Critical Concept Research Articles

Using Excel to Teach Agri-business and Financial Literacy Concepts to 4-H Youth

Teaching youth agribusiness subject matter and financial literacy through 4-H livestock projects is an important task. This article discusses using Excel as a record keeping tool to expand knowledge and comprehension of financial concepts and profitability in the beef industry. A description of the Excel record book contents and parent feedback is presented. Using the Excel record book expanded conversations about the beef industry and proved to be a favorable tool for increasing youth understanding of critical agribusiness concepts.

Green HRM Practices

Green Human Resource Management (Green HRM) integrates environmental sustainability into core HR practices. It goes beyond just business operations and promotes eco-friendly practices throughout the organization. Green HRM encompasses the entire employee lifecycle, from attracting environmentally conscious talent during recruitment to influencing employee behavior through training and performance management. By effectively implementing Green HRM practices, organizations can not only reduce their carbon footprint through practices like reduced paper usage or energy-efficient buildings, but also cultivate a more environmentally responsible workforce. This can lead to significant benefits like cost savings and attracting top talent who value sustainability, ultimately enhancing the organization's reputation. However, challenges like initial investment costs or employee resistance can arise during implementation. Green HRM has emerged as a critical concept in recent times, seamlessly integrating ecological management with practices in business, urbanization, and industrialization. Its core focus lies in managing human resources effectively while ensuring good working conditions. Green HRM procedures are strategically designed to minimize the carbon footprint of both individual employees and the organization itself. This extends beyond just carbon reduction, as Green HRM also plays a vital role in encouraging employees to conserve resources, participate in waste management initiatives, and contribute to pollution control efforts. The growing importance of Green HRM necessitates increased awareness among companies regarding its multifaceted capabilities. Striking a balance between ecological sustainability and effective human resource management has become crucial. Businesses are now recognizing the significance of considering not just financial gains, but also the social and environmental impacts of their operations to ensure long-term sustainability. This growing recognition has recently captured the attention of academic researchers and practitioners, leading to a surge in scholarly studies on the subject. This research paper delves into Green HRM practices within organizations, drawing insights from a comprehensive analysis of current literature. The aim is to explore the importance of Green HRM concepts, practices, and strategies while acknowledging the challenges faced by businesses and other organizations in implementing them. By utilizing established research methodologies, the study will observe, collect, and analyze contemporary research on Green Human Resource Management, providing valuable insights into this evolving field.

Hands-on Learning Pedagogy in Teaching Concepts Relevant in the Analysis, Design, and Maintenance of Transportation Infrastructure Systems

Learning critical concepts that are centered on the analysis, design, and maintenance of transportation infrastructure systems poses a measure of difficulty for undergraduates in engineering. Therefore, hands-on learning pedagogy should be an excellent precursor to increase understanding of these concepts, since the pedagogy incorporates real-life experience in the delivery. This paper describes how a hands-on learning pedagogy called experiment-centric pedagogy (ECP) has been used to teach these concepts to undergraduate students at a historically Black university. The research questions are as follows: (1) How well can ECP improve students’ understanding of concepts essential to the analysis and design of transportation infrastructure systems? (2) How has the ECP facilitated the achievement of the learning objectives of these concepts? and (3) Does an ECP increase the engagement of undergraduate students in their transportation infrastructure engineering learning and lead to measurable lasting gains? To answer these research questions, ECP was implemented and assessed when used to teach the concepts of stress and strain utilized in the analysis of bridges and other transportation infrastructure, sound used in the development and design of noise barriers, moisture content in controlling compaction of highway infrastructure systems, and degradation of infrastructure systems exposed to various environmental settings. Assessment results from 92 undergraduates reveal an increase in students’ motivation and cognitive understanding of the relevant concepts, as well as learning gains and an improved success rate compared to the traditional method of teaching.

Methodological bases for balanced development of the food supply of the population

A retrospective analysis of the economic theories of marginal utility, general economic equilibrium, spatial economics, production factors, and organization theory was carried out from the position of forming the methodological basis for the emergence of the theory of balanced development of food supply for the population. The substantive aspects of the critical concepts of the identified theories are detailed in their influence on the formation and formation of the methodology for food supply to the population, including maintaining a balanced and equilibrium state in the conditions of continuous influence of external factors on food systems. For each identified theory, provisions have been established that determine the relationship with the methodology of the area under study. It has been established that the emergence of the theory and methods of balanced development of food supply for the population is a natural stage in the evolution of economic science in the context of increasing the role and importance of man in the modern economy. The methodological grounds identified are the need to achieve and maintain a balanced human diet, ensure coordination and maintain a balance of social and economic interests of consumers and food producers, ensure a balanced state of food production and consumption, maintain a balance of resource capabilities and future food needs of people, prevent the emergence of imbalances in the food sector. The work results can be used to develop new conceptual frameworks for developing the domestic agro-industrial complex and allow us to form a more holistic and detailed understanding of the specifics and features of achieving balanced agri-food sector development.

On the concept of criticality on GPRs project network with variable activity durations

Temporal analysis of project networks has been widely studied in the literature; basically, it consists of determining the starting and finishing times of activities respecting a set of precedence constraints among them. The main output of the temporal analysis is twofold: on the one hand, it provides information on the minimum completion time of the project and, on the other hand, it determines which activity may be considered critical. Defining and determining activity criticalities on its own is a problem that has attracted the attention of many researchers over the last decades. In this paper, in an attempt to further pursue these studies, we focus on project scheduling with generalized precedence relationships where durations are not fixed in advance, but are variable within given ranges and have to be determined to minimize the makespan of the project. Analyzing activity criticalities for the same problem where activity durations are fixed has been tackled within the literature; what happens when durations are assumed variables, to the best of our knowledge, has not been investigated. We show that, in this scenario, the current knowledge on activity criticalities is no longer valid and we give new definitions of criticality together with the rules for its identification. An extensive experimental campaign on benchmark instances is presented to show that our findings are meaningful for quantitative project management.

Maternal PM2.5 exposure and hypospadias risk in Chinese offspring: Insights from a nationwide surveillance-based study

Research on the association between maternal PM2.5 exposure and hypospadias risk in male offspring, particularly in highly polluted areas, has been limited and inconsistent. This study leveraged data from China’s National Population-based Birth Defects Surveillance System spanning the years 2013 to 2019, and employed sophisticated machine learning models to estimate daily PM2.5 levels and other pollutants for mothers at a 1-km resolution and a 6-km buffer surrounding maternal residences. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the relationship between PM2.5 exposure and hypospadias risk. For sensitivity analyses, stratification analysis was conducted, and models for one-pollutant and two-pollutants, as well as distributed lag nonlinear models, were constructed. Of the 1194,431 boys studied, 1153 cases of hypospadias were identified. A 10 μg/m3 increase in maternal PM2.5 exposure during preconception and the first trimester was associated with an elevated risk of isolated hypospadias, with Odds Ratios (ORs) of 1.102 (95% CI: 1.023–1.188) and 1.089 (95% CI: 1.007–1.177) at the 1-km grid, and 1.122 (95% CI: 1.034–1.218) and 1.143 (95% CI: 1.048–1.246) within the 6-km buffer. Higher quartiles of PM2.5 exposure were associated with increased odds ratios compared to the lowest quartile. These findings highlight a significant association between PM2.5 exposure during the critical conception period and an elevated risk of isolated hypospadias in children, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions to reduce PM2.5 exposure among expectant mothers.

Nucleic acid-loaded poly(beta-aminoester) nanoparticles for cancer nano-immuno therapeutics: the good, the bad, and the future.

Immunotherapy has emerged as a promising approach to cancer treatment, offering improved survival rates and enhanced patients' quality of life. However, realizing the full potential of immunotherapy in clinical practice remains a challenge, as there is still plenty of room for modulating the complexity of the human immune system in favor of an antitumor immunogenicity. Nanotechnology, with its unique properties, holds promise in augmenting the efficacy of cancer immunotherapies in biotherapeutic protection and site- and time-controlled delivery of the immune modulator biologicals. Polymeric nanoparticles are promising biomaterials among different nanocarriers thanks to their robustness, versatility, and cost-efficient design and production. This perspective paper overviews critical concepts in nanometric advanced delivery systems applied to cancer immunotherapy. We focus on a detailed exploration of the current state of the art and trends in using poly(beta-aminoester) (pBAE) polymers for nucleic acid-based antitumor immunotherapies. Through different examples of the use of pBAE polymers reported in the literature, we revise the main advantages these polymers offer and some challenges to overcome. Finally, the paper provides insights and predictions on the path toward the clinical implementation of cancer nano-immunotherapies, highlighting the potential of pBAE polymers for advancements in this field.

What happened to neocolonialism? The rise and fall of a critical concept

ABSTRACT This article is a history of the idea of neocolonialism from its first use in the 1960s to its more recent deployments in the 2010s. During the decolonization period, the concept of neocolonialism was a powerful ideological and analytical tool in the service of the global anti-colonial movement to denounce the persistence of subordinate relations between the former colonizers and the newly independent countries. The article argues that the decline of the concept was the result of the crisis of the postcolonial state in the 1980s and the parallel rise of the theory and ideology of globalization which was based on opposite theoretical premises. The crisis of the popularity of globalization in the 2010s has made room for a return of critical concepts in the analysis of international politics and, among them, neocolonialism. This new wave of literature on neocolonialism remains fragmented, undertheorized, and, unlike its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, disconnected from social and political movements. Moreover, Western-based sources have recently started using the concept to describe China’s activities in the Global South in a problematic way that seems to attribute solely to Beijing the very neocolonial practices that Western powers are normally denounced for.

Improving Primary Nutrients (NPK) Use Efficiency for the Sustainable Production and Productivity of Cereal Crops: A Compressive Review

Nutrient Use Efficiency (NUE) is the capacity of certain crops to use the available nutrients for growth, development, and productivity. Enhancing the efficiency of nutrient utilization by cereals is an admirable objective and a major problem for the fertilizer sector and agriculture as a whole. Nutrient use efficiency (NUE) is a critical concept in the evaluation of cereal production systems. Therefore, this study aimed to review methods for improving the efficiency of primary nutrient (NPK) use in cereals (Barley, Rice, wheat, Maize, Sorghum, and Sugarcane)  for sustainable production and productivity. Soil, plant water, and fertilizer management can have important impacts on the nutrient-use efficiency of cereals. Nutrient utilization aims to maximize the overall performance of cropping systems by providing the crop with the most inexpensive sustenance possible, while reducing nutrient losses from the field. The NUE takes care of some, but not all, of that performance. Thus, in addition to NUE, total productivity must is one of the aims of system enhancement. The question being posed and, frequently, the spatial or temporal scale of interest for which trustworthy data are available, dictate the most appropriate approach to NUE. For N, P, and K, the partial nutrient balance (the ratio of nutrients removed by crop harvest to fertilizer. Although opinions differ, agronomic nutrient use efficiency is the foundation for both economic and environmental efficiency. Economic and environmental efficiencies arise from increased agricultural efficiency. Therefore, different researchers have investigated ways to improve the nutrient use efficiency of cereals by using mechanisms including optimizing nutrient usage, nano-fertilizer usage, breeding for nutrient use efficiency, and precision farming.

(Mis)Representing Ethnicity in UK Government Statistics and Its Implications for Violence Inequalities

The question of how we measure, categorise, and represent ethnicity poses a growing challenge for identifying and addressing ethnic inequalities. Conceptual critiques and qualitative studies highlight the complexities and challenges of measuring ethnicity, yet there remains a lack of quantitative studies investigating the implications of these complexities for inequalities research. This paper addresses this gap by scrutinizing methodological processes and analysing the implications of measurement and categorisation in the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), critiquing the UK’s standardised measurement of ethnicity in national survey data and government statistics. Based on our comparative quantitative analysis of standardised ethnicity categories and regional origins and our evaluation of the CSEW and census’ methodologies, we propose an alternative categorisation of ethnicity, focusing on the ‘Mixed’, ‘Asian’, and ‘Latinx/Hispanic’ ethnic groups. Using adjusted crosstabulations and logistic regression models, we found variations in ethnic patterns of violence based on standardised measures and our alternative recategorisation, particularly relating to the distinction between ‘Asian’ sub-groups, the recategorisation of ‘Mixed’ ethnicities, and the inclusion of ‘Latinx/Hispanic’ as a distinctive ethnic group. Our findings reveal valuable insights into the implications of ethnic categorisation for understanding violence inequalities, with significant implications for further policy and research areas.

Effect of Organic Amendments on the Speciation of Chromium in Contaminated and Uncontaminated Soils

ABSTRACT Quantitative speciation of metals and their variability over time is a critical concept in environmental soil chemistry. Chromium is a heavy metal that has negative effects on the environment and human health. There have been several attempts to study the behavior of chromium in soils and its removal from soil. However, there is relatively little knowledge about the immobilization of chromium and its chemical speciation in contaminated and uncontaminated soils when different organic amendments are applied. A laboratory incubation experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design to evaluate the effect of organic amendments on the speciation of chromium in contaminated and uncontaminated soils. Four organic amendments were used: farmyard manure (FYM), rice straw compost (RSC), vermicompost (VC), and biochar (BC). Each of them was applied at 1% to contaminated as well as uncontaminated soils. In both the amended and unamended soils, chromate (CrO4 2-), bichromate (HCrO4 −), and calcium chromate (CaCrO4) in soil-water system followed the order CrO4 2-> HCrO4 −> CaCrO4. The application of FYM, RSC, VC, and BC significantly decreased the CrO4 2- and CaCrO4 in the soil-water system of both soils. However, only the application of BC affected the HCrO4 − contaminated soils. In both soils, HCrO4 − exists as the predominant chromium species in the pH range of 2.0 to 6.25. At pH 6.25, CrO4 2- and HCrO4 − each contribute 50% of the total dissolved chromium in soil solution. CrO4 2- dominated in the system as the pH increased from 6.25 till 8.0. The maximum concentration of CrO4 2- was at pH 8.0. At pH <3.0, CrO3SO4 2- contributes less than 10%. Overall, organic amendments decreased the concentration of Cr species in both soils. However, the decrease in concentration was highly dependent on the nature of the amendment applied. Therefore, organic amendments can be exploited to remediate chromium-contaminated soils.

A brief analysis of Guy Ritchie’s postmodernist style in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Black comedy is not a strictly critical concept of literary theory, but with the application of postmodernism in movies, the application of black humor in black comedy subverts the traditional way of humor. As early as the 5th century BC in Greece, comedian Aristophanes created literary works with humorous black color. In the 1960s, the publication of Friedman’s short story collection Black Humor marked the formal birth of black humor literature. (Thompson Bordwell 78) After the popularity of this school for several years, its influence penetrated the film field. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels by Guy Ritchie is a typical representative of contemporary black comedy movies.

Investigating Vulnerability, Adaptation, and Resilience: A Comprehensive Review within the Context of Climate Change

This review seeks to enhance the understanding of the critical concepts of vulnerability, adaptation, and resilience within the context of global environmental challenges, with a particular focus on climate change. Climate change is characterized by rising global temperatures and an increase in extreme weather events, making the comprehension and addressing of these concepts crucial for effective adaptation strategies. Despite widespread recognition of the interconnectedness of vulnerability, adaptation, and resilience, there remains a gap in a comprehensive understanding of how these concepts interrelate. Through synthesizing existing literature, this review provides a detailed examination of their definitions and the interrelationships among vulnerability, adaptation, resilience, and climate-related disasters. Additionally, it explores the impact of climate change on future disaster risk reduction efforts by analyzing the nexus between climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Key findings highlight the necessity of incorporating social, institutional, economic, and environmental factors into adaptation planning and call for innovative approaches to boost adaptive capacity and resilience. This review not only furthers the discourse in research, policy, and practice in this vital area but also offers strategic insights for developing more resilient and adaptive societies amidst the challenges posed by climate change.

Encompassing Geoheritage's Multiple Voices, Multiple Venues, and Multi-disciplinarity

Abstract Geoheritage is recognized globally as a critical concept that celebrates unique geological sites, their history and scientific value, educational potential, and geotourism opportunities. Importantly, geoheritage encompasses a wide range of geodiversity, which exists in a variety of scales—from local outcrops to internationally recognized UNESCO sites—and within a continuum of scientific value, historical merit, indigenous meaning, educational potential, and geotourism possibilities. We celebrate a selected example of geoheritage sites across the world that have been noticed, recognized, and utilized. Some of these sites' breadth and geodiversity indicate we should broaden our geoheritage definition, and include historical collections and largely inaccessible sites. Notably, all geoscientists and educators must remain diligent to ensure the sustainability of these sites so that future generations can celebrate and enjoy our geological and cultural heritage.

The Contribution of the History of Concepts to the Critical Understanding of the State

The paper develops the problems of critical understanding of the phenomenon of the state. The author comprehends the contribution of the German history of concepts (Begriffsgeschichte) and the British Conceptual History to the critical understanding of the emergence of the state as a concept and social phenomenon in Modern times. Representatives of these lines of thought trace the appearance of the English State and the French État to the 17th century, the German Staat to the second half of the 18th century. Russian followers of these traditions explore the historical and ideological context of the emergence of the state in the 15th– 18th centuries. The researchers emphasize that in Germany the concept of the state is formed two centuries later than that in France, but it immediately becomes political and subordinates the rest of the meanings of the word, creating a theoretical basis for the development of state studies and public law, while the French état and English state in the meaning of the state have long been used in relation to non-state political and even nonpolitical phenomena. An important contribution of the history of concepts was the search for the ideological and social foundations of modern state legal terms and models — state sovereignty, citizenship, legal and social state, endowed with meaning primarily in the continental tradition. The author continues the study of the problems of critical understanding of the state, which began in the article «Critical Concepts of the State and their Significance for Russian Jurisprudence: Introduction to the Problem» (Lex russica. 2020;6:122-138).

Creolization as Decolonial Theory

Abstract What does Édouard Glissant have to contribute to theorizing decolonization and a philosophy of difference? And how is this contribution tied to rethinking place (from Caribbean to Caribbeanness) and world (comprised of creolized culture and identity)? This essay takes up Glissant’s work in the context of questions of history and memory, with particular focus on how historical experience grounds philosophical work on place and world through articulations of identity, language, cultural production, and thinking after catastrophe. Drawing from a contrast with Martin Heidegger and Walter Benjamin, this essay shows how Glissant’s critical concept “creolization” works as an expression of what I call “the afropostmodern,” and also as an important contribution to decolonial theories of world, culture, memory, language, and subjectivity after the Middle Passage.

WORLD LITERARY STUDIES AS A FIELD OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE: TRADITIONS AND TRENDS

Literature and art are continuously in search of new means of expression, and communication. In the process of renewal, artistic culture acquires new aesthetic principles, an artistic fusion of the objective and the subjective. The idea of a work in a realistic narrative sounds gradually, naturally. The plot develops around a fact that reveals the meaning of the work. The aesthetic assimilation of reality proceeds in several directions, in different genres of prose and poetry, drama and journalism, in a diverse creative manner, which is unique for each author of a work of art. The relevance of this article lies in the fact that it traces the evolution of the basic concepts of world literary criticism, which has its own scientific principles, systems of methods and terminology. Literary criticism and critical thought create a special associative field, confirming the importance of the transition in the literary process from ideology to issues of personal existence. Domestic and world literary studies are included in the research field of the humanities, but there are frequent attempts to absorb them into intensively developing interdisciplinary research. The scientific novelty of this research is seen in the generalization of the theoretical views on modern world literary criticism of major literary scholars and critics in Europe, the USA, the CIS countries, authors of sections of collective monographs of the Auezov Institute of Literature and Art «The latest foreign literature», «The world literary process of the 21st century», «Kazakh-American literary connections: current state and prospects», the textbook «The world literary process: content, directions, trends». The basis for the research is the scientific concepts of literary text analysis, theories of critical discourse analysis of literary works, existential criticism and others. Based on the analysis, review of the current state of the leading theoretical schools of world literary criticism (with cultural studies, literary criticism, structural poetics, the concept of semiosphere, theory of cultural transfer and others). It has been established that the science of literature has its own object of study, a special essence, which distinguishes it from the exact and natural sciences.

Decentralized Cryptocurrency Exchange Using Blockchain

In today's technology-driven world, ensuring robust security is of paramount importance. Blockchain technology has emerged as a pivotal solution, eliminating intermediaries andfortifying security measures. Cryptocurrencies represent the pioneering digital assets successfully managed through blockchain, attracting financial institutions to integrate them intotheir portfolios, fostering widespread adoption and interest among various stakeholders, including the banking sector, government, and individual investors. The potential for cryptocurrencies to evolve into the global currency of the future, supplanting fiat currency, is an intriguing possibility. This research project aims to offer a comprehensive insight into the cryptocurrency market, encompassing its origins, core characteristics, price dynamics, market capitalization, and trading volumes. Additionally, it will delve into critical concepts such as Ethereum, smart contracts, tokens, and consensus algorithms, which are instrumental to the cryptocurrency market's functioning Keywords: Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, Ethereum, Smart Contracts, Token, ConsensusAlgorithm.

Critical policy discourse analysis on the conflict resolution in Thailand’s deep South

This study analyzes discourse on conflict resolutions in Thailand’s Deep South. It is based on the critical concept that discourse defines gazing and codification of problem issues with specified language, signs, and taxonomy. Public policy is dependent on these constructed things leading to problematization, agenda-making, and solutions. National strategies and integrated programs to rectify the problem of the Deep South were designed and implemented by Thailand’s 2014–2019 military junta, but in the process, it confronted dialectical relations between discursive policy and other elements. Based on the empirical research, the article shows that the hegemonic discourse of Thailand’s military junta after 2014 coup led to discourse about the efficient command and control of state administration. The consequent dynamic process of discourse had evolved around this discursive power and formulated the strong public policy statement about integrated program to rectify problems in the Deep South. But local people have different argumentation from the state, which is possible to transform to a new policy problematization and contestation of the hegemony.

Coexistence of critical phenomena: the concept of manifold multi-spectral criticality

Prompted by the ubiquity of empirical observations of critical phenomena, often in non-equilibrium macrostates, we developed a modelling approach in which several critical phenomena coexist. Instead of a single critical point, many coexisting critical points in the system are identified, forming a one-dimensional critical manifold. Identified within our game-of-life-like heterogeneous agent-based simulation model, where agents can be created and annihilated in the presence of a catalyst, each critical point belonging to the critical manifold is associated with a multi-spectrum of critical exponents. We find this situation in non-equilibrium mixed percolation-like macrostates obeying continuous phase transitions. These macrostates are quasi-stationary, where some system characteristics are time-independent while others are not. This novel look at universality signals the existance of complexity of critical phenomena richer than described to date.