Search Results (11,191)

Background/Objectives: The nursing work environment, encompassing accessible resources and established processes, might affect nurses’ professional behavior. Our aim was to examine the effect of nurses’ work environments on quiet quitting and work engagement among nurses. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study with nurses in Greece. We used the “Practice Environment Scale-5” to measure nurses’ work environments, the “Quiet Quitting Scale” to measure quiet quitting, and the “Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-3” to measure work engagement among nurses. We developed multivariable regression models adjusted for gender, age, understaffed wards, shift work, and work experience. Results: The study population included 425 nurses. The mean age of the nurses was 41.1 years. After controlling for confounders, we found that lower nurse participation in hospital affairs, less collegial nurse–physician relationships, worse nursing foundations for quality of care, and lower levels of nurse manager ability, leadership, and support were associated with higher levels of quiet quitting among nurses. Moreover, our multivariable analysis identified a positive association between nurse manager ability, leadership, and support, collegial nurse–physician relationships, nursing foundations for quality of care, and work engagement among nurses. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the poor work environment, elevated levels of quiet quitting, and moderate work engagement among nurses. Moreover, we found that a poor nurses’ work environment was associated with higher levels of quiet quitting. Moreover, our findings showed that nurses’ work environments had a positive impact on work engagement. The ongoing endeavor to enhance all aspects of nurses’ working conditions by healthcare organization administrations is essential for optimizing nurses’ performance, facilitating organizational operations, and ensuring service quality. Full article

Today, cloud computing is a widely used technology that provides a wide range of services to numerous sectors around the world. This technology depends on the interaction and cooperation of virtual machines (VMs) to complete various computing tasks, propagating malware attacks quickly due to the complexity of cloud computing environments and users’ interfaces. As a result of the rising demand for cloud computing from multiple perspectives for complete analysis and decision-making across a range of life disciplines, multi-cloud environments (MCEs) are established. Therefore, in this work, we discuss impacted mathematical modeling for the MCEs’ network dynamics using two deterministic and stochastic approaches. In both approaches, appropriate assumptions are considered. Then, the proposed networks’ VMs are classified to have six different possible states covering media, healthcare, finance, and educational servers. After that, the two developed modeling approaches’ solution existence, uniqueness, equilibrium, and stability are carefully investigated. Using an optimal control strategy, both proposed models are tested for sustaining a certain level of security of the VMs’ states and reducing the propagation of malware within the networks. Finally, we verify the theoretical results by employing numerical simulations to track the malware’s propagation immunization. Results showed how the implemented control methods maintained the essential objectives of managing malware infections. Full article

We use the microeconomic theory that takes into account household production and human activity in the non-market sphere to analyze the phenomena of a macroeconomic nature. We check the activation of women in the labor market, a phenomenon observed in Western European countries and the United States, among others. The decision to become economically active reduces the opportunity to devote time to previously undertaken activities, including a reduction in the time spent on housework. This often involves a significant change in the structure of consumption, which, at the macroeconomic level, is associated with the creation of new jobs and a change in the structure of the economy. Structural change is understood as the transfer of economic activity between the three main sectors of the system, namely agriculture, industry and services. This study uses microeconomic data from two waves of the TUS in Poland. The so-called marketization hypothesis was tested separately for three groups of women aged 18–24, 25–44 and 45–59. When estimating the parameters of the models, characteristics such as having a partner, having children under six and educational attainment were taken into account. The calculations show that women aged 25–44 are relatively active in the labor market, but it is those aged 18–24 who fulfill all of the conditions that support the marketization hypothesis. Full article

Chinese rural elderly care services face challenges such as low levels of pensions and social security, as well as high proportions of the elderly living alone and those who are incapacitated and lack assistance. The rural elderly surrounding megacities have been more significantly impacted by urbanization (with relatives moving away to the megacities for jobs) than in other areas, so the well-being of this particular group deserves even more attention. However, existing major studies in China are mainly limited to those in need in specific regions, and there is little research on the well-being of special age groups. To fill the research gap, this study constructs an indicator system for the well-being assessment with five dimensions and explores the well-being of the rural elderly surrounding Xi’an and its obstacles using questionnaire data. The results indicate that (1) the well-being index of the rural elderly surrounding Xi’an in each dimension, in descending order, are medical health, spiritual fulfillment (the pursuit of the spiritual world of the elderly and their desire for a better life), quality of life, social relationships, and economic income status; (2) the comprehensive well-being of the rural elderly varies considerably in the northern counties and districts of Xi’an, and is relatively low in the south; and (3) spiritual fulfillment and medical health are the main obstacles to the improvement of well-being of the rural elderly surrounding Xi’an. Based on these findings, corresponding policy implications are proposed on the five dimensions of well-being, such as improving the rural social old-age insurance and medical insurance systems, providing old-age support for the families of the rural elderly, establishing a model of village old-age care, and promoting the rural habitation renovation, to provide guarantees for the improvement of the well-being of the rural elderly surrounding megacities. Full article

The proper functioning of peatlands depends on maintaining an adequate groundwater table, which is essential for ecosystem services beyond water retention. Most degraded peatlands have been drained for agriculture or forestry primarily through ditch construction. Rewetting through ditch blocking is the most common initial step in peatland restoration. This study analyzed the hydrological response to ditch blocking in three drained raised bogs in Norway (Aurstadmåsan, Midtfjellmåsan and Kaldvassmyra) using a Before–After–Control–Impact (BACI) design. Following rewetting, all sites demonstrated an average increase in groundwater levels of 6 cm across all piezometers affected by ditch blocking. The spatial influence of ditch blocking extended 12.7–24.8 m from the ditch with an average of 17.2 m. Additionally, rewetting increased the duration of favorable groundwater levels for peatland functioning by 27.7%. These findings highlight the effectiveness of ditch blocking in restoring hydrological conditions, although its impact is spatially limited. Future assessments should also address vegetation recovery and greenhouse gas emission reductions to ensure comprehensive restoration success. Full article

Introduction: Undernutrition in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains a leading public health challenge. It accounts for one-third of the under-five mortality rate in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study applied the composite index of anthropometric failure (CIAF) to assess the prevalence of various standalone and coexisting forms of undernutrition and identify associated risk factors. Methods: Nationally representative demographic health survey (DHS) data from 26 SSA countries were used. A multilevel multinomial logistic regression analysis was conducted considering the hierarchical nature of DHS data and more than two categories of outcome variable. Four models were fitted and the model with the highest log-likelihood and lowest deviance was chosen as the best-fitted model. The adjusted relative risk ratio (aRRR) with its corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) was presented as a measure of the effect. Results: The overall prevalence of undernutrition among under-five children in SSA was 34.59% (95% CI: 34.35–34.82). Additionally, 20.49% (95% CI: 20.30–20.69) and 14.09% (95% CI: 13.92–14.26) of under-five children had standalone and coexisting undernutrition, respectively. The mother’s educational level and household wealth status were the most significant shared drivers for standalone and coexisting undernutrition. On the other hand, child and health service factors were differentiating factors between standalone and coexisting undernutrition. Age of the child, sex of the child, type of birth, birth weight, adherence to age-appropriate feeding, antenatal care visit (ANC), place of delivery, and maternal educational status were the most significant determinants of various undernutrition forms in 0–23-month-old children. For 24–59-month-old children, age of the child, sex of the child, type of birth, household wealth status, and maternal education were identified as the main determinants of different forms of undernutrition. Conclusions: Our analysis revealed that distal factors were shared risk factors among standalone and coexisting forms of undernutrition. However, proximal and intermediate factors varied in the type and strength of the association between standalone and coexisting undernutrition. This implies that holistic and category-specific strategies are needed to significantly reduce undernutrition among under-five children in SSA. Full article

Chemical modification is an environmentally friendly option for wood preservation. It can improve the performance and dimensional stability of wood, increase its resistance to deterioration and ensure safe disposal once out of service. Wood acetylation is the esterification of accessible hydroxyl groups in the cell wall with acetic anhydride, which reduces the hygroscopicity of wood. Acetic acid is obtained as a byproduct of the reaction. The aim of this work is to determine the best reaction conditions for the acetylation of Pinus taeda wood with acetic anhydride. The experimental design used was a 2² factorial design with three repetitions in the midpoints. Reaction temperature and reaction time were taken as independent variables, each at two levels. The weight gain percentage of wood (WPG) and its chemical changes were used as response variables. The durability of the wood acetylated under the best treatment conditions as determined before was tested against decay fungi (Gloeophyllum separium and Trametes versicolor). The results show that temperature was the most impactful variable on the WPG results. Higher WPGs were obtained at temperatures above 100 °C. The acetylated wood was highly resistant to fungal attack, with very low mass losses. Full article

As an important indicator of the level of urban economic development and the quality of the residents’ lives, housing prices are affected by various factors, such as the spatial distribution of the housing market, the housing characteristics of neighborhoods, and the location conditions. This paper summarizes the spatial distribution of housing prices in Qingdao using GIS, analyzing spatial distribution characteristics, and combines these with the Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) model to explore the influence of various factors, such as community attributes, location, transportation, and peripheral facilities on residential prices. The results show that from 2003 to 2023, residential housing prices in Qingdao exhibited a significant, continuous upward trend, with rapid growth in the early period and more stable growth in the later period; the spatial structure of residential prices evolved from a “single core” in Shinan District to a “double core + fan” structure involving both Shinan and Laoshan Districts, eventually forming a “double core + fan + mosaic” spatial layout; the green environment, congestion, leisure facilities, service management, and other community factors not only reflect the economic strengths and lifestyles of the residents, but also serve as key drivers of residential price differentiation. Full article

Digitization plays a vital role in fostering economic and social development. This study empirically investigates the impact of digitization on urban industrial structures, technological innovation, public service levels, and social–ecological resilience. Various approaches, including the two-tier stochastic, spatial econometric, and panel threshold models, have been employed to analyze panel data from 287 cities from 2008 to 2023. These data are examined through a quasi-natural experiment analyzing the evolution of urban social–ecological resilience following China’s promotion of the national comprehensive pilot zone for big data. The findings are as follows. (1) The positive effects of digitization on urban social and ecological resilience substantially outweigh the negative effects, with an overall increasing trend in the positive net effect, albeit with significant regional differences. (2) Digitalization exhibits a significant spatial spillover effect, enhancing local social–ecological resilience while inhibiting improvements in neighboring cities. (3) Technological innovation and public service levels positively affect social–ecological resilience, whereas industrial structure upgrading has a negative indirect effect. Both industrial structure upgrading and public service levels demonstrate nonlinear effects under the threshold constraints of the intermediary mechanism. (4) In terms of policy mechanisms, regional differences in the urban industrial structure, innovation capacity, and public service levels must be considered. This approach is essential for promoting the organic integration of digitization across regions, mitigating the polarization effect, and enhancing the diffusion effect. Full article

Urbanization in developing countries has led to increasing demands for high-quality public services, highlighting the need for an effective spatial allocation of resources. This study evaluated the spatial distribution of sports facilities in Shanghai’s central urban areas and Pudong New Area, focusing on accessibility, variegation, and coherence at municipal, district, neighborhood, and community levels. The findings reveal that Pudong New Area has higher-quality facilities compared to central areas, with a distinct “southwest-northeast” axis of high-quality sports facilities in Pudong. A multidimensional spatial evaluation framework was developed, offering practical insights for optimizing resource allocation, enhancing accessibility, and addressing supply-side gaps in developing countries. Full article

Nowadays, there is a growing interest in integrated sustainable transportation. Bike–train intermodality is one of the sustainable modes of transport, combining long-distance service and reaching the last mile. However, bike–train intermodality development both presents challenges for transport service providers and has its drawbacks for users who prefer connections that do not require changing between transport modes. The challenge consists of providing a better transition during changes between transport modes. This can be accomplished through understanding the needs of travelers followed by the implementation of infrastructural changes and the expansion of targeted services that increase the accessibility of the nodal points. Cost-effectiveness analysis, cost–benefit analysis, and a multicriteria decision process are some of the methods that can be used to allocate resources that could improve bike–train intermodality. This research extended the concept of resource allocation to a new multilevel weighted indicator (AxI) that measured the level of accessibility of bikes into railway stations to identify the criticalities and define the priority of interventions. The proposed method was applied in thirty-three Italian railway stations of different sizes. The results showed that the proposed indicator was a valid tool for railway station infrastructure managers and all stakeholders involved for prioritizing interventions related to the advancement of bike–train intermodality. The AxI indicator is a lean methodology to identify the exigencies and communicate them to the parties involved in the management and actualization. The AxI lays the groundwork for a straightforward discussion on resource distribution priorities. Full article

Comprehensive land improvement causes strong disturbances of land use patterns in the short term, resulting in changes in landscape structure and function. This study adopts the moving window method and semi-variation function to explore the spatial scale effect of landscape pattern metrics in the comprehensive land consolidation project area of Baimahu Farm, and the spatial variability and homologous ecological processes. The results showed that: (1) patch density, largest patch index, area-weighted average shape index, contagion, and division index all showed obvious scale effects, and the suitable first and second scale domains in the study area are 5–7 m and 35–40 m, respectively, and 5 m is the most suitable grain size for the study of landscape pattern change. (2) The block basis ratio of the semi-variogram of the six landscape level indices begins to stabilize at the window radius of 210 m. This scale can reflect the spatial variability of the landscape pattern in the study area and is the most suitable analysis range. (3) The fragmentation degree of paddy fields as landscape matrix decreased and the landscape dominance degree increased in the comprehensive land improvement; the degree of fragmentation of irrigated land and agricultural land for facilities increased, the aggregation of land for construction increased, the dominance degree of the pond surface decreased, and the overall landscape diversity of each mosaic decreased; the landscape heterogeneity of ditches, rural roads, forest and grassland corridors was weakened, and the ecosystem service function was weakened. (4) The trend of increased fragmentation, simplification of landscape types, and decreased diversity presented by the landscape pattern clearly indicates that the landscape pattern of the study area has been seriously damaged to some extent under the influence of human activities. This damage not only has a direct negative impact on the local ecological environment, but also poses a potential threat to the sustainable development of the region. Full article

Insufficient access to high-quality feed in sufficient amounts is hindering the sustainable growth of the Indian cattle sector. The feed supply is negatively impacted by increased cropping intensity, limited grazing land, and the effects of climate change. Therefore, developing cost-effective methods to improve feed availability year-round is crucial. Improved planted forages, such as Napier grass, are recommended to address feed shortages in semi-arid agroecological regions in India. The study, using the PSM approach, investigates the socioeconomic factors that impact Napier adoption, its influence on enhanced milk output, time saved in livestock farming, farmers’ well-being, and livestock health. This study employed a multistage sampling method to choose 309 participants for the questionnaire survey. Our analysis shows that Napier adoption resulted in a 24.6% rise in daily milk output/cow and a 61.2% overall improvement in total milk production/year/cow when compared with baseline data. Napier’s adoption decreased livestock farming times by 30 min/cow. Additionally, women’s involvement in livestock farming improved with Napier farming, and farmers who have switched to Napier have seen a remarkable increase in their net income, with a monthly boost of Rs. 2044–2555 per cow. Additionally, daily milk consumption has also skyrocketed, with a remarkable enhancement of 143–153 mL per person daily. Our study highlights that the farmer’s age, education level, livestock unit, and land holding play a crucial role. Additionally, the availability of extension services and farmer group participation can further impact the adoption process. Furthermore, our study explores how these factors shape the decision-making process and drive the successful integration of Napier grass into farming practices. However, considering the spatial limitations and reliance on self-reported data in this study, we suggest future research examining the long-term effects of Napier grass adoption on climate-smart agricultural practices, soil moisture, and socioeconomic benefits, involving field experiments, modeling, and farmer participation. Full article

This research aims to optimize corridors in Hyderabad, Sindh, to promote modal choice, reduce congestion, and enhance livability. This study focused on developing and evaluating multimodal wide corridor routing methods, analyzing the modal choice behavior of travelers using a generalized cost model and a mixed constant and separate user balance model, and implementing and assessing innovative road space management strategies. The data were collected using GIS (Geographical Information System) to compare the performance and impacts of the proposed methods and techniques with existing ones, such as shortest path, minimum interference, maximum capacity, and lane addition, using various performance measures, such as travel time, modal share, congestion level, environmental impact, safety, and equity. This research aims to optimize corridors in Hyderabad, Sindh, to encourage various transportation options, such as the BRT system and Peoples Bus Service, to reduce congestion and enhance livability by developing and accessing different methods and strategies. This study analyzed available data through a geospatial perspective to optimize corridors in Hyderabad, Sindh, focusing on multimodal routing methods, modal choice behavior, and innovative road space management strategies to enhance urban livability rather than relying on simulation software or field-collected data. Full article

This paper investigates the ontological multiplicity of digital heritage objects within the context of a digital twin project focused on Yunyan Temple, Sichuan Province, China—a site threatened by natural disasters. The project employs laser scanning and photogrammetry to generate high-resolution 3D models at varying levels of detail. The study analyzes how these digital objects support diverse analytical tasks ranging from geomorphological analysis to structural assessments and spatial sequence analysis. We present a novel four-layer data integration and service platform architecture designed to manage the complex data relationships arising from this ontological multiplicity. This includes a temporal database to support iterative refinements of conservation strategies based on ongoing monitoring. The findings highlight the dynamic role of digital objects in knowledge production and offer practical implications for database design, data management, and the development of adaptive conservation strategies for cultural heritage. Full article