Design Program Research Articles

Purpose The purpose of the study is to estimate the impact of household income diversification on household welfare in a developing rural Nigerian economy. Design/methodology/approach The study used a panel fractional probit correlated random-effects technique to achieve the 1st-stage and 2nd-stage regression estimations. Four waves of the Nigerian General Household Survey panel for the periods 2010/2011, 2012/2013, 2015/2016 and 2018/2019 were used. Income diversification measures used are the Simpson diversification index and the count index, while household welfare is proxied by dietary diversity score and household consumption spending per adult equivalent. Findings The empirical results of the instrumental variables estimation suggest that income diversification positively and significantly impacts rural household welfare. The study further tests whether income diversification has non-homogeneous effects on consumption using quantile regression and found that the positive connection between income diversification and household welfare is across all percentiles, and the magnitude of the impact is slightly higher for non-poor households than for poor households. One of the major findings is that the choice of income diversification proxy significantly influences the welfare effect on rural households. Practical implications The results emphasize the need for Nigerian policymakers to design and implement social protection programs targeted at households for income diversification. Originality/value The study becomes the curtain raiser in literature to employ four waves of the Nigerian General Household Survey panel data.

External explosions, either accidental or intentional, pose a serious threat to the communities but also a challenge to the structural engineers. Such threats include detonation of high energy explosives (e.g., improvised explosive devices), which can cause structural failures (local damage of structural/nonstructural members or even global failures) and serious injuries or deaths. This risk can be minimized by increasing the standoff distance, but also through structural conception and design, e.g., avoiding brittle materials especially on the facades, adopting specialized construction techniques and detailing. The study investigates the capacity of light steel building facades to resist the effects of close-range explosions and main parameters affecting the ultimate strength and deformation capacity. Pressure-impulse P-I curves are derived from numerical analyses performed with Etabs finite element based structural analysis and design program. Numerical models are calibrated against benchmark tests obtained in a full-scale experimental program.

Abstract Background Capstone design courses are foundational to undergraduate biomedical engineering (BME) education, fostering technical and professional competencies through project-based learning. However, sustaining clinical mentorship is challenging due to faculty and physician time constraints, prompting exploration of alternative mentorship models. Purpose/Hypothesis This pilot study evaluates the feasibility and acceptability of integrating medical students as mentors for undergraduate BME senior design teams. We hypothesized that (i) the model would be feasible (routine meetings and mentor availability maintained), (ii) acceptable to students (project satisfaction and perceived mentorship impact non-inferior to faculty-led mentorship), and (iii) would enhance clinical engagement (greater stakeholder interaction) without adversely affecting academic outcomes. Design/Method A prospective, survey-based study was conducted in the Virginia Tech BME senior design program (2024–2025). Students were grouped by mentorship models: faculty-led, medical student-led, or mixed. Surveys assessed clinical engagement, teamwork, and project satisfaction; statistical analysis included Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis tests. Results Among 66 eligible students, 20 completed the survey (38% response rate). Baseline characteristics were similar across groups. While overall satisfaction and academic performance were comparable (no statistically significant differences) between mentorship models, teams with medical student mentors reported enhanced clinical insight, greater engagement with clinical stakeholders, and increased regulatory exposure. Both mentorship models were positively rated, with medical student mentors uniquely contributing to clinical relevance and stakeholder interaction. Conclusions Integrating medical student mentors into undergraduate BME capstone teams is feasible and enriches interdisciplinary learning, bridging gaps between engineering and clinical practice. Medical student mentors foster clinical engagement and offer practical perspectives, without compromising project satisfaction or academic outcomes. Structured frameworks and clear role definitions are essential for optimizing mentorship models. Larger, multi-institutional studies are recommended to validate these findings and inform best practices.

Motivation to publish is a key competence in university research training, although it is still little explored from a comparative approach in Latin America. This study analyzed the motivation to publish in university students from Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia, considering three dimensions: commitment, behavior, and intention. The Motivation to Publish Scientific Articles Scale (EMP-AC) was applied to 268 participants, complemented with a sociodemographic form. The data were processed in the software jamovi v.2.6.44, and the results show that intention is the dominant dimension in the three countries, followed by behavior and commitment. In addition, contextual differences were identified: in Ecuador, intention predominated, while in Colombia, concreteness in publications stood out. These findings provide comparative evidence and guide universities to design programs that integrate technical training with motivational strategies that strengthen the research identity.

The Creative Product and Entrepreneurship subject is designed to equip vocational students with essential knowledge in production and marketing based on their specialization. This study investigates the relationship between students' learning achievement in the CPE subject and their entrepreneurial interest among Fashion Design students at SMK Mataram Semarang. Employing a quantitative approach, this research involved 21 students from grade XI (10 students) and grade XII (11 students). Data were collected using documentation methods to obtain formative, summative, and practical scores and a questionnaire to assess entrepreneurial interest. The data analysis utilized the Pearson Product Moment correlation test, preceded by normality and linearity tests. The findings revealed a significance value of 0.984, exceeding the critical value of 0.433. This result indicates a significant positive relationship between CPE learning achievement and students’ entrepreneurial interest. The study suggests that enhancing CPE instruction can foster students' entrepreneurial mindset, particularly in vocational education settings such as Fashion Design programs.

Climate change has increased the need for eco-friendly and sustainable practices. These changes have influenced numerous industries in preparing the younger generation for future employment needs, particularly in architecture, design, and urban development. It equips students with innovative skills to create a more sustainable future. Therefore, integrating sustainability has become a crucial and major focus, especially in higher education. However, there is a lack of research on the implications of implementing sustainability into Communication and Creative design coursework for undergraduate students. This study explores the significance of sustainability in education and how students perceive its implementation in their coursework. Researchers will investigate student perceptions and identify their challenges in implementing sustainability, assessing the overall impact on their educational experience. In-depth interviews with Communication and Creative Design students will be conducted to delve into their views on sustainability implementation and to map out the thematic landscape of sustainability in their studies. Findings show that implementing sustainability into Communication and Creative Design coursework enhances students' critical thinking, creativity, and employability. Challenges such as limited resources and inconsistent curricula must be addressed for full implementation, preparing students for sustainability-focused careers. The implications of this study are relevant to education in creative design programs as it can help tailor teaching methods and coursework to support students in coping with new changes and provide insights into their skills. Additionally, it can enable educators to evaluate student performance and enhance the curriculum to support sustainable learning outcomes.

This study investigated the effect of varying the geometric configuration of the iron shroud on the magnetic and optical properties of a magnetic lens. The study compared three novel designs of monopole symmetric object magnetic lenses, differing only in the geometry of the iron shroud. The axial magnetic flux density distribution was calculated using Electron Optical Design program. The results indicated that maximum magnetic flux density increases with a decrease in the air gap width, accompanied by a reduction in half-width value. It was found that one of the proposed designs provides an optimal distribution of magnetic flux lines, with no leakage of magnetic field lines outside the pole region. The optical focal properties of lenses were studied using a program based on Finite Element Method to calculate magnetic field distribution, while the optical properties of electromagnetic lenses were analyzed using Optical Properties Program for Electron Magnetic Lenses. The findings revealed that one of the proposed lenses offers the best magnetic and optical properties. A novel and unprecedented magnetic lens design was invented for the first time. The proposed design is distinguished globally by the protrusion of the pole tip into lens structure, Referred to as the Snub Lens.

Therapeutic value and regulatory characteristics of breakthrough therapy drugs in the USA and China (2021-2023): a retrospective cohort study.

This study examines the relationship between teachers’ training in digital tools and their management of arts and design programs at a science and technology university in Yunnan Province, China. Using a descriptive-comparative-correlational design, the research surveyed 81 faculty members to assess their digital competencies and project management skills. Findings indicate that while teachers demonstrate confidence in learning new technologies and integrating digital tools into lesson planning, challenges remain in subject-specific proficiency, hands-on classroom application, and fostering students’ independent use of digital resources. The study also reveals strong correlations between digital training and effective project management, particularly in communication, creativity, and ethical practices. However, areas such as equitable technology access and student self-assessment require further development. Demographic factors such as age, sex, and years of service showed no significant influence on teachers’ self-assessments, though educational attainment impacted perceptions of knowledge and professional development. The study concludes that targeted training programs, institutional support, and ethical digital integration are essential for enhancing both teaching effectiveness and program management in arts and design education. Recommendations include ongoing professional development, practical workshops, and structured peer collaborations to strengthen digital competencies and project leadership.

The purpose of this article is to describe and to analyze the basic theoretical foundation for curriculum design, subject design or academic programs design in French language. These theoretical notions are based on national and international constructions in curriculum matters. These serve to enable the French language specialists to achieve a coherent design according to trends, not only in the curriculum but also of the area of expertise -foreign languages- in order to associate both disciplinary knowledges in a single academic logic.

In open-pit bench blasting design, conventional hole placement methods are limited by their inability to handle irregular blast area boundaries effectively. To address this, an adaptive hole placement algorithm based on Voronoi diagrams is proposed. This algorithm uses Voronoi diagram principles to divide the blast area according to its boundary conditions. Using Lloyd’s algorithm achieves a uniform distribution of blast hole points within the blast zone, enabling the p3rediction of hole coordinates. The algorithm has been developed into a bench blasting design programme using MATLAB R2021a. The programme calculates the required number of blast holes based on coverage area per blast hole charge and blast area. It then completes the entire bench blasting design by incorporating parameters such as the blast area boundary. In practice, this method enables more scientific blast design, demonstrating excellent algorithm stability and computational efficiency. It is particularly adaptable when handling irregular blast area boundaries.

This study investigates how university students perceive the ecosystem services provided by gardens, utilizing Q methodology to categorize subjective viewpoints and analyze distinct perception types. Thirty-two students majoring in forest and landscape architecture at Wonkwang University (Iksan, Republic of Korea) participated, sorting 30 Q-statements each for provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting services. Principal component analysis identified three factors for provisioning and regulating services, and two factors for cultural and supporting services. The findings reveal that students’ perceptions are primarily based on generalized, idealized expectations, while their understanding of specific practices, such as food production, distribution, and community economic integration, remains insufficient. This indicates that their perceptions are more conceptual than practical, reflecting themes such as eco-friendly resource sharing, environmental regulation, nature experience, biodiversity enhancement, and sustainability. These results suggest the need for enhanced educational efforts to improve students’ understanding of the role of ecosystem services in urban contexts. The study highlights the importance of bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical recognition to foster more comprehensive perceptions, ultimately informing future garden design, management strategies, and environmental education programs.

BackgroundThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s platform technology designation program aims to streamline the development and approval process for advanced therapy medicinal products and is anticipated to be particularly beneficial for the development of gene therapies for rare and ultra-rare diseases. This is an exploratory interview study of Swiss-based perspectives, including insights from stakeholders in industry, academia, regulation, and reimbursement. The objective of our study is to document Swiss professionals’ views on the US platform designation program and to assess the acceptability and feasibility of a similar program in Europe.ResultsParticipants identified benefits such as reduced redundancy in pre-clinical testing, standardization of manufacturing, and increased predictability of regulatory requirements. Concerns were raised about clinical assessment, commercialization strategies, and global regulatory alignment. Though participants anticipate it to increase innovation in the rare disease area, some raised the possibility that technologies may stagnate around a platform, or that designations may quickly become obsolete due to the speed of technological development.ConclusionsThe introduction of the platform technology designation program in the US is a step towards increasing treatment options for ultra-rare diseases. While there is potential for platform designation to enable development in this area, its success will depend on addressing the outlined challenges.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13023-025-04038-y.

Brain-Derived Extracellular Vesicles (BDEVs) have been associated with important roles in functional neuron networks. However, the various models that have been used to study these roles fail to account for all the specificities of the human brain. This study presents a microfluidic platform capable of injecting and/or collecting BDEVs from Organotypic culture of Post-mortem Adult human Brain explants (OPAB) cultured at the air-liquid interface, while measuring electrical activity in real-time on 3D-microelectrode arrays (MEA). The platform design and custom-made program to control the system allows the automatic collection of BDEVs over days. Mass spectrometry analyses highlight that BDEVs are significantly enriched with synaptic proteins, such as Neural cell adhesion molecule, Syntaxin-1A, and Synaptopodin, known to regulate synaptic plasticity. Using the MEA-embedded air-liquid microfluidic platform, it is shown that BDEVs injection on OPAB induces a significant decrease of local field potential compared to mock conditions, in particular for high frequency oscillations. Finally, a machine learning framework, experimentally validated, revealed that the co-treatment of OPAB with BDEVs and GW4869, an inhibitor of exosome production, can counteract electrical perturbations induced by BDEVs alone. Together, this work provides innovative methodological developments, that contributed to reveal the diverse biological functions of BDEVs on neural activity.

The goal of vocational education worldwide is to provide students with employable skills and better sharpen their career prospects. In Ghana however, several students have gone through Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes with little prospects to show. This study therefore sought to examine the perception of students and teachers on career prospects in the fashion and design technology programme of TVET in the Northern Region of Ghana. The study employed an institution-based cross-sectional study design. A stratified random sampling procedure was used to recruit 320 participants, who questionnaires were administered to. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings showed that, the fashion and design programmes were not well structured by policymakers to equip students with employable skills. Respondents stated that there were low career prospects in fashion and design because teachers mostly taught theory rather than practical oriented. It was revealed that the fashion and design programmes provided specific job skills that made it difficult for career progress in an ever-changing environment. Respondents also identified fashion and design to be meant for academically weak students. In conclusion, the respondents perceived career prospects in the fashion and design programme to be limited and recommended that institutions should reconsider redesigning the programme to reflect current needs of employers.

The investigation aims to evaluate the scholarly literacy of postgraduate Library and Information Science (LIS) students through pre- and post-test assessments. A unique course curriculum is developed to address the publishing literacy gaps specified by this experimental study. After estimating students’ foundational knowledge with a pre-test, a training module highlighting essential aspects of scholarly literacy is given. The effect of the curriculum is then evaluated utilizing a post-test, and the results are compared statistically. Seventy master’s students participated in the study, and their literacy was assessed using 46 multiple-choice questions (MCQs). The pre-test results indicated little knowledge. However, the post-test outcomes demonstrated substantial improvements. The results show how well the program has functioned to enhance students’ proficiency in scholarly publishing. This study makes a unique addition by methodically evaluating the effectiveness of a specialized course planned to address gaps in postgraduate Library and Information Science (LIS) students’ knowledge of scholarly publications in Bangladesh. With an evidence-based technique that may guide curriculum design and professional development programs that promote advanced academic and scholarly communication mastery, the results emphasize the requirement to integrate specialized literacy modules into LIS curricula. Education institutions looking to enhance the scholarly abilities of aspiring LIS professionals and other domains would find this study especially beneficial, as it will ultimately advance the field of scholarly publication literacy.

Accurate and efficient prediction of thermal radiant of hydrogen jet fire is important to schedule safety design and emergency rescue program for hydrogen pipelines. In response, this paper proposes a novel Optuna-improved back propagation neural network (Optuna-BPNN) to estimate hydrogen jet flame radiation. A linear integral approach incorporating leakage rate and jet flame length is theoretically derived to establish dataset for machine learning. Then the Optuna tool is employed to optimize the initial weights and thresholds of the BP neural network. Input matrix of the Optuna-BPNN model includes pipeline diameter, leakage aperture size and hydrogen pressure. 8 sets of experimental data are employed to verify its correctness. When the abnormal data is excluded, the predicted thermal radiation of hydrogen jet fire agrees quite well with experimental results, with average and maximum deviations being 12.4% and 24.4% respectively. Using the linear integral approach, 32,670 thermal radiation data points are generated to train and test the Optuna-BPNN model. The maximum deviation between predicted and theoretical radiant heat flux for training and testing sets are only 4.5% and 6.2%, respectively. Parallel comparison trials using 6 different machine learning algorithms show that the Optuna-BPNN model gives the best mean absolute error, root mean square error and determination coefficient, which proves the effectiveness and feasibility of the developed Optuna-BPNN model in predicting thermal radiation of hydrogen pipeline jet fires.

This study aims to analyze the effect of job satisfaction and work environment on employee performance mediated by work motivation among civil servants at the Regional Secretariat of Pandeglang Regency. Employee performance in public institutions plays a crucial role in ensuring effective governance and quality public services. However, preliminary observations indicate that the performance of employees at the Regional Secretariat of Pandeglang remains suboptimal, as reflected in low attendance rates and inconsistent work discipline. This research employs a quantitative approach with survey methods using a structured questionnaire distributed to civil servants at the Regional Secretariat of Pandeglang. The population consists of 132 employees, with samples determined using appropriate sampling techniques. Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with Partial Least Squares (PLS) to test both direct and indirect relationships among variables. The study investigates whether job satisfaction and work environment significantly influence employee performance, whether these variables affect work motivation, and whether work motivation mediates the relationship between job satisfaction, work environment, and employee performance. The findings are expected to contribute theoretically by enriching the field of human resource management, especially regarding motivation, job satisfaction, work environment, and employee performance in the public sector. Practically, the results provide recommendations for the Regional Secretariat of Pandeglang Regency to design strategic policies and programs to improve employee motivation and performance, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of governance and public service delivery.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of eight-week hamstring stretching programs, implemented at different times during physical education classes (i.e., warm-up, cool-down, and both periods), on primary schoolchildren’s back-saver sit-and-reach scores. Methods: A total of 275 schoolchildren (141 females and 134 males; age 8.82 ± 1.63 years) were divided into four groups: the WUG performed stretching during warm-up, the CDG during cool-down, and the MXG during both. The NSG followed the standard classes of physical education without any stretching. During physical education classes WUG, CDG, and MXG performed a 4 min stretching program twice a week. Hamstring extensibility was assessed before and after the program using the back-saver sit-and-reach test. Results: The CDG is the one that achieved statistically significant improvements compared with the WUG, MXG, and NSG (p ≤ 0.01; d = 0.50–0.71). Moreover, the CDG statistically increased the percentage of schoolchildren achieving healthy hamstring extensibility from pre-intervention (49%) to post-intervention (66%). Conclusions: This knowledge could guide teachers to design programs that guarantee feasible and effective development of hamstring extensibility in the physical education setting.

Community knowledge can be a valuable resource for practitioners seeking to design and implement effective public health programmes. However, incorporating community knowledge into health programmes can be a challenging process, requiring careful planning and continuous engagement with community members, particularly for gender-specific issues. This systematic literature review is an attempt to synthesise the existing literature on this topic, with the aim of identifying notable instances of countries and interventions that have successfully translated community knowledge into public health programmes, keeping a gender focus. This review found relatively little evidence of translational interventions around gender and health that have been subsequently incorporated into national programmes, indicating that governments are yet to use community knowledge in a productive way. Broadly, three types of interventions were found: (a) interventions which were carried out by local organisations based on their knowledge of the community, who then used the results to lobby health ministries to institutionalise new policies or programmes; (b) interventions carried out by government health programmes that collaborated with local organisations to introduce elements of community-based participatory research into the intervention design and (c) interventions by government health programmes where community participation was incorporated by the inclusion of community health workers. While a gender lens was not incorporated into the intervention design in many studies, all the interventions in this review show that health outcomes, perception and beliefs can be impacted using community engagement and involvement.