Individual Research Efforts Research Articles

Cost-Related Drivers and Barriers of Passivhaus: A Systematic Literature Review

Passivhaus (PH) has gained global recognition for its energy-efficient features despite a 5% to 10% higher construction cost than traditional houses, especially within European countries. However, its adoption and popularity have not met the same fate in other countries like New Zealand. The higher upfront cost has been critical to the slow adoption of the PH movement in New Zealand. This study aimed to demystify the mist around the cost of PHs with a focus on the effects of drivers and barriers on their life cycle costs (LCCs). As such, a systematic literature review was conducted to provide a comprehensive understanding of the cost implications associated with PH. Using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) review method, we examined 71 past studies on PHs from 2005 to 2023. We found that the drivers of PHs include reduced heating demand, increased thermal comfort, and indoor air quality (IAQ). Research showed that the rising market for PHs is fueled by climate change, environmental awareness, innovative materials and technologies, individual commitment, improved regulations, pilot studies, research efforts, and governmental funding and initiatives. However, PHs face significant challenges such as increased complexity, advanced technology, higher initial investments compared to conventional and low-energy houses, national requirements, overheating, difficulties in affording the technologies, and a lack of options in the market. Despite the wealth of research on the economic aspects of PH, there is a lack of in-depth studies exploring the LCC of PHs focusing on cost commitments and benefits. Such studies are essential for assessing and optimising the cost-effectiveness of PH, considering different climates and regions, and comparing them with other low energy standards. The findings of our review provide a crucial focus for PH stakeholders in assessing the long-term financial viability of PH projects, thereby improving decision-making and facilitating effective planning for sustainable and cost-effective housing.

FAIRification Efforts of Clinical Researchers: The Current State of Affairs.

The FAIR Principles are supported by various initiatives in the biomedical community. However, little is known about the knowledge and efforts of individual clinical researchers regarding data FAIRification. We distributed an online questionnaire to researchers from six Dutch University Medical Centers, as well as researchers using an Electronic Data Capture platform, to gain insight into their understanding of and experience with data FAIRification. 164 researchers completed the questionnaire. 64.0% of them had heard of the FAIR Principles. 62.8% of the researchers spent some or a lot of effort to achieve any aspect of FAIR and 11.0% addressed all aspects. Most researchers were unaware of the Principles' emphasis on both human- and machine-readability, as their FAIRification efforts were primarily focused on achieving human-readability (93.9%), rather than machine-readability (31.2%). In order to make machine-readable, FAIR data a reality, researchers require proper training, support, and tools to help them understand the importance of data FAIRification and guide them through the FAIRification process.

The study of urban form in Iran

The study of urban form in Iran has not produced a substantial body of knowledge. This paper categorizes the works of Iranian researchers into two main groups. The first group comprises the efforts of individual researchers, forming the origins of this field of study. This group includes studies on individual cities or the history of urban form, explanations of the fundamental concepts of urban morphology, and the use of urban form as a general term. The second group comprises the currently-emerging flow of research. This relies on more precise explanations of urban morphological concepts, addressing urban morphology and its varied methods, including space syntax. These publications are categorized by the scale, methodological approach, elements examined, temporal dimension, cities studied, techniques used, relation to other fields of knowledge, major field of study and reliance on a technical vocabulary of urban morphology. This paper thus presents a critical review of the study of urban form in Iran to reveal gaps of this field of research, and identifies the urban morphology domains that remain unexplored by Iranian scholars.

The study of urban form in Iran

The study of urban form in Iran has not produced a substantial body of knowledge. This paper categorizes the works of Iranian researchers into two main groups. The first group comprises the efforts of individual researchers, forming the origins of this field of study. This group includes studies on individual cities or the history of urban form, explanations of the fundamental concepts of urban morphology, and the use of urban form as a general term. The second group comprises the currently-emerging flow of research. This relies on more precise explanations of urban morphological concepts, addressing urban morphology and its varied methods, including space syntax. These publications are categorized by the scale, methodological approach, elements examined, temporal dimension, cities studied, techniques used, relation to other fields of knowledge, major field of study and reliance on a technical vocabulary of urban morphology. This paper thus presents a critical review of the study of urban form in Iran to reveal gaps of this field of research, and identifies the urban morphology domains that remain unexplored by Iranian scholars.

Barriers to Type 2 Diabetes Management Among Older Adult Haitian Immigrants.

The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences of older adult Haitian immigrants in managing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A descriptive qualitative approach using semistructured interviews was conducted with 20 older adult Haitian immigrants with T2DM. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and categorized using NVivo. An iterative descriptive data analysis method was used to examine the data, compare codes, challenge interpretations, and develop themes inductively. Older adult Haitian immigrants reported that T2DM affected every aspect of their lives. Financial hardship and social isolation were described as the major barriers to T2DM management, which forced them to choose between basic needs and health care, and at times, they had to forgo medications or avoid seeking medical care. They recognized that creating and maintaining good community support was the key to self-management of T2DM. Financial hardship and social isolation have a tremendous impact on the ability of older Haitian immigrants to manage T2DM effectively. It is challenging to modify these barriers through individual efforts, and clinical, research, and public efforts may be necessary to address these concerns.

University professor’s assessment in the conditions of digital transformation

Professional and personal competences of a university professor are considered not only as one of the theoretical directions of pedagogical research, but also as a factor in ensuring the quality of modern higher education. Despite the constant efforts of individual researchers and international organizations dealing with educational problems on a global scale, the composition of the unified system of professor’s competences has not been drawn up yet due to the differences in national, methodological and practical approaches. The task of assessing a university professor, determining the degree of effectiveness of his educational and research activities is no less urgent. In connection with the existing tendency in modern pedagogy to assess a professor by means of the identification of his competences, the article analyses the changes in the basic competences that occurred during the period of forced remote learning. As a result of using a number of theoretical and empirical research methods, the most popular tools and techniques for assessing the professor’s performance have been identified, the attitude of the professors to the use of these methods and the objectivity of experts has been demonstrated. The directions of modernization of methods, which can be used to assess the work of university professors on the basis of modern electronic technologies in the context of digitalization of education are outlined.

RivFishTIME: A global database of fish time‐series to study global change ecology in riverine systems

AbstractMotivationWe compiled a global database of long‐term riverine fish surveys from 46 regional and national monitoring programmes and from individual academic research efforts, with which numerous basic and applied questions in ecology and global change research can be explored. Such spatially and temporally extensive datasets have been lacking for freshwater systems in comparison to terrestrial ones.Main types of variables containedThe database includes 11,386 time‐series of riverine fish community catch data, including 646,270 species‐specific abundance records, together with metadata related to the geographical location and sampling methodology of each time‐series.Spatial location and grainThe database contains 11,072 unique sampling locations (stream reach), spanning 19 countries, five biogeographical realms and 402 hydrographical basins world‐wide.Time period and grainThe database encompasses the period 1951–2019. Each time‐series is composed of a minimum of two yearly surveys (mean = 8 years) and represents a minimum time span of 10 years (mean = 19 years).Major taxa and level of measurementThe database includes 944 species of ray‐finned fishes (Class Actinopterygii).Software formatcsv.Main conclusionOur collective effort provides the most comprehensive long‐term community database of riverine fishes to date. This unique database should interest ecologists who seek to understand the impacts of human activities on riverine fish biodiversity and to model and predict how fish communities will respond to future environmental change. Together, we hope it will promote advances in macroecological research in the freshwater realm.

Professional standards in museum pedagogy in the international context

Professional standards of museum work are defined by the clearly formulated International Council of Museums (ICOM) Code of Ethics and by the activity of professional organisations on both national and international levels. The goal to establish the general requirements for the education of museum workers was mainly pursued by the ICOM and some of its committees. Since museum pedagogy has developed into an independent discipline and museum pedagogue (educator) has became a full-value profession, the specialised commissions within individual professional organisations and the efforts of individual researchers have helped to gradually transform these general requirements into specific standards of museum pedagogy. These standards reflect both the scope of activities and necessary competencies of museum pedagogues, and the expected quality of education practice in museums (best practice). The varied views of professional standards for museum pedagogues in the international context represent a source of inspiration in the sphere of Czech museum pedagogy, which is undergoing a dynamic development in several areas of its activities (educational practice, consolidated legislative position) and gradually formulating its own professional standards.

What Applied Implies: A Reflection on the Identity of the Religious Research Association

In this 2018 Presidential Address to the Religious Research Association, I explore the applied religious identity of the Association. This address also addresses the manner in which individual basic research efforts could benefit from key practices of an applied research mindset. This applied identity is central to the Religious Research Association as I show from a sketch of its history and through references to previous Presidential addresses. I then discuss three questions that an applied orientation raises for individual research, for dissemination of research findings, and for the future of the Association. I propose answers to this final question that suggest out possible directions forward for the Association to strengthen its distinctive identity characteristic while also addressing the current needs of the broader religious community.

Multiscale description of avian migration: from chemical compass to behaviour modeling.

Despite decades of research the puzzle of the magnetic sense of migratory songbirds has still not been unveiled. Although the problem really needs a multiscale description, most of the individual research efforts were focused on single scale investigations. Here we seek to establish a multiscale link between some of the scales involved, and in particular construct a bridge between electron spin dynamics and migratory bird behaviour. In order to do that, we first consider a model cyclic reaction scheme that could form the basis of the avian magnetic compass. This reaction features a fast spin-dependent process which leads to an unusually precise compass. We then propose how the reaction could be realized in a realistic molecular environment, and argue that it is consistent with the known facts about avian magnetoreception. Finally we show how the microscopic dynamics of spins could possibly be interpreted by a migrating bird and used for the navigational purpose.

Physiology and Medicine: The Gifted Saga of the Last Decade

Over the last century, Science and Technology moved forward and witnessed exceptional inventions and discoveries due to individual and collaborative research efforts. This momentum opened doors for the deep understanding of biological systems by which it permitted the advancement in technologies and designing of new tools in biomedical field. Since 1901, discoveries and inventions in various fields of science (Chemistry, Physics, Physiology and Medicine, Economics) including literature which can influence the betterment of human race were being awarded with Nobel Prize. Over the past decade, numerous groundbreaking discoveries in physiology and medicine have been reported. This short note is intended to summarize the significance of these findings and few remarkable controversies associated with them.

Remote sensing for biodiversity monitoring: a review of methods for biodiversity indicator extraction and assessment of progress towards international targets

Recognizing the imperative need for biodiversity protection, the convention on biological diversity (CBD) has recently established new targets towards 2020, the so-called Aichi targets, and updated proposed sets of indicators to quantitatively monitor the progress towards these targets. Remote sensing has been increasingly contributing to timely, accurate, and cost-effective assessment of biodiversity-related characteristics and functions during the last years. However, most relevant studies constitute individual research efforts, rarely related with the extraction of widely adopted CBD biodiversity indicators. Furthermore, systematic operational use of remote sensing data by managing authorities has still been limited. In this study, the Aichi targets and the related CBD indicators whose monitoring can be facilitated by remote sensing are identified. For each headline indicator a number of recent remote sensing approaches able for the extraction of related properties are reviewed. Methods cover a wide range of fields, including: habitat extent and condition monitoring; species distribution; pressures from unsustainable management, pollution and climate change; ecosystem service monitoring; and conservation status assessment of protected areas. The advantages and limitations of different remote sensing data and algorithms are discussed. Sorting of the methods based on their reported accuracies is attempted, when possible. The extensive literature survey aims at reviewing highly performing methods that can be used for large-area, effective, and timely biodiversity assessment, to encourage the more systematic use of remote sensing solutions in monitoring progress towards the Aichi targets, and to decrease the gaps between the remote sensing and management communities.

Mental disorder: a public health problem stuck in an individual-level brain disease perspective?

Mental disorder: a public health problem stuck in an individual-level brain disease perspective?

O potrzebie intensyfikacji badań nad strukturami demograficznymi rodzin na ziemiach polskich do początku XX wieku

The article brings out a special attention paid by historians and demographers to the smallest demographic and social unit after the second world war. It resulted from the will to understand the transformation of the whole society in the past, which to a certain degree became possible thanks to the analyses of the ancient family structures, including the changes they had undergone and the trends that had been identified. Against the background of the basic achievements of the West-European historiography of historical demography, the author also emphasises a significant development of the Polish research in this sphere, yet he notices that it has been achieved mainly by the efforts of individual researchers, hardly linked to any institution. Generally speaking, in spite of some revival of the last 30 years the knowledge of the basic biological function of the family, i.e. fertility, is still not satisfactory. That is why the author stresses the need to intensify research on demographic structures of families in Polish lands from the beginning of the 20th century and presents its programme. At the same time he underlines that now some former restrictions, which somehow hindered Polish research in which L. Henry’s method was used, have disappeared. At the moment, there are no bigger obstacles to track down hundreds of register books of births, deaths, marriages and baptisms, as well as marriage records of the 19th century. What is more, in the era of laptops and other digital carriers, there are no restrictions as far as equipment is concerned; information may be collected and processed in no time. The author reminds that for the last 25 years there have appeared only a few valuable studies on the basic biological function of the family, its fertility (inter alia Cezary Kuklo, Krzysztof Makowski, Agnieszka Zielińska). The article indicates that future studies on demographic and historical statistics of the family should fall back on the research potential included in L. Henry’s method to a much wider degree. Thanks to a more common use of the method procreative attitudes of the inhabitants who lived in Polish lands before the end of the 19th century should become more wid ely known, and – at the same time – make it possible to answer the question whether the procreative strategies were conscious or not. Future investigations, according to the author, should also take into consideration the problem of mortality. In the presented research programme what has been strongly stressed is the postulate of a more detailed description of the smallest social cell through its socio-economic – as well as religious and ethnic – differentiation, wherever it is possible. The programme also takes into account the need to describe the relations between spouses and between parents and children, and other members of the ancient households.

Evidence and harm: time for reflection

The three authors of the paper A scoping review of unintended harm associated with public health interventions: Towards a typology and an understanding of underlying factors in this issue (Allen-Scott et al. 2014) have provided an extremely useful and insightful service to those in public health who are concerned with the effect of public health interventions on populations. All too often, practitioners of public health have been more concerned with the evidence of effectiveness of interventions than with the potential adverse effect of the interventions (Fuller and Potvin 2012; Kelly and Moore 2012). This is hardly surprising because the scientific training of most practitioners and researchers in public health is designed chiefly to assess the effectiveness of the intervention itself (McQueen and Jones 2007). Assessing effect is the gold standard of institutional efforts such as those of Cochrane (1972), the Community Guide and many other such efforts (Briss et al. 2000; NICE 2008, 2009). It is also a common expectation of individual research efforts (Simoes et al. 2012, Jackson and Dickinson 2011). However, in almost all cases, the rigor expected of scientific research far exceeds the reality of what is obtainable in complex population based interventions. In reality, most public health interventions are messy, multivariate, loaded with possibilities for error and thus a major underlying problem of such efforts is the common finding of insufficient evidence of effectiveness. While this may not be such a startling outcome for one trained in the social sciences, it is often puzzling for those expecting the rigor of the vaunted RCT. As I have discussed elsewhere there are no simple, quick, or easy solutions to this common outcome (McQueen 2013). There are radical approaches, one could simply only report evidence that is sufficient, a rather draconian measure and ethically questionable. A ‘‘softer’’ solution is to report in depth why evidence could not be found and offer strategies for resolving the situation to arrive at an appropriate ‘better’ answer. Another option that suggests the precautionary principle is to make it clear that there is no evidence that any harm has been done by carrying out the interventions with insufficient evidence and continue to explore the area of insufficient evidence. Clearly, another alternative is to make use of the typologies suggested by AllenScott, Hatfield and McIntyre (2014). The typologies suggested are worthy of pursuit. In my opinion, there are two areas that are particularly relevant for NCD and health promotion interventions, namely the cultural and environmental. However, these both pertain to the socio-political world in which most public health interventions operate. Throughout history, wealthier more powerful nations and peoples have exploited the poorer less powerful; this is hardly a revelation. However, many in the field of public health believe that they are exempt from such exploitation and operate at a level of higher cause and seek only to do well. This naivete of action by the well intentioned argues strongly for the consideration of harm as a component of the design and implementation of every research project and/or intervention in public health and health promotion. In particular, this should be a common factor of all research that stems from the highly developed world when it is applied to the less developed. This is not simply a question of ethics, but an essential part of the issue of social justice. D. V. McQueen (&) Global Consultant, 2418 Midvale Court, Tucker, GA 30084, USA e-mail: davidmcqueen07@gmail.com Int J Public Health (2014) 59:1–2 DOI 10.1007/s00038-013-0534-6

Nano GO Consortium—A Team Science Approach to Assess Engineered Nanomaterials: Reliable Assays and Methods

Nano GO Consortium—A Team Science Approach to Assess Engineered Nanomaterials: Reliable Assays and Methods

WHY THEORY OF INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES

In this work an effort has been made to obtain a com­prehensive review and analyze different conceptual des­ignations of the intelligence activities resulting from both individual and theoretical research efforts as well as many institutional definitions regarding this phenomenon. Fur­thermore, there are special research approaches in com­prehension of the intelligence activities phenomenon and its conceptual […]

Towards an ontology for the intellectual capital domain

PurposeThis study attempts to formulate an ontological proposition for the intellectual capital (IC) domain. This study is motivated by the debate of contemporary thinking for different IC research streams (IC1‐ostensive versus IC2‐performative) and their different ontological perceptions for IC. The proposed ontological proposition aims to serve the epistemological requirements towards the development of a common accepted generic IC theory.Design/methodology/approachThe formulation of the ontology for the IC domain is based on contemporary tools within the fields of ontology and conceptual modelling. The principal dimensions of the ontology for the IC domain are identified following the directions of the Sowa's generalised theory for ontological frameworks. For each dimension, a generic entity is defined by drawing inferences from disciplines relevant to the contemporary IC inquiry. The relationships between the generic entities are modelled with the semantic representations of General Systems Theory (GST).FindingsThis paper provides an answer to the epistemological problem of how to perceive the substance of the IC domain. The derived ontology for the IC domain recognises different IC ontological dimensions that correspond to the IC ontological assumptions of different IC research streams, attempts to associate the IC of an organization with the tangible dimension of the enterprise, and provides conceptual semantics for modelling firm‐specific IC domains under the prism of different epistemological perspectives for IC.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed ontological proposition for the IC domain is an abstract ontology. It might empower researchers with guidelines for systemising the formulation of theoretical propositions and descriptions for their research fields. Yet, as an abstract ontology, it might create difficulty in its practical implementation.Originality/valueThe ontological proposition for the IC domain can contribute towards the debate on the establishment of a common research communicational rationalism within the IC research community for coordinating individual research efforts.

Speaking 'Researchish' after the Crisis - The Need for a Common Language in Socio-Economic Researches

Amid the current economic crisis, the number of problems faced by researchers has increased. The crisis has caused a lack of research funding, leading to a preference for large research teams, with transnational partners and multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary research subjects. This coincides with the introduction of more restrictive research evaluation criteria for universities and academics (publications in ranked journals, ISI, etc). On the other hand, since social problems grow in complexity and scope, it is expected from scientists to engage in interdisciplinary research to solve these pressing issues. Moreover, as the academic trend towards specialization in micro-fields continues, cross-fertilization within fields and scientific network building are called upon as means to counteract field fossilization and insularity. Consequently, all this leads to a growing pressure on scientists to conduct multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary (labeled MIT) research, either in teams and networks or as efforts of individual researchers. This ranges from simply understanding concepts, methodologies and research results from other social sciences to making use of them in MIT research efforts. Our paper has as objective to highlight several key issues associated with the pressure to conduct MIT research, centering on the lack of a common language, and insists upon the qualitative-quantitative debate, exacerbated by the crisis. As methodology, we use a documentary study and a case study of the PGV (Pays Groupe Vishegrad) research network. We then conclude by suggesting several solutions to harmonize vocabularies within the social sciences.

The roles of habitat heterogeneity in generating and maintaining biodiversity on continental margins: an introduction

(introduction to Special Issue: The roles of habitat heterogeneity in generating and maintaining biodiversity on continental margins A Contribution to the Census of Marine Life)