Correlation Between a 3-Step MRI Assessment and Surgical Findings in Classifying Pyramidalis–Anterior Pubic Ligament–Adductor Longus Complex (PLAC) Injuries in 161 Athletes: Validation of Application of the PLAC Classification System

Background: Adductor avulsions are complex injuries often involving multiple structures, as indicated by several magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies. However, no studies have compared MRI assessments using a dedicated groin protocol with surgical findings. Hypothesis: It was hypothesized that MRI assessments using a dedicated groin protocol would correlate closely with surgical findings, applicable to both experienced and novice users of the pyramidalis–anterior pubic ligament–adductor longus complex (PLAC) classification. Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: This retrospective study analyzed 161 athletes who underwent MRI using a dedicated groin protocol, followed by surgical repair of the PLAC. Two musculoskeletal radiologists—1 experienced (rater A) and 1 inexperienced (rater B) in the use of the PLAC classification—independently assessed the MRI scans twice, 6 weeks apart, using a structured 3-step protocol to evaluate (1) adductor longus fibrocartilage (intact, partially avulsed, or completely avulsed), (2) pyramidalis separation from adductor longus (intact, partially separated, or completely separated), and (3) pectineus status (intact or partially avulsed). Agreement between MRI and surgical findings was evaluated using a PLAC injury classification (types 1-5), with intra- and interobserver reliability measured by Cohen kappa. Results: Among the 161 athletes, 93 played soccer, of whom 69 were professional. All athletes exhibited complete fibrocartilage avulsion, with 83 athletes (52%) showing adductor longus separation from the pyramidalis. Isolated adductor longus avulsions (PLAC type 1) were observed in only 36 athletes (22%). The interobserver kappa score between MRI assessments and surgical findings was 0.942 for rater A and 0.858 for rater B. Intraobserver ratings were 0.967 for rater A and 0.875 for rater B. Both inter- and intraobserver scores indicated almost perfect agreement. In combination, these statistical findings support the validity, reliability, and applicability of the MRI protocol using the PLAC classification system for 2 users with varying levels of experience. Conclusion: Adductor avulsions were rarely isolated, typically involving multiple muscles. The PLAC classification effectively captured the complexity of these injuries. When used in conjunction with a dedicated MRI protocol, the PLAC classification demonstrated almost perfect agreement and concordance with surgical findings. Together, the PLAC classification and MRI protocol offered a more comprehensive and accurate representation of patients’ clinical and radiological features and provided valuable guidance for surgical planning

Unequal Opportunities? Examining Gender, Financial Access, and Innovation in UAE Digital Entrepreneurship

This study examines gender dynamics in digital entrepreneurship in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), focusing on the challenges and opportunities encountered by male and female entrepreneurs. Drawing on institutional and gender role theories, the research explores how financial resources, technological development, and entrepreneurial networking impact entrepreneurial success and innovation capability. Using a quantitative approach, data from 400 entrepreneurs in the UAE digital sector were analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings reveal that access to financial resources, technological development, and networking significantly influence entrepreneurial success, but their impact is stronger for male entrepreneurs due to societal norms and structural advantages. Female entrepreneurs face restrictive cultural barriers, particularly regarding access to financial resources and digital tools, which moderate their entrepreneurial success negatively. Innovation capability emerges as a key mediator in entrepreneurial success for both genders. The study highlights the need for gender-sensitive policies that enhance financial accessibility, technological literacy, and networking opportunities for female entrepreneurs. By providing empirical evidence from a Middle Eastern context, this research contributes to the broader discourse on gender disparities in digital entrepreneurship and offers policy recommendations to foster a more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem. Future studies should explore cross-cultural comparisons and longitudinal analyses to deepen insights into the evolving gender dynamics in digital entrepreneurship

Sense of community through physical activity and recreation

There is an increasing demand for sport and leisure programmes to demonstrate their contribution to broader social outcomes. However, demonstrating social impact is a challenging endeavour in both theory and practice. There is a need for measures that sufficiently capture the complexity of participant experience whilst being practicable for those engaged in the delivery and management of sport and leisure activities. Through the adaptation of a Sense of Community (SoC) scale, this research note presents one such measure in the context of a community Walking for Health group. With further validation, the measure presented here may provide a reliable social impact assessment instrument to capture participants’ relationship to, and strength of feelings about, being part of a community. This exploration will be of interest to those seeking to understand and rigourise the social value of sport and physical activity provision

Cultural Capital and Self-determined Behaviour: Conceptual and Empirical Evidence of Smoking Cessation in Egypt

Despite the prevalence of tobacco use, Egypt lacked smoking cessation treatments to combat the nation's rising smoking population and studies on smoking cessation were limited in the majority of low- and middle-income countries. There is an urgent need to study the enablers of smoking cessation. This study adopted a quantitative research approach to test the conceptual framework. Data were collected using two sampling methods: a random sample in the first phase followed by a snowball strategy. A total of 569 ex-smokers who had successfully stopped smoking completed self-administered questionnaires. Structural equation modelling was adopted for the data analysis. The findings of this study indicate that the accumulation of Cultural Capital could serve as an independent cause for successful smoking cessation behaviour in Egypt. Egypt should invest in cultural activities and educational establishments which not only help its smoking population acquire new skills but also contribute to successful and sustained smoking cessation. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to expand Self-determination Theory and combine Cultural Capital to understand successful smoking cessation behaviour. While most studies focused on current smokers and intentions to quit, this study assessed ex-smokers who had successfully ceased smoking. It confirmed that Cultural Capital alone could contribute to behavioural and sustained behavioural change

A secure medical image encryption technique based on DNA cryptography with elliptic curves

Health services and telemedicine have proven to be an important area for information protection in research, especially with medical services and smart health care applications. In these systems, medical imaging protection are important not only for clinical diagnosis, but also to protect the very sensitive and confidential patient data. With progress in imaging technologies and biomedical processing algorithms, the amount of image data increases rapidly. However, securing this information while transferring through insecure channel is still a constant challenge. Existing encryption techniques often face limitations such as high computational complexity, insufficient security against advanced cryptographic attacks, poor reversal and pixel correlation. To overcome these challenges, the proposed approach provides an innovative hybrid encryption technique that integrates DNA cryptography with Elliptical Curve Cryptography (ECC). The DNA-based coding shows high randomness and equality while the ECC provides strong security and confidentiality. The DNA encoding and secure key generation are employed in the proposed technique to obtain the encrypted medical image. The combination of these techniques addresses the main boundaries of existing disadvantage by increasing both security and calculation efficiency, making it well suited for real time medical applications. The experimental analysis was carried out with various parameters like histogram analysis, correlation coefficient, Chi square, MSE, PSNR, entropy etc. The result analysis states that the proposed methodology outperforms the state-of-the-art existing methods with enhanced performance such as entropy of 7.9981, Correlation coefficient of 0.0019 and PSNR of 53.97. Also, the proposed methodology is tested for runtime analysis, memory analysis and security analysis

Exploring the dark side of continuous social media brand community participation on consumer psychological ill-being: initial vs sustained participation

Purpose This study explores the dark side effects of continuous social media brand community (SMBC) participation on consumer psychological ill-being. Design/methodology/approach A two-wave online quantitative survey was conducted over a 12-month period, involving 805 consumers with prior experience participating in social media brand communities. The proposed model was analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with AMOS 26.0. Findings The research indicates that individuals using social media for escapism are significantly linked to their SMBC participation and the experience of social media fatigue. Over time, participation in SMBC was found to greatly influence both social media fatigue and information overload. Notably, while negative emotions were closely tied to consumer psychological ill-being, information overload did not exhibit the same connection. Additionally, social media fatigue served as a mediator between SMBC participation and negative emotions. Similarly, negative emotions acted as a mediator between social media fatigue and psychological ill-being. Research limitations/implications This research examined the dark side of using social media as an escape and continuous participation in SMBC, employing a two-wave quantitative methodology. The study was confined to brand communities on the Facebook platform. This presents a limitation in terms of the broade applicability of the findings, as the analysis did not encompass a comprehensive range of social media platforms. Practical implications The study highlights the importance of managers maintaining order and promoting an environment of fairness on social media platforms to minimize negative emotions and reduce tensions among users. Additionally, governments can collaborate with social marketing agencies and NGOs to raise awareness about the potential adverse effects of excessive social media use, particularly focusing on protecting young people who are more susceptible to its negative impacts. Originality/value This research stands out as one of the few studies examining the potential negative aspects of SMBC activities, offering a meaningful addition to the existing body of literature on SMBC and psychological ill-being. Grounded in the theory of compensatory Internet use and the stressor-strain-outcome model, it provides valuable insights into the darker side of consumer social media escapism and participation in SMBCs, particularly in relation to their psychological ill-being

A Qualitative Study of the Barriers to and Factors Enabling Sport Participation for People with Sight Loss from Ethnically Diverse Communities in the UK

There is a growing body of evidence regarding the barriers to participation in sport for people with sight loss and for people from ethnically diverse communities. However, far less is known about the experience of people with sight loss who are also from ethnically diverse communities. Semi-structured interviews with people with lived experience and focus groups with civil society organisations that work with people with sight loss in the UK were undertaken. The aim was to explore how issues concerning ethnicity, culture, and heritage overlap with sight loss to affect sport participation. This research found that the intersecting occurrences of sight loss and ethnicity/cultural factors, as well as other socio-demographic factors like gender, compound and exacerbate the barriers to sport participation for people with sight loss from ethnically diverse communities. Further research is needed in different settings to unpack the heterogeneity related to sight loss, ethnicity, and sport

Advancing AI-Powered BIM for Circularity in Construction in the UK and Turkiye: State-of-the-Art Review and Capability Maturity Modelling

The promotion of uptake of building information modelling (BIM) and circular economy (CE) in the UK and Turkiye construction sectors can be enhanced with the addition of AI. Thus, AI-enabled BIM and CE must be addressed from the viewpoint of current practices and capabilities. This study conducted a comparative study of capability maturity modelling (CMM) backed by a state-of-the-art (SOTA) review of 24 peer-reviewed publications via a validatory approach using a focus group webinar of eight experts in the UK and Turkiye. The findings, as extracted through a validated CMM framework of seven dimensions, were used to identify the position of the UK and Turkiye in terms of AI in BIM and CE. It was discovered that the UK is in a position regarding adoption, government policies and incentives at a defined level. AI growth is required in terms of technological advancement, education and training, industry readiness, cultural attitudes and resistance because they are in a managed phase. It was confirmed that Turkiye is at the initial stage of AI adoption, education, training, incentives, policies, technology and cultural attitudes. The originality of this study lies in the recommendations for a 10-year CMM adoption timeframe towards an optimised level. The conclusions of this manuscript will influence government, education, research and technological policies in the UK and Turkiye

Circular Pedagogy, Assessment and Cultural Capital: What a student journal can do for graduates, current students and tutors

This paper explores a third-year Sociology module assessment where students critically analyze contemporary social phenomena using theoretical frameworks from the course. By incorporating their generational perspectives and zeitgeist, students produce insightful commentaries that contribute to a shared learning experience among peers and tutors. This exercise fosters a community of practice, emphasizing mutual learning and engagement. Furthermore, the assessment follows a circular pedagogy, as the most outstanding student work is published annually in an open-access online journal by a student-staff editorial board. This initiative not only enhances academic discourse but also provides students with their first publication, strengthening their CVs and employability. The paper reflects on the impact of this pedagogical approach, highlighting its role in promoting research skills, critical thinking, and collaborative knowledge production

The reliability of a commonly used (CatapultTM Vector S7) microtechnology unit to detect movement characteristics used in court-based sports

This two-part study evaluated the inter- and intra-unit reliability of Catapult Vector S7 microtechnology units in an indoor court-sport setting. In part-one, 27 female netball players completed a controlled movement series on two separate occasions to assess the inter- and intra-unit reliability of inertial movement analysis (IMA) variables (acceleration, deceleration, changes of direction and jumps). In part-two, 13 female netball players participated in 10 netball training sessions to assess the inter-unit reliability of IMA and PlayerLoadTM variables. Participants wore two microtechnology units placed side-by-side. Reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), coefficient of variation (CV) and typical error (TE). Total IMA events showed good inter-unit reliability during the movement series (ICC, 1.00; CV, 3.7%) and training sessions (ICC, 0.99; CV, 4.5%). Inter-unit (ICC, 0.97; CV, 4.7%) and intra-unit (ICC, 0.97; CV, 4.3%) reliability for total IMA jump count was good in the movement series, with moderate CV (7.7%) during training. Reliability decreased when IMA counts were categorised by intensity and movement type. PlayerLoadTM (ICC, 1.00; CV, 1.5%) and associated variables revealed good inter-reliability, except peak PlayerLoadTM (moderate) and PlayerLoadSLOW (moderate). Counts of IMA variables, when considered as total and low-medium counts, and PlayerLoad variables are reliable for monitoring indoor court-sports players