Foundational Perspectives Research Articles

Agritourism and Rural Development: A Global Bibliometric Analysis of the State of Research, Limitations, and Future Directions

Agritourism has emerged as a strategic tool for fostering sustainable rural development by diversifying farm income, preserving cultural heritage, and promoting environmental stewardship. This study presents a global bibliometric analysis of research on agritourism and rural development, aiming to provide a comprehensive overview of the field, identify key trends, and highlight future research directions. Utilizing the Web of Science database, 171 relevant publications from 2004 to 2024 were analyzed through bibliometric techniques, focusing on publication trends, keyword co-occurrence, and co-citation analysis. Findings indicate a growing academic interest in agritourism, with sustainability as a dominant theme. The study identifies five thematic clusters: economic contributions, policy frameworks, tourist motivations, environmental sustainability, and agritourism’s broader role in landscape conservation. Co-citation analysis highlights the intellectual evolution from foundational perspectives on rural tourism to complex discussions on sustainability and innovation. Despite these advancements, knowledge gaps persist, particularly in geographic representation, digital innovation, climate change mitigation, and policy governance. Addressing these gaps will enhance academic discourse and provide practical insights for policymakers, entrepreneurs, and rural communities. This study serves as a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners seeking to navigate the expanding literature on agritourism and rural development.

Invisible threats in soil: Microplastic pollution and its effects on soil health and plant growth.

Microplastics (MPs) are a significant environmental contaminant that increasingly threaten soil health and crop productivity in agricultural systems. This review explores the origins, migration patterns, and ecological impacts of MPs within soil environments, specifically examining their influence on soil structure, microbial communities, and nutrient cycles essential for plant growth. Despite the progress in understanding Microplastic (MP) pollution, gaps remain in assessing the long-term implications on soil stability, microbial biodiversity, and crop yield. Through bibliometric and synthesis analyses of recent studies, this paper identifies how MPs disrupt soil physical and chemical processes, alter microbial dynamics, and interfere with carbon and nitrogen cycles, resulting in reduced soil fertility and compromised crop health. Key findings reveal that MPs can infiltrate plant root systems, impair water and nutrient uptake, and even accumulate in plant tissues, causing oxidative stress, cellular dysfunction, and yield reduction. This work emphasizes the urgent need for refined environmental risk assessments and sustainable agricultural practices to mitigate MP pollution. This comprehensive synthesis offers a foundational perspective to guide future research and policy efforts in addressing MPs' environmental and agricultural impacts.

Finding Equity: Virtues That Enable the Truth of Justice

Abstract: This article examines the Thomistic conception of equity ( aequitas ) and its implications for contemporary debates on justice, particularly racial justice. While modern discourse often employs equity ambiguously, Thomas Aquinas provides a structured, twofold framework integrating equity not only as the virtue of epieikeia , but within the broader context of distributive justice. Aquinas’s insights emphasize that equitable judgment must account for human rights and historical conditions. Furthermore, discussions of equity require attention to diverse social structures, including but not limited to modern democratic frameworks. Ultimately, Aquinas’s account, grounded in divine wisdom, demonstrates that any appeal to justice or equity presupposes an underlying moral order, offering a foundational perspective for addressing modern concerns of racial justice. Yet, finding equity in contentious racial disputes demands another essential prerequisite: virtue. The virtues and vices Aquinas highlights reveal the moral conditions that enable or thwart the search for genuine equity.

Mathematics teachers’ ethical decision-making approaches in instructional practices

This paper investigates how mathematics teachers describe their ethical decision making related to instructional practices, drawing on frameworks that incorporate both rational and non-rational approaches. We employed a multiple-case study method, selecting three teachers as cases through criterion sampling. Data were collected via four consecutive in-depth semi-structured interviews across twelve scenarios designed to elicit teachers' ethical evaluations. The data were analysed through cross-case synthesis in two stages: first, a deductive content analysis of each case, followed by a comparative analysis across cases. Five key themes emerged: (1) the use of ethical and technical lenses, with technical considerations sometimes overshadowing ethical aspects; (2) the utilization of rational approaches, predominantly consequentialist and deontological; (3) the use of non-rational approaches, notably experience and obedience; (4) the coexistence of multiple rational approaches, which can lead to conflicts resolved either by the dominance of one approach or by the reconciliation of different perspectives; and (5) the concurrent emergence of rational and non-rational approaches, with non-rational evaluations potentially arising from a rational framework. We discuss the role of mathematics and its teaching/learning in teachers' ethical evaluations, the complexities of different decision-making approaches, and their co-emergence. Our findings provide foundational perspectives for developing an ethical decision-making model in mathematics education, which we outline and share.

Modeling Metal‐Halide Perovskite Thin Film: Deterministic Voronoi Diagrams Based on Stochastic Correlated Nuclei

AbstractMetal‐halide perovskite thin films, composed of grains, exhibit microstructures with regularity and intriguing geometries. However, the underlying geometric principles shaping these patterns remain unclear. In this study, the geometric and statistical properties of grain structures are investigated. Grain shapes are characterized by using equivalent radius and shape parameters such as circularity, aspect ratio, convexity, and solidity. These shape parameters with those of Voronoi diagrams generated from various models are compared, including correlated and uncorrelated center distributions. These findings reveal that the statistical properties, including means and standard deviation of the shape parameters, align closely with Voronoi diagrams based on random close packing of circle centers. This suggests that such Voronoi diagrams provide an accurate mathematical model for describing perovskite thin‐film morphology. Furthermore, by integrating the correlated center distribution and Voronoi framework with the Avrami–Johnson–Mehl method, a model is proposed for nucleation, grain growth, and morphology evolution in perovskite thin films. This work offers a foundational perspective for understanding the film formation mechanisms of perovskite thin films, paving the way for enhanced control over their microstructures.

Randomness-free detection of non-projective measurements: qubits & beyond

Abstract Non-projective measurements play a crucial role in various information-processing protocols. In this work, we propose an operational task to identify measurements that are neither projective nor classical post-processing of data obtained from projective measurements. Our setup involves space-like separated parties with access to a shared state with bounded local dimensions. Specifically, in the case of qubits, we focus on a bipartite scenario with different sets of target correlations. While some of these correlations can be obtained through non-projective measurements on a shared two-qubit state, it is impossible to generate these correlations using projective simulable measurements on bipartite qubit states, or equivalently, by using one bit of shared randomness and local post-processing. For certain target correlations, we show that detecting qubit non-projective measurements is robust under arbitrary depolarizing noise, except in the limiting case. We extend this task for qutrits and demonstrate that some correlations achievable via local non-projective measurements cannot be reproduced by both parties performing the same qutrit projective simulable measurements on their pre-shared state. We provide numerical evidence for the robustness of this scheme under arbitrary depolarizing noise. For a more generic consideration (bipartite and tripartite scenario), we provide numerical evidence for a projective-simulable bound on the reward function for our task. We also show a violation of this bound by using qutrit positive operator valued measures. From a foundational perspective, we extend the notion of non-projective measurements to general probabilistic theories (GPTs) and use a randomness-free test to demonstrate that a class of GPTs, called square-bits or box-world are unphysical.

From Perception to Practice: Drone Technology in Romanian Agriculture

The paper focuses on the adoption of drone technology in Romanian agriculture, examining the perceptions and challenges faced by local farmers. A survey was conducted to gather data from Romanian farmers, highlighting their awareness, attitudes, and usage of drones. Five key hypotheses were proposed: age, education, land size, legislative concerns, and challenges in drone adoption. Findings suggest that legislative barriers are the most significant issue, while other challenges include high costs and limited technical support. The study reveals that younger and more educated farmers are more likely to adopt drones, with larger farms showing a higher adoption rate. Despite these challenges, many farmers report satisfaction with drone technology, using it primarily for tasks such as precision spraying and mapping. The study concludes that drones hold significant potential for improving efficiency and sustainability in Romanian agriculture, but legislative reforms are essential for broader adoption. The paper offers a foundational perspective for further research on drone usage in this sector.

Analysis and Prospects of Development of Space, Atmospheric, Ocean, and Environmental Optical Technology in China from Perspective of National Natural Science Foundation of China (Invited)

Analysis and Prospects of Development of Space, Atmospheric, Ocean, and Environmental Optical Technology in China from Perspective of National Natural Science Foundation of China (Invited)

Analysis and Prospects for the Development of Spectral Information in China from the Perspective of the National Natural Science Foundation of China

Analysis and Prospects for the Development of Spectral Information in China from the Perspective of the National Natural Science Foundation of China

An irreversible thermodynamic model of prebiological dissipative molecular structures inside vacuoles at the surface of the Archean Ocean.

An irreversible thermodynamic model of prebiological dissipative molecular structures inside vacuoles at the surface of the Archean Ocean.

Patient-centric knowledge graphs: a survey of current methods, challenges, and applications.

Patient-Centric Knowledge Graphs (PCKGs) represent an important shift in healthcare that focuses on individualized patient care by mapping the patient's health information holistically and multi-dimensionally. PCKGs integrate various types of health data to provide healthcare professionals with a comprehensive understanding of a patient's health, enabling more personalized and effective care. This literature review explores the methodologies, challenges, and opportunities associated with PCKGs, focusing on their role in integrating disparate healthcare data and enhancing patient care through a unified health perspective. In addition, this review also discusses the complexities of PCKG development, including ontology design, data integration techniques, knowledge extraction, and structured representation of knowledge. It highlights advanced techniques such as reasoning, semantic search, and inference mechanisms essential in constructing and evaluating PCKGs for actionable healthcare insights. We further explore the practical applications of PCKGs in personalized medicine, emphasizing their significance in improving disease prediction and formulating effective treatment plans. Overall, this review provides a foundational perspective on the current state-of-the-art and best practices of PCKGs, guiding future research and applications in this dynamic field.

PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT THROUGH INNATE TRAITS AND ENVIRONMENT IN ISLAMIC PSYCHOLOGY

This study examines the impact of innate (nature) and environmental (nurture) factors on human psychological development, using the Quran and Hadith as foundational perspectives. The research employs a literature review, collecting data from books, journals, and other sources. The process involves identifying the main topic, using keywords to search academic databases, selecting quality literature, analyzing findings, and compiling results. The study reveals that while Allah SWT has meticulously designed human nature, individuals are shaped by genetic and environmental influences. Parents or caregivers significantly affect personality, behavior, and beliefs. The Quran and Hadith emphasize recognizing one’s nature, practicing gratitude, and following Allah's teachings to maintain faith and knowledge. Ultimately, humans are entrusted with the responsibility to fulfill their purpose in seeking Allah’s pleasure through worship and righteous living. Therefore, awareness of nature, knowledge, and practices in accordance with His teachings are fundamental to achieving the life purpose desired by Allah SWT.

Foundational perspectives on systems practice for professions

AbstractThe 2023 meeting of the International Society of Systems Sciences was held in the Kruger National Park in South Africa. The venue provided a suitable milieu for discourse on systems practice for professions. Surrounded by evidence of complexities of development, indigenous communities and nature, scholars shared their practices. It surfaced that systemic practice is guided by systemic methodology which in turn is rooted in specific frameworks of understanding. In a sense, it is unexpected that a meeting, focusing on practice, evolved into a discussion about worldviews and perspectives. This special issue attempts to represent the sense of belonging inspired by unity through diversity experienced by the participants of the meeting. This editorial reflects on the papers in terms of their frameworks for understanding, methodologies used, and their areas of application. African perspectives are explicitly included to celebrate the situatedness of the meeting. The issue showcases how systemic practice brings hope for improvement to various problem situations.

Community-Centered Approach to Integrated Coastal Management Strategy for Sustainable Development of the Blue Economy in Mtwara Region, Tanzania

This article explores the potential of the Blue Economy and its application for sustainable development, focusing on the Mtwara region in Tanzania. It begins by examining the definitions, drivers, and future trends of the Blue Economy. The study is guided by three primary objectives: assessing current coastal resources and ecosystems in Mtwara, evaluating the effectiveness of existing Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) initiatives, and analyzing policy and governance frameworks related to coastal resource management in Tanzania. The research methodology includes a review of governance frameworks across major Blue Economy sectors and semi-structured interviews to uncover insights, challenges, and policy implications. Guided by the Social-Ecological Systems (SES) framework, the article emphasizes the interconnectedness of human activities and natural processes, essential for sustainable development. The article is structured into sections: background on the Blue Economy, foundational perspectives, discussion, and conclusion.

Understanding Sarinah as an Arena for Feminism Education Based on Local Culture

General Background: Feminism education is crucial for fostering mutual respect and understanding of gender differences, emphasizing the social identity of archipelago feminism. This approach embraces the values of womanhood rooted in Indonesian culture and customs. Specific Background: The book "Sarinah" by President Sukarno offers a foundational perspective for exploring the historical and cultural significance of feminism education in Indonesia. Knowledge Gap: Despite analyses of "Sarinah" focusing on feminist values and Marxist literary criticism, research on the specific educational arena of feminism in Indonesia is limited. Aims: This study aims to analyze the Indonesian feminism education arena as presented in "Sarinah," using a qualitative methodology, including literature review and event interpretation. Results: The analysis identifies four key aspects: the third phase of civilization evolution, the role of intelligence, motivations of Indonesian feminism, and external influences such as society, family, and education systems. Novelty: The study highlights the distinctiveness of feminism education in Indonesia by focusing on local cultural values. Implications: The research emphasizes integrating cultural and traditional values in feminism education to promote gender equality. It calls for empowering women, recognizing their equal capabilities to men, and eliminating discrimination based on gender, class, or ethnicity. Highlights: Cultural Relevance: Emphasizes aligning feminism education with Indonesian cultural values. Key Factors: Identifies intelligence, motivation, and societal influences in the education arena. Empowerment: Highlights the need to empower women and address barriers to gender equality. Keywords: Pendidikan Feminisme, Arena, Adat, Budaya Nusantara

Meaningful work literature meta-review

This paper delves into the complex terrain of meaningful work, a concept at the heart of contemporary career development and organizational behavior discourse. By synthesizing the foundational perspectives, we explore the dual dimensions of meaningful work: the individual-oriented perspective, which emphasizes self-actualization, and the socially-oriented perspective, which situates the meaning of work within broader social, cultural, and institutional contexts. We propose a novel conceptualization of "deeply meaningful work" that harmonizes these perspectives, integrating personal fulfillment with societal contribution to unveil a more nuanced understanding of what makes work meaningful. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks, our review navigates the intersection of personal identity, societal value, and the quest for purpose in professional endeavors. Through an extensive literature review, we seek to refine the definition of meaningful work, addressing gaps in the current understanding and offering insights into fostering environments that promote deeply meaningful work. This study contributes to the academic discussion on meaningful work and provides practical implications for individuals seeking fulfillment in their careers and organizations aiming to cultivate a motivated, engaged workforce.

Analysis and prospects of the field of optical fiber materials and devices in China from the perspective of National Natural Science Foundation of China

F05) 下属的二级代码光子与光电子器件 (F0502)、传输与交换光子器件 (F0503)、激光 (F0506) 和光 学和光电子材料 (F0509) 均针对光纤材料与器件领域中的科学与技术问题设置了相关研究方向, 支撑 了相关领域基础与应用基础研究的开展 [1] . 本文对 2018∼2022 年期间国家自然科学基金委员会信息 科学部四处 (以下简称 "信息四处") 关于该领域的资助项目情况进行了统计和分析, 调研了其战略定 位, 总结了前沿热点的发展现状, 归纳了前沿科学问题, 从国家自然科学基金的角度展望了我国光纤材 料与器件领域的发展方向.

Revisiting the definition of humanitarian logistics

AbstractHumanitarian logistics (HL) is a relatively new research area that requires clear boundaries and a defined foundational perspective. Recent disasters have shown that the scope of HL is expanding, as in cases of cash‐based interventions, outsourcing to commercial companies, and stronger involvement of local communities. These changes imply the importance of scrutinizing the old definitions of HL and determining whether they require adaptation. This step is important considering that inadequate definitions create (i) misconceptions about what HL is, (ii) a lack of unity and understanding of the field's research goals, (iii) confusion about what constitutes a contribution, and (iv) theoretical ambiguity, which masks promising research directions, fragments knowledge, and retards the progress of scientific research. Based on a structured review, we found that three definitions from around 2005 have predominated in the literature so far. We identified various issues with these definitions and then conducted an expert elicitation process to develop and validate an updated foundational perspective on HL. Finally, we analyzed the data collected from experts using the literature on what constitutes a “good definition.” This led us to propose a revised definition and accompanying properties for HL. We conclude the article by offering important avenues for future research.

The educational predicament of migrant children: Understanding it from the concept of citizenship

In China, the restrictions on population mobility imposed by the hukou (‘household registration’) system are in contradiction with the demand for increased population mobility in the context of economic production. The phenomenon of migrant children arises out of this contradiction, as they move between the place of household registration and the place of residence, unable to enjoy full citizenship rights and facing multiple dilemmas. Therefore, using the concept of citizenship, this article attempts to explore the interaction between the awakening of citizenship, government laws and responses and citizenship rights in terms of the right to education, so as to provide a foundational perspective for the study of the educational dilemmas of migrant children. Citizenship in China is influenced by a combination of China’s historical background, Confucian culture and the socialist ideology of the Communist Party of China, and it is firmly linked to the hukou system, possessing differentiated characteristics. The special meaning of citizenship in Chinese society and the differentiated stratification caused by the urban–rural dichotomy are the root causes of the inequality in education for migrant children, and the differentiated stratification and the awakening of civic consciousness further promote population mobility.

Ecological economics as the science of sustainability and transformation: Integrating entropy, sustainable scale, and justice

Ecological economics, developed in the late 1980s, came to be known as the multi- and transdisciplinary science of sustainability. Since that time, it has blended basic and applied research with the intention of both informing and bringing change to environmental policy, governance, and society. However, many conventional economists have questioned its originality and contributions. This paper begins by clarifying the foundational perspectives of ecological economics that it engages an economy embedded in both real and limited ecosystems as well as socially constructed power relations. Herman Daly, a founder of the field, expanded on Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen’s entropy economics by focusing on a quantifiable sustainable scale of the economy and achieving justice in the control and distribution of economic benefits. He called for both quantitative analyses of economic scale and discursive approaches to a just distribution. The paper then discusses how the terms entropy, scale, and justice are used and interact in the literature, illustrated by some of the key debates in the field involving the Ecological Footprint, substitutability of natural and manufactured capital, and the growth—“agrowth”—degrowth debate. The debates also illustrate the potential for the field to influence policy. Ecological economics as the science of both sustainability and transformation can deploy numerous concepts and tools to provide insights on how to illuminate and solve some of the most pressing problems of the Anthropocene.