Foundational Approaches Research Articles

Comparative Analysis of Soil-Piles Structure Interaction of Framed Structure

This study presents a comparative analysis of a 15-story building with two foundational approaches: a fixed- base foundation and a pile foundation incorporating soil- structure interaction (SSI) in sandy soil conditions. The research investigates the dynamic behavior of each foundation type under varying conditions, specifically examining the effects of different pile spacings and relative densities of sandy soil on the building’s fundamental frequency, time period, lateral displacement, and overall structural stability. The SAP2000 software is used for numerical study. Key Words: Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI), frequency, time period, displacement, Lateral Displacement, Seismic Analysis, G+14, SAP2000, sandy soil

National schools of diplomatic training: divergences in the global epistemology of international relations

The proposition of establishing “global international relations” (Global IR) as an amalgamation of diverse national epistemologies in the field of international relations, potentially superseding the Western-centric paradigm, presents significant challenges. A critical inquiry emerges: Is it possible to form a discipline based on the polyphony of national approaches, despite the fact that the ontology of international relations has remained fundamentally unchanged since the mid-17th century? This study evaluates the thesis of extant national epistemologies in international relations by examining national traditions of diplomatic training. The primary research question is formulated as follows: What are the foundational approaches employed by leading states in the training of IR specialists, and can these approaches be considered reflective of national epistemologies regarding the nature of international relations? The research methodology involves a synthesis of findings from an examination of diplomatic training institutions across a diverse sample of countries. This sample encompasses Western nations (United Kingdom, Hungary, Poland, United States, Finland, France, and Germany), Asian countries (Vietnam, Indonesia, India, China, and the Republic of Korea), Middle Eastern states (Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey), African nations (Nigeria and South Africa), and Latin American countries (Brazil, Mexico, and Cuba). The article is structured in two principal sections. The theoretical section explores the hypothesis of “global international relations” within the context of existing literature and theoretical frameworks. The second section synthesizes the empirical findings from the study of national approaches to diplomatic training, testing the hypothesis of its correlation with national epistemologies in the field of international relations.

Renormalization of networks with weak geometric coupling.

The renormalization group is crucial for understanding systems across scales, including complex networks. Renormalizing networks via network geometry, a framework in which their topology is based on the location of nodes in a hidden metric space, is one of the foundational approaches. However, the current methods assume that the geometric coupling is strong, neglecting weak coupling in many real networks. This paper extends renormalization to weak geometric coupling, showing that geometric information is essential to preserve self-similarity. Our results underline the importance of geometric effects on network topology even when the coupling to the underlying space is weak.

Management of Acute Wounds-Expert Panel Consensus Statement.

Significance: The Wound Healing Foundation recognized the need for consensus-based unbiased recommendations for the treatment of wounds. As a first step, a consensus on the treatment of chronic wounds was developed and published in 2022. The current publication on acute wounds represents the second step in this process. Acute wounds may result from any number of conditions, including burns, military and combat operations, and trauma to specific areas of the body. The management of acute wounds requires timely and evidence-driven intervention to achieve optimal clinical outcomes. This consensus statement provides the clinician with the necessary foundational approaches to the causes, diagnosis, and therapeutic management of acute wounds. Presented in a structured format, this is a useful guide for clinicians and learners in all patient care settings. Recent Advances: Recent advances in the management of acute wounds have centered on stabilization and treatment in the military and combat environment. Specifically, advancements in hemostasis, resuscitation, and the mitigation of infection risk through timely initiation of antibiotics and avoidance of high-pressure irrigation in contaminated soft tissue injury. Critical Issues: Critical issues include infection control, pain management, and the unique considerations for the management of acute wounds in pediatric patients. Future Directions: Future directions include new approaches to preventing the progression and conversion of burns through the use of specific gel formulations. Additionally, the use of three-dimensional bioprinting and photo-modulation for reconstruction is a promising area for continued discovery.

Toward Characterizing Environmental Sources of Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) at the Species Level: A Tutorial Review of NTM Phylogeny and Phylogenetic Classification.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are any mycobacteria that do not cause tuberculosis or leprosy. While the majority of NTM are harmless and some of them are considered probiotic, a growing number of people are being diagnosed with NTM infections. Therefore, their detection in the environment is of interest to clinicians, environmental microbiologists, and water quality researchers alike. This review provides a tutorial on the foundational approaches for taxonomic classifications, with a focus on the phylogenetic relationships among NTM revealed by the 16S rRNA gene, rpoB gene, and hsp65 gene, and by genome-based approaches. Recent updates on the Mycobacterium genus taxonomy are also provided. A synthesis on the habitats of 189 mycobacterial species in a genome-based taxonomy framework was performed, with attention paid to environmental sources (e.g., drinking water, aquatic environments, and soil). The 16S rRNA gene-based classification accuracy for various regions was evaluated (V3, V3-V4, V3-V5, V4, V4-V5, and V1-V9), revealing overall excellent genus-level classification (up to 100% accuracy) yet only modest performance (up to 63.5% accuracy) at the species level. Future research quantifying NTM species in water systems, determining the effects of water treatment and plumbing conditions on their variations, developing high throughput species-level characterization tools for use in the environment, and incorporating the characterization of functions in a phylogenetic framework will likely fill critical knowledge gaps. We believe this tutorial will be useful for researchers new to the field of molecular or genome-based taxonomic profiling of environmental microbiomes. Experts may also find this review useful in terms of the selected key findings of the past 30 years, recent updates on phylogenomic analyses, as well as a synthesis of the ecology of NTM in a phylogenetic framework.

Approach to the nasal dorsum in rhinoplasty : preservation or structural?

In modern rhinoplasty, two foundational approaches for modifying the nasal dorsum developed in the beginning of the 20th century: -preservation and structural techniques. Preservation involves -maintaining the nasal structure by displacing the hump into the nose without directly resecting it. This method preserves structural integrity and avoids nasal valve collapse but can lead to mid-vault widening and hump recurrence. In contrast, structural rhinoplasty entails -directly removing bone and cartilage, offering precise hump reduction but risks over-resection, dorsal irregularities, and mid-vault collapse. The patient's individual anatomical factors guide the practitioner in choosing the most suitable -approach for correcting the nasal dorsum.

Beyond satisfaction in person-centered pharmacy services

Patient self-reported satisfaction is commonly used as an assessment of service experience and quality for community pharmacy services. This commentary discusses alternative foundational approaches to evaluating service experience and quality in patient-centered care. It describes historical and recent literature pertaining to the development and use of satisfaction measures for service design and patient experience assessment. It then highlights potential limitations of patient satisfaction as an assessment tool for patient-centeredness and patient experience identified in the pharmacy literature, which include criticisms that use of patient satisfaction may compromise accuracy in measuring quality due to factors such as patients having poor knowledge of and low expectations for quality and having a predisposition toward rating satisfaction highly when experiencing no-cost and/or unfamiliar services. Moreover, satisfaction measurements may change based on service exposure, with patient preferences for service offerings changing with increased service exposure and variation in patient-specific and environmental factors. After discussing limitations and criticism of patient self-reported satisfaction, we introduce alternative assessments methods which may facilitate more accurate assessments of patient experience and patient-centered pharmacy services such as patient-reported outcomes measures (PROMs), patient-reported experience measures (PREMs), and human-centered design techniques such as journey mapping, prototyping, and user testing to design and assess patient-centered pharmacy services. These alternative assessments are rooted in, or related to preferred implementation science approaches to establishing, evaluating, and sustaining pharmacy services.

Religion and Sport Scholarship: A Brief History

Religion and Sport Scholarship: A Brief History Jeffrey Scholes The experiences that many derive from both religion and sport are perhaps the most profound in modern society. Both, in their different ways, conjure up irrational, yet profound devotion and commitment. Yet the contrast between religion and sport seems to summon our instincts: what could one have to do with the other? Sport appears to contrast significantly with our more serious pursuits, religion being one of them. Consequently, religion and sport are usually considered two cultural artifacts that are at odds or maybe even completely separate from one another. Though both undeniably exert an immense pressure on our institutions whether these pressures are financial, political, or cultural. The endeavor to clarify the relationship between the two, if there is one, is fraught with an overriding question, “how so, if so?” Thankfully, scholars have been wrestling with this question for decades. This essay seeks to assert that there is, indeed, a deep relationship between religion and sport that dates back three thousand years and sees its tenuous, though informative, association up to the present time. As an example of the relationship’s current currency, journalists have taken notice, and there are now multiple documentary series that attempt to get at the surprising affiliation between religion and sport.1 Yet simply declaring that modern sports fanship taps into religious forms of devotion or the other way—that religion exploits the popularity of sports today— doesn’t quite get at the longstanding relationship between the two. A look [End Page 29] into the history of religion and sport scholarship, I argue, can lend a needed glimpse into not only the ways that this topic has been understood but also can be a crucial means for comprehending current and future ways that sport and religion can be appreciated in relationship. Periods of Religion and Sport Scholarship I put forth that there are three periods that help categorize the scholarship around religion and sport. These periods are not wholly discrete by any measure; the boundaries that guard these periods are admittedly more porous than rigid. Older ways of thinking about the relationship between religion and sport still rear their heads, and as such, newer, more progressive approaches demonstrate a reliance on the foundational approaches. The spirit and content of this essay does not represent a hand slap (or to use a sports culture expression, a “Heisman”) to the scholarship of the past whatsoever. Still, there are general contours of these time periods that may aid us in identifying past patterns of thinking that, in turn, can make sense of the trajectory of future scholarship. The first period of religion and sport scholarship was surely inspired by the sudden and exponential rise of the attention paid to sports. With the explosive arrival of televised sport in the late 1960s that followed with the innovative Monday Night Football in 1970, sport, as a thing in the collective consciousness, went mainstream. What understandably followed was new interest in sports by academics, but it also raised a question: did sport possess religious qualities or was it even a religion itself? Thus, what arose was the beginning of religion and sport scholarship. A crop of scholarly and journalistic responses appeared in kind. Michael Novak’s book, The Joy of Sports (1976), Frank Deford’s long piece, “Religion and Sport” in Sports Illustrated (1976), and Allen Guttmann’s book, From Ritual to Record (1978) gestured to a novel and invigorated interest in sport as a serious category that could tap into theology, social politics, and history. Novak argues that sport is “somehow, a religion;”2 Deford contends that sport has replaced religion (and Christians are not handling it [End Page 30] well);3 and Guttmann argues that modern, rationalized sport had “sidelined” religion without offering any value judgment as to whether this was the right thing to do.4 All three, to varying degrees, begin with working definitions of religion and sport that then invite a way of talking about how they might relate. The literature that followed invited expansions on this theme as sport was likened to a kind of folk religion5 and a civil religion.6 Admittedly religion and...

Current Trends in Critical Discourse Analyses of Textbooks: A Look at Selected Literature

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) has increasingly served to examine the content of textbooks. Given momentum by critical social inquiry pertaining to textbook content, this study looks at peer-reviewed literature drawn from three scholarly databases (JSTOR, ERIC, and SAGE; cross-referenced with searches on Google Scholar) that use critical discourse analysis for those investigations. Reviewing the selected literature, this study asks: What are the most represented approaches of CDA used for examining textbooks? What contextual themes appear to draw the most attention? In what fields of study are the examined textbooks situated? How do these emergent themes appear to be connected? What areas of research appear lacking in the collected literature? The findings illustrate that, while the methods of CDA and types of textbooks examined are diverse, the lion’s share of contextual attention and critical utility appear to be given to foundational approaches to CDA and textbooks used for English language teaching. Further research directions on textbooks from a CDA perspective are discussed.

Approaches to Inclusion in the Workplace: A Dialogue Across Theoretical Strands

Over the past two decades, organizational diversity and inclusion literature has demonstrated that inclusion, along with diversity, is key to creating equitable workplaces. However, research focused on inclusion is currently rooted in a variety of foundational approaches, which has resulted in a lack of conceptual cohesion over time. While there are certainly areas of overlap across these unique approaches, there is also room to create greater clarity regarding what inclusion is and how it operates in organizations. Therefore, this panel symposium seeks to put into conversation these different approaches, focusing on benefits and drawbacks of each approach, with the goal to better imagine, understand, and ultimately realize inclusive organizations. This panel will engage a group of experts in a formal, moderated, interactive discussion of the panelists’ approaches towards inclusion, the benefits and drawbacks of the various approaches, ways to reconcile seemingly incompatible aspects of approaches, and implications for inclusion research and practice. The symposium will include ample opportunity for audience involvement and dialogue.

Continuing to enhance the quality of case study methodology in health services research.

Case study methodology has grown in popularity within Health Services Research (HSR). However, its use and merit as a methodology are frequently criticized due to its flexible approach and inconsistent application. Nevertheless, case study methodology is well suited to HSR because it can track and examine complex relationships, contexts, and systems as they evolve. Applied appropriately, it can help generate information on how multiple forms of knowledge come together to inform decision-making within healthcare contexts. In this article, we aim to demystify case study methodology by outlining its philosophical underpinnings and three foundational approaches. We provide literature-based guidance to decision-makers, policy-makers, and health leaders on how to engage in and critically appraise case study design. We advocate that researchers work in collaboration with health leaders to detail their research process with an aim of strengthening the validity and integrity of case study for its continued and advanced use in HSR.

Issues-360TM: an analysis of transformational learning in a controversial issues engagement initiative

ABSTRACT Purpose Unprecedented global challenges of the twenty-first century have highlighted the need for novel programs to train students in the skills necessary to address increasingly complex controversial science issues. Issues-360TM was developed as an innovative year-long co-curricular, issues engagement initiative designed to address this need. Design/methodology Two cohorts of undergraduate students (48) completed three self-reflections over the course of the year. These qualitative measures were inductively coded and analyzed, then triangulated with quantitative outcome measures. Findings Students demonstrated transformational movement across four levels of learning: questioning-self, open-mindedness, stakeholder awareness, and critical thinking (consistent with Mezirow’s meta-theory of transformational learning), and acquisition of five skills: active listening, emotional regulation, respectfulness, empathy and confidence. Theoretical implications This study shows that an innovative curriculum combining Transformational Learning Theory with skills training moves students through Mezirow’s ‘levels of learning’ while also enhancing their controversial issues engagement skills. Practical implications Evidence-based programing can prepare the next generation of agricultural and environmental professionals with the engagement skills necessary to meaningfully address the controversial science-based issues facing society. Originality/value In an environment where scientific issues are increasingly polarized, the innovative design of the Issues 360TM program enhances students’ ability to approach controversial issues with an open mind and the skills to meaningfully engage with others on contested environmental and agricultural issues. Few, if any, studies have demonstrated or tested the efficacy of educational programs combining skills training with Transformational Learning as foundational approaches to develop an effective undergraduate curriculum for controversial issues engagement.

Diversity and Discrepancies in Water‐related University Rankings: Is There a Need for More Consistency or Is There Value in Breadth?

Diversity and Discrepancies in Water‐related University Rankings: Is There a Need for More Consistency or Is There Value in Breadth?

ScASK: A Novel Ensemble Framework for Classifying Cell Types Based on Single-cell RNA-seq Data.

The Human Cell Atlas (HCA) is a large project that aims to identify all cell types in the human body. The dimension reduction and clustering for identification of cell types from single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) data have become foundational approaches to HCA. The major challenges of current computational analyses are of poor performance on large scale data and sensitive to initial data. We present a new ensemble framework called Adaptive Slice KNNs (scASK) to address the challenges for analyzing scRNA-seq data with high dimensionality. scASK consists of three innovational modules, called DAS (Data Adaptive Slicing), MCS (Meta Classifiers Selecting) and EMS (Ensemble Mode Switching), respectively, which facilitate scASK to approximate a bias-variance tradeoff beyond classification. Thirteen real scRNA-seq datasets are used to evaluate the performance of scASK. Compared with five popular classification algorithms, our experimental results indicate that scASK achieves the best accuracy and robustness among all competing methods. In conclusion, adaptive slicing is an effective structural reduction procedure, and meanwhile scASK provides novel and robust ensemble framework especially for classifying cell types based on scRNA-seq data. scASK is now publically available at https://github.com/liubo2358/scASKcmd.

El pensamiento cartesiano y la fundación de la sociología

espanolResulta de interes para el presente trabajo analizar los fundamentos de la denominada mathesis universalis y como esta nocion, propuesta por Descartes en pleno siglo XVII, ha tenido implicancias significativas en el origen y constitucion (muy ulterior) de dos de las versiones mas importantes de la sociologia: el positivismo sociologico y la sociologia comprensiva. Sosteniendo que la disciplina que estudia los fenomenos sociales ha estado influenciada constantemente por el pensamiento cartesiano, se analizan algunos postulados de ambos enfoques con base en el principio indicado. Se concluye que, pese a ser diametralmente opuestas desde el punto de vista de los principios ontologicos sobre los que observan la realidad social, en ambas lineas de analisis sociologico el principio de la mathesis universalis sigue vigente. Esto da cuenta de una evidente logica de continuidad critica del cartesianismo en los enfoques fundacionales de la sociologia, todo lo cual ha resultado ser epistemologicamente significativo para la disciplina que se encamina a estudiar cientificamente los hechos sociales. EnglishThis paper analyses the foundations of the so-called mathesis universalis, and how this notion, proposed by Descartes in the 17th century, has had significant implications in the origin and constitution (much later) of two of the most important versions of sociology: sociological positivism and comprehensive sociology. Maintaining that the discipline that studies social phenomena has been constantly influenced by Cartesian thought, some postulates of both approaches are analysed based on the indicated principle. It is concluded that, despite being diametrically opposed from the point of view of the ontological principles on which they observe social reality, in both lines of sociological analysis the principle of mathesis universalis remains in force. This shows an evident logic of critical continuity of Cartesianism in the foundational approaches of sociology, all of which has turned out to be epistemologically significant for the discipline that aims to scientifically study social facts.

Epistemology, epistemic belief, personal epistemology, and epistemics: A review of concepts as they impact information behavior research

AbstractA review of a range of epistemic concepts that are commonly researched was conducted with reference to conventional epistemology and with reference to foundational approaches to justification. These were assessed in relation to previous research undertaken linking information behavior and experience with paradigm, metatheory, and discourse. This research assesses how the epistemic concept is treated, both within information science and within disciplines that have affinities to the topics or agents that have been the subject of inquiry within the field. An attempt is made to clarify the types of connections that are associated with the epistemic concept and to provide a clearer view of how research focused on information behavior might consider the questions underpinning assumptions relating to knowledge and knowing. The symbiotic connection between epistemics and information science is advanced as a suitably nuanced conception of socially organized knowledge from which to define the appropriate level at which knowledge claims can be usefully advanced. It is proposed that fostering a better understanding of epistemics as a research practice might also provide for the development of a range of insights and methods that reflect the dynamic context within which the study of information behavior and information experience is located.

Foundational Approaches to Advancing Hearing Health Equity: A Primer in Social Epidemiology.

Hearing health is inextricably linked to factors beyond biology. Social, demographic, environmental, geographic, and historical influences affect hearing health, but these factors are often unmeasured within traditional biological, clinical, and epidemiological studies of hearing health. With increasing recognition of hearing health over the life course as a public health priority, there is also a growing understanding of existing hearing health inequities at the individual, community, national, and global levels. To make progress in addressing these inequities, public health disciplines, such as social epidemiology, can provide valuable frameworks. With a focus on integrating the biological and functional with social and structural factors influencing health, social epidemiology provides key concepts and approaches for filling existing research and practice gaps. In this review, we introduce the discipline of social epidemiology and its associated concepts to inspire greater cross-disciplinary collaboration for the ultimate goal of advancing hearing health equity.

Diffraction, transrational perspectives, and peace education: new possibilities

ABSTRACTThis paper draws on the theoretical lens of diffraction to conceptualize a new approach to transrational peace education theory and praxis in the post-2016 posttruth political era and Industry 4.0 economic period. The paper reviews foundational concepts and approaches from key founders of the field – Paulo Freire and Betty Reardon – before turning to two contemporary peace education scholars – Wolfgang Dietrich and Hilary Cremin – to investigate the contributions of recent scholarship toward diverse diffractive possibilities for transrational peace education. In this sense, diffraction offers pluralistic views and transformative possibilities for transrational peace education in varied contexts. Transrational peace education builds upon peace education to integrate affective and aesthetic perspectives into peace education theory and praxis. Before concluding, we offer some theoretical implications and pedagogic responses for scholars seeking to work at diffractive transrational intersections. The contribution of the paper is toward theorizing new perspectives for transrational peace education theory and praxis in the 21st century.

Exploring critical communication approaches through Grandmama’s birthday: An application of the self-reference effect through public and personal timelines

ABSTRACTIn many classroom conversations when exploring critical communication issues such as gender and race, students are often unable to identify the relevance of past events and uninterested in exploring the concepts. This activity was created as a way to help students uncover the significance of events and movements from which they feel disconnected. At its core, this activity provides students with a meaningful and personal way to explore historical events related to course concepts through a single in-class activity that utilizes the creation of overlapping public and personal timelines. By viewing this information through the lens of personal familial connections and by engaging the self-reference effect, students are provided a vehicle for making strong connections to numerous critical communication concepts.Courses: Organizational Communication, Critical Communication, Gender Communication, Introduction to Communication Theory and History, Communication and Careers, Rhetoric of Race, Rhetoric and Social Change, Research Methods, Family Communication.Objective: This activity aims to provide students with an active-learning process for making personal connections to foundational critical communication concepts and approaches.

Gradient Methods for Non-convex Optimization

Non-convex optimization forms bedrock of most modern machine learning (ML) techniques such as deep learning. While non-convex optimization problems have been studied for the past several decades, ML-based problems have significantly different characteristics and requirements due to large datasets and high-dimensional parameter spaces along with the statistical nature of the problem. Over the last few years, there has been a flurry of activity in non-convex optimization for such ML problems. This article surveys a few of the foundational approaches in this domain.