This study aimed to expand and inform the growing body of research on Postpartum Depression, from a netnographic standpoint, for the social media platform of Pinterest. More specifically, it aimed to assess the type of content present on Pinterest regarding Postpartum Depression shared by women in 2018 and 2021, as well as examine the subjective experience of women who have experienced this mood disorder. Data were collected following a search using the keywords “Postpartum Depression” on Pinterest on two separate timestamps (2018 and 2021); pins were limited to those in English or French. Master themes were identified among all pins and those identified as “self-disclosure” were subsequently further analyzed. Self-disclosure data were separately analysed using thematic analysis, specifically adopting a deductive thematic approach for the 2021 data set stemming from the coding scheme created from analysis of the 2018 data. Major themes were identified, and an analysis of frequency was performed for each sub-theme, along with qualitative examples associated with each theme. A total of 483 Pinterest pins from two different time points of 2018 (169 pins) and 2021 (314 sample pins) were analyzed. Five primary categories were identified in both 2018 and 2021, with five additional categories being identified in the 2021 dataset. Comparative results from 2018 and 2021 self-disclosure pins show individuals’ varying yet similar subjective manifestations of PPD, the potential need to adopt a multidisciplinary treatment approach, and the societal fears, such as mental health stigma, that are playing a part in help-seeking behavior hesitancies. Our findings provide imperative insight into individuals’ subjective experiences with PPD; experiences that involve a sensitive and vulnerable topic. Netnographic research, along with Pinterest, must be taken into consideration for future work delving into women’s health issues, including those surrounding perinatal mental health.

It is known that breastfeeding difficulties are often seen in the first weeks of the postpartum period and that various factors are effective in the mother's early cessation of breastfeeding. Mothers' self-efficacy and perception of insufficient milk are among these factors. This study aimed to examine the effect of hot application applied to the breast with the help of Thera Pearl in the postpartum period on milk perception and postpartum breastfeeding self-efficacy. This is a randomized controlled study. The study was completed with a total of 64 puerperal mothers, 31 of whom were control and 33 were experimental. Personal Information Form, Breastfeeding Observation Form, Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale and Insufficient Milk Perception Scale were used to collect data. As a result, self-efficacy and milk perception are important factors affecting breastfeeding. In this study, we found that Thera pearl application increased breastfeeding self-efficacy, but did not affect milk perception.

Background: The adoption of self-care behaviors among patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) is essential for the management of their health condition. However, there is a lack of tools for estimating self-care in CHF patients. We aim to develop and validate the Hippocratic heart failure self-care scale (HHFSCS). Methods: the scale includes 22 items which are reviewed by a committee of experts. Individuals indicate the frequency at which they follow each self-behavior on a five-point Likert scale. Adult patients with CHF (n=250) from a General Hospital, in Athens, were participated in the study from June 2020 to March 2021. Reliability coefficients and Explanatory Factor Analysis (EFA), using a Varimax rotation and the Principal Components Method were used to assess the psychometric measurements. Results: The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the HHFSCS was 0.807. The exploratory factor analysis identified two domains that accounted for 88.44% of the variance of the scale items; however, each sub-scale could not be used as an independent scale. Finally, the test-retest showed a significant strong correlation (r=0.973, p<0.001). Conclusions: The HHFSCS is a reliable and valid tool for assessing self-behaviors in CHF patients. Health professionals can use it in their clinical practice to improve the management of patient’s health conditions.

Green public space immensely provides ecological soundness (ES), social resilience, social inclusiveness, mental health, self-esteem, and cultural prosperity from privileged class to lower ones. This research aims at estimating the effect of social services, safety, and infrastructural amenity in green space (parks) on mental health building self-esteem for elderly population. Data were collected from four parks out of 21 in Dhaka selected by systematic random sampling. Two-hundred and three elderly participants were picked up for survey using snowball sampling. The survey was conducted in a pre-structured questionnaire consisted of 40 close-ended questions. Data was analyzed applying ordinal logistic model, multivariate regression analysis, and Partial Least Square (PLS) -Path Modeling. The study explored several key findings-1) Infrastructural amenities impacted social services of parks; 2) Social services contributed positively to mental health boosting up self-esteem for elderly population. 3) Likewise, mental health for elderly population was affected by safety measure of green space. Dhaka requires constructing age-friendly parks to promote elderly mental health.

Background: This study consists of a brief psychological intervention, which uses the Self-Regulation Therapy (SRT, procedure based on suggestion and classical conditioning), to improve coping with stress and emotionality by reproducing the positive effects of illegal drugs: cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy. Method: 15 volunteers (8 males, 7 females), with a mean age of 24.67 (SD = 4.43), underwent intervention to improve their coping with stress and emotionality using SRT. They carried out pre- and post-intervention scores for 10 days and during a 4-week fol-low-up. The employed instruments were: COPE (Coping Skills Inventory) and PNAS (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule). Results: SRT was superior to non-intervention for the 4 coping strategies (2= .829, .453, .411 and .606) and for positive (2= .371) and negative emotionality (2= .419). An improvement in scores was evidenced in the follow-up scores compared to the pre-intervention measures. Conclusions: This study shows for the first time that it is possible to use illegal drugs, considered harmful to public health, to improve young people’s coping capacity and emotionality by reproducing their positive effects with SRT.

Today, issues related to people’s mental health and well-being have been described as a challenge for society, globally as well as in Sweden. This calls for new approaches to mental health promotion. The aim was to evaluate the adequacy of the content and structure, describing experiences of study circles as a means of supporting participants' self-care and self-compassion. The overall design is a descriptive, QUAL+quan design, where quantitative and qualitative results are integrated. Five participants participated in a focus group interview, of whom four completed questionnaires. One individual interview was conducted with the study circle leader. Study circles can be an arena for mental health promotion as learning and sharing of experience contributes to a sense of coherence, as well as self-compassion and a genuine concern for one’s own and others' wellbeing, but not considered an alternative to psychiatric care, for those in need of professional services. Study circles can be a possible means to support self-care and thereby promote mental health in the general population, and a valuable contribution to public health. However, in addition to modifications of the content, further research is needed on the qualifications for study circle leaders as well as the dissemination of study circles.

Postpartum depression is a significant health issue during the postpartum period and not only affects the woman but also has important repercussions for the newborn. Group support interventions during the postpartum period have proven effective in helping women cope with depression and improving breastfeeding rates. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a midwife-led breastfeeding support group intervention on breastfeeding rates, postpartum depression and general self-efficacy. This was a multicentric cluster randomized controlled trial with control and intervention groups and was not blinded. It was conducted in Andalusia (southern Spain) from October 2021 to May 2023. A total of 382 women participated in the study. Results showed a significant difference in exclusive breastfeeding rates at 4 months postpartum between the groups (p < 0.001). Additionally, there was a lower mean score on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale in the intervention group (12.49 ± 3.6 vs 13.39 ± 4.0; p = 0.044). Similarly, higher scores of general self-efficacy were observed among breastfeeding women at 2 and 4 months postpartum (p = 0.002 and p < 0.001, respectively). In conclusion, midwife-led breastfeeding support groups enhanced self-efficacy, prolonged breastfeeding and reduced postpartum depression 4 months after giving birth.

As distinct human societies, three unique intentional communities are investigated regarding their preferred consensus decision-making practices. It is Identified that each has adopted a different form of consensus decision-making to solve potential group-wide interpersonal conflict. The individual attributes of these three consensus decision-making practices are considered, both from the perspective of maintaining group stability and in relation to individual member's mental health. The communities are a Canadian self-directed public senior elementary and secondary school, an annual English conference for those self-identifying as on the autistic spectrum, and a self-producing Korean popular music (K-pop) group. It is found that the intentional community and participants’ mental health are sustained regarding each of the three consensus decision-making practices. Nevertheless, the resulting decisions generate various stresses within the communities, both as a whole and concerning the individual members. To retain group cohesion and maintain individual mental health, these stresses must be recognized and understood by participants. The novel finding of this research is that, dependent on the time available for decision-making, and the members’ perspective adopted, intentional communities might practice more than one form of consensus decision-making and still support both group cohesion and individual mental health, maintaining the democracy of these distinct societies.

The prevalence of depression and anxiety among healthcare workers (HCWs) during the Covid-19 pandemics is high. The aim of the study is to identify the importance of self-esteem and occupational factors in association with the incidence of depression and anxiety among HCWs through a longitudinal cohort study during the Covid-19 pandemics in Latvia. Participants were interviewed repeatedly seven times during the Covid-19 pandemics. 322 participants were included in the data analysis for depression and 352 for anxiety. Low self-esteem and working in the general practitioner's office is associated with the incidence of depression and anxiety. Undergraduate education and direct contact with Covid-19 patients are associated with the incidence of depression. The risk of anxiety decreases by 1% each year among HCWs. Our study shows the importance of personality factors of HCWs during the Covid-19 pandemics.

Negative mental health in students currently is classified as a global crisis with the highest and lowest student achievers recognized at greatest risk. Public schooling, in reproducing accepted psychosocial beliefs through standardized learning, developed separately from necessitating student mental health, in contrast to self-directed learning. Differing from standardized learning, the objective of self-directed learning in public schools is the creation of relevant support structures for student mental health, promoting positive psychosocial outcomes. The designed separation of public schooling from both mental health and self-directed learning was first acknowledged—and lamented—by John Dewey, over 100 years ago, in anticipating today’s mental health crisis. Yet, in responding effectively to the limitations of COVID-19, self-directed learning became an acknowledged learning method in public schools, potentially able to be accommodated by them regularly in support of mental health through the use of online technology. This study investigates the COVID-19 results of self-directed online learning in public schools through a Google Scholar search of peer reviewed research regarding self-directed learning, online learning, and mental health during COVID-19, recommending support for self-initiated self-directed online learning so that self-directed learning can continue, post COVID-19, improving student mental health in public schools, leading to positive psychosocial outcomes.

Background: This study aimed to develop and evaluate a dietary self-care promotion program for hemodialysis patients based on Hurley's self-efficacy model. Methods: The needs of hemodialysis patients were identified, and an online community-based dietary self-care promotion program was developed with expert evaluations. 44 hemodialysis patients were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n=22) and a control group (n=22). The program was applied to the experimental group for four weeks. Before and after the intervention, as well as four weeks after the intervention, dietary self-efficacy, dietary self-care behavior, interdialytic weight gain, serum phosphorus, and serum potassium were assessed in both groups. Results: Significant differences over time and between groups were observed in dietary self-efficacy, interdialytic weight gain, serum phosphorus, and serum potassium. The interaction between time and group was also significant. While no significant differences were found over time in dietary self-care behavior, significant group differences and interaction effects between time and group were identified. Conclusions: The results indicate that the dietary self-care promotion program using an online community for hemodialysis patients is more effective in enhancing dietary self-efficacy and dietary self-care behavior compared to conventional treatment. This suggests the clinical applicability of the proposed dietary self-care promotion program.

Health self-tracking is an ongoing trend as software and hardware evolve, making the collection of personal data not only fun for users but also increasingly interesting for public health research. In a quantitative approach we studied German health self-trackers (N=919) for differences in their data disclosure behavior by comparing data showing and sharing behavior among peers and their willingness to donate data to research. In addition, we examined user characteristics that may positively influence willingness to make the self-tracked data available to research and propose a framework for structuring research related to self-measurement. Results show that users' willingness to disclose data as a "donation" more than doubled compared to their "sharing" behavior (willingness to donate= 4.5/10; sharing frequency= 2.09/10). Younger men (up to 34 years), who record their vital signs daily, are less concerned about privacy, regularly donate money, and share their data with third parties because they want to receive feedback, are most likely to donate data to research and are thus a promising target audience for health data donation appeals. The paper adds to qualitative accounts of self-tracking but also engages with discussions around data sharing and privacy.

Self-perceived health is an important indicator of occupational health. This research explores the relationship between poor self-perceived health and exposure to psychosocial risk factors, taking into account potential socio-demographic, occupational and employment determinants. Using data from the First Survey of Occupational Safety and Health Conditions covering 1049 salaried workers in Guayaquil, Ecuador descriptive and stratified binary logistic regression analyses (Odds Ratios with corresponding 95% confidence intervals) were carried out. No significant relationship was found between exposure to psychosocial risk factors and the probability of presenting poor self-perceived health by socio-demographic, occupational and employment characteristics. Occupational exposure factors to psychosocial risks are predictors of self-perceived ill health and are related to the variables analyzed; the most frequently expressed factors among the respondents were Cognitive Demands (DGOG) and Job Insecurity (IL). The results have implications in terms of designing effective workplace interventions pursuant of ensuring the health and wellbeing of employee.

Social robots may become an innovative means to improve the well-being of individuals. Earlier research showed that people easily self-disclose to a social robot even in cases where that was unintended by the designers. We report on an experiment of self-disclosing in a diary journal or to a social robot after negative mood induction. The off-the-shelf robot was complemented with our inhouse developed AI chatbot and could talk about ‘hot topics’ after having it trained with thousands of entries on a complaint website. We found that people who felt strong negativity after being exposed to shocking video footage benefited the most from talking to our robot rather than writing down their feelings. For people less affected by the treatment, a confidential robot chat or writing a journal page did not differ significantly. We discuss emotion theory in relation to robotics and possibilities for an application in design (the emoji-enriched ‘talking stress ball’). We also underline the importance of - otherwise disregarded - outliers in a data set that is of a therapeutic nature.

Since the college years represent an important period for forming oral health behaviors during adulthood, it is important that college students establish proper oral health-promoting behaviors. Therefore, this study aims to identify the effects of oral health education experience, knowledge, and practice behaviors on oral health care self-efficacy among college students, as studies related to this topic are scarce. A total of 236 college students participated in a questionnaire survey comprising 21 questions. The collected data were analyzed through a chi-square test, independent-samples t-test, and logistic regression analysis using SPSS version 22.0. Participants with oral health education experience showed higher levels of oral health knowledge and practice behaviors than those who did not, and the odds of them having oral health care self-efficacy was 3.743 higher. Moreover, a one-unit increase in oral health knowledge and practice behaviors was associated with a 1.199 and 1.351 increase in oral health care self-efficacy, respectively. For oral health promotion among college students, oral health care self-efficacy reinforcement programs tailored to college students should be developed. These should focus on expanding oral health education opportunities to promote improvement in oral health care self-efficacy by strengthening oral health knowledge and the motivation to practice oral health behaviors.

This study uses explainable artificial intelligence to analyze major predictors of poor self-rated health, dementia and their comorbidity, which include various aspects of social support. Data came from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (2016-2018), with 5527 participants aged 56 or more. The dependent variables were: (1) poor self-rated health (SRH) with 5 categories (very good, good, middle, poor, very poor); (2) dementia (no, yes); and (3) their comorbidity with 4 categories (SRH very good, good or middle, dementia no; SRH very good, good or middle, dementia yes; SRH poor or very poor, dementia no; SRH poor or very poor, dementia yes). The 49 demographic, socioeconomic and health-related predictors were included. The accuracy and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were compared for logistic regression and the random forest. Logistic regression and the random forest registered similar AUCs with the range of 0.80-0.87. Based on random forest variable importance, 18 out of top-20 predictors were identical for SRH, dementia and their comorbidity: previous SRH, life satisfaction - health, age, body mass index, income, chronic diseases, life satisfaction - economic, life satisfaction - overall, grandchildren alive, friendship meeting, brothers/sisters alive, class identity, children alive, social activity - friendship, education, children in weekly contact, religion and drinker. However, some variations were found among the three dependent variables, i.e., previous SRH for comorbidity (1st) and SRH (1st) compared to dementia (11th), grandchildren alive for SRH (6th) and dementia (4th) compared to comorbidity (9th), chronic diseases for comorbidity (6th) compared to SRH (10th) and dementia (10th). In terms of Shapley Additive Explanation (SHAP) values, the probability of dementia is expected to decrease by 5.57% in case a predictor grandchildren alive is included to the model. This study highlights the importance of social support for the prediction of poor self-rated health, dementia and their comorbidity. Specifically, the promotion of family support and friendship activity for elders would be vital for the prevention and management of their self-rated health and dementia.

Social media and other web 2.0 tools have provided users the platform to interact and also disclose personal information not only with their friends and acquaintances, but also with relative strangers with unprecedented ease. This has enhanced the ability of people to share more about themselves, their families, and their friends through a variety of media including text, photo, and video, thus developing and sustaining social and business relationships. The purpose of the paper is to identify the factors that predict self-disclosure on social networking sites within the Ghanaian context. Data was collected from 452 students in three leading universities in Ghana and analyzed with Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling. Results from the study revealed that all variables in the proposed model with the exception of interaction and perceived control were significant predictors of self-disclosure with privacy risk being the most significant predictor. In all, the model accounted for 54.6 percent of the variance in self disclosure. The implications and limitations of the current study are discussed and directions for future research proposed.

The current article examined stoma self-care and health-related quality of life in patients with drainage enterostomy, describe clinical and sociodemographic variables and analyze the relations between all of them. Trained interviewers collected data using a standardized form that queried sociodemographic and clinical variables, collected from the electronic medical record, in addition to the Specific Self-Care for Ostomized Patients Questionnaire (CAESPO) and Stoma Quality of life (S-QoL) from January 2016 to January 2017. This was a multicenter, cross sectional study conducted in four hospitals of the province of Castellon (Spain) where 120 participants were studied. Significant differences were found in Self Care according to sex (p = .043); married participants show higher score (p < .01); also, significant differences according to work activity were observed (p < .01). Regarding the clinical variables, differences were observed according to the autonomy of care, the presence of complications in the stoma, the use of irrigation and the type of effluent (p < .01). We can highlight the importance of the skills related to self-care by ostomized patients has for a good level of quality of life related to health. In this learning process, the figure of the stoma therapist plays a very important role.

The nature of Artisanal mining in Ghana exposes its workers to various levels of health, safety and environmental (HSE) threats. These miners are mostly liable for their own HSE state at work. In an attempt to understand the HSE dynamics of artisanal miners, this study sought to assess the effect of HSE conditions on self-protection at work by artisanal goldminers in Ghana. A nested binary logistic regression model was fitted to a cross sectional survey of 500 artisanal goldminers while controlling for compositional and contextual factors. Of the HSE conditions, only health (OR= 1.653, p<0.001) and safety conditions (OR= 1.935, p<0.001) were robust in predicting self-protection in all three models. Goldminers who reported good health and safety conditions were more likely to fully protect themselves at work as compared to their counterparts who reported poor health and safety conditions. For compositional factors, female goldminers were 84% less likely to protect themselves. Miners who had senior high (OR= 1.759, p<0.001) or tertiary education (OR= 1.875, p<0.001) were more likely to protect themselves at work as compared to those with no formal education. Likewise, miners who undertook routine medical checkups (OR= 2.533, p<0.001) and the most experienced miners (OR= 2.734, p<0.001) were more likely to protect themselves at work. Counterintuitively, miners who earned more monthly income ($174 and above) were less likely to protect themselves. At the contextual level, miners who worked in non-production departments (OR= 2.001, p<0.001) and miners who worked in the medium scale subsector (OR= 5.311, p<0.001) were more likely to protect themselves at work. To increase consciousness of self-protection in artisanal mining, there is the need for a national dialogue on how to improve HSE conditions and in the absence of legislation, the complexities in managing HSE in the sector needs to be decoupled to achieve fair and standard HSE conditions as championed by the World Health Organization.

Objective: Physical inactivity is linked to chronic illnesses and disabilities among workers, especially those in high demanding jobs like teachers. Despite the global prominence of sedentary behaviour research, studies drawing the relationships between physical inactivity and multimorbidity among working teacher populations in low-and middle-countries remain untapped. This study assessed the sedentariness and health status of primary school teachers in Cape Coast Metropolis in Ghana. Method: This cross-sectional survey employed 1109 primary school teachers from the Cape Coast Metropolis in the Central Region of Ghana, using convenient sampling method. Results: Generally, the teachers were highly sedentary and reported poor health status. Other results showed no difference in sedentariness across gender, t (1107) = -0.32, p > .05. However, female teachers suffer more pain and discomfort, [t (1103.51) = - 3.07, p < .05, anxiety and depression, [t (1099.56) = - 2.85, p < .000,)], and poor health status [t (1107) = 2.14, p < .05, than their male counterparts. Also, pain and discomfort, anxiety and depression, health status and years of work significantly predicted sedentariness among the teachers, F (4, 1104) = 5.966, p=.00, R = .145, R2 = .029, adjusted R2 = .018. Conclusion: The findings suggest that individualized or personalized interventions are urgently needed to promote regular physical activity to improve the health status and reduce associated complications on the health and well-being, especially among the female primary school teachers. Given the health risks of sedentary lifestyle, behavioral interventions at the person-level (i.e., individualized- routine weekly physical activity programmes) and built environmental restructuring (e.g., creation of walkways to encourage regular walking) could be done to physical activity behavior among teachers within the Cape Coast Metropolis, and perhaps beyond.

The objective of this quantitative study was to examine the impact of selected factors on the level and state of public health in local self-government units in 2021, with the consideration of data from 2020 and 2019. This survey included 77 out of 145 local self-government units in the Republic of Serbia and examined six dimensions defined by the Law on Public Health: social care for the public health of the city/municipality in regard to the physical, mental, and social health of the population; health promotion and disease prevention; the environment and health; working environments and population health; the organization and functioning of the health system; and actions in emergency situations. The results of the Pearson correlation showed that there were statistically significant correlations between the effectiveness of the realized program budget and microbiologically defective drinking water samples from the so-called village water supply systems, defective samples of drinking water from public taps, unsatisfactory analyses of wastewater samples, the total number of air samples on an annual level for PM25s, and the number of mandated fines issued. The results of the logistic regression model showed that the local self-government units that received assistance from the Permanent Conference of Cities and Municipalities were 5.6 times more likely to perform analyses of their health status. Furthermore, we determined that the units of local self-governments that appointed a coordinator of the health council identified vulnerable groups in the analysis of the state of health four and a half times more often. In contrast, the units of local self-governments that prepared health status analyses could be used to identify vulnerable groups to a six times greater extent within the framework of the health status analysis. The results showed that in improving the state of public health at the local level, it is necessary to provide systematic institutional support to cities and municipalities in exercising their responsibilities. Based on these results, recommendations were made for the further development of support, i.e., the planning of further activities aimed at strengthening the capacity of the health councils and local self-government units in this area.

Peru has one of the highest informal employment rates in Latin America (73%). Previous studies have shown higher prevalence of poor self-perceived health (P-SPH) in informal workers compared to formal. The study’s aim is to analyse the role of working conditions in the association between informality and SPH in urban working population in Peru. We conducted a cross-sectional study based on 3098 workers from the working conditions survey of Peru 2017. Prevalence of P-SPH and exposure to poor working conditions were calculated separated by formal and informal employment and stratified by sex. Poisson regression models were used to assess the association between P-SPH and informal employment, with its prevalence ratios (PR) crude and adjusted for working conditions. Informal employment was 76% in women and 66% in men. Informal workers were more exposed to poor working conditions than formals and reported worse SPH. Workers in informal employment showed higher risk of P-SPH than formals: PR 1.38 [95% CI: 1.16 – 1.64] in women and PR 1.27 [95% CI: 1.08 – 1.49] in men. Adjustment by working conditions weakened the association in both sexes. In women, this association was only partially explained by worse working conditions 1.23 [95% CI: 1.04 – 1.46]. The negative effect on informal workers’ health is partially explained by poor working conditions. However, there is a part of the effect explained by informality per se.

Health of migrant is a widely studied topic. It has been argued that migrant health may deteriorate over time. Though migrants are ‘a hard to reach’ population in survey data, this paper builds on a unique dataset provided by Médecins du Monde from five countries. We study self perceived health (SPH) in connection with socio-economic and demographic factors and length of stay. Results show different results for men and women. Asylum seekers compared to other documented migrants have a worse health. Migrants with better living conditions tend to be in better health. Employment and stable accommodation has a positive effect on SPH. Women from poorer countries have a better physical SPH after 3 months of residing in the host country. This paper contributes widely to knowledge of health of migrants. Contrarily to other evidence, health of migrants tends to improve for some migrants.

The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to analyze the differential impact of the first COVID-19 lockdown (3rd April 2020) on stress, health practices, and self-care activities across different Hispanic countries, age range and gender groups. 1082 participants from Spain, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador took part in this study. Irrespective of the country, and controlling for income level, young people, especially females, suffered a greater level of stress, perceived the situation as more severe, showed less adherence to health guidelines and reported lower levels of health consciousness, in comparison to their male peers and older groups. However, in the case of self-care, it seems that older and female groups are generally more involved in self-care activities and adopt more healthy daily routines. These results are mostly similar between Colombia, Ecuador, and Spain. However, Chile showed some different tendencies, as males reported higher levels of healthy daily routines and better adherence to health guidelines compared to females and people over the age of 60. Differences between countries, genders and age ranges should be considered in order to improve health recommendations and adherence to guidelines. It would also be crucial to identify vulnerable groups to promote the adoption of health behaviors that may help in the development of effective public health strategies. Future studies should be addressed to explore the possible causations of such differences in more cultural-distant samples and at later stages of the current outbreak.

Disadvantaged circumstances in youth tend to translate into poor health development. Yet, the fact that this is not always the case has been seen as indicative of differential resilience. The current study highlights factors outside the context of the family with the potential to counteract the long-term negative influences of social and material adversity in adolescence on general health status. This study was based on two waves of questionnaire data from the Northern Swedish Cohort. From the wave in 1981 (age 16), indicators of social and material conditions as well as factors related to school, peers, and spare time, were derived. From the wave in 2008 (age 43), information about self-rated health was used. Ordinal logistic regression models (n=908) showed that adversity in youth was associated with poorer self-rated health in midlife among men and women alike, net of health status at baseline. However, having an advantaged situation with regard to school, peers, or spare time appeared to protect against the detrimental influences of disadvantaged circumstances in the family context on subsequent health. This suggests that health-promoting interventions may benefit from focusing on contexts outside the family in their effort to strengthen processes of resilience among disadvantaged youths.

COVID-19 may not be a ‘youth disease’ but nevertheless impacts the life of young people dramatically, loneliness and negative mood being an unexpected additional pandemic. Many young people rely on social media for their feeling of connectedness with others. However, social media are suggested to have many negative effects on people’s anxiety. Instead of self-disclosing to others, design may develop alternatives to employ social robots for self-disclosure. In a follow-up on Duan et al. (2021), we report on a lab experiment of self-disclosing negative emotions to a social-media group as compared to writing a conventional diary journal or to talk to an AI-driven social robot after negative mood induction (i.e. viewing shocking earthquake footage). Participants benefitted the most from talking to a robot rather than from writing a journal page or sharing their feelings on social media. Self-disclosure on social media or writing a journal page did not differ significantly. In the design of interventions for mental well-being, human helpers thus far took center stage. Based on our results, we propose design alternatives for an empathic smart-home, featuring social robots and chatbots for alleviating stress and anxiety: a social-media interference chatbot, smart watch plus speaker, and a mirror for self-reflection.

The practice of quantified-self sleep tracking is increasingly common nowadays among healthy individuals as well as patients with sleep problems. However, existing sleep-tracking technologies only support simple data collection and visualization, and are incapable of providing actionable recommendations that are tailored to users' physical, behavioral and environmental context. Here we coined the term context-aware sleep health recommender system (CASHRS) as an emerging multidisciplinary research field that bridges ubiquitous sleep computing and context-aware recommender systems. In this paper, we presented a narrative review to analyze the type of contextual information, the recommendation algorithms, the context filtering techniques, the behavior change techniques, the system evaluation, and the challenges in peer-reviewed publications that meet the characteristics of CASHRS. Analysis results identified current research trends, the knowledge gap, and future research opportunities in CASHRS.

Many relevant health social actors have voiced concerns about the danger of self-medication in times of growing use of over-the-counter medicines and, in some contexts, unregulated selling of them. Previous research has examined the incidence of parental self-medication as well as the use and abuse of antibiotics without professional advice. However, these studies have limited evidence on the role of family doctors and the perceived severity of self-medication in the case of parents. Based on Health Belief Model, our research tested the effects of exposure to medical information on the perceived level of self-treating the children without medical advice. Specifically, we aimed to assess whether exposure to information warning about the risks of treating children without a medical prescription influences parents' attitudes toward administering medicines to their children without medical advice. The results showed that our respondents evaluated the practices of self-medication negatively, especially when it came to treating their children without medical advice. However, their attitudes towards self-medication varied depending on their beliefs about administering certain medications. Additionally, the results showed that the perceived level of satisfaction with the family physician could be a significant factor in controlling and avoiding the treatment of children without professional advice.

Optimism and self-efficacy have been associated with psychological health. Empathy has also been found to promote positive functioning and to have a unique role in community health volunteering. This study investigated whether self-efficacy and optimism were associated with psychological and subjective well-being in a group of healthcare volunteers and whether empathy added incrementally to these associations. A sample of 160 Italian clown doctors volunteering in various hospitals completed self-report measures of self-efficacy, optimism, empathy, psychological well-being, and subjective well-being. Results indicated that self-efficacy and optimism were associated with both outcomes and that aspects of empathy, such as others’ perspective-taking and personal distress for others’ difficulties, incrementally added to these associations, although with opposite effects. The present study adds to previous research on the role of self-efficacy, optimism, and empathy for community health volunteers’ psychological health and offers suggestions regarding the training of this type of volunteer.

COVID-19 has affected 212 countries around the world, killing nearly 300,000 and infecting more than 4.4 million by May 14, 2020. Bangladesh, a South Asian low-middle-income economy, has experienced a demographic and epidemiological transition with rapid urbanization and a gradual increase in life expectancy. It is the seventh most populous country in the world and population of the country is expected to be nearly double by 2050. The increasing burden of communicable diseases in Bangladesh can be attributable to rapid urbanization and nearly 50% of all slum dwellers of the country live in Dhaka division. In 2017, National Rapid Response Team of IEDCR investigated 26 incidents of disease outbreak. The joint survey of the Power and Participation Research Centre and BRAC Institute of Governance and Development reveals that per capita daily income of urban slum and rural poor drops by 80% due to present countrywide shutdown enforced by the government to halt the spread of Covid-19. 40%-50% of these population took loans to meet the daily expenses. However, the country has just 127,000 hospital beds, 91,000 of them in government-run hospitals. Researchers say, the country’s economy is economy is losing BDT 33 billion every day from its service and agriculture sectors during the nationwide shutdown.

Background: Even though a number of studies have verified the positive effect of physical activity (PA) on self-related health (SRH) no previous research has examined this association among pediatric patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between regular physical activity (PA) and self-rated health (SRH) in pediatric patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) who lacked diabetes care. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study among pediatric patients with T1DM who lacked diabetes care and were enrolled in a diabetes education program between January 2011 to January 2015 at the endocrinology clinic of Seoul National University Children’s Hospital in South Korea. The eligible participants for this study were 37 pediatric patients with T1DM aged 9 to 17 years. PA was divided into regular PA and muscle strength exercise to analyze the relationship with SRH using binomial logistic regression analysis. Results: The results showed SRH of pediatric patients with T1DM who did not engage in regular PA was significantly lower than those who did (OR in regular PA = .199 [95% CI: .040, .995]; OR in regular muscle strength exercise = .097 [95% CI: .023, .825]). Conclusions: In conclusion, regular PA and muscle strength exercise in pediatric patients with T1DM who lacked diabetes care were effective in improving their SRH. A systematic plan is required to enhance regular PA for pediatric patients with T1DM.

Background and Objectives: Although there has been growing interest in the association of ADHD with anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and self-esteem, there is a lack of consistent results and these associations remain unclear. This study investigated the differential patterns of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and self-esteem with regard to the presence of ADHD. Materials and Methods: The subjects were divided into a patient group and a control group. The patient group included 49 patients diagnosed with ADHD at the department of psychiatry of one university hospital. For the control group, 3,727 students were invited to complete a questionnaire. Of the 1,717 students who responded to the questionnaire, 245 were selected for patient-controlled studies. All the subjects were instructed to complete the Beck Suicide Ideation Scale, Children's Depression Inventory, Beck’s Depression Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Results: ADHD subjects experienced more anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation as well as lower self-esteem compared to the control group comprising participants without ADHD. Conclusions: These findings suggest that ADHD symptoms may contribute to greater suicidal ideation through experienced depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem in school-aged children. Therefore, appropriate ADHD symptom management is necessary to reduce suicidal ideation among school-aged children with ADHD symptoms.

(1) Background: Prevention of acute cardiovascular events in patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) requires promoting health-protective behaviors (e.g., physical activity) and preventing health-compromising behaviors (sitting). Digital health interventions provide much potential. Based on multiple behavioral change theory, an intervention (reCardial app) was evaluated, and the following hypotheses were tested: H1: Health behaviors (physical activity, sitting) and disease self-management (self-care maintenance, self-care confidence) are closely interrelated. H2: Change in health behaviors and disease self-management indicators over time is more pronounced in reCardial app-users. H3: In the intervention group, changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure indicate a positive trajectory. (2) Methods: A study with the design of a randomized controlled trial over 12 weeks was conducted. 40 CVD-patients were randomized equally to the Intervention Group (35% women; Mage=60.6years) and Control Group (45% women; Mage=61.5years). (3) Results: Findings support H1 with significant correlations between health behaviors (r=0.45-0.63**), and disease self-management (r=-0.32-0.54**), H2 with Eta²=0.21 (not statistically significant) and H3 partially with d=0.101 for systolic blood pressure but not regarding diastolic blood pressure. (4) Conclusions: Replications are needed with larger samples and more objective measures. The app can help prevent and manage CVD by means of promoting health-protective behaviors and preventing health-compromising behaviors. Taking different behaviors into account can increase intervention effects and with that support of users.

The way people in many countries eat today is disconnected to the resources and land locally available. In Europe, for instance, too much meat is eaten, but often cannot be fed by local resources. The percentage of non-local and non-seasonal food is tremendous, exploiting other regions and their water reservoirs. Current diets harm eco systems and people’s health. (Re-)regionalising food systems and aligning diets to planetary boundaries could be one way to reconnect people to the food they eat. Before demanding the (re-)regionalisation of food, it should be analysed whether current consumption patterns can be met at all with the regionally available agricultural land. We looked at the region Hesse in Central Germany, calculated and compared land consumption of current diets with the consumption as recommended by the Planetary Health Diet. Our focus is on livestock because land consumption to produce meat, dairy and eggs is relatively high. Our results show that the region is far from being able to feed the current livestock population, that it does not have the land to support the livestock needed to meet current consumption patterns, but that it could support a smaller livestock population according to the Planetary Health Diet, especially if farmers adopt crop rotation systems and extensive husbandry.

Breast self-Examination (BSE) is the cheapest most recommended Breast Cancer (BC) preventive tool for resource-deprived settings. There is paucity in the attitude research domain and comparative gender assessments of the BSE knowledge, attitude and performance (KAP) literature. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the combined and exclusive gender BSE attitude of undergraduate health trainees and to determine significant differences between scores of both genders. Methodology: participants included 5 undergraduate health trainee classes purposively sampled from 2 faculties. Online cross-sectional method was used to assess BSE attitude of 336 purposively sampled Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and technology (KNUST) College of Health Sciences (CoHS) students. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. Main findings: Compared to the construction groups’ average norm of 101.17 (SD = 9.55), our study participants’ (SPs) BSE attitude was lower (92.51; SD = 11.80). However, using popular mid-point and 3- part attitude scoring methods, our SPs’ attitude scores were comparable to sub-regional and national findings. Moreover,the male participants scored a generally high BSE attitude but significantly lower compared to their female counterparts (p < 0.5). Recommendations: There is the need to adjust the curriculum of all health trainees in developing nations to reflect relevant BC preventive measures. Furthermore, BSE research, education as well as advocacy should involve more males as important BC BSE stake holders.

Many researches have identified that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidality. However, most studies have been restricted to a few types of ACEs. This study aims to investigate associations of 13 common types of ACEs with NSSI, suicidal ideation (SI) and suicide attempt (SA), as well as the mediation of depressive and anxiety symptoms therein. A total of 1771 students aged 11-16 years who participated in the baseline survey of the Chinese Adolescent Health Growth Cohort study were included for the analysis. ACEs, SI, SA, depressive and anxiety symptoms were recorded by standard questionnaire. Of included participants, 92.0% reported one or more category of ACEs. Smoking, parent-child separation, emotional abuse, physical abuse and being bullied were positively associated with NSSI, with the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 2.41(95%CI, 1.01-5.75), 1.80(1.28-2.54), 1.69(1.21-2.37), 2.08(1.44-3.01) and 1.87(1.35-2.59), respectively; smoking (4.03, 1.66-9.81), parent-child separation (1.42, 1.07-1.90), emotional abuse (1.91, 1.41-2.59), physical abuse (1.80, 1.27-2.57), emotional neglect (1.78, 1.28-2.49) and being bullied (2.08, 1.54-2.81) were positively associated with SI; smoking(4.30, 1.67-11.10), emotional abuse (2.42, 1.58-3.72) and being bullied (1.75, 1.17-2.60) were positively associated with SA. The associations of ACEs with NSSI, SI and SA were each partially or completely mediated through depressive and anxiety symptoms. Children and adolescents who had experiences of smoking, physical abuse and being bullied during childhood are consistently and independently associated with NSSI and suicidality, and these associations may be largely mediated through depressive and anxiety symptoms.

Type 1 diabetes imposes a complex and challenging routine on patients and caregivers. Therefore, considering individual experiences and personal facilitators to promote assertive interventions is crucial. However, no studies have addressed these perspectives in the Brazilian adult population. We aimed to identify psycho-behavioral characteristics perceived as facilitators for coping with the condition. We used a biographical method to conduct semi-structured, face-to-face, in-depth interviews for each participant. Transcripts were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Participants (n = 22) were aged 18–57 years (mean: 30.2, standard deviation (SD): 8.7), and the duration since diagnosis was approximately 20.6 years (SD: 4.6). Twelve (54.4%) were women, 13 (59.1%) used insulin pumps, 14 (63.6%) had at least a college degree, and 13 (59.1%) had HbA1C (glycated hemoglobin) levels above 58 mmol/mol (7.5%). Five major themes emerged: 1) peer learning, 2) ownership, 3) welcoming experiences, 4) equity, and 5) reframe the path (P.O.W.E.R.). All themes appeared in the lived experiences shared by participants with HbA1C levels below 58 mmol/mol (7.5%). Improved glycemic control can be achieved, and the challenges encountered in diabetes care within similar socioeconomic contexts can be addressed, by an interdisciplinary care team that takes P.O.W.E.R into consideration when providing person-centered care strategies.

Most of the educational interventions proposed so far in the field of mental well-being in education ‎usually address just students. In this study, we focused on teachers as the Covid-19 pandemic reiterated ‎the importance of their mental well-being during demanding times. We investigated whether ‎neurofeedback (NF) training can increase optimism, self-esteem, life satisfaction, and the ability to ‎cope with stressful events, reflecting on the research literature that emphasizes these four factors, ‎which affect the ability to be confident in dealing with uncertainty and distress. ‎ Forty teachers aged 35-55 participated in the study. The test group took part in 12 NF training sessions, ‎and the control group was not treated. Our findings indicate that compared to the control group, ‎measures of optimism, self-esteem, life satisfaction, and coping with stressful events improved ‎significantly in the test group.‎ To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to test a mental welfare intervention program for ‎teachers through NF. This study responded to a call to develop teacher intervention programs using ‎physiological measurement and technological innovations to improve their mental health and allow ‎them to cope better with stressful teaching conditions.

Background: Depression is a common mental health problem that can affect everyone at different stages of development. Though the prevalence rate of depression among university students is rising, exploration among engineering students is limited. The aim of the study was to examine the prevalence of depression and its associated factors of among engineering students in Thailand. Methods: 346students participated in this study. All completed the outcome inventory-depression subscale (OI-D) to evaluate the level and prevalence of depression. Other variables assessed included social skill, learning styles, relationship satisfaction, interpersonal difficulty, alcohol use, internet addiction, and neuroticism. Correlation and regression analysis were applied to test the association between sociodemographic and psychosocial factors and depression. Results. Of 346 students with the mean age was 20.25 (SD, 1.33), 52.31% was male. Based on the OI-D, 35.3% of participants exhibited symptoms indicative of major depression. Multiple regression showed that only neuroticism, interpersonal difficulties, social skills, and self-esteem appeared to be the significant predictors of depression. Conclusion: the prevalence of depression among engineering students is unexpectedly high. Intra and interpersonal factors were found to be associated with depression. Further study on identifying these risk factors should be encouraged.

Objective: The study investigated the benefit of practicing the art of bonsai and the well-being of practitioners. The art promotes relaxation, focus and art therapy that can have personal and emotional value in a self-help setting. When the bonsai tree is used as a healing object, it may improve the ability of the bonsai practitioner to adapt to adverse and stressful life events, such as the present global COVID-19 pandemic. Method: International bonsai artists (n = 255) participated in a study that examined the effect their bonsai had on their mental well-being. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with bonsai artists answering the question: “How has bonsai helped you?”. Results: Most participants acknowledged that being able to take care of their bonsais affected their mood in a positive manner. Discussion: Although the participants did not report overall improved mental health, participants expressed an improvement in their mood when being able to work on a bonsai tree. Conclusion: These findings are significant in that it can be useful in as a preventative and restorative manner in the mental well-being of people who practice the art.

Knowledge about one’s innate health is central to a variety of positive mental health markers. However, men living in prison rarely receive education about how to access these internal resources. As such, this study seeks to replicate and extend emerging data on an innate health intervention. Volunteers from HMP Nottingham, England (n=126) participated in normal prison programming and the intervention group (n=65) received an additional 3-day intensive. The primary question: Does innate health function as a mediator in the same way self-control does within an incarcerated population? We conducted a mediation analysis, tested social desirability bias, and examined the impact of the intervention on crucial variables. This study found higher levels of innate health, self-control, wellbeing, and prosocial behavior and lower levels of aggression in the intervention group as compared to the control group. Importantly, innate health did play a mediating role equivalent to and/or partnering with self-control.

The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which self-esteem and depression mediated the influence of internalized stigma on life satisfaction among Korean out-of-school youths. Cross-sectional data on 318 youths provided information on perceived stigma, self-esteem, depression, life satisfaction, and personal characteristics. A multinomial logistic regression analysis was followed by structured path analysis to investigate the mediation effects. Internalized stigma was negatively associated with life satisfaction. Self-esteem significantly mediated the influence of stigma on depression and the influence of depression on life satisfaction. Further, stigma directly and significantly influenced depression. This study demonstrated that self-esteem and depression were important to the relationship between internalized stigma and life satisfaction. Implications for possible policies and programs with the aim of helping out-of-school youths to integrate and lead successful satisfying lives are discussed.

Diagnosis and treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in women remain insufficient. Fluctuations of reproductive hormones during the premenstrual period, postpartum period and (peri)menopause are neglected, even though they impact ADHD symptoms and as-sociated mood disorders [1]. Therefore, we created a female-specific treatment group for women with ADHD and premenstrual worsening of ADHD and/or mood symptoms. We describe the group programme and underlying rationale, offering a qualitative analysis of the participants’ evaluation. The 7 two-weekly sessions foreground the menstrual cycle and address several ADHD-specific topics in relation to this cyclical pattern: emotional regulation; impulsivity; setting boundaries, and triggers. Concurrently, women track their menstrual cycle and (fluctuating) ADHD and mood symptoms with an adjusted premenstrual calendar. In total, 18 women (25-47yrs) participated in three consecutive groups. We analysed the evaluation of the last group. Participants experienced the group as a safe and welcoming space. Recognition was valued by all. The topics discussed were deemed valuable and the structure suited them well. Completing the premenstrual calendar augmented awareness and recognition of individual cyclical symptoms. Discussing ADHD throughout the lifespan increased self-understanding. Participants took their menstrual cycle more seriously, prioritising self-acceptance and self-care in the luteal phase of the cycle. Exploring a cyclical approach in a group setting seems to be a positive addition to treatment for female ADHD.

To better understand the shape memory materials and self-healing materials, a new series of liquid-crystalline shape memory polyurethane (LC-SMPU) composites, named SMPU-OOBAm, were successfully prepared by incorporating 4-octyldecyloxybenzoic acid (OOBA) into the PEG-based SMPU. The effect of OOBA on the structure, morphology and properties has been carefully investigated. The results demonstrate that SMPU-OOBAm have liquid crystalline properties, triple-shape memory properties and self-healing properties. The incorporated OOBA promotes the crystallizability of both soft and hard segments of SMPU, and the crystallization rate of the hard segment of SMPU decreases when the OOBA-content increases. Additionally, the SMPU-OOBAm forms a two-phase separated structure (SMPU phase and OOBA phase), and it shows two-step modulus changes upon heating. Therefore, the SMPU-OOBAm shows triple-shape memory behavior, and the shape recovery ratio decreases with an increase in the OOBA content. Finally, SMPU-OOBAm shows self-healing properties. The new mechanism can be ascribed to the heating-induced “bleeding” of OOBA in the liquid crystalline state and the subsequent re-crystallization upon cooling. This successful combination of liquid crystalline properties, triple-shape memory properties and self-healing properties make the SMPU-OOBAm composites with many promise applications in smart optical devices, smart electronic devices and smart sensors.

Background: The practice of self-medication is common worldwide and is an important component of medical self-care. However, the practice can be dangerous and is linked to various risks for the patients and the entire community. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and factors associated with self-medication among Bangladeshi adults. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between April and June 2021 among Bangladeshi adults (aged &gt;19 years) using convenient sampling. A total of 1320 data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a standardized questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with self-medication practice (SMP). Results: Overall, 41% of adults in our survey reported SMP. The most common illnesses that prompted SMP were common cold/flu (66.4%), gastric problems (65%), and headache (64.4%). The most frequent reasons for SMP were to get better services (30.59%), perceive SMP without side effects (23.28%), and save time with effectiveness (14.56%). Potential risk factors included 10 years (AOR = 1.91; 95% CI: 1.04 - 3.50) and &gt;12 years of schooling (AOR = 5.03; 95% CI: 2.27 - 11.15), being a businessman (AOR = 4.64; 95% CI: 1.74 - 12.37), having ≤6 family members (AOR = 2.13; 95% CI: 1.40 - 3.24), being a member of a social group (AOR = 1.53; 95% CI: 1.10 - 2.12), a health status check after every six months (AOR = 1.52; 95% CI: 1.08 - 2.13), and current ill-health (AOR = 1.41; 95% CI: 1.06 - 1.87). Protective factors identified included ≤30 years of age (AOR = 0.40; 95% CI: 0.17 - 0.93), and practice of modern (AOR = 0.39; 95% CI: 0.22- 0.69) and herbal (AOR = 0.45; 95% CI: 0.21- 0.97) healing types. Conclusion: More than one-third of the study participants reported practicing self-medication. Increasing the community’s awareness of the extreme consequences of SMP and not just the average experience might sway individuals away from SMP, and implementing strict jurisdiction could be a way to minimize the SMP.

Cognitive biases are an important factor contributing to the development and symptom severity of psychosis. Despite that various cognitive biases are contributing to psychosis, they are rarely investigated together. In the current systematic review, we aimed at investigating specific and shared neural correlates of two important cognitive biases: aberrant salience and source monitoring. We conducted a systematic search of fMRI studies of said cognitive biases. Eight studies on aberrant salience and eleven studies on source monitoring were included in the review. We critically discussed behavioural and neuroimaging findings concerning cognitive biases. Various brain regions are associated with aberrant salience and source monitoring in individuals with schizophrenia and the risk of psychosis. Ventral striatum and insula contribute to aberrant salience. The medial prefrontal cortex, superior and middle temporal gyrus contribute to source monitoring. The anterior cingulate cortex and hippocampus contribute to both cognitive biases, constituting a neural overlap. Our review indicates that aberrant salience and source monitoring may share neural mechanisms, suggesting their joint role in producing disrupted external attributions of perceptual and cognitive experiences, thus elucidating their role in positive symptoms of psychosis. Account bridging mechanisms of these two biases is discussed. Further studies are warranted.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact on corporate social responsibility when Jordanian banks disclose risks. The main objective of the study is to investigate the relationship between risk disclosure and corporate social responsibility in the banking sector in Jordan. To achieve this goal, data was collected from 23 Jordanian banks listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) over a period of 10 years, from 2010 to 2019. The data was analyzed using a regression model with four independent variables that represent the risk disclosure; corporate social responsibility was used as the dependent variable. The study also built in controls for the age of each bank, its size, leverage, and ROE, to ensure that the results were not affected by these factors. The results of the study show that all independent variables are positively correlated with corporate social responsibility. This suggests that disclosing risks is an effective way to improve corporate social responsibility in the banking industry. The findings of this study have important practical implications for bank managers, future researchers, and policymakers. The study also highlights the importance of future research in this field in order to understand the relationship between risk disclosure and corporate social responsibility in other countries and within other sectors of industry.

The purpose of this article is to analyze, in a three-stage research, the relationships between environmental expenses, the improvements achieved in 5 environmental variables analyzed and efficiency, from an economic and operational perspective. The stages of this research are analyzing the sustainability reports to determine the level of information, analyzing the economic and operational efficiency, and analyzing the alignment with the environmental priorities of the Eco Ports-ESPO (European Sea Ports Organization). The results reveal that (1) the type of traffic does not condition environmental actions; (2) environmental performance (improvements) depends on environmental expenditures; (3) environmental spending and efficiency in port operations are correlated; and (4) environmental spending and port economic efficiency are correlated.

Two polyurethanes (PUs) were similarly synthesized by reacting a cycloaliphatic isocyanate with 1,4 butanediol and two polyols of different nature (polyester, polycarbonate diol) with molecular weights of 1000 Da. The PU made with polycarbonate diol polyol (YCD) was the only showing intrinsic self-healing at 20 °C. For assessing the mechanism of intrinsic self-healing of YCD, a structural characterization by molecular weights determination, infrared and X-ray photoelectronic spectroscopies, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, thermal gravimetric analysis and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis was carried out. It was concluded that the self-healing at 20 °C of YCD was due to non-covalent dynamic exchange interactions among the carbonate groups of the soft segments. Therefore, the chemical nature of the polyol played a key role in developing PUs with intrinsic self-healing at 20 °C.

The study explores how different dimensions of perfectionism influence psychological well-being (PWB) in emerging adults. Literature has deepened the relationships between maladaptive perfectionism (e.g., excessive self-criticism, perceived discrepancy from the standards) and low PWB. Less is known about whether and how adaptive perfectionism (e.g., pursuing personal standards) relates to PWB. Secondly, the study has investigated whether self-compassion (i.e., self-benevolence, seeing personal imperfections as a common condition) may mediate the relationships between adaptive/maladaptive perfectionism and PWB. Participants (N=217, 18-35 y. o.) completed self-report questionnaires measuring: adaptive/maladaptive perfectionism (Almost Perfect Scale-Revised, APS-R: high standards and order/discrepancy, respectively), PWB, and self-compassion (SCS). Adaptive perfectionism resulted associated with PWB, particularly higher presence of purpose in life, environmental mastery, self-acceptance, and personal growth. Conversely, discrepancy resulted the most robust predictor of low PWB (β=-.68), followed by high standards with a positive direction (β=.23; Rc²=.514, p&lt;.001). A strong negative association emerged between discrepancy and SCS (r=-.67, p&lt;.001). A mediation analysis shows that self-compassion has an indirect effect reducing the strength of the relationship between discrepancy and low PWB. Results suggest focusing on self-compassion as a buffer factor that reduces the negative impact of maladaptive perfectionism on psychological well-being. Implications for education and health psychology are discussed.

Abstract: The aim of this study was to compare the influence of corporate board characteristics on the extent of environmental disclosure quantity of listed firms in two leading emerging economies in Africa, South Africa (integrated reporting framework) and Nigeria (traditional reporting framework). Methods: The sample was comprised of 303 firms including environmentally sensitive companies purposively selected for content analysis study in South Africa (213) and Nigeria (90). We used both descriptive, multivariate and regression models to comparatively analyze the differences about corporate board characteristics as determinants of the extent of their environmental disclosure quantity. Results: The results reveal a more significant positive association between board characteristics and environmental disclosure in South Africa and less relevant association in Nigeria. Also, the results support that board independence arrangement may serve as bonding mechanisms in weak reporting environments, suggesting a substitutive relationship between board independence and the regulatory framework. Quiet revealing a board with environmental committee show a higher tendency to be ecologic transparent in both countries. However, in a traditional reporting framework, the environmental committee is not enough; its effect was insignificant and highly significant in the integrated reporting framework. Further revealed is the significant positive effect of industry membership influence on environmental disclosure. In all estimated models of South Africa sample show that 45% of environmentally sensitive industries significantly influence environmental disclosure, while 51% is environmentally polluting industries in Nigeria show less concern on environmental disclosure. Interestingly, Audit firm size (Big4) positively and statistically significantly associated with overall environmental reporting in both countries. The results are consistent with stakeholder theory, agency theory, institutional and legitimacy theory suggesting that a strong board size, independent members of the board with auditing experience, the active environmental committee in conjunction with solid audit reputation may reduce information asymmetry. Our findings will be helpful for policymakers and other regulators who are interested in environmental impact reporting.

Despite the expectation that social media use in the public sector contributes to enhancing government's transparency, few studies have been investigated whether social media use actually leads to more disclosure during environmental incidents in practice and how social media influence local governments and their officials' information disclosure. In this article, we model information disclosure during environmental incidents as an evolutionary game process between the central government and local government in social media context, and examine the internal mechanism that how social media influence the progress of information disclosure during environmental incidents. The findings indicate that social media plays an active constructive role in central-local government game relations. Specific- ally, social media can provides an efficient information channels for the central government supervise regional officials in environmental incidents, and thus improves its supervision efficiency, and it also provides an important means for internet mobilization and online-offline interaction by encouraging the public exchange information and express their views, and in turn forces local governments and their officials tend to disclosure ahead.

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), each sensor node can estimate the global parameter from the local data in distributed manner. This paper proposed a robust diffusion estimation algorithm based on minimum error entropy criterion with self-adjusting step-size, which are referred to as diffusion MEE-SAS (DMEE-SAS) algorithm. The DMEE-SAS algorithm has fast speed of convergence and is robust against non-Gaussian noise in the measurements. The detailed performance analysis of the DMEE-SAS algorithm is performed. By combining the DMEE-SAS with diffusion minimum error entropy (DMEE) algorithms, an Improving DMEE-SAS algorithm is proposed, in non-stationary environment where tracking is very important. The Improving DMEE-SAS algorithm can avoid insensitivity of the DMEE-SAS algorithm due to the small effective step-size near the optimal estimator, and obtain a fast convergence speed. Numerical simulations are given to verify the effectiveness and advantages of these proposed algorithms.

Cutaneous melanoma (CM) is a candidate for screening programs, since its prognosis is excellent when diagnosed in an early disease stage. Targeted screening of those at high risk for developing CM, a cost-effective alternative to population-wide screening, requires valid procedures to identify the high-risk group. Self-assessment of the number of nevi has been suggested as a component of such procedures, but its validity has not yet been established. We analyzed the level of agreement between self-assessments and expert assessments of the number of melanocytic nevi in the area between the wrist and the shoulder of both arms based on 4548 study subjects in whom mutually blinded double counting of nevi was performed. Nevus counting followed the IARC protocol. Study subjects received written instructions, photographs, a mirror, and a “nevometer” to support self-assessment of nevi larger than 2 mm. Nevus counts were categorized based on the quintiles of the distribution into five levels defining a nevus score. Cohen’s weighted kappa-coefficient was estimated to measure the level of agreement. In the total sample, agreement between self-assessments and expert-assessments was moderate (raw agreement: 50.29%, weighted κ=0.596). Self-assessed nevus counts were higher than those determined by experts (mean differ-ence: 3.33 nevi). The level of agreement was independent of sociodemographic and cutaneous factors; however, participants’ eye color had a significant impact on the level of agreement. Our findings show that even with comprehensive guidance, only a moderate level of agreement between self-assessed and expert-assessed nevus counts can be achieved. Self-assessed nevus information does not appear to be reliable enough to be used in individual risk assessment to target screening activities.

As a potential motivation, psychological empowerment stimulates employees' work behaviors, and it determines the degree of effort and duration of employees' work. Only when employees are psychologically empowered, will they have an impact on their behavior when they believe that they are trusted. This paper chose to set the independent variable as the employee's perceived trust and the dependent variable as the company's work performance, and explored the mediating role of psychological empowerment in the two. The psychological empowerment of employees had a positive impact on work performance. Employees with high psychological empowerment tended to be proactive in their work, and had more input in the work, which in turn encouraged employees to have higher work performance. The four dimensions of psychological empowerment can positively affect employee task performance, and the ability and influence of psychological empowerment had a positive impact on relationship performance. Psychological empowerment as a whole perception played a part of the mediating role between the perception of superior dependency and task performance, and it played a part of the mediating role between perception of superior dependency and relationship performance. As a whole perception, psychological empowerment played a part of mediating role between perceived information disclosure and task performance, and part of mediating role between perceived information disclosure and relationship performance. In the study of perceived trust and work performance, this article focused on the mediating role of psychological empowerment, and further understood the internal mechanism of perceived trust.

Background / Objective: Historically, fasting has not only been practiced for medical but also for religious reasons. Bahá’ís follow an annual religious fast of 19 days. We assessed motivation behind and subjective health impacts of Bahá’í fasting. Methods: A convergent parallel mixed methods design was embedded in a clinical single arm observational study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six fasters before, during and after fasting. Three months after the fasting period, two focus group interviews were conducted. 146 Bahá’í volunteers answered an online survey at five time points before, during and after fasting. Results: Interviews: Fasting was found to play a central role for the religiosity of interviewees, implying changes in daily structures, spending time alone, engaging in religious practices, and experiencing social belonging. Results show an increase in mindfulness and well-being, accompanied by behavioural changes and experiences of self-efficacy and inner freedom. Survey: Scores point to an increase in mindfulness and well-being during fasting, while stress, anxiety and fatigue decreased. Mindfulness remained elevated even three months after the fast. Conclusion: Bahá'í intermittent dry fast seems to enhance participants’ mindfulness and well-being, lowering stress levels and reducing fatigue. Some of these effects lasted more than three months after fasting.

Aiming to investigate the impact of strategic knowledge disclosure on the continuous realization of digital innovation in enterprises, this study examines data from 168 listed companies across three high-tech industries in China from 2012 to 2021. By examining investor trust, consumer trust, worker trust, and rival trust as mediating variables within the market trust dimension, this research explores the impact mechanism of strategic knowledge disclosure on the sustainability of input and output in digital innovation. The findings reveal that strategic knowledge disclosure significantly promotes both input and output sustainability in digital innovation. Specifically, investor trust positively mediates the relationship between strategic knowledge disclosure and the sustainability of digital innovation input. Similarly, consumer trust and worker trust positively mediate the association between strategic knowledge disclosure and both input and output sustainability in digital innovation. However, it is important to note that rival trust negatively mediates the link between strategic knowledge disclosure and both input and output sustainability in digital innovation. The research findings possess significant theoretical value and provide valuable guidance for promoting the sustainable development of digital innovation in enterprises.

Prior research has extensively examined the relationship between religion and accrual-based earnings management. However, there is currently little research in the relationship between religion and real (non-accrual) earnings management, especially in Europe. This paper aims to fill this research gap and examines whether and how the effect of religion could be linked with firms’ real earnings management activities. Four hypotheses are developed and tested with our results providing indications that the degree of overall religiosity is negatively and significantly associated with real earnings management. Furthermore, when investigating the effects of different religions in Europe, Christianity and Islam have the opposite impact on firms’ real earnings management activities. Overall, our paper indicates that in European countries, the religious environment can mitigate firms’ manipulations on earnings.

Recent policies’ changes in sustainability reporting, such as the ones related to the new European Directive on non-financial disclosure, the standards issued by the American Sustainability Accounting Standard Board (SASB), the G4 guidelines issued by the Global Sustainability Standard Board (GSSB-GRI) and the framework of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) are stressing about the importance of extending the disclosure of ethical, social and environmental risks within social and environmental reporting. Institutional pressure has notably increased among organizations, in setting-up risk management tools to understand sustainability risks within managerial and reporting practices. Given such institutional pressure, the corporate reaction in providing additional sustainability risk disclosure call for attention and scrutiny. Therefore, this study aims at addressing such issues from an exploratory perspective. We based our analysis on a sample of organizations that issued sustainability disclosure in accordance with the GRI G4 guidelines, and we tested the relationship between risk disclosure and other relevant variables. Consistently with the literature, we found that “experienced” sustainable reporters provide a significant volume of disclosure, and that disclosure quality on risk is positively influenced by their international presence and reporting experience. However, when accounting for specific risk-related areas of disclosure, only few of them seems to adopt a management accounting perspective linking strategy, risk metrics and disclosure.

Background: Visual acuity (VA) assessments are crucial in ophthalmology but traditionally rely on in-clinic evaluations. The emergence of telemedicine has spurred interest in creating dependable self-administered VA tests for use beyond standard clinical environments. This study evaluates the practicality and validity of a self-administered Near VA card test against traditional Snellen and Rosenbaum Pocket Vision Screener (RPVS) methods for home monitoring and enhancing clinical workflow. Methods: In a cross-sectional study a near VA card (Hadassah Self-Visual Acuity Screener-HSVA) was developed with written and videotaped instructions for self-use. Patients with a minimal best corrected VA (BCVA) of 1.0 LogMAR in at least one eye were recruited from Ophthalmology and Optometry clinics. Outcomes included mean BCVA difference between the self-administered and those obtained by the examiner, and correlations among BCVA values obtained by Snellen, RPVS, HSVA and previous distance BCVA according to the patient electronic medical records. Results: A total of 275 participants (mean age: 42.5±19.4 years, range: 18-89 years, 47% female) were included. Test-retest reliability analysis for the HSVA demonstrated very good correlation and repeatability (n=38 patients.; Rs=1.0, P

For many engineering applications it is sufficient to use the concept of simple materials. However, higher gradients of the kinematic variables are taken into account to model materials with internal length scales as well as to describe localization effects using gradient theories in finite plasticity or fluid mechanics. In many approaches length scale parameter have been introduced that are related to a specific micro structure. An alternative approach is possible, if a thermodynamically consistent framework is used for material modelling as shown in the present contribution. However, even if sophisticated and thermodynamically consistent material models can be established there are still not yet standard experiments to determine higher order material constants. In order to contribute to this ongoing discussion system identification based on the method of self-adaptive filtering is proposed in this paper. To evaluate the effectiveness of this approach it has been applied to second-order gradient materials considering longitudinal vibrations. Based on thermodynamically consistent models that have been solved numerically it has been possible to prove that system identification based on self-adaptive filtering can be used effectively for both narrow-band and broadband signals in the field of second-order gradient materials. It has also been found that the differences identified for simple materials and gradient materials allow for condition monitoring and detection of gradient effects in the material behavior.

In this paper, a new type of self-excited thermomechanical oscillator containing an oscillating shape memory alloy (SMA) filament with two symmetrically arranged spheres is investigated. The self-excitation of the oscillations is due to a heater of constant temperature, which causes periodic contractions of the filament when it approaches it. The contracted filament moves away from the heater a distance sufficient to cool it. Under the action of the weight of the spheres, the cooled filament re-approaches the heater, causing the above processes to repeat periodically. On the basis of experimental studies, approximating functions of the heater's heat field distribution are derived. A dynamic model of the oscillator has been created, in which the minor and major hysteresis in the SMA alloy and the distribution of the heat field around the heater have been taken into account. By numerical solutions of the differential equations, the laws of motion of the spheres are obtained. The displacements of the spheres in two perpendicular directions were measured using an experimental system. The obtained experimental results validate the proposed dynamic model and its assumptions with a high degree of confidence. Conclusions are drawn about the stochastic nature of the oscillations due to the hysteresis properties of the SMA and the temperature variation of the natural frequency of the oscillating system.

Chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), arterial hypertension (HTN), and obesity are major global health issues, causing significant morbidity and mortality. In Latin America, these conditions contribute to millions of premature deaths annually, posing challenges exacerbated by limited healthcare access and poor primary care quality, particularly in Mexico. Complementary medicine presents a potential solution, offering minimally invasive techniques to improve physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Effective treatment adherence, crucial for positive outcomes, is influenced by self-efficacy, the ability to manage one's behavior in response to medical conditions. However, treatment adherence rates remain low, indicating a pressing public health concern. This study aimed to explore how perception of complementary medicine and treatment adherence predict self-efficacy among individuals with chronic conditions in Mexico. Analyzing data from 113 participants revealed significant correlations between variables, with treatment adherence positively associated with self-efficacy and perception of holistic medicine negatively correlated with self-efficacy. Regression analysis showed that incorporating perception of complementary medicine and treatment adherence significantly explained self-efficacy levels, suggesting the potential of complementary therapies in holistic healthcare approaches. However, collinearity between variables highlights the need for further research to better understand these relationships and their implications for improving healthcare outcomes in Mexico. Integrating complementary therapies with conventional treatments could enhance overall well-being and treatment adherence, offering promising avenues for addressing chronic conditions in the region. These findings underscore the importance of comprehensive healthcare approaches that integrate both conventional and complementary modalities to optimize health outcomes and quality of life for individuals with chronic conditions in Mexico and beyond.

This study addresses the critical challenge of Speech Enhancement (SE) in noisy environments, where the deployment of Deep Neural Networksolutions on microcontrollers is hindered by their extensive computational demands. Focusing on this gap, our research introduces a novel SE method optimized for MCUs, employing a 2-layer GRU model that capitalizes on perceptual speech properties and innovative training methodologies. By incorporating self-reference signals and a dual strategy of compression and recovery based on the Mel scale, we develop an efficient model tailored for low-latency applications. Our GRU-2L-128 model demonstrates a significant reduction in size and computational requirements, achieving a 14.2× decrease in model size and a 409.1× reduction in operations compared to traditional DNN methods like DCCRN, without compromising performance. This advancement offers a promising solution for enhancing speech intelligibility in resource-constrained devices, marking a pivotal step in SE research and application.

Background: Student-specific stress is pervasive and impairs health and attainment. Experimentally induced self-affirmation can reduce stress, but little is known about the mechanisms underlying this effect, and the role of individual differences. The present study explores the relationship between spontaneous self-affirmation, student-specific stress, and overlapping constructs of positive self-regard during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The study investigated inter-relationships between spontaneous self-affirmation, student-specific perceived stress and potential covariates including self-esteem, self-integrity and habitual positive self-thought. University students (N = 151) aged 18 to 50 responded to an online questionnaire including the Spontaneous Self-Affirmation Measure, College Student Stress Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Habitual Index of Positive Thinking and Self-Integrity Scale. Results: Unexpectedly, regression analysis revealed that spontaneous self-affirmation was a positive predictor of student-specific stress, seemingly driven by relational affirmations. Self-esteem and habitual self-thought were negative predictors of student-specific stress, whilst self-integrity was not a predictor. Conclusions: Habitual positive self-thought may offer a sustainable solution to student-specific stress, but spontaneous self-affirmation does not. A reduction in defensive responses, elicitation of negative emotions, or use of conditional relationships in relational affirmation

Non-suicidal self-injurious behavior (NSSI), prevalent in patients with non-psychotic mental disorders (NPMD), is associated with numerous adverse outcomes. Despite active research into the clinical and psychological aspects of NSSI, the underlying biological mechanisms remain obscure. Early adverse experiences are believed to induce long-lasting changes in neuroendocrine mechanisms of stress control playing a key role in NSSI development. The aim of the study was to evaluate parameters potentially predicting development of NSSI in female patients with NPMD. Eighty female patients over 18 years with NPMD and suicidal ideation (40 with and 40 without NSSI) and 48 age matching women without evidence of mental illness (healthy controls) were enrolled. Diagnostic interviews and self-report measures were used to assess childhood maltreatment, presence, frequency, and characteristics of suicidal and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors, the Beck Depression Inventory scale to assess severity of depression. Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis markers, hormones, and neurotrophic factors were measured in blood serum. The likelihood of developing NSSI in patients with NPMD was associated with early adverse family history and elevated adrenocorticotropic hormone levels. Dysregulation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis as a result of early chronic stress experiences may represent critical biological mechanism promoting the development of NSSI behaviors in patients with NPMD.

The research of object classification and part segmentation is a hot topic in computer vision. A considerable number of studies have been carried out about deep learning on 3D point clouds. However,it is challenging to achieve effective feature learning due to sparsity of point clouds. Recently, a variety of Transformers have been adopted to improve point cloud processing and display great potential. Nevertheless, large numbers of Transformer layers tend to incur huge computational and memory costs. PointNet++ is one of the most influential neural architectures for point cloud understanding. Although the accuracy of PointNet++ has been largely surpassed by recent networks, this does not mean that PointNet++ has no potential.Thus, this paper offer two major contributions that significantly improve PointNet++ performance. Firstly, we introduce a novel contextual feature extraction (CFE) block that significantly enhances the feature extraction capabilities of PointNet++ networks. Secondly, to further enhance feature fusion, we seamlessly integrate a mutual learning (ML) block into the network architecture. By embedding these two innovative blocks within each layer of the network, we not only enrich the network's functionality but also impart it with greater robustness and adaptability. The specific experiments were conducted on the S3DIS (6-fold cross-validation) and Modelnet40 datasets with 86.5% and 92.7% accuracy, respectively, which proved that our model is comparable or even better than most existing methods for classification and segmentation tasks.

Background: Dental education blends theoretical and practical training to prepare students for independent patient care. This study examines the confidence levels of dental students in Umeå regarding independent performance of general dentistry tasks, and whether this confidence changes after clinical training. Methods: Surveys were conducted before and after a summer clinical internship, with s tudents rating their comfort levels on a scale from 0 to 10 for various procedures. Results: Results from 64 initial surveys and 54 follow-up surveys showed no significant difference in confidence before and after the internship. However, confidence levels varied based on whether students had practiced specific tasks during the internship. Students felt least confident in managing acute dental trauma and treating cavities in young children, while they were most confident in tasks like obtaining radiographic surveys and debriding periodontally compromised dentition. Tooth extraction and dental fillings were the most practiced procedures during the internship. Conclusions: The study concludes that the internship between the ninth and tenth semesters does not notably boost students' confidence in specific dental procedures, possibly due to the short duration of the training. Further exploration, including input from clinical supervisors, is suggested to optimize clinical training in dental education.

Vitrimers are covalent network materials, comparable in structure to classical thermosets. Unlike normal thermosets, they possess a chemical bond swap mechanism that makes their structure dynamic and suitable for activated welding and even autonomous self-healing. The central question in designing such materials is the trade-off between autonomy and material stability: The swap mechanism facilitates the healing but it also facilitates creep, which makes the perfectly stable self-healing solid a hard goal to reach. Here, we address this question for the case of self-healing vitrimers made from star polymers. Using coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations, we study the adhesion of two vitrimer samples and find that they bond together on timescales that are much shorter than the stress relaxation time. We show that the swap mechanism allows the star polymers to diffuse through the material through coordinated swap events, but the healing process is much faster and does not depend on this mobility.

The Upper Hunter Valley is a major coal mining area in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Due to the ongoing increase of mining activities, PM10 (air-borne particle with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 micrometres) pollution has become a major air quality concern in local communities. The early part of this study identified two air quality subregions in the valley. This paper aims to provide a holistic summarisation of the relationships between elevated PM10 pollution in two subregions and the local- and synoptic-scale meteorological conditions for spring and summer, when PM10 pollution is relatively high. A catalogue of twelve synoptic types and a set of six local meteorological patterns have been quantitatively derived and linked to each other using the self-organising map (SOM) technique. The complex meteorology-air pollution relationships have been visualised/interpretated on the SOM planes for two representative locations. It was found that the influence of local meteorological patterns differed significantly for mean PM10 levels vs the occurrence of elevated pollution events and between air quality subregions. In contrast, synoptic types showed generally similar relationships with mean vs elevated PM10 pollution in the valley. Two local meteorological patterns, the hot-dry-northwesterly wind conditions and the hot-dry-calm conditions, were found most PM10 pollution conducive in the valley when combined with a set of synoptic counterparts. These synoptic types are featured with the influence of eastward migrating continental high pressure system and westerly troughs, or a ridge extending northwest towards coastal northern NSW or southern Queensland from the Tasman Sea. The method and results can be used in air quality research for other locations of NSW, or similar regions elsewhere.

Ever since Varela and Maturana proposed the concept of autopoiesis as the minimal requirement for life, there has been a focus on cellular systems that erect topological boundaries to separate themselves from their surrounding environment. Here we reconsider whether the existence of such a spatial boundary is strictly necessary for self-producing entities. This work presents a novel computational model of a minimal autopoietic system inspired by dendrites and molecular dynamics simulations in three-dimensional space. A series of simulation experiments where the metabolic pathways of a particular autocatalytic set are successively inhibited until autocatalytic entities that could be considered autopoietic are produced. These entities maintain their distinctness in an environment containing multiple identical instances of the entities without the existence of a topological boundary. This gives rise to the concept of a metabolic boundary which manifests as emergent self-selection criteria for the processes of self-production without any need for unique identifiers. However, the adoption of such a boundary comes at a cost, as these autopoietic entities are less suited to their simulated environment than their autocatalytic counterparts. Finally, this work showcases a generalized metabolism-centered approach to the study of autopoiesis that can be applied to both physical and abstract systems alike.

Self-enhancement (SE) is often overlooked as a fundamental cognitive ability mediated via the Pre-Frontal Cortex (PFC). Here we present research that establishes the relationship between the PFC, SE, and the potential evolved beneficial mechanisms. Specifically, we believe there is now enough evidence to speculate that SE exists to provide significant benefits and should be considered a normal aspect of the self. Whatever the metabolic or social cost, the upside of SE is great enough that it is a core and fundamental psychological construct. Furthermore, though entirely theoretical, we suggest that a critical reason the PFC has evolved so significantly in Homo sapien is to, in part, sustain SE. We therefore elaborate as to its proximate and ultimate mechanisms.

The present study finds the association of board characteristics (such as gender diversity, independence, female chairperson or/and female CEO, and board size) and the quality of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosure of the top 100 Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) listed companies. Unlike most earlier studies in similar contexts, we have focused on CSR disclosure ‘quality’ and not ‘quantity’. We conducted the content analysis of secondary Corporate Governance (CG) and CSR data extracted from the annual reports of PSX-listed companies across ten industrial sectors from period of 2017 and 2018. Our empirical investigation through univariate and multiple regression analysis with Ordinary least squares (OLS) techniques revealed that all the board characteristics potentially have a significant association in lessening CSR disclosure quality. We acknowledge several research limitations, including the study time period and selected board characteristics. While our study has provided some understanding of the association of board characteristics with CSR disclosure quality of PSX-listed companies, several research gaps still need to be addressed. Future investigators should examine this association through the pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 connections and the inclusion of a systems theory perspective.

In the face of escalating climate concerns and the push for sustainable development, the global shift towards renewable and decentralized energy systems presents new challenges and opportunities. This study investigates integrating decentralized energy production, particularly photovoltaic (PV) systems, into national energy planning, aiming to optimize energy strategies that balance local production and consumption with national objectives. By analyzing the Swiss energy model, the research employs the EnergyScope and REHO models to assess the strategic implications of decentralized versus centralized energy systems. Results show that a decentralized approach can significantly reduce PV installation needs to 35 GW, about 23% of potential capacity, and decrease annual system costs by 10% to CHF 1230 per capita. This strategy emphasizes local consumption, minimizes grid reinforcement demands, and leverages economic advantages while addressing overproduction challenges through effective energy storage and grid management. Conclusions underline the strategic value of combining centralized and decentralized methods for resilient and sustainable energy planning. The study contributes to the discourse on energy policy and infrastructure planning, advocating for a hybrid model that accommodates both local conditions and broader energy objectives, urging further research into climate impacts and technology integration for a comprehensive energy future.

Rapid SARS-CoV-2 self-tests have the potential to expand access to COVID-19 testing and improve community-level case detection, particularly in resource-constrained countries such as Kenya. However, prior to their introduction, their acceptability must be assessed. This qualitative study explored key decision-takers’ values towards SARS-CoV-2 self-testing in Kenya. Healthcare workers, representatives of civil society, and potential implementors from Mombasa and Taita-Taveta were selected as decision-takers. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect data on their values towards self-testing. A thematic analysis approach was applied. Most informants considered that the Kenyan public is equipped to accept and use self-testing safely as an approach to help to reduce workload at public healthcare facilities, and know one’s COVID-19 status in a private manner. The informants emphasized the need to provide counselling to end-users, to support those needing to self-isolate, and to engage different civil society stakeholders in information provision on self-testing. Fear of stigma and of forced isolation were noted as potential deterrents to self-testing uptake for some individuals. In conclusion, there is high acceptability of self-testing in Kenya among decision-takers. However, enhanced education, counselling, and addressing deterrents to testing would be helpful to ensure effective use of SARS-CoV-2 self-testing in Kenya.

Background: The adoption of self-care behaviors among patients with arterial hypertension (AH) plays an important role in the management of their health condition. However, a lack of scales assessing self-care is observed. We aimed to develop and validate the Hippocratic hypertension self-care scale. Methods: From a pool of questions derived from a literature review, 18 items were included in the scale and reviewed by a committee of experts. Participants indicate the frequency at which they follow the self-behavior prescribed in each statement on a five-point Likert scale. Data were collected between April 2019 and December 2019. Re-sults: 202 consecutive adult patients with AH were enrolled in the study. The internal consistency of the scale was found to be 0.807, using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. An exploratory factor analysis identified two do-mains that accounted for 92.94% of the variance of the scale items; however, each sub-scale could not be used as an independent scale. Finally, the test- retest of the scale showed a significant strong correlation (r=0.0095, p<0.001). Conclusion: Our data indicate that the scale is a reliable and valid tool for assessing self-behaviors in patients with AH. Health professionals can use it in their clinical practice to improve the management of patients’ health condition.

The present paper reports an exact approach quantifying the electromagnetic contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment occurring in isolated system comprised of non-composite particle carrying elementary electric charge. Essential averaging procedure and regularization of the electromagnetic field potentials necessary when quantifying the electromagnetic self-interactions and when deriving equations of motion without singularities and obeying the conservation laws are thoroughly discussed. The study shows that the dynamics of the considered system is associated to unique classical transcendental equations of motion satisfied by the particle's velocity and the electromagnetic contribution to the anomalous $g$-factor known from the quantum electrodynamics. The equations of motion lead to an exact analytical expression for the anomalous $g$-factor that provides more accurate result than that calculated with the aid of quantum electrodynamics. It matches the experimentally measured value reported in the literature to a one part per trillion. We obtain a_e=0.00115965218000(65) thus reveling the potential of non-perturbative, non-probability methods in predicting the electron's anomalous g-factor.

This study proposed to use wearable EEG to study the impact of vipassana mindfulness practice on beginner's physiological and neurological responses. Mindfulness meditation has been shown to have numerous benefits, including stress reduction, improved attention and cognitive function, and enhanced emotional regulation. The roots of mindfulness meditation in Buddhism emphasize cultivating present-moment awareness and insight. However, the neural mechanisms together with physiological mechanism and their interaction underlying these benefits remain poorly understood. Method: One middle age man (50 years old) participated in this longitudinal study using wearable EEG to investigate the neurophysiological change during a one-month consecutive vipassana mindfulness practice. Both EEG and heart rate responses were recorded each time, before (5 minutes), during (20 minutes), and after (5 minutes) meditation sessions. The EEG and HR data were analyzed by Matlab and EEGlab to examine changes in brainwave activity and heart rate. Results: alpha peak frequency (APF) is significantly lower after mindfulness meditation, as shown by comparison of APF before mindfulness (pre-5) and during mindfulness practice (med-20), and comparison between APF of pre-5 and after mindfulness practice (post-5). The same is with the beta peak power. While for theta peak frequency, it is significant lower during mindfulness meditation (med-20), when comparing to either pre-5 or post-5. See figure 1a. However, peak power index is not so sensitive, and it is more obvious in theta wave band. That is, the theta power peak is significantly lower after meditation, as can be observed in comparison between pre-5 and med-20, also between pre-5 and med-20. See figure 1b. STATE Heart-mean (bpm) Heart-std(bmp) pre-5 69.88 3.88 med-20 68.36 2.81 post-5 69.55 4.13 t-value test (pre-med) 0.0694 0.0003 t-value test (pre-post) 0.7934 0.3656 t-value test (post-med) 0.3193 0.0001 Table 1. The difference of Heart rate (mean and SD) in before (pre-5), during (med-20) and after (post-5)mindfulness meditation. We find significant change in standard deviation (SD) of heart rate between meditation and non-meditation mental states, as shown in table 1. The study provides insights into the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms of mindfulness meditation using wearable EEG devices. It demonstrates that in term of EEG measurement, spectrum frequency can be more sensitive than spectrum power; also heart rate variability as measured by SD is more sensitive to mean of HR. The proposed study contributes to the literature by using wearable EEG devices to collect data in a more accessible and convenient manner.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) self-sampling has the potential to increase cervical cancer screening (CCS) and reduce the cervical cancer burden in Medically Underserved Women (MUW). However, interventions promoting self-sampling are limited. We examined the effectiveness of an intervention study in increasing CCS among MUW. We conducted a quasi-experimental intervention study. Face-to-face verbal approach was to recruit MUW (n=85, mean age 48.57±11.02) living in a small city in the US. Behavioral intervention based on reframing, reprioritizing, and reforming (3R model) was used to educate the women about CCS in a group format. The women completed pre-and post-intervention assessments and followed-up interviews. The primary outcome was CCS uptake. Mixed methods analyses were conducted using a t-test for the primary outcome, PROCESS for mediation analysis, and NVivo for interview data. Majority of women (75%) completed self-testing. High-risk HPV prevalent among the women was 11%, and of those, 57% followed-up with physicians for care. We found that the significant increase in the women’s post-intervention screening behaviors was mediated by the increase in knowledge (Indirect Effect [IE] = .1314; 95% CI, .0104, .4079) and attitude (IE = .2167; 95% CI, .0291, .6050) scores, (p&lt;0.001). Interview analyses offered further explanations (see the explanations in parenthesis) why MUW found the intervention messages acceptable (encourages proactive behavior), feasible (simple and easy to understand), and appropriate (helpful and informative). Barriers including lack of trust and fear of results were identified. The findings suggest that an intervention that combines the 3R model and self-sampling may increase CCS among MUW.

: BACKGROUND: The prevalence of smoking among students is a growing concern, particular-ly among medical students. Being associated with stress, competitiveness, and various social in-fluences, smoking can have detrimental effects on self-esteem and self-efficacy and may create a vicious cycle that may contribute to students’ well-being and academic performance out-comes.METHODS: A cross-sectional study on 456 medical students was conducted via an online survey using structured questionnaires on socio-demographic characteristics, smoking habits, nicotine dependence, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. RESULTS: The prevalence of smoking was 31.1% The scores of self-esteem and self-efficacy were positively correlated with smoking habits (W1=0.957, W2=0.975, P<0.05). Students presented rather low smoking addiction with male stu-dents having slightly higher scores than female students on self-esteem and self-efficacy, mili-tary students had higher self-esteem scores than civilians with physical activity having a posi-tive correlation with non-smoking behavior. CONCLUSION: According to our results, self-esteem and self-efficacy were slightly positively correlated with smoking habits. Furthermore, there was no statistically significant association between other social factors and smoking. Our results may develop a theoretical basis for medical students’ psychological variables studying for further implementation of university educational programs and preventive interventions em-powering students towards an overall better quality of life, addressing, among others, smoking behaviors.

This paper introduces an innovative energy circuit that challenges conventional understandings of energy conservation, marking a significant departure from traditional frameworks. Seeking to enhance energy generation within existing paradigms, this innovation holds promise for addressing pressing global issues such as the energy crisis and environmental sustainability, while also stimulating scientific inquiry. In contrast to prevalent misconceptions rooted in philosophical and scientific constraints, this study refutes the notion of generating energy from nothing and questions the viability of perpetual motion machines as conceptual models. Instead, it proposes a novel circuit design derived from an unconventional electrical short circuit, which is shown to disrupt the established principles of energy conservation. This circuit offers a transformative approach with diverse applications, including self-recharging capabilities for electric vehicles, bolstering microgrid infrastructure, and facilitating the integration of renewable energy sources. Transcending conventional scientific boundaries, this paper prompts philosophical reflections on the evolving nature of scientific exploration. Ultimately, the energy circuit represents a pivotal step towards mitigating the global energy crisis by reducing reliance on finite resources and fostering sustainability. The paper concludes by illustrating the circuit's potential to revolutionize energy systems and contribute to a more resilient and sustainable future.

This paper addresses the development of knowledge and assessment-centered learning approaches within a reflective learning framework in a first year physics class in a university faculty. The quality of students’ reflections was scored using a Self-reporting Reflective Learning Appraisal Questionnaire at the end of each learning approach. The results showed the differences between the approaches based on reflections on the learning control through self-knowledge, by connecting experience and knowledge, as well as through self-reflection and self-regulation. Assessment-centered activities fundamentally help students identify aspects of their attitudes towards, as well as regulate, their sustainability learning education.

In this paper I tentatively answer 50 questions sampled from a pool of over 10,000 weekly questions formulated by students in a course entitled “The Self”. The questions pertain to various key topics about self-processes, such as self-awareness, self-knowledge, self-regulation, self-talk, self-esteem, and self-regulation. The students’ weekly questions and their answers highlight what is currently know about the self. Answers to the student questions also allow for the identification of some recurrent lessons about the self. Some of these lessons include: all self-processes are interconnected (e.g., prospection depends on autobiography), self-terms must be properly defined (e.g., self-rumination and worry are not the same), inner speech plays an important role in self-processes, controversies are numerous (are animals self-aware?), measurement issues abound (e.g., self-reflection as an operationalization of self-awareness), deficits in some self-processes can have devastating effects (e.g., self-regulatory deficits may lead to financial problems), and there are lots of unknowns about the self (e.g., gender differences in Theory-of-Mind).

Purpose: To identify the impact of dealing with COVID-19 patients in clinical areas on nurses' professional self-concept and self-confidence. Background: Professional self-concept is considered a critical factor in the recruitment/retention process in nursing, nursing shortage, career satisfaction, and academic achievements. Professional self-confidence is also a crucial determinant in staff satisfaction, reducing turnover, and increasing work engagement. Design: Descriptive, comparative study. Methods: The study was conducted between February to May 2021 by utilizing a convenience sampling technique. A total of 170 nurses from two facilities were recruited from two COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 designated facilities. The level of professional self-concept and self-confidence was assessed by utilizing the Nurses' Self-Concept Instrument and Self-Confidence Scale. Results: The professional self-concept level among the exposed group to COVID-19 patients was lower than the comparison group, while the professional self-confidence level among the exposed group to COVID-19 patients was similar to the comparison group. On the other hand, the satisfied staff and those who received professional training in dealing with COVID-19 patients reported a higher level of professional self-concept. Conclusions: Dealing with COVID-19 patients has an impact on professional self-concept; the exposure group was lower than those who did not deal with COVID-19 patients, while the professional self-confidence level among the exposed group was similar to the comparison group. Getting professional training in dealing with COVID-19 patients and being satisfied at work were significant factors in improving the professional self-concept. Policymakers should create strategies that target the improvement of professional training in dealing with COVID-19 patients.

We report the development of an extrinsic self-healing coating system that shows no fluorescence from the intact coating, yellowish fluorescence in cracked regions, and greenish fluorescence in healed regions, thus allowing the separate monitoring of cracking and healing of coatings. This fluorescence monitoring self-healing system consisted of a top coating, an epoxy matrix resin containing mixed dye-loaded in single microcapsule. The dye-loaded microcapsules consisted of a poly(urea-formaldehyde) shell encapsulating a healing agent containing MAT-PDMS and styrene, a photo-initiator and a mixture of two dyes, one that fluoresces only in the solid state (DCM) and a second that fluoresces dramatically increased in the solid than solution state (4-TPAE). A mixture of the healing agent, photo-initiator and the two dyes was yellow due to fluorescence from DCM. On UV curing of this mixture, however, the color changed from yellow to green and the fluorescence intensity increased due to fluorescence from 4-TPAE in the solid state. When a self-healing coating embedded with microcapsules containing the DCM/4-TPAE dye mixture was scratched, the damaged region exhibited a yellowish color that changed to green after healing. Thus, the self-healing system reported here allows the separate monitoring of cracking and healing based on changes in fluorescence color.

Self-report measurement is frequently used in human sports to assess training adaptations [1, 2]. This is a technique novel to the equestrian sport. The aim of this study was to describe how elite event riders of Germany evaluate their own fitness as well as that of their horses for the entire duration of an eventing season. Additionally, correlations with possible influencing external factors such as type of training or duration of grazing were also investigated. Short online questionnaires were used to allow eight riders to describe the training of their horses. Five criteria (general performance, ability to concentrate, general state of mind, general muscular condition and emotional wellbeing) were used to assess both, their horse's, as well as their own wellbeing. A 1-10 rating scale was used to score each criterion resulting in an average of 38 points out of 50 (maximum wellbeing) for horse (Std. dev. 0.55) and rider (Std. dev. 0.65) respectively. A total of 120 questionnaires were analysed. A correlation could be demonstrated (Spearman's correlation coefficient = 0.5) between rider and horse score, whereby it only became a linear correlation above 30 points. In addition, the horse score correlates positively with its success at competitions. While the horses were rated similarly throughout the season, the riders’ perceived welfare was higher in the middle of the season compared with the beginning and end of the season. Regularly turned-out horses resulted in higher horse scores (Linear mixed model, p=0,04, n=120). It can be concluded that the self-report measurement of fatigue and wellbeing can be a useful tool for trainers and riders to better determine the horse’s fatigue and recovery. It should be noted that external factors influence both, rider and horse assessment.

Online education allows learners to develop knowledge and skills flexibly and conveniently—such observation among students whose characteristics involve student engagement, self-regulation, and self-efficacy. However, studies to characterize Filipino online learners seem lacking. Thus, this study aimed to characterize science education tertiary students in the Philippines concerning their online student engagement (OSE), self-regulated learning (SRL), and online learning self-efficacy (OLSE). The unprecedented events brought by COVID-19 pandemic also urged the implementation of online modalities while there is no available information on students’ online learning profiles. Hence, researchers used a survey research employed through ex post facto approach to determine the effects of the demographic profile on OSE, SRL, and OLSE. The survey was participated by N=373 respondents who answered the questionnaire with informed consent administered via Google Forms. Results revealed that OSE indicators moderately characterized students, while SRL and OLSE indicators are true of them, substantiated by the overall mean M=3.85(SD=0.90), M=3.86(SD=0.92), and M=3.14(SD=0.73), respectively. Also, multivariate tests showed no significant effect among the independent groups (p&gt;0.05), except for gender and OLSE interaction (p&lt;0.05) so, only in OLSE was a significant difference found in gender. In conclusion, Filipino online learners are moderate across aspects of student engagement, self-regulation, and self-efficacy.

Background: Level of perceived competence as a basic psychological need could trigger achievement of diabetes self-management goals. Due to lack of a specific data collection tool to measure level of self-competence among Persian speaking patients with diabetes this study was conducted for cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric assessment of the Persian version of Perceived Competence Scale for Diabetes (PCSD-P). Methods: Standard translation/back-translation procedure was carried out to prepare a preliminary draft of the PCSD-P. Content and face validity of the early draft were checked by an expert panel including 15 scholars in the field of health education and promotion as well as nursing education with experience of working and research on diabetes. The final drafted questionnaire was completed by 177 randomly selected patients with type 2 diabetes. Based on the collected data structural validity of the contrived version was appraised using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA, CFA). Cronbach's alpha and Intraclass Correlation coefficients (ICC) were used to check the scale’s reliability and internal consistency. ; (3) Results: The estimated measures of Content Validity Index (CVI= 0.95) and Content Validity Ratio (CVR= 0.8) were in the range of acceptable recommended limits. The EFA analysis results demonstrated a single factor solution according to the items’ loadings for the component. The model fit indices i.e. RMSEA= 0.000, CFI=1, TLI=1, GFI= 0.998, NFI= 0.999 RFI= 0.995 confirmed consistency of the hypothesized one-factor solution. Values of the internal consistency and reliability coefficients were also in the vicinity of acceptable range (α= 0.892, ICC=0. 886, P= 0.001). Conclusions: The study findings revealed good internal validity and applicability of the PCSD-P to measure degree of self-competence among Persian speaking type 2 diabetes patients to manage the chronic disease. Due to unrepresentativeness of the study sample future cross-cultural test of PCSD-P on diverse and broader Persian speaking populations is recommended.

Hox gene clusters are crucial in Embryogenesis. It was observed that some Hox genes are located in order along the telomeric to centromeric direction of the DNA sequence: Hox1, Hox2, Hox3…. These genes are expressed in the same order in the ontogenetic units of the Drosophila embryo along the Anterior-Posterior axis. The two entities (genome and embryo) differ significantly in linear size and in-between distance. This strange phenomenon was named Spatial Collinearity (SP). Later, it was observed that, particularly in the Vertebrates, a Temporal Collinearity (TC) coexists: first is Hox1 expressed, later Hox2 and even later Hox3,…,. According to a Biophysical Model (BM), pulling forces act at the anterior end of the cluster while a cluster fastening applies at the posterior end. Hox clusters are irreversibly elongated along the force direction. During Evolution, the elongated Hox clusters are broken at variable lengths thus split clusters may be created. An Empirical Rule was formulated distinguishing development due to a complete Hox cluster from development due to split Hox clusters. BM can ‘explain’ this Empirical Rule. In a spontaneous mutation where the cluster fastening is dismantled, a weak pulling force automatically shifts the cluster inside the Hox activation domain. This cluster translocation can probably explain the absence of Temporal Collinearity in Drosophila.

Secure attachment, developed through consistent relationships with attachment figures in childhood, is a crucial factor in fostering healthy interpersonal relationships and a positive self-perception. This research aimed to assess how perceived security, as an indicator of secure attachment, predicts adult self-concept through the mediating effects of resilience and positive self-esteem. A quantitative, cross-sectional, and non-probabilistic study was conducted with 383 participants, of whom 76.2% were females, aged between 17 and 86 years (M = 28.52, SD = 12.23). Correlational analyses revealed significant positive associations between perceived security, self-concept, resilience, and positive self-esteem. Path analysis demonstrated that resilience and positive self-esteem sequentially mediate the relationship between perceived security during childhood and adult self-concept (Total Effect R2 = .34, F(1,381) = 193, p < .001; Indirect effect of sequential mediation b = .02, CI 95% [.01, .04]). Findings suggest that the ability to cope with ad-versity and personal acceptance underlie the impact of perceived security on self-concept. It is recommended to promote not only secure attachment in family interventions but also resilience and self-esteem in programs targeting adolescents, youth, and adults.

Building on the Sustainable Happiness Model, this study examined how congruency between ideal self-image and brand image influence a sense of happiness. The findings show that when ideal self-image and ideal social self-image are congruent with brand image a sense of happiness can be enhanced through brand identification and positive emotions. This study contributes to literature as it reveals the mechanism of how congruency between ideal self-image and brand image positively affect happiness.

Self-compacting concrete (SCC) production is a complex operation that requires finding a good combination and a suitable dosage of each of its constituents. Several formulation methods have been developed to meet the workability requirements of SCC. In this paper, the relationships between the fresh properties of SCC based on local metakaolin (MK) and the spreading of its mortar was investigated. The results showed the existence of good correlations between the spreading of the mortar and the fresh state properties of the related SCC and that the MK substitution rate did not affect these correlations. The choice of the mortar flow rate should target appropriate fresh properties of the SCC and a viscosity enhancing agent (VEA) could be used if the mix is too fluid and present an instability.

The objective of this study was to identify the factors determining a company’s corporate governance related to climate change. We analyzed the effect of various sustainability corporate governance variables on the disclosure level of climate change governance. These variables included facts such as having a dedicated sustainability executive and board committee, the mediating effect of female representation on the board of directors, number of reporting years according to TCFD, membership in a sustainability index, MSCI ESG rating, the existence of a corporate climate transition plan, a mention of the UN Global Compact and GRI, company location, as well as company size and profitability. By adopting a multi-theoretical framework that included stakeholder theory as well the legitimacy and agency theory, the underlying research study used a sample of 100 of the largest global companies by market capitalization and their reporting for the year 2020. Based on 1,400 observations for fiscal year 2020 and using correlation analysis, univariate and linear multiple regressions, we find a positive association between having a climate transition plan in place, being a leader in sustainability according to MSCI ratings, and being a DJSI constituent and the propensity to disclose information on governance for climate change. In addition, we find a company with a dedicated sustainability executive show an increased tendency to be transparent on climate governance issues. Furthermore, having a company location in a developed country is significantly and positively associated with climate change governance. Surprisingly, gender diversity in the corporate board or having a sustainability board committee did not show any significant correlation between a higher climate change governance level. The same was true for companies being active in either the extractive or non-extractive sector. Companies referring to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) or UN Global Compact also did not score higher in climate change governance. Neither did corporate profitability or size play a significant role. Our results are robust to variations and provide valuable insights for researchers, academics, executives, practitioners as well as regulators. As more and more companies are shifting towards a climate change reporting framework, it is of paramount importance that we are able to determine the contributing variables that lead to effective climate change corporate governance. Our results are inconsistent with stakeholder theory and are strongly suggesting that a diversified board and the existence of a sustainability committee that meets often/sufficiently may not necessarily lead to a higher level of transparency/quality regarding climate change. While more research is needed, knowing that a dedicated sustainability executive as well as having a climate plan in place can make a difference in climate change reporting, can be very beneficial to many corporate stakeholders. Given the current urgent climate change situation and the crucial role that corporation play in it, dedicated sustainability positions and committees need to be established. The findings could be useful for managers as well as governmental standards setter and regulators who are interested in improving corporate practices dealing with climate change. This study applies STATA software with various regression models to empirically test the relationship between CG and other variables and corporate climate change reporting.

In recent decades, considerable attention has been focused on the design and development of surfaces with defined or tunable properties for a wide range of applications and fields. To this end, self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of organic compounds offer a unique and straightforward route of modifying and engineering the surface properties of any substrate. Thus, alkane-based self-assembled monolayers constitute one of the most extensively studied organic thin-film nanomaterials, which have found wide application in antifouling surfaces, control of wettability or cell adhesion, sensors, optical devices, corrosion protection, organic electronics, among many other applications. Some of which have led technological transfer to industry. Nevertheless, recently, aromatic-based SAMs have gained in importance as functional components, particularly in molecular electronics, bioelectronics, sensors, etc., due to their intrinsic electrical conductivity and optical properties, opening up new perspectives in these fields. However, some key issues affecting device performances still need to be lifted off to ensure their full use and access to novel functionalities such as memories, sensors, or active layers in optoelectronic devices. In this context, we will present herein recent advances of p-conjugated systems-based self-assembled monolayers (e.g., push-pull chromophores) as active layer and their applications.

Self-assembly is a spontaneous process through which macroscopic structures are formed from basic microscopic constituents (e.g. molecules or colloids). By contrast, the formation of large biological molecules inside the cell (such as proteins or nucleic acids) is a process more akin to self-organization than to self-assembly, as it requires a constant supply of external energy. Recent studies have tried to merge self-assembly with self-organization by analyzing the assembly of self-propelled (or active) colloid-like particles whose motion is driven by a permanent source of energy. Here we present evidence that points to the fact that self-propulsion considerably enhances the assembly of polymers: self-propelled molecules are found to assemble into polymer-like structures, the average length of which increases towards a maximum as the self-propulsion force increases. Beyond this maximum, the average polymer length decreases due to the competition between bonding energy and disruptive forces that result from collisions. The assembly of active molecules might have promoted the formation of large pre-biotic polymers that could be the precursors of the informational polymers we observe nowadays.

Owing to the nondiffracting, self-accelerating, and self-healing properties, Airy beams of different nature have become a subject of immense interest in the past decade. Their interesting properties have opened doors to many diverse applications. Consequently, the questions of how to properly design spatial manipulation of Airy beams or how to implement them in different setups have become important and timely in the development of various optical devices. Here, based on our previous work, we present a short review on the spatial control of Airy beams, including the interactions of Airy beams in nonlinear media, beam propagation in harmonic potential, and the dynamics of abruptly autofocusing Airy beams in the presence of a dynamic linear potential. We demonstrate that under the guidance of nonlinearity and external potential, the trajectory, acceleration, structure, and even the basic properties of Airy beams can be adjusted to suit specific needs. We describe other fascinating phenomena observed with Airy beams, such as self-Fourier transformation, periodic inversion of Airy beams, and the appearance of spatial solitons in the presence of nonlinearity. These results have promoted the development of Airy beams, and have been utilized in various applications, including particle manipulation, self-trapping, and electronic matter waves.

This paper studies the flexural behavior of the bridge deck link slabs made with the Polyvinyl Alcohol-Strain Hardening Cementitious Composites (PVA-SHCC). Tensile and flexural properties of the PVA-SHCC with four volume fractions, i.e., 0%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2%, were evaluated first. Next, using the similarity theory, composite models with a geometric similarity ratio of 1: 5 were designed to represent the bridge deck with the link slabs. The models considered three materials for link slabs, including concrete, cement mortar and self-compacting PVA-SHCC; and two different curing ages at 7 and 56 days. Bending tests were performed to investigate the flexural behavior of the models. Based on the fractal theory, cracking characteristics of the models with different types of link slabs were compared, and the relationship between Df and the flexural behavior of the models were studied. Numerical models were built to correlate with the results from the bending tests. It is illustrated that the flexural behavior of the self-compacting PVA-SHCC link slab is better than that of concrete and cement mortar link slabs, where the crack initiation and propagation can be postponed.

In this paper, I propose a test for machine self-awareness inspired by the Turing test. While my test is plain and simple, it offers a much-needed alternative to ungrounded speculation while still capturing the essence of self-awareness. I discuss how to apply the test to Large Language Models and conduct experiments on GPT-3.5 that suggest it is not self-aware. I discuss the implications of machine self-awareness and relate it to questions about meaning and understanding. Finally, I present some next steps for studying self-awareness in machines.

While the desire to uncover the neural correlates of consciousness has taken numerous directions, self-face recognition has been a constant in attempts to isolate aspects of self-awareness. The neuroimaging revolution of the 1990’s bought about systematic attempts to isolate the underlying neural basis self-face recognition. These studies, including some of the first fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) studies, revealed a right hemisphere bias for self-face recognition in a diverse set of regions including the insula, the Dorsal Frontal Lobe, the Temporal Parietal Junction and Medial Temporal Cortex. Confirmation of these data (which are correlational) was provided by TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) and patients in which direct inhibition or ablation of right hemisphere regions leads to a disruption or absence of self-face recognition. These data are consistent with a number of theories including a right hemisphere dominance for self-awareness and/or a right hemisphere specialization for identifying significant social relationships including to oneself.

Citizen science substantially contributes to large-scale biodiversity monitoring and the enhancement of public literacy. While both of the contributions largely depend on the public’s self- regulated learning. In this study, we employed a mix- method approach, incorporating both a questionnaire survey of 133 participants and interviews with 12 volunteers, aiming to explore the feature of self- regulated learning in citizen science, as well as identify the main factors impacting it. The volunteers are all different ages, from different jobs, with varying educational backgrounds. The findings revealed that the educational background of volunteers did not significantly impact their self-regulated learning. However, an increased frequency of participation was linked to higher levels of self-regulated learning. Furthermore, achievement goal orientation mediates the prediction of self-regulation by scientific epistemology. These insights underscore the importance of enhancing citizen science's impact on scientific literacy by fostering self-regulated learning among participants. This can be achieved through explicit instruction in scientific epistemology and by fostering a sense of achievement to boost achievement goal orientations. Additionally, our study advocates for the promotion of social interaction between students and out- of- school citizen scientists in school-based citizen science projects. The main innovation of this study is to consider volunteers as learners, not merely as contributors of data.