Interdisciplinary Understanding Research Articles

Introduction: Severe Uncertainty in Science, Medicine, and Technology

Introduction: Severe Uncertainty in Science, Medicine, and Technology

An architectural viewpoint to user-centred work environment research to support spatial understanding in a transdisciplinary context through ecosystem-based approach

PurposeThis paper aims to build on the presumption that defining the spatial solution of the activity-based office environment through user-centred interdisciplinary dialog would strengthen understanding of interdependencies between the environment and the worker. Secondly, this presumption also contributes to the idea that the shared and clarified concepts of a spatial solution through location-specific structuring, would support the research outcomes in being communicated to the design practice, and further improve the work environment design in the future. Thirdly, this supposition is that understanding, documenting and communicating of the interdependencies between the environment and the worker would contribute to increased interdisciplinary understanding, ultimately benefitting the end-user, the worker.Design/methodology/approachThe driver of this conceptual paper is to encourage understanding across disciplinary boundaries and communication of work environment research results for implementation in design practice. The authors introduce an ecosystem-based approach to discuss the spatial solutions of activity-based office work environments. This approach is motivated by a need to understand the contradictory findings in former knowledge work environment research, such as ambiguities with shared concepts concerning interdisciplinary spatial discourse and shortcomings with user-centred methodologies in architectural design research. The transdisciplinarity forms the methodological framework of this paper, and it is reflected in relation to the design research approach Research by Design (RbD). RbD considers the professional designer’s viewpoint, which includes creative knowledge production, carrying out the operations of research in a real-life context with interdisciplinary interactions together with the worker’s user-experience.FindingsThe research outcome is the proposal of an activity-based office ecosystem-based approach, in which the physical environment is structured into two entities: architectural envelope and interior orchestration. In this twofold approach, both qualitative and quantitative contents are meant to be seen as part of the time-location-based framework of an office space. This integrative approach is intended to support the process of searching for understanding and unity of knowledge across disciplinary boundaries. The twofold structuring also has an essential role in supporting methodological choices and the communication of the research outcomes both between disciplines and to design practice. The twofold model also has a role in engaging users as participants and evidence providers in the design or research processes.Originality/valueThe location-specific ecosystem-based approach of the physical work environment compiles of a twofold entity architectural envelope and interior orchestration. This approach supports affordance-based thinking, understanding the ecosystem’s complexity and underpins spatial documentation. Furthermore, this location-specific ecosystem-based approach enables communication of the research outcomes to the design practice and participation actions with the users.

Psychology of Modern Leadership as an Important Phenomenon of Effective Management

The article deals with contemporary understanding of the phenomenon of leadership. The authors analyze the distinctive features of a leader and his behavior, the specifics of leader's image representation. The paper touches upon the problem of choosing a motivation to be/to become a leader and not only to choose him/her and follow him/her in modern society. The authors of the article analyze the psychological types of personality of the modern leader. An overview of modern research, theories, leadership concepts is given. The issues devoted to the problem of leadership as a mechanism necessary for effective management of the organization are considered. Interdisciplinary understanding of leadership phenomenon within sociology, philosophy, political science, pedagogy and psychology is presented. The similarities and differences of such concepts as leader, manager, authority are revealed. The definition of such concepts as premiums and disadvantages of leadership is given. The characteristics of an effective leader are presented. The article deals with the types of groups, the personality of the leader, the traits of his character that contribute to his becoming a leader, the relationship between the leader and the rest of the group, the theories of leadership and types of leaders are studied. The relevance of this topic is due to the necessity of the presence of a leader in any group that solves the task set before it.

From Freud to Android: Constructing a Scale of Uncanny Feelings

The uncanny valley is a topic for engineers, animators, and psychologists, yet uncanny emotions are without a clear definition. Across three studies, we developed an 8-item measure of unnerved feelings, finding that it was discriminable from other affective experiences. In Study 1, we conducted an exploratory factor analysis that yielded two factors; an unnerved factor, which connects to emotional reactions to the uncanny, and a disoriented factor, which connects to mental state changes more distally following uncanny experiences. Focusing on the unnerved measure, Study 2 tests the scale’s convergent and discriminant validity, concluding that participants who watched an uncanny video were more unnerved than those who watched a disgusting, fearful, or a neutral video. In Study 3, we determined that our scale detects unnerved feelings created during early 2020 by the coronavirus pandemic; a distinct source of uncanniness. These studies contribute to the psychological and interdisciplinary understanding of this strange, eerie phenomenon of being confronted with what looms just beyond our understanding.

Sports Psychiatry in Competitive Sports - Interdisciplinary and Interprofessional Care and Collaboration

Sports Psychiatry in Competitive Sports - Interdisciplinary and Interprofessional Care and Collaboration Abstract. Mental complaints and illnesses are common health problems in competitive sports, and mental health, like physical health and performance, is an integral dimension in competitive sports. The promotion of mental health and safe management of mental complaints and illnesses in competitive sports requires a qualified medical discipline for mental health: sports psychiatry as well as an interdisciplinary and interprofessional understanding of care and cooperation. In the following article, sports psychiatry in competitive sports will be addressed and (i) mental health promotion and prevention, (ii) the tandem concept of interprofessional care and collaboration, (iii) diagnosis, treatment, and aftercare of mental disorders and illnesses, and (iv) education and training in sports psychiatry will be presented and discussed.

Sports Psychiatry in Competitive Sports

Mental complaints and illnesses are common health problems in competitive sports, and mental health, like physical health and performance, is an integral dimension in competitive sports. The promotion of mental health and safe management of mental complaints and illnesses in competitive sports requires a qualified medical discipline for mental health: sports psychiatry as well as an interdisciplinary and interprofessional understanding of care and cooperation. In the following article, sports psychiatry in competitive sports will be addressed and (i) mental health promotion and prevention, (ii) the tandem concept of interprofessional care and collaboration, (iii) diagnosis, treatment, and aftercare of mental disorders and illnesses, and (iv) education and training in sports psychiatry will be presented and discussed.

The enigma: Decision-making to transfer residents to the emergency department; communication and care delivery between emergency department staff and residential aged care facilities' nurses.

To investigate the experience of nurses involved in decision-making to transfer residents from a residential aged care facility (RACF) to their local hospital emergency department. This paper reports on the findings of the second phase of a two-phase study. Qualitative semi-structured interviews with 19 aged care nurses were conducted. Interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim, and a thematic analysis was carried out. The analysis revealed five major themes that influenced decision-making in relation to the transfer of a resident from the residential aged care facility to the emergency department: conflict with key stakeholders; knowledge and experience; policy and process; stakeholder perception; and recognition and support. Robust outreach programs, support from other health-care professionals, and improving interdisciplinary understanding and communication between aged care nurses, paramedics and the emergency department would be advantageous to ensure effective care delivery and decision-making.

Cooper quartet correlations in infinite symmetric nuclear matter

We investigate the quartet correlations in four-component fermionic systems at the thermodynamic limit within a variational many-body theory. The Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS)-type variational wave function is extended to the systems with the coexistence of pair and quartet correlations at zero temperature. Special attention is paid to the application of the present framework to an alpha-particle condensation in symmetric nuclear matter, where the coexistence of deuteron and alpha condensations is anticipated. We also discuss how physical properties, such as quasiparticle dispersion, can be modified by the pair and quartet correlations and show a hierarchical structure of in-medium cluster formations in infinite nuclear matter. The present results may also contribute to the interdisciplinary understanding of fermionic condensations beyond the BCS paradigm in many-body systems.

Evaluating Agricultural Food Supply Chain Resilience in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

With the spread of the global COVID-19 pandemic, agricultural food supply chains (AFSC) have suffered from unprecedented challenges and disruption. AFSC must possess extremely high levels of resilience when confronted by the pandemic. In this study, we have identified six important resilience criteria and eighteen sub-criteria of AFSC in the context of the COVID-19. The research presents the conceptual mixed multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) technology to prioritize the resilience criteria based on understanding their interrelationships. Results identify three essential resilience criteria, namely “coordination and collaboration in the supply chain”, “efficiency”, and “strategic management” and the top five key sub-criteria as “velocity”, “visibility”, “continuity management”, “connectedness”, “collaborative planning and replenishment”. The framework proposed in this study contributes to the interdisciplinary understanding towards building resilience within AFSC, and has the potential to be extended to other types of supply chains in response to COVID-19.

Game‐based, gamified, and gamefully designed assessments for employee selection: Definitions, distinctions, design, and validation

AbstractReflecting practitioner efforts to improve existing psychometric assessments, a new games‐related class of assessments and assessment design approaches has emerged, and research is beginning to examine it as well. Understanding this class of assessments requires understanding of three major terms. First,game‐based assessmentrefers to an assessment method in which job candidates are players participating in a core gameplay loop while trait information is inferred. Second,gameful designrefers to practices by assessment professionals using game mechanics or other game concepts to guide their decision‐making in assessment design. Third,gamificationrefers to practices by assessment professionals changing existing assessments by adding game mechanics and applying game concepts to them. Whereas game‐based assessment is itself an assessment method, the other two are (re)design strategies. In this review, we explore these distinctions in finer terms, describe the game design and development processes necessary to create a functional game‐based assessment, describe theoretical and practical concerns related to the use or addition of game mechanics in traditional assessment methods, and present evaluation guidelines for the entire assessment class. Overall, we conclude that the future of games‐related assessment is promising, but further progress will require a focus on interdisciplinary understanding and much greater integration of design and development into assessment theory.

An Integrated Quantitative Assessment of Urban Water Security of a Megacity in the Global South

Water security, the access to adequate amounts of water of adequate quality, is and will remain a hugely important issue over the next decades as climate change and related hazards, food insecurity, and social instability will exacerbate insecurities. Despite attempts made by researchers and water professionals to study different dimensions of water security in urban areas, there is still an absence of comprehensive water security measurement tools. This study aims to untangle the interrelationship between biophysical and socio-economic dimensions that shape water security in a megacity in the Global South—Kolkata, India. It provides an interdisciplinary understanding of urban water security by extracting and integrating relevant empirical knowledge on urban water issues in the city from physical, environmental, and social sciences approaches. To do so we use intersectional perspectives to analyze urban water security at a micro (respondent) level and associated challenges across and between areas within the city. The study concludes with the recommendation that future studies should make use of comprehensive and inclusive approaches so we can ensure that we leave no one behind.

Project resilience: a conceptual framework

Resilience is a novel but promising concept in project management studies. Resilience thinking can help projects maintain their performance through flexible, systemic and context-specific approaches once faced with disruptive events. That said, the main goal of this paper is to advance an interdisciplinary understanding of project resilience by proposing a definition and a conceptual framework of this concept. To achieve this article's objectives, the literature on project risk management is first reviewed to identify current research effort and limitations of dealing with disruptions. Consecutively, the concept of resilience in its broader applicability is explored, where two dimensions are sieved; awareness and adaptive capacity. The literature on the new concept of project resilience is also scrutinized, where its novel nature, the lack of scientific studies to conceptualize it, and its significance to project management are demonstrated. These facts helped propose a definition and a conceptual framework of project resilience, where a set of relationships are instigated, which constitute a base line to perform further disquisitions to assess their validity. Implications for future contributions advocate conceptual exchanges with more advanced research fields (e.g. organizational resilience). These exchanges can assist in the development of indicators to evaluate the ability of projects to deal with disruptive events and enhance their resilience.

Inequality and Exclusion in Latin America: Health Care Commodification, Gendered Norms, and Violence

Since the early 1990s, a market‐orientated policymaking in Latin American countries did nothing to secure decent and productive jobs or eliminate gender inequities. It served, rather, to limit social investments that were needed to increase wellbeing, social cohesion, and, eventually, productivity. The pioneering scholarly work of the authors in this thematic issue, using either qualitative or quantitative methodologies, deepens our interdisciplinary understanding of the causes and dynamics of inequality and exclusion in these countries. Contributions are organized in three dimensions: (a) the commodification of health care, (b) gendered social norms, and (c) fragile life and violence. Based on our authors’ findings and suggestions, an agenda for change emerges that emphasizes autonomy from external pressures, community action and representation, eradication of the patriarchy, and expansion of social protection programs.

Тенденции и перспективы ИТ-образования в среде Индустрии 4.0

The fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) has brought about changes in various aspects of human life. One of them is the education system. The article explores the impact of Industry 4.0 on the field of education. In this regard, the main characteristics of Industry 4.0, driven by artificial intelligence and digital physical structures are explored using distributed computing, big data, portable devices, the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), etc. Moreover, the article analyzes the main technologies of Education 4.0, which play an important role in supporting Industry 4.0 and have a significant impact on the change in IT education. The article shows the main engineering competencies of Industry 4.0 specialists to be knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to successfully complete production tasks. Future engineers need to improve their professional, social, methodological and personal competencies. They need an interdisciplinary understanding of systems, manufacturing processes, automation technology and information technology. The article uses methods of comparative analysis, generalization and systematic approach to the peculiarities of using Industry 4.0 technologies in the field of e-education. The results obtained are expected to be used by specialists, managers and teachers to improve the educational performance of IT specialists in higher education institutions.

Child Well-Being in Latin America: contributions to child indicators research.

This Special Issue was compiled to advance an interdisciplinary understanding of the complexity of conceptualizations, determinants, consequences, and measurement of child well-being of children and adolescents fully devoted to Latin-American. It seeks to enhance by contributing with studies on socioeconomic determinants and access to material goods, as well as regarding the conditions of urban life, the school, the neighbourhood, including personal aspects, while considering contributions in instrumental resources for research. This is an important step forward for the well-being researchers in a region of the world that still needs a lot of new scientific knowledge, and where many new actions should be undertaken to improve children and adolescent’s well-being. We hope that as a result of this special issue, the scientific research in this field will increase in Latin America.

КОНЦЕПТУАЛЬНЫЕ АСПЕКТЫ ПРОБЛЕМЫ ПОЛИТИЧЕСКОГО РЕГУЛИРОВАНИЯ МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫХ ОТНОШЕНИЙ В ОБЛАСТИ ИННОВАЦИОННЫХ ТЕХНОЛОГИЙ

The purpose of the article is to analyze the key scientific outlooks of the theory of international relations to comprehend the problem of innovative technologies and their impact on global processes. The authors consider that various scientific schools of the international relations theory think that the confrontation between states is moving from the military and economic sphere to a technological that built on innovation. This process irreversibly entails consequences, which are expressed in the increasing importance of technologies on the scale of national states and on an international scope. An analysis of conceptual approaches to the problem of the use and development of technologies showed that realistic concepts see them as one of the passive and non-systemic tools. States use innovations to ensure national security and increase competitiveness. Neorealists contend that the nature of the state and political forces are much more powerful than any technology. Followers of liberal schools are sure that the first place is to ensure the safety of using technology. Constructivists believe that to ensure the usefulness of a technological innovation, it must necessarily act in accordance with social norms. Supporters of the interdisciplinary school « Science, Technology and Society Studies » suggest the implementation of convergence between socio-political and technological structures. As a result, the authors draw conclusions that the developers of the “complex systems theory” have come closest to the implementation of an effective interdisciplinary synthesis and understanding of the problem of political regulation of modern technologies within the framework of global processes. The concept is based on synergetic ideas and sees the world order as a network structure with a multi-level system of interconnections, which at the same time has the ability to self-organize through the development of its units.

Berry Mayall and Roy Bhaskar: critical thinkers

Exchanges between the great range of disciplines and experts within IOE (Institute of Education), UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society (University College London, UK), can be very productive. This article celebrates two professors who, in markedly different ways, have transformed interdisciplinary understanding of their chosen specialties. Some of their ideas are summarised here to encourage readers who could benefit from their publications and are not yet familiar with them to be keen to study and gain from them. Berry Mayall and Roy Bhaskar might seem too dissimilar to fit into one article. Berry worked here for nearly fifty years, Roy for only seven. One was a sociologist, working mainly on empirical research, the other a philosopher developing extremely advanced theories. Yet they both developed critical new ideas and were under-recognised within IOE despite their international influence. Roy is such a prestigious philosopher, many may wonder why a whole article is not dedicated to him. My aims include recording some benefits of the interdisciplinary thinking he promoted. This article briefly considers some of the ideas that each developed and why these are important; their collaborative work; memories from colleagues they have influenced; and their contribution to IOE’s history and, potentially, to its future.

Reexamining Reasonableness: Modernizing the "Ellerth/Faragher" Defense

Named after the two 1998 U.S. Supreme Court decisions that established it, the Ellerth/Faragher defense is an affirmative defense generally available to employers who would otherwise be held liable for Title VII claims of supervisor harassment. If the supervisor’s behavior does not involve an adverse employment action, the employer may avoid liability if it can demonstrate that: (1) the employer exercised reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct unlawful harassment in the workplace, and (2) the aggrieved employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventative or corrective opportunities provided by the employer or to avoid harm otherwise. As employers sought to implement measures that demonstrated reasonable care, sexual harassment training and anonymous phone hotlines emerged as common strategies to assert this affirmative defense. In the contemporary workplace, where digital communication reigns and remote working becomes the new norm, such mechanisms are both archaic and ineffective in the prevention and correction of sexual harassment. This Comment critically analyzes the federal judiciary’s low threshold for “reasonableness” under the Ellerth/Faragher defense, considering specifically interdisciplinary understandings of the dynamics that motivate sexual harassment and rapid advances in technology. In addressing the law’s outdated understanding ofreasonableness, the Comment proposes the federal judiciary should (1) reexamine what qualifies as reasonable in the #MeToo era, and (2) strongly consider arguments in favor of “reasonable” including more stringent standards of care for employers reflecting technological advancements. So long as the Ellerth/Faragher defense remains the law, it is incumbent upon the federal judiciary to seriously consider evidence demonstrating what is reasonable in the modern workplace. The goal of this Comment is to suggest a comprehensive interdisciplinary approach with real-world impact—to prevent sexual harassment, rather than to correct—which carries the added benefit of mitigating employer liability.

Green Energy Sources Assessment Using Sentinel-1 Satellite Remote Sensing

Due to the growing use of Green Energy Sources (GESs), the activities of mapping, monitoring, measurement, and detection of various GESs have become crucial. Assessing and measuring GESs are very complex since different environmental conditions occur. This importance is even greater when researchers face a shortage of measuring instruments and tools in many parts of the world. GES assessment is a challenging task that requires accurate and continuous measurement methods. Currently, traditional methods are very time-consuming and require spending money and human sources. So, the use of accurate and fast measurement methods and tools assessing measuring GESs potential are seriously recommended, which can greatly help the growth of the use of GESs, especially to cover and focus large areas. Satellite remote sensing is used to observe the environment in many fields and new and fast applications. Satellites remote sensing technologies and techniques for GESs assessing are fast, accurate, and can help to reduce costs and decision-making risks of GESs converters installations projects and provide suitable products to the public end-users. These could also be used to identify regions of interest for energy converter installations and to accurately identify new areas with interesting potentials. In this case, researchers can dramatically reduce the possibility of significant error in assessment methods. There is a lack of in-situ measuring tools mainly due to their high economic costs in the interested areas; an accurate analysis was carried out to assess the GESs energy potential. Since there are only limited options for further expanding the measurement over large areas, the use of satellites makes it easier to overcome in-situ limitations. Actually, to use and develop it as much as possible, a correct interdisciplinary understanding is needed. Satellite remote sensing technology for identifying suitable areas for GESs power plants could be a powerful tool that is constantly increasing in its new and fast applications but requires good planning to apply it in various GESs converters installations projects. In this article, a comprehensive review on wind, wave, biomass, geothermal sources assessment using Sentinel-1 (S-1) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite estimation has been summarized along with the different techniques available to measure GESs using satellites. In the paper, several of the successful estimation techniques were introduced in each section and compared for the understanding of limitations and strengths of different methods of GESs availability evaluation.

Unconscious bias in organizations

This special issue revolves around the topic of unconscious bias in organizations. The six articles included draw on diverse disciplinary, theoretical, and methodological approaches to show how unconscious bias play out in organizational settings and how they lead to various forms of discrimination. The articles contribute to the current bias literature by (1) elevating the idea of bias from individualist perspectives toward more contextual considerations, (2) drawing on multiple perspectives from different research fi elds and thereby creating a more interdisciplinary understanding, (3) considering unconscious and discriminatory gender bias in intersection with other markers of social inequality, and (4) by reframing current understandings of bias in organizations toward a more actionable and change-oriented perspective. To conclude, the special issue illustrates novel approaches to and discussions on the matter of investigating bias at the root of discrimination in organizations.