Dominant Focus Research Articles

Towards a Sociological Understanding of Sexting as a Social Practice: A Case Study of University Undergraduate Men

This article makes the case for understanding young people’s engagement with ‘sexting’ as a social practice. Moving away from the dominant focus on teenagers and (sexual) risk and instead approaching sexting as an ‘everyday’ practice sheds light on how sexting is perceived and situated as a normalised part of contemporary youth culture. Drawing on 10 focus groups with 37 undergraduate men in Melbourne, Australia, our data reveal young men’s significant emphasis on consent, mutuality and respect, marking out ‘appropriate sexting’ practices as distinct from harassment or image-based abuse. Nonetheless, the centrality of a transactional approach to sexting questions those seemingly positive dispositions. Social practice theory permits sophisticated understanding of these nuances, seeing them as bound up and produced in correspondence with the broader meanings, embodied skills and material artefacts that are associated with sexting.

Consensus Guidelines on Genetic` Testing for Hereditary Breast Cancer from the American Society of Breast Surgeons

BackgroundThe purpose of this consensus guideline is to outline recommendations for genetic testing that medical professionals can use to assess hereditary risk for breast cancer.MethodsLiterature review included large datasets, basic and clinical science publications, and recent updated national guidelines. Genetic testing to assess hereditary risk of cancer is a complex, broad, and dynamic area of medical research. The dominant focus of this guideline is limited in scope to breast cancer.ResultsThere is a lack of consensus among experts regarding which genes among many should be tested in different clinical scenarios. There is also variation in the degree of consensus regarding the understanding of risk and appropriate clinical management of mutations in many genes.ConclusionsGenetic testing should be made available to all patients with a personal history of breast cancer. Recent data are reviewed that support genetic testing being offered to each patient with breast cancer (newly diagnosed or with a personal history). If genetic testing is performed, such testing should include BRCA1/BRCA2 and PALB2, with other genes as appropriate for the clinical scenario and family history. For patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer, identification of a mutation may impact local treatment recommendations. Patients who had genetic testing previously may benefit from updated testing. Genetic testing should be made available to patients without a history of breast cancer who meet National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines. Finally, variants of uncertain significance are not clinically actionable and these patients should be managed based on their individual risk factors.

Urban Sustainability and the SDGs: A Nordic Perspective and Opportunity for Integration

Urban sustainability has been used to cover multiple aspects of urban development. Terms related to sustainability have been generously used to advance ubiquitous and hard-to-measure targets not least in response to global and national sustainable development (SD) targets. However, ad-hoc and governed urbanization processes differ. In addition to different development pathways, local differences in interpretation of sustainability exist. This renders a global urban sustainability discourse disconnected from local practice. In this paper we focus on the Nordic cities, combining what is known about the similarities of the cities and societies, their recent development and highlights. Comparing with the global sustainability discourse spearheaded by the UN development goals (SDGs) we analyze the potential links in Nordic urban development to the global aims, as well as the local action taken via ex-ante review and assessment. With increasing demands for transformative change in urban planning and other institutions due to environmental, social and economic challenges, we demonstrate where strengthening the urban sustainability agenda is particularly needed. Findings show surprisingly little focus on socially just and cross-thematic development pre-SDGs, while it is expected that the dominant technocratic focus will give way to these other aspects necessary to address sustainability under the current SDG framework.

Preparing graduates for work readiness: an overview and agenda

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the concept of graduate work readiness (GWR) from a stakeholder perspective. The research attempts to pull together the various multidisciplinary themes from the literature into a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between graduates and the labour market, considering the international dimension of what is a global phenomenon.Design/methodology/approachThe critical review is divided into four distinct sections, the first is to contextualise the concept of GWR and graduate employability taking into account recent academic discussion, particularly in the EU and ASEAN; second, to explore the different perspectives of stakeholders in the “triple helix” of universities, governments and the corporate world; third, critically to assess the arguments that educational provision is poorly aligned with labour market needs; and finally, to investigate the implications of the fourth industrial revolution for graduate jobs and skills and propose an agenda for future research.FindingsDespite the apparent consensus between stakeholders over the central importance of graduate employability, there is considerable diversity in how each imagines GWR is best assured.Research limitations/implicationsAny review is limited by the extant literature and whilst it is not uncommon that most research has been done in North America, Western Europe and Australasia, this is a serious limitation. GWR is a global concern and this review shows the need for more research that extends beyond the dominant geographical focus and its attendant paradigms. The implication is that geography is important and local research is needed to develop solutions that fit specific cultural, economic and institutional contexts.Practical implicationsThe paper highlights the need to reconcile different stakeholder perspectives on GWR and ensure that they work together on shared agendas to improve graduate transition to the labour market. At the same time, the profound changes being brought about by the fourth industrial revolution suggest that more attention should be paid to the employability of existing employees.Originality/valueThis review should prove useful to both academics and practitioners because it emphasises the need to treat GWR as a concept that varies according to context and stakeholder interests, rather than a homogeneous phenomenon.

Plural strategies of accessing land among peri-urban squatters

ABSTRACTThis paper discusses strategies utilized by migrants/squatters in accessing land for settlement and livelihoods in places where the state and the indigenes are not sympathetic to their needs. Although of significant policy and theoretical significance, this area has not received attention from scholarship, its dominant focus being on understanding the diverse origins, destinations, drivers and processes of migration. In addressing this issue, the study uses the case of Malawian migrants located in Zimbabwe’s peri-urban area of Norton. The finding of the paper is that there are as many strategies for acquiring land as they are migrants. The identified strategies (inheritance, seizures, and purchase) are contingent based – varying according to the access of the parties involved in the transactions.

Volumetric and Voxel-Wise Analysis of Dominant Intraprostatic Lesions on Multiparametric MRI.

Introduction: Multiparametric MR imaging (mpMRI) has shown promising results in the diagnosis and localization of prostate cancer. Furthermore, mpMRI may play an important role in identifying the dominant intraprostatic lesion (DIL) for radiotherapy boost. We sought to investigate the level of correlation between dominant tumor foci contoured on various mpMRI sequences.Methods: mpMRI data from 90 patients with MR-guided biopsy-proven prostate cancer were obtained from the SPIE-AAPM-NCI Prostate MR Classification Challenge. Each case consisted of T2-weighted (T2W), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), and Ktrans images computed from dynamic contrast-enhanced sequences. All image sets were rigidly co-registered, and the dominant tumor foci were identified and contoured for each MRI sequence. Hausdorff distance (HD), mean distance to agreement (MDA), and Dice and Jaccard coefficients were calculated between the contours for each pair of MRI sequences (i.e., T2 vs. ADC, T2 vs. Ktrans, and ADC vs. Ktrans). The voxel wise spearman correlation was also obtained between these image pairs.Results: The DILs were located in the anterior fibromuscular stroma, central zone, peripheral zone, and transition zone in 35.2, 5.6, 32.4, and 25.4% of patients, respectively. Gleason grade groups 1–5 represented 29.6, 40.8, 15.5, and 14.1% of the study population, respectively (with group grades 4 and 5 analyzed together). The mean contour volumes for the T2W images, and the ADC and Ktrans maps were 2.14 ± 2.1, 2.22 ± 2.2, and 1.84 ± 1.5 mL, respectively. Ktrans values were indistinguishable between cancerous regions and the rest of prostatic regions for 19 patients. The Dice coefficient and Jaccard index were 0.74 ± 0.13, 0.60 ± 0.15 for T2W-ADC and 0.61 ± 0.16, 0.46 ± 0.16 for T2W-Ktrans. The voxel-based Spearman correlations were 0.20 ± 0.20 for T2W-ADC and 0.13 ± 0.25 for T2W-Ktrans.Conclusions: The DIL contoured on T2W images had a high level of agreement with those contoured on ADC maps, but there was little to no quantitative correlation of these results with tumor location and Gleason grade group. Technical hurdles are yet to be solved for precision radiotherapy to target the DILs based on physiological imaging. A Boolean sum volume (BSV) incorporating all available MR sequences may be reasonable in delineating the DIL boost volume.

Childhood and the geology of media

ABSTRACT This paper concerns children’s relations with the geological aspects of digital media technologies. Using ideas from media theory, I develop a new conceptual framework for childhood studies research on digital media that goes beyond the dominant focus on children’s use of technology. I argue that studies of use would benefit from being linked up with analyses of the technicality and physicality of technology. Following recent debates concerning the Anthropocene, the planetary nature of digital media require analyses that link local and global scales, and address the politics of the specific materialities of digital media. As an example of the analytical potential of this approach, I discuss the issue of child labour in cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Impact of Research About the Early Development of Children With Intellectual Disability: A Science Mapping Analysis

The “Warnock Report” (Department for Education and Science, 1978) underlined the importance of early intervention for children with a range of special educational needs and the importance of partnership with families. This paper focuses on young children with intellectual disability to describe the longitudinal research on early development that has emerged since the report, and to describe the scholarly literature that has been impacted by this longitudinal work. First, we conducted a systematic literature search for primary reports of longitudinal studies on the early development of children with intellectual disability. Included studies were those that measured dependent (i.e., developmental outcomes) and independent variables (i.e., risk and resilience factors) on at least two measurement occasions (i.e., truly longitudinal), starting before the end of the 7th year of life, with samples including children with intellectual disability (or related terms). The topics of these studies, and of the publications that have cited these longitudinal studies, were extracted from titles and abstracts using machine reading and subjected to multidimensional clustering (VOSviewer; Van Eck and Waltman, 2016). The resulting body of 101 research studies (about 2.5 studies per year) covered a scattering of topics without a dominant focus. The literature that was impacted by these longitudinal studies consisted of 3,491 scientific publications. Three clusters of topics emerged from mapping the terms used in these publications, which were dominated by (1) syndrome and disorder related terms; (2) autism-related terms; and (3) disability and parent related terms. Topics related to autism and, to a lesser extent, parents showed the strongest increase over time. Topics related to intervention and programmes were mostly linked to the topics disability and parents. Taking into account the science mapping as well as features of the context in which research on intellectual disability takes place, we suggest a collaborative research agenda that systematically links topics relevant for intervention with longitudinal research, in co-creation with families.

Rethinking the Concept of Mindfulness: A Neo‐Confucian Approach

This article expounds on a neo-Confucian approach to mindfulness by drawing upon the writings of Zhu Xi. I argue that Zhu Xi's notion of mindfulness is encapsulated in the concept of ‘jing’ that refers to the single-minded and reverential attention to self-cultivation through ‘gewu’ (investigation of things). The desired outcome of mindfulness is the attainment of perfect goodness where one responds with sagely ease to affairs in everyday life. In contrast to the dominant focus on the self, present-state awareness and non-evaluation in Chan Buddhism, Zhu Xi's construal of mindfulness stresses interdependent relationships, social contribution and ethical purpose. Such a conception motivates learners to seek continuous self-improvement and focused engagement with others. A major critique of Zhu Xi's formulation of mindfulness is that it entails a whole-school approach and lifelong pursuit which are difficult to achieve in contemporary schooling conditions.

Disoriented geographies: Undoing relations, encountering limits

This paper develops the concept of disorientation as a constitutive but overlooked dimension of mobile life, and it explores the significance of disorientation for geographical thought. Conceptually, the paper argues that disorientation is a productive geographical concept for acknowledging how, at times, bodies can lose their orienting relations to other bodies, to actions, and to situations. These losses are explored through the themes of incomprehension, confusion, and disintegration, respectively. Substantively, through research with mobile worker households in Australia, the paper expands our understanding of geographies of mobility by interrogating non‐traditional but increasingly common living scenarios created by intensified mobility. Methodologically, the paper develops a narrative approach to presenting the richly complex experiences of “left behind” mobile worker partners through impressionistic interview portraits. Disciplinarily, contributing to ongoing debates in geography on relationality and encounter, the paper provides a counterbalance to the dominant focus on relation construction, and it opens up space for thinking differently about what, exactly, is being encountered in disorienting experiences.

A thyroid gland with over 30 foci of papillary thyroid carcinoma with activating BRAF V600E mutation.

SummaryMultifocal papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is common and the number of tumor foci rarely exceeds ten. The mechanism of multifocal disease is debated, with the two main hypotheses consisting of either intrathyroidal metastatic spread from a single tumor or independent multicentric tumorigenesis from distinct progenitor cells. We report the case of a 46-year-old woman who underwent total thyroidectomy and left central neck lymph node dissection after fine-needle aspiration of bilateral thyroid nodules that yielded cytological findings consistent with PTC. Final pathology of the surgical specimen showed an isthmic dominant 1.5 cm classical PTC and over 30 foci of microcarcinoma, which displayed decreasing density with increasing distance from the central lesion. Furthermore, all malignant tumors and lymph nodes harbored the activating BRAF V600E mutation. The present case highlights various pathological features that support a mechanism of intraglandular spread, namely a strategic isthmic location of the primary tumor, radial pattern of distribution and extensive number of small malignant foci and BRAF mutational homogeneity.Learning points:Multifocal papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is commonly seen in clinical practice, but the number of malignant foci is usually limited to ten or less.There is no clear consensus in the literature as to whether multifocal PTC arises from a single or multiple distinct tumor progenitor cells.Strategic location of the dominant tumor in the thyroid isthmus may favor intraglandular dissemination of malignant cells by means of the extensive lymphatic network.An important pathological finding that may be suggestive of intrathyroidal metastatic spread is a central pattern of distribution with a reduction in the density of satellite lesions with increasing distance from the dominant focus.PTCs originating from the isthmus with intraglandular metastatic dissemination behave more aggressively. As such, a more aggressive treatment course may be warranted, particularly with regard to the extent of surgery.

Human resources training: A bibliometric analysis

Research on human resources training has been shaped by a great number of articles published in recent decades. This study contributes to the literature by examining how this research is built on the basis of different intellectual frameworks and by identifying the relevant references, authors, topics, and journals. With this aim, we used bibliometric techniques to examine over 900 articles published between 1975 and 2016. We observed three publication periods that have shaped the evolution of research in this field. In the journals that have published these articles, a wide range of disciplines have been used to address the topic of human resources. The dominant focus is on US and labor-intensive industries, giving researchers the opportunity to undertake further cross-country and cross-industry studies. By considering human capital and performance, the resource-based view provides theoretical support for the articles through which leading authors have built a core grounding for the topic.

Giving Land (Back)? The Meaning of Land in the Indigenous Politics of the South Kalahari Bushmen Land Claim, South Africa

In this article, we analyse the land claim of the South Kalahari Bushmen (≠Khomani) to reflect critically on the South African land restitution process in relation to their contemporary marginalised socio-economic situation. South Kalahari Bushmen were gradually displaced between the 1930s and 1970s and, after apartheid, they were reinstated as landowners in 1999. This does not mean, however, that the historical injustice of land dispossession is now solved. We argue that this can be explained by theoretically comparing a genealogical and a relational approach (based on so-called ‘building’ and ‘dwelling’ world views/ontologies, respectively) on land as different ways of looking at the claim. The genealogical model often used by advocates (non-governmental organisations [NGOs], governments, some anthropologists and donors) of ‘indigenous’ peoples’ rights generally overlooks a crucial element that becomes apparent when looking at the claim from a relational perspective, namely that the meaning of the regained land has changed; it is not the same as the environment that was taken away. Moreover, the people from whom the land was taken are not the same as those to whom it is returned. We conclude that the dominant focus on giving land ‘back’ to previously dispossessed peoples in South Africa needs to account for the ways in which different world views influence the nature of land claims and consequent developments on the land afterwards; this relates to ideal-types of world views that in practice always blend into more concrete, worldly politics, which, in this case, happens especially around ideas of ‘indigeneity’.

Do people with a different goal-orientation or specific focus make different decisions about colorectal cancer-screening participation?

ObjectivePrevious studies have shown that having promotion-oriented goals (e.g. wanting to become healthy) or prevention-oriented goals (e.g. wanting to avoid getting ill) can affect people’s health-related decisions and behaviour by emphasising aspects and information that seem relevant in light of what they want to achieve. However, this issue has not yet been researched regarding colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. With our study, we aimed to examine the relationship between people’s goal-orientation or focus on advantages or disadvantages and their CRC screening participation, as this could provide insights for supporting people in making this complex decision.MethodsAn online survey was carried out among a sample of first-time CRC screening invitees (1282 respondents, response rate 49%). We assessed people’s goal-orientation (i.e. promotion-orientation and prevention-orientation), focus on the advantages or disadvantages of CRC screening, screening participation and main considerations (e.g. cancer is a serious illness) concerning their screening decision.ResultsGenerally, CRC screening participants scored higher on both promotion-orientation and prevention-orientation than non-participants. Both CRC screening participation and non-participation were not associated with a dominant goal-orientation. CRC screening participants did show a dominant focus on the advantages of CRC screening. Mediation analysis showed support for our premise that the relationship between people’s goal-orientation or focus on advantages or disadvantages and their screening participation could be (partially) mediated by people’s main considerations concerning CRC screening.ConclusionCRC screening participants and non-participants differed in their goal-orientation and focus on advantages or disadvantages. CRC screening participation appears to be associated with a focus on the advantages of CRC screening, which could impede the making of an informed decision. CRC screening non-participation appears not to be associated with any clear goal-orientation or focus, or we have not yet managed to capture this, which could be either beneficial or problematic for making an informed decision.

The discourse construction of the most affected subjects by the housing problem in Buenos Aires city: critical analysis from Converging Linguistic Approaches Method

ABSTRACTThe paper discusses the housing crisis in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, a phenomenon that particularly affects the socioeconomically vulnerable. The paradigm adopted is the interpretative, with Critical Discourse Analysis as a theoretical framework and qualitative methodology. The Converging Linguistic Approaches Method is adopted. By studying a corpus of relevant legal texts, this paper explores the way in which the poor are constructed as subjects in City Law No. 3706, the only text where they feature as a dominant focus category. To that end we need to deepen our understanding of the way in which the linguistic and discursive category of the poor as actors/subjects is constructed in the text. This paper also aims to show the ways in which linguistic discourse enquiry may use a qualitative analysis tool to shed light on social issues.

A Positive Behavioral Approach: Identifying Theoretical Factors Influencing Moderate Drinking Practices

Focusing on problematic behavior can stigmatize the target audience for change campaigns, especially in the context of alcohol consumption. In previous studies, excessive drinking (the problematic behavior) has been the dominant focus. By contrast, this study empirically examines moderate drinking practices (the desired behavior) in an Australian adult population. An online survey was administered, and results were analyzed through structural equation modeling. Findings indicate moderate drinking practices were applied more frequently by females than males. Confidence enhancement and sexual enhancement expectancies were negatively associated with moderate drinking practices. This study indicates higher self-efficacy skills (i.e., refusing alcohol offered) were associated with more moderate alcohol consumption practices. Findings of this study can be used to guide intervention design to attract and retain moderate alcohol drinkers. By taking a positive behavioral approach, modifiable factors to effect the desired change are identified delivering actionable insights that can be implemented to achieve the desired change (e.g., increase moderate drinking practices).

Finding creativity in the extrinsically motivated environment of architecture students

ABSTRACTResearchers have found both that rewards decrease creativity and that rewards such as money/pay increase creativity. Higher education arts and STEM faculty acknowledge that their environment is often a pedagogical transmission system in which students are given final stress-evoking exams which typically result in little creativity growth and feedback on creativity goals. Given the dominant focus of educators and students on grade-based extrinsic rewards, we focus on how the main curriculum ‘capital’, namely grades, is affecting creativity in architecture students. To measure creativity as product, design projects of freshmen architecture students were assessed for creativity using the Consensual Assessment Technique. To measure motivation, we used Amabile’s Workplace Preference Inventory. We found that even with a schedule of formative assessments, extrinsic motivation caused students to focus on technical more than creative skills. We suggest that high-level formative assessment with its emphasis on developing intrinsic motivation may improve creativity skills in architecture students.

Introduction: Memories of joy

This introduction argues that the field of memory studies needs to pay more attention to the role of joyful and positive types of memory. Quoting recent discussions, we propose that the dominant focus on traumatic and dark pasts within memory studies carries the risks that the research field ignores important aspects of collective memory and eclipses group memories that differ from societies’ hegemonic discourse about the past. Contemporary societies also need positive or hopeful memories in order to create alternative imaginaries for the future. This special issue sets out to explore what memories of joy may look like and how they can be studied.

EVALUASI SIKAP SISWA SMP TERHADAP IPA DI KABUPATEN MUARO JAMBI

An attitude is a form of one's perception of an object that is described with expressions of like or not. The purpose of the study was to describe the attitudes of students toward the three indicators of the attitude of the SMP in Muaro Jambi. The research method uses quantitative survey research. The instrument used was a questionnaire that focused on three indicators consisting of 25 statements and also interviews. The sample in this study amounted to 2815 junior high school students in Muaro Jambi. The results of research on three attitude indicators which became the dominant focus of research in the good category. The Social Implications of Science show a good category with a percentage of 53.2%. The pleasure of science learning is well categorized with a percentage of 66.3%. A career interest in science is categorized as enough with a percentage of 41.8%. From the research that has been carried out, it can be seen that the attitude of students in junior high school is categorized as good because the three indicators examined show good categories.

When Data Comes Home: Next Steps in International Taxation’s Information Revolution

Over the last decade, there has been a revolution in cross-border tax information exchange and reporting. While this dramatic shift was the product of multiple forces and events, a fundamental reality is that politics, technology, and law intersected to drive the shift to the point where nation-states will now transmit and receive from each other significant ongoing flows of taxpayer information. States can now expect to accumulate large stashes of data on cross-border income, assets, and activities on a scale and level of comprehensiveness unmatched by previous information exchange regimes. This article examines the pressing follow-up question of how this data will be used and what issues nation-states will confront when data comes home. Although concerns about data protection and use have been raised in critiquing the new cross-border information exchange regimes, a systematic examination of how governments might use or fail to use data and when those uses will pose unacceptable risks has yet to be undertaken. This article analyzes how domestic politics, priorities, and institutions are likely to affect tax enforcement and data usage at the nation-state level going forward. We argue that despite the dominant focus on global developments, domestic politics and technological constraints will likely play an equally if not more significant role in data use and protection as countries receive data and decide what to do with it. The mere fact that collective political will on a global level produced the information revolution does not prevent domestic forces from either derailing the revolution in practice or redirecting data to other uses. This article maps the potential risks and examines the extent to which individual nation-states will have the capacity or inclination to conduct enforcement, protect taxpayer privacy, and attend to distributional outcomes and risks. We ultimately articulate a framework for understanding the country-level factors likely to affect outcomes and pathways when data comes home.