Internal Coherence Research Articles

Ecological empathy: relational theory and practice

ABSTRACT Sustainability science researchers are increasingly interested in human–nature connection as a leverage point for societal transformation. Empathy has potential as a way to reconnect people to nature by building relationships among more-than-humans. However, current approaches to empathy with more-than-humans usually prefer sympathy and compassion. I argue that these approaches limit the potential of empathy when considering human–nature (re)connection. I use the established concept of social empathy (Segal 2011, 2018) to structure a new presentation of empathy with more-than-humans: ecological empathy. Ecological empathy, as presented in this paper, consists of two subcomponents: contextual understanding of more-than-human interdependencies and more-than-human awareness and earth system perspective-taking. From this new perspective, I suggest defining ecological empathy as a cognitive and affective ability, which allows for internal coherence across bodily separation in humans and their environment. Integrating literature from biophilia, deep ecology, embodied cognition and multi-species ethnography, I elaborate on ecological empathy with inspirational practices that can be advanced across a range of decision, policy and design environments to address human–nature (re)connection.

How to design prototypes to prevent potential dominant logic conflict during the iterative learning process

Although prototype-based iterative learning is receiving increasing attention from research on lean startups, this stream of literature has a narrow focus on customer feedback and neglects the challenges of managing internal cognitive coherence during iterative learning processes. Without a shared dominant logic, the iterative revision of a prototype may fail. This research addresses this limitation by distinguishing the effects of different prototype strategies on dominant logic conflict and examining the moderating effect of socialization. Four hypotheses are developed and examined with survey data from 299 Chinese high-tech firms. We find that a basic prototype strategy results in low dominant logic conflict while an enhanced prototype strategy results in high dominant logic conflict during prototype-based iterative learning. Furthermore, socialization amplifies the negative and positive respective effects of these two prototype strategies. This research contributes to the literature on prototype-based iterative learning (e.g., for lean startups) and offers new managerial implications for practice.

An exploration of physics envy with implications for desiderata of psychology theories.

There is a trepidation, anxiety, or intuition, which has persisted for more than a century, that psychology theories are less anchored in fundamental laws than physics theories. Rather than attempt to refute the concern, the present work accepts it and tries out candidate explanations. These pertain to empirical laws, parsimony, scope, reductionism, falsifiability, mathematical operations (multiplication vs. addition), internal coherence, ceteris paribus stipulations, and purposeful omission of relevant factors (idealization). The conceptions underlying these explanations are not strictly independent, but they point to different distinctive features that might account for the unequal status of physics and psychological science and to different means of improving contemporary psychology. Although the available evidence for or against these candidate explanations is scarce and relies mainly on a few telling examples, we conclude that the last of our candidate explanations-reliance on idealized universes-works best and leads to the most insights about what psychology might learn from physics and what research strategies might foster the ideal of theory-driven psychological science in the future. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Modification and Validation of an Autism Observational Assessment Including ADOS-2® for Use with Children with Visual Impairment.

Children with visual impairment (VI) are at risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however standard observational diagnostic assessments are not validated for this population. The primary objective of the study is to validate a modified version of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2®, Module 3), for children with VI. A cross-sectional observational study was undertaken with 100 (mean 5½ years, SD 10.44 months, range 4-7 years; 59 (59%) males) children with congenital disorders of the peripheral visual system with moderate/severe-profound VI. As the primary objective, 83 (83%) who were 'verbally fluent' were assessed with the modified ADOS-2® (Module 3). Their scores were investigated for reliability, construct and criterion validity against expert clinician formulation and parent-rated social and communication questionnaires (Social Responsiveness Scale-2, SRS-2; Children's Communication Checklist-2). The secondary objective with the total sample was to report on frequency and distribution of ASD ratings in this VI population. The modified ADOS-2® (Module 3) was found to have strong internal coherence and construct validity (two factor model) and inter-rater reliability. A new VI diagnostic algorithm was established which showed high sensitivity and specificity against clinician formulation. Using the best cut-off threshold for 'High Risk for ASD', strong concurrent criterion validity was found according to parent-rated scores on the SRS-2. The modified ADOS-2® (Module 3) was shown to have promising reliability and validity in establishing children at 'High Risk of ASD' in this vulnerable population. Elevated rates of ASD were found across the sample, in line with previous estimates.

Digital transition in a turbulent world: European regional growth opportunities in 17 years' time

ABSTRACT Recently, the digital transition has been highlighted as a strategy fostering economic competitiveness. How the advantages from the digital transition will distribute over time and space is still unclear. This paper builds scenarios comparing the effects of a digital transition. Technological assumptions are consistently related to the assumptions on other structural changes. The internal coherence among assumptions is guaranteed by a larger overarching framework based on how the geopolitical context will evolve. A deeper within-EU integration and global cooperation, or a fragmented Europe torn in a world polarized in two blocs, enhance the digital transition and the main structural changes in different ways. Qualitative assumptions, validated through a Delphi analysis, are translated into quantitative ones and included in our MAcroeconometric, Social, Sectoral, Territorial 5 (MASST5) model, a regional macro-econometric forecasting model, through which simulations of GDP growth rates at regional (NUTS2) level are simulated for the period 2021–2038. Results show that if the digital investment plans stimulate growth, they only partially reverse regional growth divergence trends caused by advantages stemming from an integrated market, even if distributed with the aim of closing the digital gap among European countries.

Can Two Opposing Narratives Be Equally Valid? Reflections on Zreik’s Reflections on the War in Gaza

Abstract The article critically examines the arguments of Raef Zreik regarding the 2023 war in Gaza. It first analyzes the use of the concept of narrative in defending political causes and actions. It shows that due to their subjective nature two opposing narratives can be equally valid as long as they satisfy conditions of internal coherence and fidelity to the facts. It then shows that Zreik’s argument of ‘fragmentation’ is double edged and cannot be used for laying full responsibility on Israel. It then proceeds to criticize the claim that Zionism is a colonialist enterprise and shows that Zionism does not consist of all the basic characteristics of colonialism. Finally, it analyzes the common argument of self-defense as the only justification of starting a war and shows the limitation of such an argument in a theory of war, mainly because in most wars both sides have the right to defend themselves, including the allegedly unjust party. All that remains after showing the weakness of most arguments for this or that side to the conflict is the conclusion that compromise is the only way out of the deadlock, having the virtue of being pragmatic rather principled.

Current trends in antiplatelet strategies for emergent carotid stenting in acute tandem occlusions: a web-based, nationwide survey in the Italian neurovascular community.

Although a benefit from mechanical thrombectomy has been proven, the best treatment strategy for tandem occlusions (TOs) remains unclear. We conducted a survey that aimed to investigate the trends of pharmacological strategy in the setting of emergent carotid stenting for TOs in the Italian neuro-endovascular community. We administered a 13-multiple choice-questions survey to the Chiefs of the centers participating to the Italian Registry of Endovascular Thrombectomy in Acute Stroke (IRETAS), focused on the technical aspects and on the management of the antiplatelet therapy for emergent carotid tenting in TOs. An internal coherence control was performed by the coordinating investigator. We obtained responses from 56/66 centers (84.8%). The main results of the survey showed that most of the center treat TOs using a retrograde approach, deploying a closed-cell stent. A single antiplatelet therapy is preferred at the moment of the deployment of the stent. This survey showed that the current practice regarding the acute management of TOs, in particular the antiplatelet therapy, remains heterogeneous in the Italian neurovascular community. Specific evidences are urgently needed in order to achieve a consensus on the acute management of TOs.

The Obscure Appellate: The Egyptian Islamic Supreme Court, 1898–1955

Abstract This article examines the Egyptian Islamic Supreme Court (al-Maḥkama al-ʿUlyā l-Sharʿiyya), thereafter the isc, and its role in overseeing Islamic judicial practice in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The isc introduced new procedural requirements for dispensation of justice and assumed the responsibility to defend the jurisdiction of Islamic courts against persistent attempts by British colonial administrators and reform-minded political and bureaucratic elite to limit, if not undermine, their authority. The isc marked the recalibration of the legal and judicial authority of the Chief Judge of Egypt (qāḍī Miṣr, an Ottoman administrative judicial position) along with Shaykh al-Azhar and the Muftī of Egypt (who used to exercise oversight of Islamic courts’ decisions and procedures), in favor of this institutional apparatus. The creation of the isc demonstrates the centrality of the regulatory authority of the Ministry of Justice in fostering any potentiality for Islamic law as a system of governance. The continuous attempts to regulate Islamic courts since the 1880s cannot be examined in isolation from the procedural developments pursued in the secular National and Mixed Courts. The role of the isc was determinative of Islamic judicial practice in lower Islamic courts across Egypt. As a result, operations of Islamic courts were readjusted to a set of evolving norms concerning internal coherence, judicial reasoning, adoption of procedural rules to reflect directives from the Ministry of Justice, and attention to the updated rules of evidence and appeal. This process underscores how Islamic judicial practice was both transformed and made possible through an interwoven set of institutions, actors, and traditions. I argue that this institution, the isc, provides an ideal site for critical and interdisciplinary reflection aimed at exploring both the structural and the contextual history of law in colonial Egypt.

Разработка и апробация опросника диспозиционной терпимости личности

<p>Objective of the work was to construct and validate a dispositional tolerance questionnaire that aims to measure the subject's tolerance level in a complex way. Data collection was carried out in an online format. The methodology was approved with 160 students, the average age was 20 years old. In order to validate the presented questionnaire of dispositional tolerance we used methods of internal coherence and reliability of the scale, convergent validity, as well as confirmatory factor analysis to check the compliance of the theoretical factor structure of the questionnaire with the real one. Internal consistency of the methodology was assessed by calculating the value of Cronbach's α coefficients = 0.725. Convergent validity was assessed with the tolerance index questionnaire and the correlation level was 0.601. Factor analysis of the dispositional tolerance questionnaire confirmed the factor structure of the methodology. The meaning of dispositional tolerance was conceptualized and compared with existing concepts of psychological tolerance for further presentation of the psychometric instrument. This questionnaire stands as a method to diagnose tolerance as a subject's attitude. The obtained results confirmed sufficient reliability for using the presented psychometric tool in psychological practice.</p>

Oceans, Objects, and Infrastructures: Making Modern Piracy

Abstract The agenda of objectual International Relations has shown why object matters, how they arise and with what effects. Far less attention has been paid to how objects are maintained and stabilized over time and how their coherence is achieved. To add this dimension to the debate, we suggest turning to the infrastructures of object maintenance. Infrastructures are social material arrangements that maintain objects and enable their use. We introduce a framework for the study of object infrastructures and illustrate it by drawing on the case of “maritime piracy”. Providing a historical reconstruction of the infrastructures that produce piracy as an international object, we show that the growing proliferation of these infrastructures does not lead to an internal coherence of the object over time, but rather objectual fracturing and instability. We reveal how objects are often multiple rather than unitary. The article adds an important new dimension to the study of objects in International Relations.

ChatGPT and the German board examination for ophthalmology: an evaluation

In recent years artificial intelligence (AI), as anew segment of computer science, has also become increasingly more important in medicine. The aim of this project was to investigate whether the current version of ChatGPT (ChatGPT4.0) is able to answer open questions that could be asked in the context of aGerman board examination in ophthalmology. After excluding image-based questions, 10questions from 15different chapters/topics were selected from the textbook 1000 questions in ophthalmology (1000 Fragen Augenheilkunde 2ndedition, 2014). ChatGPT was instructed by means of aso-called prompt to assume the role of a board certified ophthalmologist and to concentrate on the essentials when answering. Ahuman expert with considerable expertise in the respective topic, evaluated the answers regarding their correctness, relevance and internal coherence. Additionally, the overall performance was rated by school grades and assessed whether the answers would have been sufficient to pass the ophthalmology board examination. The ChatGPT would have passed the board examination in 12out of 15topics. The overall performance, however, was limited with only 53.3% completely correct answers. While the correctness of the results in the different topics was highly variable (uveitis and lens/cataract 100%; optics and refraction 20%), the answers always had ahigh thematic fit (70%) and internal coherence (71%). The fact that ChatGPT4.0 would have passed the specialist examination in 12out of 15topics is remarkable considering the fact that this AI was not specifically trained for medical questions; however, there is aconsiderable performance variability between the topics, with some serious shortcomings that currently rule out its safe use in clinical practice.

La théorie morale implicite du serment d’Hippocrate

Hippocrates remains famous for having been the first to provide the clinic with a rigorous method, capable of satisfying the demands of reason. A paradigmatic figure in the emergence of rationalism in the West, a contemporary of Socrates and Plato, the father of medicine also marked with his spirit of rigor an “oath‿ promised to great fortune. Through its “performative‿ vocation, the oath has a purpose that differs from that of deontology, the standards of which are governed by regulatory and legal concerns. More than deontology, it’s relevant to compare the oath to the moral theories that make up the philosophical landscape of ethics today. Regardless of the content of its rules, the Hippocratic discourse lends itself to reflection on its overall tone and internal coherence. From its “substantial marrow‿, it’s possible to extract a certain way of conceiving ethics which still makes sense today. As an overall ethical vision, Hippocrates' philosophical thought balances a deontological moral theory with an ethics of prudence.

Changing and yet the same? Italy’s foreign policy ideas and National Role Conceptions in a populist age

ABSTRACT The foreign policy objectives of nations typically stem from their perceptions of global dynamics, often shaped by specific National Role Conceptions (NRCs). This study considers these conceptions as articulated in the programmatic speeches of Italy’s Prime Ministers and Foreign Affairs Ministers from 2016 to 2022, a period marked by the governance of five administrations, some supported by populist parties. The primary objective is to discern the NRCs underpinning Italy’s foreign-policy objectives and strategies, aiming to identify significant departures from the approaches of previous governments. Additionally, the research aims to ascertain whether recent Italian foreign policy exhibits traits characteristic of populist agendas as discussed in the International Relations literature. The key finding reveals notable consistency, reflecting internal coherence and continuity in Italy’s foreign-policy framework. Populist narratives, it appears, remain largely confined to the domain of rhetoric, exerting minimal influence on actual foreign policy directives. However, this continuity also implies a limited capacity to adapt to the rapidly evolving global landscape, potentially undermining the efficacy of Italy’s foreign policy in the future.

Assessment of Occupational Based Stress and Internal Coherence Related with Quality of Life Through Heartrate Variability (HRV) - A Cross Sectional Study

Background: This study aimed to evaluate occupation-based stress levels and internal coherence in individuals visiting dental clinics of a tertiary care hospital using heart rate variability (HRV) measures. Occupational stress can significantly influence various aspects of quality of life, including emotional health and cardiovascular risks. Objective: The primary objective was to assess the relationship between occupational stress, internal coherence, and quality of life through HRV metrics in a diverse population. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted over six months, enrolling 323 voluntary participants aged 18 years and older, irrespective of gender, ethnic background, or occupation. Participants were informed about the study and provided consent one day prior to their participation. HRV recordings were taken for six minutes in a quiet, temperature-controlled room after a 30-minute relaxation period. HRV sensors were applied to either the index finger or earlobe based on the participant's choice. Data were analyzed using emWave Pro Plus and Kubios HRV software. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 25, with numerical variables reported as medians and interquartile ranges and categorical variables as frequencies and percentages. Results: The study comprised 161 males (49.8%) and 162 females (50.2%), with an age range of 18-65 years. Sympathetic activity increased with age, while younger participants exhibited higher parasympathetic activity. The median SDNN was 78.70 ms (IQR 43.8, 148.0) for males and 60.0 ms (IQR 35.1, 132.2) for females. The coherence levels were low across all age groups, and the stress index scores increased with age. Specifically, the stress index was higher in older age groups, with males aged 54-65 years showing a median stress index score of 45.8% in the high-stress category, compared to 17.9% in males aged 18-29 years. Conclusion: The findings highlight the significant impact of occupational stress on HRV and overall well-being. Sympathetic activity increased with age, and stress levels were higher in older participants. These results underscore the importance of work-life balance and stress management strategies to mitigate cardiovascular risks and improve quality of life.

Behavioral Attributes Influencing Decision Making of Indian Derivative Market Investors

Aim: The retail investors of the Indian investment landscape are found to base their investment decisions on several factors that may not be entirely attributed to price movement and information availability. Various studies have been conducted to capture these behavioral attributes that may invariably have an influencing effect either knowingly or unknowingly on the investors. This study aims to identify these behavioral biases influencing investor’s decision-making when they are active participants in the Indian Derivative market. Methodology: The study is conducted using primary data over 200 derivative investors within the northern Indian subcontinent aged between 18 years to 50 years. A questionnaire has been adapted from the defined scales from literature and uses the Likert scale to measure the behavioral patterns of investors. A cross-sectional survey method is used to distribute the questionnaire both online and offline. Factor analysis is then employed to identify the latent variables impacting the decision-making. Results: The sample under study generated six factors that have a significant influence on decision-making. These factors include Herding bias, Overconfidence bias, Risk Aversion, Market Responsiveness, Information processing Style and Information Reliance. All these factors have a significant influence on the investors buying and selling behavior in the Indian derivative market. A reliability test was run to assess the reliability of the factors where the Cronbach alpha was found to be above 0.8 for all the factors which shows a strong internal coherence among the factors.

Federalism and Settler Imperialism: Racial Regimes, Whiteness, and Conquest in Canadian Constitutionalism

AbstractIn political science, federalism is often treated as an “antithesis” to empire. While Canadian Politics has recently become more attentive to the importance of ongoing settler colonialism as conditioning Canadian political life writ large, this has yet to induce a paradigm shift in understanding how the institutional logics of the state were established by, and in order to advance, colonial and imperial ends. This article contributes to this broader understanding by exploring how, in Canada, the federal arrangement congeals a constitutionalized whiteness that facilitates both the internal coherence of a settler class and its subsequent continental expansion. Attentive to the importance of this constitutional development within a world-spanning imperial context, this article also suggests that the simultaneous innovation of Dominion status contoured the early twentieth-century's global colour line, as self-determination was increasingly devolved to other white settler polities. The contradictory realities of these processes are also noted.

The utility and reliability of the PreViAs questionnaire forthe assessment of vision in Turkish neonates and infants.

Introduction: Evaluating the visual functions of children with an easy-to-use and evidence-based method during the preverbal period will enable early diagnosis and intervention of visual impairments. The aim of this study is to determine the utility and reliability of the Turkish version of the Preverbal Visual Assessment (PreViAs) questionnaire, which was developed to evaluate the visual functioning of preverbal infants. Population and Methods: The PreViAs questionnaire was administered to primary caregivers of term infants under 24 months of age, and their responses were recorded. Results: Data from the 278 participating infants were analyzed to assess the internal consistency of the PreViAs questionnaire. Results showed a high level of consistency with Cronbach's alpha value of 0.958 for the total score, suggesting strong internal coherence. In addition, the Cronbach's alpha values for each domain were 0.890, 0.913, 0.951, and 0.922 for visual attention, visual communication, visual processing, and visual-motor coordination, respectively, indicating good internal consistency for each subdomain. Conclusion: The Turkish version of the PreViAs questionnaire is useful and reliable for assessing functional vision during the preverbal period.

Validation of the Internal Coherence Scale (ICS) in Healthy Geriatric Individuals and Patients Suffering from Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 and Cancer.

With increased life expectancy, the coexistence of functional impairment and multimorbidity can negatively impact life quality and coherence in geriatric individuals. The self-report 10-item Internal Coherence (ICS) measures how individuals cope with and make sense of disease-specific life challenges. The aim of this study was to validate the ICS in a sample of geriatric individuals. In a cross-sectional study, geriatric individuals with and without chronic diseases were recruited. A factor analysis with principal component extraction (PCA) and a structural equation model (SEM) was conducted to assess the ICS factor structure in a geriatric sample. To measure convergent validity, the following scales were used: Short Health Survey (SF-12), Karnofsky Performance Index (KPI), Trait autonomic regulation (Trait aR), Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC), and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). A sample of n = 104 (70-96 years of age) patients with Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 (n = 22), cancer diseases (n = 31) and healthy controls (n = 51) completed the ICS. PCA and SEM yielded the original two-factor solution: 1. Inner resilience and coherence and 2. Thermo coherence. Overall internal consistency for this cohort was satisfying (Cronbach's α with rα = 0.72), and test-retest reliability was moderate (rrt = 0.53). ICS scores were significantly correlated to all convergent criteria ranging between r = 0.22 * and 0.49 ** (p < 0.05 *; p < 0.01 **). Study results suggest that the ICS appears to be a reliable and valid tool to measure internal coherence in a geriatric cohort (70-96 years). However, moderate test-retest reliability prompts the consideration of potential age-effects that may bias the reliability for this specific cohort.

The power of images: hysteric symptoms as representations of the self

The diagnosis of hysteria, despite being fundamental in the birth of psychiatry, has currently been removed from nosography. This choice speaks of the renunciation by contemporary nosography of understanding psychopathological conditions as structural entities, with internal coherence and meaningfulness – which on the contrary should be reconsidered. Hysteria represents a mirror of social and cultural changes. The metamorphoses throughout history of hysterical symptoms reflect the changing interests of medicine (the greater legitimation of somatic symptoms over psychic ones) and, in general, mirror the increasing importance of images in the contemporary world. Despite its nosographical fragmentation, hysteria continues to be talked about. Phenomenologically, hysteria is described not as a diagnosis but as an existential position, freeing it from gender prejudices. Hysterical persons suffer from a hypo-sufficiency of the self, from a difficulty in feeling from within, which ends up hypertrophying the identity definitions coming from without: the gaze of others, socio-cultural stereotypes, gender models. Visibility therefore takes on a central role, and images become a vehicle to represent oneself – capable of attracting the attention of others and enchanting them. Different powers have been attributed to images throughout the history of thought: that of paralyzing, that of moving to action, that of underlining the contingency of experience. Hysterical persons embody images, generating with their symptoms a world of representations. However, what characterizes hysteria is not the symptom, but the use made of that symptom: it becomes a catalyst for the gaze of others, which allows one to assume an otherwise lacking identity-consistency. For this reason, hysterical persons are not only passively subject to their symptoms, but actively make use of them in interpersonal relations.

Exploring policy coherence to understand limited progress of gender and social inclusion in the energy sector: The case of Nepal

Goal 7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030 but securing universal access to energy supplies remains a challenge worldwide. There is increased recognition that gender and social inclusion (GESI) is critical for the transition towards low-carbon energy.Nepal's inclusive 2015 Constitution, and its 2021 federal-level Gender Equality Policy translate this commitment. Likewise, Nepal is committed to SDG 7. Yet energy policy includes only limited provisions for ensuring energy access by marginalized groups and women. This paper focuses on energy policy coherence to identify cohesion between policies and policy instruments at different levels of governance to identify bottlenecks to GESI. Using a policy coherence and feminist policy approach within an energy justice context, it traces the coherence of GESI policy through time and in relation to overall GESI policy objectives. Horizontal and internal coherence are assessed through the parallels/disjoints between energy-related periodic plans, policies, budgets, and GESI aims. The evolution of GESI in energy investments has been slow in part because of a narrow conceptualization of the policy problem and a lack of coherence and synchronization across documents, which undermines implementation of the GESI agenda.