Search Results (348)

Through the lens of the theory of mediamorphosis, the authors intend to demonstrate scientific contributions in the native languages of Croatian and Slovenian scholars to the study of digital journalism. This paper provides an insight into the common points but also similarities and differences in the evolution of interests and approaches of these scientific communities, which are special in that they are the only two members of the European Union that also share the legacy of the socio-political system of the former Yugoslavia. The central goal of this study was to identify, evaluate, and synthesize all the relevant empirical research, categorized only as original scientific papers that had been published from 1994 to 2024, together with scientific monographs on digital media and journalism, in order to contribute to filling the gap in regard to the review of local literature and internationalized local research. The primary search on the following terms and keywords: digital media, digital journalism, electronic publications, Internet, Internet journalism, Internet portals, new media, online media, online journalism, online portals, and web portals was conducted via several local databases (HRČAK, CEEOL, SCIndex, and COBISS). Using a systematic literature review strategy and content analysis methods, this study deeply explored several aspects of the empirical studies (N = 24) it found: metadata, theoretical background, research objects, methodology, and results. The articles were, in principle, published in local journals with high international impact and included in major databases WOS and SCOPUS. The findings show the first articles in Croatia date only from 2007 and from 2010 in Slovenia. With some interruptions, they are published relatively regularly. In the corpus analyzed, two scientific monographs from Croatia and one from Slovenia were included. The research confirms that the topics studied in this region and the methodologies used are characteristic of the contemporary trends in digital journalism studies. Although the thematic focuses are somewhat similar—journalistic texts and writing; editorial protocols; practices; policies; division of labor; organization; platform regulations and preferences; and audience behavior—there is a significant difference in the methodological approach; Croatian scholars rely on output manifestation and the analysis of media content; while Slovenian colleagues mainly research media organizations from the inside; through interviews. Full article

Background/Objectives: This systematic review explores the utilization of electrospinning for the incorporation of natural compounds, focusing on their pharmacological applications. Methods: This systematic review focused on studies investigating the incorporation of natural bioactive compounds into nanofibers produced via the electrospinning technique for pharmacological applications. The search was conducted for English-language articles published online between 1 January 2013 and 10 December 2023. The review followed a structured approach, excluding review articles, clinical studies, and gray literature such as unpublished works, non-peer-reviewed journals, theses, and industry data. Results: The review of 99 articles highlighted the advantages of electrospun nanofibers in tissue regeneration, infection control, and controlled drug release, with notable potential in oncology for targeted antitumor drug delivery. It discussed the influence of polymers and solvents on fiber characteristics and identified a significant gap in cosmetic applications, emphasizing the technique’s potential for prolonged release and improved ingredient stability. Additionally, this review noted the underutilization of marine-derived substances, which possess rich bioactive properties that could benefit biomedical and cosmetic fields. Conclusions: This systematic review highlights the advantages of electrospinning for pharmacological applications, including tissue regeneration, infection control, and controlled drug release, with promising potential in oncology. However, gaps were identified in the cosmetic field and the use of marine-derived substances. Future advancements in electrospinning technology and interdisciplinary collaboration are essential to unlocking its full potential in medicine and cosmetics. Full article

This study explores possible applications of AI technology in online journalism, given the predictions that speed and adaptation to the new medium will increase the penetration of automation in the production business. The literature shows that while the human supervision of journalistic workflow is still considered vital, the journalistic workflow is changing in nature, with the writing of micro-content being entrusted to ChatGPT-3.5 among the most visible features. This research assesses readers’ reactions to different headline styles as tested on a sample of 624 students from Timisoara, Romania, asked to evaluate the qualities of a mix of human-written vs. AI-generated headlines. The results show that AI-generated, informative headlines were perceived by more than half of the respondents as the most trustworthy and representative of the media content. Clickbait headlines, regardless of their source, were considered misleading and rated as manipulative (44.7%). In addition, 54.5% of respondents reported a decrease in trust regarding publications that frequently use clickbait techniques. A linguistic analysis was conducted to grasp the qualities of the headlines that triggered the registered responses. This study provides insights into the potential of AI-enabled tools to reshape headline writing practices in digital journalism. Full article

Human milk is recognized as the optimal nutrition for infants, with evidence showing it can prevent childhood death. While there are approximately 756 milk banks worldwide, predominantly located in high-income countries, human milk banking remains limited in Africa, where infant mortality rates are highest. The purpose of this review was to examine the current landscape of human milk banking in Africa, analyzing its potential to decrease infant mortality and enhance neonatal health outcomes. We explore implementation challenges, opportunities for expansion, and strategies for establishing sustainable milk banking systems across the continent. Following Arksey and O’Malley’s scoping review framework, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of peer-reviewed literature, case studies, and reports from the PubMed, Google Scholar, and African Journals Online databases through 2024. Results: South Africa leads the continent, with over 20 milk banks, while countries like Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda have recently established programs. Significant challenges include cultural barriers and a lack of infrastructure and funding. Despite current limitations, evidence supports the significant potential of human milk banking to reduce infant mortality in Africa. Success requires addressing cultural barriers, strengthening healthcare infrastructure, and developing sustainable funding models by integrating existing maternal and child health services. Full article

Malware has emerged as a significant threat to end-users, businesses, and governments, resulting in financial losses of billions of dollars. Cybercriminals have found malware to be a lucrative business because of its evolving capabilities and ability to target diverse platforms such as PCs, mobile devices, IoT, and cloud platforms. While previous studies have explored single platform-based malware detection, no existing research has comprehensively reviewed malware detection across diverse platforms using machine learning (ML) techniques. With the rise of malware on PC or laptop devices, mobile devices and IoT systems are now being targeted, posing a significant threat to cloud environments. Therefore, a platform-based understanding of malware detection and defense mechanisms is essential for countering this evolving threat. To fill this gap and motivate further research, we present an extensive review of malware detection using ML techniques with respect to PCs, mobile devices, IoT, and cloud platforms. This paper begins with an overview of malware, including its definition, prominent types, analysis, and features. It presents a comprehensive review of machine learning-based malware detection from the recent literature, including journal articles, conference proceedings, and online resources published since 2017. This study also offers insights into the current challenges and outlines future directions for developing adaptable cross-platform malware detection techniques. This study is crucial for understanding the evolving threat landscape and for developing robust detection strategies. Full article

Podcasts have established themselves in the digital media landscape as an integral part of information gathering and opinion formation for many users. The number of podcast users has stabilized at a high level in recent years. However, podcast producers, including podcast journalists, remain a largely unexplored group. This study focuses on podcast journalists and aims to identify the perceptions, motivations, and quality standards relating to their roles in podcasting. It is based on the results of an online survey of 378 podcast journalists from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Against a background of the concept of pioneer journalism, this article argues that podcast journalists are innovative contributors to the journalism ecosystem and have positioned themselves as new actors within the field. The findings of this study show that podcast journalists create, produce, and present journalistic content, for instance news or background stories, in the form of audio episodes, and see themselves as both educators and entertainers. They use the creative freedom of podcasting to engage deeply with their audiences and achieve high levels of listener loyalty. While financial gain is not their primary motivation, they have innovated new revenue models. They are committed to the quality of their content and emphasize comprehensibility and accuracy of information. Full article

Objectives: Violence in intimate relationships (IPV) is understood as one of the most common forms of violence, being maintained by cultural habits and customs, and legitimized from generation to generation. This study aims at a comprehensive review of the literature on IPV, the relationship between the stages of change, maintenance factors, and the decision to keep or leave the violent partner. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify journal articles focused on IPV, following online databases as well as a manual review from relevant peer-reviewed journals. Results: Seeking help is one of the main steps in the process of change, and the stages of change are directly related to the success of interventions, so identifying stages early provides a more appropriate and effective choice of intervention. Conclusions: Thus, evaluating the stage of preparation for the change in which the victims are found is important for the individual understanding of the experience and supporting the intervention. In this sense, the Domestic Violence Survivor Assessment (DVSA) will also be presented, an instrument for evaluating the process of intentional change in victims of IPV, using the TTM. Full article

Background: Cardiometabolic risk factors such as hypertension, overweight, and obesity have become increasingly common among African students who tend to become more sedentary in urban environments. This systematic review aimed to determine and identify major risk factors of cardiometabolic disease prevalence reported among African university students. Methods: The protocol was registered with PROSPERO (registration no.CRD42024553280). A comprehensive literature search was performed using scientific databases from Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest, and African Journals Online (AJOL). The search was limited to articles published between 2000 and 2024, which reported cardiometabolic diseases/risk factors among African university students. Data were extracted using a standardised form, capturing details on study characteristics (author, year, location, study design), participant demographics (age, sex), prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases, and associated risk factors. Results: A total of thirty-seven studies that met the inclusion criteria, thirty-six cross-sectional and one longitudinal, were included in the study. The prevalence range of the various risk factors identified was 0.6–21.7% (obesity) and 0.28–26.4% (hypertension), 1.7–18.8% (diabetes), 0.5–18.2% (pre-diabetes), 1.9–48.6% (metabolic syndrome), and 1.1% to 57.3% (dyslipidemia). Some common sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy behaviours identified among the students were fast foods (21.3–85.73%), alcohol (3.7–63%), and smoking (1.02–13%). Conclusions: The review’s findings suggest that rapid urbanisation and changes in lifestyle and behaviours are responsible for an increased prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors in African university students. Targeted health promotion programmes, regular screening, and policy interventions might all go a long way in preventing the predicted increase in the prevalence of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases among this group of young adults in Africa. Full article

Information literacy (IL) plays an essential role in digital inclusion as it enables people to make use of the information available in multiple mediums on the Internet through digital devices. This study intends to examine the effect of IL on lifelong learning (LL) through the mediating role of creativity among news reporters in Pakistan using a quantitative research approach. The survey was conducted using an online questionnaire from the registered news reporters of press clubs in the four provinces and the federal territory of Islamabad, Pakistan. A total of 758 responses were received and analyzed using PLS-SEM. The results indicated that the IL of news reporters positively influenced their lifelong learning through both direct and indirect pathways. Furthermore, the nexus between IL and LL was influenced by the mediation of creativity. These findings have practical implications for academia and the media industry, highlighting the invaluable role of IL in enhancing lifelong learning and creativity to attain a sustainable competitive advantage. These results may inform educational programs for journalism students and existing journalists to impart IL skills. This research contributes to the available literature on workplace IL, especially in the context of media professionals. Full article

Research into the adverse health effects of air pollution exposure has repeatedly considered smaller particles, to the point where particle number concentration might be a more relevant metric than mass concentration. Here, we highlight some historical research which developed metrics for air pollution severity based on particle number concentration. Because this work was published in a national journal and prior to the internet and open access, this historical research is not easy to find, and it was more through the history of the aerosol research community in Ireland that this work is now being presented. Multiple online searches for published research papers on “particle number concentrations” and “air pollution severity” were undertaken. Even when specific searches were undertaken using the author names and publication year, these featured papers were not found on any internet search. O’Dea and O’Connor proposed that air pollution severity could be classified based on particle number concentration of condensation nuclei, with ‘little’ air pollution <50 × 10³ particles per cm³, ‘mean’ 50–70 × 10³ particles per cm³, ‘strong’ 70–100 × 10³ particles per cm³, and ‘very strong’ >100 × 10³ particles per cm³. Applying their assumptions on density and mean particle size, equated to mass concentrations for a mean of 6 µgm⁻³, strong at 8.5 µgm⁻³, and very strong >10 µgm⁻³. These are consistent with the current WHO guideline values for PM_2.5. Additionally, we highlight the 1955 work by Burke and Nolan on the retention of inhaled particles, where ~40% of the inhaled number concentration is retained in the respiratory system. This is also consistent with the more recently published work on particle retention. In summary, the proposed categories of pollution severity, based on number concentrations, could form a basis for the development of future guidelines. This paper highlights that sometimes research has already been published, but it is difficult to find. We challenge researchers to find publications from their own countries which pre-date the WWW to inform current and future research. Additionally, there is scope for a repository for such information on historical publications. We have presented historical research on aerosol number concentrations, classifications of air pollution severity, and particle retention, which present lessons for current researchers. Full article

This study focuses on the case of news headlines in current online journalism, looking into the current possibilities opened by ChatGPT to generate such texts in an attention-grabbing manner. To assess the reaction of online readers to headlines (clickbait or click-worthy), an online survey was applied, involving Romanian students. A total of 100 original human-authored articles with clickbait headlines were extracted from a relevant Romanian database. ChatGPT was used to generate alternative headlines (one clickbait and one informative) based on the original texts. The resulting corpus of 100 headline triplets was offered to students for evaluation. More than 70% of the 600 participants in the survey preferred AI-generated headlines over the human-authored ones, indicating their experiences and behaviors in media consumption. The preferred headlines were further analyzed along lexical and grammatical characteristics, and stylistically, to pinpoint the features sparking readers’ curiosity and engagement. While on a cognitive level the investigated audience rejected clickbait headlines as being deceitful and frustrating, in practice less than 34% favored neutral and objective headlines. Also, the linguistic analysis provided insights into the mechanics of reader engagement and the effectiveness of various headline strategies. The results are useful to anticipate the adoption of AI as a creative partner in Romanian media practice. Full article

In post-mortem (PM) investigations, forensic toxicologists attempt to identify legal or illegal substances present before death and determine how they contributed to the cause of death. A critical challenge is ensuring that PM sample concentrations accurately reflect those at the time of death, as postmortem redistribution (PMR) can alter these levels due to anatomical and physiological changes. The PMR phenomenon is called a ‘toxicological nightmare’. PMR significantly affects post-mortem drug concentrations, particularly for lipophilic drugs and those with a high volume of distribution. The emergence of new psychoactive substances (NPSs) has led to a growing recognition of their role as a significant public health concern, frequently associated with fatalities related to polydrug use. These substances are renowned for their ability to induce intoxication at low doses, which has led to the continuous updating of toxicological and forensic methods to improve detection and adopt new analytical standards. The comprehensive detection of NPS metabolites, some of which are still undiscovered, presents an additional analytical challenge, as do their metabolic pathways. This complicates their identification in fatal cases using standard analytical methods, potentially leading to an underestimation of their actual prevalence in toxicological results. Furthermore, the interpretation of analytical results is hindered by the absence of data on PM blood levels and the specific contributions of NPS to causes of death, exacerbated by the lack of knowledge of whether the PMR phenomenon influences them. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the literature on post-mortem cases involving various NPS, categorized according to classifications by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA). These categories include cathinones, phenylethylamines, arylalkylamines, phencyclidine-type substances, phenmetrazines, piperazines, phenidates, aminoindanes, LSD-like NPSs, tryptamines, fentanyl analogs, designer benzodiazepines, synthetic cannabinoids, and nitazenes. This review covers not only postmortem blood levels but also the stability of the substances studied, the methods of analysis, and attempts to shed some light on the PMR phenomenon. This review used various key terms, such as PMR, NPS, and the names of previously categorized substances and drug analyses across multiple peer-reviewed journals and databases, including Scopus, Google Schoolar, Springer, PubMed, and Wiley Online Library. In addition, references from retrieved articles were examined to identify additional relevant research. Interpreting post-mortem toxicological results is complex and lacks definitive guidelines, requiring a nuanced understanding of its challenges and potential pitfalls. As a result, post-mortem toxicology is often regarded as an art. The primary aim of this review is to provide forensic toxicologists with a comprehensive framework to assist in the evaluation and interpretation of NPS analysis. This guide is intended to complement the existing knowledge and practices applied in forensic laboratories within the toxicological analysis of post-mortem cases. Full article

The 2nd International Electronic Conference on Clinical Medicine: Chronic Diseases—Current State and Future Trends (ECCM 2024) was organized by MDPI and MDPI Journal of Clinical Medicine and took place online from 13 to 15 November 2024. This conference report is an abstract collection from different sessions of ECCM 2024. Full article

The increasing prevalence of disinformation has become a global challenge, exacerbated by the rapid dissemination of information in online environments. The present study conducts a bibliometric analysis of scholarly efforts made over time in the research papers associated with the disinformation field. Thus, this paper aims to understand and help combat disinformation by focusing on methodologies, datasets, and key metadata. Through a bibliometric approach, the study identifies leading authors, affiliations, and journals and examines collaboration networks in the field of disinformation. This analysis highlights the significant growth in research on disinformation, particularly in response to events such as the 2016 U.S. election, Brexit, and the COVID-19 pandemic, with an overall growth rate of 15.14% in the entire analyzed period. The results of the analysis underscore the role of social media and artificial intelligence in the spread of disinformation, as well as the importance of fact-checking technologies. Findings reveal that the most prolific contributions come from universities in the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), Spain, and other global institutions, with a notable increase in publications since 2018. Through thematic maps, a keyword analysis, and collaboration networks, this study provides a comprehensive overview of the evolving field of disinformation research, offering valuable insights for future investigations and policy development. Full article

True crime podcasts invite their listeners to crowdsource investigations online, solving cases that have fallen through the cracks of the criminal justice system. Through a cultural criminologist lens, this digital ethnography examines The Vanished podcast as a case study of how true crime listeners engage with solving cases in digital community spaces. Previous studies have dismissed true crime fans as pseudo police acting as digital vigilantes. Podcasting communities provide an important public service, working as participatory journalists to investigate the story and report the truth. Rather than depending on law enforcement permission to organize, online crime-investigation communities leverage the Internet’s function as an organizing agent for mobilization beyond the parameters of conventional social structures and formal government agencies. Findings reveal a six-step process of case collaboration between podcast producers, active listeners, and family and friends of missing persons. Other communities can apply this unique system to successfully investigate crime, suggesting implications for individuals within marginalized groups less likely to find justice through the formal legal system. Full article