest rate, the maximization of net present value yields arbitrary results, with at worst devastating financial consequences.

The changing of banking customer preferences after Covid-19 pandemic encourages banking transformation. Neobanks emerges as innovation in banking that enter the market to compete with the incumbent banks by offering new digital experience for customer. This paper analyzes the neobanks which transformed from traditional bank, specifically its efficiency after they implement digital transformation. Efficiency is measured by using Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). This study also uses Pooled Mean Group (PMG) of Panel ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lagged) to investigate digital transformation as one of determinants neobank’s efficiency, as well as to examine the existence of short-term and long-term relationship between digital transformation and efficiency. The SFA results show that the efficiency of the neobanks increase after they carry out digital transformation. Furthermore, from PMG Panel ARDL, it can be concluded that digital transformation is one of determinant of efficiency and there is longevity relationship between digital transformation and efficiency. In the short run, digital transformation has a significant and negative correlation with efficiency and in the long run, it has a significant positive relationship because initially digital transformation cost for operational and risk management innovation decreases the profit efficiency, but afterwards it increases the profit efficiency.

The COVID-19 crisis has emphasized the importance of digital transformation of SMEs and has served as an accelerator. Digital transformation empowers SMEs to rethink the way they make decisions and apply technology in meaningful and sustainable ways. The purpose of this study is to explore the role of digital transformation, fostered by COVID-19, and its potential contribution to the sustainability of SMEs. This paper examines a new conceptual framework designed on resource-based theory perspectives by using a survey data of 246 SMEs in Latvia and employing mediation analysis. The main findings of the study are that digital orientation and digital capability have direct positive effects on digital transformation; higher levels of digital orientation and capability, mediated by digital transformation, lead to higher revenue; as well as a more sophisticated business model in the case of digital orientation. Even if we cannot confirm that higher digital capability, mediated by digital transformation, leads to a more sophisticated business model, we found statistically significant direct effects from digital capability to digital transformation and from digital transformation to business model. These findings can be useful for policymakers, managers and practitioners to clarify how digital orientation, digital capability intermediated through digital transformation affect sustainability of SMEs.

Proposed study aims to investigate the digital transformation of Greek small and medium enterprises (SMEs), with a particular focus on their digital maturity and the strategic and organizational factors contributing to digital transformation. The research issue of digital transformation is attracting considerable interest among academics and business practicians since COVID-19 accelerated the procedure of implementing Industry’s 4.0 principles all over global economies. Quantitative research on 147 Greek SMEs revealed most important issues on how these businesses implement digital transformation, factors accelerating or decelerating the process, barriers and expected outcomes. Research enlights how SMEs face the transition to digital business and reveals the factors that can facilitate the whole process. Results can be valuable for stakeholders enabled to digital transformation process from both business and academic point of view, while there exist aspects that can contribute to policy makers / motivation developers in state’s level as well.

With the advancement of the economy and society, policymakers acknowledge the significance of improving rural households' well-being as a crucial factor in promoting sustainable economic and social development. Based on the matching data of China Household Finance Survey and Digital Rural County Index, this study empirically examines the effect and mechanisms of digital village construction on subjective well-being of rural households. The results revealed that digital village construction has a significant improvement in their subjective well-being. The impact of digital village construction is particularly significant in rural areas located in the western regions of China, as well as among households possessing higher levels of human capital. The process through which digital village construction enhances the subjective well-being of rural households involves the augmentation of household income, the promotion of non-farm employment opportunities, and the enhancement of rural governance. This study provides robust micro-empirical evidence highlighting the positive welfare effects of digital rural construction. This study provides insights into the digital village construction within the happiness economy framework, offering a new perspective. The imperative to strengthen rural digital infrastructure and improve farmers' proficiency in modern information skills is a strategic policy aimed at enhancing well-being of rural households.

This study assesses the dynamic relationship between macroeconomic factors and bank asset quality based on changes in the condition of stock market returns. A Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) model is employed, using panel data from 18 universal banks spanning the period 2007 to 2021. The analysis revealed that the real GDP growth rate, the average lending rate, and the real exchange rate represent a set of macroeconomic factors with a marked influence on banks' asset quality. In addition, a high inflation rate was found to exert an adverse effect on asset quality, as it affects borrowers' financial ability to meet loan repayment obligations. Furthermore, the study verified the existence of a positive relationship between market condition and asset quality, which implies that bank performance adapts to changes in market conditions as posited under the Adaptive Market Hypothesis (AMH). Bank managers should consolidate banks' asset bases during conditions of market stability to withstand periodic market fluctuations to boost trading momentum. Policy recommendations are suggested to foster a conducive business environment for bank stability.

Investors are currently obliged to take ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) issues into consideration as part of their fiduciary duty. As such, it becomes increasingly important to identify sustainable investments that hold financial value as well. A sector where this is especially underdeveloped is real estate. This has a lot to do with the obfuscated conceptualization of ESG. The article identifies key gaps in literature and practice, and provides a framework to further the understanding of how ESG factors can add societal and financial value in the real estate sector. A key premise of the article is that the user in the building is grossly overlooked. Drawing on insights from behavioral social science and environmental psychology, the paper explains the role of the user in improving buildings’ ESG, also taking into account the investment value. To conclude, the article makes the case that the transition to user-centered smart real estate is the solution to improving both the environmental (E) and social (S) sustainability of buildings, as well as their investment value. Therefore, practitioners and academics are encouraged to critically evaluate and contextualize the ESG framework they are using, as well as the extent to which users are considered and smart technology is employed.

Extending from the current Elaboration likelihood model scholarship, this article proposes a framework for applying ELM to cricket bat purchase. Professional cricketers or fans require comprehensive and adequate pieces of information about cricket bat through the Internet. Buyers simultaneously encourage internet reviews for product impressions, and they experience meaningful associations. ELM and the Internet exemplify the cricket bat buying process by engaging buyers with product specification and create a meaningful relationship between buyers and sellers. At the same time, buyers feel empowered to choose a product of their choice. Describing the Elaboration likelihood model, we have facilitated an approach for cricket bats buying. This article has explored how ELM through the Internet can encourage buyers to be informative about cricket bats while silencing retailers' voices and visions into a unique buyer-seller relationship.

Currently, large volumes of data are being collected on farms using multimodal sensor technol-ogies. These sensors measure the activity, housing conditions, feed intake, and health of farm animals. With traditional methods, the data from farm animals and their environment can be collected intermittently. However, with the advancement of wearable and non-invasive sensing tools, these measurements can be made in real-time for continuous quantitation relating to clinical biomarkers, resilience indicators, and behavioral predictors. The digital phenotyping of humans has drawn enormous attention recently due to its medical significance, but much research is still needed for the digital phenotyping of farm animals. Implications from human studies show great promise for the application of digital phenotyping technology in modern livestock farming, but these technologies must be directly applied to animals to understand their true capacities. Due to species-specific traits, certain technologies required to assess phenotypes need to be tailored ef-ficiently and accurately. Such devices allow for the collection of information that can better inform farmers on aspects of animal welfare and production that need improvement. By explicitly ad-dressing farm animals’ individual physiological and mental (affective states) needs, sensor-based digital phenotyping has the potential to serve as an effective intervention platform. Future re-search is warranted for the design and development of digital phenotyping technology platforms that create shared data standards, metrics, and repositories.

Livestock contribute towards household food security in rural communities through income generation and provision of animal-source food. However, livestock system are fragile for example, in Zimbabwe, communities face challenges such as fewer buyers, poor infrastructure, and information asymmetry when selling livestock. Emerging digital platforms promise opportunities to address these challenge but only anecdotal evidence exist. This paper uses data from Beitbridge to explore the potential of digital platforms to revitalise the livestock auction system. Study findings show that digital platforms are designed with affordances which can help overcome challenges within the livestock system. However, these digital platforms are also fraught with hidden complexities such as power dynamics. Thus, despite digital platforms’ affordances, their design inherently extends beyond technical functions. Therefore, there is an urgent need for discussions exploring the contrast between affordances and complexities to enable target users to make informed decisions on the adoption and use of digital platforms.

Abstract Despite the lightning-fast advances in the management of SARS-CoV after 2 years of pandemic, COVID-19 continues to pose a challenge for fragile patients, who could benefit from early administration of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to reduce the risk of severe disease progression. We conducted a prospective study to evaluate effectiveness of mAbs against SARS-CoV-2 among patients at risk for severe disease progression, namely elderly and those with comorbidities, before the omicron variant surge. Patients were treated with either casirivimab/imdevimab, sotrovimab, and bamlanivimab/etesevimab. The rates and risk factos for clinical worsening, hospitalization, ICU admission and death (unfavourable outcomes) were evaluated. A stratified analysis according to the presence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG was also performed. Among 185 included patients, we showed low rates of unfavorable outcomes (9.2%), which were more frequent in patients with chronic kidney disease (aOR: 10.44, 95CI: 1.73-63.03; p<0.05) and basal D-dimer serum concentrations >600 ng/ml (aOR 21.74, 95CI: 1.18-397.70; p<0.05). Patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 serology at baseline showed higher C-reactive protein values compared with patients with positive serology (p <0.05) and showed a trend toward a higher admission rate to SICU and ICU compared with patients with positive serology. Our results thus showed, in a real-life setting, the efficacy of mAbs against SARS-CoV-2 before Omicron surge when the available mabs become not effective.

Most traditional theories of intelligence have little to do with the question of whether people with high intelligence can successfully address real world problems. A high IQ is correlated with many important outcomes (e.g., academic prominence, reduced crime), but it does not protect against cognitive biases, partisan thinking, reactance, confirmation bias, and even falling for discredited beliefs such as alchemy, cold fusion, and astrology. There are several newer theories that directly address the question about solving real-world problems. Prominent among them is Sternberg’s adaptive intelligence with “adaptation to the environment” as the central premise, a construct that does not exist on standardized IQ tests (e.g., Sternberg, 2019). Similarly, Stanovich and West (2014) argue that standardized tests of intelligence are not measures of rational thought—the sort of skill/ability that would be needed to address complex real-world problems. Halpern and Butler (2020) advocate for critical thinking as a better model of intelligence for addressing real-world problems than those that are based on psychometric properties of general intelligence. Yes, intelligence (i.e., critical thinking) can be enhanced and used for solving a real-world problem like Covid-19, which we use as an example of contemporary problems that need a new approach. Critical thinking may be an antidote for the chaos of the modern world.

This paper examines how housing prices are determined by macroeconomic factors in Saudi Arabia, namely, Gross Domestic Product Per capita (GDPP), Consumer Prices Index (CPI), and Unemployment Rate (UNEMP). Quarterly data for a period (2014q1 – 2019q4) were collected from publications of Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA). Vector Autoregression Analysis (VAR) is employed to capture the dynamic effect of the variables on housing prices. Granger Causality, Variance Decomposition and Impulse response function are also used. The results show that housing prices are insignificantly and positively related to GDPP, whereas it is negatively related to both (CPI & UNEMP). Only CPI has a significant relationship. The three variables, jointly, have Granger causality on HPI. Variance decompositions show that CPI is the variable with the highest explanatory power over the variation of housing prices, followed by GDPP and the UNEMP respectively indicating that CPI is the most influential determinants for housing prices.

This study aims to explore significant present and future trends in accounting and corporate sustainability by examining publications from the Web of Science database spanning from 2010 to 2023. With a particular focus on research related to the digital business environment, the study employs bibliometric analysis grounded in the resource-based view theory to investigate the evolution of auditing and digital accounting research. Utilizing the VOSviewer tool, the study analyzes keyword relationships and their geographical distribution based on a comprehensive examination of 700 publications from the Web of Science. The findings highlight the transformative impact of auditing and digital accounting on business operations in response to rapid digitization. Key clusters identified shed light on digital transformation and the intersection between information technology and corporate management, revealing the evolving research landscape. The study discusses both practical and theoretical implications arising from these findings.

In the face of geopolitical threats in Artsakh, the preservation of Armenia's epigraphic heritage has become a mission of both historical and cultural urgency. This project delves deep into Armenian inscriptions, employing advanced digital tools and strategies like the Oxygen text editor and EpiDoc guidelines to efficiently catalogue, analyze, and present these historical treasures. Amidst the adversities posed by Azerbaijan's stance towards Armenian heritage in Artsakh, the digital documentation and preservation of these inscriptions have become a beacon of cultural resilience. The XML-based database ensures consistent data, promoting scholarly research and broadening accessibility. Integrating the Grabar Armenian dictionary addressed linguistic challenges, enhancing data accuracy. This initiative goes beyond merely preserving stone and text; it is a testament to the stories, hopes, and enduring spirit of the Armenian people in the face of external threats. Through a harmonious blend of technology and traditional knowledge, the project stands as a vanguard in the fight to ensure that Armenia's rich epigraphic legacy and the narratives they enshrine remain undiminished for future generations.

This study aimed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of a mobile application by comparing its diagnoses to those of Orofacial Pain and Oral Medicine specialists and further imaging results (TMJ CBCT and MRI) in 500 patients with temporomandibular disorder (TMD). The research focused on three diagnostic categories: initial specialist diagnoses, final diagnoses after imaging, and the mobile app's diagnoses. The concordance rate, sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value of the diagnoses were examined, with further imaging serving as the gold standard. The mobile app demonstrated a high concordance rate compared to both final (0.93) and initial specialist diagnoses (0.86). Sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive values also indicated strong reliability, affirming the app's diagnostic validity. Although the concordance rate was slightly lower when comparing the app's diagnoses to imaging results (CBCT and MRI), specialist diagnoses yielded similar results. The study suggests that user-friendly diagnostic mobile applications, based on the Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders, could enhance the clinical management of TMD. Given the reliability of mobile applications for diagnostic purposes, their wider implementation could facilitate the provision of appropriate and timely treatments for patients with TMD.

"Metaverse" as a term came to the fore in 2021 when Facebook rebranded its corporate identity to Meta, and signaled its intention to invest at least $10 billion in developing the concepts and related products that year. However, there is still little consensus in defining what constitutes the metaverse, although there is a widespread, though not universal, agreement that it will bring a wide range of benefits across society. More specifically, the advent, and continuing evolution, of the metaverse has strategic and operational implications for, and impacts on, industry and business at large. Adopting an inductive, interpretivist approach, this exploratory research article presents case examples of the guidance on the responsible development of the metaverse provided by two IT business services companies. The article identifies the major risks and responsibilities associated with the metaverse and assesses how companies might address these responsibilities. Very little research has been published in this area and this article attempts to make a small contribution to filling this gap in the literature. The article finds that responsibilities are largely in line with those currently associated with corporate digital responsibility, and concludes that the strategic impact and extent of regulatory change will depend on the nature of the metaverse that materialises in the forthcoming decade.

The advent of the digital age has brought about significant transformations in the entertainment industry, challenging traditional paradigms and redefining the ways in which content is created, distributed, and consumed. This research paper critically reviews the paradigm shift occurring in the entertainment industry, focusing on the implications of digital technologies, the rise of online platforms, changing consumer behavior, and the impact on various stakeholders. By analyzing relevant literature, industry reports, and case studies, this paper aims to comprehensively understand the challenges and opportunities presented by the digital age and assess its impact on the entertainment industry.

Digital transformation of companies is often referred to as a future track and a strategic path towards ensuring the survival and sustainability of companies. In this paper, we aim to outline this transformation process in Tunisian companies and identify its driving factors and finally explain its key success factors. To this end, we examine a sample of 70 companies operating in all economic sectors. The results indicate that such a digital strategy has a significant and a positive effect on the success of digital transformation of companies. Leadership has an effect at a low level of digital maturity. On the other hand, corporate culture does not have a significant effect on digital transformation. These results contribute to explaining this emerging phenomenon by focusing on the driving factors as well as the factors that contribute to its success.

This paper provides an overview of the current state-of-the-art digital twin and digital thread technology in industrial operations. Both are transformational technologies that have the advantage of improving the efficiency of current design and manufacturing. Digital twin is an important element of the Industry 4.0 digitalization process; however, the huge amount of data that are generated and collected by digital twin offer challenges in handling, processing and storage. The paper aims to report on the development of a new framework that combines the digital twin and digital thread for better data management in order to drive innovation, improve the production process and performance, and to ensure continuity and traceability of information. The digital twin/thread framework incorporated behavior simulation and physical control components, in which these two components rely on the connectivity between the twin and thread for information flow and exchange to drive innovation. The twin/thread framework encompasses specifications that include organizational architecture layout, security, user access, cloud computing set-up, and hardware and software requirements. It is envisaged that the framework will be applicable to enhancing optimization of operational processes and traceability of information in the physical world, especially in Industry Shipyard 4.0.

Background: Over the past decade, the use of digital tools has grown and research evidence suggests that traditional media and new media offer both benefits and health risks for young children. The abilities to understand and use language represent two of the most important competencies developed during the first 3 years of life through the interaction of the child with people, objects, events, and other environmental factors. The main goal of our study is to evaluate the relationship between digital devices use and language abilities in children between 8-36 month, considering also the influence of several variables. Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional observational study on 260 healthy children (140 males = 54%) aged between 8-36 months (mean=23.5±7.18 months). All the parents completed a self-report questionnaire investigating the use of digital devices by their children, and a standardized questionnaire for the assessment of language skills (MacArthur). Multiple linear regression was used to evaluate the relationship between different variables. Subsequent moderation analysis were performed to verify the influence of other factors. Results: W found a statistically significant negative correlation between the total daily time of exposure to digital devices and the Actions and Gestures Quotient (ß=-0.397) in children between 8-17 months, and between the total daily time of exposure to digital devices and Language Quotient (ß=-0.224) in children between 18-36 months. Sex, level of education/job of parents, modality of use/content of digital device do not significantly affect these relationships. Conclusion: In our study we found that a longer time of exposure to digital devices was related to lower mimic-gestural skills in children from 8-17 months and to lower language skills in children between 18-36 months, regardless of age, sex, socio-economic status, content and modality of use. Further studies are needed to confirm and better understand this relationship, but parents and pediatricians are advised to limit the use of digital devices by children and encourage the social interaction to support the learning of language and communication skills in this age group.

Digital competence is one of the 8 key competences for life-long learning developed by the European Commission, and is requisite for personal fulfilment and development, active citizenship, social inclusion and employment in the knowledge society. To accompany young learners in the development of the competence, and to guarantee optimal implementation of ICTs, it is necessary that teachers are, in turn, literate. We had 43 Secondary School teachers in initial training to assess their own level of competence in the 21 sub-competences in 5 areas identified by the DIGCOMP project, using the rubrics provided in the Common Framework for Digital Competence of Teachers (Spanish Ministry of Education). Overall, pre-service teachers' conceptions about their level of Digital Competence was low (Initial). Students scored highest in Information, which refers mostly to the operations they performed while being students. Secondly, in Safety and Communication, excluding Protection of Digital Data and Preservation of the Digital Identity. Lowest values were achieved in Content Creation and Problem Solving, the dimensions most closely related with the inclusion of ICTs to transform teaching-learning processes. The knowledge or skills they exhibit are largely self-taught and, so, we perceive an urgent need to purposefully incorporate relational and didactic aspects of ICT integration.

A correct system design can be systematically obtained from a specification model of a real-time system that integrates hybrid measurements in a realistic industrial environment, this has been carried out through complete Matlab / Simulink / Stateflow models. However, there is a widespread interest in carrying out that modeling by resorting to Machine Learning models, which can be understood as Automated Machine Learning for Real-time systems that present some degree of hybridization. An induction motor controller which must be able to maintain a constant air flow through a filter is one of these systems and it is discussed in the paper as a study case of closed-loop control system. The article discusses a practical application of ML methods that demonstrates how to replace such closed loop in industrial control systems with a Simulink block generated from neural networks to show how the proposed procedure can be applied to derive complete hybrid system designs with artificial neural networks (ANN). In the proposed ANN-based method to design a real-time hybrid system with continuous and discrete components, we use a typical design of a neural network, in which we define the usual phases: training, validation, and testing. The generated output of the model is made up of reference variables values of the cyber-physical system, which represent the functional and dynamic aspects of model. They are used to feed Simulink/Stateflow blocks in the real target system.

In recent years, the digital economy has played an increasingly important role in enhancing productivity, fostering growth, and facilitating the emergence of digital banking. With the widespread adoption of digital financial services for financial inclusion, the banking sector is experiencing a demand for digital transformation. It is important to note that despite the many advantages of this change, it also disrupts the familiar banking experience that customers have grown to expect, as well as introducing potential risks to maintaining customer protection at previous levels. Many critics have raised concerns regarding customer protection and potential exposure to various risks that may arise from digital financial services, which may result in both financial and non-financial losses. These risks can impact customer retention as dissatisfied customers may switch to alternative service providers. Additionally, reputation can be affected since merely offering digital financial services may not sufficiently safeguard customers. To remain competitive, financial institutions must deliver a secure experience that aligns with customer expectations while considering economic factors and societal needs. This is why it is essential to comprehend the severity of the risk factors that influence the protection of customers in the realm of digitalized banking services and products. In this study, five factors have been identified that influence customer protection when using digital financial services in Pakistan. Based on the analysis conducted using SmartPLS, it appears that all the factors proposed in this study have a significant and positive impact on the protection of customers. In particular, the information provided remains of paramount importance when it comes to determining the level of protection that a customer is entitled to within digital financial services, followed by responsiveness, privacy, authentication, and encryption mechanisms. Due to these findings, the implementation of enhanced information security management principles becomes imperative for the development and progress of the Pakistani digital banking industry.

Music cultural heritage, as an important component of cultural heritage, possesses significant cultural value and inheritance significance. With the development of society and the passage of time, these precious traditional music cultural heritages inevitably face the dilemma of gradual depletion or even disappearance. In the digital age, effectively protecting and inheriting these music cultural heritages has become an urgent problem to be addressed. Therefore, this paper proposes an application method based on digital twin technology, exploring how to protect and inherit music cultural heritages through digital twin technology. By leveraging digital twin technology, a virtual museum dedicated to showcasing the richness and historical connotations of music cultures is created, preserving and simulating the soundscapes of historical music eras. Through the integration of audio archives, 3D modeling, and interactive displays, users can immerse themselves in the experience of historical music in the digital space. This paper evaluates the feasibility and cultural preservation value of this digital music history museum through the creation of music digital twin technology instances and user survey feedback, and discusses the prospects of digital twins in the field of music cultural heritage.

In our digital era, digital platforms become an unprecedented opportunities for manufacturing enterprises to leverage their business strategy. This study investigates how manufacturing enterprises can enhance organizational duality through digital platforms. Specifically, this study examines the effect of digital platforms and capability reconfiguration on entrepreneurial organizational duality. The study also examines how network digital atmosphere moderates this relationship. Based on analysis of 286 manufacturing enterprises undergoing digital transformation, the results indicate that digital platforms positively affect both organizational duality and the capability reconfiguration. The results indicate that digital platforms have a positive indirect effect on organizational duality via evolutionary capability reconfiguration and substitutional capability reconfiguration, respectively. The study also shows that network digital atmosphere moderate this effect.These findings contribute theoretically to the research on digital platforms and manufacturing enterprises while also providing important managerial implications for policymakers and manufacturing enterprises to help firms implement digital strategies.

Abstract: Rural digital governance is an inevitable requirement to improve the efficiency of rural governance, and is also an important means to realize the modernization of rural governance. In the context of the digital rural development strategy, the index measurement system of rural digital governance level is built around five key governance areas of "digital economy, digital ecology, digital culture, digital people's livelihood, and digital government affairs". The entropy weight Topsis model is used to measure and evaluate the level of rural digital governance in 31 provinces in China in 2021. The results show that there is a large gap in the level of digital governance in China's counties and villages, and the level of each region presents a decreasing spatial distribution from "east - middle - west". In terms of digital economy, the eastern region has a high score and good development, while the central and western regions have poor development. In terms of digital ecology, only the eastern region is higher than the national average; In terms of digital culture, only the central region is higher than the national average; In terms of digital livelihood and digital government, the central and eastern regions are slightly higher than the national average; The top three provinces in overall scores are Zhejiang, Guangdong and Jiangsu.

The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic challenged education systems worldwide to quickly pivot their teaching-learning processes from in-person to virtual modes in order to control the spread of the virus. In a short period of time, teachers were forced to adopt new remote teaching methods to ensure the continuation of education. This paper examines how teachers in Pakistan leveraged mobile technology as an alternative teaching strategy to provide access to education during these unprecedented times. Through in-depth individual interviews with selected teachers, the study explores the potential of mobile technology to transform traditional teaching methods into interactive learning environments. The findings highlight the importance of embracing new pedagogical possibilities offered by mobile technology and the need for effective teacher professional development in the post-pandemic era. The study offers valuable insights into how mobile technology can be effectively utilized in education, even in the most challenging circumstances.

COVID-19 poses a significant burden to healthcare systems. Healthcare organisations with a better health innovation infrastructure have faced a reduced burden and achieved success in curbing COVID-19. In Saudi Arabia, digital technologies have played a vital role in fighting SARS-CoV-2 transmission. In this paper, we aimed to summarise the experience of optimising digital health technologies in Saudi Arabia as well as discuss capabilities and opportunities during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. A literature review was conducted up to September 2021 to retrieve peer-reviewed articles that critique the use of digital health technology platforms (DHTPs) in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 outbreak. A small but significant body of literature examined the digital response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. Health officials succeeded in optimising and maintaining a strategy to mitigate the spread of the virus via different digital technologies, such as mobile health applications, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. The quick digital response in Saudi Arabia was facilitated by governmental support and considering users and technology determinants. Future research must concentrate on establishing and updating the guidelines for using DHTPs.

The article considers the peculiarities of practical implementation of the narrative-digital approach in the process of studying disciplines of literary cycle at philological faculties. The authors emphasize that the key to the effective transition to distance and combined forms of studying is creation of a productive national information and didactic space, with involvement of IT and appropriate level of training of all participants in the pedagogical process. Under these conditions, the application of the narrative-digital approach is promising, which in literary education of philologists is based on interdisciplinary interactive basis, which combines possibilities of narrative methods with computer technology. The integration of digital technologies into philological field causes a number of methodological difficulties, requires all subjects of educational activity to develop digital skills that are not related to professional humanities knowledge, but meet the requirements of trained competitive and highly qualified specialists. The authors conducted a sociological study on the readiness of students of philological specialties of pedagogical universities to implement the narrative-digital approach to educational practice. Research provides optimal software that allows you to implement this approach in practice, offers a selection of didactic tasks, substantiates feasibility of their use in classes of different types.

In this paper we will present a simplified approach for extracting the ground level – a digital terrain model (DTM) – from the surface provided in a digital surface model (DSM). Most existing algorithms try to find the ground values in a digital surface model. Our approach works the opposite direction by detecting probable above ground areas. The main advantage of our approach is the possibility to use it with incomplete DSMs containing much no data values which can be e.g. occlusions in the calculated DSM. A smoothing or filling of such original derived DSMs will destroy much information which is very useful for deriving a ground surface from the DSM. Since the presented approach needs steep edges to detect potential high objects it will fail on smoothed and filled DSMs. After presenting the algorithm it will be applied to a test area in Salzburg and compared to a terrain model freely available from the Austrian government.

During the last years the desire and the need for green buildings have been increased. The rise of energy cost, the higher transportation expenses and the international challenges along with the climate change are related with the green buildings market but are also affecting the cost of construction. The aim of this research is to discover and confirm the increased request of green properties and to investigate whether this is related to a new need or just a desire of the buyers. Moreover, the paper examines the people’s knowledge of greenness and sustainability and their wish to live and work in sustainable buildings. Finally, do the buyers will to pay extra in order to purchase a sustainable property and how sustainability can affect the market value and the construction industry. The participants who took part in this research were people that are living and working in Cyprus. One of the significant outcomes was the fact that people who have the knowledge and awareness related to sustainability are willing to pay extra to purchase green properties.

Background: Ceftobiprole is a fifth-generation cephalosporin that has been approved in Europe solely for the treatment of community-acquired and nosocomial pneumonia. The objective was to analyze the use of ceftobiprole medocaril (Cefto-M) in Spanish clinical practice in patients with infection in hospital or outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT). Methods: This retrospective, observational, multicenter study included patients treated from September 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022. Results: 249 individuals were enrolled, aged 66.6±15.4 years, 59.4% male, with Charlson index of 4 (IQR 2-6); 13.7% had COVID-19, and 4.8% were in intensive care unit (ICU). The most frequent type of infection was respiratory (55.8%), followed by skin and soft tissue infection (21.7%). Cefto-M was administered to 67.9% as empirical treatment, being in monotherapy for 7 days (5-10) in 53.8% of cases. The infection-related mortality was 11.2%.The highest mortality rates were for ventilator-associated pneumonia [40%], and infections due to methicillin-resistant S. aureus (20.8%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (16.1%). Mortality-related factors were age (OR: 1.1, 95%CI [1.04-1.16]), ICU admission (OR:42.02, 95%CI[4.49-393.4]), and sepsis/septic shock (OR:2.94, 95%CI [1.01-8.54]).Conclusions: In real life, Cefto-M is a safe antibiotic, with only half of prescriptions in respiratory infections, mainly administered as rescue therapy in pluripathological patients with severe infectious diseases.

In this paper we exploit concepts from Information Theory to improve the classical Chvatal’s greedy algorithm for the Set Covering Problem. In particular, we develop a new greedy procedure, called Surprisal-Based Greedy Heuristic (SBH), incorporating the computation of a “surprisal” measure when selecting the solution columns. Computational experiments, performed on instances from the OR-Library, show that SBH yields a 2.5% improvement in terms of the objective function value over the Chvatal’s algorithm while retaining similar execution times, making it suitable for real-time applications. The new heuristic was also compared with Kordalewski’s greedy algorithm, obtaining similar solutions with much lower times on large instances, and Grossmann and Wool’s algorithm for unicost instances, where SBH obtained better solutions.

Deep-learning-based speech enhancement techniques have been recently grown in interest, since their impressive performance can potentially benefit a wide variety of digital voice communication systems. However, such performance has been evaluated mostly in offline audio processing scenarios (i.e. feeding the model, in one go, a complete audio recording, which may extend several seconds). It is of great interest to evaluate and characterize the current state-of-the-art in applications that process audio online (i.e. feeding the model a sequence of segments of audio data, concatenating the results at the output end). Although evaluations and comparisons between speech enhancement techniques have been carried out before, as far as the author knows, the work presented here is the first that evaluates the performance of such techniques in relation to their online applicability. Meaning, this work measures how the output signal-to-interference ratio (as a separation metric), the response time and memory usage (as online metrics) are impacted by the input length (the size of audio segments), in addition to the amount of noise, amount and number of interferences, and amount of reverberation. Three popular models were evaluated, given their availability on public repositories and online viability: MetricGAN+, Spectral Feature Mapping with Mimic Loss, and Demucs-Denoiser. The characterization was carried out using a systematic evaluation protocol based on the Speechbrain framework. Several intuitions are presented and discussed, and some recommendations for future work are proposed.

Background: Objectives were to determine the real-life effectiveness and safety of DT with dolutegravir (50 mg/QD) plus lamivudine (300 mg/QD) in multiple-tablet regimen (MTR) in naïve PLHIV followed up for 48 weeks and to evaluate the compliance and satisfaction of patients. Material and methods: Open, single-arm, multicenter, non-randomized clinical trial from May 2019 through September 2020 with 48-week follow-up. Results: The study included 88 PLHIV (91% male) with mean age of 35.9 years; 76.1% were MSM. Mean baseline CD4 was 516.4 cells/uL, with viral load (VL) of 104,828 cop/mL, and 11.4% were in AIDS stage. DT started within 7 days of first specialist consultation in all patients and the same day in 84.1%; 3.4% had baseline resistance mutations (K103N, V106I+E138A, and V108I); 12.5% were lost to follow-up. At week 48, 86.3% had VL< 50 cop/uL by intention-to-treat analysis and 98.7% by per-protocol (PP) analysis. Virological failure (VF) was recorded in 1.1%, with no resistance mutation. One blip was detected in 5.2%, without VF. Three reported anxiety, dizziness, and cephalgia, respectively, at week 4 and one insomnia at week 24; none reported adverse events at week 48. Mean weight was 4 kg higher at 48 weeks (p=0.0001) and abdominal circumference 3 cm larger at 24 weeks (p=0.022). No forgetfulness occurred in 98.7% of patients. Patient satisfaction was 90/100 at 4, 24, and 48 weeks. Conclusion: Real-world data demonstrate that dolutegravir plus lamivudine in MTR is effective, safe, and satisfactory, moderately increasing weight and abdominal circumference and administrable on a test-and-treat strategy.

The video images captured at long range usually have low contrast floating objects of interest on a sea surface. A comparative experimental study of the statistical characteristics of reflections from floating objects and from the agitated sea surface showed the difference in the correlation and spectral characteristics of these reflections. The functioning of the recently proposed modified matched subspace detector (MMSD) is based on the separation of the observed data spectrum on two subspaces: relatively low and relatively high frequencies. In the literature the MMSD performance has been evaluated in generally and moreover using only a sea model (additive Gaussian background clutter). This paper extends the performance evaluating methodology for low contrast object detection and moreover using only the real sea dataset. This methodology assumes an object of low contrast if the mean and variance of the object and the surrounding background are the same. The paper assumes that the energy spectrum of the object and the sea are different. The paper investigates a scenario in which an artificially created model of a floating object with specified statistical parameters is placed on the surface of a real sea image. The paper compares the efficiency of the classical Matched Subspace Detector (MSD) and MMSD for detecting low-contrast objects on the sea surface. The article analyzes the dependence of the detection probability at a fixed false alarm probability on the difference between the statistical means and variances of a floating object and the surrounding sea.

Classical laws of friction suggest that friction force is proportional to the normal load and independent of the nominal contact area. As a great improvement in this subject, it is now widely accepted that friction force is proportional to the real area in contact, and much work has been conducted based on this hypothesis. In present study, this hypothesis will be carefully revisited by measuring the friction force and real contact area in-site and real-time at both normal loading and unloading stages. Our experiments reveal that the linear relation always holds between friction force and normal load. However, for the relation between friction force and real contact area, the linearity holds only at the loading stage while fails at the unloading stage. This study may improve our understanding of the origin of friction.

The accurate calculation of real contact area between rough surfaces is a key issue in tribology. In this paper, based on the geometrical information of total contact area and the number of contact spots with respect to surface separation, a new method is proposed to determine the relation between real contact area and normal load. The contact of rough surfaces is treated as an accumulation of incremental multi-plateaus indentations with varying average contact radius. Comparisons with direct finite element calculations and some other theoretical predictions demonstrate the efficiency of this approach.

Operational weather and also flood forecasting has been performed successfully for decades and is of great socioeconomic importance. Up to now, forecast products focus on atmospheric variables, such as precipitation, air temperature and, in hydrology, on river discharge. Considering the full terrestrial system from groundwater across the land surface into the atmosphere, a number of important hydrologic variables are missing especially with regard to the shallow and deeper subsurface (e.g. groundwater), which are gaining considerable attention in the context of global change. In this study, we propose a terrestrial monitoring/forecasting system using the Terrestrial Systems Modeling Platform (TSMP) that predicts all essential states and fluxes of the terrestrial hydrologic and energy cycles from groundwater into the atmosphere. Closure of the terrestrial cycles provides a physically consistent picture of the terrestrial system in TSMP. TSMP has been implemented over a regional domain over North Rhine-Westphalia and a continental domain over European in a real-time forecast/monitoring workflow. Applying a real-time forecasting/monitoring workflow over both domains, experimental forecasts are being produced with different lead times since the beginning of 2016. Real-time forecast/monitoring products encompass all compartments of the terrestrial system including additional hydrologic variables, such as plant available soil water, groundwater table depth, and groundwater recharge and storage.

Conventional cancer clinical trials can be time-consuming and expensive, often yielding results with limited applicability to real-world scenarios and presenting challenges for patient participation. Real-world data (RWD) studies offer a promising solution to address evidence gaps and provide essential information about the effects of cancer treatments in real-world settings. Defining RWD based on its original intent, which is the collection of data at the point of care for clinical purposes, can distinguish it from conventional clinical trial data. RWD can be generated using experimental designs that resemble those used in conventional clinical trials, but with several advantages, such as improved efficiency and a better balance between internal and external validity. RWD can support pharmacovigilance, insights into disease progression, and the development of external control groups. Prospective RWD collection enables evidence generation based on pragmatic clinical trials (PCTs) that support randomized study designs and expand clinical research to the point of care. To ensure the quality of real-world studies, it is crucial to implement auditable data abstraction methods and develop new incentives to capture clinically relevant data electronically at the point of care. The treatment landscape is constantly evolving, with the integration of front-line immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), either alone or in combination with chemotherapy, affecting subsequent treatment lines. Real-world effectiveness and safety in underrepresented populations, such as the elderly, patients with poor performance status (PS), hepatitis, or human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients, are still largely unexplored. Similarly, the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of these innovative agents are important considerations in the real world.

The digital transition processes have demonstrated an enormous capacity to develop and implement sustainable solutions, which allow solving several problems such as poverty, high rates of species extinction and lack of equal opportunity. However, little attention is paid to the connection between the digital transition and sustainability. Thus, a systematic review of the bibliometric literature was developed to fill this knowledge gap and demonstrate the potential contributions of the digital transition to environmental, economic and social sustainability aspects. In environmental sustainability, the digital transition involves the application of technologies such as AI, big data analytics, IoT, and mobile technologies that are used to develop and implement sustainability solutions in areas such as sustainable urban development, sustainable production and pollution control. In economic sustainability, emerging digital technologies can drive transformation into the more sustainable circular economy, the digital sharing economy, and establish sustainable manufacturing and infrastructure design. In the digital transition to social sustainability, the studies analyzed demonstrate the need for multidimensional policy perspectives to address the current digital divide. For effective management of the digital transition that achieves sustainability goals, the study discusses alternative approaches that include innovation through experimentation, and dynamic and sustainable advantages achievable through temporary benefits.

This study measured secondary students’ digital literacy using a digital game-based assessment system that was designed and developed based on the Evidence-Centered Game Design (ECGD) approach. A total of 188 secondary students constituted the valid samples in this study. Fine-grained behavioral data generated from students’ gameplay processes were collected and recorded with the assessment system. The Delphi method was used to extract feature variables related to digital literacy from the process data, and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method was used to construct the measurement model. The assessment results of the ECGD-based assessment had a high correlation with standardized test scores, which have been shown to be reliable and valid in prior large-scale assessment studies.

The increase in online orders following the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened consumer ex-pectations regarding prompt deliveries. However, this phenomenon has subsequently triggered a substantial increase in the number of vehicles navigating through urban areas, highly affecting the overall quality of life within cities. Capitalizing on the complexities posed by urban logistics, this paper proposes an innovative digital business model for logistics services. In this context, we introduce “Urban Logistics as a Service (ULaaS), platform”, a concept rooted in the principals of circular economy and harnessed through the application of the Canvas methodology. The con-ceptual framework outlines the ULaaS ecosystem and explores potential user-functionality com-binations. The proposed platform serves as both an on-demand service provider and a control hub for stakeholders such as traffic authorities, policymakers, logistics providers, carriers, and shippers. This platform streamlines citywide logistics to enhance movement efficiency, ease congestion, and reduce emissions. The ULaaS concept was validated through analysis of data collected from interviews in the unique social context of Campinas City, Brazil. The key value-generating mod-ules within the ULaaS ecosystem include parking reservations, shared warehousing, e-commerce deliveries, and comprehensive logistics solutions. However, implementing Urban Logistics as a Service has challenges. These include defining public and private sector roles, creating effective pricing models, and fairly distributing respon-sibilities among service providers. The paper also elucidates various monetization models and required investments, crucial for fostering potential private sector involvement.

In article 16 of the United Nations Convention (UN), or the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which is usually called the Convention on the Rights of the Child, outlines the right of every child to privacy and protection against violations of privacy related to the home. , family, communication, and their good name. Children's privacy, especially when it comes to personal data, requires strict boundaries. Current digital developments influence children's parenting and thinking patterns with potential negative impacts. Children can be targets of abuse in the digital world. Children's personal data is often used until they become independent. This research, using normative legal methods, aims to analyze regulations related to the protection of children's personal data in the digital era. Therefore, updates are needed in the laws and regulations governing children's personal data to safeguard their privacy rights in accordance with the UNCRC.

3D printing technology has brought about a paradigm shift in the delivery of clinical care in medicine and dentistry. There are several different 3D printing technologies, which, along with different printable materials with unique biomechanical properties, allows for a wide range of applications for 3D printing in dentistry. The clinical use of 3D printing has created versatile applications which streamline our digital workflow. Technological advancements have also paved the way for the integration of new dental materials in dentistry. This paper provides an overview of the mechanisms of 3D printing, the dental materials relevant to each mechanism and the possible applications of these materials within different areas of dentistry. Understanding the existing spectrum of 3D printing applications in dentistry will serve to further expand its use in the dental field.

Digital transformation can become a complex process when workers have insufficient skills, which makes training in the digital field essential. Herein, we intended to relate digital literacy perceived by workers with their training needs for the Portuguese public sector context. Additionally, based in the Human capital theory, we also investigate which professional/demographic characteristics increase training propensity in digital fields. Through an online questionnaire, a dataset with information on 573 workers was obtained. Data analysis was made by using a probabilistic regression model and additional statistical techniques. The results revealed that workers with higher levels of education and higher professional skills have higher probability of participating in training in the digital field. On average, workers reveal low levels of digital knowledge and low participation in training in the digital fields, but the majority present a willingness to participate in future training sessions, especially in the fields of Dataset management, Cybersecurity and Communication systems. This study provides information on training in the digital field of workers in the public sector, which is essential for public organizations to better prepare for digital transformation. Additionally, it contributes to a very recent literature on digital learning, and it can be extended to other contexts.

This qualitative study explores the implementation and conformation process of digital devices in teaching and learning before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal. Using Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation Theory as a framework, the study examines the adoption and adaptation of digital devices by in-service secondary mathematics teachers (n=62) and their perceptions and preferences towards instructional modality. The findings suggest that despite the increased reliance on digital devices during the pandemic, there is a less likelihood of using them in face-to-face classrooms in developing countries like Nepal. The adoption of online learning has not yet reached the confirmation stage, even after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, online learning was not widely implemented or confirmed by teachers in developing countries societies. The study also provides important insights into the challenges and opportunities of using digital devices in post-COVID-19 classrooms, and its implications for policymakers and educators in Nepal.

The devastating COVID-19 pandemic forced academia to go virtual. Educational institutions around the world have stressed online learning programs in the aftermath of the pandemic. However, because of insufficient access to ICT, a substantial number of students failed to harness the opportunity of online learning. This study explores the latent digital divide exhibited during the COVID-19 pandemic while online learning activities are emphasized among Bangladeshi students. It also investigates the digital divide exposure and the significant underlying drivers of the divide. A cross-sectional survey was employed to collect quantitative data mixed with open-ended questions to collect qualitative information from the student community. The findings revealed that despite the majority of students have physical access to ICT but only 32.5% of students could attend online classes seamlessly, 34.1% of the students reported the data prices as the critical barrier, and 39.8% of students identified the poor network infrastructure is the significant barrier for them to participate in online learning activities. Although most students possess physical access to the device and the Internet, they face the first-level digital divide due to the quality of access and maintaining subscriptions. Consequently, they fail to take advantage of physical access, resulting in the third-level digital divide (Utility Gap) and submerging them into a digital divide cycle. This paper aimed to explore the underlying issues of the digital divide among Bangladeshi students to assist relevant stakeholders (e.g., the Bangladesh government, Educational Institutions, Researchers) in providing the necessary insights and theoretical understanding to arrange adequate support for students to undertake conducive online learning activities.

Without impacting the dental sciences, breakthroughs in technology and applications could not be accomplished. In the advancement of technology and information technology, dentistry and dental materials have been fully active, so much so that they have revolutionized dental techniques. Material & methods; We want to produce the first series of articles in this review on the use of digital techniques and software, such as Smile Concept Digital. The goal is to gather all the findings on the use of this program and to highlight the fields of use. The analysis included forty-nine articles, the latter discussing the use of Digital Smile Design and the area of use. The research aims to classify the dental fields are using "digitization." Change is constant in this field and will be increasing Interest in dentistry by recommending the speed and reliability of outcomes for care planning. Conclusion: As seen in the study, the digital workflow facilitates recovery that is reliable both from an aesthetic and functional point of view. The current area of use of Digital Smile Design techniques in the different branches of medicine and dentistry as well as knowledge have emerged from this research

Purpose- This study seeks to investigate the collaboration between Digitalization and traditional manufacturing industry and investigate, how digitalized management brings new chances and challenges of management. Design/methodology/approach – The author designed a content analytical study researching the role of digitalization in traditional manufacturing industries. The article presents a selective but systematical review of recent digitalization trend and digital twin to be applied for innovative management in Industry 4.0 era. Findings– Digitalization is highly correlated with traditional manufactory in Industry 4.0 era. The study brings a new outlook on the next wave of Digitalization and review of associated challenges and opportunities for management and innovation in traditional manufacturing industries. Research limitations/implications – The research focuses on two branches of traditional industries only: machine tools building and metalworking industries. Future research needs to examine other traditional industries. The research is limited to 2 high related traditional manufacturing industries, machine tools and metalworking industry. Practical implications – The study and application of digitalization should be highly recommended and launched in traditional manufacturing industries. Universities, institutes and vocational schools should update, optimize their courses systems according to prediction of future industry. Originality/value – The paper enhances understanding about the collaboration between digitalization and traditional manufacturing industry. This paper analyzes an important issue the digitalization serves traditional industries. It is unique in its broad analysis of the related terms – Digitalization, Machines 4.0, Industry 4.0 and innovative management in Industry 4.0 era.

Digital twin technology is already improving efficiencies and reducing costs across multiple industries and sectors. As the earliest adopters, space technology and manufacturing sectors have made the most sophisticated gains with automobile and natural resource extraction industries following close behind with recent investments in digital twin technology. The application of digital twins within the livestock farming sector is the next frontier. The possibilities that this technology may fuel are nearly endless as digital twins can be used to improve large-scale precision livestock farming practices, machinery and equipment usage, and the health and well-being of a wide variety of farm animals. Currently, many pioneers of digital twins in livestock farming are already applying sophisticated AI technology to monitor both animals and environment around the clock, which leads to a better understanding of animal behavior and distress, disease control and prevention, and smarter business decisions for the farmer. Mental and emotional states of animals can be monitored using recognition technology that examines facial features such as ear postures and eye white regions. Used with modeling, simulation and augmented reality technologies, digital twins can help farmers build more energy-efficient housing structures, predict heat cycles for breeding, discourage negative behaviors of livestock, and potentially much more. As with all disruptive technological advances, the implementation of digital twin technology will demand a thorough cost and benefit analysis by individual farms. Digital twin application will need to overcome challenges and accept limitations that arise. However, regardless of these issues, the potential of digital twins promises to revolutionize livestock farming in the future.

The Circular Economy has been of growing significance within academic, policymaking and industry groups. Latest developments in the field of Circular Economy has led to an expansion of CE studies focused on interrogating CE as a paradigm, its relationship with sustainability and concepts and definitions of the Circular Economy. Research has also identified the significant potential of applying circular approaches to areas of the economy, including manufacturing and Industry 4.0, which, with data, is enabling latest the advances in digital technologies. This is the first review paper to integrate the fields of CE and digital technologies resulting in a framework which provides directions for policymakers and guidance for future research. To achieve this, we conduct a systematic literature review of the empirical literature related to digital technologies, industry 4.0 and circular approaches, from the point of the 9 Rs. The systematic literature review (SLR) is based on peer-reviewed articles published between 2000-2018. The findings reveal that while research on the circular economy has been on an annual rise, research on digital technologies enabled circular economy is still relatively an untouched area of research across all nine (9) circular approaches. As such this is an area rife for further research. This paper also presents illustrative charts and graphs to summarize the current trends in circular economy research in manufacturing. From this, a framework for future circular economy research for manufacturing for digital technologies is proposed.

Motivated by the intriguing discovery of $X(6900)$ by LHCb Collaboration, we undertake a comprehensive study of the $s\bar{s}s\bar{s}$ tetraquark system in positive parity, employing the Gaussian expansion within the chiral quark model method. We consider two structures, diquark-antidiquark ($ss$-$\bar{s}\bar{s}$) structure and meson-meson ($s\bar{s}$-$s\bar{s}$)strcuture, encompassing all conceivable color and spin configurations. Despite the absence of bound states in our calculations, we have identified potential resonant states with $J^P=0^{+}$, namely $R(0,2150)$ and $R(0,2915)$, as well as a resonant state with $J^P=1^{+}$ denoted as $R(1,2950)$, and a resonant state with $J^P=2^{+}$ denoted as $R(2,2850)$, utilizing the real-scaling method. Through a comparison of their energies and widths, we propose that $R(0,2915)$ and $R(1,2950)$ may share characteristics with $X(6900)$, while $R(0,2150)$ could be a promising experimental candidate for $f_0(2100)$. We strongly advocate for experimental investigations to shed light on the existence and properties of these resonant states.

We present a near real-time solution for 3D reconstruction from aerial images captured by consumer UAVs. Our core idea is to simplify the multi-view stereo problem into a series of two-view stereo matching problems. Our method applies to UAVs equipped with only one camera and does not require special stereo-capturing setups. We found that the neighboring two video frames taken by UAVs flying at a mid-to-high cruising altitude can be approximated as left and right views from a virtual stereo camera. Leveraging GPU-accelerated real-time stereo estimation, efficient PnP correspondence solving algorithms and extended Kalman filter, our system simultaneously predicts scene geometry and camera position/orientation from the virtual stereo cameras. Also, this method allows user selection of varying baseline lengths, which provides more flexibility given the trade-off between camera resolution, effective measuring distance, flight altitude, and mapping accuracy. Our method outputs dense point clouds at a constant speed of 25 frames per second and is validated on a variety of real-world datasets with satisfactory results.

Rapid growth of IoT applications and their interference in our daily lives led to many different IoT devices which generates enormous data. The IoT devices’ resources are very limited, so storing and processing IoT data in the devices is very inefficient. Several resources of cloud-computing are efficiently used to handle some IoT resources issues. While using resources in the cloud centers cause some other issues, like latency in the IoT applications, which are time-critical. Thus, the technology of edge cloud has evolved recently. This technology permits storage and data processing at the network edge. This paper studies edge computing in-depth for timeless sensitive devices in IoT. In-depth, cutting-edge IoT computing systems (ECAs-IoT) are evaluated and characterized in this paper according to numerous criteria, such as information placement, improvisation facilities, reliability, and data visualization. Moreover, according to distinctive properties, the paper aims at comparing each structure in detail. The paper also highlights the significant limitations of the new ECAs-IoT and recommends solutions to them. The studies also introduce and propose solutions to some of the most important restrictions of the current ECAs-IoT. Consequently, in the edge computing domain, this survey outlines the IoT implementations. Lastly, with the use of IoT implementations for ECAs-IoT, the paper suggests four distinct scenarios.

Scientists and astronomers have attached Scientists and astronomers have attached great importance to the task of discovering new exoplanets, even more so if they are in the habitable zone. To date, more than 4300 exoplanets have been confirmed by NASA, using various discovery techniques, including planetary transits, in addition to the use of various databases provided by space and ground-based telescopes. This article proposes the development of a deep learning system for detecting planetary transits in Kepler Telescope lightcurves. The approach is based on related work from the literature and enhanced to validation with real lightcurves. A CNN classification model is trained from a mixture of real and synthetic data, and validated only with real data and different from those used in the training stage. The best ratio of synthetic data is determined by the perform of an optimisation technique and a sensitivity analysis. The precision, accuracy and true positive rate of the best model obtained are determined and compared with other similar works. The results demonstrate that the use of synthetic data on the training stage can improve the transit detection performance on real light curves.

White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) has emerged as one of the most prevalent and lethal viruses globally, and infects both shrimps and crabs in the aquatic environment. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of WSSV in different ghers of Bangladesh and the virulence of the circulating phylotypes. We collected 360 shrimp (Penaeus monodon) and 120 crab (Scylla sp.) samples from the South-East (Cox’s Bazar) and South-West (Satkhira) coastal regions of Bangladesh. The VP28 gene-specific PCR assays and sequencing revealed statistically significant (p < 0.05, Kruskal Wallis test) differences in the prevalence of WSSV in shrimps and crabs between the study areas (Cox’s Bazar and Satkhira), and over the study periods (2017-2019). The mean Log load of WSSV varied from 8.40 (Cox’s Bazar) to 10.48 (Satkhira) per gram of tissue. The mean values for salinity, dissolved oxygen, temperature and pH were 14.71±0.76 ppt, 3.7±0.1 ppm, 34.11±0.38˚C and 8.23±0.38, respectively in the WSSV-positive ghers. The VP28 gene-based phylogenetic analysis showed an amino-acid substitution (E→G) at 167th position in the isolates from Cox’s Bazar (referred to as phylotype BD2) compared to the globally circulating one (BD1). Shrimp PL artificially challenged with BD1 and BD2 phylotypes with filtrates of tissue containing 0.423 X 109 copies of WSSV per mL resulted a median LT50 value of 73 hrs and 75 hrs, respectively. The in-vivo trial showed higher mean Log WSSV copies (6.47±2.07 per mg tissue) in BD1 challenged shrimp PL compared to BD2 (4.75±0.35 per mg tissue). Crabs infected with BD1 and BD2 showed 100% mortality within 48 hrs and 62 hrs of challenge, respectively with mean Log WSSV copies of 12.06±0.48 and 9.95±0.37 per gram tissue, respectively. Moreover, shrimp antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) penaeidin and lysozyme expression was lower in BD1 challenged group compared to BD2 challenged shrimps. These results collectively demonstrated that relative virulence properties of WSSV based on mortality rate, viral load and expression of host immune genes in artificially infected shrimp PL could be affected by single aa substitution in VP28.

Timeworn telecommunication are progressively being substituted by a new one that run over IP networks, which is recognized as voice over internet protocol (VoIP). VoIP has a number of qualities (e.g., inexpensive call rate), which make it progressively widespread in the telecommunication domain. However, VoIP faces plentiful obstacles that slow its growth. One of the major obstacles is poorly utilizing the network bandwidth. A number of techniques have been offered to handle this obstacle, including packet multiplexing techniques. This paper designs an original multiplexing techniques, called packet multiplexing and carrier header (PM-CH), to decrease the quantity of the bandwidth consumed by VoIP. PM-CH protect the bandwidth by multiplexing the packets in a header and using the Timestamp field in the RTP header. The achievement of the PM-CH technique was examined depends on connection capacity and payload shortening. Simulation outcomes show that the PM-CH technique outperforms the contrast technique in the two factors. For instance, the PM-CH technique’s connection capacity outperforms the comparable technique by 58.9% when the connection bandwidth is 1000 kbps. Consequently, the PM-CH technique attains its objective of reducing the unexploited bandwidth caused by VoIP.

Heavy metals pollution in the Straits of Malacca warrants the development of rapid, simple and sensitive assays. Enzyme-based assays are excellent preliminary screening tool with near real-time potential. The heavy-metal assay based on the protease ficin was optimized for mercury detection using Response Surface Methodology. The inhibitive assay is based on ficin action on the substrate casein and residual casein is determined using the Coomassie dye-binding assay. Heavy metals strongly inhibit the hydrolysis. A Central Composite Design (CCD) was utilized to optimize detection. The results show a marked improvement for the concentration causing 50% inhibition (IC50) for mercury, silver and copper. Compared to One-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) optimization, RSM gave an improvement of IC50 from 0.060 (95% CI, 0.0300.080) to 0.017 (95% CI, 0.0160.019), from 0.098 (95% CI, 0.0770.127) to 0.028 (95% CI, 0.0220.037) and from 0.040 (95% CI, 0.035.045) to 0.023 (95% CI, 0.0200.027), for mercury, silver and copper, respectively. A near real-time monitoring of mercury concentration in the Straits of Malacca at one location in Port Klang was carried out over a 4-h interval for a total of 24 h and validated by instrumental analysis with the result revealing an absence of mercury pollution in the sampling site.

The real estate market is exposed to many fluctuations in prices, because of existing correlations with many variables, some of which cannot be controlled or might even be unknown. Housing prices can increase rapidly (or in some cases, also drop very fast), yet the numerous listings available online where houses are sold or rented are not likely to be updated that often. In some cases, individuals interested in selling a house (or apartment) might include it in some online listing, and forget about updating the price. In other cases, some individuals might be interested in deliberately setting a price below the market price in order to sell the home faster, for various reasons. In this paper we aim at developing a machine learning application that identifies opportunities in the real estate market in real time, i.e., houses that are listed with a price substantially below the market price. This program can be useful for investors interested in the housing market. We have focused in a use case considering real estate assets located in the Salamanca district in Madrid (Spain) and listed in the most relevant Spanish online site for home sales and rentals. The application is formally implemented as a regression problem, that tries to estimate the market price of a house given features retrieved from public online listings. For building this application, we have performed a feature engineering stage in order to discover relevant features that allows attaining a high predictive performance. Several machine learning algorithms have been tested, including regression trees, $k$-nearest neighbors, support vector machines and neural networks, identifying advantages and handicaps of each of them.

Real-time strategy (RTS) game has proposed many challenges for AI research for its large state spaces, enormous branch factors, limited decision time and dynamic adversarial environment. To tackle above problems, the method called Adversarial Hierarchical Task Network planning (AHTN) has been proposed and achieves favorable performance. However, the HTN description it used cannot express complex relationships among tasks and impacts of environment on tasks. Moreover, the AHTN cannot handle task failures during plan execution. In this paper, we propose a modified AHTN planning algorithm named AHTNR. The algorithm introduces three elements essential task, phase and exit condition to extend the HTN description. To deal with possible task failures, the AHTNR first uses the extended HTN description to identify failed tasks. And then a novel task repair strategy is proposed based on historical information to maintain the validity of previous plan. Finally, empirical results are presented for the μRTS game, comparing AHTNR to the state-of-the-art search algorithms for RTS games.

The primary objective of this current study is to conduct a comprehensive review of existing literature that discusses research on post and core restorations, covering aspects such as their composition, manufacturing methods, and clinical effectiveness. The methodology employed in this review encompasses the implementation of a well-defined search strategy, the establishment of criteria for inclusion and exclusion, and the selection of relevant studies to summarize their findings. To gather relevant literature published between 1993 and 2023, the research team conducted separate searches on PubMed, Scopus, and Embase databases. In total, 165 titles were initially retrieved from these electronic databases. By applying the predefined exclusion criteria, the researchers identified 73 articles that specifically address the conventional and computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technologies employed in post and core restorations. These restorations are frequently utilized procedures for repairing teeth that have undergone endodontic treatment and subsequently lost dental structure. The development of computerized technology for the creation of customized posts and cores has emerged as a straightforward and efficient alternative to traditional methods. The review encompasses a synthesis of papers discussing the various techniques and materials employed in constructing post and cores using CAD/CAM technology. Notably, different strategies for restoring endodontically treated teeth through CAD/CAM post and cores have been documented, revealing both direct and indirect approaches. The most mentioned materials for these restorations include zirconia, composite resin, and hybrid ceramics. While the available literature on CAD/CAM post and core procedures is somewhat limited, the review underscores the need for further research to explore the long-term outcomes and efficacy of this treatment approach.

This paper will discuss Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom, which is commonly referred to as DIKW. The DIKW Pyramid Model that is often referenced in both academics and practitioner circles will be discussed and shown to be faulty on several levels, including. a lack of definitional agreement. A new DIKW framework will be proposed that focuses on what the DIKW elements do in the way humans think, not what they are by definition. Information as a replacement for wasted physical resources in goal-oriented tasks will be a central organizing point. The paper will move the DIKW discussion to the computer-based concept of Digital Twins (DTs) and its augmentation of how we can use DIKW to be more effective and efficient. This will especially be the case as we move to Intelligent Digital Twins (IDT) with Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Based on a literature review, a framework for digital organizational culture with a focus on innovation is proposed. This digital organizational culture becomes relevant today since digital transformation requires an appetite for risk and a willingness to undertake, aspects that are strengthened by an environment and atmosphere that motivate individuals to generate new ideas. The proposal begins with a diagnosis of the existing organizational culture, which allows identifying the differences between the components of the current organizational culture and the innovation-oriented digital organizational culture. Through this diagnosis, the gaps that need to be addressed to achieve a digital organizational culture with innovative characteristics are identified. In addition, specific recommendations are proposed to carry out this transformation. In the process, the assumptions underlying the current typology of the company's organizational culture are highlighted. The importance of integrating creativity, risk readiness, and entrepreneurial willingness into the digital organizational culture aimed at innovation is emphasized. These elements are essential to create an environment

Quality products are a main focus for manufacturers. Product users only determine a product is a quality product if it performs in operation to the user’s perceived standard. Product manufactures need to take a product lifecycle quality (PLQ) perspective of quality and not simply focus on manufacturing quality control, which is more accurately specification control. Manufacturing is the key phase where products take their physical form. There are increasing costs and decreasing risk of different physical quality strategies. The information provided using digital twins and virtual testing promises to be both low risk and cost and has the potential to predict what the customer will experience in operation by testing products passively with data and actively with simulation to destruction. Digital Twin Certified (DTC) is proposed as the methodology for accomplishing this. DTC will be especially important for the adoption of additive manufacturing.

The insurance sector has undergone a transformative shift with the emergence of Insurtech, integrating technological innovations into the industry. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the impact of Insurtech on the insurance sector, focusing on the case study of Lemonade. By placing the study in the context of the broader insurance landscape, the review explores the significance and relevance of this transformation. The article analyzes Lemonade's unique business model and its departure from traditional insurance practices. Furthermore, it examines the implications of Lemonade's approach on the industry and the challenges it faces. Through this analysis, the review sheds light on how Insurtech and the transformation of the insurance sector are redefining insurance services and consumer experiences. The future implications of these trends for insurance companies, consumers, and the industry as a whole are also explored. In summary, this review provides valuable insights into the transformative power of Insurtech, emphasizing the importance of technological advancements and innovative approaches in shaping the future of the insurance sector.

A Digital marketing allows brands to disseminate information in a targeted way towards their clients and consumers, making bidirectional communication and interactions between organizations and audiences feasible. This reality not only allows companies to pass on messages about sustainability associated with processes and products with the aim of launching trends and shaping behaviour, but also allows consumers to share their experiences, needs, preferences and expectations. In this sense, the techniques used in the context of digital marketing make it possible not only to communicate products and services but also to show that brands are working to be more sustainable and to disseminate new sustainable trends that help to change consumer mindsets. This research paper employs a Systematic Literature Review with Bibliometric Analysis (SLBA) methodology to explore and synthesize data about how digital marketing can be used to promote and communicate sustainability. In this study, the results show that digital marketing strategies contribute to promoting sustainable development by encouraging sustainable consumption patterns. This scenario is possible by understanding consumer behavior, communicating key messages through the best channels and effectively evaluating green marketing campaigns on consumer attitudes and purchasing decisions.

Este artigo apresenta o processo de implementação da Hiperautomação no setor público brasileiro, especialmente no âmbito da Procuradoria Geral do Estado de Pernambuco. Devido à atual economia competitiva, a demanda por soluções inteligentes e confiáveis está aumentando. Para atender a essa necessidade, tecnologias inovadoras que abordem a complexidade inerente à transformação digital são desejáveis. Assim, as organizações públicas têm buscado aplicar a automação de processos para atender às necessidades dos cidadãos por um serviço mais eficiente e eficaz. No entanto, podemos observar que a automação pura e direta é apenas parte do processo de transformação. Algumas das razões que explicam a necessidade de ir além da automação de processos e alcançar a hiperautomação é a abundância de dados de várias fontes e tipos. Tudo deve estar dentro dos padrões legais, ressaltando que toda tecnologia deve estar alinhada com transparência e auditabilidade para ser incorporada com segurança. Para a experimentação, foi utilizado o método de pesquisa-ação com a aplicação da Hiperautomação, visando aumentar a arrecadação e a economia do Estado na Procuradoria Geral do Estado de Pernambuco.

This study aims to analyze the interconnection between the concepts of digital economy and sustainability. These concepts have become popular due to awareness of climate change and increased development and adoption of technologies. Researchers, business leaders and policymakers are exploring the many ways digital technologies can be used to address sustainability issues. Using a systematic literature review with a bibliometric analysis, we examined a sample of 92 studies indexed in SCOPUS to identify research activity on this topic through April 2023. We found that 2022 had the highest number of peer-reviewed papers on the subject, with 31 publications. During the research, we also identified multiple opportunities for this interconnection, such as developing renewable energy and sustainable technological solutions, smart cities and sustainable urbanization, and sustainable consumption. These opportunities enabled by digital technologies allow companies to adopt sustainable business strategies and develop sustainable products. Despite these opportunities, the digital economy presents several challenges that can hinder efforts to achieve sustainability goals, such as increased e-waste, high energy consumption and rising carbon emissions, digital divide, job insecurity, growing monopolies, and data protection. These issues must be addressed to enable optimal use of the opportunities presented in the digital economy to promote sustainability.

During most of the lifespan of the Venetian republic, doges or presidents were elected for life. However, a long tenure was a rare event, which effectively resulted in term limits, as has already been deported by several authors. In this paper we examine these tenures and its evolution during the existence of the Venetian republic, trying to prove Smith et al. thesis, but also the event or events that effectively caused that limitation by design. Finally, we will discuss for the causes of this limitation and its effective consequences.

The runoff coefficient (C) represents the relationship between the surface runoff volume and the precipitated volume. It is used in engineering projects for flood estimation methods. Although C values are tabulated and consecrated in hydrological engineering, as if they were constant, they may not correspond to the reality, because in the same catchment, they can vary according to the intensity, temporal and spatial distribution of precipitation events, humidity conditions, and ground cover. This study had the objective of analyzing extreme events of precipitation and the corresponding flows to obtain experimental runoff coefficients (C) and compare them with the tabulated values. The study was conducted in four experimental catchments in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, with different land uses and soils. The runoff coefficients (C) were obtained from the analysis of hydrograms and using a digital filter, which allowed the separation of the direct runoff, of the total flow. When analyzing flow and precipitation data in different seasons of the year, selecting events of the floods of catchments and separating the flows, we observed a variation of the flow coefficient values, different from those obtained from tables.

Delve into the ebb and flow of human ingenuity as the researcher traces the evolution of writing from papyrus to pixels. Discover how humble instruments like quill pens and typewriters have propelled human into the digital frontier, forever reshaping the art of expression in the modern age. This article examines the evolution of writing tools from traditional pen and paper to digital writing in the modern age. It explores the development of writing materials such as papyrus, parchment, and paper, as well as the invention of writing tools including quill pens, fountain pens, and typewriters. The rise of digital writing tools, including word processing software and smartphones, is also discussed, along with their benefits such as increased efficiency and productivity, enhanced collaboration and sharing capabilities, and greater accessibility and flexibility. However, the article also highlights the challenges of writing in the digital age, including the impact of digital distractions on writing focus and quality, the issue of online plagiarism and copyright infringement, and the potential loss of traditional writing skills. The article concludes with recommendations for educators, school administrators, students, and researchers to strike a balance between digital and traditional writing practices, to embrace digital writing tools while preserving traditional writing skills, and to understand the importance of the evolution of writing. The theoretical frameworks of Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) Theory, Media Ecology Theory, and Activity Theory are also discussed in relation to the evolution of writing tools. Overall, this article provides valuable insights into the history, benefits, and challenges of writing in the digital age, as well as suggestions for navigating the future of writing and its tools.

In response to escalating global demand for poultry, the industry grapples with an array of intricate challenges, from enhancing productivity to improving animal welfare and attenuating environmental impacts. This comprehensive review explores the transformative potential of digital phenotyping, an emergent technological innovation at the cusp of dramatically reshaping broiler production. The central aim of this study is to critically examine digital phenotyping as a pivotal solution to these multidimensional industry conundrums. Our investigation spotlights the profound implications of 'digital twins' in the burgeoning field of broiler genomics, where the production of exact digital counterparts of physical entities accelerates genomics research and its practical applications. Further, this review probes into the ongoing advancements in the research and development of a context-sensitive, multimodal digital phenotyping platform, custom-built to monitor broiler health. I critically evaluate this platform's potential in revolutionizing health monitoring, fortifying the resilience of broiler production, and fostering a harmonious balance between productivity and sustainability. Subsequently, the paper provides a rigorous assessment of the unique challenges that may surface during the integration of digital phenotyping within the industry. These span from technical and economic impediments to ethical deliberations, thus offering a comprehensive perspective. The paper concludes by highlighting the game-changing potential of digital phenotyping in the broiler industry and identifying potential future directions for the field, underlining the significance of continued research and development in unlocking digital phenotyping's full potential. In doing so, it charts a course towards a more robust, sustainable, and productive broiler industry. The insights garnered from this study hold substantial value for a broad spectrum of stakeholders in the broiler industry, setting the stage for an imminent technological evolution in poultry production.

This paper looks at key elements of global culture that are driving a new paradigm shift in museums causing them to question their raison d'être, their design and physical space, recognizing the need to accommodate visitor interaction and participation, and to reprioritize institutional outcomes and goals reexamining their priorities. As heritage sharing in online spaces reaches across national, political, and social boundaries on platforms and networks, this has been driven by museum engagement with Internet life during the pandemic. Museum relationships and interactions with communities both local and global, continue to challenge core values and precepts, leading to radical changes in how museums define their roles and responsibilities. In this new cultural landscape, museums are responding to human digital identity in a tidal wave of human interactions on the Internet, from social media to online sharing of images and videos. This is revealing shared perspectives on cultural conflict as being tied to freedom of expression of one’s heritage embedded in digital identity.

Introduction: Myasthenia gravis (MG), an immune disorder affecting nerve-muscle transmission, often necessitates tailored therapies to alleviative longitudinal symptom fluctuations. Here, we aimed to examine and compare the treatment cycle intervals and efficacy of efgartigimod in four patients. This case series mainly offers insights into personalized treatment cycle intervals and efficacy of efgartigimod for patients with MG in our facility in Japan. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed four patients with MG (2 patients with early-onset, 1 with late-onset, and 1 with seronegative MG, mainly managed with oral immunosuppressants as prior treatments) who completed four or more cycles of efgartigimod treatment from January 2022 to September 2023. We focused on changes in serum immunoglobulin (IgG) level, acetylcholine receptor antibody (AChR-Ab) titer, and quantitative MG (QMG) score. Results: Efgartigimod, administered at a median of 5.0 [IQR 5.0, 7.5] weeks between cycles, led to decreased serum IgG level in all patients and reduced AChR-Ab titers in seropositive patients. All patients showed sustained MG symptom improvement, with considerably reduced QMG scores before efgartigimod treatment. None of the patients required rescue medications or developed treatment-related adverse events. Conclusion: Customized efgartigimod administration intervals effectively enhanced clinical outcomes in patients with MG without notable symptom fluctuations, demonstrating the benefits of individualized treatment approaches and validating the safety of efgartigimod during the study period.

In this paper, we establish the necessary and sufficient conditions for solving a dual split quaternion matrix equation AXB=C, and present the general solution expression when solvability is achieved. As an application, we delve into the necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of Hermitian solution to this equation by using a newly defined real representation method. Furthermore, we obtain the solutions for the dual split quaternion matrix equations AX=C and XB=C. Finally, we provide a numerical example to demonstrate the findings of this paper.

This paper reviews several techniques, including analytical theories and real frequency techniques, to design ultra-wideband impedance matching networks for low-power applications. The comparison of solutions obtained using the simplified real frequency technique to the published solution using Chebyshev filter theory is demonstrated.

(1) Background: Aim was to investigate real-world effectiveness (hypothesizing non-inferiority) and safety profile of risdiplam in paediatric and adult nusinersen-risdiplam spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) switch cohort. (2) Methods: A retrospective and anonymous collection of relevant demographic and clinical data for all Croatian SMA patients switched from nusinersen to risdiplam up to September 2023 (reimbursed by Croatian Health Insurance Fund – CHIF) was performed using CHIF database and associated reimbursement documentation. Patients were included in effectiveness and safety analysis if they met the following inclusion criteria: i) risdiplam reimbursed by CHIF; ii) patient received at least 6 doses of nusinersen before switch to risdiplam; iii) no relevant pause between the latter disease modifying drugs (DMDs); iv) availability of all prespecified studied data and parameters. (3) Results: 17 patients met inclusion criteria [58.9% female; median age 12.75 (3.0-44.5) yr.]. In our ‘switch’ cohort, we have demonstrated a non-inferiority of risdiplam to nusinersen, in SMA 1 (+1.0 in CHOP INTEND; p=0.067), SMA 3p (+0.7 in HFMSE; p=0.897) and SMA 3a (+0.8 in RHS; p=0.463) subpopulations, during a one-year follow-up period. There were no reports on respiratory function worsening, feeding worsening, and no lethal events. No new safety concerns were identified, except of the weight gain that arose as a new potential adverse drug reaction ‘signal’ in two patients. (4) Conclusions: We have reported a pivotal real-world findings on switching SMA patients from nusinersen to risdiplam and demonstrated its effectiveness (non-inferiority), safety and tolerability in a heterogenous paediatric and adult ‘switch’ cohort, which will further increase the quality and standards of care as well as safety of a notable portion of SMA patients; especially for those who demand switch from nusinersen to other DMDs from clinical or personal reasons.

Enteric viruses are the major cause of gastroenteritis and enteric hepatitis worldwide, but in some areas like Saudi Arabia little data is known about their presence in water sources. The available information from clinical samples is not enough to figure their actual prevalence. The aim of this study was to gather information for the first time in Saudi Arabia on the presence of Norovirus (NoV) genogroup GI and GII, hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis E virus (HEV) in water. For this purpose, thirteen monthly samples were collected in lake Wadi Hanifa and surrounding wells from December 2014 to November 2015. Viruses were detected and quantified by Real-time RT-qPCR. Despite HEV findings were anecdotic, our results highlight interesting behaviors of the other viruses. There was a higher prevalence of noroviruses in Wadi Hanifa samples than in well water samples (46.43% vs12.5% of NoV GI; 66.67% vs8.33% of NoV GII). On the contrary, similar levels of HAV positivity were observed (40.48% in surface water vs 43.06% in well water). Also, a strong influence of flooding events on HAV and NoV GI occurrence was observed in both surface and well water samples, being NoV GII apparently not affected.

Real-time tracking is one of the most challenging problems in computer vision. Most Transformer-based trackers usually require expensive computational and storage power, which leads to the inability of these robust trackers to achieve real-time performance in resource-constrained devices. In this work, we propose a lightweight tracker, AnteaTrack. To localize the target more precisely, we develop a scaling-invariant max-filtering operator employing a sliding window combined with local max-pooling, which filters out the suspected target from the feature and performs an augmented representation while suppressing the background. For a more tight bounding box, we employ Pixel-Shuffle to increase the resolution of the feature map and get a more fine-grained representation of the target. In addition, AnteaTrack can run in real-time at 47 frames per second(FPS) on the CPU. We tested AnteaTrack on 5 datasets, and a large number of experiments have shown that AnteaTrack provides the most efficient solution compared to the same type of CPU real-time trackers. The code will be available at https://github.com/cnchange/AnteaTrack.

Prevention and management of cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation is important to improve outcome of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) recipients. The aim of this study was to analyze real-world data for incidence and characteristics of CMV infections until 1-year after allo-HCT under 100-day letermovir prophylaxis. A single-center retrospective study was conducted between November 2020 and October 2021. During the study period, 358 patients underwent allo-HCT, 306 of whom received letermovir prophylaxis. Cumulative incidence of clinically significant CMV infection (CS-CMVi) was 11.4%, 31.7%, and 36.9% at 14-weeks, 24-weeks, and 1-year post-HCT, respectively. In multivariate analysis, risk of CS-CMVi increased with graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) ≥ grade 2 (adjusted odds ratio 3.640 [2.036–6.510]; P &lt; 0.001). One-year non-relapse mortality was significantly higher in letermovir breakthrough CS-CMVi patients than those with subclinical CMV reactivation who continued letermovir (P = 0.002). There were 18 (15.9%) refractory CMV infection in this study population. In summary, letermovir prophylaxis is effective in preventing CS-CMVi until day 100, which increased after cessation of letermovir. GVHD is still a significant risk factor in letermovir prophylaxis era. Further research is needed to establish individualized management strategies especially in patients with significant GVHD or letermovir breakthrough CS-CMVi.

Background Enfortumab vedotin shows promise as a targeted therapy for advanced urothelial carcinoma, particularly in patients who previously received platinum-based chemotherapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors. The EV-301 phase III trial demonstrated a significantly improved overall survival and response rates compared with standard chemotherapy. However, more data, especially from larger real-world studies, are needed to assess its effectiveness in Japanese patients. Methods A total of 6,007 urothelial cancer patients treated with pembrolizumab as second-line treatment were analyzed. Among them, 619 patients received enfortumab vedotin after pembrolizumab, while 394 received docetaxel or paclitaxel after pembrolizumab. Results The enfortumab vedotin group showed a longer overall survival than the paclitaxel/docetaxel group (p=0.013, hazard ratio: 0.71). In the multivariate analysis, enfortumab vedotin induction was an independent risk factor for the overall survival (p=0.013, hazard ratio: 0.70). There were no significant differences in the cancer-specific survival. Conclusions Enfortumab vedotin prolonged the overall survival in Japanese patients with advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma compared with paclitaxel or docetaxel after pembrolizumab treatment.

To monitor adherence to diets and to design and evaluate nutritional interventions it is essential to obtain objective knowledge about eating behavior. In most research, measures of eating behavior are based on self-reporting, such as 24-h recalls, food records (food diaries), and food frequency questionnaires. Self-reporting is prone to inaccuracies due to inaccurate and subjective recall and other biases. Recording behavior using non-obtrusive technology in daily life would overcome this. We here provide an up-to-date systematic overview encompassing all (close-to) publicly or commercially available technologies to automatically record eating behavior in real-life settings. 1328 studies were screened and after applying defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 122 studies were included for in-depth evaluation. Technologies in these studies were categorized by what type of eating behavior they measure and which type of sensor technology they use. In general, we found that relatively simple sensors are often used. Depending on the purpose, these are mainly motion sensors, microphones, weight sensors, and photo cameras. While several of these technologies are commercially available, there is still a lack of publicly available algorithms that are needed to process and interpret the resulting data. We argue that future work should focus on developing robust algorithms and validating these technologies in real-life settings. Combining technologies (e.g., prompting individuals for self-reports at sensed, opportune moments) is a promising route toward ecologically valid studies of eating behavior.

Hemianopia poses significant challenges and requires effective rehabilitation strategies. Traditional visual restoration methods have focused on low-level vision therapies in controlled environments. This paper proposes the integration of natural and ecologically valid environments, e.g., virtual reality (VR), three-dimensional (3D) settings, and cognitive interactions for visual rehabilitation. We review various studies that employed common practices in laboratory or controlled settings. We also discuss the disadvantages of traditional techniques and advocate for a comprehensive and ecological framework in visual rehabilitation. Instead of correcting visual inputs, we emphasize training the visual system to adapt and restore functionality in real-world contexts. By combining real-world environments and higher-level vision approaches, we can enhance visual recovery, improve daily functioning, and restore the quality of life for individuals with visual field defects. Moreover, we stress the importance of incorporating natural environments, VR, 3D settings, and cognitive interactions to maximize the effectiveness of visual rehabilitation and empower patients to regain their visual abilities in real-world scenarios. Continued research and development in this field are crucial to refine and expand the application of these innovative techniques, ultimately enhancing the lives of individuals affected by visual field defects.

Background: Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) commonly affects immunocompromised individuals, whereas in immunocompetent persons, it occurs relatively rarely, and in most cases the Pneumocystis infection is detected as an asymptomatic colonization. The present study aimed to establish the prevalence of Pneumocystis jirovecii infection in human hosts with different immune status (immunocompromised and immunocompetent), using molecular diagnostic methods, and to compare their diagnostic value with that of classical staining methods. Methods: We used the collected to this moment data from a prospective study on the prevalence of pneumocystosis among the Bulgarian population. Clinical specimens (including throat secretion, induced sputum, tracheal aspirate, and bronchoalveolar lavage collected from 220 patients suspected of PCP (153 immunocompetent and 67 immunocompromised patients) were examined with staining microscopic methods and real-time PCR for detection of P. jirovecii. Results: DNA of the pathogen was detected in 38 (17%) specimens (32 immunocompromised patients and 6 immunocompetent subjects). From all 220 clinical samples examined by staining methods, only in five (2%) P. jirovecii cysts were detected by the Gomori's stain. All patients with PCP were treated with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, but in ten of them (HIV- positive patients) the disease was with fatal outcome. Conclusions: This study is the first for the country including the main available laboratory methods for diagnosis of human pneumocystosis in Bulgaria. Regarding the etiological diagnosis of PCP, in our study the sensitivity of real-time PCR was higher compared to the staining methods. The choice of a method for sample collection and examination has an important role in the efficiency of the laboratory diagnostics.

This work presents the results of an experimental socio-economic study conducted in two shanty towns of Messina as part of a systemic urban regeneration and fight against poverty program called Capacity. The study has shown that the development of a positive attitude towards the future and the confidence in others are associated with the development of the riskiest option, which is the one that can give the highest pay-off. The paper also illustrates the expected and unexpected outcomes of projects for individuals and the community, as well as the economic benefits for the public administration and the society of a strategy that reduces the reliance on social welfare measures as well as the local control exercised by organized crime.

In a safety-critical system typically not all provided services have the same criticality, which we call mixed-criticality systems. Criticality arithmetic, also called SIL arithmetic, is an approach to lower the development effort of a service by providing redundancy with tasks that are developed for a lower criticality level. In this paper we present ATMP-CA, which is a derivation of the multi-core scheduler ATMP. ATMP-CA is able to take into account the knowledge about the use of criticality arithmetic. ATMP-CA has a modified core allocation and procedure for utility optimisation, considering the context of the replicated tasks. We conducted experiments that show that ATMP-CA is able to provide the services using criticality arithmetic, while the reference schedulers were not.