Dimensions Of Integration Research Articles

Impact of the UEFA Nations League on competitive balance, competitive intensity, and fairness in European men’s national team football

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the multifaceted dimensions of sport promotion, development, and integrity within the context of men’s football in Europe. It specifically focuses on the impact of a newly introduced competition, the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) Nations League (UNL), on these three dimensions. The study utilises a dataset comprising 1,058 games played over two distinct periods: 503 games from 2014–2016 (pre-UNL) and 555 games from 2018–2021 (UNL era). The primary areas of interest are competitive balance (CB) and competitive intensity (CI), measured at the intra-match (both CB and CI) and post-match (CB only) levels, and fairness. Regressions and statistical tests were conducted to explain the determinants of CB and compare CB and CI between both periods. The analysis reveals that CB deteriorated, primarily attributed to changing incentives for the strongest and weakest teams during Euro qualifying matches. By contrast, CI increased due to the UNL’s replacement of most friendly games. While recent literature has raised potential fairness issues due to the establishment of the UNL, findings of this study suggest that the integrity of national men’s football team competitions and games in Europe remained intact during this period. This article advances knowledge of CB and CI. Besides, it also provides empirical evidence that the UNL did not compromise the fairness of national men’s football team competitions and games in Europe. By bringing CB, CI, and fairness together, this study highlights the crucial role of sports organisations in promoting and developing their sport, while also safeguarding its integrity.

Translating interdisciplinary knowledge for gender equity: Quantifying the impact of NSF ADVANCE

AbstractBackgroundInterdisciplinarity is often hailed as a necessity for tackling real‐world challenges. We examine the prevalence and impact of interdisciplinarity in the NSF ADVANCE program, which addresses gender equity in STEM.MethodsThrough a quantitative analysis of authorship, references, and citations in ADVANCE publications, we compare the interdisciplinarity of knowledge produced within the program to traditional disciplinary knowledge. We use Simpon's Diversity Index to test for differences across disciplines, and we use negative binomial regression to capture the potential influences of interdisciplinarity on the long‐term impact of ADVANCE publications.ResultsADVANCE publications exhibit higher levels of interdisciplinarity across three dimensions of knowledge integration, and cross‐disciplinary ties within ADVANCE successfully integrate social science knowledge into diverse disciplines. Additionally, the interdisciplinarity of publication references positively influences the impact of ADVANCE work, while the interdisciplinarity of authorship teams does not.ConclusionsThese findings emphasize the significance of interdisciplinarity in problem‐oriented knowledge production, indicating that specific forms of interdisciplinarity can lead to broader impact. By shedding light on the interplay between interdisciplinary approaches, disciplinary structures, and academic recognition, this article contributes to programmatic design to generate impactful problem‐solving knowledge that also adds to the academic community.

The everyday life of a security project: the “Security Union” in the EU’s “engine room”

ABSTRACT Since 2015, the European Commission has sought to highlight the EU’s promise of protection by introducing the idea of a “Security Union”. This article examines how officials and bureaucrats within the European Commission make sense of this project. So far, the few explicit studies on the Security Union focus on its historical genesis and formal policy outputs and tend to view it as a symbolic and diffuse initiative that lacks coherent implementation and potentially undermines fundamental rights. The article goes beyond that by analysing how officials and bureaucrats in the EU’s “engine room” perceive and deal with the Security Union. Drawing on research on the everyday dimensions of European integration and administrative bureaucracy, the article explores officials’ views and self-understandings as well as their routines and interactions in their daily work. For this purpose, it uses novel empirical data from personal interviews with administrative officials in Brussels. On this basis, the study highlights the importance of skilled individuals and personal interactions that can have lasting impact even when formal institutional structures erode. Moreover, it shows how everyday exchanges and experiences within the Security Union context can change officials’ self-understandings as security actors based on a broad security narrative.

The Effect of Distrust Regulation and Trustworthiness Demonstration on Trust Repair in Responding to Online Negative Reviews

This paper explores how trust can be repaired after receiving online negative reviews. In this study, trust repair strategies are classified into six categories, and their effects on benevolence, ability, and integrity are examined. A predominant reliance is discerned on trustworthiness demonstration for affective repair strategies within online negative review responses, showcasing a noteworthy efficacy in reinstating trust across the dimensions of benevolence, integrity, and ability. Through a systematic analysis of these strategies, this paper not only uncovers the intricate interplay between responses and their consequential impacts on three dimensions of trust but also provides valuable comprehension of the multifaceted dynamics inherent in trust repair. By offering a refined understanding of the strategies involved in repairing trust, this research contributes actionable insights with theoretical insights into trust repair in digital business communication and practical implications for individuals and organizations grappling with the intricacies of navigating challenging online negative reviews.

Trends in Integration Between Physician Organizations and Pharmacies for Self-Administered Drugs

Increasing integration across medical services may have important implications for health care quality and spending. One major but poorly understood dimension of integration is between physician organizations and pharmacies for self-administered drugs or in-house pharmacies. To describe trends in the use of in-house pharmacies, associated physician organization characteristics, and associated drug prices. A cross-sectional study was conducted from calendar years 2011 to 2019. Participants included 20% of beneficiaries enrolled in fee-for-service Medicare Parts A, B, and D. Data analysis was performed from September 15, 2020, to December 20, 2023. Prescriptions filled by in-house pharmacies. The share of Medicare Part D spending filled by in-house pharmacies by drug class, costliness, and specialty was evaluated. Growth in the number of physician organizations and physicians in organizations with in-house pharmacies was measured in 5 specialties: medical oncology, urology, infectious disease, gastroenterology, and rheumatology. Characteristics of physician organizations with in-house pharmacies and drug prices at in-house vs other pharmacies are described. Among 8 020 652 patients (median age, 72 [IQR, 66-81] years; 4 570 114 [57.0%] women), there was substantial growth in the share of Medicare Part D spending on high-cost drugs filled at in-house pharmacies from 2011 to 2019, including oral anticancer treatments (from 10% to 34%), antivirals (from 12% to 20%), and immunosuppressants (from 2% to 9%). By 2019, 63% of medical oncologists, 20% of urologists, 29% of infectious disease specialists, 21% of gastroenterologists, and 22% of rheumatologists were in organizations with specialty-relevant in-house pharmacies. Larger organizations had a greater likelihood of having an in-house pharmacy (0.75 percentage point increase [95% CI, 0.56-0.94] per each additional physician), as did organizations owning hospitals enrolled in the 340B Drug Discount Program (10.91 percentage point increased likelihood [95% CI, 6.33-15.48]). Point-of-sale prices for high-cost drugs were 1.76% [95% CI, 1.66%-1.87%] lower at in-house vs other pharmacies. In this cross-sectional study of physician organization-operated pharmacies, in-house pharmacies were increasingly used from 2011 to 2019, especially for high-cost drugs, potentially associated with organizations' financial incentives. In-house pharmacies offered high-cost drugs at lower prices, in contrast to findings of integration in other contexts, but their growth highlights a need to understand implications for patient care.

Supply Chain Management and Business Performance of Shipping Firms in Port Harcourt

The study examined the relationship between supply chain management and business performance of shipping firms in Port Harcourt. The study adopted quantitative research design using a correlational method of investigation. The population consists of 16 shipping firms in Port Harcourt. The study adopted census sampling and studied the entire 16 firms with focus on managers. The reliability of the instrument was determined using Cronbach's alpha test with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 and it stood at 0.88 higher than the benchmark of 0.7. The data collected for this study were analyzed through inferential statistics. The Spearman Rank Correlation Technique was employed to test the various hypotheses formulated through the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results revealed that supply chain management is significantly and positively related with business performance of shipping firms in Port Harcourt. Based on the findings, it was concluded that supply chain management with its dimension of supply chain integration and reverse logistics will improve business performance of shipping firms in Port Harcourt on the basis of the results obtained from the analysis. The study recommends that shipping firms should adopt reverse logistics as this would ensure customer after-sale satisfaction which in turn results in improvement in business performance, and also, shipping firms should integrate their supplies as this would enable them to improve business performance.

Evaluating Trust in Recommender Systems: A User Study on the Impacts of Explanations, Agency Attribution, and Product Types

Recommender systems have emerged as powerful tools for providing personalized recommendations, often employed by online platforms to suggest products or media content based on user behavior. The design of these systems significantly influences and shapes user experience, as they guide users through vast amounts of information and help them make decisions more efficiently. In this study, we conducted an online experiment (N = 268) to test how different framings of source (human-oriented vs. machine-oriented vs. proxy-oriented vs. none) in recommendation explanations induced users’ attribution of human vs. machine agency in the recommendation process, thus impacting trusting beliefs and trusting behavioral intentions. Results revealed that subtle wording variations could lead participants to orient to different recommendation sources and then attribute human or machine agencies differently, regardless of their understanding of the true technical mechanism. Participants who attributed greater human agency to the recommendations exhibited higher confidence in making choices based on the system’s suggestions and a greater willingness to disclose personal information for continued use, mediated by the competence and integrity dimensions of trust, respectively. By evaluating both wine and vacuum recommendations, we also explored the contextual differences between hedonic and utilitarian product types in the recommendation process. The findings of this study provide implications for the trust-building and ethical communication design of recommender systems.

Steering the ‘client’-oriented schooling ship: a moral-ecological assessment framework to preserve professional integrity

ABSTRACT Grade inflation has been at the centre of heated debates in nations where schools are gradually shaped by a market-based praxis. Utilising teachers’ interviews in one US private/non-government faith-based school, this study examines how grade inflation shapes their sense of integrity and morality. The paper focuses on the faith-based schooling space for having the highest enrolment of all private/non-government school students, as well as an extensively distanced relationship with most US states – being subject to broad consumeristic demands. Following Santoro’s ’three dimensions of integrity’ model – supplemented with her ‘strategies for re-moralization’ – findings illustrate contestations of governance/assessment that violate teachers’ professional integrity, capturing a moral crossroads between their personal integrity and integrity of teaching. A moral- ecological assessment framework, reflecting principles of equity, authentic relationships and social justice in three domains of activism – classroom, school and community – helped the teachers navigate their fractured professional integrity and steer the ‘client’-oriented schooling ship.

Rodzina jako środowisko integralnego wychowania seksualnego

Aim: The aim of the article is to present the family as an environment for integral sexuality education, with particular emphasis on the role and tasks of parents in achieving its aims. Methods: The article uses the literature analysis method, according to which the research process took place in four stages focused on formulating the problem, collecting literature that is the subject of research, processing and organizing the knowledge contained in a selected set of documents and presenting research results. Results: The analysis showed that the family is the most favorable environment for achieving the main goal of integral sexuality education, which is: learning the essence and importance of sexuality in human life and striving for harmonious development necessary to achieve mental and spiritual maturity. Conclusion: The task of parents in achieving the aims of integral sexuality education is not only to transmit knowledge in the area of human sexual life, but also to provide appropriate models and behaviors relating to sexual, marital and family life, and to shape moral maturity relating to the sphere of sexual life. Originality: The originality of the article is indicated by the analysis of sexual education in its integral dimension, taking into account the conditions related to the implementation of the aims of this education in the family environment. Keyword: integral education, sexuality, family environment

The impact of urban integration on the intention of settlement and residence among migrants: The empirical evidence from China

Promoting urban integration is the key to improving the efficiency of labor allocation in developing countries and promoting coordinated regional development. Using the data of the migrants' observation sample in 2012–2017 released by China Migrants Dynamic Survey, this paper draws on theories related to urban integration and labor migration to study the urban integration status, intention of settlement and residence in China's agricultural household labor force in depth, as well as the correlation between the two. The study finds a significant decline in the intention of settlement and a gradual increase in the intention of residence among the migrants. The empirical regressions suggest that good urban integration, especially psychological integration, mainly contributes to their intention of settlement and residence, while the intention of residence is also more influenced by the social and economic integration dimensions. The mediating effect tests reveal that income level and housing stability are key pathways to economic integration, public medical participation and accessibility to medical services are key pathways to health integration, social status and local attachment are key pathways to social integration, and identity affiliation and psychological assimilation are key pathways to psychological integration. Future urbanization in developing countries requires not only further reform of the household registration system but also government, business, and social organizations at all levels to reduce the difficulties of urban integration in economic, health, social, and psychological aspects, enhance the degree of urban integration of the migrants, increase the intention of the migrants to settle and stay in different places and avoid the "migratory bird" migration of labor between regions. The "migratory bird" migration between regions is avoided.

The Relationship Between Machiavellianism and the Ethics of the Accounting and Auditing Profession: An Analytical Study of the Opinions of a Sample of Accountants and Auditors in Banks Listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange

Machiavellianism tends to take actions that ignore moral norms and values. Therefore, this research seeks to study the relationship between Machiavellianism and the lack of commitment of accountants and auditors in banks listed in the Iraqi Stock Exchange to the ethics of accounting and auditing represented by the rules of Professional Conduct in order to achieve the research objective, the descriptive analytical approach was followed by designing a questionnaire and distributing it to a group of accountants and auditors working in nine banks listed on the Iraqi Stock Exchange. Excel was used to analyze the data to obtain the results. The research reached several results, the most important of which was the existence of a positive correlation and influence between Machiavellianism and non-compliance with the ethics of the accounting and auditing profession. This relationship is semi-strong or medium with the dimensions of confidentiality and integrity and weak with the dimensions of efficiency and objectivity. Based on these results, several recommendations were proposed, the most important of which are the need to pay attention to the integration of ethical aspects in the basic curricula of the accounting department and the development of continuing education programs to link ethics with the role and responsibility of the accountant and Auditor.

Communication tools and their support for integration in transdisciplinary research projects

This study investigated how different communication tools support integration in transdisciplinary research. Ten digital and analogue tools with different communication directions and degrees of participation were tested in a 3.5-year transdisciplinary research project. Based on an exploratory operationalisation of the social-organisational, cognitive-epistemic and communicative dimensions of integration, we compared the tools’ integration support as perceived by 80 practitioners, 6 scientists and 3 integration experts. The multi-methods approach involved three surveys at different project phases, an ex-post poster assessment and interviews. The study showed that a variety of tools can serve diverse actors’ needs with varying preconditions and can play a supportive role for integration. Throughout the research process, the project website was identified as the central information platform for all groups. A living document in the form of a large hand-drawn poster and sketchnotes provided quick and understandable overviews and were particularly relevant for the communicative and the social-organisational dimension of integration. Digital videoconferences performed best in the cognitive-epistemic dimension and were found to be effective for information exchange, while online voting, emails and minutes were perceived to be less relevant. The involvement of integration experts with diverse communication and visualisation skills can support adaptive, context-specific and dynamic choices of communication tools, making project outcomes accessible to a variety of actors in a timely and transparent way throughout the project. The communication tools that were perceived by the actors to be most supportive were those that used visual and textual sign systems and facilitated a strong group identity. Therefore, we conclude that future research should include and operationalise a fourth, emotional dimension of integration.

Neural correlates tracking different aspects of the emerging representation of novel visual categories.

Current studies investigating electroencephalogram correlates associated with categorization of sensory stimuli (P300 event-related potential, alpha event-related desynchronization, theta event-related synchronization) typically use an oddball paradigm with few, familiar, highly distinct stimuli providing limited insight about the aspects of categorization (e.g. difficulty, membership, uncertainty) that the correlates are linked to. Using a more complex task, we investigated whether such more specific links could be established between correlates and learning and how these links change during the emergence of new categories. In our study, participants learned to categorize novel stimuli varying continuously on multiple integral feature dimensions, while electroencephalogram was recorded from the beginning of the learning process. While there was no significant P300 event-related potential modulation, both alpha event-related desynchronization and theta event-related synchronization followed a characteristic trajectory in proportion with the gradual acquisition of the two categories. Moreover, the two correlates were modulated by different aspects of categorization, alpha event-related desynchronization by the difficulty of the task, whereas the magnitude of theta -related synchronization by the identity and possibly the strength of category membership. Thus, neural signals commonly related to categorization are appropriate for tracking both the dynamic emergence of internal representation of categories, and different meaningful aspects of the categorization process.

How does decarbonization of the central heating industry affect employment? A spatiotemporal analysis from the perspective of urbanization

This study evaluates the spatiotemporal heterogeneous effects of decarbonizing the central heating industry on employment from the perspective of new-type urbanization based on an innovative theoretical framework. Our average estimated CO2 emission intensity of the central heating industry in China at the city-level decreased from 54.51 tCO2/100 m2 in 2012 to 47.24 tCO2/100 m2 in 2019. Decarbonization of the central heating industry may promote total employment in 72 % of the Chinese cities with the median effect is 0.005 % for each 1 % reduction of the heating carbon intensity. However, the promotion effect may be inhibited by ecological and environmental urbanization, while strengthening through population and land, economic, social, and urban–rural integration dimensions of urbanization. Our findings can provide policy implications for carbon emission control and new-type urbanization planning in cities to achieve stable employment.

Association of social integration with cognitive function trajectories among Chinese older adults: evidence from the China health and retirement longitudinal study (CHARLS).

The prevalence of cognitive impairment among older adults remains high. It has been proven that social integration is related to cognitive function. However, limited research has examined the association of social integration and its different dimensions with cognitive function trajectories of older adults. The data were from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) spanning 2013 (T1) to 2018 (T3). A total of 3,977 older adults were included in the final analysis. Cognitive function was measured with items from an adapted Chinese version of the Mini-Mini-Mental Mental State Examination (MMSE), while the measurement of social integration included three dimensions: economic integration, relational integration and community integration. A group-based trajectory model (GBTM) was used to identify cognitive trajectory groups among participants and an unordered multinomial logistic regression was employed to explore the association of baseline social integration and its three dimensions with cognitive function trajectories. Three cognitive function trajectory groups were identified: low-decline group (24.1%), medium-decline group (44.2%) and high-stable group (31.7%). Comparing to the medium-decline trajectory group, older adults with higher social integration scores were more likely to be in the high-stable trajectory group (OR = 1.087, 95%CI: 1.007 ~ 1.174), while less likely to be in the low-decline group (OR = 0.806, 95%CI: 0.736 ~ 0.882). Among the different dimensions of social integration, older adults with higher community integration scores were more likely to be in the high-stable trajectory group (OR = 1.222, 95%CI: 1.026 ~ 1.456); Older adults with higher relational integration scores were less likely to be in the low-decline trajectory group (OR = 0.816, 95%CI: 0.734 ~ 0.906). The economic integration was not found to correlate with the cognitive function trajectories. Stratified analyses revealed that the association between community integration and cognitive trajectories was only significant among older adults aged 60 to 69, and the association between relational integration and cognitive trajectories was only significant among older adults who was agricultural household registration. The developmental trajectories of cognitive function among Chinese older adults are heterogeneous. Social integration is significantly related to the trajectories of cognitive function in Chinese older adults. Measures should be taken to promote social integration of Chinese older adults to reduce the decline of cognitive function.

Investigation of Surface Integrity of Conical Hole in Laser Polishing 440C Stainless Steel

In the machining process of 440C stainless steel using ball-end milling, the generation of machined traces is an inevitable outcome. Traditional polishing methods, when applied to the milling surfaces of small conical holes, exhibit significant limitations. However, the application of nanosecond pulsed laser polishing while maintaining dimensional integrity has proven effective in mitigating these issues. The parameters for the laser and scanning strategy were empirically determined through planar experiments. The results showed a reduction in surface roughness to a minimum value, representing a decrease of approximately 41.7%. Further validation experiments were conducted on the ball-milled surface of small conical holes. The rate of roughness reduction in these experiments surpassed that of planar surface polishing with an improvement of approximately 73.6%. The scanning strategy’s applicability was confirmed, and the post-polishing surface morphology was found to be largely in line with the prediction. The remelt layer and heat-affected zone resulting from nanosecond laser polishing were observed to be below 5 μm, significantly preserving the dimensional integrity of the conical hole’s internal surface. Moreover, nanosecond laser polishing was found to substantially enhance the surface hardness of the material, with an increase ranging from 100% to 180%. This study underscores the efficacy of nanosecond laser polishing in enhancing the internal surface of small conical holes, thereby improving the surface properties. Consequently, this method presents a reliable solution for the removal of machined traces from complex internal surfaces.

The Role and Role of Digital Governance in Improving Government Transparency and Citizen Engagement

Abstract This paper designs relevant questionnaires according to the needs of this research, obtains basic data through the questionnaires, and explores the intrinsic role mechanism between the influencing factors of the dimensions of digital governance and the roles and functions in government transparency and citizen participation through structural equation modeling and regression analysis. The results show that government transparency and citizen participation have a positive effect on digital governance, with a p-value of less than 0.05. In the detailed description, the three dimensions of openness, interactivity, and selectivity of public participation in digital governance in X county positively affect the five dimensions of information integration and scientific decision-making ability, benign communication, and collaborative ability in digital governance capacity. The transparency of government procurement will be positively impacted by the investment of science and technology funding, and the correlation between GDP per capita and transparency of government procurement is 10%.

An Innovative Exploration of Music Integration into Art Education Teaching in the Context of Big Data

Abstract The interdisciplinary integration of art and music into education majors is a significant reform effort that benefits students’ overall artistic literacy. This study focuses on integrating music into art education teaching, with the goal of teaching concepts and empowering music applications. It uses k-means clustering to analyze the group profile of art teachers’ integration literacy. Then, we selected the influencing factors for music integration in art teaching, explored the relationship between them and the effects of art teaching, and proposed an effective way to integrate music into art education teaching. The results show that the group of teachers’ integration literacy can be divided into four categories: conservative (27.19%), ambivalent (47.50%), balanced (10.31%), and transformational (15.00%), and transformational teachers have the most vital ability to teach music integration. There was a significant positive correlation between the five dimensions of music integration in art teaching and art teaching effectiveness. The most essential effects on teaching effectiveness were found in creating a teaching context (0.217) and guiding the learning of art knowledge (0.154). The study can provide a basis for teaching music and art integration and individualized development of teachers’ integration literacy.

An Exploration of the Methods of Virtual Reality Technology to Enhance the Tourism Experience of Non-native English Speakers

Abstract This paper combines virtual reality technology with end-to-end speech recognition technology to design a digital tourism system to satisfy non-native English speakers (tourists) with the advantage of interactive projection technology. VRML technology is utilized to accelerate network interaction and piggyback on the construction of the digital tourism system. Particle swarm-based hybrid collision algorithm and end-to-end English speech recognition algorithm are proposed respectively to construct a real and complete tourism environment and convert English speech to meet the tourism needs of non-native English speakers. The performance advantages of the improved AABB-MPSO algorithm are detected by combining the exploration of the influence of the size of the search space on the search success rate and search time. Analyze the relationship between the number of modeling units and the recognition error rate of the end-to-end English recognition model with a joint CTC and attention mechanism, using spoken speech of free conversation in real scenes. The seven digital tourism experience dimensions of scenic integrity, scenic service quality, scenic authenticity, scenic infrastructure, degree of commercialization, English recognition and conversion, and cultural connotation embodiment are delineated to explore the key factors of tourism physical examination. Non-native English speakers’ evaluation of the digital tourism experience is generally high, and the mean value of each dimension is greater than “3”, which means that the digital tourism system designed in this paper can meet the tourism needs of non-native English speakers.

A NOTE ON FRACTAL DIMENSION OF RIEMANN–LIOUVILLE FRACTIONAL INTEGRAL

This paper intends to study the analytical properties of the Riemann–Liouville fractional integral and fractal dimensions of its graph on [Formula: see text]. We show that the Riemann–Liouville fractional integral preserves some analytical properties such as boundedness, continuity and bounded variation in the Arzelá sense. We also deduce the upper bound of the box dimension and the Hausdorff dimension of the graph of the Riemann–Liouville fractional integral of Hölder continuous functions. Furthermore, we prove that the box dimension and the Hausdorff dimension of the graph of the Riemann–Liouville fractional integral of a function, which is continuous and of bounded variation in Arzelá sense, are [Formula: see text].