Academic Debate Research Articles

Surveillance in literature: stalking in the name of safety

We have come a long way from the days of human spies to strange gadgets of James Bond or Mission Impossible to the microchips and drones to the government funded agencies like National Security agency that have access to all the telephone and Internet records through the Telecom companies. Surveillance can be viewed as a violation of privacy, while authoritarian governments seldom have any domestic restrictions as against the so called liberal democracy. Over the past 20 years surveillance has become an increasingly important topic within both academic and public debate. A society where privacy and human dignity is eroded or abolished completely or the social divisions and exclusions that are fostered warning us about the current trend of our age.

A Question of Age? Applying Desistance With Children

Youth justice in England and Wales has seen the increasing adoption of desistance thinking in recent years. There has been scarce academic debate of this development, despite the desistance evidence base focussing on adult pathways away from crime. This article examines the theorisation and application of desistance thinking with children, centring on the experiences and narratives of four ‘groups’ involved in the formal youth justice system in England and Wales, across two empirical studies. It challenges previous scholarship that denies the relevance of desistance theories to under-18s, arguing for progressive desistance practice that prioritises children’s healthy long-term development.

The post-hegemonic turn in humanitarian intervention: regional ownership and troubled great power management

Since the Great Recession in 2008, the academic debate has been flooded with literature that predicts the sunset of the liberal world order including the practice of humanitarian intervention as initiated at the United Nations (UN) in the early 1990s and regulated by the adoption of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) in 2005. In contrast, this article argues that the practice of humanitarian intervention continues to operate under post-hegemonic and multipolar conditions, but in new ways. Based on a theorization of fundamental institutional change and exploratory case studies of the international reactions to the humanitarian crises in Libya, Côte d’Ivoire, Syria and Mali, and supportive evidence from Gambia and DR Congo, we show that contemporary humanitarian intervention is closely related to a normalization of the fundamental institution of great power management and a regionalization of international society. In this post-hegemonic world order, humanitarian intervention is shaped, facilitated or hampered by various practices of great power management including concert, soft balancing and hard balancing. The return of great-power competition means an inconsistent and sometimes counterproductive resort to humanitarian intervention far from the ideals of the R2P, but the growing importance of regional ownership affects the great powers, keeps this potential response to mass atrocity crimes on the table and adds to its legitimacy.

Mapping the Technology Transfer Offices in Greece: Initial Outcomes Concerning Medical and Health Technologies and Next Steps

AbstractWhile the academic debate on how to transfer technology from universities and research centres to the society is not absent in Greece, yet the study of the institutions mediating in this process is not that advanced. Here, we present the results from our first survey on the Technology Transfer Offices of 12 major Greek universities and research centres. We analyse their structure, regulations and classification of services, and report on their industrial (patents, trademarks, etc.) and intellectual (copyright, digital content, etc.) property outputs. Furthermore, we explore potential patterns of collaboration. With a few notable exceptions in a limited number of aspects that formulate the everyday workings and performance indicators of the examined TTOs, findings indicate an underdeveloped ecosystem with significant room for improvement. The research presented here is part of a broader project, which aims to map the entire ecosystem of the Greek higher education institutions and research centres.

Rethinking the effect of ESG practices on profitability through cross-dimensional substitutability

Over the last thirty years, sustainable business practices and ESG ratings have become increasingly popular in the business context and academic debate. Nonetheless, due to differences in methodological and theoretical approaches, more consensus has yet to be reached in the economic literature on the relationship between ESG practices and financial performance at the firm level. This work addresses the question empirically, focusing on a sample of firms listed in the Euro Stoxx 300 index. Three novel indicators are proposed to measure the firm's sustainable practices and capture the business's Environmental, Social, and Governance (E, S, G) dimensions. These indicators combine qualitative ratings on adherence to ESG standards with quantitative observations on ESG data disclosure to account for strategic behaviors on the part of firms. A dynamic panel model is implemented, considering the three dimensions of ESG practices separately and introducing interaction terms to identify cross-dimensional substitutability/complementarity relations. The results indicate that environmentally friendly business practices are associated with increased profits, while trade-offs across ESG dimensions are revealed.

Urban (UMaaS) and rural (RMaaS) mobility as a service (MaaS): practical insights from international practitioners and experts

The concept and potential of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) has been the subject of significant debate in academia and industry for nearly a decade. There are several city-based Mobility as a Service (MaaS) pilots globally. There remains a significant lack of practitioner evidence of MaaS with the focus on city-based solutions rather than in rural and suburban areas. To that end, this paper asks four research questions to contribute to the gap in Rural MaaS (RMaaS) and Urban MaaS (UMaaS); firstly, is MaaS a mobility option for rural areas given the identified evidence in scientific literature? Secondly, how do practitioner experiences with MaaS (in all areas) differ considering factors like phraseology, geography, available modes, transportation, the origin and implementation stages? Thirdly, what practical learnings can be drawn from practitioners in the field? Fourthly, what is the future of MaaS for rural and urban areas. The research and findings are based upon grey literature and twenty semi-structured interviews with representatives from research or government organisations, public bodies, MaaS technology suppliers, transport operators and experts. Each participant discussed and contributed to the practicalities around real-world applications of MaaS in urban, regional, or rural areas. The analysis produced 2 applied tools which will be useful to practitioners interested in MaaS; a Thematic Map visualising the common matters emerging from the interviews revolving around ‘People, Policy, Practice and Pilots (4Ps); a Practical Framework for Implementing MaaS tool, which can be used by any practitioner at any stage of a MaaS project.

The Role of Court Interpreters Under the Attitude of Appraisal Theory Case Study on Sun Yang’s Public Hearing

The role of interpreters standing as a controversial topic has aroused unquiet debates in academia of interpreting studies. Traditional interpreting studies emphasize faithfulness during interpreting process and treat interpreters as handy tools for translation. However, at courts, the complication of the contents and various demands of parties bring the viewpoint of “translation machine” into question. On the other hand, the subjectivity of interpreters has received an increasing popularity in academic field. Based on the Attitude of Appraisal Theory promoted by James R. Martin, this paper tries to explore the role of court interpreters in the case of Sun Yang’s public hearing which was held by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in November, 2019. With the collection of the transcription of cross-examination of four witnesses, this study mainly identified and marked the attitudinal resources in original and interpreted texts by means of qualitative and quantitative research methods. The comparative analysis of the study reveals that there are some differences in attitudinal resources, accompanying with their realizations between the source and interpreted texts. The results indicate that interpreters can play multiple roles with “conduit” as their primary role and “helper” or “communication facilitator” as the secondary role. Besides the analysis of Sun Yang’s public hearing from appraisal perspective, this study is aiming to enhance court interpreters’ identification and emphasize interpreters’ subjectivity, as well as providing some insights for court interpreter training.

Role of miRNA in Cardiovascular Diseases in Children-Systematic Review.

The number of children suffering from cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) is rising globally. Therefore, there is an urgent need to acquire a better understanding of the genetic factors and molecular mechanisms related to the pathogenesis of CVDs in order to develop new prevention and treatment strategies for the future. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) constitute a class of small non-coding RNA fragments that range from 17 to 25 nucleotides in length and play an essential role in regulating gene expression, controlling an abundance of biological aspects of cell life, such as proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis, thus affecting immune response, stem cell growth, ageing and haematopoiesis. In recent years, the concept of miRNAs as diagnostic markers allowing discrimination between healthy individuals and those affected by CVDs entered the purview of academic debate. In this review, we aimed to systematise available information regarding miRNAs associated with arrhythmias, cardiomyopathies, myocarditis and congenital heart diseases in children. We focused on the targeted genes and metabolic pathways influenced by those particular miRNAs, and finally, tried to determine the future of miRNAs as novel biomarkers of CVD.

Interpretable Artificial Intelligence in Information Systems: Status Review and Future Research Directions

Efforts to develop black-box artificial intelligence (AI) systems have become a phenomenon of emerging global interest in academia, business, and society, and have led to the development of the XAI research field. With its pluralistic perspective, information systems (IS) research is destined to contribute to this emerging field; thus, it is not surprising that the number of research publications at XAI has increased significantly. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of XAI research in public and electronic markets, specifically using a structured literature review. Based on a literature review of 180 research papers, this work examines the most receptive points, the development of academic debates, and the most important concepts and methodologies. In addition, eight research areas with different levels of maturity in e-markets are identified. Finally, guidelines for the XAI research agenda in IS are presented

The impact of education on the transition from university students to entrepreneurs: a theory of planned behaviour perspective

PurposeEntrepreneurship represents a complex decision-making process capable of influencing the conditions of a socio-economic system. For this reason, stimulating entrepreneurship is a topic that has always fascinated scholars and attracted the attention of public policy makers. This study, from the perspective of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), aims to contribute to the analysis of entrepreneurial intention (EI) in university students. Factors such as entrepreneurship education (EE), mediation of personal attitude (PA), perceived behavioural control (PBC), EI, regulatory support (RS) and opportunity recognition (OR) for university students.Design/methodology/approachResearch data was collected using a questionnaire, and a cross-sectional sample was selected from senior business and engineering students who are most likely to participate in entrepreneurial activities. The survey was conducted in the Delhi NCR region. 240 students were interviewed. Partial least square structural equation modelling using SmartPLS-4 was used to test the explanatory and predictive power of the proposed model.FindingsThe results of this study offer interesting contributions to the academic debate. First, EE has a significant impact on PA, PBC and entrepreneurial intentionality. Second, PBC, recognition of opportunities and EI have a significant impact on entrepreneurial education. Finally, PA and PBC significantly mediate the “entrepreneurial education – entrepreneurial intention” relationship.Originality/valueInteresting elements of originality are offered by this study. First, entrepreneurship is studied as a decision-making process influenced by intentions and not behaviours. Second, the authors limited the efforts to unraveling the effect of the five variables on the formation of EI. Finally, the large size of the sample allows the authors to obtain significant results, directing future studies to other territorial contexts. Additionally, incorporating some control variables, such as gender and family background, would explore the relationship between the model variables more meaningfully.

What Strategic Planning Methods are Most Related to Higher Capacity Organizations: An Empirical Investigation

Considering the controversy around strategic planning effectiveness for nonprofits, we first ask, “Does strategic planning matter?”. A survey was administered to 1,256 nonprofit organizations to determine a. their capacity to plan and b. what strategic planning processes they used. Using regression analysis, it was found that the presence of a strategic plan acted as a statistically significant indicator of higher organizational capacity. Next, strategic methods were evaluated to determine which ones were associated with higher capacity scores. This research makes two main contributions. First, it enhances, using a large national sample the academic debate as to the usefulness of strategic planning. Second, for practitioners, this research demonstrates which strategic methods were found to be associated with the highest performing organizations, using our capacity indicator. Based on these findings we believe that nonprofit managers can optimize their resources and focus on those methods that provide them with the highest return on their strategic efforts. Additionally, nonprofit faculty now have data to suggest what strategic planning methods should be taught in our classrooms.

What do we talk about when we talk about the ‘return’ of geopolitics?

Abstract Western public and academic debates stipulate a ‘return’ of geopolitics, but confusion reigns over its substantial meaning. Recent scholarship has increasingly equated the term with the imperialist context in which ‘classical’ geopolitics first emerged, unmasking its spatial determinism but also losing sight of its geographic dimension. Today, geopolitics vaguely combines notions of systemic power competition in a neo-realist sense with constructivist ideas about spatially expansive authoritarianism. To address the resulting confusion, the article conducts interpretive process tracing and analyses how, throughout the twentieth century, classical geopolitics spatially substantiated systemic dynamics of shifting international power balances and broader political programmes such as imperialism, especially via competition on and over the Eurasian landmass. The article examines how, amid renewed competition with Russia and China over Eurasia—as well as doubts over the leanings of European and Asian middle powers in this contest—these traditional concerns reverberate even in contemporary western geopolitical debates characterized by vaguer definitions. This approach helps differentiate geopolitics from standard theories of International Relations and highlights how our unease with spatial arguments under liberal universalism drives today's largely metaphorical use of the term. American Cold War geopolitics, leveraged in defence of domestic democracy, emerges as a thought-provoking contrast.

TECHNOLOGICAL CLIMBING AND NATIONAL SECURITY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE PERFORMANCE OF HUAWEI AND TIKTOK IN BRAZIL AND THE USA

This article seeks to elucidate the different legal and regulatory approaches regarding the operations of Huawei and TikTok, in the USA and Brazil, respectively. By analyzing legislative and regulatory initiatives, judicial processes and other legal instruments concerning the performance of companies in both countries, we aim to contribute to the national academic debate and to the actions of legal operators and public policy makers, on some risks that companies act on. of Chinese technology and communication present. At the end of the work, we point out which solutions Brazil can develop so that it can at the same time safeguard its national sovereignty, but not take sides, in an increasingly tense and competitive technological geopolitical race.

COPYRIGHT PROTECTION APPLIED TO INTELLECTUAL WORKS CREATED WITH THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

The objective of this work is to contribute to the academic debate on the legal regime attributed to intellectual works created with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems, which are of particular importance for technological, scientific and innovation development in the current stage of development of this new technology. Copyright is founded on anthropocentric bases and has the specific purpose of protecting the author as the main recipient of Copyright Law. Currently, the Brazilian Copyright Law only protects intellectual works created by human beings. In this work, we intend to analyze these characteristics in light of the investigation of two scenarios, considering the effective participation of the human being in the result of creation generated by AI and the absence of human participation, with the autonomous creation undertaken by AI.

Effect of Global Economic Disparity on World Economy and Human Welfare

Global economic disparity refers to the unequal distribution of income and opportunity between different groups in society, especially between developed and less developed countries. The essay consists of five parts: an introduction, an analysis of the economic impact of disparity, a recommendation of Chinas stance, a discussion of the tools to carry out the stance, and a conclusion. The essay argues that global economic disparity is detrimental to the world economy and human welfare, and that China should adopt a global perspective and cooperate with developing countries to reduce disparity and promote mutual benefits. The essay suggests some possible ways for China to implement this stance, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, bilateral local currency swap agreements, and offshoring labor-intensive industries. The essay also acknowledges the risks and challenges involved in these actions, and calls for more research and dialogue on this issue. The essay aims to contribute to the academic debate on global governance and Chinas role in it.

Reactivating voices of the youth in safeguarding cultural heritage in Iraq: the challenges and tools

This article contributes to a growing academic debate about the role of young people in safeguarding the memory of the past to support post-war rebuilding through physical urban reform and national rebranding. It also provides new opportunities for young people to amplify their voices after years of struggle. We pose the following question: How can the youth better leverage heritage to emphasise commonalities, cultural links, and educational understanding, which can break down ideological barriers and create sustainable peace? Through a critical thematic analysis of 45 open-ended interviews held in Iraq, we developed a set of recommendations that allows the youth to engage in dialogue around the country and its cultural heritage through oral history, testimonies, and documentaries. The outcomes of this research could enable the youth to reflect on their interpretation of heritage contestation and their active role towards safeguarding Iraq’s cultural heritage.

Cost accounting practices in SMEs: liability of age and other factors that hinder or burst its implementation in turbulent years

AbstractThis study aimed to investigate the level of cost accounting (CA) implementation in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). CA is a management accounting tool whose application in small companies has always been difficult. Nevertheless, academicians and practitioners recommend CA implementation in SMEs, especially because of the deep market instability, competitive pressure, and margin erosion that have occurred following the COVID-19 pandemic and 2022 European war scenario. Company size influences CA implementation; however, it is not the only influencing factor and perhaps not even the most important. To investigate the barriers to the adoption of CA and which conditions or actions can remove these barriers, leveraging from the contingency theory, a questionnaire was sent out in July 2022 to limited liability SMEs operating in the manufacturing, construction, and distribution macro-sectors in Verona and Vicenza provinces (Italy). Respondents answered a set of questions regarding CA implementation in their SMEs as of July 2022. Using a multivariate regression model to analyze data from the 120 questionnaires received, we found that lack of resources, limited training and skills, firm age, and the presence of the founder in the firm had a negative influence on CA implementation in SMEs. The low level of CA implementation was also associated with its supposed inefficiency, uselessness, and unsuitability for business. The effect of company size on CA implementation was not statistically significant. Despite this study’s limitations regarding the sample and period considered, we believe that it contributes to both academic debates and practice by illustrating the limiting factors and ways in which CA implementation can be fostered in SMEs in turbulent years.

Progress, Academic Debates, and Future Prospects of Environmental Law Codification in China

Progress, Academic Debates, and Future Prospects of Environmental Law Codification in China

" Let me look again ": The Moral Philosophy and Literature Debate at 40

Abstract: This article explores the relationship between ethics and literature, particularly as it has been conceived in academic debates since the early 1980s. It offers a reconciliation of the dichotomy between literature and moral philosophy through the concept of bifocality : writing that responds to the moral demands of a lived reality in both a philosophical and literary way. I suggest that bifocal writing is often found in works of testimony. Primo Levi's 1986 work The Drowned and the Saved , a collection of essays on the significance of the Holocaust, is then presented as an arch example.

Empreendedorismo 50+: Superando barreiras e promovendo um ecossistema empreendedor

ABSTRACT Purpose: This article investigates the main initiatives that contribute to developing a sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) aimed at entrepreneurs 50+ (E50+) in Brazil. Originality/value: Entrepreneurs 50+ more present in political, social, and academic debates, and the EE emerge as a dynamic force that shapes the economic performance of regions, companies, and individuals. Entrepreneurs 50+ are active in various ecosystems, which can be formal—such as those composed of universities, governments, private initiatives, or funders—and informal—such as those formed by family, friends, or personal contacts. The lack of a specific representation for senior entrepreneurs in ecosystems has been the subject of discussions in the field of scientific knowledge of entrepreneurship. However, they are still incipient in studies in the area. Design/methodology/approach: This is a qualitative and descriptive research. Data was collected through a Focus Group conducted online with seven experts in 50+ entrepreneurship. The data was then entered into the ATLAS.ti software and analyzed using content analysis. Findings: The suggested initiatives focus on coaching training, access to financial resources, training and specialization courses, support, and communication from public and private entities. The survey results point to the need for greater attention from representative bodies concerning this specific niche, highlighting the importance of developing a set of political, governmental, and private initiatives. From an integrated perspective, there is a need to implement actions that minimize potential barriers and trends related to the growth of unemployment among older adults, whose objective is to promote the inclusion of entrepreneurs 50+ in the EE.