This study examines the intricate interplay between the digital environment and the evolving communication dynamics of Generation Z, specifically focusing on the impact of social media on familial bonds. The research objective is to explore the ways in which Generation Z’s social media consumption patterns shape their relationships and lives, providing insights into the intricate interplay between technology and human connections. Adopting Hirschi and Wellman’s theoretical framework, this investigation employs a survey method, utilizing a questionnaire to gather data from 384 Iranian Generation Z social media users. The findings reveal a significant and negative correlation between family bonds and social media usage, dependency on the platform, and support received from it. Excessive use diminishes interaction and intimacy, highlighting social media’s potential consequences for family relationships, which are crucial for individual and societal well-being. The study underscores the significance of balanced social media usage and encourages initiatives promoting face-to-face interactions, empathy, and responsible digital citizenship. The findings hold significant implications for academics and policymakers in developing strategies that promote responsible digital habits, foster healthy relationships, and contribute to digital citizenship advancement. This may involve regulatory initiatives, guidelines for social media platforms, and public awareness campaigns emphasizing the importance of balanced digital habits.
Imagining people’s functions in everyday life and work without the use of ICT, seems difficult. Their application is ubiquitous everywhere, regardless of which aspect it is viewed from, because it has a strong function in ensuring the competitiveness of various systems at the micro and macro levels. Numerous national and multinational strategies try to encourage educational systems to put a greater focus on ICT to more efficiently acquire skills, competencies, and knowledge, which should represent added value to all generations in the future. This article analyzes the progress of the ICT development index (IDI) in Scandinavian countries by comparing these countries in the European region. It is known that the Scandinavian countries belong to that part of the countries that have recognized the importance of involving ICT in education programs, which improves the economy of a certain country. Given this, the research reveals how ICTs play a key role in improving socio-economic development in Scandinavian countries.
The quality of indoor classroom conditions influences the well-being of its occupants, students and teachers. Especially the temperature, outside acceptable limits, can increase the risk of discomfort, illness, stress behaviors and cognitive processes. Assuming the importance of this, in this quantitative observational study, we investigated the relationship between two environmental variables, temperature and humidity, and students’ basic emotions. Data were collected over four weeks in a secondary school in Spain, with environmental variables recorded every 10 minutes using a monitoring kit installed in the classroom, and students’ emotions categorized using Emotion Recognition Technology (ERT). The results suggest that high recorded temperatures and humidity levels are associated with emotional responses among students. While linear regression models indicate that temperature and humidity may influence students’ emotional experiences in the classroom, the explanatory power of these models may be limited, suggesting that other factors could contribute to the observed variability in emotions. The implications and limitations of these findings for classroom conditions and student emotional well-being are discussed. Recognizing the influence of environmental conditions and monitoring them is a step toward establishing smart classrooms.
Although much bibliometric research has been conducted to analyze publications on energy policy, a systematic investigation of the sustainability of nuclear energy use after the Fukushima nuclear accident is still lacking. Therefore, this study conducted a comprehensive bibliometric review of the sustainability of nuclear energy policy (NEP). This study discusses NEPs, highlighting their disadvantages; emerging research themes; and networks of the most productive authors, countries, journals, and institutions over the last 20 years (2002–2022). This timeframe was selected because of the Fukushima nuclear accident, which has been one of the largest environmental disasters in recent years. Bibliometric analysis was carried out by reviewing 1146 documents from the Scopus database using the keywords “energy policy” and “nuclear energy.” The OpenRefine software was used to deep-clean keywords with the same meaning, and VOSviewer was used to visualize them. The results show that over the past two decades, future research themes and trends in the study of NEP have focused on nuclear fuel, the Fukushima nuclear accident, risk perception, energy transition, and renewable energy. Bibliometric analysis has positively affected the development of NEP in countries that do not yet have nuclear power plants, such as Indonesia.
In the process of global economy, in the face of increasing business competition, it is more difficult than ever for brands to approach consumers and persuade them to consume. In the commercial environment, the competition between enterprises is essentially the competition of brands, and the competition of brands must first carry out the competition of brand image. Brand image carries the mission of information dissemination and value creation and plays an important role in business behavior. How to improve customer purchase intention by optimizing brand image and greatly promote the development of business through brand image is the purpose of this study. The construction and application of brand image not only covers all the characteristics of the brand, but also the focus of consumers’ attention when choosing brands and products. This paper comprehensively uses the systematic theories and methods of art design, marketing and consumer psychology and behavior as support, and adopts research methods such as literature data to explore and study the field of brand image. This study finds that customer perception of brand image directly affects customer purchase intention. At present, there are relatively few researches on how brand image can empower business. Through the study of “optimizing brand image to improve customer purchase intention”, this paper focuses on the direction of brand image empowering business, broadens the research breadth and depth in the field of brand image, and enrichis the research achievements in the field of brand image.
Depression is a mental disorder caused by various causes with significant and persistent depressed mood as the main clinical feature, and is the most common mental illness worldwide and in our country. The number of patients with depression worldwide was as high as 350 million in 2017, and the number of patients with depression in our country was nearly 100 million in 2019. The greatest danger of depression is self-injurious and suicidal behaviour, and this behaviour carries a high medical burden. Medication is the most costly treatment for depression in China, and while it is an effective way to treat patients with depression, it has many side effects and poor patient compliance. Non-pharmacological treatments commonly used in clinical practice include physiotherapy and psychotherapy. Physiotherapy is commonly used in non-convulsive electroconvulsive therapy, but its clinical efficacy is uncertain and it can also cause adverse effects such as heart failure and arrhythmias, which are poorly tolerated by patients. Psychotherapy is also a common non-pharmacological therapy. Cognitive therapy is a common form of psychotherapy, but the cycle of cognitive therapy is too long, the cost to the patient is high, and the patient’s cognitive ability has certain requirements. Music therapy is a combination of art and science. It is a cross-discipline that combines body, movement, dance and psychology and is a method of psychotherapy that has biological, psychological and social functions to compensate for deficiencies. Music therapy sees a fundamental connection between mind and body and emphasises that what affects the body also affects the mind. When mind-body integration is lacking, individuals will suffer from a variety of psychological disorders. Therefore, the core principles of music therapy emphasise that holistic individual health is embodied in the integration of mind and body, that body movement is expressive and communicative, and that music therapy uses body movement as a method of assessing the individual and as a means of clinical intervention.
The utilization of digital tools in agricultural extension has facilitated information delivery through non-face-to-face interactions. Therefore, this study aimed to map the variation in digital tools used by agricultural extension workers to access and deliver information and analyse the outcomes of farmers’ adoption. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with agricultural extension workers at 11 Agricultural Extension Centers. The data were processed using the N-Vivo qualitative data analysis software. The results showed that extension workers combined various digital tools as sources of extension materials and channels for delivering information to farmers. Although social interaction between agricultural extension workers and farmers occurred non-face-to-face, messages could be adopted by farmers and yield tangible outcomes. This was reflected in the asynchronous communication, allowing extension workers sufficient time to improve the quality of the delivered messages. Farmers also had sufficient time to review the received information content in this context repeatedly. These results implied that although extension content is delivered through non-face-to-face interaction, it can still drive adoption with significant outcomes.
Recently, the government of Ethiopia has been engaged in modernizing the trans-regional Ethio-Djibouti railway infrastructure using the Belt and Road Initiative. This railway corridor has been serving as the main get way for the landlocked Ethiopia to the port. This article creates an insight about the implications of the Ethio-Djibouti railway corridor by exploring the question: what kinds of urban form and morphological changes evolved due to the railway corridor? To examine the impact of this railway corridor, the article employed stratified sampling and multiple criteria intermediate cities selection method. Accordingly, four (Bishoftu, Mojo, Adama, and Dire Dawa) intermediate cities were selected as case study. The article points out that the railway corridor conceived different kinds of linear urban centers around stations. The identified four intermediate cities attract industries and logistic centers. Those industries, logistic centers, and new railway stations often established at the periphery of intermediate cities resulted labour influx from rural and nearby small urban centers and urban expansion that caused a rural-urban continuum of ribbon settlement and strengthen trade gate way for the landlocked Ethiopia that caused trans-regional integration.
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