Integrative View Research Articles

The nursing ethnographic research into complex societies

Introduction: Multicultural societies of the postmodern world are characterized by the complexity of their structure, organization, and operation. In such societies, there is a heterogeneous set of social players who experience a variety of phenomena in their daily lives in cities. Within this context, nursing care has developed and nurses in recent years have turned to ethnography as a tool in understanding socio-cultural reality and experience from the perspective of those living these experiences. This is a theoretical study seeking to reflect upon the application of an ethnographic approach in Brazilian nursing research in complex societies.Ethnography in Brazilian nursing research in complex societies: Brazilian nurses have appropriated the methodological tools and theories of nursing and anthropological studies to investigate the experiences and meanings attributed to health-disease process, cultural influence on health-related behaviors, as well as to evaluate and manage work processes. Further studies are emphasized to attempt to theorize and reflect upon the methodological construction of this research. This move highlights a shift in focus on nursing research and practice for a more integrative and complex view of human beings and reality. Ethnography helps us learn about a given reality and, as a result, we obtain new insights for understanding the phenomena.Reflection: It is considered that anthropological knowledge extends the nurses’ views on the subject about which they devote their practice, refining it. Being closer to the lives and experience of subjects, permits the perception of phenomena from the perspective of the players involved, offering professionals a different view on the needs and outcomes of nursing care.

Talent management in small and medium-sized enterprises: towards an integrative multilevel approach in the French context

PurposeThis research seeks to unveil an integrative perspective on talent management (TM) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly through a multilevel approach and within the French context. Drawing on dynamic capability theory and focusing on French SMEs as a rich domain for multilevel studies, the research aims to elucidate how these enterprises operationalize TM while addressing and integrating their distinct capabilities and requirements, internal dynamics and challenges.Design/methodology/approachThrough an integrative study based on a qualitative approach, we collect data from 15 French SMEs. In total, 20 semi-structured interviews with individuals from different levels, managing and working in SMEs, were conducted and analyzed thematically to identify patterns across all SMEs. Companies and interviewees represented a variety of sectors such as telecommunication, high-tech, circular economy, etc.FindingsWe present an integrative multilevel approach through TM in French SMEs, describing how SMEs operationalize TM. Across three main levels (organizational, collective and individual) and key SMEs’ capabilities, our results underscore the significance of top management commitment capabilities and SMEs' assessment capabilities, the involvement of line managers in facilitating strategic agility and cultivating the talent ecosystem and the outcomes of TM in driving SMEs' reconfiguration, extending beyond mere TM-level integrations and articulations. We address these findings for foreign SMEs intending to enter the French context and SMEs’ actors on the importance of contextual issues and level articulations while calling for future research focusing on group-level and managers’ roles in TM.Originality/valueThis article moves the TM research towards an integrative multilevel view in SMEs as a fertile ground for studying multilevel TM. As part of recent studies on TM in French SMEs within the broader European competitive context, it expands the integrative approach in SMEs by accommodating the unique requirements, the multilevel dynamics and the challenges that they encounter with TM, especially when compared to multinational enterprises (MNEs).

Partisan Poll Watchers and Americans’ Perceptions of Electoral Fairness

Abstract Poll watchers play an increasingly visible role in American elections, yet there is little research into how their presence shapes beliefs about electoral integrity. On the one hand, poll watchers—like other election observers—may lead voters to be more trusting in elections. On the other hand, poll watchers who expressly represent political parties may contribute to polarized views of electoral integrity. We address this gap with two conjoint experiments and one vignette experiment administered on large national samples. The conjoint experiments vary several features of election polling locations, including the presence of poll watchers, voter identification requirements, and other election regulations. We find that regulations around poll watchers shape views of election fairness, but that the nature of this influence depends on the type and partisanship of poll watchers who are present. The vignette experiment shows that perceptions of poll watchers decline when these individuals act in bad faith; effects are especially large for Republican respondents. These findings help identify the potential that poll watchers have to shape Americans’ beliefs about election fairness and integrity.

Editorial: Integrated view of the transport system

Editorial: Integrated view of the transport system

Bibliometric Analysis of Smartphone Addiction Literature

Smartphone addiction has been widely recognized as a notable global public health issue. Researchers have already conducted numerous researches to look into various aspects of smartphone addiction such as risk/protective factors, negative consequences, prevalence, and intervention strategies. Despite the existence of these researches, they remain fragmented in the existing literature, which make it challenging for researchers to have an integrative view of smartphone addiction literature. Addressing this research gap, this study conducts bibliometric analysis on the 924 publications extracted from Scopus. More specifically, through the use of various performance indicators (e.g., total number of citations/publications and citation per publication), this study has identified the publication trend, most influential/productive journals, authors, and publications. Furthermore, through co-word analysis conducted on the title and abstract of publications, this study has also identified and briefly elaborated on the research themes in the existing literature of smartphone addiction (i.e., protective/risk factors, neurobiological mechanisms, and intervention; prevalence and negative consequences; scale development and psychometric properties). Taken together, this study provides researchers especially those new to the field of smartphone addiction a one-stop platform to gain an aggregative view of smartphone addiction literature.

Probabilistic pathway-based multimodal factor analysis.

Multimodal profiling strategies promise to produce more informative insights into biomedical cohorts via the integration of the information each modality contributes. To perform this integration, however, the development of novel analytical strategies is needed. Multimodal profiling strategies often come at the expense of lower sample numbers, which can challenge methods to uncover shared signals across a cohort. Thus, factor analysis approaches are commonly used for the analysis of high-dimensional data in molecular biology, however, they typically do not yield representations that are directly interpretable, whereas many research questions often center around the analysis of pathways associated with specific observations. We develop PathFA, a novel approach for multimodal factor analysis over the space of pathways. PathFA produces integrative and interpretable views across multimodal profiling technologies, which allow for the derivation of concrete hypotheses. PathFA combines a pathway-learning approach with integrative multimodal capability under a Bayesian procedure that is efficient, hyper-parameter free, and able to automatically infer observation noise from the data. We demonstrate strong performance on small sample sizes within our simulation framework and on matched proteomics and transcriptomics profiles from real tumor samples taken from the Swiss Tumor Profiler consortium. On a subcohort of melanoma patients, PathFA recovers pathway activity that has been independently associated with poor outcome. We further demonstrate the ability of this approach to identify pathways associated with the presence of specific cell-types as well as tumor heterogeneity. Our results show that we capture known biology, making it well suited for analyzing multimodal sample cohorts. The tool is implemented in python and available at https://github.com/ratschlab/path-fa.

Exon capture museomics deciphers the nine-banded armadillo species complex and identifies a new species endemic to the Guiana Shield.

The nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) is the most widespread xenarthran species across the Americas. Recent studies have suggested it is composed of four morphologically and genetically distinct lineages of uncertain taxonomic status. To address this issue, we used a museomic approach to sequence 80 complete mitogenomes and capture 997 nuclear loci for 71 Dasypus individuals sampled across the entire distribution. We carefully cleaned up potential genotyping errors and cross contaminations that could blur species boundaries by mimicking gene flow. Our results unambiguously support four distinct lineages within the D. novemcinctus complex. We found cases of mito-nuclear phylogenetic discordance but only limited contemporary gene flow confined to the margins of the lineage distributions. All available evidence including the restricted gene flow, phylogenetic reconstructions based on both mitogenomes and nuclear loci, and phylogenetic delimitation methods consistently supported the four lineages within D. novemcinctus as four distinct species. Comparable genetic differentiation values to other recognized Dasypus species further reinforced their status as valid species. Considering congruent morphological results from previous studies, we provide an integrative taxonomic view to recognise four species within the D. novemcinctus complex: D. novemcinctus, D. fenestratus, D. mexicanus, and D. guianensis sp. nov., a new species endemic of the Guiana Shield that we describe here. The two available individuals of D. mazzai and D. sabanicola were consistently nested within D. novemcinctus lineage and their status remains to be assessed. The present work offers a case study illustrating the power of museomics to reveal cryptic species diversity within a widely distributed and emblematic species of mammals.

Grand rounds in methodology: designing for integration in mixed methods research

Mixed methods research is a popular approach used to understand persistent and complex problems related to quality and safety, such as reasons why interventions are not implemented as intended or...

Glomerular Hypertrophy and Splenic Red Pulp Degeneration Concurrent with Oxidative Stress in 3xTg-AD Mice Model for Alzheimer's Disease and Its Exacerbation with Sex and Social Isolation.

The continuously expanding field of Alzheimer's disease (AD) research is now beginning to defocus the brain to take a more systemic approach to the disease, as alterations in the peripheral organs could be related to disease progression. One emerging hypothesis is organ involvement in the process of Aβ clearance. In the present work, we aimed to examine the status and involvement of the kidney as a key organ for waste elimination and the spleen, which is in charge of filtering the blood and producing lymphocytes, and their influence on AD. The results showed morphological and structural changes due to acute amyloidosis in the kidney (glomeruli area) and spleen (red pulp area and red/white pulp ratio) together with reduced antioxidant defense activity (GPx) in 16-month-old male and female 3xTg-AD mice when compared to their age- and sex-matched non-transgenic (NTg) counterparts. All these alterations correlated with the anxious-like behavioral phenotype of this mouse model. In addition, forced isolation, a cause of psychological stress, had a negative effect by intensifying genotype differences and causing differences to appear in NTg animals. This study further supports the relevance of a more integrative view of the complex interplay between systems in aging, especially at advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease.

Multisensory museum experience: an integrative view and future research directions

ABSTRACT In museum and aesthetic contexts, the role of multisensory experiences in boosting visitor engagement is well-recognised. Yet, the diverse disciplinary perspectives have led to a scattered and sometimes unclear literature landscape. This article undertakes a systematic review, combining systematic literature extraction and qualitative content analysis of 331 academic sources to address the following questions: What are the theoretical underpinnings for studying multisensory museum experiences? What are the general characteristics of these experiences? How can we understand the role of technology in sensory practices within museums and related sites? By focusing on visitors’ perspectives, the review aims to offer a comprehensive understanding of multisensory experiences, emphasising research framework, conceptualisation, and technology in museum practices. Furthermore, it outlines future research directions in these areas, contributing to a more unified theory and providing practical insights for exhibition design. This establishes a groundwork for nuanced future research endeavours.

Editors’ Introduction: Fictions in Law, Literature, and Philosophy

While several collections have been published recently from the perspective of common law focused specifically on jurisprudence and from the perspective of both literary theory and the philosophy of language, a more integrative approach that sharpens the underlying fundamental concept(s) by bringing together insights from legal theory/history, doctrinal legal scholarship, literary studies, and analytic philosophy has been missing so far. Not only has an examination of a decidedly interdisciplinary perspective been rare in research on fictions and fictionality, but also a decidedly integrative view of European and Anglo-American research approaches has been the exception. This special issue both addresses and seeks to bridge this research gap. In shedding light on the family resemblances and differences of “fiction(s)” in each of the aforementioned disciplines, we hope to identify blind spots and offer some fresh ideas with regard to a transdisciplinary theory of fiction(s) which considers their conceptual, functional, as well as historical characteristics. A particularly significant aspect of this project is that it fuses contributions from an anglophone law and literature perspective with contributions from European continental contexts, offering perspectives from related but also distinct legal and literary traditions.

Philosophy of psychiatry: theoretical advances and clinical implications.

Work at the intersection of philosophy and psychiatry has an extensive and influential history, and has received increased attention recently, with the emergence of professional associations and a growing literature. In this paper, we review key advances in work on philosophy and psychiatry, and their related clinical implications. First, in understanding and categorizing mental disorder, both naturalist and normativist considerations are now viewed as important - psychiatric constructs necessitate a consideration of both facts and values. At a conceptual level, this integrative view encourages moving away from strict scientism to soft naturalism, while in clinical practice this facilitates both evidence-based and values-based mental health care. Second, in considering the nature of psychiatric science, there is now increasing emphasis on a pluralist approach, including ontological, explanatory and value pluralism. Conceptually, a pluralist approach acknowledges the multi-level causal interactions that give rise to psychopathology, while clinically it emphasizes the importance of a broad range of "difference-makers", as well as a consideration of "lived experience" in both research and practice. Third, in considering a range of questions about the brain-mind, and how both somatic and psychic factors contribute to the development and maintenance of mental disorders, conceptual and empirical work on embodied cognition provides an increasingly valuable approach. Viewing the brain-mind as embodied, embedded and enactive offers a conceptual approach to the mind-body problem that facilitates the clinical integration of advances in both cognitive-affective neuroscience and phenomenological psychopathology.

Unveiling Actin Cytoskeleton Role in Mediating Chikungunya-Associated Arthritis: An Integrative Proteome-Metabolome Study.

Background: Chikungunya is a zoonotic disease caused by the Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), primarily transmitted to humans through infected Aedes mosquitoes. The infection is characterized by symptoms such as high fever, musculoskeletal pain, polyarthritis, and a rash, which can lead to severe complications such as encephalitis, meningitis, and even fatalities. While many disease manifestations resemble those of other viral infections, chronic arthritis caused by CHIKV is unique, and its molecular mechanisms remain ill-defined. Materials and Methods: Proteomics data from both cellular and patient levels of CHIKV infection were curated from PubMed and screened using inclusion and exclusion criteria. Patient serum proteomics data obtained from P RIDE underwent reanalysis using Proteome Discoverer 2.2. Enrichment and protein-protein interaction network analysis were conducted on differentially expressed proteins from both serum and cellular datasets. Metabolite data from CHIKV-infected patients were further retrieved, and their protein binding partners were identified using BindingDB. The protein-metabolite interaction pathway was further developed using MetaboAnalyst. Results: The proteomics data analysis revealed differential expression of proteins involved in critical host mechanisms, such as cholesterol metabolism and mRNA splicing, during CHIKV infection. Consistent upregulation of two actin cytoskeleton proteins, TAGLN2 and PFN1, was noted in both serum and cellular datasets, and their upregulations are associated with arthritis. Furthermore, alterations in purine metabolism were observed in the integrative proteome-metabolome analysis, correlating with cytoskeletal remodelling. Conclusion: Collectively, this integrative view sheds light on the involvement of actin cytoskeleton remodeling proteins and purine metabolic pathways in the development of arthritis during CHIKV infection.

Advanced multimaterial shape optimization methods as applied to advanced manufacturing of wind turbine generators

AbstractCurrently, many utility‐scale wind turbine generator original equipment manufacturers are dependent on imported rare earth permanent magnets, which are susceptible to market risks from cost instability. To lower the production costs of these generators and stay competitive in the market, several small wind manufacturers are pursuing continuous improvements to both generator design and manufacturing. However, traditional design and manufacturing methods have yielded marginal improvements in wind power performance. This work presents novel methods to redesign a baseline 15‐kW wind turbine generator with reduced rare‐earth permanent magnets by leveraging cutting‐edge three‐dimensional (3D) printed polymer‐bonded permanent magnets and steel. Symmetric, asymmetric, and multimaterial‐magnet parametrization methods are introduced for shape optimization. We extend the symmetric and asymmetric methods to the back iron in the stator to further investigate the impact and opportunities for performance improvements with lesser active materials. We employ a design‐of‐experiments approach with parametric computer‐aided design for shape generation and evaluate different designs by magneto‐thermal modeling and finite‐element analysis. We use adaptive sampling technique to identify better performing designs with lesser magnet mass, higher efficiency, and lower cogging torque when compared with the baseline generator. Asymmetric pole designs resulted in a magnet mass in the range of 4.77–5.37 kg, which was 27%–35% lighter than the baseline generator, suggesting that a new design freedom exists that can be enabled by advanced manufacturing, such as 3D printing. Shaping the back iron in the stator resulted in material savings in electrical steel of up to 14.62 kg, which was 20% lighter than the baseline stator. We conducted a structural analysis to evaluate an optimized asymmetric rotor design from the point of view of mechanical integrity and air‐gap stiffness. The magnetically optimal shape profile was shown as having a positive impact on the radial stiffness, and an optimal solution was discovered to reduce the structural mass by nearly 30 kg, which was 29% lighter than the baseline.

Ethical and Legal Implications of Data Sharing in SaaS Laboratory Management Systems

Over the years, the use of Software as a Service (SaaS) in a laboratory information management system has transformed sharing and management in the latter system. Such a transformation, however, brings along complex ethical and legal challenges for which scrutiny is supposed to be considered. Implication for adopting SaaS platforms includes fundamental concern about data privacy, security, and the overall integrity of scientific research. The paper systematically analyses ethical and legal implications associated with data sharing through SaaS platforms in the management of laboratories. This thus revolves around the understanding of how these systems can handle key aspects such as data ownership, respect for privacy, and compliance with international laws, and the resultant effects these would have on respective stakeholders across the scientific community. We, in this approach, have reviewed a wide range of literature, including fine details of case studies and views by experts, in light of current practices and challenges within SaaS-based laboratory management. We incorporate all these methods within the research to provide an integral view of the multidimensional ethical and legal landscaping, therefore delivering an approach with both depth and context to the analysis. It was mainly, regarding informed consent, and a very complex legal challenge emphasized in this study for compliance with GDPR, along with data confidentiality, respectively, for compliance with HIPAA. The study focused on the non-existence or lack of uniformity of regulatory frameworks that can provide for the special characteristics of SaaS data management and cross-border data flows.

Knowledge transfer and protection in international joint ventures: An integrative review

Cross-border transfer and the protection of knowledge are important for multinational enterprises (MNEs) to develop their network partners’ capabilities while simultaneously safeguarding competitive advantages. However, they can be challenging for MNEs due to cultural and institutional differences between home and host markets. This poses a dilemma for MNEs, which is how to strike a balance between their knowledge transfer (KT) and knowledge protection (KP) strategies. It is notable that, so far, research has primarily investigated these two areas independently, lacking an integrative view. Therefore, in this article, we reviewed 98 academic articles exploring knowledge transfer/protection in MNEs operating under international joint venture (IJV) arrangements and assessed publications from the last two decades (2000–2022). Drawing from institutional theory and the bargaining power perspective, we developed a conceptual framework highlighting the external and internal factors influencing KT and KP. Subsequently, we contextualized these factors within the specific domain of IJVs, drawing on insights gleaned from the studies in our sample. The interplay of these factors, along with their contextual nuances, provides a holistic and in-depth understanding of how knowledge is managed within the complex dynamics of IJVs. In addition, our review contributes to our understanding of knowledge management in MNEs by identifying novel gaps in the literature and suggesting a number of avenues for future research.

Feedback thought at the intersection of systems and design science

AbstractThis paper explores the interplay of feedback principles in design and systems science. From their roots in engineering, biology, and economics, it investigates intersections between design, cybernetics and servomechanisms. The synthesis emphasizes the need for considering feedback in anticipating unintended consequences and proposes an integrative view reconciling fundamental assumptions from the different fields through simulation. This holistic approach underscores the pivotal role of feedback in understanding and addressing complex phenomena, such as rebound effects, in design science.

Multiparametric Aging Study Across Adulthood in the Leg Through Quantitative MR Imaging, 1H Spectroscopy, and 31P Spectroscopy at 3T.

Improved characterization of healthy muscle aging is needed to establish early biomarkers in age-related diseases. To quantify age-related changes on multiple MRI and clinical variables evaluated in the same cohort and identify correlations among them. Prospective. 70 healthy subjects (30 men) from 20 to 81 years old. 3T/water T2 (multiecho SE, multi-TE STEAM), water T1 (GRE MR Fingerprinting), fat-fraction (multiecho GRE, multi-TE STEAM), carnosine (PRESS), multicomponent water T2 (ISIS-CPMG SE train), and 31P pulse-acquire spectroscopy. Age- and sex-related changes on: Imaging: fat-fraction (FFMRI), water T1 (T1-H2O), and T2 (T2-H2O-MRI) and their heterogeneities ΔT1-H2O and ΔT2-H2O-MRI in the posterior compartment (PC) and anterior compartment (AC) of the leg. 1H spectroscopy: Carnosine concentration, pH, water T2 components (T2-H2O-CPMG), fat-fraction (FFMRS), and water T2 (T2-H2O-MRS) in the gastrocnemius medialis. 31P spectroscopy: Phosphodiesters (PDE), phosphomonoesters, inorganic phosphates (Pi), and phosphocreatine (PCr) normalized to adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and pH in the calf. Clinical evaluation: Body-mass index (BMI), gait speed (GS), plantar flexion strength, handgrip strength (HS), HS normalized to wrist circumference (HSnorm), physical activity assessment. Multilinear regressions with sex and age as fixed factors. Spearman correlations calculated between variables. Benjamini-Hochberg procedure for false positives reduction (5% rate). A P < 0.05 significance level was used. Significant age-related increases were found for BMI (ρAge = 0.04), HSnorm (ρAge = -0.01), PDE/ATP (ρAge = 2.8 × 10-3), Pi/ATP (ρAge = 2.0 × 10-3), Pi/PCr (ρAge = 0.3 × 10-3), T2-H2O-MRS (ρAge = 0.051 msec), FFMRS (ρAge = 0.036) the intermediate T2-H2O-CPMG component time (ρAge = 0.112 msec), and fraction (ρAge = -0.3 × 10-3); and in both compartments for FFMRI (ρAge = 0.06, PC; ρAge = 0.06, AC), T2-H2O-MRI (ρAge = 0.05, PC; ρAge = 0.05, AC; msec), ΔT2-H2O-MRI (ρAge = 0.02, PC; ρAge = 0.02, AC; msec), T1-H2O (ρAge = 1.08, PC; ρAge = 1.06, AC; msec), and ΔT1-H2O (ρAge = 0.22, PC; ρAge = 0.37, AC; msec). The best age predictors, accounting for sex-related differences, were HSnorm (R2 = 0.52) and PDE/ATP (R2 = 0.44). In both leg compartments, the imaging measures and HSnorm were intercorrelated. In PC, T2-H2O-MRS and FFMRS also showed numerous correlations to the imaging measures. PDE/ATP correlated to T1-H2O, T2-H2O-MRI, ΔT2-H2O-MRI, FFMRI, FFMRS, the intermediate T2-H2O-CPMG, BMI, Pi/PCr, and HSnorm. Our multiparametric MRI approach provided an integrative view of age-related changes in the leg and revealed multiple correlations between these parameters and the normalized HS. 1 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 3.

Improved uniform error bounds on an exponential wave integrator method for the nonlinear Schrödinger equation with wave operator and weak nonlinearity

In this paper, we establish the improved uniform error bounds for the Lawson-type exponential wave integrator Fourier pseudo-spectral (LEWIFP) method for the nonlinear Schrödinger equation with wave operator (NLSW) and weak nonlinearity characterized by a small constant ε∈(0,1]. We first convert the NLSW to a coupled system and then consider the LEWIFP method for the coupled system. The LEWIFP method is proved to be time symmetric and mass-conservative which is very important from the point of view of numerical geometric integration. Through careful and rigorous convergence analysis, we establish improved uniform error bounds for the full-discretization at O(hm+ε2pτ2) in the long-time domain up to O(1/ε2p) where m is determined by the regularity conditions. These error bounds are much better than the classical error bounds O(hm+τ2) provided by the traditional error analysis. In error analysis, in addition to the classical tools such as mathematical induction and energy method, we adopt the regularity compensation oscillation (RCO) technique to analyze the accumulation of errors carefully. The numerical experiments support our error estimates and demonstrate the discrete mass-conservation. In addition, the numerical results show that the discrete energy is stable in the time domain up to O(1/ε2p).

Integrated Reporting and the experience of the Pilot Programme: perspective of an Italian pioneer company over ten years

Purpose This study aims to propose a longitudinal analysis of motivations for Integrated Reporting (IR) adoption, internal changes, the benefits of IR implementation and compliance challenges. Design/methodology/approach The authors analyse a longitudinal case study of an Italian-listed company (Eni) participating in the IR-Pilot Programme (PP) and covering 10 years of IR adoption. The analysis was based on a mixed-method approach that included semi-structured interviews, content analysis of annual reports and triangulation with other data sources. Results are discussed regarding institutional theory, legitimacy theory and diffusion of innovation theory. Findings The study suggests that motivations for adopting IR change over time and participation in the IR-PP helps Eni acquire a comprehensive and substantial integrated view of value creation over time, makes integrated culture a key factor for strategic business sustainability and confirms the readiness of early adopters to comply with the non-financial Directive (NFD). Originality/value This study, among the few longitudinal case studies, provides organisations, regulators and academics with insights into the motivations driving the successful adoption and implementation of IR and the NFD. The results may help companies consider one of the tools currently deemed to bring sustainability into action and participation in pilot groups.