Background: Various studies have demonstrated the usefulness of Google search data for public health-monitoring systems. The aim of this study is to be estimated interest of public in infectious diseases in infectious diseases in South Korea, the five other countries. Methods: We conducted cross-country comparisons for queries related to the H1N1 virus and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). We analyzed queries related to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from 20 January to 13 April 2020, and performed time-descriptive and correlation analyses on trend patterns. Results: Trends in H1N1, MERS-CoV, and COVID-19 queries in South Korea matched those in the five other countries and worldwide. The relative search volume (RSV) for the MERS-CoV virus increased as the cumulative number of confirmed cases in South Korea increased and decreased significantly as the number of confirmed cases decreased. The volume of COVID-19 queries dramatically increased as South Korea’s confirmed COVID-19 cases grew significantly at the community level. However, RSV remained stable over time. Conclusions: Google Trends provides real-time data based on search patterns related to infectious diseases, allowing for continuous monitoring of public reactions, disease spread, and changes in perceptions or concerns. We can use this information to adjust their strategies of the prevention of epidemics or provide timely updates to the public.

This study examines the aggregate consumption function of Saudi Arabia from 2000 to 2022, focusing on identifying key determinants of household consumption and evaluating the impacts of disposable income, household wealth, government expenditure, interest rates, and oil revenues. the research uses advanced econometric methods, including the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model and Johansen cointegration test, to analyze the relationships among these variables. the findings reveal that disposable income, household wealth, and government expenditure significantly and positively influence consumption, whereas interest rates show a negative correlation. oil revenues also play a critical role, reflecting the country’s economic reliance on oil. the study highlights the necessity for economic diversification to reduce the impact of oil price volatility on household income and consumption stability. The results offer crucial insights for policymakers, emphasizing the need for strategies that enhance household income and wealth, maintain robust public sector spending, and effectively manage interest rates. these findings also support the importance of consistent and predictable income sources for sustaining consumption. additionally, this study suggests directions for future research, including developing sophisticated forecasting models to predict consumption trends and exploring other influencing factors such as demographic shifts and technological progress.

The present work shows an application of the Chan-Vese algorithm for the semi-automatic segmentation of anatomical structures of interest (lungs and lung tumor) in 4DCT images of the thorax, as well as their three-dimensional reconstruction. The segmentation and reconstruction were performed on 10 CT images, which make up an inspiration-expiration cycle. The maximum displacement was calculated for the case of the lung tumor using the reconstructions of the onset of inspiration, the onset of expiration, and the voxel information. The proposed method achieves appropriate segmentation of the studied structures regardless of their size and shape. The three-dimensional reconstruction allows us to visualize the dynamics of the structures of interest throughout the respiratory cycle. In the future, it is expected to have more evidence of the good performance of the proposed method and to have the feedback of the clinical expert, since the knowledge of the characteristics of anatomical structures, such as their dimension and spatial position, helps in the planning of Radiotherapy (RT) treatments, optimizing the radiation dose to cancer cells and minimizing it in healthy organs. Therefore, the information found in this work may be of interest for the planning of RT treatments.

This study explores the determinants of political participation among Thai youth, focusing on the roles of political interest, knowledge, and efficacy. Employing stratified random sampling, data were collected from 191 university students in Bangkok. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) via Smart PLS was utilized to test hypotheses regarding the direct and mediating effects of political interest and knowledge on participation, highlighting the mediating role of political efficacy. The findings indicate that political efficacy significantly enhances participation, while political interest boosts knowledge significantly but does not directly influence efficacy. Furthermore, political knowledge positively affects efficacy but not participation directly. Notably, the indirect effects of political interest on participation through efficacy alone are insignificant, but the pathways from interest to participation through both knowledge and efficacy, and from knowledge to participation through efficacy, are significant. These results elucidate the complex interactions between political interest, knowledge, and efficacy in shaping the political engagement of Thai youth.

The implementation of the "the Belt and Road" requires the common development of the "five links" of policies, facilities, trade, finance and popular support, among which "people to people connectivity" is the premise of the coordinated promotion of the "five links", and cultural communication, exchange and cooperation are the foundation and guarantee of the popular support project. The "the Belt and Road" cultural communication, exchange and cooperation are diverse in content and form. We need to identify the opportunities and challenges we face, make long-term strategic plans, and take practical countermeasures and implementation paths according to the characteristics of cultural communication diversity. Some domestic scholars have conducted research on cultural communication strategies and analyzed the opportunities and challenges they face, but there is a lack of diversity analysis on the forms of communication that should be adopted. This paper explores and studies the "the Belt and Road" cultural communication strategy, implementation path and safeguard measures, constructs a new model of diversified cultural communication and exchange cooperation, and tries to play a certain role in promoting the actual effect of cultural communication and exchange cooperation and better safeguarding the "the Belt and Road" community of interests.