Front Runners Research Articles

The Election of an ‘Outsider’ Archbishop

Abstract The 1984 election of David Penman as Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne was surprising, coming at the end of a controversial process in which two better-known candidates had consistently been the front runners. His election disrupted the longstanding power base of Melbourne Diocese represented by the two men passed over. But his election disrupted more than that – it disrupted the stalemate preventing the ordination of women in the Anglican Church of Australia. His election was crucial to the struggle to have women ordained in the Australian church. As Melbourne Diocesan Synod prepares to elect its next archbishop in 2025, it is timely to re-visit the 1984 election.

Shallow geothermal energy systems for district heating and cooling networks: Review and technological progression through case studies

Heating and Cooling constitute a major part of society's final energy use and a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. The world society ought to mitigate climate change through decarbonisation, which must include the transition to low-temperature, sustainable and renewable heating and cooling technologies. Shallow Geothermal Energy is one of the most energy efficient and least greenhouse gas emitting available alternatives to provide space heating and cooling. The decarbonisation of the heating and cooling sector may have to comprise both individual systems and shared electrified heating and cooling systems from renewable sources of energy, where economies of scale and synergies between different types of consumers can be exploited. To this end, the focus of this paper is on the integration of shallow geothermal energy technologies into district heating and cooling systems. A key contribution of this work is the illustration of a number of practical case studies, highlighting the potential of existing shallow geothermal systems for DHC networks, which, as front runners in adopting such technologies, serve as paradigms for future development. Follows a discussion providing an outlook over the next 25 years. All in all, the future of utilizing shallow geothermal energy for district heating and cooling seems to be promising to play a pivotal role in sustainable urban development and decarbonizing the heating and cooling sector.

Drive Cycle‐Based Estimation of Energy Consumption for Electric Two‐Wheeler

ABSTRACTThe transportation sector is the backbone of the economic growth of any country. However, the heavy dependence of this sector on petroleum fuel is a matter of concern for sustainable development. To address this issue countries are working toward green energy‐based transportation, and among all viable solutions electric vehicles (EVs) are emerging as front runners. Range anxiety is one of the most prominent concerns in EV adoption. The range of a vehicle depends on the energy consumption so it becomes crucial to estimate it very precisely. There are many standard drive cycles such as the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) and Worldwide harmonized Light‐duty Vehicle Test Cycles (WLTC) which are used for the estimation of energy consumption. However, these standard cycles fail to capture the driving behavior of real traffic. Due to this reason, these standard cycles underestimate the energy consumption compared with actual consumption. For more realistic energy requirement estimations, researchers are focusing on the development of real‐world drive cycles specific to a particular geography. In this paper, a real‐world drive cycle of electric two‐wheeler has been developed for the city of Lucknow, India, and compared with the driving characteristics and energy consumption estimates of WLTC. The energy requirement per km for the Lucknow drive cycle and WLTC are found as 14.89 Wh/km and 11.95 Wh/km, respectively, which indicates per km energy required estimation for LDC is 24.60% higher than WLTC.

Lived Experiences of Selected College Students in their Participation in the Community Outreach Programs of First City Providential College

In every community service and service learning, individuals volunteer their time to better our communities. Individual participation represents the best in all of us. Being part of this activity means having the opportunity to do something truly special, that is, selflessly serve others (Fisk, et al, 2020). First City Providential College, as one of the front runners in providing quality education at the heart of the City of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan did not cease to offer relevant community engagement during the pandemic. These community engagement initiatives did not only benefit the target beneficiaries, but most of all allowed every FCPCian to gain intangible rewards that mold each of them into better professionals with a heart. The research study aimed to find out the lived experiences of selected students of First City Providential College in their participation to the community outreach programs organized and conducted by the institution. It is to ensure that all facets of community engagement, most especially feedback from the student participants are gathered, for continuous quality improvement.

Unlocking the potential of Industry 4.0 in BRICS nations: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis

PurposeThis study is intended to introduce and summarise Industry 4.0 practices in BRICS nations (the abbreviation “BRICS” is made up of the first letters of the member countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and determine each nation’s current contribution to Industry 4.0 practice implementation based on past literature. As the BRICS countries continue to play an essential role in the global economy, it is significant to understand Industry 4.0, focussing on these emerging economies.Design/methodology/approachTo assess the present research work on Industry 4.0 practices and research studies in BRICS nations, a systematic literature review (SLR) is performed using the articles available on the SCOPUS database. This study is a descriptive analysis based on the frequency and year of publications, the most influential universities, most influential journals and most influential articles. Similarly, this study consists of category analysis based on multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods, research design used, research method utilised, different data analysis techniques and different Industry 4.0 technologies were used to solve different applications in the BRICS nations.FindingsAccording to the analysis of past literature, the primary identified practices are centred on operations productivity, waste management, energy reduction and sustainable processes. It also found that despite the abundance of research on Industry 4.0, the major academic journal publications are restricted to a small number of industries and issues in which the manufacturing and automotive industries are front runners. The categorisation of selected papers based on the year of publication demonstrates that the number of publications has been rising. It is also found that China and India, out of the BRICS countries, have contributed significantly to Industry 4.0-related publications by contributing 61 percent of the total articles identified. Similarly, this study identified that qualitative research design is the most adopted framework for research, and empirical triangulation is the least adopted framework in this field. The categorisation of selected articles facilitates the identification of numerous gaps, such as that 67.14% of the literature research is qualitative.Practical implicationsUnderstanding Industry 4.0 in the BRICS nations helps to identify opportunities for international collaboration and future cooperation possibilities. This study helps to promote collaboration between BRICS countries and other nations, organisations or businesses interested in capitalising on these growing economies' assets and capabilities related to Industry 4.0 technologies. This study helps to provide essential insights into the economic, technological and societal impacts, allowing for effective decision-making and strategic planning for a sustainable and competitive future. So, this contribution links the entire world in terms of the better utilisation of resources, the reduction of downtime, improving product quality, personalised products and the development of human resource capabilities through the application of cutting-edge technologies for nearly half of the world’s population.Originality/valueIn this study, BRICS nations are selected due to their significant impact on the world regarding social, economic and environmental contributions. In the current review, 423 articles published up to August 2022 were selected from the SCOPUS database. The comparison analysis of each BRICS nation in the form of applications of Industry 4.0, the primary area of focus, leading industry working, industry involvement with universities and the area that needs attention are discussed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the most recent SLR and meta-analysis study about Industry 4.0 in BRICS nations, which analysed the past available literature in nine different descriptive and category-wise classifications, considering a total of 423 articles. Based on this SLR, this study makes some important recommendations and future directions that will help achieve social, economic and environmental sustainability in BRICS nations.

Unjust Winds of Change: The Politics and Narratives of Wind Farms in the Brazilian Northeast

Renewable energy is recognized as a cornerstone in achieving sustainable development globally, evidenced by international standards such as the UN Agenda 2030 as well as in nations energy policies globally. One of the front runners of the energy transition globally is Brazil, where wind energy has expanded substantially since the early 2000’s. Currently, the state of Bahia in North-Eastern Brazil is seeing the fastest expansions, a state that is characterised by its many traditional and Indigenous communities. Although wind energy is known for its positive sustainability aspects, conflicting wind energy narratives and politics are abundant in this region. The fast expansion of wind energy projects has caused socio-environmental conflicts due to land related conflicts and expulsion of traditional communities for the creation of wind energy parks. In this study, we apply document analysis to critically explore the multiple narratives surrounding wind energy expansion in the state of Bahia. This study shows that different actors frame the matter differently, showcasing that civil society and local perspectives are made invisible in policy documents and decision-making processes. Our results suggest that the dominant narrative of wind power as the most sustainable energy option excludes the contrasting perspectives, perpetuating exclusion and marginalisation of local communities as well as the environment that are directly impacted by the expansion of wind energy projects.

Helping the climate by replacing liquefied natural gas with liquefied hydrogen or ammonia?

The war in Ukraine caused Europe to more than double its imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in only one year. In addition, imported LNG remains a crucial source of energy for resource-poor countries, such as Japan, where LNG imports satisfy about a quarter of the country’s primary energy demand. However, an increasing number of countries are formulating stringent decarbonization plans. Liquefied hydrogen and liquefied ammonia coupled with carbon capture and storage (LH2-CCS, LNH3-CCS) are emerging as the front runners in the search for low-carbon alternatives to LNG. Yet, little is currently known about the full environmental profile of LH2-CCS and LNH3-CCS because several characteristics of the two alternatives have only been analyzed in isolation in previous work. Here we show that the potential of these fuels to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions throughout the supply chain is highly uncertain. Our best estimate is that LH2-CCS and LNH3-CCS can reduce GHG emissions by 25%–61% relative to LNG assuming a 100 year global warming potential. However, directly coupling LNG with CCS would lead to substantial GHG reductions on the order of 74%. Further, under certain conditions, emissions from LH2-CCS and LNH3-CCS could exceed those of LNG, by up to 44%. These results question the suitability of LH2-CCS and LNH3-CCS for stringent decarbonization purposes.

Instructors’ Perspectives on Enhancing Sustainability’s Diffusion into Mechanical Engineering Courses

This research strives to catalyze a more extensive integration of sustainability topics into mechanical engineering (ME) courses. The process through which higher education instructors choose to integrate sustainability topics into their courses was conceptualized using diffusion of innovation theory. The research explored two questions: (1) What factors were influential to front runners (innovators or early adopters) for sustainability integration in undergraduate courses taken by ME students? (2) What factors could spur non-adopters to integrate sustainability into their courses? The study included a survey (with 53 respondents who taught sustainability and 14 respondents who did not teach sustainability), 10 interviews with innovators and early adopters, and a focus group of 5 participants. The results were explored primarily from the perspective of meeting the needs of instructors (the target users). Peer-to-peer interactions were found to be important across all user groups. Practices that would help motivate later adopters include prepared curriculum- and university- or department-based support in the form of mission statements, training, mandatory sustainability inclusion, and a sustainability office to provide support. Diffusion of innovation theory provides insights into which strategies are likely to be most effective in expanding the number of faculty members who integrate sustainability topics into their courses.

Linguistic mechanisms of colour term evolution

Abstract We investigated diachrony of distributional semantics of two competing Russian colour terms (CTs) for ‘brown’, buryj (11th century) and koričnevyj (17th century), using the Russian subcorpus of Google Books Ngram (2020). Time-series analysis (1800–2019) of bigrams gauged each term’s frequencies of occurrence and changes in combinability with nouns for natural objects, artefacts, abstract concepts and figurative expressions. In frequency, koričnevyj overtook buryj in the 1920s, confirming its basic status in modern Russian. The perplexity index indicates that koričnevyj steadily increased the range of denoted objects, with artefacts being front runners in the buryj-to-koričnevyj transition. The results corroborate Rakhilina’s (2007a, 2007b, 2008) hypothesis that an incipient CT initially collocates with nouns denoting artefacts but gradually expands to the realm of natural objects supplanting an old CT. Moreover, koričnevyj and buryj are discerned by denotations and connotations. The present findings provide insights into general mechanisms of the linguistic evolution of an emergent basic CT.

Energy Justice and Territory: Present and Futures of Wind Energy in Brazil

Transitioning towards renewable energy sources is crucial in mitigating climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Global energy consumption is expected to increase 50 % by 2050, meaning one of today’s main challenges is complying with those demands without tampering with the uncertainties of global climate change. To address climate change renewable energy sources are essential and wind power plays a great role in the energy matrix. Brazil is one of the front runners in the energy transition, where wind power has expanded since the early 2000’s. The state of Bahia, in Northeastern Brazil, is currently the region where wind energy is expanding the most. However, conflicts related to territoriality and justice aspects are increasing in the state due to the fast-expanding wind energy sector. This study applies document and content analysis to explore the multiple narratives regarding the wind energy expansion in the state of Bahia, Brazil. Framing theory and theories addressing power struggles and conflicts in relation to the energy transition will guide the analysis of the documents included in the material. Based on the analysis of the Bahian case, this study shows that different actors frame the matter of wind energy expansion differently depending on their positionings. Civil society and local perspectives are not present in policies and decision-making processes, including the planning and installation of wind energy parks in the studied case. The results suggest that inclusion and participation of local actors, stakeholders and the civil society is essential to ensure a just and sustainable transition to clean energy sources.

Transverse Cervical Artery Based Free Flap in Reconstruction of a Tongue Defect: A Case Report.

In the era of reconstructive surgery, new and revolutionary options are being explored in oro-facial defect reconstruction. As free flaps are presently front runners for reconstruction of defects resulting from resection of benign and malignant lesions, there is a need for devising newer options to serve the need of covering defects following oncological resection. The availability of promising pedicles in the supraclavicular region makes it a potential donor site for harvesting regional flaps, and going forward, free flaps. Transverse cervical artery flap has been a useful regional flap for head and neck reconstruction but there are limited literature pertaining to transverse cervical artery free flap. We report a case of successful reconstruction of tongue defect with transverse cervical artery free flap.

Framing the statistical criteria for accelerated approval of oncology drugs: A pathway for front runners

FDA has recently proposed a one-trial approach in Project FrontRunner for both accelerated approval and regular approval in the same trial. The goal of this short communication is to make the regulatory criteria for decision-making on accelerated approval based on the interim analysis more explicit. Two related high-level statistical issues are addressed under simplified yet representative scenarios. The first is at what Type I error level should the interim analysis be tested? To conform with the conventional two-trial approach, it may be tested at the 1.0% level without paying penalty for regular approval. This criterion is more relaxed than current practice. The second is what may be considered as adequate totality of evidence for accelerated approval. It turns out that, with the first criterion met, the observed treatment effect of the clinical endpoint intended for regular approval needs to be close to the target effect for the study. The criterion helps make the regulatory decision more transparent and objective.

Financial Inclusion in India

Inclusive development had been one of the prime agendas of government ever since it was first mentioned in the eleventh five-year plan. Amongst its many segments, one of the core is financial inclusion. Hence discussion and research on this issue become inevitable in contemporary domain where major concern of all the diverse sections of Indian society remains expediting inclusive development as prime targets. Emanating from here our attention gets directed towards the current scenario of financial inclusion in India, wherein huge section of population is being deprived of accessibility to financial services or financial inclusion which makes it an important developmental concern. Financial Inclusion in India dates back to pre- independence times but were quite rare due to less interest of British Government in this and was majorly carried by big banks run by Indians. Post-Independence the process of provisioning financial services to the larger sects of masses was enthusiastically taken forward by RBI and later on supported by government policies aimed at financial inclusion. Ever since then India remained one of the front runners in expanding and disbursing financial services to the poor. Not only formal banking sector expanded but other institutions like Micro finance Institutions, Cooperatives, non-banking financial institutions etc. were set up to provision financial services and products to the masses. Even successive governments in India have kept this issue of financial inclusion as one of the primary targets in their manifestos and later on as part of government policies or agendas to reach larger goal of inclusive development. To achieve this large-scale target of financial inclusion, various schemes and programmes were initiated in past as well as at present so as to bring financial services closer to the masses as well as enthuse the citizens to further access and integrate themselves with formal financial system. Thus, the following research study is based upon secondary data analysis from RBI and prior research on the topic. The study captures the issue from multiple dimensions including its current scenario initiatives taken in this direction and from there reflecting upon the need of future endeavours. In a nutshell the research will try to analyse financial inclusion as one of the crucial mechanism of realising larger aim of inclusive development from all dimensions and hence reach out at more informed analysis.

Screening political party candidates and the implications for electoral performance

The formation of the Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) party in March 2022 has radically altered Lesotho’s political landscape. Apart from the new calibre of political leadership, the party has, in line with its name, revolutionised some of the traditions long held by Lesotho’s political parties. Contrary to the closed primary elections that most parties use, the RFP introduced a combination of centralised and technocratic approaches in determining the list of party candidates for the October 2022 elections. With the former, the party reserved candidateship in eleven constituencies for persons appointed by the leader. Four front runners in the primary elections in the remaining constituencies would be subjected to various screening methods with the final determination to be made by the party leadership. The detractors have mocked the RFP’s approach as undemocratic and undermining the will of the people. The party also experienced internal resistance that led to it being taken to the law courts where some decisions were reversed. Using various data collection methods, this paper discusses the strategies used by the RFP and shows that much as they are not common in Lesotho, these strategies are not entirely new in politics as they are used in other democratic systems. An examination of the October 2022 elections results shows that despite the court challenges, the RFP’s candidate selection strategies had a positive impact on the party’s performance as well as on the profile of the resultant National Assembly.

Stilbenes, a Versatile Class of Natural Metabolites for Inflammation-An Overview.

Stilbenes are polyphenolic allelochemicals synthesized by plants, especially grapes, peanuts, rhubarb, berries, etc., to defend themselves under stressful conditions. They are now exploited in medicine for their antioxidant, anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory properties. Inflammation is the immune system's response to invading bacteria, toxic chemicals or even nutrient-deprived conditions. It is characterized by the release of cytokines which can wreak havoc on healthy tissues, worsening the disease condition. Stilbenes modulate NF-κB, MAPK and JAK/STAT pathways, and reduce the transcription of inflammatory factors which result in maintenance of homeostatic conditions. Resveratrol, the most studied stilbene, lowers the Michaelis constant of SIRT1, and occupies the substrate binding pocket. Gigantol interferes with the complement system. Besides these, oxyresveratrol, pterostilbene, polydatin, viniferins, etc., are front runners as drug candidates due to their diverse effects from different functional groups that affect bioavailability and molecular interactions. However, they each have different thresholds for toxicity to various cells of the human body, and thus a careful review of their properties must be conducted. In animal models of autoinflammatory diseases, the mode of application of stilbenes is important to their absorption and curative effects, as seen with topical and microemulsion gel methods. This review covers the diversity seen among stilbenes in the plant kingdom and their mechanism of action on the different inflammatory pathways. In detail, macrophages' contribution to inflamed conditions in the liver, the cardiac, connective and neural tissues, in the nephrons, intestine, lungs and in myriad other body cells is explored, along with detailed explanation on how stilbenes alleviate the symptoms specific to body site. A section on the bioavailability of stilbenes is included for understanding the limitations of the natural compounds as directly used drugs due to their rapid metabolism. Current delivery mechanisms include sulphonamides, or using specially designed synthetic drugs. It is hoped that further research may be fueled by this comprehensive work that makes a compelling argument for the exploitation of these compounds in medicine.

CHARACTERISING THE SLUM ENVIRONMENT FROM SPACE FOR ACHIEVING SDGS

Abstract. With less than eight years left to achieve the Global Goals, nations are accelerating the design and implementation of sustainable solutions to the world’s biggest challenges ranging from poverty to climate change. India has assessed its status in achieving SDGs through SDG Index, an aggregate measure that computes goal-wise scores on the 16 SDGs. For SDG 11, the 2020-21 assessment showed that all other 32 states scored above 65 as front runners except for seven. One such criterion to assess the progress of SDG11 is the “percentage of urban households living in Katcha houses”. In the present study, to understand the slum development activities to attain sustainability at a city level, Chennai has been chosen as a case study. Using VHR data from Google Earth Pro, the slums of Chennai are mapped, and the recent changes in the slum status are identified.The slums are categorised into four categories: existing, emerged, expanded and evicted slums, based on their characteristics. The study shows that between 2001 and 2011 there are 110 new slums emerged in the study area, which accounts for 1.43 sq. km. There are only a few slums that emerged between 2011 and 2022 (0.35 sq. km), but there was a considerable slum expansion (1.07 sq. km.) during that period, and some slums were evicted from their previous locations. The results based on satellite data have been verified and validated at the field level. The ongoing slum development programs in Chennai give optimistic hope for achieving inclusive urban development by 2030.

Pathways for the Valorization of Animal and Human Waste to Biofuels, Sustainable Materials, and Value-Added Chemicals

Human and animal waste, including waste products originating from human or animal digestive systems, such as urine, feces, and animal manure, have constituted a nuisance to the environment. Inappropriate disposal and poor sanitation of human and animal waste often cause negative impacts on human health through contamination of the terrestrial environment, soil, and water bodies. Therefore, it is necessary to convert these wastes into useful resources to mitigate their adverse environmental effect. The present study provides an overview and research progress of different thermochemical and biological conversion pathways for the transformation of human- and animal-derived waste into valuable resources. The physicochemical properties of human and animal waste are meticulously discussed, as well as nutrient recovery strategies. In addition, a bibliometric analysis is provided to identify the trends in research and knowledge gaps. The results reveal that the USA, China, and England are the dominant countries in the research areas related to resource recovery from human or animal waste. In addition, researchers from the University of Illinois, the University of California Davis, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Zhejiang University are front runners in research related to these areas. Future research could be extended to the development of technologies for on-site recovery of resources, exploring integrated resource recovery pathways, and exploring different safe waste processing methods.

Capacity Analysis of Intelligent Reflecting Surface assisted RSMA System with Perfect and Imperfect CSI for 6G

Rate splitting multiple access (RSMA) and intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) are the promising candidates and front runners for 5G and beyond wireless communication. Recent studies have proved RSMA-IRS outperforms non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and enhances the quality of service (QoS). The performance of the downlink RSMA-IRS system is investigated in this paper using perfect and imperfect channel state information (CSI) conditions over the Rayleigh fading channel. Furthermore, the numerical analysis for the sum rate capacity is carriedout for the users under perfect and imperfect conditions. To assess the system’s performance, two distinct scenarios are explored. Initially, the system total capacity of each user’s common and private parts is determined without considering the channel estimate error (CEE). The total capacity for each user’s common part is 10 b/s, for private1 is 8.9 b/s, and for private2 is 6.5 b/s. After introducing CEE, the sum rate for the common part is 8.5 b/s, and the total capacity for private1 and private2 is 7.5 b/s and 6 b/s, respectively. The simulation results show that the perfect CSI, achieves enhanced sum rate than channel with CEE. however, to tolerate the imperfect scenario (CEE) optimum power allocation is determined for attaining the QoS.

Abstract ED11-2: HER2 positive breast cancer

Abstract Neoadjuvant therapy of HER2+ breast cancer has been groundbreaking. It showed the superior results in terms of pathologic complete response (pCR) and event free survival (EFS) of adding trastuzumab to chemotherapy in women with locally advanced breast cancer (NOAH trial) that led to the first regulatory approval of a neoadjuvant approach in the field of breast cancer. In addition, neoadjuvant studies (NeoSphere, neoALLTO) clearly showed the improved antitumor activity of dual blockade of the HER2 receptor, paved the way to the Aphinity adjuvant study and justified the current worldwide use of dual black of HER2 in high/moderate risk HER2+ early breast cancer. In the above scenario the design and results of the Katherine study were a landmark achievement. By proving the clinical value of shifting treatment from trastuzumab to trastuzumab-DM1 in women with residual disease after neoadjuvant therapy the study provided firm clinical evidence that residual disease can be used as a surrogate of relative resistance that per se justifies the adoption of alternative non cross resistant regimens/therapies at the individual level. The clinical success of neoadjuvant trials in HER2+ early breast cancer went hand-to-hand with translational studies that that are identifying markers predicting for pCR and EFS that are and will be used to fine tuning a more individually tailored approach to treatment, and eventually effective and safe de-escalation strategies. The rich collection of neoadjuvant studies that shaped the modern approach to treatment of women with early HER2+ breast cancer will be enriched of studies with new drugs, trastuzumab deruxtecan and tucatinib to name some of the front runners. All current and future treatments will greatly depend on the neoadjuvant approach as a tool for a quick assessment of the clinical value of new therapies. Such approach has so far been used as basis or supporting evidence for regulatory approvals worldwide, based on the concept that pCR can be viewed as surrogate of long-term benefit. Individual trials and meta-analyses are challenging the dependability of pCR to predict EFS at trial level. However, the benefits of tumor eradication (pCR) at individual level continue to support the simple clinical concept that more pCR is better and that regimens leading to it deserve full credit. Acknowledgment: The work of Luca Gianni is supported by grants of the BCRF Citation Format: Luca Gianni, Giampaolo Bianchini. HER2 positive breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2022 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(5 Suppl):Abstract nr ED11-2.

Health information behavior and related factors among Estonians aged ≥ 50 years during the COVID-19 pandemic

PurposeThe purpose of the article is to introduce the outcomes of a study analyzing the relationships between willingness to use technology for health purposes, health information behavior (HIB), health behavior (HB) choices, readiness for COVID-19 vaccination, socioeconomic indicators and self-reported health among older adults aged = 50 years living in Estonia.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional survey was conducted among 501 people aged = 50 in Estonia in 2020, a month after the end of lockdown.FindingsThe results of the study indicate that the more recurrent the need for HI was (rho = 0.11, p < 0.05) and the more regularly one searched for it (rho = 0.14, p < 0.01), the more willing a person was to get vaccinated. Also, interest in digital applications corresponded to vaccination readiness (rho = 0.25, p < 0.001). However, this relationship did not emerge in the case of other HBs such as healthy eating and exercise. Differences in HIB should be taken into account when developing effective means of health communication designed especially for crisis situations.Originality/valueEstonia is known as one of the digital front runners in the world. However, social welfare and the well-being of disadvantaged groups among the population (e.g. older people) have not yet caught up with the more developed Western countries. Thus, learning more about the health-related information behavior of older adults, e.g. the kind of health information they are seeking and using in Estonia, allows policymakers, health information providers and libraries in Estonia to plan and carry out more effective interventions and help them to improve the existing systems so as to furnish older adults with relevant information.