Advancing the Scientific Study of Structural Racism: Concepts, Measures, and Methods

China Kidney Disease Network (CK-NET) 2015 Annual Data Report

The study focuses on exploring Western and non-Western research traditions in the study of the Taiwanese issue in contemporary political science. The paper examines the approaches and methods of analyzing international relations surrounding Taiwan and provides a classification of approaches based on the methods and tools utilized. Differences between Western and non-Western research traditions enable a comprehensive understanding of the Taiwanese conflict, considering its multifaceted and complex nature. Integrating various methods and approaches contributes to the development of broad strategies for conflict resolution and prevention. Various research methodologies are used to describe the Taiwanese conflict, including a holistic analysis of political, historical, economic, and socio-cultural aspects. The historical methodology covers key stages of events around Taiwan, starting from the aftermath of the Civil War in 1949. Political analysis focuses on the strategies and tactics of different states within the conflict. Sociological approaches examine the socio-cultural aspects of the conflict, while economic analysis explores the economic interests intertwined with the conflict. Comparative analysis with other regional conflicts provides insights into the unique features of the Taiwanese conflict. Research paradigms employed by Western scholars highlight several key aspects of analyzing the Taiwan conflict. Realist approaches emphasize national interests, power balance, and geopolitical dynamics. The liberal school underscores the role of international institutions, democracy, and economic interdependence in conflict resolution. Constructivist approaches utilize social constructs such as identity and norms to explain behavior in the conflict. Western researchers often use quantitative research methods such as statistical analysis and modeling. Conversely, non-Western scholars propose alternative analysis methods. The Chinese school focuses on China's history, culture, and foreign policy in the conflict context. The Japanese-Asian school emphasizes regional factors like Japan, South Korea, and ASEAN's roles in the conflict dynamics. Postcolonial studies analyze the influence of colonial legacies and neo-colonialism on the conflict. Conflict resolution studies utilize an interdisciplinary approach, integrating knowledge from various fields like political science, history, sociology, economics, and cultural studies. Access to diverse information sources and critical analysis aids in building an objective understanding of the conflict. Comparing Western and non-Western research traditions sheds light on the Taiwanese conflict, considering its multifaceted nature. Integrating different approaches facilitates the development of comprehensive strategies for conflict resolution and prevention. Further research on the Taiwanese conflict necessitates a multi-faceted approach encompassing a wide range of disciplines and methodologies for a deeper understanding of the issue and the formulation of constructive resolution strategies.

Gaps or deficits in knowledge present opportunities for new and innovative research, but when studies are undone much is lost. The concept of ‘undone science’ can be understood within related concepts, including ignorance, nescience, non-knowledge and the chilling effect. The Tasmanian devil cancer, devil facial tumour disease (DFTD), is a new and novel cancer, potentially providing many opportunities for innovative research. The contagious cancer hypothesis for DFTD is also novel. In the research it has sponsored, the Tasmanian government elected to follow this pathway, neglecting an alternative plausible hypothesis that toxins in the devils’ environment may have played a role in the initiation or progression of the cancer. The studies were not viewed as opportunities to fill gaps in devil cancer knowledge, and remain undone.

The rapid advancement in information technology over the past few decades has provided ample computational power and access to diverse data sources. In conjunction with recent inference methods, we can now examine the intricate dynamics of complex systems in more detail than ever before. Two complex systems that have been proven particularly challenging to study are the spreading of neural activity in the brain and infectious diseases in society. The complexity of cortical neural dynamics arises from the difficulty in inferring global characteristics from the limited, subsampled, and localized measurements that can be obtained simultaneously. In contrast, the complexity of the spread of infectious diseases comes from the dynamic nature of human behavior, which is shaped by individual social environments. In this thesis, I present three distinct projects that address these challenges: (1) We investigated the impact of a stimulus on the primary somatosensory cortex in mice and its subsequent effects on the secondary somatosensory cortex, including the decrease of stimulus detection probability due to recurrent dynamics. (2) Using the European championship during the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study, we inferred the influence of simultaneous social gatherings on disease transmission. (3) We explored how spreading dynamics inform the optimal allocation of vaccines under conditions of limited availability. For the systematic analysis of such spreading dynamics, I developed a comprehensive toolbox for inferring parameters of differential equations, incorporating Bayesian inference methods. Complementing the projects presented in this thesis, I contributed to a dozen other research endeavors during my PhD, which are not extensively discussed here. Looking ahead, these projects demonstrate that further advancements in inference techniques will unlock new research opportunities, enabling the integration of diverse data sources and improving our ability to quantify and manage the inherent uncertainty associated with dynamic systems.

The purpose of the article is to analyze the institutional practices of the social service of the Russian Orthodox Church. The mechanisms of interaction between the Church and state social structures, the experience of social work in Russia at the state level are explored, the features of church social service are described. The theoretical and methodological basis of the research are the principles of sociological approach, system analysis, structural and functional analysis. System analysis allows us to consider the phenomenon of church social service in the complex of interrelationships between such social institutions of society as the state and the Church. The methodology of study the problem is presented in theories of institutionalization (G. Spencer) and neoinstitutionalization (D. North), and the sphere-institutional approach D. Havre. Methodological pluralism in the research of the problem of the institutionalization of social service in modern Russia is due to its societal and multifaceted nature. The author concludes that social service in content is a non-religious, uncultured activity for secular society and the state. At the same time, this activity has a cult significance, for religious communities, of course, since it is aimed at achieving sacred goals. Church social service is the noble service of love, its active multiplication, diakonia, and not the creation of structures that duplicate existing state ones. This social activity has a significant and beneficial effect on the development of Russian society.

Every revolution in communication technology-from papyrus to the printing press to Twitter-is as much an opportunity to be drawn away from something as it is be drawn toward something. And yet, as we embrace technology's gifts, we usually fail to consider what we're giving up in the process. Michael Harris The End of Absence IN HIS RECENT AWARD-WINNING BOOK, The End of Absence, Canadian journalist Michael Harris ponders the implications of the digital age from the perspective of the generation that has known life before and after the advent of the Internet, asking fundamental questions about what is lost in the world of constant connection. As I consider recent developments and debates in periodical research, it seems that a similar divide between the pre- and postdigital worlds has manifested itself. This is not a generational divide in the limited sense of age; instead, it is related to the formation of academic fields and the impact of the large-scale digitization of newspapers, periodicals, and magazines on approaches to scholarship. (1) Assessments of that impact vary depending not just on when but also on why one has come to these media. The archival materials, once difficult to access, now seem all too available, creating (with the aid of computational tools) a range of new opportunities for researchers and students. Methodological shifts are redefining what it means to read periodicals. Distant and studying the materialities of media represent significant departures from textual analysis, expanding the perspectives we apply to media in useful ways. At the same time, reading periodicals (closely or deeply) for their discursive and visual content--for how they may have generated meanings, for whom and why--remains central to research engaged in expanding historical and cultural fields. Many issues raised in the wake of the digital revolution are not new at all, even if they seem more urgent or couched in new terminology. The very claims to disciplinary and methodological newness, while rhetorically effective, have contributed to obscuring earlier, yet highly relevant, scholarship. For all the promise of interdisciplinarity and collaboration, research communities often operate in discipline- and period-based silos. Rivaling the vast and unwieldy periodical archives is the equally daunting body of critical work that has accumulated over decades and continues to proliferate with every new book and special issue. Our roles and responsibilities as researchers and teachers are complicated as we (re)mediate the past, the archival and the critical heritage, in a postdigital world. How do we negotiate the expanding databases and the qualitative and quantitative methodological options while initiating newcomers along the way? In the following, I focus on some recent developments in the study of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century periodicals in order to look both back and forward, to argue for a longer-term perspective and transdisciplinary approach to the existing research, and for a more productive dialogue across the digital divide through methodological pluralism. Periodical Studies as a Field I have followed tendencies in newspaper and periodical research since my first forays into the in the mid 1990s. (2) I use here as an umbrella term for the study of the newspaper and periodical press more generally, encompassing the various disciplinary and period-defined groups who share an interest in early forms of serial publication. In many ways the term field is a misnomer, given how various the disciplinary communities and locations for this work are, including Victorian studies, American/Canadian studies, newspaper and periodical/media history, women's history, communication/media studies, literary and modernist studies, rhetoric studies, journalism history, book history, cultural studies, to name the most obvious. Working at the intersection of some of these areas, I am continually struck by how much repetition and how little crossover there is, with a few notable exceptions, in spite of how similar are the objects of study. …

Background: Celebrity fad diets have garnered significant attention in recent years. Celebrity diets often gain popularity through social media, particularly Twitter, where users engage in discussions, debates, and promotions of various diet trends. Objectives: To analyze Indonesian’s public sentiment surrounding celebrity fad diets on Twitter social media using netnographic from twitter. Methods: This research used a mixed-methods approach with both qualitative and quantitative methods to find the public sentiments of the 5 chosen diets. The data were obtained through snscrape from GitHub, a Python-based tool that enables users to access various types of Twitter data, such as user profiles, hashtags, live tweets, top tweets, users, single or threaded tweets, list posts, communities, and trends. Results: Positive sentiment was found to be more prevalent than negative sentiment over the years, and the number of tweets increased each year. Intermittent fasting emerged as the most discussed diet on social media, likely due to its resemblance to fasting practices observed by Indonesia's Muslim population. On the other hand, the Atkins diet was the least talked-about, possibly because of its complex nature. Conclusions: The prevalence of Ketogenic and Very Low-Calorie Diet discussions in the context of Indonesian and K-Pop culture underscores the need for a nuanced understanding of these diets and their potential implications for health. Future research should consider diverse data sources, expand sample sizes, and collaborate with experts to gain a more comprehensive understanding of public opinions on diets.

Spillover effects are considered important in evaluating the impacts of food, energy and water (FEW) conservation behaviors for limiting global greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Failure to account for all possible spillovers, or indirect and unintended results of an intervention, not only obscures valuable information pertaining to the dynamic interactions across domains but also results in biased estimates. In this study, we first systematically reviewed articles that investigate the idea that the performance of one pro-environmental behavior influences the conduct of subsequent behaviors(s) from the FEW domains. From our review of 48 studies in the last decade, we note that a big part of the discussion on spillover concerns the nature and direction of causal relationships between individual FEW conservation behaviors. We identify a critical gap in the literature regarding the distinction between spillover effects caused by the interventions as distinct from those caused by the primary behaviors. Next, we conducted a quantitative meta-analysis of the reviewed empirical studies to find a modest but overall positive spillover effect. Finally, we reviewed the theoretical and methodological plurality in the FEW spillover literature using a systemic thinking lens to summarize what is already known and identify future challenges and research opportunities with significant policy implications.

Purpose: Over the past 40 years, theoretical and empirical studies that investigate the relationship between information and communication technologies and development have accumulated under the name of ‘ICT for Development’. This paper critically reconstructs the historical evolution of this field, summarizes the theoretical debates, and proposes the direction and key conceptual questions to be explored beyond the existing ICT4D paradigm in the era of digital transformation. Originality: ICTs have received spotlight as an innovative tool for providing catch-up and leapfrogging opportunities for developing countries, reducing the transaction cost in development mechanism and increasing individual capability. Despite large investments and high expectations for technologies, its effectiveness for development has been questionable, and the large gap between theories and empirical findings have been criticized. Moreover, the wake of the pandemic has called for digital transformation to become a global agenda, providing a turning point for the ICT4D field. Therefore, it is timely to provide reflections on the major theoretical frameworks and critically review the historical evolution of the fields. Methodology: This study conducts a thematic qualitative analysis based on the proceedings of the IFIP ‘Implications of Information and Digital Technologies for Development’ and ICTD conferences, providing methodological triangulation by diverse primary data sources including participant observation in the program committees. Result: This study provides a historical overview of the ICT4D field broken down into five phases: 1) Emergence, 2) Formation, 3) Expansion, 4) Diffusion and 5) Digital Transformation. It also critically reconstructs conceptual evolution and research contributions of the main studies. This is followed by a discussion of future research agenda, emphasis on multi-disciplinarity and reconceptualization of the field. Conclusions and Implication: Existing research have dominantly been conducted at the micro-level unit of analysis, applying an interpretivist epistemological approach and focusing on system as a technological artefact. In the era of digital transformation, it is inevitable for the mainstream view to incorporate theoretical, methodological, and contextual pluralism. This will also have implications for Korea’s international development cooperation, which lacks critical empirical research and philosophical debate despite high expectations for science, technology and ICT ODA.

Scotland is a small nation, yet it leads the field in key areas of aging research. With the creation of a devolved government with authority over health and social services, the country has witnessed practice and policy developments that offer distinctive opportunities for innovative research. With multidisciplinary groups of internationally recognized researchers, Scotland is able to take advantage of a unique set of opportunities for aging research: a well-profiled population brings opportunities in population data and linkage to understand people's interactions with health, social care, and other public services; while research on technology and telecare is a distinctive area where Scotland is recognized internationally for using technology to develop effective, high-quality and well-accepted services at relatively low financial cost. The paper also considers free personal care for older people and the national dementia strategy in Scotland. The potential to evaluate the impact of free personal care will provide valuable information for other global health and social care systems. Exploring the impact of the national dementia strategy is another unique area of research that can advance understanding in relation to quality of life and the development of services. The paper concludes that, while Scotland benefits from unique opportunities for progressive public policy and innovative aging research that will provide valuable lessons at the forefront of a globally aging population, the challenges associated with an aging population and increasing cultural diversity must be acknowledged and addressed to ensure that the vision of equality and social justice for all is realized.

This paper explores the design and implementation of cost-effective data solutions, focusing on multi-million dollar projects that involve cross-functional teams and diverse data sources. The study aims to identify best practices and technological advancements that enhance data management efficiency, ensuring scalability, security, and compliance. Employing a comprehensive review of existing literature and case studies, the paper examines the challenges and opportunities in integrating technologies such as AI, machine learning, cloud computing, and blockchain. Key findings highlight the importance of cross-functional collaboration in addressing data management complexities and the adoption of agile methodologies to enhance adaptability and efficiency. The study also underscores the significance of advanced data integration techniques and the application of circular economy principles to promote sustainability in data management. The conclusion provides actionable recommendations for organizations seeking to optimize their data solutions, emphasizing the need for strategic investment in emerging technologies and a robust data governance framework. By offering insights into future trends and research directions, this paper contributes to the ongoing discourse on developing cost-effective, secure, and sustainable data solutions in an increasingly digitalized world. Keywords: Cost-Effective Data Solutions, Cross-Functional Teams, Data Integration, Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, Circular Economy Principles

The subject of the research is the synthesis of key ideas from continental and analytic philosophical traditions with the aim of forming a new epistemological position that is adequate for understanding the challenges of post-nonclassical science. The object of the research is post-nonclassical scientific rationality, characterized by the complexity, multidimensionality, and value-laden nature of its objects, as well as the active role of the researcher in the process of cognition. The author examines in detail such aspects of the topic as the critique of science for its detachment from the "lifeworld" (E. Husserl), the problem of artificial intelligence and embodied engagement (H. Dreyfus), the essence of technology as "Equipment" (M. Heidegger), systemic materialism and emergent properties of reality (M. Bunge), methodological pluralism and epistemological anarchism (P. Feyerabend), as well as the deconstruction of logocentric foundations of scientific knowledge (J. Derrida). Special attention is given to the integrative role of John Searle's philosophy, whose concepts of biological naturalism and intentionality serve as a bridge between analytic and continental traditions, allowing for the overcoming of the gap between objective description and human experience. The research employs a method of comparative philosophical analysis with elements of a synthetic approach, enabling the integration of various philosophical traditions into a unified epistemological matrix for understanding post-nonclassical science. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the development of an original epistemological position intended to work with the complexity, multidimensionality, and paradoxical nature of contemporary scientific objects. The author demonstrates that the integration of continental and analytic philosophical traditions allows for overcoming the narrowness of one-sided approaches and creating a comprehensive methodology for studying post-nonclassical science. The main conclusions suggest that the synthesis of philosophical traditions forms a qualitatively new epistemological position capable of adequately responding to the challenges of the modern stage of scientific knowledge development. In particular, the proposed approach allows for the effective study of consciousness (combining Searle's biological naturalism with Dreyfus's phenomenology), language (integrating speech act theory with deconstruction), and techno-scientific systems (uniting Bunge's systemic approach and Heidegger's critique of technology). Thus, the article makes a significant contribution to the development of the philosophical foundations of post-nonclassical scientific rationality, offering productive pathways to solving fundamental problems of modern scientific knowledge.

This article provides a conceptual and exploratory examination of Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, focusing on the complexities associated with their nature, measurement, reporting, and verification. It examines the emerging role of artificial intelligence (AI) in addressing these complexities, particularly considering the fragmented, opaque, and often inaccessible nature of Scope 3 data. The paper introduces Critical Systems Thinking (CST) as a foundational framework for considering the practicality of utilization of AI in this context. CST emphasizes three key principles: critical awareness of assumptions and contexts, emancipation through attention to power dynamics and continuous improvement, and methodological pluralism, to engage with complexity through diverse analytical approaches. Due to the complex nature of GHG emissions reporting and assurance, AI application for this purpose remains limited. While Scope 3 reporting has made progress in certain sectors and regions, overall maturity remains uneven—particularly in developing and emerging markets. Although AI applications in Scope 3 reporting are still at an early stage, they hold significant potential to enhance both reporting quality and assurance processes. A key factor that needs to be addressed in the future utilization of AI for Scope 3 emissions reporting and assurance is the integration of CST into the development and implementation of AI tools. This paper proposes such integration as a necessary step forward. At present, there are substantial gaps in Scope 3 emissions measurement and reporting due to the inherently highly complex, distributed, and fragmented nature of value chain emissions. This gap poses risks to data quality and consistency, which in turn can hinder the implementation of reporting legislation and informed decision making by management and stakeholders. Systemic fragmentation, power asymmetries in data access, and methodological inconsistencies present substantial challenges to traditional forms of validation. Rather than offering a predictive model or finalized solution, the paper aims to lay a conceptual foundation for future empirical research and highlights the importance of systems-based approaches in advancing the credibility and utility of Scope 3 GHG disclosures. This is a key limitation relating to this paper, as it mainly focuses on the CST framework and the potential incapacities of artificial intelligence in relation to the implementation of CST, rather than applications of CST, as they are limited at present.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the key object in economic security studies at the mesolevel of regional socioeconomic security, as well as explain its genesis, contents, causes for emergence, and topicality. Methodology. Research on the socioeconomic security of a region is carried out within the ontological frameworks of post-non-classical science, one of the key features of which is strongly collective nature of scientific and ontological activities, consensual nature of scientific knowledge and also methodological pluralism. The latter predetermines active use of immanent and contextual approaches. Their parallel use has enabled determining the internal essence of the notion “socioeconomic security of a region” from the standpoint of one of the key approaches to economic security studies – activity-based one. The results of the carried out research have revealed that the category “socioeconomic security of a region” cannot be considered as a merger of two definitions – “social security of a region” and “economic security of a region”. The connection between these two definitions is of much more complex nature: socioeconomic security of a region emerges on the edge between economic security of a region as a quasi-corporation and social security of a region as an institute of interests’ protection and demands’ satisfaction for region’s population. It is offered to consider socioeconomic security of a region as a combination of economic and social conditions, which is providing certain social guarantees for state responsibilities and for a certain level of comfort inside a region on the basis of regional authorities’ support, within their level and volume of competences, for economic activities of regional business agents, making sure at the same time that production activity of these agents does not cause damages to the regional environment. Economic security forms the basis for the category “socioeconomic security of a region”, while social security is its additional upper structure. Practical implications. Contents of the category “socioeconomic security of a region” serves as the starting point for the development of principles and means for its provision and evaluation, system building and objectification of regional economic security, all processes and mechanisms within security-providing activities of regional management, their actions taken on prevention of insecure development of events and situations, which are destroying the whole socioeconomic system of a region, thus hindering its adequate functioning. The results of studying the genesis and the contents of the notion “socioeconomic security of a region” serve as the explanatory basis for economic security studies at the mesolevel, the key features of which are consensual nature of scientific knowledge, collective ways of the research activities, as well as their contextuality. Value/originality. Prior to this study, economic security studies have never considered the socioeconomic security of a region as the crossroads of economic security of a region as a quasi-corporation and social security of a region as an institute protecting interests and satisfying demands of the population within a region. The offered here approach to socioeconomic security of a region sets brand new vectors in economic security research on its mesolevel.

Diabetes detection and prediction are crucial in modern healthcare, requiring advanced methodologies and comprehensive data analysis. This study aims to review the application of multi-parameters and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques in diabetes assessment, identify existing research limitations and gaps, and propose a novel multimodal framework for enhanced detection and prediction. The research objectives include evaluating current AI methodologies, analyzing multi-parameter integration, and addressing challenges in early detection and model evaluation. The study utilizes a systematic review approach, analyzing recent literature on AI-based diabetes detection and prediction, focusing on diverse data sources and machine learning (ML) techniques. Findings reveal a significant lack of integration of diverse data sources, limited focus on early detection strategies, and challenges in model evaluation. The study concludes with a proposed innovative framework for more accurate and personalized diabetes detection, contributing to the advancement of diabetes research and highlighting the potential of AI-driven healthcare interventions. This research underscores the importance of comprehensive data integration and robust evaluation methods in enhancing diabetes detection and prediction.