Academic Value Research Articles

Observation of Ferroelectricity in Carbapenem Intermediates Enables Reactive Oxygen Species Generation by Ultrasound.

Organic ferroelectrics show great applications in the fields of biomedicine, including disease treatment, biosensors, and tissue engineering. Organosilicon pharmaceutical intermediates generally include chiral centers and have satisfying biosafety, biocompatibility, or even biodegradability, which provide versatile platforms for the design of ferroelectricity. However, their academic values in ferroelectricity have long been long overlooked. Here, we demonstrated the ferroelectric properties of 4-acetoxy-azacyclic butanone (4-AA), a key synthetic organosilicon-based intermediate of carbapenem drugs. This compound undergoes a 222F2-type ferroelectric-ferroelastic phase transition at 326 K. As an organic piezoelectric material, 4-AA can produce reactive oxygen species when subjected to ultrasonic vibrations. Combined with its desirable biocompatibility, this material may contribute to antimicrobial and wound healing, tumor treatment, etc. This work will provide inspiration for the discovery of multifunctional biomedical ferroelectric materials as well as their related application prospects.

Academic Cheating, Achievement Orientations, and Culture Values: A Meta-Analysis

This preregistered meta-analysis investigated whether cultural values moderate the relations between students’ achievement orientations and their tendency to cheat. We identified 80 studies on the associations between performance/learning orientations and academic cheating in 27 countries with 40,867 participants. Performance orientation positively correlates with academic cheating ( r = .09, 95% CI = 0.04 to 0.13), and learning orientation negatively correlates with academic cheating ( r = −.16, 95% CI = −0.20 to –0.13). Univariate meta-analysis, hierarchical meta-regression, and meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) revealed that cultural values at the country level significantly moderate the relations between achievement orientations and cheating. These findings suggested that cultural values play a significant role in influencing the relations between achievement orientations and academic cheating, and, thus, cheating prevention programs must consider culture to achieve optimal effects. Based on these findings, we propose a new model that integrates cultural values into the existing model of academic cheating decision-making.

Researcher identities and values in the impact agenda: the case of artificial intelligence academics

AbstractA major shift in the research sector has been the increased expectation from policymakers and funders that academic research should yield some socioeconomic benefits or ‘impacts’ rather than merely new knowledge. In this paper, we explore the role that impact has in academics’ motivations and values and how impact is being integrated into academics’ core functions of research and education. We do this through in-depth interviews (n = 60) with scientists who work on the development or application of artificial intelligence (AI), broadly defined. This AI’s focus situates our participants within a strategically important, high-priority area of research for all three national contexts included in our study—Australia, the UK and the USA. Our findings reveal that the impact mission has become central to understanding the motivations and values of academics, but unevenly. We identify divergence between those who work on AI from a foundational computer science perspective and those who develop and apply AI within other scientific domains. The two groups have different understandings of key notions such as ‘impact’ and ‘applied research’, as well as different ways of integrating the impact agenda into their research and education activities. The study highlights the importance of flexible approaches to research policy and governance that are based on a deeper understanding of what motivates researchers, and that take into account academics’ educational role. Greater holistic understanding of how academic identities and practices are accommodating the impact agenda is essential to maximise synergy across activities and avoid unintended consequences.

The Shadows of Internationalisation

This forum proposes the use of concept of “shadows” in the analysis of internationalisation policies to make visible the decision-making processes and practices appearing at all levels of internationalisation policies. We focus on the problematic effects appeared at the intersect of internationalisation policies implemented by the countries perceived academic values differently on example of Finland as the EU member state and pre-war Russia. We consider these effects as preventing equal access to quality higher education and life-long learning for all (SDG4, target 4.3). The forum conceptualises the lessons of the EU/Finnish-Russian internationalisation for further usage the suggested theoretical lens in policy implementation in other countries developed their own internationalisation policy on different value basis. This study address to what happens when the internationalisation policies promoted European view on fundamental academic values, are implemented with such policies in the countries where these values are perceived in another way. We answer the question of how and why the shadows of internationalisation appear and have an impact at a macro-, meso-, and micro-level, and conceptualize them for future policy improvement. The forum discusses the implications of internationalisation policies from the practice perspective and what might be learnt by the stakeholders previously involved in these cooperation partnerships.

The Mediating Role of Teacher Efficacy Between Academic Self-Concept and Teacher Identity Among Pre-Service Physical Education Teachers: Is There a Gender Difference?

The aim of this study was to analyse the differentiated role played by academic self-concept on teacher identity, taking into account the mediating role of teacher efficacy and the gender of the pre-service physical-education teachers. In this cross-sectional study, 478 master’s degree students in Secondary Education Teacher Training participated (Mean = 27.09; SD = 6.32; 54.8% male, 44.8% female, 0.4% other). The following scales were used: academic self-concept, teaching identity, and teacher self-efficacy. After finding significant differences in academic effort, a structural equation analysis (SEM) with the multigroup option was conducted to answer the research objective. The results revealed that the women had significantly higher mean academic effort values than the men. In addition, the SEM, which showed excellent fit indices, revealed that, for the men, teacher efficacy acted as a mediating variable between academic confidence and teacher identity. In contrast, for the women, teacher efficacy acted as a mediator between academic effort and teacher identity. However, academic effort also acted as a direct predictor of teacher identity in male pre-service teachers. As a main conclusion, it can be said that the findings highlight the importance of academic self-concept in undertaking the master’s degree by increasing teacher identity through the teaching efficacy of pre-service teacher educators.

IPA를 활용한 제주 향토음식점 선택속성의 중요도와 만족도에 관한 연구 - 제주 향토음식점 방문객을 대상으로

Objective : The purpose of this study is to provide basic data to foster local food on Jeju Island in response to increasing interest and comsumption of healty life after COVID-19. In addition, this study aimed to supplement the lack of research, which focused on Jeju Island and consumer perspectives, and provide strategic implications. Methods : For selection attributions, this study targeted consumers used local food restaurants on Jeju Island. In selection attributes which fits more with Jeju Island, this study conducted an in-depth interview with 3 experts. This study also used a total of 185(91%) copies for statistical analysis to conduct IPA analysis. Results : As a results of 31 selection attribute items, most of the items were distributes in the first and third quadrant. In addition, the price of the menu and convenience of the parking lot were placed in the second quadrant. Implications : This study holds academic value for deriving selection attributes that reflect regional characteristics through experts related to Jeju local food. “Food price” is expected to require future research and development to preserve local specialties and “convenience of parking facilities” is also expected to require the construction of additional parking towers and public parking lots.

Research on How the Digital Economy Contributes to Achieving A High-Level and Balanced Development of the Elderly Care Service Industry

Abstract China’s aging population has gained significant attention. Population aging implies that the demand for elderly care services will be on the rise. However, China’s aging exhibits a notable characteristic of getting old prior to achieving affluence, which directly constrains the enhancement of the level of elderly care services. The Communist Party of China and the government attach considerable importance to the issue of population aging and pensions. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee adopted the Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Promoting Chinese-Style Modernization, emphasizing that “we should actively respond to population aging and improve the development of elderly care and elderly care industry policy mechanisms.” Regarding the supply of pension services, due to the professional and long-term nature of pension services, the supply cost remains high. The contradiction between the low level of demand and the high cost of supply might lead to the “low-level equilibrium trap” of the elderly service industry. The digital economy has achieved remarkable effects in promoting the elderly care service industry. It has played a vital role in optimizing the allocation of elderly care resources, reducing the cost of elderly care services, and creating a superior elderly care ecosystem. In this context, it holds considerable academic value and practical significance to study the impact of the digital economy on the development of pension service industry, to analyze the digital divide and bridge the path for the development of the pension service industry, and to explore the countermeasures and ideas of the digital economy to facilitate the high-level, balanced, and high-quality development of the pension service industry.

Eco-Friendly Office Platform: Leveraging Machine Learning and GIS for Carbon Footprint Management and Green Space Analysis

This research focuses on developing an innovative platform to manage carbon footprint data related to office activities and monitor green spaces, integrating geoinformatics and machine learning technologies. The platform addresses the lack of automated systems for tracking carbon emissions, particularly in high paper consumption environments, such as those involving printing and photocopying. Additionally, it monitors green spaces within corporate settings, an aspect often overlooked in existing systems. The study demonstrates the platform’s capability to automate carbon footprint calculations and provide accurate assessments of green areas, achieving a high accuracy rate of 96.22% and a Kappa coefficient of 0.92. The results confirm the platform’s ability to deliver both comprehensive and granular environmental insights, supporting decision making for more sustainable office environments. The key novelty of this study lies in the integration of real-time data capture with geoinformatics and machine learning to efficiently track both carbon footprints and green spaces. This approach offers a practical solution to a gap in environmental data management in office settings, enabling organizations to align their practices with sustainability goals. The platform’s precise, automated system contributes significantly to the development of eco-friendly workplaces, highlighting its academic and practical value in the field of environmental sustainability.

Analysis of the internal environment when creating an innovative university

Subject. The article discusses the creation of innovative universities. Objectives. The purpose is to analyze the internal environment in the formation of an innovative university and to investigate the factors of resistance to organizational changes. Methods. The survey was attended by scientific and pedagogical staff of two innovative universities: 170 people from the Institute of Economics and Entrepreneurship of the National Research Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod and 50 people. from the economics faculties of the Nizhny Novgorod Branch of the Higher School of Economics. Results. We analyzed internal environment and studied organizational changes aimed at creating new social mechanisms and channels of interaction with the State, industry and society. Furthermore, we considered the factor of resistance to organizational changes and the possibility of its reduction. The paper presents the results of diagnostics of the resistance force in two universities. Conclusions. The leading organizational factor (prerequisite) for the emergence of resistance is an imperfect system of organizational communications. The priority task of university management is to create an operational and objective system for informing employees about the goals, methods and results of changes. The most significant psychological reasons for the emergence of resistance are the fear of negative consequences of changes and misalignment of changes with traditional academic values.

Academic journal website from the user’s perspective

Professional community recommendations on the content of academic journal websites mostly include criteria for indexing in databases, however these recommendations do not consider the authors’ and reviewers’ perspective on the website contents and design. To address this, we analyzed these recommendations through a survey of 198 Russian academic journal authors and reviewers, using a continuous sampling technique. The survey took place in April and May 2024. The questionnaire was based on the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing by COPE, DOAJ etc. The survey also focused on the journal website content, design, mobile version, and publication strategy of academic journal website users. We analyzed the survey results for two partially overlapping sets of authors who published in journals indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus, and Russian Citation Science Index Core, or in journals listed by the Higher Attestation Commission of Russian Federation. The study revealed that both COPE’s recommendations and users of academic websites value information regarding aims and scope of the journal, copyright fees, review policies, timelines for the editorial and publication process, and licensing. However, Russian authors and reviewers put less emphasis on website sections that address ethical principles and authorship criteria. They prioritize having an online editorial office, security certification, scientific journal indexing and abstracting information, additional educational materials, and the ability to customize the website for devices with different screen sizes. We also discuss the importance of HTML meta tags for promoting the journal’s website. The findings of the research may contribute to promotion of Russian academic journals in international databases, improve the efficiency of communication between authors, reviewers and editors, and develop a set of recommendations that complement international publishing conventions.

An examination of sources fostering student teachers’ academic well-being

ABSTRACT This study examined student teachers’ perspectives on the sources of their academic well-being within the context of a four-year undergraduate teacher education programme in Qatar. A survey was developed and validated using a conceptual framework entailing cognitive, social and emotional dimensions. Statistical analyses involving 806 responses revealed five factors that contributed to participants’ academic well-being, namely: (F-1) self-regulated learning, (F-2) academic values, (F-3) social engagement, (F-4) peer learning and (F-5) emotional engagement. Comparative analyses between gender, age, reported GPA and credit hours verified the different influence of the five factors on fostering academic well-being. These results are further discussed in light of implications for using the validated instrument and devising tailored interventions.

Rational Design for Enhancing Cellobiose Dehydrogenase Activity and Its Synergistic Role in Straw Degradation.

Addressing the demand for efficient biological degradation of straw, this study employed rational design coupled with structural biology and enzyme engineering techniques to enhance the catalytic activity of cellobiose dehydrogenase (PsCDH, CDH form Pycnoporus sanguineus). By predicting and modifying the active site and key amino acids of PsCDH, several CDH immobilized enzyme preparations with higher catalytic activities were successfully obtained. The excellent mutant T1 (C286Y/A461H/F464R) exhibited a 2.7-fold increase in enzyme activity compared to the wild type. Simulated calculations indicated that the enhancement of catalytic activity was primarily due to the formation of additional intermolecular interactions between CDH and the substrate, as well as the enlargement of the substrate pocket to reduce steric hindrance effects. Additionally, molecular dynamics simulation analysis revealed a potential correlation between structural stability and enzyme activity. When PsCDH was added to a multienzyme synergistic straw degradation system, the cellulose degradation rate increased by 1.84-fold. Moreover, mutant T1 further increased the degradation of lignocellulose in the mixed system. This study provides efficient enzyme sources and modification strategies for the high-efficiency biological conversion of straw and unconventional feedstock degradation, thereby possessing significant academic value and application prospects.

Public sentiment and ethical considerations of ChatGPT in higher education: Insights from data analytics of conversations on platform X

In today’s fast-paced digital world, generative AI, especially OpenAI’s ChatGPT, has become a game-changing technology with significant effects on education. This study examines public sentiment and discourse surrounding ChatGPT’s role in higher education, as reflected on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). Employing a mixed-methods approach, we conducted a thematic analysis using Leximancer and Voyant Tools and sentiment analysis with SentiStrength on a dataset of 18,763 tweets, subsequently narrowed to 5655 through cleaning and preprocessing. Our findings identified five primary themes: Authenticity, Integrity, Creativity, Productivity, and Research. The sentiment analysis revealed that 46.6% of the tweets expressed positive sentiment, 38.5% were neutral, and 14.8% were negative. The results highlight a general openness to integrating AI in educational contexts, tempered by concerns about academic integrity and ethical considerations. This study underscores the need for ongoing dialogue and ethical frameworks to responsibly navigate AI’s incorporation into education. The insights gained provide a foundation for future research and policy-making, aiming to enhance learning outcomes while safeguarding academic values. Limitations include the focus on English-language tweets, suggesting future research should encompass a broader linguistic and platform scope to capture diverse global perspectives.

Dimensional Interaction, Intimacy Building: Roles of Perceived Intimacy and Parasocial Effects on Fans Relations with Virtual Idols

Abstract: The appearance of virtual idols has introduced discussions about the connection with fans, even though their idols are always disembodied and fictitious. To some degree, the theory of parasocial interaction can have academic value in the virtual characters, extending beyond the impact on the real stars and fans. This study emphasizes particularly on exploring the role of intimacy in the parasocial relationship, which contains the perspective of fan psychology and youth subculture. By exerting structured interview, the survey collects records from 7 college students who are fans of popular virtual idols including A-SOUL, Luxiem, LASER, etc. The results provide insights into how fans perceive the presence of intimacy and what factors influence the levels of intimacy based on the behaviors of online media usage. Compared with the real idols and life, there are some findings showcasing characteristics of virtual idol-fan intimacy when fans have developed the parasocial interaction.

The Dual Leverage and Mechanism of ESG Information Disclosure on Investor Behavior

Abstract: With the global emphasis on sustainable development, ESG information disclosure has become a key factor for investors to assess corporate value and risk. The academic value of this paper lies in an in-depth analysis of the reverse effect, which is not mentioned in most literature. It stands from the perspective of investors' investment purposes and interests, the attitudes of long-term investors who desire sustainable development and short-term investors who only care about immediate returns in a short period when facing ESG information disclosure. On the other hand, there are negative impacts on investors due to reasons such as government policy standards or the level of corporate ESG information disclosure itself, which may also prevent investors from achieving their expected goals, leading to investment risks and ultimately investors may flow out of the company. At the same time, some external factors can also lead to a dual leverage effect, such as the economic slowdown caused by the pandemic.

Hemodynamics simulation and analysis of left coronary artery aneurysms with concomitant stenosis

The hemodynamic parameters in arteries are difficult to measure non-invasively, and the analysis and prediction of hemodynamic parameters based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has become one of the important research hotspots in biomechanics. This article establishes 15 idealized left coronary artery bifurcation models with concomitant stenosis and aneurysm lesions, and uses CFD method to numerically simulate them, exploring the effects of left anterior descending branch (LAD) stenosis rate and curvature radius on the hemodynamics inside the aneurysm. This study compared models with different stenosis rates and curvature radii and found that as the stenosis rate increased, the oscillatory shear index (OSI) and relative residence time (RRT) showed a trend of increase; In addition, the decrease in curvature radius led to an increase in the degree of vascular curvature and an increased risk of vascular aneurysm rupture. Among them, when the stenosis rate was less than 60%, the impact of stenosis rate on aneurysm rupture was greater, and when the stenosis rate was greater than 60%, the impact of curvature radius was more significant. Based on the research results of this article, it can be concluded that by comprehensively considering the effects of stenosis rate and curvature radius on hemodynamic parameters, the risk of aneurysm rupture can be analyzed and predicted. This article uses CFD methods to deeply explore the effects of stenosis rate and curvature radius on the hemodynamics of aneurysms, providing new theoretical basis and prediction methods for the assessment of aneurysm rupture risk, which has important academic value and practical guidance significance.

Exploring information demand in the maritime industry: a Google Trends approach

ABSTRACT The fundamental impetus for this research is the documented wide use of Google and the ensuing applications of Google Trends in behavioural economics. Expanding the existing literature, we focus on addressing the question of whether information demand from individual investors can reflect a freight rates sentiment. This is achieved by analysing Google queries referring to investment in maritime stocks and other related markets. These searches comprise essentially a blend of information and intuition. More specifically, we examine whether the most frequently searched term and topic referred to Baltic Dry Index (BDI) can serve as a reliable and valid positive or negative sentiment market proxies. We find a negative impact on freight rates, capital markets, and the number of available dry bulk fleet, providing evidence aligned with the risk-averse investor theory. We unveil bidirectional interactions between our sentiment index and the two out of three examined maritime markets, supporting the rejection of the efficient market hypothesis. Our study also verifies the similar effects of information demand and media-produced sentiment indexes on the corresponding market. We succeed in confirming sentiment’s predictability out-of-sample for BDI. Beyond the academic value, our findings suggest a manner of enhancing the accuracy of freight rates predictions for practitioners.

Institutional Mechanisms for Enhancing Production of Doctoral Research Outputs at Makerere University

In the contemporary knowledge society, research production is being re-purposed in terms of not just its academic value, but also its wider societal value. As such, doctoral research ought to be produced in the context of application. Therefore, universities have a responsibility to enhance the uptake and use of doctoral research outputs. This necessitates institutional mechanisms for enhancing the production of doctoral research outputs for uptake and use beyond the academia. We examined the institutional mechanisms for enhancing production of doctoral research outputs at Makerere University using the research knowledge infrastructure (RKI) framework as the analytical lens. This was in light of the dismal uptake and use of research produced at Makerere University by students and staff. We used qualitative single case study research design. We collected data through interviewing and review of documents. We interviewed 10 doctoral program coordinators, three managers of research and graduate training and 13 PhD students we selected purposively. We reviewed seven institutional documents pertaining graduate training at Makerere University: two plans, three policies, one framework and one guideline. We used thematic data analysis to make sense of the data. The findings revealed that due to policy-practice gaps and funding constraints, mechanisms to enhance doctoral research production to facilitate uptake and use of doctoral research outputs beyond the academia were not adequately integrated into doctoral research training. This was shown by the lack of mechanisms to enhance doctoral research commissioning and execution, and gaps in priority setting. Opportunities for productive interactions between doctoral researchers and potential users were missed. As such, doctoral research outputs largely remained within the scholarly community. We recommend that the university should establish interface structures and co-creation spaces to leverage doctoral research commissioning, execution and priority setting to facilitate the uptake and use of doctoral research outputs beyond the scientific community

Development and maturation of school principals’ viewpoint of physical education's value to the academic mission

School principals are responsible for leadership toward meeting an academic mission predicated on student achievement in core subjects. Socialization experiences of principals relative to physical education (PE) may impact their perception of PE's academic value. Our purpose was to investigate the development and maturation of school principals’ perspective of the value of PE to their school’s academic mission. Eleven principals completed two in-depth interviews about their perception of PE's value to their school's academic mission. Interviews occurred prior to and following their PE teacher participating in extended professional development. Principals observed and assessed the teaching performance of their current PE teacher on two separate occasions between interviews. Occupational Socialization Theory guided inquiry and analysis. Principals’ positive and negative experiences during K-12 influenced their beliefs about the value of PE to the academic mission and were evident in performance expectations of their respective PE teacher. Professional training had little effect, but instructional leadership interactions with their PE teacher impacted principals’ beliefs about PE's value to the school’s academic mission. Positive changes in principal perceptions about the academic nature of PE were noted over the course of the study. Principal preparation programs offer little guidance in supporting PE. Opportunities to observe and reflect upon best practices with PE teachers may positively alter their beliefs. More guidance on evaluating teachers of specific content areas such as PE is warranted, and PE teachers may offset marginalization by engaging their principal about best practices that align with and support the school’s academic mission.

SUSTAINABILITY OF E-LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The present study examines the sustainability of e-learning strategies integrated into higher education, with a particular focus on computer science disciplines. As part of a pedagogical experiment conducted at the Technical University of Moldova (TUM), 259 students were evaluated post-experimentally to analyze the effectiveness and long-term impact of these strategies on academic performance and the development of professional skills. The results demonstrated that the implementation of the e-learning-centered pedagogical model led to significant improvements in students' cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement, thus confirming the sustainability and relevance of these instructional methods. The contribution of this study lies in highlighting the academic and scientific value of effectively integrating e-learning strategies into the university educational process, as well as in formulating well-founded recommendations for optimizing e-learning strategies to meet the current demands of higher education.