Search Results (4,472)

This narrative review integrates landmark studies, recent publications, and major clinical guidelines to highlight the current state of the art concerning acute pancreatitis, a well-known yet still challenging condition. We will focus on recent practice transitions and future perspectives arising from advances in diagnostic imaging and interventional endoscopy. Pathogenesis and etiology: We carry out an overview of the fundamental mechanisms underlying acute pancreatitis, followed by an analysis of both common and uncommon causes, along with emerging evidence regarding idiopathic forms. Diagnosis and risk stratification: We pursue two objectives: on one hand, to emphasize the enduring importance of clinical assessment in the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis; on the other, to analyze the increasingly central role that imaging has acquired over recent decades. Identification of patients at higher risk for complications or an unfavorable prognosis is crucial. Several scoring systems have been proposed over the past decades, but with limited impact on daily clinical practice. Treatment: Therapeutic approaches have undergone significant revisions over time. Our objective is to provide an overview of the current standards together with best evidence-based medical approaches, targeted and interventional therapies, with focus on the endoscopic ones. Furthermore, we want to clarify the importance of nutrition and its proper management. Conclusions: Acute pancreatitis continues to stimulate discoveries and improvements in clinical management. We will place emphasis on unmet needs and emerging innovations that may importantly influence future practice also promoting evidenced-based standards of care. Full article

Experience-based co-design emphasizes understanding service-users’ experiences to inform service improvement, yet little research has explored domestic abuse survivors’ perspectives within this framework. This study examined survivors’ accounts of their interactions with the police and organizations that support domestic abuse survivors. We aimed to identify aspects of practice experienced as either helpful or in need of improvement. Semi-structured interviews with six survivors in one area of England were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Survivors described obstructive and supportive responses from formal services. Four interrelated themes were developed: The Importance of Being Understood, Believed, and Cared For; It Is Important That There Is Good Communication Between the Survivor and Formal Services; Survivors Want a Victim-Centered, Rapid, and Meaningful Response; and Specific Circumstances Sometimes Influence Opportunities for Help-Seeking. Survivors described being dismissed and disbelieved, which contributed to negative help-seeking experiences and heightened feelings of vulnerability. In contrast, empathic and timely responses validated survivors’ experiences and supported their sense of safety. The findings highlighted the importance of practice that recognizes the different forms abuse can take, provides timely, victim-centered support, and responds equitably to survivors in diverse circumstances. This study demonstrates the valuable insights gained through applying an experience-based co-design approach in this setting. Full article

Environmental sustainability has emerged as a strategic requirement of those organizations that want to remain competitive in the long run, but most companies continue to adopt green human resource management (GHRM) practices and organizational change initiatives individually, thus restraining their potential transformation. This paper constructs and confirms a combined approach of how the fit between GHRM practices and adaptive change management processes results in high performance in sustainable innovation. In this study, 83 organizations from both the manufacturing and service sectors were selected using a purposive sampling method, to ensure diversity across developed and developing countries and varying levels of GHRM integration (low, moderate, and high). The sample was chosen to represent a broad spectrum of sustainability maturity levels, allowing for a comprehensive analysis of how GHRM practices influence green product, process, and business model innovation. This selection, alongside 30 peer-reviewed studies published between 2020 and 2025, underpins the conceptual framework used to activate change preparedness and link GHRM dimensions with innovation outcomes. I demonstrate that organizations with a high GHRM–change management fit have much higher levels of innovation performance—both in terms of the number of green product innovations (485%) and more sustainable performance improvement (90.5 on average)—than low-integration organizations. Findings also reveal that leadership commitment, employee engagement, organizational learning, and systemic reinforcement are key mediating processes that enhance the effect of GHRM activities. Temporal trajectory analysis demonstrates that integrated organizations go through deployment, consolidation, and optimization phases, as well as increasing returns to performance, with an accelerating trend of 36 months. This paper is important in management research as it fills in gaps in the literature, providing an explanation of how human resource practices facilitate organizational change at the system level. In practice, this study offers evidence-based recommendations to managers who want to establish sustainability-oriented innovation capability by implementing a coordinated GHRM and adaptive change management approach. Full article

With the rapid urbanization in China, the spatial interaction between newly constructed underground structures and existing transportation tunnels has become increasingly frequent and complex. However, studies on the dynamic response characteristics of underground pedestrian passages subjected to the combined effects of metro- and vehicle-induced vibrations remain relatively limited. This study takes the newly constructed underground pedestrian passage at Want Want Hospital in Hunan Province as the engineering background. The pedestrian passage features a unique structural configuration, in which it is jointly constructed with an overlying vehicular tunnel through a shared slab and simultaneously crosses above an existing metro tunnel. To explore the vibration research methods for this unique structure, a three-dimensional finite element model was developed using ABAQUS and validated through in situ vibration measurements. Based on the validated model, the dynamic response of the pedestrian passage was systematically investigated from two perspectives: traffic loading conditions and shared slab thickness. The results show that metro-induced loads dominate the vibration response of the pedestrian passage. Bidirectional (reversible) train operation produces significantly greater vibration levels than unidirectional operation, and the Z-direction vibration level increases with train speed, with local exceedances occurring at 80 km/h. Under vehicle loading, the vibration response of the passage exhibits a non-monotonic trend, first increasing and then decreasing within the speed range of 30–40 km/h. When metro and vehicle loads act simultaneously, the vibration level is further amplified and exceeds the allowable limit. In addition, a pronounced vibration energy concentration zone is identified on the pedestrian passage bottom slab directly beneath the tunnel sidewalls, highlighting the necessity for targeted vibration mitigation in this region. Parametric analysis demonstrates that appropriately increasing the thickness of the vehicular tunnel bottom slab does not effectively reduce the vibration response. The findings of this study provide a reliable numerical analysis framework and practical design guidance for vibration control of complex overlapping underground structures in urban environments. Full article

Plant breeding innovation is an important strategic emerging industry related to sustainable agricultural development. The improvement of the level of industry–university–research (IUR) cooperation among plant breeding enterprises can help overcome breeding bottlenecks and promote technological innovation and has become one of the important topics of academic attention. Based on 290 enterprise survey questionnaire data, this study uses a structural equation model to conduct empirical research and finds the following: (1) satisfaction and effectiveness of IUR cooperation have a positive impact on the key core technological innovation performance of plant breeding enterprises; (2) absorptive capacity positively moderates the promoting effect of IUR cooperation satisfaction and effectiveness on the technological innovation performance of plant breeding enterprises; and (3) government support positively moderates the promoting effect of IUR cooperation satisfaction and effectiveness on the technological innovation performance of plant breeding enterprises. Therefore, this study reveals the mechanism of IUR cooperation in plant breeding enterprises on technological innovation and provides theoretical basis and practical guidance for plant breeding enterprises to cultivate long-term competitiveness and contribute to the sustainable development of agriculture. Full article

Pavement rutting is caused by grooves formed by vehicle traffic, affecting driving comfort, safety, and service life. Rutting detection methods have evolved from manual and automated approaches to intelligent detection for smart cities and maintenance. However, lightweight intelligent detection still faces challenges such as insufficient accuracy and technical complexity, and a mature system has yet to be established. This study aims to develop a portable intelligent terminal for pavement rut detection, which can address the challenges associated with traditional pavement rut detection while providing accuracy and reliability. In this study, rutting detection experiments were performed on a full-scale accelerated loading track to collect data on vibration acceleration, angular velocity, and attitude angles. Comparative experiments were carried out between traditional and lightweight detection methods. Subsequently, GRU-CNN, LSTM–Transformer, GRU, and LSTM models were developed to analyze and compare their performance in predicting rutting depth. The results show that the terminal operates stably, offering convenient usability and reliable data acquisition. Furthermore, vehicle angular velocity and roll angle emerge as critical indicators reflecting rutting impacts on driving states and prove suitable for pavement rut depth detection. The proposed GRU-CNN model achieves superior accuracy and overall performance relative to widely used models. Under synchronous detection conditions, the lightweight method yields a mean absolute error (MAE) of 1.22 mm, achieving performance improvements of 17.32%, 8.74%, and 10.08% over the LSTM–Transformer, GRU, and LSTM models, respectively. Additionally, the method yields a mean absolute percentage error of approximately 10.6%, representing error reductions of 15.87%, 19.08%, and 23.74% compared to the aforementioned baseline models, which meets application requirements. Innovation lies in the development of a lightweight intelligent terminal and GRU-CNN hybrid model that integrates vehicle dynamic parameters for large-scale pavement rutting detection. This study presents a lightweight, real-time pavement rutting detection method based on vehicle operation data for the construction and maintenance of smart cities and intelligent transportation infrastructure, combining the features of high cost effectiveness, high accuracy, and ease of large-scale application. Full article

To systematically analyze the differences and underlying mechanisms of pantograph–catenary arc discharge characteristics under different operating conditions, this paper measures the complete transient waveforms of arc current, external electric field, and voltage between carriages under various operating conditions based on a unified experimental platform, using flexible current probes, electric field sensors, and active differential probes for synchronous acquisition. The research results reveal the quantitative correlation and physical mechanism between the mechanical parameters of the pantograph–catenary system and the electromagnetic transient responses under four typical conditions: fixed gap between the pantograph and catenary, pantograph raising, pantograph lowering, and pantograph–catenary separation vibration. These findings provide references for condition monitoring, fault warning, pantograph optimization design, and system-level electromagnetic compatibility evaluation of the pantograph–catenary system. Full article

Aims: This study aimed to evaluate how the combined application of slow-release nitrogen fertilizer and urea influences nitrogen losses via runoff and the yield performance of silage maize in red soil sloping cropland, in order to support region-specific strategies for soil and water conservation and efficient nitrogen management in maize-based systems. Methods: A one-year field runoff plot experiment was conducted under natural rainfall conditions. Three fertilization treatments with equal nitrogen input were established: conventional urea application (CK), 25% controlled-release nitrogen fertilizer combined with 75% urea (P1), and 50% controlled-release nitrogen fertilizer combined with 50% urea (P2). Results: (1) Co-application of slow-release fertilizer and urea significantly improved soil and water conservation compared to CK; total runoff was reduced by 9.17% and 8.29% under P1 and P2, respectively; and soil loss was reduced by 16.45% and 12.25%. (2) The co-application of slow-release fertilizer effectively reduced nitrogen losses from sloping farmland. Compared to CK, both P1 and P2 reduced losses of total nitrogen (TN), nitrate nitrogen (NO₃⁻-N), and ammonium nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N) during the maize growth period, with the reductions under P2 being most pronounced. (3) The co-application of slow-release fertilizer and urea enhanced maize nitrogen uptake and increased maize yield. Conclusions: Based on the results of this single-year field experiment, the combined application of controlled-release nitrogen fertilizer and urea showed potential advantages in reducing runoff-related nitrogen losses while improving crop productivity in red-soil sloping cropland. Among the treatments, P2 (50% controlled-release nitrogen substitution) exhibited relatively better overall performance. However, the broader applicability of these findings requires further verification through multi-year field experiments under different climatic conditions. Full article

Social media influencers (SMIs) have become effective intermediaries that influence consumer perceptions, attitudes, and behavioral intentions through their online presence and persuasion skills; this has made it imperative to comprehend how buyer-related variables contribute to brand loyalty within contemporary marketing research. This study, therefore, examines the effect of social media influencer capability on brand loyalty in Saudi Arabia, using brand trust as a mediating variable and authentic leadership as a moderating variable. Utilizing Social Exchange Theory and Authentic Leadership Theory, the study applied a quantitative cross-sectional survey design. Data were purposively collected from 476 active social media users in three major commercial hubs in Saudi Arabia (Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam). The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings reveal that authenticity and communication skills have a positive and significant influence on brand trust and brand loyalty, but expertise and influence only have a significant and positive influence on brand trust, not on brand loyalty directly, which means that the two constructs are indirectly influencing brand loyalty. The study also finds that authentic leadership significantly moderates the relationship between expertise, influence, and communication skills and brand loyalty, while the interaction with authenticity is not significant. Moreover, the mediation analysis shows that brand trust plays a significant mediating role in the relationships between communication skills, expertise and influence and brand loyalty, implying that the antecedents play a leading role in fostering loyalty by first developing trust. The study contributes to theory by offering a process-based perspective on the concept of brand loyalty that positions brand trust as a fundamental mechanism and authentic leadership as a vital enabling context. The findings have practical implications for organizations that want to strengthen brand loyalty through authentic communication, trust-building strategies, and leadership practices in social media-based contexts. Full article

In her fiction, Joan Didion crafted female protagonists who embodied the strange stirrings documented by Betty Friedan in The Feminine Mystique, as common among mid-century White, educated women. Didion’s protagonists are all daughters, wives, and mothers who come to realize their lives are built on empty compromises. However, in her late 20th-century novels, their awareness leads to actual changes: the Didion Women who confront the void in Democracy and The Last Thing He Wanted find their lives impacted by the machinations of U.S. Cold War policies. These novels specifically trace the impact of American imperialism on wives and daughters at home—those that the policies claimed to protect. These protagonists, and their witnesses, refuse to be passive casualties. Their narration by an embedded professional female journalist adds weight to the journeys of these overlooked women. Through her protagonists of privilege, Didion unflinchingly documents the physical and psychological damages of patriarchy—both personal and political—presenting female models of awareness and resistance. This essay will examine Didion’s Democracy and The Last Thing He Wanted as the capstones of her woman-centered fiction, presenting detailed portraits of matrons who deliberately disentangle themselves from history. Full article

Background/Objectives: Rezum therapy is a novel, minimally invasive way of treating benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) that involves the injection of heated water vapour into the prostate. It was approved by NICE in 2018 and is now available in select centres across the UK. It has been shown to have significant advantages over standard BPH therapies: it can be done under local anaesthetic, making it an option for those unsuitable for general anaesthetic, it is suitable for treating patients who want to maintain ejaculation, and it is cost-effective. It has been recommended as a treatment for smaller prostates (<80cc) and in cases where patients are keen to preserve ejaculatory function. Our unit performs this procedure under local anaesthetic (LA) with a transperineal ultrasound-guided peri-prostatic block and urethral lidocaine gel in the clinic. We aimed to analyse the patients undergoing Rezum in our institution to establish its tolerability under local anaesthetic, its effectiveness and its complication rate. Methods: We analysed all patients who underwent Rezum prostate steam ablation in our institution between May 2023 and September 2025. From individual patient notes, we collected data on patient demographics, prostate size and shape, pre- and post-op IPSS and Qmax, and post-void residual. Patient-reported outcomes such as pain during the procedure and satisfaction of the procedure were also collected and analysed as well as complication rates. Results: The data of 82 patients undergoing LA Rezum in the above time period were collected and analysed. They had a mean prostate size of 53cc (minimum 21cc and maximum of 100cc). The results showed significant improvement in voiding parameters, with Qmax improving by 40.1% (p < 0.05) and PVR by 40.8% (p < 0.05). Patients similarly reported improved symptoms, with IPSS improving by 54.7% (p < 0.05) and QOL scores by 54.1% (p < 0.05). The procedure had a high degree of satisfaction, with 36 of the 49 patients who completed the post-procedure questionnaire recording an overall satisfaction of 9 or 10 out of 10. The mean intraoperative visual analogue (VAS) pain score was 3.5. Conclusions: Rezum is a minimally invasive procedure that has been seen to produce significant and reliable improvements in patients’ lower urinary tract symptoms and voiding dynamics. It has a low complication rate, is tolerated well and is readily performed under local anaesthetic in the ambulatory setting. Full article

Fine-grained spatio-temporal action detection in continuous, unconstrained field videos remains a formidable challenge due to severe background clutter, high inter-class similarity, and the scarcity of domain-specific benchmarks. To address these limitations, we first introduce a large-scale Wintering-Crane Benchmark, providing dense, individual-level bounding box annotations for six complex behaviors across diverse habitat scenes. Leveraging this data, we propose AviaTAD-LGH, a real-time multi-task framework that incorporates auxiliary motion supervision into a dual-pathway 3D backbone to enhance feature discriminability. A critical bottleneck in such multi-task settings is the negative transfer caused by conflicting optimization objectives. To resolve this, we present Lightweight Gradient Harmonization (LGH), a plug-and-play optimization strategy that dynamically modulates task weights based on the cosine similarity of gradient directions. This mechanism effectively aligns optimization trajectories without introducing inference latency. Extensive experiments demonstrate that AviaTAD-LGH achieves a state-of-the-art mAP of 68.60%, surpassing strong public baselines by 7.44% and improving upon the single-task baseline by 2.80%, with significant gains observed on ambiguous dynamic classes. The proposed pipeline enables efficient, scalable ecological monitoring suitable for edge deployment. Full article

Technologies for home movement rehabilitation after stroke are rapidly expanding. However, for consumers, the number and nature of available products are unclear, and the information provided by device manufacturers varies widely. To understand this landscape, we conducted a mixed-methods, descriptive study in which we used the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) database to identify interactive devices for stroke rehabilitation suitable for home use. We then surveyed 13 individuals with stroke to determine what information they most wanted about home-based rehabilitation devices and contacted manufacturers to obtain those details. Thirteen FDA codes were associated with stroke rehabilitation devices, encompassing 57 devices produced by 40 companies. Nearly half were categorized under two codes: QKC (interactive rehabilitation exercise devices) and GZI (neuromuscular stimulators). Among devices for which information was available, 71% were listed after 2015, and 23% cost under $1000. The top information priorities for individuals with stroke were required usage to achieve therapeutic benefit, expected benefit, ease of use, and motivational features. Despite repeated outreach, only 45% of companies responded to our queries; among those that did, details were vague and variable. These results confirm that a large and growing number of FDA-listed devices are now available for home-based post-stroke motor rehabilitation. We further identify a need to establish industry standards for reporting ease of use, motivational effectiveness, and dose–response characteristics to help the intended consumers select appropriate technologies. The curated dataset generated in this study is provided as a resource for future work and may support the development of accurate Artificial Intelligence-based interfaces for identifying and comparing rehabilitation devices. Full article

Extracts from the flowers and fruits of Sambucus nigra L. have various applications as colorants and adjuvants in the food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. It is therefore necessary to establish optimal conditions for the production of these extracts. The objective of this study was to compare different extraction conditions that allow the recovery of polyphenols and flavonoids with antioxidant activity from the aerial parts of S. nigra. For this purpose, the following extraction conditions were analyzed: maceration (M) and ultrasound-assisted (U), as well as extractant mixtures with five different proportions of ethanol and water; TPC and TFC were determined using spectroscopic methods, a preliminary analysis was performed by HPLC-DAD, and the content of chlorogenic acid and rutin was quantified. Similarly, the extracts were evaluated for their antioxidant capacity in ABTS, DPPH, and FRAP assays. Finally, PCA was performed to comprehensively analyze the relationship between the results obtained. The results showed that the extraction conditions determine the recovery of bioactive compounds such as polyphenols and antioxidant activity, with the highest yields obtained with 4M and 5M, and the extracts with the highest TPC and TFC being 5U and 1M, respectively. Likewise, the highest concentrations of chlorogenic acid and rutin were found in condition 2M, and the best antioxidant capacity was observed under extraction conditions 3U. This was confirmed by PCA, which indicated that extraction conditions influence yield, recovery of phenolic compounds, and antioxidant capacity. Therefore, these results indicate that there is no single condition that achieves the best parameters for this species, but rather that specific conditions must be applied depending on the metabolite groups and antioxidant activity. Full article

Social media is an integral part of everyday life for women from migrant and refugee backgrounds and is sometimes recognised as a ‘critical lifeline’ enabling access to essential support during settlement. Despite this, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) women in Australia often have limited and uneven access to critical social media literacy education opportunities, and there remains a lack of in-depth research exploring what CALD women want to learn and how they wish to participate in such educational interventions. Adopting an education justice approach, this article advances a framework for social media literacy education developed with women from refugee backgrounds. The study employed semi-structured interviews and co-design workshops with women from refugee backgrounds, alongside staff from local public libraries and refugee support organisations. The study demonstrates that women from refugee backgrounds primarily use social media for communication and connection, but are also interested in learning how to use these platforms to navigate sexism, racism, and other systemic barriers to settlement. The proposed framework—which can be adopted by public libraries and other grassroots organisations—responds directly to women’s calls for peer-led, value-driven, context-specific, and culturally responsive social media literacy interventions. Full article