Biographical Data Research Articles

Akiga Sai from the perspective of Dutch Reformed Church missionaries:

Akiga Sai (1898-1959) is heralded as one of the few indigenous African anthropologists and historians of the early twentieth century. His work for the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (DRCSA) as evangelist, teacher, and translator (1915-1945), however, is under-researched. Furthermore, despite the significance of Sai’s life and work, no biography of his life has been published. This article illustrates that it is possible to extract valuable biographical and contextual data regarding Sai from the records of the DRCSA Sudan Mission, demonstrating the collection’s value regarding early documentation of indigenous communities. By compiling a partial biographical profile of the Nigerian Tiv writer, politician, translator, and evangelist Akiga Sai as a case study, this article highlights the importance of the DRCSA’s archival collections, specifically the documentation relating to the Cape Synod’s Sub-Commission for Foreign Missions [Buitelandse Sending Subkommissie]. Part of the DRCSA’s heritage is its archive: the rich and varied sources, available in a wide variety of languages, contains valuable information about aspects of (Southern) African history unavailable elsewhere.

Palmar Displacement in Distal Radius Fractures following Extension Injuries of the Wrist

Fractures of the distal radius have been traditionally classified based on the suspected mechanism of injury. Among clinicians, the terms "Colles" and "Smith" fractures are commonly used to refer to a distal radius fracture that is either displaced to the dorsal (Colles) or palmar (Smith) side of the radius. When analysing x-rays, it is not uncommon for a Smith fracture to be detected in cases where patients describe a fall on the wrist in an extended position. Thus, the question arises how a flexion-type fracture can occur after an extension injury. So far, only little research has been conducted into this subject. The aim of this study was to analyse the mechanisms of injury that lead to various types of distal radius fractures. Particular emphasis was placed on "Smith" fractures and on the biomechanical, physiological and anatomical characteristics that contribute to their occurrence. To assess these relationships, data of fractures were collected following a life-like fracture simulation using a "drop-bench" in non-formalin fixated human specimens. These fractures were produced between January 2016 and December 2021. Biographic data of all specimens used were available. Additionally, all biomechanical and physical characteristics of the fracture simulation were fully documented. Of the 122 specimens with a full data set, 17 (13.9%) fractures were determined to be Smith fractures based on their radiological appearance. In 10 of these flexion fractures, the wrist was set in dorsal extension. The mean angle of extension was 86.3 degrees for flexion fractures compared to 90.5 degrees for extension fractures. Six out of 10 Smith-type fractures that were set in dorsal extension were also exposed to pronation, whereas only one was exposed to supination. The mean potential energy for fracture creation was 168.0 joules for Smith fractures in dorsal extension, whereas all other fractures showed a mean of 185.2 joules. It can be concluded that a Smith fracture is not limited to being the result of a fall on the wrist in a flexed position. The same fracture may also be the result of a fall with the wrist in an extended position if certain physical factors are applicable.

Tradeoffs between privacy and screening efficiency for air passengers – Implications for tourism supply chain management

ABSTRACT This study employs the stated preference method to explore airline passengers’ choices during security screening and examines their trade-offs between privacy and efficiency. We compare two Asian economic hub cities (i.e. Hong Kong and Shanghai), with 500 business and leisure travellers sampled from each city. A generalised mixed multinomial logit model is estimated. The results suggest that travellers display varied levels of privacy concerns, including biometrics, biographical data, identifiers, and behavioural information. The participants from Shanghai expressed a willingness to go through fingerprint scanning and to provide facial images. The travellers in Hong Kong displayed notable reluctance to receive iris scans and disclose political and religious affiliations, and they were particularly hesitant about sharing medication records. Despite some differences between the two markets, both groups strongly opposed smartphone tracking, including access to search history and GPS location. In general, business (vs. leisure) travellers, men (vs. women), individuals with higher education levels, and those with higher personal monthly incomes strongly preferred fast-track schemes that utilised personal data. Our findings highlight the possibility of making more effective transitions to high-tech screening methods that meet the changing expectations of travellers if total screening time can be significantly decreased.

Векторы социальной психологии: опережая время (к 100-летию со дня рождения Галины Михайловны Андреевой)

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Objective.</strong> Analysis of the main methodological and theoretical directions in social psychology developed by Professor Galina Mikhailovna Andreyeva, one of the founders of Russian social psychology; consideration of the key problems of modern social psychology. <br><strong>Background. </strong>The vectors of scientific knowledge identified by G.M. Andreyeva and the problems she developed in the field of social psychology have become general methodological principles in various fields of psychological science. Among them there are the problems of joint activity and communication, which have become the basis for the study of social groups and personality. A fundamental principle of the new paradigm of social psychology offered by G.M. Andreyeva, – the issues of the influence of the social context and the influence of social changes on the formation (construction) of a person's world image and his social behavior. Significant moments in the field of social cognition created by G.M. Andreyeva are highlighted. The potential of her main ideas in modern psychology is shown. The main biographical data of Galina Andreyeva are presented, showing her life path and significant for the creation of the G.M. Andreyeva School of Social Psychology at Moscow University. <br><strong>Methodology.</strong> The article uses methods of deductive analysis; methods of historical and psychological hermeneutics. <br><strong>Conclusions.</strong> The main scientific ideas of G.M. Andreeva not only became the theoretical and methodological basis for understanding and explaining the fundamental problems of socio-psychological knowledge, but also made a huge contribution to understanding the ongoing social changes.</p>

Informality and Relations in International Judicial Appointments: Evidence from Sub-regional Courts in Africa

Abstract Informality in international judicial selection practices has been acknowledged but rarely systematically researched. Described as “design innovations” that are hard to grasp, national judicial appointments to international courts (IC s), even in the most established democracies, are permeated by opacity and secretiveness that remains puzzling to researchers and the legal complex alike. This article presents evidence from three African sub-regional courts to reify the informal dimension of international judicial appointments. Drawing on qualitative research that employs two country case studies, Uganda and Malawi, we demonstrate how the particularly thin formal selection rules leave much leverage to informalities at various levels of governance. Through interviews and judicial biographical data, we reconstruct judicial appointment practices and their dynamics to account for relevant informalities and relations that shed light on the selection of judges to IC s. We argue that appointment practices are less ad hoc or arbitrary than they often appear but mirror the states’ commitment to regional integration, political assessment of the respective regional organisation, and perceptions of the courts’ relevance and ambitions in relation to the political appointers and selectors. Moreover, we raise new concerns about the risk of more silent and subtle backlash against bold regional courts.

Health Data Exchange: A Search Engine to Identify Health Experts

ABSTRACTThe study proposes and describes a novel system called the Health Data Exchange. HDX is useful for identifying relevant experts in healthcare based on specific skill sets and their cohorts. Initial experience suggests that an expert database based on biographical data can be developed. Several techniques for automatically identifying the critical data, data normalization, storage, and retrieval are described that supported the development of the system. Such a system has the potential to facilitate efficient search and foster global collaboration among healthcare experts.

KARL ORFF AND SHINICHI SUZUKI ON THE IMPORTANCE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD MUSIC EDUCATION

In this article the authors consider pedagogical concepts of Karl Orff (Germany) and Shinichi Suzuki (Japan), regarding music education of young children. As is known, they dedicated their lives to the musical and aesthetic education of children and made an invaluable contribution in world music pedagogy. Leading scientists and researchers highly rate their activities. The article presents an analysis of scientific sources, brief biographical data and information. In particular, it is reveals that the creative atmosphere in his family influenced the becoming of K. Orff as a composer, musician and teacher. The desire for improvisation, composing music, poems and stories, staging theatrical performances became the core that contributed to the emergence of an integral system of music-aesthetic education of children called «Orff-pedagogy». Its basic principle defined by the concept of «learning-doing creating». Various types of musical activities, on which he relied in his work, aimed to emotional-creative and moral-aesthetic education of the younger generation.The uniqueness of Suzuki's method emphasized by the necessity of forming creative activity in the process of musical-performance activity, in particular, in playing the violin, from the earliest childhood. The materials of the article also allow us to understand that Suzuki's "method of talent education" implies: reliance on the belief, regardless of the child's capabilities, that every child has musical abilities; manifestation of the teacher's love for young performers; training them to creative labor; joint work of the teacher and parents in the musical education of children; manifestation of care and mutual assistance.In spite of the fact that K. Orff and S. Suzuki are representatives of different ethnic groups, cultures and traditions, but their pedagogical views have much in common. This is, above all, the manifestation of great love for children, the desire to bring them up to be creatively active not only in the process of communicating with music, but also in their relationship with the world around.

Can A Swallow Screen Score Be Used To Prioritise Dysphagia Assessments By A Speech And Language Therapist?

Abstract Background Dysphagia refers to any difficulty or discomfort associated with eating or swallowing. The prevalence is 10-50% in older persons and is associated with increased dependency and mortality. A non-validated Swallow Screen (SwSc) is used by a Community Specialist Team (CST) for older persons during Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) to identify patients requiring Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) referral. The SwSc comprises 7 questions with “yes” or “no” answers. “Yes” answers score 1 point and “no” score 0. The SwSc score is the sum of these points. Higher scores indicate the presence of more symptoms of dysphagia. Patients with a SwSc score ≥1 are referred to an SLT. This study aimed to investigate if a higher SwSc score might indicate more severe dysphagia requiring more urgent assessment by an SLT. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of patients ≥64 years referred to SLT by a CST from June 2023 to April 2024 inclusive. The SLT assessment included a Dysphagia Outcome Severity Scale (DOSS) score. The DOSS score ranges from 1-7, a lower score indicating a more severe dysphagia. Data was entered onto an Excel database and analysed. Biographical and CGA data was analysed using descriptive statistics. The SwSc and DOSS scores were ranked and compared using Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficient. Results Thirty-nine patients attended an SLT assessment. The mean age was 78, (SD=8.04). The mean Clinical Frailty Score 5 (SD=1.16) and mean modified Barthel Index score 16 (SD=3.75). There was a negative correlation between the SwSc and DOSS scores, r (37) = -.438, p=.005. Higher SwSc scores were associated with lower DOSS scores, indicating more severe dysphagia. Conclusion The SwSc can be easily administered by non-SLT clinicians. It may be used by an SLT to aid prioritisation of patients for assessment. Further research with a larger sample is required to establish its validity.

Stroke recovery—what are people talking about on Twitter? A content analysis

Purpose Prioritisation exercises seek out what matters to key stakeholders to inform the planning of research. Social media platforms are potentially useful data sources. The aim was to examine the content of tweets, short messages containing text and pictures, to ascertain the priorities of Twitter users regarding stroke recovery. Materials and methods Content analysis of Twitter was conducted. An electronic search used the identifiers: #strokesurvivor and #strokerecovery. Tweets spanning four weeks from January 2021 were analysed. Results There were 1361 tweets extracted and 486 analysed following exclusion of duplicates and unrelated material. Six themes were uncovered (n = number of tweets): maintaining motivation and positivity (153); sharing of resources (146); raising awareness of stroke (74); symptomatic aspects of recovery (39); experience of rehabilitation (63); and concerns about Covid-19 (17). Conclusions Despite the brevity of tweets, a rich picture arose. A key limitation was lack of biographical data about Twitter users. Recommendations about topics requiring attention from stroke researchers, clinicians and policy makers are: management of psychological problems; public perception of stroke; rehabilitation considerations including treatment burden, person-centred care and equality of care; symptom management including fatigue and aphasia. Findings can be used to supplement and validate other priority-setting exercises.

Augmenting the availability of historical GDP per capita estimates through machine learning

Can we use data on the biographies of historical figures to estimate the GDP per capita of countries and regions? Here, we introduce a machine learning method to estimate the GDP per capita of dozens of countries and hundreds of regions in Europe and North America for the past seven centuries starting from data on the places of birth, death, and occupations of hundreds of thousands of historical figures. We build an elastic net regression model to perform feature selection and generate out-of-sample estimates that explain 90% of the variance in known historical income levels. We use this model to generate GDP per capita estimates for countries, regions, and time periods for which these data are not available and externally validate our estimates by comparing them with four proxies of economic output: urbanization rates in the past 500 y, body height in the 18th century, well-being in 1850, and church building activity in the 14th and 15th century. Additionally, we show our estimates reproduce the well-known reversal of fortune between southwestern and northwestern Europe between 1300 and 1800 and find this is largely driven by countries and regions engaged in Atlantic trade. These findings validate the use of fine-grained biographical data as a method to augment historical GDP per capita estimates. We publish our estimates with CI together with all collected source data in a comprehensive dataset.

Is Your Elephant Happy? Mahout Identification and Description of Elephant Affective States in Nepal

ABSTRACT The health and welfare of working elephants is directly related to that of their mahout and to the strength and duration of elephant–human bonds. Such bonds are influenced by the ways in which mahouts understand, describe, and respond to elephant communication and dynamic elephant affective states. This study examined how mahout interpretation of elephant communication and affective states influences mahout behavior during interactions and thus influences the development and maintenance of elephant–human working and living relationships. Using in-person, semi-structured interviews with owners and mahouts, biographical and employment data on mahouts and elephants were collected. These interviews were followed by multispecies ethnographic data collection and participant observations among 41 mahouts and 29 elephants. Narrative analysis of mahout interviews, coupled with observations of mahouts and elephants, resulted in the identification of several themes that mahouts felt impacted the elephant–human working relationship, all tied to the development and nurturing of long-term bonds. The first set of themes that emerged is discussed in this paper, which includes “measures of elephant happiness” and “methods of communication.” Identifying these themes was crucial to understanding how humans and elephants build and maintain long-term bonds, as well as determining how these bonds (or their breakage) affect working relationships. Communication and bond building may be key to improving the health, welfare, and working conditions for marginalized groups of humans and elephants employed in tourism practice.

UNITA’s Post-War Parliamentary Elite: From a Wartime Defeat to a Nationwide Party in Angola

Angola is governed under a presidential system characterised by a weakly institutionalised parliament ruled by the MPLA liberation movement since independence. UNITA, the largest opposition party in parliament, is also a liberation movement and former belligerent in the protracted Angolan civil war. Despite facing an uneven playing field, UNITA has seen its share of parliamentary seats increase in successive post-war elections. This makes it a relevant case study to understand patterns of elite formation and political representation more broadly. This article examines the composition of UNITA parliamentary elites in Angola in post-civil war legislatures, and how UNITA members of parliament (MPs) perceive representation tasks and engage in constituency-focused activities. We do so through a longitudinal study of post-civil war legislatures (from 2008, 2012, 2017 and 2022), drawing on new biographical data and interviews with MPs. We argue that, following the transition from rebel movement to political party, parliament became an arena in which UNITA was able to achieve a nationwide reach by integrating MPs with diverse backgrounds and by engaging with constituents. Additionally, while institutional rules favour national over local representation, MPs seem to invest in and value links with constituents. The study highlights how nationwide recruitment and connections with constituents contribute to elite formation.

Horizontal Transition of Expertise

Expert performance in a domain is often defined as maximal adaptation to stable task constraints. This definition is useful when analyzing the vertical transition when novices become experts. However, many workplaces undergo considerable changes and, thus, task constraints change as well. In this paper, a complementary conceptualization of expertise is offered, one that focuses on expert performance as recurring adaptation to dynamic task constraints. This definition is useful when analyzing the horizontal transition when experts adapt to dynamically changing work contexts. Using the documentary method, the aim of the present study was to analyze cases of horizontal transitions based on qualitative biographical interview data from five experts reconstructing different types of adaptation to technological change in their domains that they have experienced. Implications for studying horizontal transitions at dynamic worksites are discussed.

Smart Ellis Island? Tracing techniques of automating border control

The buzzword “smart borders” captures the latest instantiation of media technologies constituting state bordering. This article traces historical techniques of knowledge-production and decision-making at the border, in the case of Ellis Island immigration station, New York City (1892–1954). State bordering has long been enabled by media technologies, engulfed with imaginaries of neutral, unambiguous, efficient sorting between desired and undesired migrants—promises central to today’s “smart border” projects. Specifically, the use of “proxies” for decision-making is traced historically, for example, biometric or biographic data, collected as seemingly authentic and neutral stand-ins for the migrant. Techniques of selecting, storing, and correlating proxies through media technologies demonstrate how public health anxieties, eugenics, and scientific technocracy of the Progressive Era formed the context of proxies being entrusted to enable decision-making. This pre-digital history of automation reveals how the logics and politics of proxification endure in contemporary border regimes and automated media at large.

Петро Демчук: останні роки життя

The details of Petro Demchuk's life in the Solovetsky camps (1934-1937) have not yet been covered in the historico-philosophical literature. The article reconstructs this fragment of the philosopher's biography using thoroughly described documents from Demchuk's prison file. The general biographical data provided in these documents are clarified by comparing them with the materials of Demchuk's personal file (1927-1928).

Vasily I. Murashev: the star scale of his scientific discoveries

Introduction. This article is devoted to a major Russian scientist, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor V.I. Murashev, certain periods of his biography and scientific activity. Based on archival data and special technical literature, it is concluded that Professor Murashev has done a lot for the development of construction science, including the production and introduction of heat-resistant reinforced concrete structures into the metallurgical industry. Researcher V.I. Murashev for the first time proposed a model for calculating the deformation of reinforced concrete elements with cracks, which made it possible to avoid mistakes in construction. Aim. Conducting a study of the fruitful scientific activity of Professor V.I. Murashev in the field of reinforced concrete theory, clarifying the history of his creation of temperature-resistant reinforced concrete structures, supplementing the scientific biography of the scientist with new facts based on the study of newly discovered data. Materials and methods. The author, having studied archival materials on an urgent topic, using retrospective, historical, tipological and comparative research methods, showed certain aspects of the scientific activity of Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor V.I. Murashev, determining the degree of his active participation in the development of the theory of reinforced concrete, specifying the most significant achievements of the researcher in construction science. Results. The article presents the first comprehensive study of the scientific activity of Professor V.I. Murashev in the field of concrete and reinforced concrete, analyzes the newly discovered biographical data of the scientist in the period 1904–1959. Conclusions. The database of research sources has been expanded, new archival documents and materials have been introduced into scientific circulation, confirming the originality of the versatile personality of Professor V.I. Murashev, his outstanding achievements in construction science in the period 1929–1959.

History of Lithuanian press of national rennaisance and its creator: a subjective version

This publication includes a letter from a literary worker of the Lithuanian national movement in Lithuania Minor, Martynas Jankus (1858–1946), to a professor of Baltic studies at the University of Göttingen, Eduard Hermann (1869–1950), written in 1929. The letter consists of a reply to a question from the linguist about the state of the Lithuanian press at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. The author of the letter characterized the publishing of the illegal press in Lithuania Minor and its secret transportation to Lithuania under the rule of Tsarist Russia. He wrote about the most significant literary and publishing workers and the problems of the publishing trade. The letter provides rich biographical data on Martynas Jankus.

Between hope and cruel optimism? The dangers and possibilities of football in fostering hope for male refugees

ABSTRACT An ongoing debate exists on the role of sport for fostering hope in the lives of marginalised communities. Research acknowledges the complexity of agency, hope and emotions within sport in the lives of forced migrants and the danger of evangelical beliefs when thinking of hope as a solution to social problems. This paper presents the case of the ongoing Mediterranean crossings, where asylum-seekers go through deadly journeys to reach safety in Europe. It explores how the interplay between hope and football shapes their journeys, and how the widely popularised dreams of football success can result in extreme consequences for those willing to pursue them. It does so by taking into account primary data (n = 29 refugee participants) and secondary biographical data, of both accomplished footballers and aspiring footballers with a refugee background. Results show that there is a crucial necessity to acknowledge the multiplicity of identities and experiences contained within the refugee label. Attempts to associate refugees with conditions of stardom can be counterproductive towards beneficial outcomes, to the extent of being dangerous. Nonetheless, not all hope should be lost. The paper presents alternative avenues to better address the concept of hope in football for refugee well-being.

Mordva materjal Eesti kogudes ja mordva diasporaad Eestis 20. sajandi lõpus ja 21. sajandi alguses

This article focusing on Mordvin material in Estonian collections and Mordvin (Erzya-Moksha) diasporas in Estonia in the late 20th–early 21st centuries is based mainly on materials collected in the period between 1994 and 2016 from the journal KUDO published by the Estonian Mordvin Society and reflecting the diverse life of the diaspora. We have also analysed recorded biographical data of Erzya and Moksha people residing in the Republic of Estonia and the archival material of the Estonian Mordvin Society. The article reviews the history of the first settlers, their number, formation of cultural societies and their interaction with other organisations, integration into Estonian society, information about the first Estonian expeditions to the settlements of the Erzya and Moksha as well as cultural and educational ties between Estonia and Mordovia. All this reveals the activities of compatriots, trends in population change in this group, mechanisms of the preservation of national identity and the role of Mordvin national and cultural non-profit organisations in the preservation and development of ethnic culture in the Republic of Estonia.

Donizetti – Inediti per Tenore

Gaetano Donizetti is one of the most prominent figures in Italian opera, especially of the period known as the “belcanto era”. This article aims to present less known biographical data to readers, related to the life of the great Bergamo composer, carefully treating his years of study, a defining period in the formation of his character and personality. Donizetti composed countless arias for the tenor voice, either in the belcanto or romantic style. The discovery and promotion of lesser-known arias is for me one of the most important pragmatic aspects of the act of scientific research. The role of this article is to spark students’ interest in listening and start studying lesser-sung pieces from the Donizettian repertoire. Keywords: Gaetano Donizetti, belcanto, tenor, arias.