Global Point Of View Research Articles

Standardised Tool for the Assessment of Bruxism: Translation, Cultural Adaptation and Pilot Testing in Italy.

Recently, the Standardised Tool for the Assessment of Bruxism (STAB) has been developed for use in clinical and research settings. The aim of the present study is to describe the process of forward and back translation and pilot testing of the STAB into Italian. The English version of the STAB was adopted as a template for translation into other languages, according to a step-by-step procedure led by the expert STAB bruxism panel and mother tongue experts in the field. In detail, the translation team was made up of 12 subjects: three study coordinators, two forward translators, two back-translators and five expert panellists. Following the translation process, a pilot test in patients, dentists and dental students was performed using the 'probing' method (i.e., subjects were questioned by the examiners about the perceived content and interpretation of the items) with the aim to assess the comprehensibility of the questions and response options, and the feasibility of the tool. This paper describes the translation process of the STAB and provides the outcomes of the pilot testing phase and the face validity assessment. The preliminary results suggest that, from a global point of view, the STAB reflects the characteristics required in clinical and research settings. Thanks to the translation process, the Italian version of the STAB can be assessed on-field and introduced in the clinical and research field to get deeper into the study of bruxism epidemiology in Italy.

Restorative justice and social justice: an international perspective

ABSTRACT This article examines the relationships between restorative justice and social justice from a global viewpoint. Restorative justice, traditionally viewed as a transformative approach within criminal justice systems, is constructed as a catalyst for broader social justice reforms. Drawing on data from a series of online workshops, including participants from North America, Europe, and Africa, reflexive thematic analysis was used to generate perspectives on how restorative practices address social injustices. Findings highlight varied interpretations across different socio-political contexts, suggesting that although restorative justice may inherently hold transformative potential, its efficacy in fostering social justice is contingent on conscious integration of social justice considerations. This article contributes to the ongoing debate on the role of restorative justice in societal change, arguing that a nuanced application, which acknowledges the complexities of social injustices, can enhance impact beyond individual cases, and contribute meaningfully to the pursuit of social justice on a broader scale.

Portrait of Mary and Manggarai Women in “Dere Serani”: The Encounter of Religion and Culture

Catholics hold Mary, the mother of Jesus, in high esteem. The widespread presence of Marian devotions, teachings, dogmas, symbols, titles, art, and places of pilgrimage in various church regions across the globe demonstrates this phenomenon. This study investigates the portrayal of Mary at the Manggarai Catholic Church, which is situated in the Diocese of Ruteng, Flores. This study aimed to analyze the songs performed by Maria that are featured in the book “Dere Serani.” The central investigation focused on whether the depiction of Mary in songs is impacted by the representation of women in the local culture or not. This study utilized two main approaches, namely text content analysis and cultural studies. This study discovered that the depiction of Mary that is adopted by the local community extends beyond local perspectives and incorporates global viewpoints.

Sample size recalculation in three-stage clinical trials and its evaluation

BackgroundIn clinical trials, the determination of an adequate sample size is a challenging task, mainly due to the uncertainty about the value of the effect size and nuisance parameters. One method to deal with this uncertainty is a sample size recalculation. Thereby, an interim analysis is performed based on which the sample size for the remaining trial is adapted. With few exceptions, previous literature has only examined the potential of recalculation in two-stage trials.MethodsIn our research, we address sample size recalculation in three-stage trials, i.e. trials with two pre-planned interim analyses. We show how recalculation rules from two-stage trials can be modified to be applicable to three-stage trials. We also illustrate how a performance measure, recently suggested for two-stage trial recalculation (the conditional performance score) can be applied to evaluate recalculation rules in three-stage trials, and we describe performance evaluation in those trials from the global point of view. To assess the potential of recalculation in three-stage trials, we compare, in a simulation study, two-stage group sequential designs with three-stage group sequential designs as well as multiple three-stage designs with recalculation.ResultsWhile we observe a notable favorable effect in terms of power and expected sample size by using three-stage designs compared to two-stage designs, the benefits of recalculation rules appear less clear and are dependent on the performance measures applied.ConclusionsSample size recalculation is also applicable in three-stage designs. However, the extent to which recalculation brings benefits depends on which trial characteristics are most important to the applicants.

Aerogel-based collection of ejecta material from asteroids from libration point orbits: Dynamics and capture design

Scientific interest in asteroids and their physical characteristics is growing. These bodies provide insights into the primordial solar system and represent a valuable source of metals, silicates, and water. Several missions over the past few years have aimed to improve and better identify the main properties of these poorly known celestial bodies. However, these missions relied on touchdown(s) on the target asteroid to gather samples, which is complicated owing to the difficulty of accurately reaching and rendezvousing with the body. This study aims to assess the feasibility of an in-orbit asteroid sample collection mission. Such a strategy could prevent complex operations related to landing and touchdown maneuvers and avoid the dead times present in a mission requiring several landings. The presented collection scenario, which focuses on the asteroid Ryugu, proposes gathering samples using a spacecraft injected into a halo orbit around the second libration point, L2. For this purpose, the orbits in the neck region of the zero velocity curves are analyzed. A novel methodology to characterize bouncing behavior is introduced. An interpolation-based approach was used to recover the appropriate restitution coefficients for each collision occurring at a specific impact angle. This was applied to both the rigid body model and the point mass approximation studied for two different sites on the asteroid. Furthermore, the study enlarged the region of interest from only L2 to its neighboring zones to return a more global and realistic point of view. Considering the solar radiation pressure and asteroid aspherical potential, particles of different sizes ejected from different longitudes and with different ejection angles were classified according to their trajectories to finally build a database. Based on this analysis, an aerogel-based collection strategy inspired by that used in the Stardust-NExT (NASA) mission was investigated to assess its possible applicability to the analyzed scenario.

Global viewpoints: proposals for the development of endourology in resource-limited countries in Africa.

Endourology plays an important role in modern urological practice. Compared to open surgery, it offers many advantages. In Africa, endourology is not widely practiced or non-existent in some referral centres. Several factors have been linked to this challenge. This article explores and proposes strategies to improve endourology practice in the African context. Recognising the unique challenges and opportunities in the region, the document discusses key initiatives and recommendations to promote the growth and development of endourological practices, including the identification of local needs, training, technological adaptation, etc. It aims to provide valuable information on the advancement of endourology in Africa.

Modelling on COVID-19 control with double and booster-dose vaccination

COVID-19 vaccines have been illustrated to lessen the growth of sickness caused by the virus effectively. In any case, inoculation has consistently been controversial, with differing opinions and viewpoints. This has compelled some individuals to decide against receiving the vaccine. These divergent viewpoints have had a trivial impact on the epidemic’s dynamics and the disease’s development. In response to vaccinated individuals still falling ill, many countries have implemented booster vaccines to protect further.In this specific investigation, a mathematical model composed of seven compartments is employed to examine the effectiveness of a booster dose in preventing and treating the transmission of COVID-19. The principles of mathematics are employed to analyse and investigate the dynamics of the disease. Using a qualitative prototype analysis, we acquired valuable insights into its effectiveness. One essential aspect is the basic reproduction number, a critical determinant of the disease’s spread. This calculation is determined by studying the system’s equilibrium and evaluating its stability.Furthermore, we examined the balance from a local and global viewpoint, considering the possibility of bifurcation and the model’s reproductive number sensitivity index. Through numerical simulations, we have visually illustrated the analytical findings outlined in this research paper and presented a thorough examination of the efficacy of booster shots as a preventive and therapeutic measure in the spread dynamics of COVID-19.

Public Discourse on the Israel‐Hamas War 2023: A Comparative Analysis of Lithuania and the United Kingdom

AbstractThe conflict between the Israeli government and Hamas escalated on 7th October 2023, with the media playing an unprecedented role in shaping the perceptions and narratives surrounding the ongoing tensions. The portrayal by the media, often mirroring global viewpoints and biases, has significantly influenced public opinion and international stances, serving as a catalyst for political, diplomatic, and humanitarian interventions. The aim of the study is to analyze the formation of discourse on the Israel‐Hamas war (2023) within the media landscapes of Lithuania and the United Kingdom, emphasizing the role of national broadcasters and uncovering the primary disparities in the information provided by online news portals lrt.lt and bbc.com. Employing the qualitative content analysis method, the study provides comprehensive insights into the subject matter. Moreover, it highlights the approaches of the Lithuanian and UK governments towards security discourse in Europe and their concerns regarding humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip. The study is relevant to shed light on how political decisions and public opinion influence the international community's support for various actors in the conflict, including the manifestation of Islamophobic and antisemitic sentiments.

Lessons Pharmacy Practice in India Should Adopt From Advanced Nations: A Review.

In India, pharmacy practice is still at a developing stage with the majority of the graduates taking the industry pathway. Currently, there are only a few pharmacists who have been board-certified by the Board of Pharmacy Specialities (BPS), which is the most established pharmacist board certification programglobally. Even though India is the largest global exporter of generic medications, pharmacy practice is yet to gain stronghold within its healthcare scenarios. In this article, we aim to examine the development of pharmacy practice from a global viewpoint and scale down to the recent modern practice, particularly in advanced nations. Furthermore, we assess the ways through which pharmacy practice can be enhanced in India. Notably, with several pharmacy practice graduates completing their studies in India yearly, pharmacy practice is projected to significantly grow in the coming years. Gaining a proper understanding of and embracingadvanced clinical pharmacy practices will improve the domain of pharmacy practice among both junior and senior pharmacists. Moreover, enrolling in and receiving international accreditations such as the Board of Pharmacy Specializations (BPS) will validate the practice standards being offered in India as compared to other developed countries, i.e., the US. The main objective of this review is to assess various means through which pharmacy practice can be improved in India.

Effects of orthodontic aligners on the ecological report of awake bruxism.

The demand for orthodontic treatment with aligners has recently increased, but their effects on awake bruxism (AB) behaviours have to be evaluated yet. This investigation assessed if aligners can affect oral behaviours (i.e. tooth contact, teeth clenching, teeth grinding and mandible bracing) that are related with the AB spectrum. The investigation was performed in a sample of 32 consecutively recruited healthy adult patients who required orthodontic treatment. The study protocol involved three different sessions of 1-week monitoring without aligners, with passive aligners and with active aligners, respectively. All patients underwent an orthodontic treatment with aligners and used a smartphone-based application for a real-time report (i.e. ecological momentary assessment [EMA]) of their AB behaviours. Recording time was set from 8.00 to 12.30 and from 14.30 to 22.00. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the average reported frequency for each activity within and between the different sessions. The coefficient of variation (CV) was assessed to evaluate daily fluctuations within the 7 days monitoring periods. The average reported frequency of the relaxed condition was 64.9%, 63.0% and 60.0% during the sessions without aligners, with passive aligners and with active aligners, respectively. ANOVA showed no significant differences in any of the AB behaviours within (i.e. between 7 days of evaluation) and between the monitoring sessions (i.e. before orthodontic treatment, with passive aligners, with active aligners). No sex differences were detected, except for the 'tooth contact' report that showed a higher frequency in females. The impact of our results in the orthodontic field is not negligible; clinicians can find support for the hypothesis that from a global point of view, wearing or not wearing aligners (passive and/or active) does not influence the frequency of AB behaviours at the short term.

Реализация инициативы «Один пояс – один путь» как способ взаимного мирного познания цивилизаций

The Belt and Road Initiative in the new era is not only a mutually beneficial way to promote global economic cooperation, but also a peaceful path to mutual understanding and exchange among civilizations. Participation in the construction of the project helps participants in the international process to understand the civilizational differences between them and build their behavior with an understanding of the global point of view. Thus, this issue is not only of theoretical significance for the development of human civilization, but also from a practical point of view. The new concept of civilization proposed by China, with its enormous energy, is actively promoting a new direction for the development of human civilization.

Multi-source data integration for explainable miRNA-driven drug discovery

Explainable drug discovery driven by miRNA offers substantial application potential due to the high targetability of miRNAs. Despite their effectiveness, the current graph neural network (GNN)-based methods encounters three significant challenges. Initially, GNN-based prediction models, disseminating messages throughout the miRNA–disease graph, are susceptible to “over-smoothing”. Secondly, these approaches frequently pinpoint potential miRNA drugs through established miRNA–disease associations (MDAs), neglecting the possible interdependence between unvalidated miRNAs and diseases. Thirdly, the lack of interpretability in these models, coupled with their dependence on specific dataset training, leads to suboptimal generalization capabilities. We present MS-EMD, an explainable model for miRNA-driven drug discovery that integrates subgraph estimation with an energy-constrained diffusion approach. This model aims to accurately forecast potential miRNA drugs by analyzing data from both local and global viewpoints. The MS-EMD model utilizes subgraph estimation to aggregate and update node representations using local subgraphs, thereby preventing over-smoothing. Simultaneously, it unveils potential miRNA–disease dependencies through a global attention mechanism driven by an energy-constrained diffusion process, improving model interpretability. Furthermore, we employ a data fusion technology that integrates diverse similarity data to strengthen the initial representations of miRNAs and diseases. Through various comparison and ablation studies, we verified the MS-EMD model’s efficiency and stability, highlighting its potential as an explainable tool for miRNA-driven drug discovery. Our code and data are available at: https://github.com/lizhen5000/MS-EMD.git.

Financing the future: Asymmetric association between green investment and electric vehicles

Green investment in electric vehicles represents a pivotal shift towards a sustainable future, promising to revolutionize our transportation systems while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This research aims to probe the linkage between green investment and electric vehicles across the top 10 economies with the highest electric vehicle adoption rates (China, USA, Norway, Germany, UK, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, and South Korea). Unlike earlier studies that primarily utilized panel data methods and overlooked the individual nuances of each country, our investigation employs the advanced ‘Quantile-on-Quantile’ technique. This novel approach enables us to delve into the relationships between variables within each specific country, thereby improving the precision of our analysis. As a result, this study provides a comprehensive global viewpoint, revealing nuanced findings about each nation's distinct characteristics. The study's findings express a positive connection between green investment and the electric vehicle stock in various segments of the sample economies. Furthermore, this research highlights diverse trends in these connections within different nations. The results emphasize policymakers’ need to conduct comprehensive evaluations and develop effective strategies to address changes in both green investment and electric vehicles.

Adoption of Contemporary Technologies Among Hotels in Zimbabwe: A Case of City Hotels in Harare

Numerous studies have shown that leading hotels of the world take a lead in implementing the latest trends in Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) systems. However, most of the hotels in Zimbabwe are usually reactive with the pace at which they are embracing and using the ICT systems. Hence, the study explores extant literature using the scoping review approach to explain the current technological developments shaping the hotel sub-sector. This research explores the tourism and hospitality industry from a global point of view, highlighting the pros and cons brought about by the hotel industry embracing modern technologies. The following objectives specifically guided the research: to explore level of adoption of new technologies usage in Harare hotels, to establish the merits and hindrances encountered by hoteliers in the adoption of new technologies by Harare hotels. Strategies that can be adopted by hotels in Zimbabwe to enhance the contribution of new technologies have been suggested. Hotels in Zimbabwe are aware of the benefits that are obtained through the adoption of new technologies such as: value creation, improved communication, low cost of production, and improved productivity among others. The findings of the study indicate that there is underutilization of ICT by Harare hotels due many challenges that include: limited investments in ICT applications, expensive ICT infrastructure, lack of expertise and technical know-how in new technologies and software, and limited telecommunications infrastructure. The study came up with the following recommendations to the hoteliers: to be transparent when implementing new technologies, to involve employees, to socialize and capacitate all key stakeholders in order to ensure that they are ready to embrace new technologies. Also the management must give all the necessary support to the employees and equip them with the essential skills.

Topology of Born–Infeld-AdS black hole phase transitions: Bulk and CFT sides

The thermodynamic criticality of the AdS black holes serves as an important structure during the thermal phase transition. This paper discusses about the critical points and their topology during thermal phase transitions of the Born–Infeld AdS black holes. We make such investigations using two different topological approaches, namely, using Duan’s topological current ϕ-mapping theory, and the off-shell free energy. Within Duan’s formalism, we observe that for a given value of the Born–Infeld parameter b, there exists an associated electric charge parameter Q, which is highly sensitive to the topological phase transitions. This way we examine the connections of the first-order phase transition and the topological nature of the critical points. We find that the topological nature has a possible breakdown in certain parametric ranges. In effect, we determine the unconventional and the conventional phase critical points as the creation (topologically vortex) and annihilation (topologically anti-vortex) points (pairs). As the second approach, we call the off-shell free energy to determine the topological classes: of which one corresponds to the AdS-Schwarzschild black hole phases, while the other provides a possible topological phase transition. Here we also reveal a novel phase transition between two unstable phases, namely, the unstable small black hole and the intermediate black holes. For certain parametric values of the Born–Infeld parameter and the pressure, we also study the different topological descriptions that inevitably correspond to the AdS-Reissner–Nordström black hole phases. As a consistency check of the critical points during the topological phase transitions, we study the vortex/anti-vortex annihilation thermodynamics from local as well as global thermodynamic viewpoints. At the end, a special emphasis has been put on phase transition from the conformal field theory perspective revealing that the Born–Infeld-AdS black hole and its dual CFT share identical topology. Consequently, any topological transition that occurs in the bulk corresponds to a parallel transition in the dual CFT.

The Impact of Immersive Virtual Reality on Knowledge Acquisition and Adolescent Perceptions in Cultural Education

Understanding local history is fundamental to fostering a comprehensive global viewpoint. As technological advances shape our pedagogical tools, Virtual Reality (VR) stands out for its potential educational impact. Though its promise in educational settings is widely acknowledged, especially in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, there is a noticeable decrease in research exploring VR’s efficacy in arts. The present study examines the effects of VR-mediated interventions on cultural education. In greater detail, secondary school adolescents (N = 52) embarked on a journey into local history through an immersive 360° VR experience. As part of our research approach, we conducted pre- and post-intervention assessments to gauge participants’ grasp of the content and further distributed psychometric instruments to evaluate their reception of VR as an instructional approach. The analysis indicates that VR’s immersive elements enhance knowledge acquisition but the impact is modulated by the complexity of the subject matter. Additionally, the study reveals that a tailored, context-sensitive, instructional design is paramount for optimising learning outcomes and mitigating educational inequities. This work challenges the “one-size-fits-all” approach to educational VR, advocating for a more targeted instructional approach. Consequently, it emphasises the need for educators and VR developers to collaboratively tailor interventions that are both culturally and contextually relevant.

Deep carbon recycling viewed from global plate tectonics.

Plate tectonics plays an essential role in the redistribution of life-essential volatile elements between Earth's interior and surface, whereby our planet has been well tuned to maintain enduring habitability over much of its history. Here we present an overview of deep carbon recycling in the regime of modern plate tectonics, with a special focus on convergent plate margins for assessing global carbon mass balance. The up-to-date flux compilation implies an approximate balance between deep carbon outflux and subduction carbon influx within uncertainty but remarkably limited return of carbon to convecting mantle. If correct, carbon would gradually accumulate in the lithosphere over time by (i) massive subsurface carbon storage occurring primarily in continental lithosphere from convergent margins to continental interior and (ii) persistent surface carbon sinks to seafloors sustained by high-flux deep CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. Further assessment of global carbon mass balance requires updates on fluxes of subduction-driven carbon recycling paths and reduction in uncertainty of deep carbon outflux. From a global plate tectonics point of view, we particularly emphasize that continental reworking is an important mechanism for remobilizing geologically sequestered carbon in continental crust and sub-continental lithospheric mantle. In light of recent advances, future research is suggested to focus on a better understanding of the reservoirs, fluxes, mechanisms, and climatic effects of deep carbon recycling following an integrated methodology of observation, experiment, and numerical modeling, with the aim of decoding the self-regulating Earth system and its habitability from the deep carbon recycling perspective.

Variations on the models of Carnot irreversible thermomechanical engine

Abstract The JETC Conference held in Salerno (June 12–17, 2023) was the opportunity to honor the two centuries anniversary of the booklet publication of Sadi Carnot. The paper reports on a selective review summarizing the evolution of the ideas and concepts proposed by Carnot. We consider mainly: a. The Carnot cycle relative to thermomechanical engine, b. The concept of efficiency (Carnot efficiency), c. The forms of energy (thermal energy or heat, Q, and mechanical energy or work, W), d. The concept of entropy, rediscovered and completed by Clausius. We show the importance of the energy conversion irreversibilities that started to be considered more recently by two methods, namely, the ratio method and the entropy production method. The second approach provides more significant results from a global point of view, also with more local modeling (cycle process modeling). Some examples are given that illustrate the proposal: Carnot cycle in endo-irreversible or exo-reversible configuration, Chambadal modeling, Curzon–Ahlborn modeling. More generally, the modeling is done in the frame of FTT (Finite Time Thermodynamics), FST (Finite Speed Thermodynamics), or FDOT (Finite physical Dimensions Optimal Thermodynamics). Preliminary conclusions and perspectives are proposed.

Lévy noise-induced global bifurcation with the compatible cell mapping method

Stochastic bifurcation of dynamical system induced by Lévy noise is investigated in this paper from the global viewpoint, which is demonstrated based on the global attractor obtained with the compatible cell mapping (CCM) method. Compared with the traditional cell mapping method, the efficiency of CCM method is greatly improved by concentrating the computational domain on the covering set of the global attractor rather than the whole state space. The computation time can be further reduced by a simple parallel procedure with the block matrix strategy. With the proposed method, the evolutionary process of global properties has been presented. It shows that the shape and size of stochastic attractors and stochastic saddles vary along the direction of unstable manifold with the parameters of Lévy noise. Stochastic bifurcation occurs when stochastic attractor collides with stochastic saddle. It can be also found that the global bifurcation under Lévy noise is discontinuous because of the jump property. The results are significantly different from those of Gaussian noise, which reveals a distinct global evolutionary mechanism of stochastic bifurcation. Furthermore, it also indicates that the CCM method with block matrix is an effective tool for global analysis.

Increasing global literacy (GL) competence of university students to support the Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) program: Development of GL instructional framework

A preliminary study has found that Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) grantees faced a variety of challenges during their IISMA program at the destination universities. Therefore, this study aims to develop and implement a global literacy (GL) framework to help IISMA students improve their GL competence to survive during their stay in host universities. Ten IISMA awardees studying at one of the state universities in Malang, Indonesia, participated in this study. A qualitative mixed-method design was applied. The data were collected through FGDs, questionnaires, and in-depth interviews. Using a descriptive qualitative analysis, this study proposes a practical framework to aid IISMA students in improving their global literacy competence. The findings were in the form of an instructional framework that can be maximally applied by those who need to prepare students for the IISMA program. It is envisaged that this study can aid in developing GL competencies, enabling subsequent students to fulfill their responsibilities as change agents from a global viewpoint. The framework created in this study provides pedagogical implications for re-creating a subject-specific curriculum that incorporates student practice in GL. The study’s findings could also be useful to policymakers when implementing GL training for educators to effectively increase students' GL.