Holistic Methods Research Articles

An information asset priority evaluation method with analytic network process

IT infrastructures are indispensable parts of today’s organizations, and keeping them secure is very important for successfully running the business. Due to the complexity of information infrastructure and network topology, traditional security measures no longer meet the security needs of current enterprises. Therefore, the holistic information security management analysis method has received extensive attention. An important task of these holistic security analysis methods is to analyze the value of assets so that IT managers can effectively allocate resources to protect the information infrastructure. Most of the current asset valuation methods are based on analyzing the dependencies between assets. In some cases, the dependencies are not easy to find, which makes the evaluation results inaccurate. Therefore, we propose model with analytic network process network (ANP) to evaluate the value of assets. This method not only considers the security factors and considers the importance of the assets to the business as well. It can evaluate the value of the assets and prioritize them, which can help the system administrator in making the decision for security enhancement.

How a second language and its future time reference impacts intertemporal decision: A holistic perspective

AbstractSince globalization, using second languages (L2) to make decisions about future is more common than ever. In this study, we tested the merged effect of two language features, i.e., the future-time reference (FTR) and L2, on intertemporal decision and its indirect mediators, future orientation, and subjective future perception. As a pair of languages with different FTR, English (strong-FTR) has a clear grammatical separation between present and future, while Chinese (weak-FTR) does not. Here, Chinese first language (L1) speakers made intertemporal decisions using either Chinese (L1) or English (L2). Across three studies (N = 1022) and an internal meta-analysis, we found that using a strong-FTR L2 did not change participants’ intertemporal preference but did reduce their future orientation. These findings highlight a holistic perspective merging language features, outcome variables and measurement methods. These findings also imply a need for caution to use second language as nudge strategy in intertemporal decision-making.

Innovativeness in energy companies in developing economies: Determinants, evaluation and comparative analysis using the example of Poland

Energy and the energy transition associated with its operation requires the creation and implementation of innovations, without which effective changes in the energy balance and greenhouse gas emissions will not be possible. This is particularly important in emerging and developing economies, which are often unable to meet modern environmental requirements. Various approaches to assessing innovation are proposed in research and literature. Nevertheless, there is a lack of holistic methods (assessing both the potential and the results of innovation), based on publicly available data and taking into account the specificity of the sector. Therefore, the objective of this article is to develop a model for evaluating innovativeness (potential and resultant) of companies in the energy sector. Additional sub-goals are: (a) using the developed model to evaluate innovativeness of seven Polish energy companies; (b) conducting a comparative analysis in terms of resultant and potential innovation for seven Polish energy companies and (c) specifying recommendations for improving the innovativeness of the examined companies and the Polish energy sector operating in a developing economy. The proposed model is based on publicly available financial data and takes into account two areas: 1. Potential innovativeness, allowing to determine the scale and type of resources supporting the creation of innovation; and 2. Resultant innovativeness, including the actual effects of pro-innovation activities. The evaluation of innovativeness in the above dimensions was carried out in 2016–2021 for seven key energy companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and operating in the Polish energy market. The study found that the best innovativeness performance was achieved by multinationals and companies with a high share of renewable sources in installed capacity and in production. In addition, the identified low degree of involvement of state-owned companies in the energy transition is not conducive to improving innovativeness and strengthening innovativeness at the national level.

A Performance Evaluation System for PPP Sewage Treatment Plants at the Operation-maintenance Stage

Sewage treatment plants are essential in improving the quality of receiving water bodies, contributing to healthy and sustainable urban development. The increasingly common public-private partnership (PPP) model of sewage treatment facilities may not yield the expected benefits, often compromised by inadequacies in the complex operation-maintenance stage. Holistic criteria and methods to define and judge a plant's performance are lacking. To fill the knowledge gap, this study established a performance evaluation system applicable to the critical operation-maintenance stage of China's PPP sewage-treatment industry. First, the range of quantitative and qualitative indicators was surveyed by literature review, and an appropriate subset was selected according to expert judgment. Second, the multilevel extension principle of matter-element analysis was combined with the analytic hierarchy process to determine the performance level and establish a comprehensive, efficient and practical evaluation system. The proposed method was tested on two PPP plants to confirm its applicability and reliability in assessing operation-maintenance functions. The study identified the diagnostic criteria to refine the design, operation and maintenance parameters to optimize plant performance. The findings provided an assured and comprehensive quality control scheme and a practical tool for governments and other parties to assess the service delivery quality of PPP plants.

Gut-brain axis through the lens of gut microbiota and their relationships with Alzheimer's disease pathology: Review and recommendations

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects millions of people worldwide. Growing evidence suggests that the gut microbiome (GM) plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of AD through the microbiota-gut-brain axis (MGB). Alterations in GM composition and diversity have been observed in both animal models and in human patients with AD. GM dysbiosis has been implicated in increased intestinal permeability, blood-brain barrier (BBB) impairment, neuroinflammation and the development of hallmarks of AD. Further elucidation of the role of GM in AD could pave way for the development of holistic predictive methods for determining AD risk and progression of disease. Furthermore, accumulating evidence suggests that GM modulation could alleviate adverse symptoms of AD or serve as a preventive measure. In addition, increasing evidence shows that Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is often comorbid with AD, with common GM alterations and inflammatory response, which could chart the development of GM-related treatment interventions for both diseases. We conclude by exploring the therapeutic potential of GM in alleviating symptoms of AD and in reducing risk. Furthermore, we also propose future directions in AD research, namely fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) and precision medicine.

Modeling the resilience of urban mobility when exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative system dynamics approach

In December 2019, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was detected in Wuhan, China. Due to the rapid spread of the disease, containment measures were adopted, which caused unprecedent shifts in individual mobility. Although some studies explored the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel patterns and resilience of transport systems based on different analysis techniques, there is a lack of studies addressing the impacts of the pandemic on the sustainability and resilience of urban mobility systems using in-depth and holistic methods, such as system dynamics. This research aims to characterize the dynamics present in urban mobility systems when exposed to pandemics and analyze the changes needed for systems to increase their resilience to pandemics using qualitative system dynamics modeling. The framework comprises the characterization of cause-and-effect relationships and the creation of systems’ causal loop diagrams (CLD) in their basic state of functionality, when affected by pandemics, and still operating owing to its resilience. Our findings indicated that the CLD of a resilient system is driven by strategic preparedness and response plans, as well as research and development, which balance the spread of the pandemic and increase support on technological strengths and the activities performed from home.

A Survey of User Perspectives on Security and Privacy in a Home Networking Environment

The security and privacy of smart home systems, particularly from a home user’s perspective, have been a very active research area in recent years. However, via a meta-review of 52 review papers covering related topics (published between 2000 and 2021), this article shows a lack of a more recent literature review on user perspectives of smart home security and privacy since the 2010s. This identified gap motivated us to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) covering 126 relevant research papers published from 2010 to 2021. Our SLR led to the discovery of a number of important areas where further research is needed; these include holistic methods that consider a more diverse and heterogeneous range of home devices, interactions between multiple home users, complicated data flow between multiple home devices and home users, some less studied demographic factors, and advanced conceptual frameworks. Based on these findings, we recommended key future research directions, e.g., research for a better understanding of security and privacy aspects in different multi-device and multi-user contexts, and a more comprehensive ontology on the security and privacy of the smart home covering varying types of home devices and behaviors of different types of home users.

ANALISIS KRITIS PENDIDIKAN AKHLAK BAGI PESERTA DIDIK (Bangun Rancang Pemikiran Hamka)

This article discusses a critical analysis of moral education for students (Prof. Dr.Hamka thinking design). Education today is experiencing a lot of moral decadence and a loss of social values which are marked by promiscuity, drinking, brawls, drugs, and many more things that come out of morality. This is part of deviant behavior among adolescents, youth and society. Furthermore, Hamka, an Indonesian scientist and intellectual figure, Prof. Dr. Hamka. As it is understood that character plays a very important role in shaping a person's attitude and behavior, both as an individual, society and nation, in order to achieve life goals in accordance with the right guidance. Character development becomes urgent, in the midst of developing attitudes and behaviors that conflict with values (norms), both religious and cultural values (norms). This research is library research (Library Research) where the data is obtained from reading and collecting books related to research, such as primary data and secondary data. After getting the data, then the data is processed using the reading method at the symbolic stage, namely reading that is not carried out thoroughly but captures the contents of the data, reading at the semantic level, namely reading in detail, decomposing, and capturing the essence of the data. Then these data were analyzed using the Verstehen, Holistic, and Interpretation methods. Character development based on monotheism values, both textually sourced from the Qur'an and al-Hadith as well as originating from the thoughts of Islamic scientists, such as Hamka reconstructing these thoughts and concepts aims to prepare humans, especially new Muslim scientists who always have an Islamic commitment, as guidelines for the right management of life

APPROACHES TO ASSESSING TRANSLATION PROFICIENCY

Introduction. An important component of the system of specialized translation competence development is the assessment of its proficiency level, which should be based on the latest developments in the field of translator training methodology, the translation service industry requirements, and current national and international academic standards. The purpose of this paper is to analyze approaches to translation competence assessment and to distinguish those relevant to assessing specialized translation proficiency of 4th-year Philology students. The author applies theoretical research methods: analyzing research papers referring to translation assessment and academic standards namely the CEFR and the PETRA-E Framework, collating and generalizing their key ideas and provisions as well as synthesizing them in order to outline the approaches to specialized translation competence assessment. Discussion. The level-based approach should be implemented through defining the initial and target levels of specialized translation proficiency separately for English-Ukrainian and Ukrainian-English language pairs and taking into account the CEFR global scale descriptors concerning translating a written text in writing, modified with regard to text type, translation variation (full, fragmentary, summary, abstract), and ICT skills; as well as the PETRA-E Framework competence-based descriptors, altered in accordance with specialized translation features, in particular, terminology and subject matter knowledge and relevant skills. The process-oriented approach is better manifested during formative assessment, the purpose of which is to receive feedback on the effect of specialized translation knowledge acquisition and skill formation. It is implemented through the check-list method and translation text analysis. The product-oriented approach involves evaluating the target text using holistic, analytic (analytic proper, error count, check-list, and norm-referenced) and combined methods depending on translation variation, type and purpose of assessment. Conclusions. Assessing specialized translation competence of 4th-year students majoring in Philology is a complex multifaceted process that is grounded on the level-based, process-oriented and product-oriented approaches. Their implementation relies on the modified CEFR and PETRA-E Framework proficiency descriptors and depends on translation variation, assessment type and purpose.

Beyond Traditional Pathways: Innovations in Career Counseling for the 21st Century

This article aims to explore the transformative approaches required in career counseling to address the rapidly changing dynamics of the 21st-century workforce. It seeks to identify innovative practices that can better prepare individuals for the evolving job market, emphasizing personalization, technological integration, and holistic development. The study employs a qualitative analysis of emerging trends in career counseling, reviewing literature and case studies that highlight innovative practices across different contexts. It examines the impact of technology, the importance of cultural competence, and the shift towards holistic and adaptive counseling methods. The findings reveal a growing need for career counseling to incorporate digital tools and platforms to enhance accessibility and personalization. It underscores the importance of a holistic approach that considers the individual's broader life context, including cultural background and lifelong learning needs. Additionally, the study highlights the critical role of adaptability, resilience, and continuous professional development for career counselors. The article concludes that career counseling must undergo a significant transformation to remain relevant and effective in the 21st century. It calls for a shift from traditional models to more adaptive, inclusive, and forward-thinking practices that can better support individuals in navigating the complexities of modern career landscapes. The future of career counseling lies in its ability to innovate and respond to the changing needs of the workforce, ensuring it plays a vital role in facilitating meaningful career development and satisfaction.

Пушкинские «Цыганы»: об одном сюжетном прецеденте в рассказах М. Горького и И. А. Бунина

The paper considers the moral, philosophical, ethical, and aesthetic potential of Pushkin’s poem “The Gypsies” in the vast historical, cultural, and literary context. This potential served as the ideological, semantic, and artistic-eidetic source of all subsequent “gypsy texts” of Russian literature reinterpreting the motifs, images, narratives, mythologemes, and archetypes stemming from the romantic story of the tragic love of Aleko and Zemfira. The focus is on the transformation poetics of the plot under study and its motif-image structure in the prose of the early 20th century. Following the methodological principles of cognitive literary criticism, the phenomenon of the “gypsy semiosphere” is studied in the stories of M. Gorky, “Makar Chudra,” and I. A. Bunin, “Bonfire,” at different levels of textual creation using historical-genetic, structural-semantic, systemic, and holistic research methods. The study has revealed a system of concepts and narrative schemes coming from “The Gypsies” and having a constant character enriched by the life and historical experience of Russian writers of the Silver Age. The ethnographic exoticism of the gypsy world in Russian literature proved to actualize the exceptional feelings and spiritual intensity of the internal processes of human existence subject to the power of the “passions of the fatal.” The love theme in its gypsy national-cultural nuance acquires a stereotypical character in the literature of the late 19th early 20th centuries. The image of the bonfire as a semiotic marker is analyzed through the artistic creation of the precedent “burning heart” plot by M. Gorky and I. A. Bunin.

Holistic attack methods against power systems using the IEC 60870-5-104 protocol

IEC 60870-5-104 is a widely used protocol for telecontrol in European power systems. However, security was not a design goal when it was originally published: This protocol lacks built-in security features such as encryption, integrity protection, or authentication. In this paper, we describe novel types of attacks against the protocol in a holistic way. Therefore, we also enumerate the possible entry points of the threat actors and demonstrate a new technique, where the malicious actor can precisely target the attack. These methods are demonstrated both on simulated environment and actual devices and compared with already published methods.

중등 예비영어교사의 영어 작문 채점에 영향을 미치는 요인: 자기 성찰일지 분석을 중심으로

This study aims to explore salient features of Korean pre-service secondary English teachers in EFL writing assessment. In this study, 25 Korean pre-service secondary English teachers participated in essay ratings after taking a short rater training session. In essay ratings, they were asked to follow the guidelines for scoring an instructor provided, assign scores using holistic and analytic scoring methods and leave their written comments on each essay. Participants’ performance was evaluated using a mixed method. For quantitative analysis, the consistency and severity of participants were measured by FACETS. Through content analysis, the written comments were categorized and coded using Quirkos. The results revealed that participants tended to consistently assign a score on essays by focusing on four assessment criteria. They preferred to use rubrics provided by an instructor. Second, findings showed that they took various scoring strategies depending on their writing proficiency, severity level, and consistency. Particularly, it turns out that their language proficiency was a strong factor in influencing their performance in ratings. It suggests that pre-service teacher education programs for secondary English teachers should provide a curriculum for English essay writing, and a rater’s workshop to improve professionalism and confidence in writing assessment-related practices.

The Role of Digital Transformation in Education in Promoting Sustainable Development

The crucial role education plays in fostering sustainable development, moving society toward a more environmentally and socially conscious future, and influencing the attitudes and behaviours of both the present and the future generations are explored in this article. The authors analyse the concept of education for sustainable development (ESD), a transformative learning technique designed to provide individuals and communities with the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to encourage moral behaviour. ESD must be integrated into a number of learning contexts in order to have a full and all-encompassing impact, underscoring the need for interdisciplinary and holistic methods that are considerate of different learning styles, backgrounds, and circumstances. Moreover, the article examines the role of key stakeholders, such as educators, policymakers, and local communities, in designing and implementing transformative learning experiences that foster behavioural change, critical thinking, and social engagement. It discusses the significance of teacher training, curriculum development, and innovative educational resources in nurturing a culture of sustainability and encouraging collective action. Additionally, the article investigates the potential barriers to adopting ESD, including resistance to change, insufficient funding, and a lack of awareness, and proposes strategies for overcoming these challenges. The authors conduct a survey among university students to detect the key challenges of ESD and how to address them from their perspectives.

АРХІТЕКТОНІКА МОВЧАННЯ У ПОВІСТІ ВЕРКОРА «МОРЕ МОВЧИТЬ»

АРХІТЕКТОНІКА МОВЧАННЯ У ПОВІСТІ ВЕРКОРА «МОРЕ МОВЧИТЬ»

Poor correlation between large-scale environmental flow violations and freshwater biodiversity: implications for water resource management and the freshwater planetary boundary

Abstract. The freshwater ecosystems around the world are degrading, such that maintaining environmental flow1 (EF) in river networks is critical to their preservation. The relationship between streamflow alterations (subsequent EF violations2) and the freshwater biodiversity response is well established at the scale of stream reaches or small basins (∼<100 km2). However, it is unclear if this relationship is robust at larger scales, even though there are large-scale initiatives to legalize the EF requirement. Moreover, EFs have been used in assessing a planetary boundary3 for freshwater. Therefore, this study intends to conduct an exploratory evaluation of the relationship between EF violation and freshwater biodiversity at globally aggregated scales and for freshwater ecoregions. Four EF violation indices (severity, frequency, probability of shifting to a violated state, and probability of staying violated) and seven independent freshwater biodiversity indicators (calculated from observed biota data) were used for correlation analysis. No statistically significant negative relationship between EF violation and freshwater biodiversity was found at global or ecoregion scales. These findings imply the need for a holistic bio-geo-hydro-physical approach in determining the environmental flows. While our results thus suggest that streamflow and EF may not be the only determinant of freshwater biodiversity at large scales, they do not preclude the existence of relationships at smaller scales or with more holistic EF methods (e.g., including water temperature, water quality, intermittency, connectivity, etc.) or with other biodiversity data or metrics.

A multidimensional data warehouse design to combat the health pandemics

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about a new lifestyle for across the globe. Throughout this period, the use of holistic methods has become indispensable to deal with the enormous amount of data in this regard. It appears that the simplest way to tackle this issue is to spread the digitalization efforts concerning all data-based applications. Given the significance of pandemic data management, it is essential to have a data warehouse that collects, associates, and communicates these data. Containing a significant volume of structured data, warehousing can provide the necessary foundation for data mining and the development of analytical tools. To this end, the present paper proposes a data warehouse for combatting and managing pandemics, with the possibility to be enhanced for other personal or public health-related initiatives. In this research, the bottom-up data warehouse building methodology is used to construct a warehouse. A fact constellation schema model is utilized to accommodate the information ranging from citizen demographics to physician-prescribed drugs and laboratory tests. Sample queries are executed based on the proposed data warehouse for different purposes, and desired query results are obtained within proper response times. The proposed data warehouse contributes to countrywide implementation of pandemic practices and illuminates research on faster, less expensive, and safer management of citywide, nationwide, or worldwide health emergencies within a robust technical framework by governments.

Use of metformin in the management of colorectal cancer: A survey

A survey was conducted among 42 Howard University first year professional pharmacy students regarding their knowledge and opinions about the use of metformin in colorectal patients. Twenty-five (59.5%) respondents agreed that metformin reduces the risk of colorectal cancer in type 2 diabetes patients, and the majority (n=22, 52.4%) disagreed with the statement that metformin is a drug recommended for colorectal cancer. Twenty-five (59.5%) replied that colorectal cancer is a common illness regardless of age range. Twenty-four (57.1%) survey participants responded in favor of patients taking metformin to lower the risk of colon cancer. On the other hand, the majority (n=25, 59.5%) agreed that colorectal patients with diabetes mellitus taking metformin have the same outcome as those who do not have diabetes. In response to the opinion part of the questionnaire, the majority (n=23, 54.7%) admitted to feeling comfortable about recommending metformin to increase the chance of survival of colorectal patients, while only 18 (42.8%) were confident in explaining the benefits of metformin in preventing colorectal cancer. Twenty-three (54.7%) of respondents prefer natural and holistic methods, and 16 (28.1%) knew someone with type 2 diabetes who was taking metformin for the prevention of colorectal cancer. Most respondents (n=29, 69%) believe prescription medications should be used to prevent colorectal cancer rather than metformin which has inadequate supporting evidence. A sub-analysis appears to indicate that female participants, those with previous pharmacy-related jobs, and those with fewer years of work experience disagree with most of the opinion questions compared to their counterparts. They also had a wider range of opinions among themselves compared to their counterparts.

Evaluating the effectiveness of sector-specific policies relative to the planetary boundaries

There is a need for policies to address and reduce the pressure from human activities on the Earth system. Holistic assessment methods are needed for evaluating the potential of policies to contribute to reducing pressures to within sustainable levels. Absolute Environmental Sustainability Assessment (AESA) methods can be applied for evaluating environmental outcomes of policies and their effectiveness towards achieving environmental sustainability targets. In this study, an AESA is applied to evaluate the effectiveness of policies on the energy and transport sector in Tonga. Environmental impacts were estimated for three different policy scenarios, i.e. Baseline, Business-as-usual, Tonga Energy Efficiency Master Plan (TEEMP), and Transformational Change. By relating the impacts to an assigned share of the planetary boundaries for Tonga, we were able to evaluate the effectiveness of the policies and to which extent these contributed to staying within the planetary boundaries. Compared to the Business-as-usual scenario, a 40 % and 65 % reduction in climate change related impacts was achieved in the TEEMP and Transformational Change scenarios, respectively. The TEEMP and Transformational change scenarios allowed for reducing impacts to within the share of the planetary boundaries assigned to Tonga for all impact categories, except for climate change. This indicate that more stringent policies are required to achieve sustainability climate-wise. Especially, when considering the additional impacts associated with other industry sectors in Tonga. Conclusively, this study shows that AESA can be used for evaluating policies and contribute to selecting the most efficient policy and identifying how policies contribute to achieving environmental sustainability targets.

영작문 평가에 관한 원어민과 비원어민 교수 비교연구

Objectives This study investigated the similarities and differences in assessing an academic term-paper written by L2 writer between native English-speaking (NES) and Korean professors. It further explored the similarities and differences between NES and Korean evaluators on their perceptions of L2 writer identities. Methods 38 NES and 43 Korean professors rated the term-paper written by a graduate student majoring in applied linguistics according to holistic and analytical scoring methods. The analytical scoring, in particular, included four language areas, such as grammar, vocabulary, content, and organization. A questionnaire was administered to the two groups on their perceptions of author identity. The results from the two groups were compared using the independent t-test, and follow-up interviews were conducted with four NES and four Korean professors to explore the factors of the survey results. Results There was no difference in overall scoring between the two groups. Still, in analytical scoring, the NES professors were strict in organization and content, whereas the Korean professors were strict in grammar. Regarding their perceptions of author identity and their influence on evaluation, NES professors showed more positive attitudes. Concerning the clues of their perceptions, the NES professors' judgment was based on the structure and method of thesis writing. In contrast, the Korean professors recognized the author's identity based on his English proficiency and the breadth of content knowledge. Conclusions The results show that the professors' ratings were influenced by the composition training they previously experienced and their language background. Thus, it suggests that content professors create a rubric suitable for individual courses for appropriate evaluation and share it with their students. It also shows the importance of training students to construct an effective author identity in academic writing.