Important Moment Research Articles

“Travel Inter-City like the men do”: Marketing British Rail’s Inter-City in Britain 1964–1979

The change in brand from British Railways to British Rail (BR) marked an important moment in the history of Britain’s railway. Running alongside BR’s modernization was a wider process of “professionalization” within the field of marketing. This paper explores how the wider professionalization of marketing impacted BR’s own marketing practices, showing that after 1965 BR opened its doors to new methods, means, and perhaps most importantly, specialists from outside the railway industry. Such marketing efforts helped to frame the railway in terms of individual travelers’ specific economic needs: by 1968 it had effectively segmented its passengers into demographic audiences, and by 1975, BR had a much better understanding of its markets. These individual economies were often highly gendered and saw only mixed success, but ultimately demonstrated an application of research, advertising, and promotion.

Motherhood and humanization in the prison system

Motherhood is one of the most important and transformative moments in a woman’s life. It is a period that requires extreme care and attention from the mother in order to promote the physical, psychological and social well-being of her baby. The representation of a favorable environment for pregnancy in which the mother finds herself in a situation of tranquility and well-being while nurturing a new life is not the reality in the prison system. In addition, there is the fear of separation from the child, which can be painful and harmful for both incarcerated mothers and their babies. Considering all these frustrations, fears and the history of these women, it is essential that there be a space for listening, sharing and counseling within prisons.

Navigating institutional ethics processes: Insights from higher degree by research students and supervisors doing research in fragile contexts

Although gaining ethical approval is a conventional and established requirement for academic scholarship, institutional approaches remain subject to sustained critique. While not questioning the legitimacy of institutional ethical procedures, the dominance of legal frameworks and a focus on entry to ‘the field’ is inflexible and irresponsive to ethical complexities in practice. This is particularly evident in situations where participants experience ongoing trauma, marginalisation, and social and political precarity, or settings that we refer to in this paper as ‘ fragile contexts’. Responding to such ethical dilemmas, this article draws on Guillemin and Gillam’s (2004) notions of ‘ ethics-in-practice’ and ‘ethically important moments’ to examine how doctoral candidates and their supervisors navigate the compliance requirements of institutional ethics vis-à-vis the requirements of ethics-in-practice. Our findings foreground the need to attend to the linguistic and discursive challenges associated with research in fragile contexts, the temporalities of vulnerability, the management of community expectations, and a humbling of researchers and their institutional research ethics committees to avoid compounding injustices and power imbalances.

Financial literacy practices on family farms

Financial literacy has attracted significant interest in the past two decades with researchers predominantly focusing on two dimensions of its conceptualisation; knowledge and application. This paper answers calls for research on how context shapes financial literacy in Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) using a practice framework drawn from established literacy theory. Financial literacy practices manifest in events and are influenced and shaped by social, cultural, temporal, technological, historical and institutional circumstances. This context-driven approach facilitates the examination of financial literacy in MSMEs where the owner-manager's financial literacy is entwined with that of the enterprise's practices. Using in-depth longitudinal case studies, we show how social and financial literacy practices on family farms are intrinsically interlinked and frame the timing of financial activities, the roles and tasks people undertake, the location where these activities occur, and how they are articulated. Institutional power relationships manifest in the disconnect between farm level financial literacy practices, many of which are informal and idiosyncratic, and those required by banks and government agencies. This power divide leads to frustration and sometimes apparent indifference to conducting more formal financial literacy practices. Temporality also emerges as a critical contextual factor. We identify the important moments in the farming calendar when farmers are focused on the financial aspects of the farm and propose that educational programmes aimed at improving the farmers' financial literacy could be more effectively targeted using a social practice lens.

Why Prospective Bereavement Counseling Is Crucial for Peace-Finding After Loss.

Bereavement counseling is often offered as a referral following an adverse event or after identification of lingering grief. This article proposes the value of prospective bereavement counseling when a person can reasonably anticipate loss to support anticipatory grief and facilitate supportive continuous care planning for patients experiencing loss. This article positions bereavement counseling as care aimed at finding peace by offering a framework of dimensions of peace, opportunities to foster peace in clinically important moments, and guiding questions to facilitate this clinical outcome in health care settings.

Technology and Household Harmony: A Fiqhiyah Study on the Use of Mobile Phones in Marriage

This article examines the relationship between mobile phone use, household harmony, and fiqh perspectives. In this article, we will briefly explain the main points related to the use of mobile phones in marriage and how fiqh can be used as a framework to analyze this issue. This article discusses the use of mobile phones in marriage and its relationship with domestic harmony from a fiqh perspective. Highlighting concerns about the negative impact of mobile phone use on household harmony, the article also explains that responsible cell phone use can provide benefits in facilitating communication, strengthening the marriage bond, and accessing information that is beneficial to the relationship. However, excessive or inappropriate cell phone use can lead to harassment, partner abandonment, and the risk of infidelity. Therefore, this article also provides guidelines for responsible cell phone use in marriage, including setting boundaries, avoiding distractions at important moments together, and seeking professional help if needed. Further research on the impact of fiqh on mobile phone use in interpersonal relationships is also recommended.

HISTORY AND CONSTITUTIONALISM OF THE GRAND DUCHY OF LUXEMBOURG: BRIEF NOTES - DOI: 10.12818/P.0304-2340.2024v85p223

The text provides a brief and general approach to the formation history of Luxembourg, emphasizing the constitutional landscape of the country, presented in three sections. The first one highlights the historical and formal events that lead to modern Luxembourg. In the second, the more important constitutional moments in the XIX century are exposed, with commentaries regarding the Constitutions of 1841, 1848, 1856, and 1868. In the third, the political and constitutional reforms of the XX century, considering the I and II World Wars, are commented upon, with the intention to expose some of the main characteristics of the Grand-Duché, such as its openness to the international sphere, constitutional actions for the integration of Europe, and the main normative diploma that shows the compromise with Human and Fundamental rights, considering specific dynamics of the relations of the powers of the state.

The Impact of Political Interference on the Judiciary: India Vs. Pakistan

This paper investigates the significant effects of political interference on the judiciary in India and Pakistan, two countries with a common colonial history but differing paths since gaining independence. The judiciary serves as a fundamental pillar of democratic governance, designed to function independently while protecting the rule of law and upholding constitutional rights. Nevertheless, in both nations, political influences have notably affected judicial operations, compromised judicial independence and eroding public confidence. Through a comparative examination, this study highlights important historical moments, landmark rulings, and constitutional frameworks that demonstrate the degree and nature of political interference within both judicial systems. In India, such interference has emerged through executive control over judicial appointments and crises, notably during the Emergency period from 1975 to 1977. In contrast, Pakistan's judiciary has experienced direct meddling from military governments and political authorities, frequently rationalized by the contentious Doctrine of Necessity. Additionally, the paper investigates how the judiciary has responded to these interferences, including instances of judicial activism and civil society initiatives that promote judicial independence, such as the Lawyers' Movement in Pakistan. Ultimately, this research emphasizes the urgent need for strong protections to ensure judicial independence, bolster public trust in the judiciary, and maintain democratic principles in both countries. By highlighting the comparative experiences of India and Pakistan, this study aims to enrich the broader discussion on judicial independence in South Asia.

Stagings of Self-Marginalisation, Self-Stigmatisation and Self-Victimisation in Martin Heidegger’s Textual Communications

Constructions of marginalisation, peripherality and exclusion appear as increasingly important strategic moments of postmodern as well as post-factual identity discourses. The associated staging strategies, as elements of mimicry of marginality, will be opened up in this paper on the basis of Martin Heidegger’s text-communicative behaviour. Based on the strategies of self-referential marginalisation, stigmatisation and victimisation, found in his textual communications, we reflect on which discourse actors use, which strategies of the mimicry of marginality, for which goals, and under which conditions. Moreover, the necessity of a discourse-ethical re-reading of Martin Heidegger shall be made visible.

The Problem of Typology of States and Legal Systems

The essence of the historical types of the state and law is one of the most important and crucial historical moments, without which it is not possible to correctly understand the development of their essence, their socio-political content and significance, their form, activity, or the change of their place and role in the political system of society.

Analysis Of Political Communication Ahead Of The 2024 Presidential Election Case Studies On Political Campaigns, Political Propaganda, Public Opinion, Marketing, Political Advertising, And Political Negotiation

The 2024 presidential election is an important moment in the political life of a country. This study aims to analyze the role of various aspects of political communsication in the presidential election, including political campaigns, political propaganda, public opinion, political marketing and advertising, and political negotiations. The research methodology uses a holistic approach with quantitative and qualitative data collection through online surveys, interviews, and media content analysis. Key findings highlight the significance of social media in shaping public opinion and the political communication strategies used by candidates. Practical implications of these findings include recommendations for more effective political campaign strategies and the development of more transparent communication policies.

A Tale of Two Divestments: South Africa, Sudan, and Howard University

Abstract The anti-apartheid movement and Save Darfur campaign were important moments of African American activism towards Africa. Howard University played a central role by divesting from both South Africa and Sudan. This article examines each divestment within Howard University’s history of engagement with Africa. While each divestment was linked by a concern to support oppressed African peoples, the roles of race and racism operated differently in each action. Such an analytic provides space to reconsider the role of US higher education in African-facing human rights activism during the age of Black Lives Matter.

OVERVIEW OF THE USE OF CONVENCIONAL AND BIODEGRADABLE POLYMERS

This article aims to provide an overview of important moments in the consolidation of the use of conventional and biodegradable polymers throughout history. It begins by discussing the definition of conventional and biodegradable plastics, followed by a historical contextualization of petroleum-derived plastics, referred to here as conventional plastics, highlighting significant events in their evolution. The article then emphasizes the development and growth of biodegradable polymer applications. To this end, a literature review was conducted, supported by data collection from publications discussing polymer technologies. The studies highlight the environmental advantages of biodegradable polymers, despite their still higher production costs. Although biodegradable polymers are a viable alternative to petroleum-derived polymers, there are cases in which their use is not yet feasible, depending on the context of application, economic conditions, and consumer experience.

A IMPORTÂNCIA DO ENSINO DA MATEMÁTICA NAS SÉRIES INICIAIS

We live in a very important moment in the country, where the demand for education has expanded, being driven by the growth of technology and deepening of knowledge. This direction leads society and institutions to develop as well, at the same time that it requires education itself to seek new teachings and new practices, so that its studies and projects are always up to date. This need has been observed in the classroom, in the daily practice of teaching and learning, especially with regard to mathematics, since this is a primary subject for citizens. Its priority requires from the teacher and the student themselves better possibilities to work in the classroom and achieve better results in teaching and learning for teachers and students. Under this understanding, this text seeks to present some considerations on the topic.

Potential of media resources in popularizing volunteer activities

The article is devoted to the potential of mass media in popularization of volunteering among students. Development of media technologies inevitably influences the process of socialization. Digital media resources have a strong influence on the formation of behavior patterns, norms and rules, and therefore their capabilities can be used to develop a prosocial orientation in the behavior of young people. Promotion of volunteer activities involves an appropriate choice of channels and methods of presenting information in the mass media, taking into account the characteristics of the audience. Effective constructs in this process can be strategies that involve the possibility of influencing decision-making at the subconscious level, including on the basis of priming, framing, imprinting by focusing the audience's attention on strategically important moments and situations. The combination of social, cognitive and information technologies makes it possible to include manipulative techniques in the communicative and information space that contribute to the formation of an attractive image of volunteering and motivation of corresponding behavioral attitudes.

A stable model order reduction scheme for an acoustic finite element model with perfectly matched layers

Perfectly matched layers (PMLs) are often used in an exterior acoustic finite element model to simulate the Sommerfeld radiation condition. However, the time-domain model is often too large to efficiently handle the transient simulation due to the frequency-dependent stretching function and the number of elements needed per wavelength. Krylov subspace-based model order reduction can alleviate this problem by only matching the important moments of the original model. However, stability-preservation is not guaranteed, which is the key to perform time-domain simulation. This work proposes a stability-preserving model order reduction scheme for the time-domain PMLs. By assessing the stability conditions of time-domain PMLs, a two-step strategy is applied. Firstly, a one-sided split basis is used to preserve the form of Lyapunov function of the original model such that a stable intermediate reduced order model (ROM) results. Secondly, an unsplit basis is applied on the modal transformation of this intermediate ROM to reduce the size further. The proposed method is verified by numerical simulations.

COVID-19 and the Limits of Critical Security Theory: Securitization, Cosmopolitanism, and Pandemic Politics

Abstract Recent years have witnessed a growing and important series of efforts to make sense of the post-2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic through diverse lenses within the field of critical security studies (css). In this article, we set out to reverse this analytical gaze, asking not “what can css tell us about COVID-19?” but rather, “what can COVID-19 tell us about css?” In order to do this, we pair two important moments in the UK pandemic response with two prominent, yet very different, strands of critical security research: (i) “covid-secure spaces” with securitization theory and (ii) “self-isolation” imperatives with security cosmopolitanism. COVID-secure spaces, we argue, pose a significant challenge to securitization theory’s framing of security’s spaces and times. Self-isolation practices, meanwhile, raise profound ethical questions for the universalizing aspirations of security cosmopolitanism. By analyzing a ubiquitous, if heterogeneous, security challenge to everyday lived experiences within as well as beyond the Global North, the article develops a novel theoretical contribution to recent work rendering visible the Eurocentric foundations and limitations of critical security theory.

Overlap of Ethics and Sustainability for Responsibility Mindset: Insights for an Educational Approach Change in Ethics of Engineering

The mandate of universities and higher education institutes is to shape students' ethical wisdom and catalyze sustainable development. However, everyone does not have equal access to higher education which drives the above mindsets, leading to unequal quality of education. Today, most ethics teaching in engineering schools is narrowly micro-ethics and does not attempt to define macro-ethics’ special challenges. Micro-ethics concentrates on concerns related to the individual and the innermost workings of the profession. However, macro-ethics encompasses sustainable development with a focus on the collective social responsibility of the profession and public concerns about technology. This study examined undergraduate engineering programs in 25 major Canadian universities to see if they are adequately prepared to navigate both the micro and macro aspects of ethics education. The curricula of the programs show many courses focusing on micro-ethical concepts. The lack of explicit macro-ethical agendas for advancing society invites further work on curricula to enhance the efficacy of the content and delivery modes. This inadequate commitment to socially responsible engineering is conceptualized as a “culture of disengagement”. The study introduces important moments of change to strengthen ethics education. These include twinning engineering and computing ethics; embedding overlapped ethics, sustainability, and responsibility mindsets; and promoting the scholarship of integration through research, synthesis, practice, and teaching. By adopting these approaches to curriculum and pedagogy, the students will effectively cultivate a critical understanding of and obligation to the profession’s collective responsibility and the well-being of the greater society. These changes provide crucial insights into broadening sociotechnical-minded prospects of engineering ethics education.

Predictors of Verbal Fluency Decline in People with Cognitive Dysfunctions

Background: Verbal fluency impairment is a prospective risk for dementia and conversion from Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) to dementia. In elderly may be related to the deficits in other cognitive domains and also with age and duration of cognitive decline. The AIM: The purpose of this study was to analyze the results of Verbal Fluency Tests (VFT) in people with cognitive decline in relation to age, duration of the cognitive decline and the level of cognitive dysfunction. Methods: 279 (177 females and 102 males) people with cognitive decline (MCI and dementia), aged 50-91 years were included in the study. For the evaluation of general cognitive abilities Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and for assessment of verbal fluency– Verbal Fluency Test (phonological and categorical) was applied. Statistical analysis was performed using nonparametric tests. Factor analysis of the main components of Verbal Fluency Test and MMSE were used and one-way ANOVA test in the prediction analysis was applied. Results: All dimensions of verbal fluency subscales and MMSE are explained by one factor, which indicate their similar etiological mechanism. The longer duration of the cognitive impairment the worse results in VFT and MMSE. Worse results of MMSE were associated with worse performance on VFT, the most important critical moment of deterioration was associated with scores in the range of 25-23 and 17-18 MMSE points, however there are some differences between verbal fluency categories. The most significant periods of duration of the disease for VFT performance were months 6 and 9, and for the category of categorical fluency months 6,9, as well as 26, 31-32 and 36. No significant associations between the age and VFT and MMSE results were observed. Conclusions: Verbal fluency decline is related to global cognitive functioning. Longer duration time of the disease was associated with the level of verbal fluency and cognitive decline, while the age of patients is not an important factor. The verbal fluency deterioration occurs in leaps and bounds, the critical moments for verbal fluency decline may be established based on the duration of the illness and global functioning measured by MMSE.

«Я никогда не думал, откуда берутся деньги»: Обзор школы-конференции «Прикладная антропология сегодня» (Нижний Новгород, 28 апреля — 4 мая 2023 года)

Conference reviews are usually dull: they are easy to write but tedious to read, and what was lively and dynamic in person often becomes less engaging in text. In the review below, we’ve tried to bring the event to life with videos and photos, capturing what was essentially a showcase of applied anthropological research being conducted in Russia in the 2020s. We will include links to studies and Telegram channels that, perhaps even more effectively than academic articles, demonstrate how applied sciences are evolving — from folklore studies and museum design to anthropology and sociology. During the event, the authors of these Telegram channels actively covered the proceedings, helping us capture the most important moments included in this review. We would like to extend our gratitude to Mikhail Alekseevsky, Dmitry Rogozin, and Oleg Bazaleev.