Satellite Communication (SatCom) offers internet connectivity where traditional infrastructures are too expensive to deploy. When using satellites in a geostationary orbit, the distance from Earth forces a round-trip time of at least 550 ms. Coupled with the constrained capacity of the physical link, this challenges the traditional internet access quality we are used to. In this paper, we present a complete passive characterization of the traffic carried by an operational SatCom provider. With this unique vantage point, we observe the performance of the SatCom technology, as well as the usage habits of subscribers in different countries in Europe and Africa. We highlight the implications of such technology on Internet usage and functioning, and we pinpoint technical challenges due to the CDN and DNS resolution issues, while discussing possible optimizations that the ISP could implement to improve the service offered to SatCom subscribers. We complete the characterization of the adoption and performance of newer protocols with a focus on IPv6 and QUIC.

Associations of psychological capital latent profiles with depression and anxiety: A cross-sectional study in Chinese college students.

This study explores the impact of mob censorship on journalists’ professional practices and emotional well-being. Emerging within the last five years, mob censorship refers to the mobilization of online publics—often fueled by social media, political polarization, and populist discourse—to harass, delegitimize, and silence journalists. Kosovo serves as a particularly relevant case, being the first European country without daily print newspapers, highly politically polarized, and a highly digitized country with internet usage above the EU average. Using a qualitative approach, the study draws on semi-structured interviews with journalists and editors across diverse professional contexts. The findings demonstrate that mob censorship constitutes a pervasive form of political and societal pressure, enacted primarily through social media platforms where harassment, defamation, and threats function as tools of symbolic control. Unlike traditional top-down censorship, mob censorship operates as a bottom-up mechanism, with digital publics exerting influence through normative judgment and moral condemnation. Consequently, journalists increasingly engage in self-censorship, driven by fear and emotional fatigue, posing significant risks to press freedom and undermining their psychological well-being.

Association of Internet use disorder and the use of traditional watches.

The digital transformation has led to an increased reliance on the internet. To what extent visual impairment affects people's opportunities for digital inclusion remains insufficiently understood. This study aimed to explore (1) the use of the internet, (2) potential adaptations required for its use, and (3) potential factors explaining digital exclusion among people aged 65 to 75 years with visual impairments. An exploratory, cross-sectional design using self-reported data from a survey with people aged 65 to 75 years with visual impairment registered at vision clinics in a larger Swedish region. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse participants' characteristics. Binary logistic regression was performed to explore digital exclusion and explanatory factors. Of the 413 participants, 67% needed support in digital activity arenas, including additional training in internet services, and adaptations/aids. Digital exclusion could partly be explained by low education (OR = 2.28, p = 0.016), help-related needs (OR = 1.95, p = 0.044), and internet usage difficulties (OR = 11.48, p = 0.001). Living with a visual impairment when being 65 years and older may lead to digital exclusion. Those requiring help when using the internet, those who found it difficult to use the internet, and those with the lowest levels of education were the most at risk of digital exclusion.

The relationship between problematic media use and parent-child relationship in children.

This study aimed to analyse the mediating role of digital dementia in the relationship between digital fugue and digital amnesia. The study sample consisted of students aged 18 and older who were enrolled at a state university in Turkey (n = 394). Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using the following forms: 'Personal Information Form', 'OPIZA Digital Fugue Scale', 'Digital Dementia Scale-Adult Form' and 'Digital Amnesia Scale-Adult Form'. The mean age of the participants was 21.17 ± 1.72 (min: 18, max: 30), 59.4% were female, and the daily internet usage time was 6.24 ± 2.43 h (min: 1, max: 18). The study findings revealed that digital fugue was a significant predictor of both digital dementia and digital amnesia, and digital dementia had a positive and substantial effect on digital amnesia (p < .001). The findings also indicated a significant total effect of digital fugue on digital amnesia; however, the inclusion of digital dementia in the model reduced the direct effect but remained significant. According to the bootstrap analysis results, the study identified the indirect effect as statistically significant, and the confidence interval did not contain a 'zero' value. The study concluded that digital dementia partly mediates the relationship between digital fugue and digital amnesia. These results indicate that digital escapism behaviours should be considered in conjunction with cognitive functions and memory processes.

ABSTRACT This cross-sectional, correlational study examines the association between digital media literacy (DML) and technophobia among older adults in Kyrgyzstan, drawing on Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as interpretive frameworks. The study involved 256 individuals aged 60 and older. Data were collected using adapted versions of the New Media Literacy Scale and the Technophobia Scale, and the instruments’ validity and reliability were confirmed. Correlation analysis revealed a small but statistically significant negative association between DML and technophobia (r = –.212, p < .01). Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that higher DML levels were significantly associated with lower technophobia levels, even after controlling for demographic variables (β = –.506, p < .001). Daily internet usage time and education level were negatively associated with technophobia, while living alone was positively associated. The findings suggest that digital media literacy is statistically associated with lower levels of technological fear, beyond its purely technical dimension; however, the study does not directly examine underlying psychosocial mechanisms. As one of the first empirical studies to examine this relationship in the Central Asian context, the study offers implications for policies and interventions to support older adults’ digital inclusion.

This study examined whether the relationship between impulsivity and Internet addiction (IA) levels among university students varies depending on the indirect pathway mediated by the meaning-seeking in life and whether this indirect pathway is dependent on self-esteem levels. The study was conducted using data collected from 500 university students in Türkiye via valid self-report measures, employing a cross-sectional, correlational design. Controlling for daily internet usage time, the assumed direct, indirect, and conditional associations were tested using Hayes' PROCESS macro (Model 14). Correlation analyses found that impulsivity was negatively related to meaning-seeking in life (r = -.120, p < .01) and positively related to IA (r = .261, p < .001). In the conditional process analysis, impulsivity was negatively associated with meaning-seeking in life (B = -0.180, p = .003) and positively associated with IA (B = 0.592, p < .001). The interaction between meaning-seeking in life and self-esteem was significantly associated IA (B = 0.180, p = .009) and contributed additional explanatory power to the model (ΔR2 = 0.0125, p < .01; total R2 = .117). The direct association between meaning-seeking in life and IA in the regression model was statistically significant (B = 0.214, p = .004); however, the indirect pathway through meaning-seeking in life was moderated by self-esteem. The moderated mediation index was significant (Index = -0.032, 95% CI [-0.076, -0.007]), and the findings indicate that the indirect component of the relationship between impulsivity and IA level, mediated by meaning-seeking in life, varies according to self-esteem level; the indirect association is more pronounced at lower self-esteem scores. These findings were interpreted within a cross-sectional design framework and suggest that impulsivity is related to IA levels and that the conditional indirect mechanism is present, although its magnitude appears modest.

ABSTRACT For an increasing share of individuals, the Internet is a primary source for health information seeking. While prior research has largely depended on self-reports or aggregated search data, both approaches face limitations in accuracy and granularity. Building on recent advances in user-centric tracking, this study examines behavioral manifestations of online health information-seeking behaviors (HISB) using 3 months of tracking data from 728 German Internet users. We contribute to the evidence on the prevalence of online HISB and test whether psycho-motivational predictors from the Planned Risk Information Seeking Model (PRISM) are transferable to actual online behavior. Results indicate a limited explanatory power of PRISM variables. Specifically, the model’s predictive relevance appears tied to user interest and engagement with health information rather than subsequent behavioral manifestations. These findings suggest boundary conditions of existing HISB models and emphasize the need to integrate observable behavior and downstream outcomes for a more comprehensive understanding of online health information seeking.

ABSTRACT China’s rising divorce rate has become a significant public issue, yet how everyday internet users collectively make sense of this phenomenon remains under-investigated. Drawing on a dataset of five posts and 3868 comments from Xiaohongshu, this study employed computational topic modeling and critical narrative analysis to investigate how individuals share “small stories” to discursively construct and negotiate the meaning of marital dissolution. The findings reveal a discursive tension: a dominant discourse upholds family structural completeness, positioning divorcees as “irresponsible” and their children as “impaired.” Conversely, a female-oriented counter discourse reframes divorce as a liberating escape from toxic marriages, empowering women and redefining children of divorce as “resilient.” By emphasizing love over structural definitions of family, these narratives challenge traditional patriarchal views and shift the public conversation toward a more positive, agentic trajectory.

The case of mental health disorders has been a main topic in the clinical and psychological field. The advancement of computing studies, especially in Natural Language Processing (NLP)-a subset of Machine Learning, created a system of detection that can detect the mental health state of a person in early stage to prevent the eventuality of the worst case. This is crucial since there has been a lot of case of mental health disorder-such as depression and suicide, remains undetected and untreated-especially when the internet usage is more prevalent than ever even among the most vulnerable users, which are the preadolescent users. This study explores the models that can accurately predict mental health disorder with the provided six labels the model can predict. The labels are anxiety, depression, personality disorder, stress, bipolar, and normal. The dataset is gathered from a Kaggle repository which is then processed and refined further for the training process. From multiple evaluations across diverse amount of texts from different users, our Bi-LSTM-XGBoost model outperforms the other models with an accuracy of 0.9035 and 0.4320 loss, while other models fall short within 50-84% accuracy. Further improvement can be made with our model, whether from improving the model's parameters further or by improving the quantity and quality of the dataset gathered.

ABSTRACT Internet usage has increased rapidly in rural Southeast Asia. However, the links among internet use, the growth of non‐farm sectors, and investment in agriculture remain insufficiently studied. This paper examines (i) the impact of internet use on rural non‐farm employment and non‐farm income of rural households, and (ii) the impact of non‐farm income on agricultural expenditure and investment. Using data from 6044 households in Thailand and Vietnam over 2 years, we employ a control‐function approach with instrumental variables to address endogeneity. Our results show that internet use promotes non‐farm employment and non‐farm income, for both off‐farm wage employment and non‐farm self‐employment. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that households with older heads, higher education, and membership in political or social organizations benefit more from internet use. In contrast, female‐headed and ethnic‐minority households gain less. However, higher non‐farm income is associated with lower agricultural expenditure and investment, suggesting a diversion of resources away from farm production. The findings highlight the need to expand internet access and strengthen rural education, while ensuring that agricultural production is not neglected. Targeted support for female‐headed and ethnic‐minority households is essential to prevent the widening of inequalities in rural development.

The maintenance of hygienic conditions and the provision of appropriate medical care during childbirth are essential to reduce the complications and infections that pose health risks to both expectant mothers and their newborn babies. Although skilled birth attendance (SBA) has been very much helpful in reducing the biological risks linked to childbirth, it is pertinent to mention that more than 34% of deliveries in Pakistan continue to take place at home without the proper medical care and supervision. The main objective of this proposed work is to explore the correlation between women's empowerment characterized by resources, agency, and relational autonomy and access to skilled birth attendance within the reproductive and sociocultural context of Pakistan. This study also considers the influence of various socioeconomic and demographic factors on this correlation. The present study utilizes the logistic regression models to estimate average marginal effects, using nationally representative data from currently married women aged 15-49 as mentioned in the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017-18. This analysis aims to evaluate the relative contributions of different empowerment dimensions, while simultaneously controlling for household and demographic characteristics. Women empowerment is a very important part of skilled birth attendance. The relationship between educational empowerment, digital access, specifically ownership of mobile phones and internet usage, and the rejection of norms related to domestic violence substantially enhances the probability of skilled birth attendance. This phenomenon exhibits effects that are comparable to those of conventional determinants, including household wealth and parity. Significant disparities persist in geographic and socio-economic contexts, adversely affecting mothers in Baluchistan, particularly those with larger families. This study demonstrates that the empowerment of women within the context of Pakistan's reproductive ecology is essential, rather than ancillary, for reducing biological risks associated with childbirth. It provides comparative insights that are pertinent to the fields of human biology and maternal health research.

Cyber deception in the form of phishing website creation has been identified as one of the most critical challenges in the field of cybersecurity in the contemporary digital era. Phishing is a form of social engineering attacks that tricks users into divulging their valuable login details, bank account information, and identity details by masquerading as genuine online platforms. With the increasing cunningness of attackers and the exponentially growing number of internet users across the globe, rule-based and static blacklists have been proven to be grossly inefficient. This paper presents a supervised machine learning approach for phishing website detection through automated feature learning, such as URL lexicography, graph-based features, and domain-based features. A thoughtfully designed dataset comprising both phishing and genuine URLs is developed, preprocessed, and presented to a range of classification algorithms, such as Random Forest, Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Logistic Regression. The results clearly indicate that ensemble learning models, specifically Random Forest, are substantially more accurate than rule-based models. This paper also touches upon the real-world complexities of adversarial attacks, class imbalance, and the challenge of designing generalizable feature spaces and presents a roadmap for future research on developing adaptive anti-phishing systems

ABSTRACT This study examines how household income levels and internet usage interact to influence charitable giving in urban and rural China, using panel data from 2010 to 2022. Employing fixed-effects regression with interaction terms, we found that both low- and high-income households donate more than middle-income households; however, internet usage significantly increases charitable giving among middle-income households. The internet serves as a positive moderator, especially among middle-income groups, by reducing transaction costs and improving donation accessibility. Moreover, urban-rural disparities persist but narrow significantly among internet users. These results underscore the role of digital connectivity and economic resources in shaping charitable values. The results indicate that improving internet infrastructure and reducing income inequality can increase individuals’ inclination to donate and support the advancement of a more equitable society. Importantly, the findings align with the principles of financial social work, which emphasise strengthening individuals’ financial capability, promoting social inclusion, and addressing structural inequalities.

In the digital era, adolescents’ online usage time continues to increase. As a core dimension of their physical and mental health and social development, self-confidence is susceptible to the influence of online behaviour. This study focuses on the association between online usage time and adolescent self-confidence. Employing quantitative research methods, the study collected data on online usage and self-confidence assessments from 527 adolescents aged 10 to 18 across different regions via questionnaire surveys. Statistical analytical methods were employed to explore the specific mechanisms through which internet usage duration influences adolescents’ self-confidence. Findings indicate that moderate internet usage positively influences adolescent self-confidence through avenues such as social expansion and skill acquisition. Conversely, excessive usage may induce self-perception distortions and withdrawal from real-world social interactions, thereby undermining self-confidence. Consequently, this study proposes targeted intervention strategies to guide adolescents towards rational internet usage and promoting the healthy development of self-confidence.

ABSTRACT The article examines estimates of enemy military deaths publicly released by combatants as political and media constructs. It shows that estimates of Ukrainian military casualties produced by the Russian Federation’s Ministry of Defense and assessments of Russian military casualties made by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense were associated more strongly with political and media variables, such as the frequency of mentions of peace in the political leaders’ war-related speeches and Internet users’ interest in specific topics, than with the independently confirmed tallies of Russian soldiers’ deaths. Official estimates of casualties were only selectively associated with the political leaders’ preparedness to continue fighting, as measured using McClelland’s human motivation theory. The association existed in the case of the U.S. presidency, but not in the case of Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin. The study was informed by time-series analysis and text mining. The outcomes of mining a unique quadrilingual corpus of political and media discourses on the war, containing 238 million words, were used as input in the ARIMA models, along with several other variables. The scope of the study includes five countries (Russia, Ukraine, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France). It covers the period from January 2022 to August 2025.

BackgroundOnline harassment has emerged as a global crisis, impacting nearly 40% of adult internet users and inflicting deep-seated "soul pain." While traditional support is standard, there is a lack of structured interventions addressing the ontological insecurity caused by digital cruelty. This study explores the integration of biblical promises as "anchors" within spiritual nursing care to restore a victim's inherent sense of worth.MethodsFollowing Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines and the PCC framework, a scoping review was conducted across six major databases (2015-2025). Ten high-impact primary studies (N = 10) were selected for thematic synthesis based on their explicit focus on the intersection of digital trauma and faith-based coping.ResultsThematic synthesis revealed a four-stage trajectory: (1) digital displacement, (2) the clinical necessity of spiritual assessment, (3) the application of biblical anchors, and (4) identity restoration. Findings suggest that anchoring identity in the Imago Dei provides a stable alternative to the "digital mirror" of social media.ConclusionsThe proposed "Five Directional Statements of Restoration" framework operationalizes these findings for clinical practice. Ethical implementation is emphasized, requiring informed consent and alignment with the patient's faith tradition to ensure autonomy and avoid spiritual coercion. This review concludes that specialized spiritual nursing care offers a restorative remedy for digital shame, fostering unshakeable resilience.

Dynamics and contours of online disinformation based on perspectives from Nigerian internet users