Conceptual Building Blocks Research Articles

Discovering the conceptual building blocks of blockchain technology applications in the agri-food supply chain: a review and research agenda

PurposeThis paper aims to provide an overview of the application of blockchain to agri-food supply chains, including key issues and trends. It examines the state of the art and conceptual structure of the field and proposes an agenda to guide future research.Design/methodology/approachThis article performs a bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer software on a sample of 205 articles from the WoS database to identify research trend topics.FindingsThe number of publications in this area has increased since 2020, which shows a growing research interest. The research hotspots are related to the integration of blockchain technology in the agri-food supply chain for traceability, coordination between all actors involved, transparency of operations and improvement of food safety. Furthermore, this is linked to sustainability and the achievement of the sustainable development gtoals (SDGs), while addressing key challenges in the implementation of blockchain-based technologies in the agri-food supply chain.Practical implicationsThe application of blockchain in the agri-food supply chain may consider four key aspects. Firstly, the implementation of blockchain can improve the traceability of food products. Secondly, this technology supports sustainability issues and could avoid disruptions in the agri-food supply chain. Third, blockchain improves food quality and safety control throughout the supply chain. Fourthly, the findings show that regulation is needed to improve trust between stakeholders.Originality/valueThe paper provides a comprehensive overview of the blockchain phenomenon in the agri-food supply chain by optimising the search criteria. Moreover, it serves to bridge to future research by identifying gaps in the field.

AN EMERGENT PLANETARY HEALTH LAW

AbstractThe health of the planet and its life forms are under threat from anthropogenic climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, and the extreme weather events, heatwaves and wildfires that accompany them. The burgeoning field of planetary health studies the interplay between humanity and the Earth's biosphere and ecosystems on which human health depends. Scholarship on law from a planetary health vantage point remains scarce. This article fills this gap by delineating the conceptual building blocks of a planetary health law, which, in its latent form, is dispersed across various hard and soft sources of international environmental law and global health law that converge on the right to a healthy environment, and, to a lesser extent, rights of nature emerging in various domestic jurisdictions. It elucidates how the fragmented regimes of international environmental and global health law could be developed in more coherent ways, driven by an overarching concern for the integrity of the planetary foundations of life.

From “the” public sphere to a network of publics: towards an empirically founded model of contemporary public communication spaces

Abstract“The” public sphere is now irretrievably fractured into a multiplicity of online and offline, larger and smaller, more or less public spaces that frequently (and often serendipitously) overlap and intersect with one another. This diverse array of what have been described variously as public spheres, public spherules, platform publics, issue publics, or personal publics nonetheless serves many of the same functions that were postulated for the public sphere itself. However, while the communicative structures, functions, and dynamics of many such spaces have been studied in isolation, we still lack a more comprehensive model that connects such case studies in pursuit of an overarching perspective. This article sets out a fundamental toolkit for the development of such an empirically founded model of the contemporary spaces for public communication. It identifies the crucial conceptual building blocks and empirical approaches that may be combined to produce genuinely new insights into how the network of such spaces is structured, and in turn structures our everyday experience of public communication.

Governing the Resource of Data: To What End and for Whom? Conceptual Building Blocks of a Semi-Commons Approach

Governing the Resource of Data: To What End and for Whom? Conceptual Building Blocks of a Semi-Commons Approach

Interpolarity. Re-visiting security and the global order

ABSTRACT This Introduction to Special Issue (SI) seeks to provide a corrective dimension to unipolar and multipolar understandings of global order by proposing to integrate several levels of analysis. It seeks to introduce a different understanding of the contemporary world order. To this end, it first develops a new theoretical model of world order, putting forward the concept of interpolarity. Interpolarity is understood as the interaction between multiple interdependent poles of different sizes. The main utility of this concept is that it can provide a theoretical foundation for integrating means, ways, and ends in a more stable manner. Second, this Introduction to SI estimates three main conceptual building blocks of an interpolar world order: positive power, citizen reciprocity, and elite bridging. The contributions in this Special Issue examine different aspects of the European security and foreign policy as part of the liberal international order – including the relations with NATO and the US –, EU actorness in cybersecurity governance, French-German cooperation, role conceptions and differentiated integration, as well as the BRICS perspective on world order.

Repeated quizzing of basic mathematics concepts to improve grades in economics classes

Modern economics courses require high mathematical proficiency, and low proficiency may reduce grades or cause students to avoid economics courses. The article’s authors sought to improve students’ mathematical skills and grades with a simple intervention based on repeated quizzing of building-block concepts. They analyzed data from four semesters of a first-year course. During the first two semesters, there were five online quizzes, and each concept appeared on only one quiz. During the latter two semesters, important basic concepts appeared repeatedly across quizzes. Performance with repeated concepts improved across quizzes, and repeated quizzing was associated with slightly higher final exam scores. Mid-semester exam scores, which preceded most quizzes, were not consistently associated with the quizzing approach, helping to rule out cohort effects and other alternative explanations.

Advances in Magnetics Roadmap on Spin-Wave Computing

Magnonics addresses the physical properties of spin waves and utilizes them for data processing. Scalability down to atomic dimensions, operation in the GHz-to-THz frequency range, utilization of nonlinear and nonreciprocal phenomena, and compatibility with CMOS are just a few of many advantages offered by magnons. Although magnonics is still primarily positioned in the academic domain, the scientific and technological challenges of the field are being extensively investigated, and many proof-of-concept prototypes have already been realized in laboratories. This roadmap is a product of the collective work of many authors, which covers versatile spin-wave computing approaches, conceptual building blocks, and underlying physical phenomena. In particular, the roadmap discusses the computation operations with the Boolean digital data, unconventional approaches, such as neuromorphic computing, and the progress toward magnon-based quantum computing. This article is organized as a collection of sub-sections grouped into seven large thematic sections. Each sub-section is prepared by one or a group of authors and concludes with a brief description of current challenges and the outlook of further development for each research direction.

Understanding pre‐teen consumers social media engagement

AbstractSocial media (SM) platforms are frequently used by pre‐teen (8–12‐year old) consumers for curating their self‐identity, developing social relationships and for learning. This paper identifies the building blocks that drive pre‐teen SM engagement. We use the Gioia method to analyse interview data collected from 32 pre‐teens and parents, in France. Findings show that the primary building blocks areFoMO (Fear of Missing Out) and social inclusive experience, being noticed online,multiplicity, excessive use (without guidelines)andself‐regulation. Identity constructs (self‐identity and social‐identity) are used to explain SM engagement – and to empirically define core conceptual building blocks (aggregate dimensions) that drive SM engagement. We contribute to consumer theory by developing a holistic research framework to examine pre‐teen SM engagement. Self‐identity and social‐identity theories help explain the factors that drive pre‐teen SM engagement and explain push/pull influences of parents and schools in encouraging or discouraging certain behaviour. We build on current research into SM usage, drawing from the fragmented existing literature, to reveal causes of both excessive screen‐time and SM usage among pre‐teen consumers, which may indicate antecedents of future adult behaviour. Practical and regulatory policy issues are considered and addressed.

Agricultural geography and its role in international agricultural research centers: theoretical and scientific concerns

The CGIAR International Agricultural Research Centers constitute a system of interdisciplinary work on agricultural systems in the Third World that brings together the physical and social sciences. Recent years have witnessed a growing interest in agricultural geospatial research. This interest reflects the centers' growing interest in sustainable agriculture and agro-environmental mapping. It also proposes a rather narrow concept of geography. It addresses the potential origins of the limited representation of geography in these centers to date, and the context of this emerging interest. We argue that geographers bear a responsibility to extract The practical implications of their research We suggest that centers provide one way to do this. Potential contributions from the physical, biogeographical, cartographic and social fields to our discipline are considered, and the importance of teamwork bringing together these different disciplines is suggested. Particularly important, whether for applied agricultural research or the theoretical study of Third World agriculture, could be a critical development of the concept of 'sustainability'. Several thematic and conceptual building blocks are introduced for such a development.

The conceptual building blocks of everyday thought: Tracking the emergence and dynamics of ruminative and nonruminative thinking.

How do thoughts arise, unfold, and change over time? Are the contents and dynamics of everyday thought rooted in conceptual associations within one's semantic networks? To address these questions, we developed the Free Association Semantic task (FAST), whereby participants generate dynamic chains of conceptual associations in response to seed words that vary in valence. Ninety-four adults from a community sample completed the FAST task and additionally described and rated six of their most frequently occurring everyday thoughts. Text analysis and valence ratings revealed similarities in thematic and affective content between FAST concept chains and recurrent autobiographical thoughts. Dynamic analyses revealed that individuals higher in rumination were more strongly attracted to negative conceptual spaces and more likely to remain there longer. Overall, these findings provide quantitative evidence that conceptual associations may act as a semantic scaffold for more complex everyday thoughts, and that more negative and less dynamic conceptual associations in ruminative individuals mirror maladaptive repetitive thoughts in daily life. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Supplemental Material for The Conceptual Building Blocks of Everyday Thought: Tracking the Emergence and Dynamics of Ruminative and Nonruminative Thinking

Supplemental Material for The Conceptual Building Blocks of Everyday Thought: Tracking the Emergence and Dynamics of Ruminative and Nonruminative Thinking

Participatory scenario planning to facilitate human-wildlife coexistence.

Fostering human-wildlife coexistence requires transdisciplinary approaches that integrate multiple sectors, account for complexity and uncertainty, and ensure stakeholder participation. One such approach is participatory scenario planning, but to date, this approach has not been used in human-wildlife contexts. We devised a template for how participatory scenario planning can be applied to identify potential avenues for improving human-wildlife coexistence. We drew on 3 conceptual building blocks, namely the SEEDS framework, the notion of critical uncertainties, and the three-horizons technique. To illustrate the application of the proposed template, we conducted a case study in the Zambezi region of Namibia. We held 5 multistakeholder workshops that involved local people as well as numerous nongovernment and government stakeholders. We identified 14 important wildlife species that generated multiple services and disservices. The subsequent benefits and burdens, in turn, were inequitably distributed among stakeholders. Government actors played particularly influential roles in shaping social-ecological outcomes. We identified 2 critical uncertainties for the future: the nature of governance (fragmented vs. collaborative) and the type of wildlife economy (hunting vs. photography based). Considering these uncertainties resulted in 4 plausible scenarios describing future human-wildlife coexistence. Stakeholders did not agree on a single preferred scenario, but nevertheless agreed on several high-priority strategies. Bridging the remaining gaps among actors will require ongoing deliberation among stakeholders. Navigating the complex challenges posed by living with wildlife requires moving beyond disciplinary approaches. To that end, our template could prove useful in many landscapes around the world.

Learning multivariate new physics

We discuss a method that employs a multilayer perceptron to detect deviations from a reference model in large multivariate datasets. Our data analysis strategy does not rely on any prior assumption on the nature of the deviation. It is designed to be sensitive to small discrepancies that arise in datasets dominated by the reference model. The main conceptual building blocks were introduced in D’Agnolo and Wulzer (Phys Rev D 99 (1), 015014. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.99.015014. arXiv:1806.02350 [hep-ph], 2019). Here we make decisive progress in the algorithm implementation and we demonstrate its applicability to problems in high energy physics. We show that the method is sensitive to putative new physics signals in di-muon final states at the LHC. We also compare our performances on toy problems with the ones of alternative methods proposed in the literature.

The concept of solidarity in cohesion policies of the European Union and Hungary

This paper discusses cohesion policies of the EU and Hungary from the conceptual perspective of solidarity. Continuing recent debates positioned at the intersection of solidarity, welfare state and Europeanization, a multi-scalar approach of solidarity is explored. Although the notion of solidarity – i.e. overcoming inequalities across member states and their regions – was an important conceptual building block at the foundation of the EU, the usage of the term has decreased steadily in recent decades’ EU cohesion policies, and more significantly after the 2008 economic crisis. As a parallel trend, the concept’s meaning has shifted from a more general to a reduced one in narrow policy areas. Based on a document analysis, the paper reviews cohesion policy changes of recent EU programming periods and finds that solidarity has lost importance in main planning and legislative documents, a recent shift being the growth policy relaunch of past years. Contrasting these trends with the national scale, a case study of Hungary found that the concept of solidarity was mobilized according to EU-level cohesion policy ideas during the 1990s and early 2000s, but the current right-wing government put forward a new discourse of solidarity which they related with the refugee crisis.

Service Ecosystem Design: Propositions, Process Model, and Future Research Agenda

While service design has been highlighted as a promising approach for driving innovation, there are often struggles in realizing lasting change in practice. The issues with long-term implementation reveal a reductionist view of service design that ignores the institutional arrangements and other interdependencies that influence design efforts within multi-actor service systems. The purpose of this article is to build a systemic understanding of service design to inform actors’ efforts aimed at intentional, long-term change in service systems. To achieve this aim, we inform the conceptual building blocks of service design by applying service-dominant logic’s service ecosystems perspective. Through this process, we develop four core propositions and a multilevel process model of service ecosystem design. The conceptualization of service ecosystem design advances service design theory by illuminating previously taken for granted aspects; explaining how intentional, long-term change emerges; and expanding the scope of service design beyond projects. Furthermore, this research offers a foundation for future research on service design that involves extending the systemic conceptualization of service design, conducting more holistic empirical investigations, and developing practical methods and approaches for the embedded, collective processes of designing.

Optimizing a stroke caregiver support programme in practice with Participatory Action Research

Abstract Family caregivers (FCG) play a key role in the day-to-day care of stroke survivors. Most FCG support programmes are complex public health interventions. Often, they are designed top-down without key stakeholder participation. Hence, when implementing these programmes in real world settings, they may experience “teething problems”. Optimization in practice and actively engaging its stakeholders to accurately fit the programme to the needs in practice may enhance the programmés chance of success. The Participatory Action Research (PAR) strategy was chosen for the optimization of a German primary prevention programme for stroke FCGs. Immediately after the development of the preliminary support concept (5 Conceptual Building Blocks - CBB), conducted top-down by the academic research team, iterative PAR-cycles (observe - reflect - plan - act) were applied. Together with the stakeholders (service providers and FCG), three steps were taken: (1) verifying and fitting the preliminary CBBs, (2) detecting, developing, verifying and fitting new blocks, and (3) prioritizing all blocks. For data collection a multi-methodological design was chosen. Through PAR, a matured FCG support concept was obtained, containing eight CBBs. The five preliminary CBBs: ‘Content’, ‘Human resources’, ‘Personalized approach’, ‘Timing’, and ‘Setting’, were optimized and prioritized as core blocks, providing the base for individual caregiver support. Three new CBBs: ‘Network building’, ‘Communication’, and ‘Social safety-net’ were assigned as facilitating blocks, interlinking and securing the programme within the existing support system. PAR was found to be essential for both systematically detecting conceptual weaknesses of the preliminary concept and adjusting its components to the needs of the key stakeholders, before full-scale implementation. Involvement of stakeholders, with high levels of participation, will enhance the acceptance of the matured concept and its feasibility in practice.

Analysis of Political Debates through Newspaper Reports: Methods and Outcomes

Discourse network analysis is an aspiring development in political science which analyzes political debates in terms of bipartite actor/claim networks. It aims at understanding the structure and temporal dynamics of major political debates as instances of politicized democratic decision making. We discuss how such networks can be constructed on the basis of large collections of unstructured text, namely newspaper reports. We sketch a hybrid methodology of manual analysis by domain experts complemented by machine learning and exemplify it on the case study of the German public debate on immigration in the year 2015. The first half of our article sketches the conceptual building blocks of discourse network analysis and demonstrates its application. The second half discusses the potential of the application of NLP methods to support the creation of discourse network datasets.

Augmented reality marketing: A technology-enabled approach to situated customer experience

Recent advances in Augmented Reality (AR) technologies have led to a growing interest in their application for marketing strategy and practice – what we term Augmented Reality Marketing (ARM). However, despite emerging publications on the subject, managers and academics struggle to articulate how ARM delivers experiences that are valuable to customers in a way that is different from other marketing approaches. In this article, we review the emerging literature, and define ARM as a customer-facing interface for the application of digital marketing technologies in physical settings. Rooted in a class of ‘situated cognition’ theories from social psychology, we identify a unique set of digital affordances which ARM offers beyond extant marketing approaches in traditional media. By drawing on the key conceptual building blocks of situated cognition theory, we develop a framework of ARM experiences to synthesize current research and applications, and to suggest directions for future research.

The Role of War in Deep Transitions: Exploring Mechanisms, Imprints and Rules in Sociotechnical Systems

This paper explores in what ways the two world wars influenced the development of sociotechnical systems underpinning the culmination of the first deep transition. The role of war is an underexplored aspect in both the Techno-Economic Paradigms (TEP) approach and the Multi-level perspective (MLP) which form the two key conceptual building blocks of the Deep Transitions (DT) framework. Thus, we develop a conceptual approach tailored to this particular topic which integrates accounts of total war and mechanisms of war from historical studies and imprinting from organisational studies with the DT framework’s attention towards rules and meta-rules. We explore in what ways the three sociotechnical systems of energy, food, and transport were affected by the emergence of new demand pressures and logistical challenges during conditions of total war; how war impacted the directionality of sociotechnical systems; the extent to which new national and international policy capacities emerged during wartime in the energy, food, and transport systems; and the extent to which these systems were influenced by cooperation and shared sacrifice under wartime conditions. We then explore what lasting changes were influenced by the two wars in the energy, food, and transport systems across the transatlantic zone. This paper seeks to open up a hitherto neglected area in analysis on sociotechnical transitions and we discuss the importance of further research that is attentive towards entanglements of warfare and the military particularly in the field of sustainability transitions.

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