Domestic Context Research Articles

Experiential Learning and Peacekeeping

ABSTRACT Experiential learning, at its core, is a self-driven process of acquiring knowledge from past experiences and applying it to new situations. This study delves into this process within the realm of peacekeeping, where the learning experiences of troop-contributing countries are particularly unique. These peacekeepers navigate the dual role of countering armed insurgencies through UN peacekeeping missions abroad while simultaneously addressing domestic security challenges through counterinsurgency (COIN) operations. Although extensive research has examined how COIN experiences shape peacekeeping strategies, the translation of peacekeeping experiential learning to domestic contexts remains to be determined. By focusing on India as a case study, this research illustrates that peacekeepers are open to learning from their peacekeeping experiences. However, the successful application of this learning in domestic settings is determined by more than just their capacity to learn. It is also shaped by the nature of the supportive learning environment that may sometimes create a gap between international peacekeeping and its application to domestic operations.

A right to live without stigma? Examining negative stereotyping, negative messages, and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to examine the contours of evolving jurisprudence on offensive expression and negative messages, and to suggest that it can best be understood by reference to the concept of stigma. At the European Court of Human Rights, there appears to have been an increasing willingness to recognise the harm of offensive expression through an interpretation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, but the reach of this case law remains uncertain. In particular, while some cases associate negative expression with negative stereotyping, not all of these cases do, and there are potential conflicts with freedom of speech. In the domestic context, these issues recently arose in a significant case from the Court of Appeal, R (Crowter) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. In this case, the appellants argued that a legal provision sends a negative ‘message’, through the negative stereotyping of disabled people, but this ‘message’ is implicit, rather than explicitly articulated. While these developments raise important questions about the future evolution of case law, we propose that a focus on stigma can more clearly highlight the harms involved.

Research Dynamics and Frontiers of Environmental, Social, and Governance Disclosure: Bibliometric Visual Analysis Based on CiteSpace

Abstract: With the increasing global attention on sustainable development and corporate social responsibility, studying the dynamics and frontiers of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosure is of great significance to academia, corporate practice, and policy-making. This study employs CiteSpace for bibliometric visual analysis, utilizing methods such as keyword co-occurrence analysis, cluster analysis, and research theme evolution analysis to comparatively analyze the differences in ESG research between domestic and international contexts. The study reveals the hotspots, trends, and development directions of ESG disclosure research. The findings indicate a steady growth in the number of publications in the ESG disclosure research field, with research themes shifting from singular environmental information disclosure to a more comprehensive focus on social responsibility and governance structures. This study not only provides researchers with new perspectives, expanding and deepening the themes of ESG research, but also offers references for companies to enhance ESG disclosure and for policy-making, thus holding significant theoretical and practical implications.

How large language model-powered conversational agents influence decision making in domestic medical triage contexts

IntroductionEffective delivery of healthcare depends on timely and accurate triage decisions, directing patients to appropriate care pathways and reducing unnecessary visits. Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions, particularly those based on Large Language Models (LLMs), may enable non-experts to make better triage decisions at home, thus easing the healthcare system's load. We investigate how LLM-powered conversational agents influence non-experts in making triage decisions, further studying different persona profiles embedded via prompting.MethodsWe designed a randomized experiment where participants first assessed patient symptom vignettes independently, then consulted one of the two agent profiles—rational or empathic—for advice, and finally revised their triage ratings. We used linear models to quantify the effect of the agent profile and confidence on the weight of advice. We examined changes in confidence and accuracy of triage decisions, along with participants' perceptions of the agents.ResultsIn a study with 49 layperson participants, we found that persona profiles can be differentiated in LLM-powered conversational agents. However, these profiles did not significantly affect the weight of advice. Notably, less confident participants were more influenced by LLM advice, leading to larger adjustments to initial decisions. AI guidance improved alignment with correct triage levels and boosted confidence in participants' decisions.DiscussionWhile LLM advice improves triage recommendations accuracy, confidence plays an important role in its adoption. Our findings raise design considerations for human-AI interfaces, highlighting two key aspects: encouraging appropriate alignment with LLMs' advice and ensuring that people are not easily swayed in situations of uncertainty.

M. M. Speransky and the Problem of the Committee of Ministers in the 1st Third of the 19th Century

M. M. Speransky’s reform projects and notes are integral to understanding the historical development of the Russian state in the early 19th century. They provide valuable insight into the functioning of the Russian Empire’s institutions and its modernization. These documents cover the whole range of socio-political, economic and institutional problems, strategic goals, tactical guidelines, the most important directions, successive and distinctive features of the transformative policy of the two reigns – Alexander I and Nicholas I, as well as give an idea of the specifics of reform activities of the managerial elite of this time. “A truly statesman”, Speransky was highly esteemed as a statesman by his peers due to his merging of theoretical expertise and practical administrative skills. This article delves into Speransky’s perspectives on the institutional status of the Committee of Ministers within the power structure of the Russian Empire in the first third of the 19th century. It illustrates that his viewpoint on the Committee’s role changed based on the reform program's objectives, domestic and foreign political contexts, and strategic goals. Initially, Speransky acknowledged the Committee's role in state administration, but later during the reign on Alexander I contemplated its abolition due to overlapping functions with the State Council and the Senate. Ultimately, he proposed its transformation and integration with the Committee of Ministers.

Exploring carbon footprints and carbon intensities of Indonesian provinces in a domestic and global context

Within Indonesia, the structure of consumption and production differs significantly across provinces. This implies that carbon footprints and intensities between provinces are also diverse. This paper calculates historical consumption- and production-based carbon emissions at the provincial level using a multi-scale input-output (IO) database for 2010, in which an environmentally extended multi-regional IO (EE MRIO) table for 34 Indonesian provinces is integrated in the global EE MRIO EXIOBASE with data for 43 countries and 5 rest of the world regions. Emissions from consumption are detailed by product and their points of origin, while emissions from production are detailed by industry and their destinations. Our results show the heterogeneity of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions under both sides. The Java region is a net importer of carbon emission, while Sumatra and Kalimantan are net exporters. In the global context, the Asia Pacific region plays important role in national GHG emissions. Services product contributed 57.1% of national consumption-based GHG emissions, followed by manufacture (30.6%), and agriculture (12.3%). On the national level, 63.5% of national GHG emissions are related to household consumption. There is a high disparity across provinces in Indonesia in carbon footprints. Provincial average per capita carbon footprints vary from 2 t CO2e/capita in East Nusa Tenggara to 13.84 t CO2e/capita in East Kalimantan. Carbon intensity also varies from 0.83 kt CO2e/M Euro in Jakarta to 2.37 kt CO2e/M Euro in North Kalimantan. Agriculture and food products dominate household carbon footprints, while construction leads in government carbon footprints. Utilities and transportation services play important roles on national carbon intensities. We further correlated the Human Development Index (HDI) with per capita carbon footprints and expenditure, and find that provinces with similar GHG emissions and expenditure per capita income as Java, tend to have a lower HDI. Understanding development status and province-level characteristics is important for selecting policy strategies.

Freedom of Expression's Crisis of Interpretation

ABSTRACT: Over the course of 2023, an epidemic of Koran burnings convulsed Denmark and Sweden. Denmark responded by criminalizing the practice on diplomatic and security grounds. This infuriated free-speech campaigners who saw the move as a betrayal of Scandinavia's historic commitment to freedom of expression. In the process, Denmark missed an opportunity to explore Koran burning as a problem for democracies and identify tools other than criminalization to address it. This essay places the Danish response to Koran burning in its domestic and international context, showing how it fits into a broader global crisis of interpretation concerning the human right to free speech.

Ottawa's Burden: Fort Churchill and Military Nursing in Northern Canada, 1945–1975

Between 1949 and 1964, Canada's Department of National Defence owned and operated the Fort Churchill Military Hospital in northern Manitoba. As one of only two military hospitals in the country to treat civilian patients, the other being Whitehorse, Fort Churchill played a unique and critical role in the provision of federal health services in the postwar period. This article centres the experiences of military nurses in the Hudson Bay area of northern Canada, using the rise and fall of Fort Churchill's hospital, to investigate Ottawa's approach to medical governance. Military medicine is more than a wartime or overseas phenomenon, and it is incumbent upon medical historians to consider domestic military contexts in peacetime as a crucial component of Canada's twentieth century health history.

Представления о неисчислимых предметах в литературе на древнегреческом языке: от бессмысленного занятия – до знания Аполлона и Бога

One of the prophecies of the seven astragals oracle from the Pisidian city of Termessus included the saying “to count the waves,” indicating the futility of the intended endeavor. The author seeks to ascertain the purposes behind the Greeks’ utilization of imagery pertaining to uncountable objects such as waves, grains of sand, stars, and others. Additionally, the author aims to explore the perceptions surrounding the act of counting these objects within both domestic and cultural-religious contexts. The article shows that this “incalculability” was attracted by the Greeks to express incommensurable and even opposite concepts. First, through expressions like “to count the waves”, the case was characterized as either impossible or meaningless and stupid. Secondly, countless stars or waves were recalled when there was a need to emphasize the incredibly huge number of objects being described. Third, thanks to Apollo’s revelation announced in the response of the Delphic oracle, the knowledge of the number of grains of sand and the size of the sea formed the basis of the formula of divine omniscience: “I know the number of grains of sand and the depths of the sea”. When the books of the Old Testament were translated, the Hebrew tradition began to speak in ancient Greek. In it, the uncountable objects were needed primarily to emphasize God’s promise to Abraham of the multiplicity of the Israelite people, and for comparisons as well as to describe God’s omniscience. The list of uncountable objects itself differed in part from the standards recognized by the ancient Greeks. The ancient Greek and Jewish traditions merged in Byzantine literature into a single stream of the Christian tradition. The lists of uncountable objects of both traditions have been combined and further expanded upon. The Greek tradinion’s designation for an impossible or meaningless endeavor was retained. Passages from the Old Testament with words of God’s promises to Abraham were quoted and retold. Comparison with uncountable objects was actively used. The Apollo’s revelation was recognized as a deception of this demon, torn away from Apollo and eventually given to God.

Effective blended learning instructional design strategies in medical education

With the rapid development of technology and societal change, a shift from traditional classroom instruction to more diverse educational methods in medical education is necessary. As an effective approach to providing flexibility and accessibility while maintaining the benefits of face-to-face interactions, blended learning, which integrates online and offline learning, has gained attention. This study examines the current status and best practices of the aforementioned blended learning, analyzes its application in domestic and international contexts, and derives effective instructional design strategies. A comprehensive review of previous research and empirical cases reveals a conceptual framework and core principles for designing such blended learning. Key considerations include strategic integration of online and offline activities, facilitation of self-directed learning and interaction, effective use of technology, and continuous quality improvement. Furthermore, we suggest contextually relevant strategies, such as designing curricula focused on clinical reasoning, providing iterative practice opportunities, enhancing reflection, and fostering future competencies. The case analysis establishes that blended learning is implemented in various forms across different medical schools and curricula. Common features include the linkage of online and offline learning, incorporation of learner-centered methods, and emphasis on practical competencies. However, the limited number of cases suggests that generalizations may be premature. Successful implementation requires multifaceted efforts, including gradual introduction, faculty support, flexible curricula, safety measures, and institutional support. Accumulating empirical research and evidence of their effectiveness can facilitate their wider dissemination. This study provides implications and future directions for innovative medical education using hybrid learning.

Research on Urban Renewal Design in the Context of the Future Community Concept

As urbanization accelerates, traditional cities face numerous challenges such as aging infrastructure, limited community functions, and inadequate environmental sustainability. The concept of the "future community," as an innovative approach to urban development, emphasizes the application of smart technologies, enhanced community participation, eco-friendly designs, and diversified economic growth, providing a new direction for urban renewal. This study aims to explore the application of the future community concept in urban renewal design through a combination of literature review, case studies, and data analysis, systematically analyzing the core characteristics of future communities and their impact on urban renewal. The research selects typical urban renewal cases from both domestic and international contexts, constructs a relationship model between future communities and urban renewal, and proposes a series of design strategies such as participatory design, smart technology integration, sustainable green design, and mixed-use development. Comparative analysis reveals that the future community concept significantly improves social inclusiveness, technological application levels, and environmental sustainability, while also boosting economic vitality. The use of data tables further validates the effectiveness of these design strategies, providing empirical support for urban planning and design. The study concludes that while the future community concept offers important guidance for urban renewal, challenges such as technological, financial, and policy issues must still be overcome during implementation. Finally, the paper offers relevant policy recommendations and future research directions to provide theoretical and practical references for building more livable, intelligent, and sustainable urban communities.

Artificial Intelligence in the U.S. Military Health System: Forging a New Frontier for Clinical Care and Efficiency

ABSTRACT The Military Health System (MHS) has historically been at the forefront of innovation in medicine and science, but it has also historically struggled to implement battlefield innovations or civilian technologies for wider domestic use. Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force in health care with civilian health systems and institutions at the forefront of these innovations. While these tools have the potential to support resolution of military health’s most pressing issues, the MHS is behind its civilian counterparts in advancing AI. Adoption of AI could benefit the MHS in such areas as service member and beneficiary access to care; more precise allocation of medical personnel and resources; improved operations of military treatment facilities; early detection of emerging threats to health; and force multiplication of existing telehealth capabilities. This evolving and highly visible technology also presents challenges in the military context above those in the civilian context, such as additional levels of privacy and security, integration with purpose-built secure systems, and additional regulatory obligations. To address these, the MHS should engage in three lines of effort to advance AI: establishing governance, education and training of medical personnel, and engaging in research, development, testing, and piloting of AI applications. This will require dedicated personnel and resources for a substantial initial outlay to be recouped later through more effective administration and care. By leveraging lessons learned from civilian systems, the MHS can design, adopt, and implement AI solutions to improve care for service members in both domestic and operational contexts, and for their beneficiaries.

Populist Challenge? Negotiating the EU’s Accession to the Istanbul Convention in the Council

According to recent scholarship, populist governments engage in “unpolitics,” a repudiation of politics as the process of resolving conflict, including on the level of the EU. We propose that the conditions provided by the Council preparatory bodies, namely constructive negotiation culture, focus on technical details and containment of a negotiation outside of mediatised venues, might hamper the emergence of unpolitics. We test this argument by tracing the process of the EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combatting violence against women and domestic violence, concluded in June 2023. This case study serves as a hard case for our theory because gender equality as a policy area is susceptible to tactics of unpolitics and right-wing populists have employed populist critique of the Istanbul Convention in their domestic contexts. Having analysed multiple data sources, including interviews with negotiators in the Council of the EU, official EU documents, and media coverage, we find little evidence of unpolitics in the case of the Council’s negotiation of the EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention. We suggest that decision-making venues such as Council preparatory bodies can mitigate phenomena associated with populism, such as the use of unpolitics tactics in EU decision-making.

Individual or communal? Exploring the social dynamics of ceramic production at the Lengyel circular-enclosure site of Těšetice-Kyjovice – Sutny, South Moravia

Although ceramic vessels form the majority of artifact assemblages in the Neolithic, little is known about their production beyond the assumption that they were made in a domestic context. Characterizing the scale of ceramic production is important for understanding Neolithic social and economic processes, particularly at sites with enclosure systems that indicate an increased degree of social organization. Nevertheless, characterizing the complexity and social entanglements of ceramic production is a difficult task in the absence of primary production locales.In this study, we provide a working hypothesis and use ceramic and clay petrographic data to highlight the variability in ceramic technological practices, and in turn, identify the organization of ceramic production at the Late Neolithic (Lengyel I; 4750–4500 BCE) site of Těšetice-Kyjovice – Sutny, South Moravia, Czech Republic. The site is characterised by a large circular enclosure, the construction of which required a high level of social cooperation. It is still under scrutiny whether the cooperation required for building the enclosure system was only temporary and related to this construction activity, or if it reflects a higher degree of social organization in general.By understanding ceramic production, we may clarify the complexity of the most common production processes that took place at the site. Large-scale ceramic and clay petrographic data provide information on the first steps of the chaîne opératoire in ceramic fabrication, which can be used to assess the organization of production. A systematic analysis of a large number of ceramic samples, representing all basic typological and macroscopically distinguishable fabric groups, revealed a high degree of individuality in choices of raw materials and tempers. Ceramic petrographic data, compared with the petrographic data of local sediment sources, further highlighted individuality in raw material and temper preferences, and even mixing of raw materials was identified.Our analyses suggest that Lengyel culture potters likely produced their vessels on a household level, with no evidence suggesting non-domestic production. These data, in conjunction with ceramic petrographic data from Hungarian Late Neolithic sites, suggest that Late Neolithic communities were self-sufficient in terms of utilitarian pottery production. Ceramic petrographic data also indicate interaction between the inhabitants of Těšetice and other Lengyel culture communities in the vicinity, perhaps further indicating a higher degree of social organization at the site.

Global Value Chains: Sourcing Strategies for Resilience amidst COVID-19

COVID-19 has profoundly impacted the already vulnerable pharmaceutical, agricultural, and food supply chains, leading to disruptions in their sourcing processes. Hence, it is crucial to emphasize the universal imperative of enhancing resilience in Global Value Chains across various industries in today’s interconnected global economy. It seeks to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted GVCs and influenced the availability of critical resources. We have investigated the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on Global Value Chains due to its widespread disruption of supply chains, which has posed immediate challenges for businesses and necessitated resilience strategies. Our research reveals a consistent relationship between impact levels observed in domestic and international contexts. Changes in domestic impact levels closely align with those observed abroad, indicating a robust positive correlation. This correlation emphasizes the interdependence of sourcing challenges across both domestic and international spheres. We propose near-shoring as a management strategy by integrating regional market trends alongside digital transformation to optimize supply chain resilience, enabling businesses to cope with fluctuations in markets and take advantage on new possibilities.

Room with a viewership: visibility work & Twitch.tv in the domestic context

ABSTRACT This paper argues for the domestic worksites of marginalized game streamers as a crucial site for understanding the politics of visibility work on platforms. Twitch.tv stands out as Amazon’s world-leading platform for live video entertainment. Through ethnographic interactions with Twitch creators (n = 12), I clarify the challenges marginalized individuals face in livestreaming’s platformization of game cultures. While streaming provides opportunities for creative self-expression and shields against hostile gaming communities, it also relocates streamers’ precarities before audiences to the sensitive enclaves of domestic space. Consequently, Twitch streamers must delicately balance self-presentation and discretion due to the looming threat of over-exposure in a historically unfriendly gaming culture. By exploring these dual experiences from the standpoint of vulnerable creators, this paper offers insights into the intricate strategies of visibility management in social media work. It also contributes to the ongoing discourse on the construction of online presence, extending into feminist theories of domestic work and the social reproduction of online game environments.

Концепція національної ідентичності в художньому світопросторі Олекси Стороженка

National identity and its portrayal in literature is a pressing issue today that demands thorough examination. This relevance arises from the current socio-cultural situation, which necessitates an understanding of Ukrainian national identity’s foundations and the influences shaping the nation’s development. This article explores the components of national identity and elucidates the concept of "national identity", examining the state of research on this issue in both global and domestic contexts. The study focuses on how Oleksa Storozhenko’s artistic heritage reflects the peculiarities of the Ukrainian nation through language, daily life, history, worldview, mentality, and the interplay of time and space. Special attention is given to his prose works written in Ukrainian, highlighting typical images of Ukrainians who embody distinct national traits. The article also examines Storozhenko’s position and his self-identification as a representative of conscious Ukrainianism.

Unrealised aspiration: Migrants’ intergroup relations in China

Although migrants wish to make friends with local urbanites, they may not eventually realise their aspirations. This paper considers the mismatch between migrants’ intention and intergroup relations in China to reveal the gap between aspirations and outcomes. The instrumental variable results suggest that residing in migrant-concentrated neighbourhoods can lead to a gap between migrants’ aspired and real intergroup relations. This confirms the negative role of neighbourhood ethnic concentration in a domestic migrant context. Moreover, having a rural hukou indirectly hinders migrants from bridging the gap by lowering their socioeconomic status, demonstrating the disadvantage of rural migrants in the socialisation field. We highlight that migrants in China continue to face the challenges to achieving their integration aspirations.

Translation as image rewriting: the case of Chinese red novels

ABSTRACT Following its founding in 1949, the People’s Republic of China embarked on a large-scale endeavour to translate red novels into English. Remarkably, these translations often underwent rewritings, suggesting the state’s considerable influence. Drawing on André Lefevere’s rewriting theory, this article examines why and how these works were rewritten in English. It first offers an overview of the domestic and foreign contexts of red novel translation, and then presents how these novels were translated, including the involvement of translators in the translation process and the rewriting of characters’ images. It is found that red novels were translated not only for cultural exchange but also for social-political and publicity reasons. To this end, the positive and negative characters of red novels are frequently modified, although following different paths: positive characters are generally improved or idealised for a more perfect representation, whereas negative characters are typically degraded or worsened to justify the struggle against them. Nonetheless, both trajectories ultimately serve the same purpose – to reshape the state’s national image.

ARCHAEOMETRIC analysis of pigments from archaeological contexts in the upper DELTA of the PARANÁ river (ARGENTINA)

AbstractThis research delves into ancient pigment practices among the Goya‐Malabrigo societies in the Upper Delta of the Paraná River during the Late Holocene. Utilising Raman microspectroscopy and X‐ray diffraction, we analysed 33 samples from six archaeological sites and four natural outcrops. Our discoveries uncovered hematite in red pigments across diverse materials (potsherds, shells, human bones, and sediments), anatase adorning ceramics with whitish tones, and charcoal creating darker shades. These findings not only contribute to the understanding of the mineral composition of ancient colours used by Indigenous people in domestic and funerary contexts but also set the first stage for forthcoming provenance research, integrating multiple archaeometric techniques to unravel the origins of these compelling pigments.