Choice Of Action Research Articles

A decision-support framework for the restoration of Cystoseira sensu lato forests

Macroalgal forests characterised by species of the genus Cystoseira sensu lato form important shallow coastal rocky habitats in the Mediterranean Sea. These forests support a high biodiversity and provide important ecosystem services and societal benefits. Currently these habitats are often in a poor condition in many areas, due to loss and degradation from both anthropogenic and climate stressors. Restoration has recently moved to the forefront of the United Nations and European Union agendas to reverse this trend, particularly in the last decade with the implementation of various international policies. However, this has been in the form of generic targets (e.g., restoration of 30% of degraded habitats by 2030) and has not been linked to specifically what habitat or species to restore, where and how. Initial targets have been missed, new targets are expected through the proposed EU Nature Restoration Law, but overall guidance is still lacking. There are few specific guides to marine habitat restoration limited to mostly seagrass, corals and shellfish. As a priority action for the recovery of coastal marine ecosystems a decision-support framework has been developed for the restoration of Mediterranean macroalgal forests, comprising a stepwise decision tree with additional descriptions of key elements to be considered for a restoration action. The decision tree includes steps concerning current and historical forest presence, site local condition assessment and choice of actions. Key considerations include restoration implementation (competence, society and support, finance and governance), success evaluation (at the target species and the ecosystem level) and long-term management. The framework builds on existing work on Cystoseira s.l. restoration, the work carried out in the EU AFRIMED project, but also on principles and guidelines in place for both generic and specific marine habitats. The work reported here has involved the expertise of scientists and information from stakeholders. Gaps were identified and recommendations were made, dealing with stressors, coordinating and networking stakeholders, integrating top down policy and bottom up initiatives, funding of restoration actions, establishing synergies between restoration, conservation and marine spatial planning and finally communication and publicity.

Strategic Optimization With Decision Theory: Unpacking the Operations Research Framework for Effective Decision Making

Making the right decisions can optimize resource utilization, increase operational efficiency, and strengthen competitive positions in the market. A decision, as a choice of action from various alternatives that fulfill one or more goals, has a significant impact on various related parties. Therefore, decision making is the main function for a leader, both in companies and public institutions. The technique of modifying data to increase its value and usefulness is known as data optimization. This entails converting unstructured data into a structured format, improving data quality, reducing duplication, and retrieving related information. This research was conducted using a narrative review model. The research method used is secondary data collected from various international journals, papers, and previous research papers used as data sources and analyzed by the author taking into account the problems considered in this research.

Choice of action for victims of cyber gender-based violence (sexting) via WhatsApp

This research is motivated by the development of information and communication technology, amid the widespread Internet network and the popular use of social media. This condition has increased the intensity of people's use of social media, one of which is WhatsApp. The use of WhatsApp not only brings positive value, but also has the potential to become a space for acts of harassment, which has an impact on the rise of cyber gender-based violence, one of which is sexting. The purpose of this study is to find out about the cyber gender-based violence (sexting) that occurs through WhatsApp in the campus environment. In particular, it aims to find out the victim's choice of action against the perpetrator in the case of cyber gender-based violence (sexting) via WhatsApp. The study uses a qualitative research method with a phenomenological approach. Supported by George Herbert Blumer's theory of symbolic interactionism, the results of this study show that sexting occurs in verbal and nonverbal forms. The perpetrators of sexting come from inside and outside the campus, with the status of the closest person to a stranger. The victim's actions toward the perpetrator are divided into three types of actions, namely, reporting, not reporting, and fighting back against the perpetrator. The action of not reporting is divided into four types of actions, namely, reprimanding, redirecting the conversation, blocking, and rejecting the perpetrator's call.

A Study at the political leaders and their personal ambitions & his works

In this Research Paper we have highlighted about the political leadership working and their personal ambitions for the welfare human mankind. We have to consider various effect on the society by the political leader given them motivations and actions of political leaders should be in the welfare of society for this we are exploring how their decisions and policies impact for the well-being of people. By examining their personal ambitions, we gain insight into their priorities, values, and goals, and how these influence their approach to governance. This analysis sheds light on the complex interplay between political leadership and the welfare of human mankind, providing a nuanced understanding of the factors that shape political decision-making and its impact on society. Leadership in politics has both a political and a technical side. It is very important to have robust and organized political backing, with ministers establishing the broad course of the Strategy, assuming personal accountability, coordinating related policies and budgets, and providing the necessary resources and manpower status needed to make decisions. This level should make sure that the overall political direction is clear, as well as give strategic guidance on themes and make action choices. A rotating president will be set up to make sure that everyone gets an equal amount of power. With the Commission's approval, it can be given to all involved States and Regions. As seen in other macro-regional strategies, it is a good idea to hold regular meetings of ministers and/or presidents of the Regions for each policy area, depending on how each State and Region is politically and institutionally set up. It would help keep the Strategy's political momentum going in the area and send clear political messages about what to do and what needs to be done first. Each country should show its commitment by making sure that the key partners in putting the Strategy into action, such as the coordinators and implementers at the level of objectives and actions, get the respect and legitimacy they need to do their jobs. They should get a clear job description, enough money and time, and the chance to work in good conditions and with the right national/regional administrative offices and policymaking and implementing bodies.

THREE PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSTANTS OF FREE WILL

The article examines the three psychological constants of free will: 1) the existence of a choice of actions, 2) independent decision-making, and 3) the variability of existing options. The author defines that the cancellation of one of the given constants will lead to the levelling of freedom of will. The article examines how limiting the options for choosing actions occurs by creating a dilemma, a false dilemma, or when we apply “Hobson's choice” or the catch-22 technique. The author emphasises that there are other ways of influencing free will, but they are united by a single goal – to create circumstances when the choice of actions will be limited. The academic proves that a person always has the freedom to choose actions. Exceptions are only cases of unconsciousness and not being aware of one's actions. The author substantiates the thesis that the basis of social relations is the concept of the existence of free will.

Geneology of Religious Thought and Activities of Ex-Terrorist Prisoners in Surakarta

This article aims to shed light on the roots of ex-jihadists' thinking and activities following their exit from the de-radicalisation programme. It seeks to continue the discussion on radicalism and de-radicalisation in Indonesia. Based on field data and interviews with several informants in Surakarta, this article explains that former jihadists have different ideological genealogies. However, after their departure from these groups and activities, there are similarities in terms of survival strategies. The results of this study also show that almost all of them experienced obstacles when they first returned to normal society. But now they have managed to carry out their activities as traders and entrepreneurs in their own way. Some of them are even able to create associations that voice the importance of upholding the spirit of nationalism and rejecting acts of terror. Applying Weber's theory of individual action, this article also shows a shift in rational action choices that are intertwined with quite complex interests.

Epistemology of Nationalism in the Context of National Jurisprudence at the Lirboyo Islamic Boarding School

This study discusses the epistemological reasoning of nationalism and national fiqh at Islamic boarding schools, especially at the Lirboyo Islamic Boarding School, Kediri, East Java. Lirboyo Islamic Boarding School was chosen purposively as the research location. With a case study approach, this article reveals the epistemological reasoning of nationalism that occurs and develops in the research location. The results of the study show that there has been a shift in the epistemology of nationalism. This epistemological shift can be seen from the inconsistency of meaning and choice of action taken. From the theory of social transformation, certain social constructions will also affect specific cognitions or awareness—likewise, the epistemology of nationalism at the Lirboyo Islamic Boarding School. During the phase of the struggle against Dutch colonialism, nationalism was interpreted as a form of jihad against non-Muslims, along with the emergence of an awareness of establishing an Islamic state. However, since the establishment of Ma'had Aly Lirboyo, which has the peculiarities of nationalism, nationalism has shifted in meaning to become a form of awareness against radicalism movements born of Islamic Group, such as Hizb at-Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) and the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). The assertion that the State of Indonesia is a state whose government is legitimate and opposing it is a prohibited action further confirms this shift in the epistemology of nationalism.

A Formal Metareasoning Model of Concurrent Planning and Execution

Agents that plan and act in the real world must deal with the fact that time passes as they are planning. When timing is tight, there may be insufficient time to complete the search for a plan before it is time to act. By commencing execution before search concludes, one gains time to search by making planning and execution concurrent. However, this incurs the risk of making incorrect action choices, especially if actions are irreversible. This tradeoff between opportunity and risk is the problem addressed in this paper. Our main contribution is to formally define this setting as an abstract metareasoning problem. We find that the abstract problem is intractable. However, we identify special cases that are solvable in polynomial time, develop greedy solution algorithms, and, through tests on instances derived from search problems, find several methods that achieve promising practical performance. This work lays the foundation for a principled time-aware executive that concurrently plans and executes.

Doing what’s not wanted: Conflict in incentives and misallocation of behavioural control can lead to drug-seeking despite adverse outcomes

Despite being aware of negative consequences and wanting to quit, long-term addicts find it difficult to quit seeking and consuming drugs. This inconsistency between the (often compulsive) behavioural patterns and the explicit knowledge of negative consequences represents a cognitive conflict which is a central characteristic of addiction. Neurobiologically, differential cue-induced activity in distinct striatal subregions, as well as the dopamine connectivity spiraling from ventral striatal regions to the dorsal regions, play critical roles in compulsive drug seeking. The focus of this work is to illustrate the mechanisms that lead to a cognitive conflict and it’s impact on actions taken i.e. addictive choices. We propose an algorithmic model that captures how the action choices that the agent makes when reinforced with drug-rewards become impervious to the presence of negative consequences that often follow those choices. We advance the understanding of having a decision hierarchy in representing “cognitive control” and how lack of such control at higher-level in the hierarchy could potentially lead to consolidated drug-seeking habits. We further propose a cost-benefit based arbitration scheme, which mediates the allocation of control across different levels of the decision-making hierarchy. Lastly, we discuss how our algorithmic model could help us understand how addictive drugs progressively hijack the dopamine-spiralling circuit at the neural implementation level.

Logics for Epistemic Actions: Completeness, Decidability, Expressivity

We build and study dynamic versions of epistemic logic. We study languages parameterized by an action signature that allows one to express epistemic actions such as (truthful) public announcements, completely private announcements to groups of agents, and more. The language 𝓛(Σ) is modeled on dynamic logic. Its sentence-building operations include modalities for the execution of programs, and for knowledge and common knowledge. Its program-building operations include action execution, composition, repetition, and choice. We consider two fragments of 𝓛(Σ). In 𝓛1(Σ), we drop action repetition; in 𝓛0(Σ), we also drop common knowledge. We present the syntax and semantics of these languages and sound proof systems for the validities in them. We prove the strong completeness of a logical system for 𝓛0(Σ) and the weak completeness of one for 𝓛1(Σ). We show the finite model property and, hence, decidability of 𝓛1(Σ). We translate 𝓛1(Σ) into PDL, obtaining a second proof of decidability. We prove results on expressive power, comparing 𝓛1(Σ) with modal logic together with transitive closure operators. We prove that a logical language with operators for private announcements is more expressive than one for public announcements.

Neuronal Representation of a Working Memory-Based Decision Strategy in the Motor and Prefrontal Cortico-Basal Ganglia Loops.

While animal and human decision strategies are typically explained by model-free and model-based reinforcement learning (RL), their choice sequences often follow simple procedures based on working memory (WM) of past actions and rewards. Here, we address how working memory-based choice strategies, such as win-stay-lose-switch (WSLS), are represented in the prefrontal and motor cortico-basal ganglia loops by simultaneous recording of neuronal activities in the dorsomedial striatum (DMS), the dorsolateral striatum (DLS), the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and the primary motor cortex (M1). In order to compare neuronal representations when rats employ working memory-based strategies, we developed a new task paradigm, a continuous/intermittent choice task, consisting of choice and no-choice trials. While the continuous condition (CC) consisted of only choice trials, in the intermittent condition (IC), a no-choice trial was inserted after each choice trial to disrupt working memory of the previous choice and reward. Behaviors in CC showed high proportions of win-stay and lose-switch choices, which could be regarded as "a noisy WSLS strategy." Poisson regression of neural spikes revealed encoding specifically in CC of the previous action and reward before action choice and prospective coding of WSLS action during action execution. A striking finding was that the DLS and M1 in the motor cortico-basal ganglia loop carry substantial WM information about previous choices, rewards, and their interactions, in addition to current action coding.

VUCA as a practical model: A commentary

VUCA discourses often get stuck in describing VUCA phenomena and their effects. The experience of a nonlinear world characterized by unpredictability, uncertainty and unplanability is commonly foregrounded at the expense of contemplating VUCA as an opportunity for systemic change. Too little attention is paid to concrete action strategies that help to move from situational analysis to deep understanding and proactive change planning. In this context, especially in the management of companies but also in political as well as civil society organizations, there is a constant challenge of remaining capable of acting under maximum uncertainty. In my commentary here, I describe my own path as an organizational coach from knowledge and understanding of VUCA to developing practical approaches to action and behavioural choices. I introduce a conceptual model of VUCA as a positive facilitator that aims at delivering effective principles whose claim is to be practical. I do this from the lens of a professional advisor whose focus is on encouraging, enabling and empowering.

Action choice shields against explicit and implicit affective influences on effort-related cardiac response

Action choice shields against explicit and implicit affective influences on effort-related cardiac response

Preservation of Community Values: Study of the Samin Bojonegoro Teaching Transformation Model Through the Education Unit Curriculum

This article explains the process of instilling values, which is carried out by internalizing community teachings through educational units. The internalization of values is achieved by inserting Samin's noble pitutur in PAI and PPKn subjects at elementary, middle and high school levels. The choice of this educational institution indicates that schools have a strategic role in preserving values. This participatory action research was conducted in Dusun, Japan, a hamlet inhabited by the Samin Bojonegoro community. This community adheres to the teachings of its ancestors. However, on the other hand, the openness in this community also allows for a permissive attitude, which has the potential to erode the strength of their traditions. The research was carried out for four months, starting with problem mapping, problem analysis and action involving traditional stakeholders, policy stakeholders and education stakeholders. The choice of action taken is to insert community values through Islamic Religious Education and Character subjects and Pancasila and Citizenship Education subjects. This insertion is a cultural preservation strategy that stakeholders consider to be the right step because, through this institution, children can internalize the noble values that exist around them.

Aggressive spectators in sporting milieus: A test of Situational Action Theory

ABSTRACT Violence among spectators in sports is a global phenomenon posing hazards for players, match officials, and other participants. Despite its widespread prevalence, scant criminological research has investigated the matter. To fill this void, this study examines the predictive efficacy of key theoretical constructs derived from Situational Action Theory on aggressive behaviour among a sample of 384 soccer spectators in Iran. Results reveal that crime propensity, criminogenic exposure, action alternatives, and choice have direct effects on spectator engagement in violent behaviour. Furthermore, results demonstrate that crime propensity and criminogenic exposure (propensity*exposure) and action alternatives and choice (action alternatives*choice) interact to increase violence among sport spectators in a manner consistent with the theory. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.

Design of experiments for the calibration of history-dependent models via deep reinforcement learning and an enhanced Kalman filter

Experimental data are often costly to obtain, which makes it difficult to calibrate complex models. For many models an experimental design that produces the best calibration given a limited experimental budget is not obvious. This paper introduces a deep reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm for design of experiments that maximizes the information gain measured by Kullback–Leibler divergence obtained via the Kalman filter (KF). This combination enables experimental design for rapid online experiments where manual trial-and-error is not feasible in the high-dimensional parametric design space. We formulate possible configurations of experiments as a decision tree and a Markov decision process, where a finite choice of actions is available at each incremental step. Once an action is taken, a variety of measurements are used to update the state of the experiment. This new data leads to a Bayesian update of the parameters by the KF, which is used to enhance the state representation. In contrast to the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency index, which requires additional sampling to test hypotheses for forward predictions, the KF can lower the cost of experiments by directly estimating the values of new data acquired through additional actions. In this work our applications focus on mechanical testing of materials. Numerical experiments with complex, history-dependent models are used to verify the implementation and benchmark the performance of the RL-designed experiments.

Addressing health inequalities in Europe: key messages from the Joint Action Health Equity Europe (JAHEE)

Health inequalities within and between Member States of the European Union are widely recognized as a public health problem as they determine a significant share of potentially avoidable mortality and morbidity. After years of growing awareness and increasing action taken, a large gap still exists across Europe in terms of policy responses and governance. With the aim to contribute to achieve greater equity in health outcomes, in 2018 a new Joint Action, JAHEE, (Joint Action Health Equity Europe) was funded by the third EU Health Programme, with the main goal of strengthening cooperation between participating countries and of implementing concrete actions to reduce health inequalities. The partnership led by Italy counted 24 countries, conducting actions in five policy domains: monitoring, governance, healthy living environments, health systems and migration, following a three-step implementation approach. Firstly, specific Policy Frameworks for Action (PFA) collecting the available evidence on what practice should be done in each domain were developed. Second, different Country Assessments (CAs) were completed to check the country’s adherence to the recommended practice in each domain. The gap between the expected policy response (PFA) and the present policy response (CA) guided the choice of concrete actions to be implemented in JAHEE, many of which are continuing even after the end of JA. Final recommendations based on the best results achieved during JAHEE were elaborated and agreed jointly with the representatives of the involved Ministries of Health. The JAHEE initiative represented an important opportunity for the participating countries to work jointly, and the results show that almost all have increased their level of action and strengthened their capacities to address health inequalities.

Using Rational Choice Theory to Explore Factors Impacting Contact Tracing Application Adoption

ABSTRACT Effective contact tracing is an important tool in trying to control the spread of highly infectious diseases. Utilizing the theory of reasoned action and rational choice theory, this study explores factors impacting the adoption of mobile contact tracing application. Findings indicate that perceived benefits of usage and perceived costs of non-usage positively impact an individual’s attitude toward usage intention, while information security concern as perceived cost of usage has a negative effect.

Identifying the Innovative Tension: A Meta-Analysis on Innovative Firm Behavior, Organizational Ambidexterity and Innovative Performance

Purpose –In terms of business activities determining which financial and human resources will use existing knowledge (exploitation) and which will make efforts to discover new knowledge (exploration) creates an innovative tension. Since the choice of innovative action leads to different expectations and different outputs, the cause and consequences of tension will also differ for each firm. Ultimately, the purpose of the study is to reveal the relation amongst innovative firm behavior, organizational ambidexterity,and innovative firm performance in the axis of innovative tension.Design/methodology/approach –In this study, meta-analysis was used to determine the effect size of innovative firm behavior on organizational ambidexterity and the effect size of organizational ambidexterity on innovative performance. To test the hypotheses determined in the research, the studies published since 2000 were reviewed and the appropriate ones were selected within the framework of certain criteria. The determined database is divided into two separate data sets (Dataset 1 consists of 19 studies, 30 effect values, 11246 samples -dataset 2 consists of 22 studies, 49 effect values, 98630 samples). The first data set was used to investigate the relation between innovative firm behavior and organizational ambidexterity and the second data set was used to test the relation amongst organizational ambidexterity and innovative firm performance.Findings –According to the effect size level obtained from the meta-analysis, it was found that innovative firm behavior has a positive and significant effect on organizational ambidexterity and organizational ambidexterity has a positive and significant effect on innovative performance.Discussion –Considering the requirements of the technology era we live in, it is necessary to take into account that innovative attitude and behavior, organizational ambidexterity, and innovative performance network have the power to determine not only the production of new products and services but also the rules of the competition game on the global basis. While the wrong choice to be made at this point will directly affect the life span of the firm, the right one will contribute to the effectiveness of a new actor at the level of macro competition.

Investigating the Probability of Potential Actions Performed by Drivers Experiencing Daytime Sun Glare-Induced Blindness

There has been extensive visual-disability-focused safety research resulting from various factors/conditions that have a significant impact on a driver’s ability to maneuver safely. One such critical condition among the major environmental issues that contribute to traffic crashes is daytime sun glare-induced temporary visual impairment. Nevertheless, the contribution of relevant factors to the choice of potential actions at the time of such crashes has not been widely studied. Approximately 3,000 crashes per year in the United States are attributed to sun glare, which may indicate that the driver had no control over the situation. Thus, this study investigated several factors to identify crashes that occurred, with acceptable certainty, under the direct influence of sun glare over 4 years (2014 to 2017) in Florida—“the Sunshine State.” A multinomial logistic regression model was developed to formulate relationships between crash-related contributing factors and to evaluate the likelihood of alternative actions being adopted by drivers experiencing sun glare. The results indicated that running red lights/stop signs was the most likely action one might take while experiencing this adverse condition, particularly on local roadways. A further consequence of sun glare is that drivers tend to follow the car in front too closely along segments with higher annual average daily traffic. The findings could help safety officials support the use of emerging intelligent transportation system technologies (i.e., automated traffic signal performance measures and cooperative intersection collision avoidance systems) to alert drivers of the possibility of a temporary vision impairment exactly when high-glare conditions exist.