The study applies a qualitative analytical approach utilizing a unique methodological framework: content analysis of global forecasting reports, algorithmic monitoring of social media engagement and comparative benchmarking of material technological specifications. Methods of morphological, colorimetric and semiotic analysis were utilized to identify key aesthetic and technological dominants. The research revealed a fundamental âaesthetic polarizationâ in 2025: the coexistence of âPhygitalâ aesthetics (metallics, 3D abstraction, neural network textures) and âRadical naturalnessâ (biomimicry, tactile surfaces). The concept of âarchitectural morphologyâ is introduced and substantiated, where the nail shape is conceptualized as an ergonomic structure with a compensatory function for anatomical correction. It is established that modern nail art requires the implementation of algorithmic design principles, including the Golden Ratio rule and specific colorimetric formulas (60-30-10), to achieve compositional integrity. The further development trajectory of the industry lies in the synergy of artistic modeling, digital services (AR fitting) and biotechnologies (âsmartâ and regenerative coatings). The work establishes a theoretical basis for elevating professional standards within the nail industry References 1. Belk, R. W. (2013). The extended self in a digital world. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(3), 477-500. 2. Kataila, Natalia. (2021). "Digital Fashion" on Its Way from Niche to the New Norm. 3. Kapferer, Jean-NoĂ«l & Michaut, Anne. (2015). Luxury and sustainability: a common future? The match depends on how consumers define luxury. Luxury Research J.. 1. 3. 10.1504/LRJ.2015.069828. 4. Hill, S. E., Rodeheffer, C. D., Griskevicius, V., Durante, K., & White, A. E. (2012). Boosting beauty in an economic decline: mating, spending, and the lipstick effect. Journal of personality and social psychology, 103(2), 275â291. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028657 5. Lochhead, Robert. (2007). The Role of Polymers in Cosmetics: Recent Trends. ACS Symposium Series. 961. 3-56. 10.1021/bk-2007-0961.ch001. 6. Dorschel, Robert & Hermans, Anne-Mette. (2025). Body, beauty, enrichment: Theorizing the rise of the cosmetic industry through Boltanski and Esquerre's framework of enrichment. Journal of Cultural Economy. 1-17. 10.1080/17530350.2025.2478859. 7. Bhardwaj, Vertica. (2010). Fast fashion: Response to changes in the fashion industry. The International Review of Retail. Distribution and Consumer Research. 165-173. 10.1080/09593960903498300. 8. Goffman, E. (2021). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (Revisited ed.). Anchor Books. 9. Kim, E., Fiore, A. M., & Kim, H. (2021). Fashion trends: Analysis and forecasting (3rd ed.). Berg Publishers. 10. Draelos, Z. D. (2024). Cosmetic Dermatology: Products and Procedures (3rd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. 11. Baran, R., & Maibach, H. I. (2019). Textbook of Nail Diseases: Diagnosis, Therapy, and Surgery (5th ed.). CRC Press. 12. Scher, R. K., & Daniel, C. R. (2005). Nails: Diagnosis, Therapy, Surgery. Elsevier Health Sciences. 13. Rieder, E. A., & Tosti, A. (2016). Cosmetically Induced Disorders of the Nail with Update on Contemporary Nail Manicures. The Journal of clinical and aesthetic dermatology, 9(4), 39â44. 14. de Berker D. (2013). Nail anatomy. Clinics in dermatology, 31(5), 509â515. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clindermatol.2013.06.006 15. Elliot, A. J., & Maier, M. A. (2014). Color psychology: effects of perceiving color on psychological functioning in humans. Annual review of psychology, 65, 95â120. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115035 16. Labrecque, L. I., & Milne, G. R. (2012). Exciting red and competent blue: The importance of color in marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 40(6), 711-727. 17. Joy, Annamma & Zhu, Ying & Peña-Moreno, Camilo & Brouard, Myriam. (2022). Digital future of luxury brands: Metaverse, digital fashion, and nonâfungible tokens. Strategic Change. 31. 337-343. 10.1002/jsc.2502. 18. Fraser, T., & Banks, A. (2004). Designerâs Color Manual: The Complete Guide to Color Theory and Application. Chronicle Books. 19. Pazda, Adam & Elliot, Andrew & Greitemeyer, Tobias. (2012). Sexy red: Perceived sexual receptivity mediates the red-attraction relation in men viewing woman. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 48. 787â790. 10.1016/j.jesp.2011.12.009. 20. Mezger, T. G. (2020). The Rheology Handbook: For those with practical tasks in rheology and viscometry (5th ed.). Vincentz Network. 21. Chevreul, M. E. (2021). The Principles of Harmony and Contrast of Colors and Their Applications to the Arts (Reprint ed.). Schiffer Publishing. (Original work published 1989). 22. Fechner, G. T. (2021). Vorschule der Aesthetik (Propaedeutics of Aesthetics) (Modern Translation). Breitkopf & HĂ€rtel. (Original work published 1876).
Sarah M. Thornton, Pradeep K. Attaluri, Ellen C. Shaffrey, Peter J. Wirth · 6 authors
Cryptocurrency offers a decentralized alternative to traditional financial systems, facilitating peer-to-peer transactions with minimal fees and heightened security. It also transformed into a financial asset similar to gold. Despite its volatile valuation, recent developments, such as the approval of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds by the Securities and Exchange Commission, underscore its evolving role as an investment opportunity. Plastic surgery has increasingly embraced cryptocurrency as a form of payment, leveraging its speed, security, and privacy benefits. However, alongside its potential advantages, risks such as volatility, irreversibility of transactions, and regulatory uncertainties warrant careful consideration. Moving forward, the integration of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency is poised to revolutionize various aspects of plastic surgery, from patient privacy to postoperative monitoring devices, necessitating a proactive approach from surgeons to navigate this evolving landscape. This article explores the intersection of cryptocurrency and plastic surgery, delving into its current applications, risks, investment potential, and future prospects.
As CryptoPunks pioneers the innovation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in AI and art, the valuation mechanics of NFTs has become a trending topic. Earlier research identifies the impact of ethics and society on the price prediction of CryptoPunks. Since the booming year of the NFT market in 2021, the discussion of CryptoPunks has propagated on social media. Still, existing literature hasn't considered the social sentiment factors after the historical turning point on NFT valuation. In this paper, we study how sentiments in social media, together with gender and skin tone, contribute to NFT valuations by an empirical analysis of social media, blockchain, and crypto exchange data. We evidence social sentiments as a significant contributor to the price prediction of CryptoPunks. Furthermore, we document structure changes in the valuation mechanics before and after 2021. Although people's attitudes towards Cryptopunks are primarily positive, our findings reflect imbalances in transaction activities and pricing based on gender and skin tone. Our result is consistent and robust, controlling for the rarity of an NFT based on the set of human-readable attributes, including gender and skin tone. Our research contributes to the interdisciplinary study at the intersection of AI, Ethics, and Society, focusing on the ecosystem of decentralized AI or blockchain. We provide our data and code for replicability as open access on GitHub.
The explosive growth of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Web3 has created a new frontier for digital art and collectibles, but also an emerging space for fraudulent activities. This study provides an in-depth analysis of NFT rug pulls, which are fraudulent schemes aimed at stealing investors' funds. Using data from 758 rug pulls across 10 NFT marketplaces, we examine the structural and behavioral properties of these schemes, identify the characteristics and motivations of rug-pullers, and classify NFT projects into groups based on creators' association with their accounts. Our findings reveal that repeated rug pulls account for a significant proportion of the rise in NFT-related cryptocurrency crimes, with one NFT collection attempting 37 rug pulls within three months. Additionally, we identify the largest group of creators influencing the majority of rug pulls, and demonstrate the connection between rug-pullers of different NFT projects through the use of the same wallets to store and move money. Our study contributes to the understanding of NFT market risks and provides insights for designing preventative strategies to mitigate future losses.
Due to the endless epidemic, the world has moved to the metaverse world. To keep pace with the changes in the cosmetic market, research on customer experience using non-fungible tokens (NFTs) was conducted. This review study is an empirical analysis that focuses on introducing the safety of the metaverse world into cosmetics in the absence of customer experience in the cosmetic market due to the rapid transition to a non-face-to-face society in the COVID-19 pandemic. This review of consumer experience is a critical literature review. In this study, a technical review approach was used. Using the PRISMA flow chart, a total of 453 references were selected using representative journal search sites such as PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, RISS, and ResearchGate. Accordingly, a total of 28 papers were selected in the final stage from 2013 to 2022. This literature review focuses on the NFT cosmetics market, which expands the consumer experience into a fun experience by focusing on the sustainable safety of new consumer changes in the metaverse beauty market. This is an empirical analysis focused on the cosmetic consumer experience for the new launch of cosmetic brands using NFTs in the future beauty and cosmetology market. This narrative review article focuses on sustainable and safe experiences for beauty and cosmetics consumer experiences in the post-COVID-19 metaverse, NFTs in the metaverse, FUN for the MZ generation, and new consumer experiences. NFTs, which are a leading novel cultural and social phenomenon and utilize fun raffles in the sustainable and safe metaverse of the MZ generation that embodies the digital world, are a new era in the beauty market. Accordingly, by confirming the change, they are expected to be used as an important marketing material and strategy in the global metaverse cosmetological market for sustainable and safe spaces and consumer experiences.
Open access
Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies
Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
The art world is slow to adapt to new technology. Back in 2019, which seems like eons ago in Internet time, the Hiscox online art trade report noted that the online art market grew 9.8% in aggregate in 2018 to $4.64 billion, a slowdown from the growth experienced in the previous three years. More telling, the same report notes that the âart worldâs adoption of blockchain technology remains slow as convincing [use cases] fail to materialise.â Of course, there are structural reasons and specific factors that make the art world unique in its steadfast commitment to âtraditionalâ transactional formats, including the benefits reaped from in-person inspection of unique works executed in a physical medium, as well as the privacy and competitive benefits afforded by relative market opacity.
 Like it or not, the art world is being forced to reckon with the metaverse. During the COVID-19 pandemic, homebound collectors helped to buoy the online art market. Online sales in 2020 accounted for â15.8% of all art sales, up from 7.5% in 2019,â with âsales in the first half of 2021 . . . up by 72% to $6.8 billion.â Sales of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) reached around $3.5 billion in the first three quarters of 2021. Although not a person, ERC-721, which sets forth a standard specification for tokens on the Ethereum-based blockchain, topped ArtReviewâs annual âPower 100â list of the most influential people in the contemporary art world in 2021.
 Specifically with respect to NFTs, art-world stakeholders appear to be of two camps: some curious and diving in, and others feeling skeptical. What is it about NFTs that make certain art-world stakeholders wish they were a passing fad? What is the legal landscape for this fast-growing portion of the metaverse? And how can artists and purchasers protect themselves using pre-existing legal concepts and frameworks? These are some of the questions that we discuss in this Article. After covering what NFTs are and the application of the pre-existing U.S. copyright framework to the NFT format, we elucidate some considerations and issues that artists face when they decide to mint their work and sell NFTs. We also address some concerns that purchasers of NFTs may have. Because the environment is fast-paced and a single set of standards or guidelines has not yet been adopted, we discuss certain types of terms and conditions that currently govern the sale and use of NFTs. In sharing recent case studies, contracts, and projects we have worked on, we hope to provide a snapshotâif fleetingâof the current dynamic world of NFTs.
Sreejith Balasubramanian, Shalini Ajayan, Cody Morris Paris
Abstract There are significant challenges facing the medical tourism industry: privacy and transparency concerns, lack of access to centralized medical records, fraudulent practices, opportunistic behavior of intermediaries, foreign currency risks, and contractual/legal issues. While blockchain technology has immense potential to address the industryâs inherent challenges and inefficiencies, the current understanding of blockchain application in medical tourism is fragmented. Through a pragmatic review of the literature, this study explores the blockchain applications and benefits for medical tourists across the stages of the medical tourism value chain, and in the process, proposes a meaningful and managerially relevant blockchain framework for medical tourism. The findings and the proposed novel framework to guide policy interventions and support mechanisms to take advantage of the full opportunities of blockchain in medical tourism.
Ensar DurmuĆ, Volkan Ălker, Yusuf YĂŒrĂŒmez, Fatih GĂŒneysu
The relationship between economic crises and suicide has been analyzed in the medical literature.Cryptocurrency, which has recently occurred with the increasing technological advances, attracts people's attention and can be noticed as an investment tool.However, rapid rises and declines can be seen in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.Financial losses can negatively influence people's mental health and induce suicide.In this case report, after the rapid devaluation of Bitcoin in the first two weeks of June/2022, a case that committed suicide by jumping from a height and applied to the emergency room (ER) by ambulance was presented and discussed.
Inessa Tyan, Antonio JesĂșs Guevara Plaza, Mariemma I. YagĂŒe
The paper discusses the benefits of blockchain technology for medical tourism. The major focus is placed on pre-procedure and post-procedure of medical tourism. The authors argue that blockchain technology can facilitate several stages of medical tourism by enabling disintermediation, allowing cryptocurrency payments, ensuring secure data sharing and privacy, and empowering trusted review systems. With regard to COVID-19 pandemic, the paper outlines the current challenges of the medical tourism industry and prop oses the opportunities for blockchain technology use. The paper attempts to provide important insights regarding the positive implications of blockchain technology use within the medical tourism industry as well as to further advance the current knowledge about blockchain technologyâs effects for medical tourism.
Sasha Shilina, Dato Kavazi, Victor Smirnov, Viktor Smirnov · 9 authors
The advent of blockchain technology has led to a massive wave of different decentralized ledger technology (DLT) solutions. Such projects as Bitcoin and Ethereum have shifted the paradigm of how to transact value in a decentralized manner, but their various core technologies have their own advantages and disadvantages. This paper aims to describe an alternative to modern decentralized financial networks by introducing the Humanode network. Humanode is a network safeguarded by cryptographically secure bio-authorized nodes. Users will be able to deploy nodes by staking their encrypted biometric data. This approach can potentially lead to the creation of a public, permissionless financial network based on consensus between equal human nodes with algorithm-based emission mechanisms targeting real value growth and proportional emission. Humanode combines different technological stacks to achieve a decentralized, secure, scalable, efficient, consistent, immutable, and sustainable financial network: 1) a bio-authorization module based on cryptographically secure neural networks for the private classification of 3D templates of users' faces 2) a private Liveness detection mechanism for identification of real human beings 3) a Substrate module as a blockchain layer 4) a cost-based fee system 5) a Vortex decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) governing system 6) a monetary policy and algorithm, Fath, where monetary supply reacts to real value growth and emission is proportional. All of these implemented technologies have nuances that are crucial for the integrity of the network. In this paper we address these details, describing problems that might occur and their possible solutions. The main goal of Humanode is to create a stable and just financial network that relies on the existence of human life.
Katiuscia Mannaro, Gavina Baralla, Andrea Pinna, Simona Ibba
The use of teledermatology in primary care has been shown to be reliable, offering the possibility of improving access to dermatological care by using telecommunication technologies to connect several medical centers and enable the exchange of information about skin conditions over long distances. This paper describes the main points of a teledermatology project that we have implemented to promote and facilitate the diagnosis of skin diseases and improve the quality of care for rural and remote areas. Moreover, we present a blockchain-based approach which aims to add new functionalities to an innovative teledermatology platform which we developed and tested in the Sardinian Region (Italy). These functionalities include giving the patient complete access to his/her medical records while maintaining security. Finally, the advantages that this new decentralized system can provide for patients and specialists are presented.