Innovative Interdisciplinary Approach Research Articles

Nanoparticle Innovations in Plant Systems: Enhancing Photosynthesis and Nutrient Dynamics

Plant nanobionics is an innovative interdisciplinary approach which integrates engineered nanoparticles into plant systems to enhance their natural functionalities and enable novel capabilities. This paper explores the potential of nanoparticles to improve photosynthetic efficiency, nutrient uptake, and increase plant resilience against environmental stressors. Enhancing carbon fixation with functionalized silica nanoparticles, reducing photoinhibition with cerium oxide nanoparticles, and broadening the light absorption spectrum with nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and quantum dots are some of the main uses of plant nanobionics. These advancements offer solutions to fundamental limitations in photosynthesis, including suboptimal light ustilization, restricted carbon dioxide availability, and oxidative stress. Nanoparticles also revolutionize nutrient management through innovations such as nanofertilizers and chelated metal nanoparticles. These technologies enhance nutrient bioavailability, minimize environmental impacts, and improve plant growth in nutrient-deficient soils. For example, zinc oxide and iron oxide nanoparticles encourage the effective delivery and uptake of nutrients, while titanium dioxide and carbon-based nanomaterials contribute to soil remediation by immobilizing heavy metals and improving soil health. Nanotechnology in agriculture offers transformative benefits such as increased crop yields, sustainable resources management, and climate change mitigation. However, challenges such as environmental safety, scalability, and regulatory considerations must be addressed to ensure responsible application. This study highlights the role of plant nanobionics in advancing agricultural productivity and sustainability, emphasizing its potential to address global challenges such as food security and environmental conservation.

Intersectionality and the Construction of Humour in Contemporary Stand-up Comedy

As an autobiographical mode of performance, stand-up comedy is interlinked with debates on identity, inequality and social justice. While much of the existing stand-up comedy and identity literature has prioritised the analysis of a single axis of identity, this study significantly extends existing analysis to examine intersectionality in stand-up comedy. Taking an innovative interdisciplinary theoretical approach derived from humour studies and cultural studies, we explore how intersectionality is involved in the construction of humour in contemporary stand-up comedy. Via a rigorous thematic analysis, we analyse the comedic material of three contemporary stand-up comedians on Netflix – Jimmy Carr, Dave Chappelle and Hannah Gadsby. We examine the intersections of their identities in terms of the representation of inequalities, privilege, discrimination and prejudice. Analysis reveals three key themes demonstrated by Carr, Chappelle and Gadsby that illuminate an original understanding of the relationship between identity, intersectionality and humour. These themes concern: 1) intersecting race, gender and sexuality; 2) depicting gendered violence; and 3) intersectional differences in the uses of disclaimers through which comedy is defended.

Assessing Street Environments for Older Adults in Urban Villages Using POIs and Street View Images—A Case Study of Guangzhou, China

In China’s urban villages, typically low-income communities, the living environments of older adults are often overlooked. Furthermore, quantitative research in these areas has been limited by the complexity of their street environments. This research bridges these gaps through an innovative interdisciplinary quantitative approach, integrating points of interest (POIs) and street view images (SVIs) to assess the street environments for older adults using ArcGIS and deep learning-based Fully Convolutional Networks. Specifically, Huangcun in Guangzhou, China, was selected for its typicality, with features like high density, complex street environments, and a significant older adult population. The findings reveal that while most age-friendly facilities meet basic needs, there are significant deficiencies in accessibility, comfort, and safety which call for targeted environmental improvements. This study contributes to sustainable urban development by providing street-by-street insights that empower urban planners to rectify spatial inequalities and to foster environments conducive to aging in place. By developing and applying a novel methodology that enhances urban age-friendliness assessments, this research extends the application of such models across diverse urban settings globally, promoting the integration of sustainability in urban planning.

Why We Need Minimum Wages: Pay, Recognition, and Economic Citizenship

Statutory minimum wages have become an important tool for regulating labor markets. One major reason is the decline in collective wage bargaining. But how can minimum wages be justified? We show that their best justification does not lie in their economic effects but in the respect for social contributors that they express. The article takes an innovative interdisciplinary approach, bridging political philosophy and comparative political economy. We first discuss existing justifications in political practice and theory. We then show how a distinctive and robust justification should regard minimum wages as paying necessary respect to those who fulfill their obligation to contribute to social cooperation. Our justification thus suggests a new concept of economic citizenship and advances recognition theory applied to work. We outline further implications of the argument, such as the desirability of setting minimum wages through collective bargaining, and a tentative case for a maximum income.

Designing A Blockchain-Empowered Telehealth Artifact for Decentralized Identity Management and Trustworthy Communication: Interdisciplinary Approach.

Telehealth played a critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to function as an essential component of health care. Existing platforms cannot ensure privacy and prevent cyberattacks. The main objectives of this study are to understand existing cybersecurity issues in identity management and trustworthy communication processes in telehealth platforms and to design a software architecture integrated with blockchain to improve security and trustworthiness with acceptable performance. We improved personal information security in existing telehealth platforms by adopting an innovative interdisciplinary approach combining design science, social science, and computer science in the health care domain, with prototype implementation. We used the design science research methodology to implement our overall design. We innovated over existing telehealth platforms with blockchain integration that improves health care delivery services in terms of security, privacy, and efficiency. We adopted a user-centric design approach and started with user requirement collection, followed by system functionality development. Overall system implementation facilitates user requirements, thus promoting user behavior for the adoption of the telehealth platform with decentralized identity management and an access control mechanism. Our investigation identified key challenges to identity management and trustworthy communication processes in telehealth platforms used in the current health care domain. By adopting distributed ledger technology, we proposed a decentralized telehealth platform to support identity management and a trustworthy communication process. Our design and prototype implementation using a smart contract-driven telehealth platform to provide decentralized identity management and trustworthy communication with token-based access control addressed several security challenges. This was substantiated by testing with 10,000 simulated transactions across 5 peers in the Rahasak blockchain network. The proposed design provides resistance to common attacks while maintaining a linear time overhead, demonstrating improved security and efficiency in telehealth services. We evaluated the performance in terms of transaction throughput, smart contract execution time, and block generation time. To create a block with 10,000 transactions, it takes 8 seconds on average, which is an acceptable overhead for blockchain-based applications. We identified technical limitations in current telehealth platforms. We presented several design innovations using blockchain to prototype a system. We also presented the implementation details of a unique distributed architecture for a trustworthy communication system. We illustrated how this design can overcome privacy, security, and scalability limitations. Moreover, we illustrated how improving these factors sets the stage for improving and standardizing the application and for the wide adoption of blockchain-enabled telehealth platforms.

DEVELOPING SCIENTIFIC ANALYTICAL AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN HUMANITIES STUDENTS AT THE INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

The article deals with the issue of formation and development of scientific analytical and communicative skills among humanities students at Peoples' Friendship University of Russia named after P. Lumumba ("RUDN University"). The study touches upon the issues of shaping competences in professional sphere taking into account multipolarity and international status of the university and its educational programmes. The study is based on the multidisciplinary approach to teaching humanities students from different countries taking into account the level of development of all kinds of speech activity,national-cultural specificities of the students and interdisciplinary approach. The article discusses an innovative interdisciplinary approach and the need to integrate technical skills into humanitarian education.

Experimental insights into cognition, motor skills, and artistic expertise in Paleolithic art

The production of Paleolithic art represents one of the most intricate technical and cognitive endeavors of Homo sapiens, marked by its profound antiquity and vast temporal and spatial framework. Despite its significance, there have been no prior studies aimed at understanding the cognitive and motor skills linked to the creation of realistic images characteristic of this artistic cycle. This research integrates archaeology and experimental psychology, premised on the assumption that the neurological basis of Anatomically Modern Humans has not changed substantially since the Upper Paleolithic. This work employs an innovative interdisciplinary approach, utilizing psychometric tests and drawing and engraving tasks monitored by motion-sensing gloves, to compare the performance of experts and non-experts in visual arts when faced with challenges akin to those of Upper Paleolithic artistic production. The results revealed that expertise in visual arts is linked to enhanced spatial abilities and specific patterns in drawing from memory. Additionally, both experts and non-experts displayed similar motor skills when engraving using Paleolithic techniques, suggesting that these techniques required specialized training in the contemporary experts. In conclusion, this research deepens our understanding of the processes involved in Upper Paleolithic artistic production.

Language and social minds: The semantics and pragmatics of intersubjectivity

This book provides a gradient model of intersubjectivity and social cognition in language. Through an interdisciplinary synthesis, the author proposes three levels of linguistic acts: those aimed at the speaker’s benefit alone, those expressing concern for an interlocutor, and those indicating concern for societal reactions. There is a continuum of egocentric to extended intersubjectivity, which includes co-actionality, immediate intersubjectivity, and collective constructions. The model is applied to study children’s mastery of intersubjective polysemy and verbal organization, and to determine “social mind” capabilities in autism spectrum disorders. While non-linguistic topics and further empirical validation are outside the scope, this innovative interdisciplinary approach meaningfully extends understanding of the intertwined nature of language, cognition, and social engagement.

EREMI: An Innovative Interdisciplinary Approach for Higher Education in Resource Efficient Manufacturing Environments

This paper presents an overview of EREMI, a two-year project funded under ERASMUS+ KA203, and its results. The project team’s main objective was to develop and validate an advanced interdisciplinary higher education curriculum, which includes lifelong learning components. The curriculum focuses on enhancing resource efficiency in the manufacturing industry and optimising poorly or non-digitised industrial physical infrastructure systems. The paper also discusses the results of the project, highlighting the successful achievement of its goals. EREMI effectively supports the transition to Industry 5.0 by preparing a common European pool of future experts. Through comprehensive research and collaboration, the project team has designed a curriculum that equips students with the necessary skills and knowledge to thrive in the evolving manufacturing landscape. Furthermore, the paper explores the significance of EREMI’s contributions to the field, emphasising the importance of resource efficiency and system optimisation in industrial settings. By addressing the challenges posed by under-digitised infrastructure, the project aims to drive sustainable and innovative practices in manufacturing. All five project partner organisations have been actively engaged in offering relevant educational content and framework for decentralised sustainable economic development in regional and national contexts through capacity building at a local level. A crucial element of the added value is the new channel for obtaining feedback from students. The survey results, which are outlined in the paper, offer valuable insights gathered from students, contributing to the continuous improvement of the project.

Paleogeography of the lower Taravu Valley during Late Holocene (SW Corsica)

The Taravu valley, located in the south-west of Corsica, is one of the most extensive watersheds on the island. Recent paleoenvironmental studies allowed to restitute the chronostratigraphy of the two ponds in the lower valley. However, the paleogeographic evolution of this sector still remains largely to be specified. In order to reconstruct the transformations of the landscape of the lower Taravu valley during the Late Holocene (2250 BCE), we have developed an innovative interdisciplinary approach combining the methods of historical geography (ancient maps and aerial photographs), geoprocessing of topographic data (slope map and drainage map) that we associated with the results of an electromagnetic survey (EMI) and previous stratigraphic data. This synthesis enables the creation of a geomorphological map of the lower Taravu valley, to identify several major landscape changes since the Neolithic period (5800-3000 BCE), and to follow the evolution of the alluvial forms of the Taravu and the shore line since the end of the 18th c. CE.

Integrating STEAM with PjBL and PBL on biology education: Improving students’ cognitive learning results, creative thinking, and digital literacy

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) is an innovative interdisciplinary learning approach that can be integrated with PjBL and PBL learning models. This research investigates the effect of STEAM combined with PjBL and PBL learning models on the cognitive learning results, creative thinking skills and digital literacy of Class X senior high school students at SHS 3 Maluku Tengah and SHS 39 Salahutu. This research was conducted in the even semester of the 2020/2021 academic year. The research instruments included an essay test and digital literacy observation sheets. The research data were analyzed using inferential statistics (ANCOVA and ANOVA). The research results indicate that the integration of STEAM with PjBL and PBL learning models significantly affects students’ cognitive learning results and creative thinking (p<0.05). However, the integration of STEAM and PjBL and PBL learning models does not significantly affect students’ digital literacy (p>0.05). The integration of STEAM with PjBL and PBL learning models provides innovation in implementing the two learning models, which improves the learning steps and the learning process. The integration of STEAM with the PjBL learning model can be used to enhance cognitive learning outcomes and creative thinking skills for other biological concepts in senior high school level learning.

The impact of the 2016 Psychoactive Substances Act on synthetic cannabinoid use within the homeless population: Markets, content and user harms.

On 26 May 2016, the UK introduced the Psychoactive Substances Act. The Act made it an offence to produce, supply, or offer to supply, any psychoactive substance likely to be used for its psychoactive effects. While a Home Office review of the Act in 2018 proclaimed that the Act had been successful in achieving its main goal of preventing the open sale of psychoactive substances, significantly, the review acknowledged that high levels of synthetic cannabinoid use remain amongst vulnerable user groups, in particular the homeless population. The research adopted an innovative interdisciplinary approach drawing on sociology and chemistry. The sociological element involved 82 face-to-face qualitative semi-structured interviews with 37 homeless synthetic cannabinoid users, 45 stakeholders, and over 100h of fieldwork observations. The chemical analysis element involved the testing (using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry) of 69 synthetic cannabinoid street samples obtained by a local police force. The introduction of the Act was associated with a number of significant changes to the synthetic cannabinoid market, including the integration of synthetic cannabinoids into the existing illicit street market, new dealers, the adoption of more targeted and aggressive supply practices, and variability in the content and potency of synthetic cannabinoids. Combined, these changes have increased the risk of harm to homeless users and homeless sector staff and resulted in a concomitant increase in the demand on emergency services. The foreseen concerns that the Act would result in detrimental market changes and increased harms to vulnerable user groups have been manifested in the homeless population. The failure of the Act to reduce synthetic cannabinoid use within this group, combined with the increased risk of individual and societal harm, highlights the importance of reducing the demand for synthetic cannabinoids.

Sensoria: An exploratory interdisciplinary framework for researching multimodal & sensory experiences

This paper describes the development and salience of an original and innovative interdisciplinary approach, Sensoria, that combines methods and techniques from social science and performance to address the methodological challenges of researching sensory/multimodal experiences. It sets out the core components and methodological principles that underpin the approach and uses an illustrative example to show how it can facilitate research on hard to access sensorial experiences, to access, understand and analyse people’s experiences and perspectives of touch, a highly tacit sensory mode. The paper discusses the methodological contribution and challenges of this approach to sensory research for social science and artistic practice and ‘more-than-representational’ research more generally. It concludes by making a case for more critical research spaces at the intersection of these disciplines to foster multi-dimensional research dialogues and to advance the exploration and understanding of the relationship between the sensory, social and the digital.

Virtual laboratories as strategy for teaching improvement in Math Sciences and Engineering in Bolivia

STEM education is a strategy based on four disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), integrated in an innovative interdisciplinary approach. Although, the concept of STEM education is more relevant today, the discussion of a teaching model with special attention in the four subjects aforementioned began in the early 2000s. Taking into account this context, the strategy presented in this paper has been disseminated in Bolivia’s main universities for the last five years. A country that has not yet managed to associate basic disciplines such as calculus, matrix algebra, and/or differential equations to solve problems of an applicative nature, that is, to establish the link between theory and practice. To establish the connection, it is necessary to deduce differential equations associated with practical problems; solve these equations with numerical methods, appeal to the simulation concept to later introduce programming languages like Python/VPython to build virtual laboratories. The classical problem addressed for this purpose is the satellite of two degrees of freedom.

Nocebo-Hypothesis Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (NH-CBT) for Persons With Functional Neurological Symptoms (Motor Type): Design and Implementation of a Randomized Active-Controlled Trial.

Introduction: Functional Neurological Symptom Disorders (FNSD) are associated with high levels of disability and immense direct and indirect health costs. An innovative interdisciplinary rehabilitation approach for individuals with functional neurological symptoms of motor type–Nocebo-Hypothesis Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (NH-CBT)—combines CBT and movement retraining with video feedback embedded in a comprehensive explanatory model of the etiology of FNSD.Methods: This protocol describes the development and implementation of a phase II, parallel group, randomized controlled trial with blinded outcome assessors to compare the efficacy of NH-CBT with an active control condition (supportive counseling and movement retraining). Individuals meeting diagnostic criteria of an FNSD or psychogenic movement disorder will be randomly assigned to one of the 8-week interventions. Self-report scales of motor and other physical symptoms, symptom-related psychological variables, and assessor ratings of participants' mobility will be administered at baseline, and at 8- and 16-week follow-up. Adverse events will be monitored across all sessions and therapeutic alliance will be measured at the end of therapy. The primary statistical analysis will test the hypothesis that NH-CBT is more effective than the control intervention at the 8-week follow-up.Discussion: The therapeutic strategies of NH-CBT are theory-driven by assumptions of the predictive coding model of the etiology of FNSD. Strengths and limitations of this trial will be discussed.Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR; identifier: ACTRN12620000550909).

Approaches to building population registers in special automation systems

The program aims to develop new forms of automation of the management of territorial registers for special purposes. It is based on an innovative interdisciplinary approach to improving the parameters of automation subjects. This program complements the regional register of subjects’ parameters in order to monitor those that are subject to special impacts. Subjects are monitored during special impacts. During the implementation of the program, the decision-maker oncologist receives personal data that provides communication with the subjects. The developed pilot project of the population register in specialized automation systems is important for optimizing the parameters of automation entities.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Higher Education: Common Interdisciplinary Issues and Lessons Learned

Background: Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) dramatically impacted institutions of higher education. The effect was acute in the practice disciplines such as medicine, medical laboratory science, and nursing. The purpose is to describe how an interdisciplinary team, led by nursing faculty, adapted to the changes driven by COVID-19 and the lessons that were learned for nursing and other disciplines in higher education. Method: The interdisciplinary group created a comprehensive list which captured the impact of COVID-19 on their academic disciplines. Similarities and differences between the disciplines regarding faculty experiences, teaching, and responding to student concerns were discovered. Results: Collective review resulted in the identification of four inclusive thematic categories and several sub-categories. These were: academic considerations (didactic, lab, clinical), perceptions (faculty, student), ethical considerations, and social determinants affecting the learning environment. Lessons Learned: This project utilized an innovative interdisciplinary approach to identify common COVID-19 effects on higher education. Conclusions: Nursing and other health-related disciplines should pursue interdisciplinary collaboration to address common academic issues that arise during the COVID.

Combining Acceptance and Commitment Therapy With Adventure Therapy to Promote Psychological Wellbeing for Children At-Risk.

With high rates of psychological distress reported amongst children internationally, the development and evaluation of new program initiatives is critical in order to meet the challenge of this burgeoning issue. Both acceptance and commitment therapy and adventure therapy are emerging as popular strategies to elevate psychological wellbeing. This small-scale program evaluation focuses on nine upper primary school-aged children enrolled in a specialist school in Australia for children with challenging behavior and/or emotional needs. Participants completed a newly developed 8-week intervention entitled ‘ACT in the Outdoors’ which combined key principles of both acceptance and commitment therapy and adventure therapy. The program was evaluated via a combination of pre and post participant psychological measures, and post interviews with participants and teachers. The results of this small-scale preliminary evaluation suggest that a portion of the participating children reported improvements in psychological wellbeing and skill development. Improvements appear to be mitigated by attendance and level of psychological wellbeing upon program entry. Based on this premise, the results suggest that more research is warranted to further understand the potential benefit of this innovative interdisciplinary approach.

An innovative collaborative interdisciplinary approach to new paediatric tracheostomy safety guidelines

An innovative collaborative interdisciplinary approach to new paediatric tracheostomy safety guidelines

An interprofessional internship model for training master’s level social work and counseling students in higher education settings

ABSTRACTThe mental health needs of college students are steadily on the rise, which compels mental health service providers and educators to explore innovative ways to provide more collaborative, supportive, and interdisciplinary service models of practice and professional training. Graduate programs in social work and counseling are at the crux of producing internship training programs to help accommodate the influx of students with persistent mental health concerns across a variety of needs and cultures. This article describes an interprofessional internship program structured and designed to meet the clinical training needs of master’s level students matriculating in social work and counseling who aspire to provide mental health services in higher education settings. The interprofessional internship training model proposes an innovative interdisciplinary approach to field education which may result in positive training outcomes and learning experiences for social work and counseling students. This paper discusses the model’s emphasis on individual and interdisciplinary group supervision, objectives of the internship experience, internship site criteria, and professional and personal benefits to pre-service social workers and counselors. Recommendations for training and limitations of the model are provided.