General Knowledge Research Articles

Do generative artificial intelligence related competencies, attitudes and experiences affect employee outcomes? An intellectual capital perspective

PurposeThe research on intellectual capital focuses on the role of innovative technologies in organizational systems, particularly in knowledge generation and learning processes. This study addresses the third stage of intellectual capital research, emphasizing how innovative technologies like generative AI (Gen AI) applications can enhance learning experiences, individual talents and personalized learning. Based on the WEST model, this study examines the relationship between attitude, competency, experience, Gen AI integration and managers’ creative involvement. Additionally, it investigates the direct and mediating roles of Gen AI integration and managers’ creative involvement in improving learning effectiveness.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional survey of managers from organizations operating in diverse sectors of Saudi Arabia was conducted using a web-administered structured questionnaire. PLS-based structural equation modeling was employed to assess the hypothesized relationships.FindingsThe results revealed that the manager’s Gen AI experience, competency, attitude and access positively affect its integration. However, only Gen AI competence and attitudes demonstrated the same positive impact on managers’ creative involvement. Furthermore, Gen AI integration and creative involvement positively and significantly impact learning effectiveness. The study also uncovered the positive mediation of Gen AI integration in enabling all four antecedents to enhance learning effectiveness. However, the mediation of creative involvement was corroborated only for the Gen AI attitudes and competence.Originality/valueThis study examines how integrating innovative technologies, such as generative AI, enhances the learning experience, develops individual talents and personalizes learning in workplace contexts at the managerial level. By providing new insights into the dynamics of generative AI integration in workplace settings, it significantly contributes to the generative AI literature.

Enhancing student engagement with the SDGs through sustainability games: a case study in Brazil

Higher education institutions, aligned with the principles of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), play a crucial role in fostering student engagement through educational initiatives. This paper presents one such initiative from the Green Office at the University of Passo Fundo: the Sustainable Development Goals Games. The Games were conducted over a week, featuring daily online activities and an on-site marathon. Each activity aimed to foster knowledge generation and promote engagement with specific SDGs. Overall, the Games encouraged active learning by creating a space for knowledge sharing and collective engagement on sustainability and climate action within the university. In its inaugural edition, the event brought together 75 participants from diverse backgrounds, including students, faculty, staff, and representatives from NGOs, local government, and businesses.

Bridging the Gap: A Qualitative Study Exploring the Impact of the Involvement of Researchers With Lived Experience on a Multisite Randomised Control Trial in the National Probation Service in England and Wales.

Methodological and ethical arguments support the involvement of individuals with lived experience in research to reduce engagement barriers and ensure those directly affected by studies contribute to knowledge generation. However, there is limited evidence on the impact of including researchers with lived experience of serving a prison or community sentence in clinical trials. This qualitative study aimed to explore the value of involving researchers with lived experience of the criminal justice system as data collectors in the Mentalization for Offending Adult Males (MOAM), a multisite RCT conducted in the National Probation Service in England and Wales. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 trial participants and 17 key stakeholders, either in person or via telephone. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. Five themes emerged for trial participants and 11 for key stakeholders. For some, lived experience researchers helped overcome engagement barriers by fostering common ground with participants who were serving a prison or community sentence during recruitment. Participants reported that the involvement of lived experience researchers enhanced the study by facilitating knowledge transfer in certain instances. However, their inclusion did not eliminate all barriers and, for some participants, introduced new challenges to engagement. Forensic lived experience researchers bridged the gap by fostering trust between data collectors and participants. Future studies should ensure that lived experience researchers receive adequate clinical supervision to support their role. The adopted methodology challenged assumptions about knowledge generation and stereotypes associated with being an ex-offender, benefiting both lived experience and traditional researchers. The study was developed in collaboration with User Voice (charity number: 1136047), who contributed to the study's design and conduct. The service user organisation co-designed the interview schedule and directed the protocol for participant payments, emphasising a consistent approach to avoid tokenism and ensure equal recognition of all contributions. The dissemination plan was developed in partnership with individuals with lived experience of the criminal justice system.

Performance assessment of ChatGPT 4, ChatGPT 3.5, Gemini Advanced Pro 1.5 and Bard 2.0 to problem solving in pathology in French language.

This study evaluated ChatGPT's, Bard's and Gemini's performances on second year of medical studies' (DFGSM2) Pathology exams from the Health Sciences Center of Dijon (France) in 2018-2022. From 2018 to 2022, exam scores, discriminating powers and discordance rates were retrieved. Seventy questions (25 first-order single response questions and 45 second-order multiple response questions) were submitted on May 2023 to ChatGPT 3.5 and Bard 2.0, and on September 2024 to Gemini 1.5 and ChatGPT-4. Chatbot's and student's average scores were compared, as well as discriminating powers of questions answered by chatbots. The percentage of student-chatbot identical answers was retrieved, and linear regression analysis correlated the scores of chatbots with student's discordance rates. Chatbot's reliability was assessed by submitting the questions in four successive rounds and comparing score variability using a Fleiss' Kappa and a Cohen's Kappa. Newer chatbots outperformed both students and older chatbots as for the overall scores and multiple-response questions. All chatbots outperformed students on less discriminating questions. Oppositely, all chatbots were outperformed by students to questions with a high discriminating power. Chatbot's scores were correlated to student discordance rates. ChatGPT 4 and Gemini 1.5 provided variable answers, due to effects linked to prompt engineering. Our study in line with the literature confirms chatbot's moderate performance for questions requiring complex reasoning, with ChatGPT outperforming Google chatbots. The use of NLP software based on distributional semantics remains a challenge for the generation of questions in French. Drawbacks to the use of NLP software in generating questions include the generation of hallucinations and erroneous medical knowledge which have to be taken into count when using NLP software in medical education.

A conceptual framework for the contextualization of crop model applications and outputs in participatory research

Contextualization of generic scientific knowledge to context-specific farmer knowledge is a necessary step in farmers’ innovation process, and it can be achieved using crop and farm models. This work explores the possibility to simulate a large number of scenarios based on farmers’ descriptions of their environment and practices in order to contextualize the discussion for each participating farmer. It presents a novel framework consisting of six actions divided in three phases, namely, phase I—reaching out to the farmers’ world: (i) project initialization; (ii) determination of the agronomical question anchored in farmers’ context; (iii) characterization of the environment, the management options, and the indicators to describe the system under consideration; phase II—within researchers’ world: (iv) crop model parametrization; (v) translation of model outputs into farmer-proposed indicators; and phase III—back to farmers’ world: (vi) exploration of contextualized management options with farmers. Two communication tools are created during the process, one containing the results of simulations to feed the discussions and a second one to create a record of it. The usefulness of the framework is exemplified with the exploration of soil fertility management with manure and compost applications for sorghum production in the smallholder context of Sudano-Sahelian Burkina Faso. The application of the framework with 15 farmers provided evidence of farmers’ and agronomists’ understanding of options to improve cropping system performance with better organic amendment management. This approach allowed farmers to identify and relate to the scenarios simulated, but highlighted interrogations on how to adapt the crop model outputs to particular situations. Though applied on issues related to tactical change at field level, the framework offers the opportunity to explore broader issues with farmers, such as farm reconfiguration.

Factors enhancing implementation of occupational safety and health management systems in manufacturing industry of Mutare, Zimbabwe

IntroductionSeveral studies elucidating a plethora of factors that influence establishment of OSH management systems in many industrial sectors have been conducted worldwide. Very few studies have been conducted to explicate factors influencing OSHMS implementation in Southern African countries, particularly in Zimbabwe. The study evaluated factors enhancing implementation of OSH management systems in the manufacturing industry of Mutare.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional research design was utilized in the study. Primary data sources were questionnaires and interviews, and secondary data sources were e-OSH databases and past OSH research papers among others.ResultsThe results revealed the primary factors that enhance OSHMSs implementation as strong senior management commitment, involvement and support, strong employee involvement and participation, good safety culture, provision of adequate resources among others. Strong senior management commitment, involvement and support was identified as a catalyst of all other factors enhancing implementation of OSHMSs, hence a recommendation is made for employers to invest in programmes aimed at bolstering management commitment, involvement and support to OSH management.DiscussionConsidering that lack of adequate resources emerged as a significant impediment to OSHMS implementation, the study challenges the Government to take a leading role in establishing policies that unlocks various funding mechanisms to support workplaces in overcoming financial barriers in the implementation of OSHMSs. It can be inferred from the study results that employee involvement is central to effective implementation of OSHMSs as it enables the generation of knowledge, ideas and deployment of abilities that are paramount in enhancing OSH management. Inferential statistics also revealed the existence of an association between factory size and implementation of OSHMS. Development of scaled down OSHMSs requirements for small to medium manufacturing companies (SMMCs) is recommended considering the unattractiveness of OSHMSs in SMMCs owing to sustainability challenges. This recommendation places a demand on researchers and OSH stakeholders globally to rethink the current global order for OSHMSs implementation in order to advance an approach to OSHMSs implementation in the SMMCs that is sensitive to contextual compounding factors. The study develops a framework that is key in creating a “preventive safety culture” at workplaces which is an epitome for sustainability in OSHMSs implementation.

Designing the future of bond markets: Reducing transaction costs through tokenization

Corporate bonds are an attractive option for corporate financing. However, current bond markets face many challenges and inefficiencies, resulting in high transaction costs (TAC). In recent years, technological advancements like blockchain technology have enabled the possibility of reducing TAC in bond markets. Even though practice experiments with such solutions, academic literature lacks generic design knowledge under the TAC lens to design blockchain-based bonds. Thus, our research follows the design science research (DSR) paradigm to design and develop a bond prototype using the Ethereum blockchain protocol. Our results highlight the capability of blockchain-based bond markets to reduce TAC in the three dimensions of asset specificity, uncertainty, and transaction frequency. Further, our research provides design principles to contribute to both practice and the academic discourse on developing blockchain-based bond markets with reduced TAC.

The science and politics of ‘knowledge’ in safe sport research

Research in the domain of safe sport frequently focuses on prevalence studies that have been historically dissimilar in methodology. Attempting to unify future studies for comparable results, Parent et al. (2018) introduced and validated the Violence Towards Athletes Questionnaire (VTAQ). The epistemological critiques of what knowledge this, or any, research tool generates about the sensitive topic of violence in sport has not been fully investigated. Additionally, how this ‘knowledge’ is used and by whom leads to further reconsideration about the validity of the data the VTAQ generates. Lastly, a brief discourse review illustrates how athletes’ capital may be appropriated to reinforce claims of validity and exclusivity of knowledge. The Question Appraisal System (QAS; Schaad, Jans & Scott, 2020) was used to review the VTAQ. Ethnographic research was conducted at safe sport conferences along with follow-up interviews with researchers and practitioners. These data were juxtaposed, along with a brief literature review, to better understand how the quantitative tool is conceived and used qualitatively by situated researchers. Analysis of the VTAQ highlighted myriads of elementary design flaws (e.g., more than 80% of the items were ‘double-barrelled’), most of which would tend towards over-reporting cases of violence. The qualitative data illustrated the political, activist motivations of prominent researchers in the field, and their professional dependency on high prevalence rates to justify funding for their research projects. Interviews also revealed the heterogeneity of athletes’ experiences and relationships to violence in sport, despite frequent use in the literature of the singular ‘the athlete voice’. As a reliable generator of knowledge, the VTAQ is arguably still in the development stage, and is not ready to be the standard-bearer of safe sport research. Researchers responsible for its creation are publicly open about their political motivations to use high prevalence rates to change policymakers’ decisions and to receive funding for future research. There is a significant overlap between what they consider scientific research and what ‘knowledge’ they need to promote their political aims as social activists. The scientific curiosity of their research is reasonably then called into question, when it is conducted with an objective of achieving a certain result. Furthermore, by presenting their research as ‘validated’ and representative of ‘the athlete voice’, they lean on the appropriation of scientific and sporting capital to valorise otherwise questionable data. Athletes are not a homogenous group, and have voices that vary, even sometimes in support of violence. Research that presents ‘the athlete voice’ as uniform support of the political aims of these researchers is better seen as a product of activism rather than science. References Parent, S., Fortier, K., Vaillancourt-Morel, M.-P., Lessard, G., Goulet, C., Demers, G., Paradis, H., & Hartill, M. (2019). Development and initial factor validation of the Violence Toward Athletes Questionnaire (VTAQ) in a sample of young athletes. Society and Leisure, 42(3), 471–486. https://doi.org/10.1080/07053436.2019.1682262 Schaad, A., Jans, M., & Scott, M. (2020). Improving the Question Appraisal System (QAS): Moving further away from black magic and black boxes. American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) 2020.

Frontline Voice: AO Spine Member Survey Regarding Spine Oncology Knowledge Generation and Translation Needs.

cross-sectional survey. To evaluate AO Spine members' practices and comfort in managing metastatic and primary spine tumors, explore the use of decision-support and patient assessment tools, and identify knowledge gaps and future needs in spine oncology. An online survey was distributed to AO Spine members to query comfort levels with key decisions in spinal oncology management, utilization of decision frameworks and spine oncology-specific instruments, and educational material preferences. Responses were obtained from 381 members across 82 countries. Most respondents were orthopedic spine surgeons (62%) or neurosurgeons (36%), with 42% performing 100-200 spine surgeries per year. Extradural primary and metastatic tumors were managed by 84% and 95% of respondents, respectively, with survival and frailty assessment tools used for both. While most surgeons felt comfortable determining when emergency surgery was needed (81% for primary and 82% for metastatic tumors), nuanced decisions about surgical timing were more challenging. Surgeons also noted challenges in tailoring the oncologic surgical plan to what the patient could safely tolerate. There was a strong desire for guidelines on tumor-related spinal pain (85%), treatment timing (85%), stabilization (85%), and glucocorticoid use for symptomatic extradural metastatic tumors (77%). Interest was high for classification systems for spine tumor pain (65%) and stabilization decisions (80%). Additional support is needed in decision-making regarding surgical timing, patient selection, and tailoring treatment invasiveness to life expectancy and frailty. Surgeons seek further guidance to prevent neurologic deterioration and optimize recovery. Guidelines and classification systems were highly coveted for daily practice.

Bridging Practice and Research: Differentiating Quality Improvement, Quality Assurance, and Quality Improvement Research in a Learning Health System.

Evidence-based practice integrates research into clinical care to enhance patient outcomes, yet gaps persist in translating evidence into practice. Learning health systems (LHS) address these gaps by embedding knowledge generation within healthcare delivery. These systems use healthcare information to improve clinical practice and the value, quality and efficiency of the systems providing healthcare services. In this paper the distinctions between quality improvement, quality assurance and quality improvement research in LHS are described, and the importance of nurse-led initiatives to foster research-oriented culture in LHS is emphasised. In understanding these methodologies nurses can drive the translation and evaluation of evidence for practice improvement, advance healthcare quality, and overcome traditional barriers to LHS evidence uptake and evaluation.

Bonos verdes para financiar la inversión socialmente responsable: un análisis bibliométrico

Sustainable finance has grown in importance in recent years due to its close relationship with sustainable development and the estimated large investment needs. After a long period of near-zero interest rates, we have witnessed a change in the scenario in the last two years, so it is important to know how this may affect the transition to a sustainable economy. To approach this object of study and contextualize it, a bibliometric analysis is carried out, using the Web of Science database, on: sustainable finance, Socially Responsible Investment and green bonds. The evolution of publications, the most active countries, the most relevant institutions and authors, the most researched topics, the most cited articles and the relationship of these three areas with the Sustainable Development Goals have been analyzed, in order to try to detect trends, omissions and research opportunities. The analysis reveals that sustainable finance is highly associated with climate aspects and green bonds, that the performance of green bond portfolios and other sustainable financial assets is a widely researched issue, and that the European Union is very active in knowledge generation, also having a long history in this object of study, supported by both the regulatory and institutional framework, and driven by the European Green Deal presented by the European Commission in 2019 and the Action Plan against Climate Change of the European Central Bank in 2021.

Knowledge Generation Through Open Access and Generative Artificial Intelligence

The amount of data generated by scientific knowledge is growing exponentially, much faster than natural intelligence, making it increasingly more challenging for researchers to manage their data. Reputable Generative AI (GenAI) is seen as a crucial instrument to help modern researchers facilitate ethical publications and knowledge production. This study looks at how South African researchers can move the development of ethical knowledge using artificial intelligence by utilizing open access methodologies and practices. GenAI has completely changed the scientific research landscape by providing advanced tools for knowledge generation, data management, and ethical publishing. In South Africa, researchers are using GenAI more and more to handle the complexity of modern research data. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate how functional knowledge can be produced and utilized through AI tools, emphasizing the advantages of open access to scientific data and its moral ramifications. When ethical GenAI and Open Access (OA) are incorporated into South African higher education, the implications for universal access to knowledge are profound. The creation and distribution of scientific knowledge are significantly impacted by OA since it reduces the time needed to share research findings and broadens the pool of potential knowledge recipients (Bernius 2010b). Key Words: Open Access, Ethical Knowledge Creation, Artificial intelligence-generated Scientific Content, South Africa, Research Ethics, Open Science, Knowledge Equity

The effectiveness of ChatGPT in assisting high school students in programming learning: evidence from a quasi-experimental research

ABSTRACT Programming education gains importance in high schools as the digital age progresses. However, the openness and adaptability of programming languages present unique challenges for instructional practices compared to other subjects. While traditional instructional tools offer limited support, ChatGPT, a groundbreaking Generative Artificial Intelligence, has shown impressive capabilities in natural language processing and knowledge generation. This study explored whether ChatGPT can transcend existing limitations and improve programming education through a quasi-experimental approach with post-hoc interviews in high school classrooms. A total of 153 students participated, and the results from MANCOVA and ANCOVA analyses revealed that students using ChatGPT reported lower levels of flow experience, self-efficacy, and learning achievement compared to those utilizing conventional methods. Post-hoc interviews further revealed that students felt ChatGPT's effectiveness in facilitating their programming learning fell short of their initial expectations. These findings highlight the need to carefully consider the complexity of programming learning tasks and students' cognitive, affective, and interactive dimensions when integrating AI technologies into education. We discuss the implications and provide thorough pedagogical strategies, specifically the guidance–practice–transformation (G–P–T) mode, to maximize the potential of AI tools and support high school programming education, emphasizing the balance of technological innovation with learning best practices.

Partnerships for Sustainable Development: a Quintuple Helix Framework for Research, Innovation, and Extension in Philippine State Universities

Objectives: This study investigates the potential use of the Quintuple Helix Model in strengthening Research, Innovation and Extension (RIE) functions among State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) in the Philippines. It assesses the dynamics between SUCs, the government, industry, and civil society, as well as the natural environment. Method: This study conducts a systematic review of literature and government reports: data from peer-reviewed journals, policy documents, and publications of various key agencies such as the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) are analyzed. Patterns, gaps and opportunities based on Quintuple Helix were coded using thematic and content analysis. Results and Discussion: SUCs are identified as central to knowledge generation and transformation of society, but their potential is dependent on three interlinked factors; inadequate infrastructures, limited funding and fragmented policies. Theoretical collaborations, from technology transfer processes to community engagement efforts, shed light on the potential of partnerships across different sectors manifested as experimental projects, though persistent challenges present as intellectual property troubles or misaligned interests often hinder successful cooperation. Research Implications: The research highlights the need for coordinated investments in infrastructure, skills and governance reforms. Public-private Partnerships and inter-disciplinary research are then recommended to maximize SUCs contribution to sustainable development. Originality/Value: This study presents a corroborated discourse on the application of the Quintuple Helix Model in the Philippine context of SUCs, its results can yield practical insights, and scalable strategies to enhance the functions of RIE, thus serving as a valuable reference for policymakers, educators, and researchers.

Adaptation of clinical bacteriology techniques for remote polar research.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents one of the key global public health threats currently facing humanity. The recent UN High-Level Meeting on AMR highlighted the need for greater knowledge generation on its environmental aspects while also considering the potential adverse effects of climate change. The polar regions of the world offer a unique opportunity for AMR research in a near-pristine environment while also holding the potential for novel resistance mechanisms and/or antimicrobial peptide discovery within melting permafrost or glacial ice. Despite considerable technological advances in microbiology, operating in severe cold environments continues to present significant operational challenges. Our report here offers a basis for adaptations to enable both environmental and clinical antimicrobial resistance, microbiome, and discovery research for operating in the harshest of remote environments.

Populism and Democracy: Mapping the Field

The rise of populism as a global phenomenon has captured the attention of scholars and raised concerns about its impact on democracy. Thanks to a growing academic consensus around an ideational definition of populism, one can observe the generation of important cumulative knowledge on the relationship between populism and democracy. Political science has been at the forefront of this development, and this symposium seeks to both offer state-of-the art information on this topic and discuss blind spots that future studies should try to address.

Conditioning factors for the scientific productivity of undergraduate students of health sciences at a private Peruvian University: A cross-sectional analytical study

Background The objective of this study was to determine the conditioning factors for scientific research productivity in university students of health sciences. Scientific productivity, in addition to making visible the generation of new knowledge, contributes to the well-being of the population and provides feedback to the scientific community in terms of methodologies, perspectives and results that help to break down barriers that delimit productivity in scientific research. Methods A cross-sectional analytical observational study was conducted. The study population was 4104 students enrolled during the 2021-I semester in the Faculty of Health Sciences of a private Peruvian university. A sample size of 400 students was determined and a stratified probability sampling was used. The variables were measured through surveys. The dependent variable was scientific research productivity, and the independent variables were institutional culture, knowledge management and technological capital. Summary measures are reported according to the type of variable. The chi-square test with a significance level of p<0.05 was applied to assess the association between the variables of interest. A multiple logistic regression analysis was performed using the Stepwise method. Prevalence ratios (PR) with their respective 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were calculated. Results From the total of 400 students, 74.5% were male, 57.25% were aged between 18 and 27 years, 17% belonged to the school of human medicine and 72% were in their sixth year of studies. Scientific research productivity was associated with management commitment (PR=1.493; 95%CI: 1.077–2.068, p=0.015), sense of personal growth (PR=1.632; 95%CI: 1.041–2.558; p=0.024), recognition by the university (PR=1.385; 95%CI: 1.012–1.896; p=0.043), strategic alliances (PR=1.422; 95%CI: 1.032–1.959; p=0. 03), having research proposals (PR=1.522; 95%CI: 1.114–2.08; p=0.009), dissemination of results obtained (PR=1.542; 95%CI: 1.12–2.122; p=0.01), availability of human resources (PR=1.591; 95%CI: 1.165–2.173; p=0.004), access to equipment and software (PR=1.482; 95%CI: 1.061–2.069; p=0.018) and to laboratories (PR=1.438; 95%CI: 1.047–1.974; p=0.024). Conclusion It is concluded that the research productivity of undergraduate students of health sciences is low. It is imperative to strengthen the university research culture that empowers students as agents of change and strengthens faculty participation in scientific networks and communities.

Multi-channel learning for integrating structural hierarchies into context-dependent molecular representation.

Reliable molecular property prediction is essential for various scientific endeavors and industrial applications, such as drug discovery. However, the data scarcity, combined with the highly non-linear causal relationships between physicochemical and biological properties and conventional molecular featurization schemes, complicates the development of robust molecular machine learning models. Self-supervised learning (SSL) has emerged as a popular solution, utilizing large-scale, unannotated molecular data to learn a foundational representation of chemical space that might be advantageous for downstream tasks. Yet, existing molecular SSL methods largely overlook chemical knowledge, including molecular structure similarity, scaffold composition, and the context-dependent aspects of molecular properties when operating over the chemical space. They also struggle to learn the subtle variations in structure-activity relationship. This paper introduces a multi-channel pre-training framework that learns robust and generalizable chemical knowledge. It leverages the structural hierarchy within the molecule, embeds them through distinct pre-training tasks across channels, and aggregates channel information in a task-specific manner during fine-tuning. Our approach demonstrates competitive performance across various molecular property benchmarks and offers strong advantages in particularly challenging yet ubiquitous scenarios like activity cliffs.

Towards a unified regional surveillance system: the Gulf CDC's first initiatives.

In January 2021, the Gulf Health Council (GHC), established the Gulf Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (Gulf CDC) in Riyadh, marking a pivotal step in harmonizing health strategies, enhancing knowledge generation, and promoting evidence-based approaches to both communicable (CD) and non-communicable diseases (NCD). The Gulf CDC's mission includes consolidating the region's health information systems, crucial for monitoring disease burden and shaping effective public health policies. An initial assessment of public health surveillance systems across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states was conducted by the Gulf CDC. This revealed strong national surveillance coverage of CDs but identified areas for improvement, particularly in data quality and representativeness. These findings informed the development of the Gulf CDC's health information strategy and confirmed the need for a regional surveillance system. Prior to the introduction of this system, senior experts in this field from all GCC member states were surveyed and a consensus process launched to agree on the first steps. This led to the strategic selection of a small number of priority communicable and non-communicable diseases for the pilot phase of the system. The final agreed list of diseases and conditions for the pilot are the CDs: acute respiratory infection (ARI), endemic dengue, brucellosis, measles and pulmonary tuberculosis together with the NCDs: cancer (registry) and road traffic injuries. The initiative will showcase the potential benefits of regional collaboration to improve health outcomes and will ultimately also contribute to global health security efforts.

Situational Analysis of Power in Participatory Action Research: Mapping Systemic Frameworks, Discourses, and Principles for Critical Feminist Qualitative Inquiry

In this current context, critical epistemologies, methodologies, and frameworks like Participatory Action Research (PAR), decolonial theory, and situational analysis can provide relevant tools for critical feminist social work research and praxis to expose and reenvision harmful, extractive, and privatized knowledge generation and dissemination. In this article, I describe the possibilities for using critical situational analysis to promote critical feminist social work scholarship through the interrogation of colonial forms of knowledge production, recognition of enactments of refusal and resistance, and illustrations of situational mapping from a study focused on exploring power differentials within PAR collaborations among social work faculty and community stakeholders. I then discuss possibilities to incorporate these analytic qualitative methodologies and frameworks to promote critical feminist principles for critical qualitative inquiry.