Articles

This review explores the role of listening as a foundational component of communication and compassionate care in palliative settings. Drawing from ten scholarly articles published in 2025, the study examines how listening affects the experiences of patients, families, and healthcare providers. The findings emphasize that listening is not only a professional skill but a human act that reduces suffering, promotes dignity, and strengthens trust, especially where resources or standardized protocols are lacking. The review is organized into four main areas: the importance of listening in clinical decision making; its role in emotional support and team communication; its contribution to preserving patient dignity and comfort; and its impact on family involvement and closure. The study calls for future research to develop standardized tools for measuring listening in palliative care and to explore how cultural, economic, and technological contexts shape listening practices. Ultimately, the review concludes that listening must be at the heart of ethical, patient-centered care during the final stages of life.

This article is a comparative analysis of the short stories «Longing» by Anton Chekhov and «Prayer for Happiness» by Lu Xun, exploring the themes of social exclusion, grief and the impossibility of communication in society at the end of the XIX – beginning of the XX century. The article examines how both authors portray the struggle of the main characters to connect with other people in the face of personal tragedy and the indifference of society. The author analyzes the narrative techniques, symbolic images and character development used by Chekhov and Lu Xun to convey universal human experiences of loss, loneliness and the search for meaning in an indifferent world.

The quality of communication between healthcare providers and pregnant women is a topic of paramount importance within the realm of maternal healthcare. It is not merely an aspect of medical interaction; rather, it is the prerequisite that influences various critical dimensions of maternal care, including maternal satisfaction, health outcomes, and shared decision-making. Effective communication between healthcare providers and pregnant women is essential for optimal maternal care during pregnancy and childbirth. Maternal satisfaction is a fundamental metric of patient-centered care, and improved communication, characterized by empathy, information sharing, and active listening, cultivates trust and enhances women's contentment with their care experiences. Positive provider-patient interactions are associated with improved emotional well-being, reduced stress levels, and increased adherence to prenatal recommendations, contributing to positive health outcomes for both mother and fetus.<b> </b>Shared decision-making is impacted by open and transparent dialogue between healthcare providers and pregnant women. Inclusive discussions about available interventions, risks, and benefits empower women to make informed choices aligned with their preferences and values. This shared decision-making promotes autonomy, self-efficacy, and a collaborative care partnership, potentially influencing the birthing experience and postpartum adaptation. However, challenges persist in communication quality, such as variability in healthcare provider communication styles, cultural considerations, and system-level factors. Addressing these challenges through targeted interventions, training, and policy implementation can further enhance the overall maternal care experience. Further research is needed to explore innovative strategies that optimize communication and promote positive outcomes throughout the continuum of maternal care.

Qualitatively, the study adopted a content analysis approach. There were eight State of the Nation addresses that the Ex-President John Kufour delivered during his tenure of office but only two of them are analysed in this study. The purposive sampling approach was used to select two State of the Nation addresses samples. The State of the Nation addresses of two years were picked for the study. The years are: 16<SUP>th</SUP> February 2001, and 14<SUP>th</SUP> February 2008. The qualitative data was analysed by the use of the interpretative technique based on the themes arrived at during the content analysis of the two speeches delivered by ex-president Kufour. Selective coding was used to code the occurrence of the categories of the epistemic modality expressions in the data. The epistemic modal elements as well as the sentences in which they occurred were then manually copied for further verification. These processes made the frequency count faster, more effective and more accurate. The data shows the relevant clauses or sentences containing modal expressions sampled within the contexts of epistemic meanings in the texts. The study has made it apparent that the expression of certainty is predominant. The data also indicates that the Ex-president has a greater tendency to use more modal adjuncts followed by the other modal auxiliary verb categories in expressing certainty in the selected State of the Nation Addresses during his State of the Nation Addresses. One question that arises is, why the Ex-president had a greater tendency to express more certainty in his State of the Nation Addresses. The answer is that Ex-president was fully sure and convinced of the information on the nation’s development and future programmes captured in the addresses. Thus, he appeared a confident, trustworthy and knowledgeable leader. Furthermore, the use of epistemic modality in the State of the Nation Addresses is neither haphazard nor coincidental. Instead, it is informed by reason of specific communicative intent. It is recommended that Public speakers and politicians should take the epistemic markers into consideration when writing the State of the Nation Address or any other texts in order to clarify shared opinion. It is also recommended that the Faculty of Language of the University of Education of Winneba should consider the concept of epistemic modality as a course of study in all various Language Departments including the Department of Communication Skills.

Along with the increasing quality of human life, people pay more attention to healthcare. Public health and one's health have become daily issues. As a branch of communication, more and more scholars pay attention to health communication studies. Supported by the Healthy China Initiative, health communication study has ushered in a new development opportunity. This paper elaborates on the specific practices of health communication in a provincial hospital from three dimensions: (1) how to empower communication with the Healthy China Initiative; (2) the effects of health communication; (3) health communication strategy analysis.

Family affluence associates with adolescents' psychosomatic symptoms. However, the strength of the association varies across countries. As there was no related national evidence in the Czech Republic, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between family affluence and adolescents' psychosomatic symptoms. The current research adopted the data from a national survey Health Behaviours of School-Aged Children (HBSC). 12166 observations were included in the binary-choice analysis. It was found that low family affluence background was a risk factor for adolescents' psychosomatic health. Compared to boys, girls were more likely to demonstrate psychosomatic symptoms. Furthermore, parent-adolescent communications might mediate the relationship between family affluence and psychosomatic complaints. The results suggest health inequity for adolescents from low-income families. Moreover, I also advocate related interventions aiming to improve parent-adolescent communication quality to decrease poor adolescents' psychosomatic health risks.

Biodiversity Conservation is a priority issue for the scientific community, and a main subject in the Biology and Geology curriculum at secondary school level in Spanish Educational System. In the present didactic proposal, we use the demographic monitoring of an endangered plant species to illustrate a research tool for estimates of biodiversity loos in nature, the local endemic <i>Astragalus tremolsianus</i> Pau. The aim of the proposal is to bring students closer to a real experience, which brings together knowledge of Biology, Algebra and Trigonometry, through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Showing a census to monitor the populations of a threatened high mountain flora species into the classroom is an innovative teaching activity that combines and uses knowledge from different disciplines, as well as demonstrating a real application of the knowledge acquired. The use of mathematical tools encompasses a number of skills that require the application of mathematical principles and processes in the scientific context. The introduction of the structure of scientific texts is another positive aspect of this didactic experience.

This paper examined the language of persuasion and negotiation in the Ghanaian market context using a local community market (Agartha Market) in Koforidua as a case study. It investigates how the language of persuasion and negotiation is couched in the context of the market by both traders and customers. The theoretical framework within which this study is hinged is the stylistic theory of Leech and Short [1]. Specifically, the grammatical and figure-of-speech prong of the theory have been used. While observation and audio recordings were used to collect the data, the content descriptive method was used in the description and analysis of the data. The findings revealed that, relative to sentence complexity, persuasion and negotiation made adequate use of compound sentences than simple sentence structures. While simple sentence structures are used by traders to attract customers’ attention and arouse their psychological interest and curiosity, customers used them in negotiations for mainly interrogative and position-shift purposes. Compound and complex structures were used by traders for elaborative purposes in order to espouse the good qualities that are inherent in their products in order to convince their customers to buy their wares. Figuratively, repetition, hyperbole, and suspense are the key tropes used. These tropes are dominant in persuasion than in negotiation. Again, while the language of persuasion is monologue that of negotiation is dialogue. Code-mixing is also common characteristic in the language of negotiation and persuasion. The dominant local language (Twi) and the official language (English) are usually used in the communication process. This research thus has implication for research and pedagogy as it extends the literature and can also influence the restructuring of educational polices especially those related to language since society and school (education) are intricately related.

Throughout history men have been passionate about the sea and sailing, this allowed not only the discovery of distant horizons but also the establishment of port counters along the coast, serving firstly shelters for stationary vessels and also as a link between sea and land transport.

A spherical shape ultra-wideband antenna is a microstrip patch antenna whose emitted signal bandwidth exceeds the lesser of 500 MHz. One of the major issues hindering the ultra-wideband antennas is poor diversity factors, poor voltage standing wave ratio and poor power efficiency to transmit the required signals. In this research work, the method of approach is the design and analysis of a spherical shape ultra-wideband antenna with the use of computer simulation technology (CST). This antenna is working under the resonant frequency of 6 GHz on a frequency bandwidth of 4-9 GHz. However, this research work has made an intensive review of related works. A spherical shape microstrip antenna with a diameter of 13mm and a radius of 6.5mm was designed, after which a simulation was carried out using the computer simulation technology software. The result from the radiated power shows how high the radiative efficiency is and from the results we were able to observe that the ultra-wideband antenna uses a very low amount of power but can transmit a better outgoing power from the 0.5 watts stimulated power. In this research work, an evaluation process on the envelope correlation coefficient of the antenna s-parameters was carried out, with a good result was obtained. Most importantly the diversity gain of the antenna proves to be good and efficient due to the effectiveness of the antenna radiation efficiency. The results of this antenna produce a very good voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR), the voltage standing wave ratio of this spherical ultra-wideband antenna is less than 2% with a very low return loss reflection. In conclusion, the spherical shape antenna is good for ultra-wideband purposes because of its robustness in delivering high-quality signals with a very low return loss. So, it stands the chance of recommendations in the communication industries due to its high radiation efficiency rate and good VSWR.

This paper includes the impacts of the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, and other emerging technologies in the vehicle production sector, digital connectivity, and sustainable transport system. Automated and intelligent transportation for safe, efficient, and sustainable transport systems will be stressed. Key factors to promote automated or connected vehicles including connected environment, integration of all transport modes, advanced cooperative systems, and policy enforcement will be discussed. This paper contains the Axiomatic Categorisation Framework (AFS) for the dynamic alignment in a collection of disparate functions in cyber-physical systems (CPS). Developed system is enhanced for breaking the rules within autonomous vehicles (AV). It means the human personal injury is inevitable while the vehicle does not do any rules. Especially in complicated traffic situations, many of the constraints are mutually exclusive, and there is no way to obey all of them at a time. Also, there is no way to ensure that the self-driving vehicle has priority in all situations [1]. Public distrust in AV systems has to be increased and the investment in this technology has to slow down. Instead, a human driver should be partially responsible for operation. The development of a driver-behavior assistant (DBA) system is proposed, which should be able to break the rules for the distances of such slow development. It is intended to be effective in non-deterministic situations while maintaining the safety of the AV and those involved in the event. A driver's actions would not only be acceptable as a driving strategy but also would be predictable, and therefore other road users could unambiguously react.

Emerging smart medical instruments combined with advanced smart industrial equipment facilitate the collection of vast volumes of critical data. This data not only enables significantly more accurate and cost-effective diagnosis and maintenance but also enriches the datasets available for AI algorithms, leading to improved insights and outcomes. The integration of high-speed and ultra-reliable telecommunications infrastructure is crucial, as it supports the cloud model. This model allows for off-device aggregation in the cloud, which effectively offloads infrastructure demands and provides an extended runway for future technological improvements before the deployment of the next generation of devices. However, in certain scenarios, latency and bandwidth limitations present significant challenges. These limitations require that a substantial amount of AI and machine learning processing is conducted directly on the transmitted data, which places rigorous demands on both the processing subsystems and the communications links themselves. The current project directly addresses the accelerator side of this multifaceted issue. It will carry out comprehensive end-to-end demonstrations leveraging pilot 5G networks and telemedicine facilities, collaborating closely with major industry participants to showcase the capabilities and potential of this innovative technology. This collaborative effort is essential to pushing the boundaries of what is possible in smart medical instruments and industrial applications [1].

The traditional electric grid of the City of Kumba has been experiencing a constant failure which leads inhabitant to experience constant blackout. This constant blackout persists and stays for a long time due to the lack of communication between equipment, consumer and supplier. Whenever there is a fault, the repairing agents walk along the feeder to find the fault. This manual fault finding increases the restauration time which leads to the augmentation of the blackout period. Factors responsible for the failure of the line are complex to be controlled. It is necessary to reduce restauration time by introducing Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and sensing system in the grid and making it to be smart. ICT in this smart grid, sensors and smart meters are meant to assure two-way communication between the supplier and the consumer. They send real time information which is computed at the control center to optimize the entire grid. Distributed generation is also introduced in the system for two purposes. To complete the lag in power demand of the grid and to take over the supply when the main feeder is faulty. Various distributed generation sources studied led to the choice of solar power plants thanks to their low production of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and availability of their resources in the city. A model has been proposed for the distributed generation and optimization of the smart grid. The system indexes obtained without distributed generation in the grid are different from that with. The difference in these indexes proved that the grid has been optimized. However, the reliability of the grid is enhanced after the introduction of distributed generation into the system. This enhancement in reliability declares that with distributed generation into the grid, the population of Kumba has a reliable power supply, which makes them to have energy throughout.

In modern times, a lot of light has been thrown on Information literacy by empirical studies due to its significant role in facilitating access to information and use as well as lifetime learning. It is one of the main factors responsible for the information explosion and a key determining factor for students’ success in academics. The study gauged students’ attitudes on the IL programmes of the University for Development Studies (UDS) using both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The study discovered that students did not consider the library as a source of academic knowledge and information since their frequency of visiting was low. The study also showed that 43.1% of the respondents go to the library at least once a week while the majority (56.9%) of the respondents either visited the library once a month or not at all. Early Childhood and Basic Education, Development Education, Social Change Communication and Renewable Natural Resources, are the courses pursued by those who utilized the library every day. Alternatively, no student pursuing B. Ed Business Studies made use of the library daily and 48.6% of them did not enter the library at all. The majority (58%) of the respondents had not been oriented on the use of the library. It was realized that 49.8% were knowledgeable of the fact that electronic resources are available in the library. The remaining (50.2%) did not have any knowledge of electronic resources in the library and were unlikely to make use of them. The utilization of electronic resources also varied according to programmes of study. Students who had comparatively higher access to such resources were pursuing Early Childhood and Basic Education. The study also realized that students’ interest in participating in Information Literacy programmes in the university increased and this increased the quality of their information literacy skills. With their awareness and know-how in information literacy, they can use the internet to retrieve the necessary information for academic work. The study makes some recommendations, Principals and Deans should coordinate to organize more Information Literacy Programmes, increased staff participation in the teaching of the IL Programmes and lastly, implementation of Academic Board pronouncements on the IL Programme. This will go a long way to improve access and enhance the use of information in the university.

This paper shows how Big Data Analytics (BDA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) automation facilitate regulatory compliance in Finance. Regulatory compliance is essential in helping institutions to mitigate reputational, litigation, and financial risk. Existing literature reveals several preconditions for compliance. However, much of the literature has adopted an internal view of compliance without considering external regulatory frameworks. This research draws on the cognitive model of regulation that looks at regulatory compliance as a social construct. It uses a triangulation research method comprising literature review, interview of trade compliance experts, and questionnaire survey of compliance practitioners to understand how regulation affects compliance and what role ICTs play in implementing compliance. The findings of this study present a regulatory compliance framework comprising four cognitive stages and a conceptual regulatory compliance system that presents how BDA and AI automation are applied to mitigate regulatory complexity and enhance regulatory compliance. The conceptual regulatory compliance system shows how BDA and AI enable institutions to dynamically assess regulatory risk, automatically monitor compliance, and intelligently predict risk violations mitigating regulatory complexity and preventing producing unnecessary documents. It provides theoretical contributions to understanding regulatory evolution and compliance and practical implications for understanding how regulation evolves to be more complicated and elements of a regulatory compliance system mitigate proliferating regulations. Additionally, it provides avenues for future research into the relationship between competing regulatory mandates and how institutions cope with that. Regulations are important for ensuring compliance and governance in finance and to curb systemic risk. Complying with regulations is difficult due to their growing volume, complexity, and fragmentation. Institutions use large-scale Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), such as Big Data Analytics (BDA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) automation, to monitor compliance and mitigate regulatory complexity. However, less is known about how firms comply with regulation. Most literature does not thoroughly investigate regulatory elements nor explicitly relate them to compliance.