Local Hubs Research Articles

Social Work Digital Storytelling Project: Digital Literacy, Digital Storytelling, and the Makerspace

Purpose: The Social Work Digital Storytelling project was a research study undertaken to (1) enhance digital literacy of practitioners and students through digital storytelling training, (2) diversify engagement in a local public library technology hub (the “makerspace”), and (3) understand and enhance social work leadership knowledge among students and practitioners through the creation and sharing of leadership-focused digital stories. Method: Free hands-on digital storytelling workshops where social workers/students created stories about leadership exposed social workers to technologies accessible in the community and provided hands-on experience using hardware (e.g., IMac computers, digital cameras, portable data recorders, and a recording booth) and software (e.g., Adobe Photoshop, I-Movie, and GarageBand) as well as online social media platforms (e.g., Flickr, YouTube, and Facebook). Results: Before and after the workshops, participants completed a brief online qualitative self-evaluation survey through which they reflected on their skills, values, and beliefs about digital technology in practice. Participants gained knowledge of perspectives of online ethical tenants and exposure to Creative Commons Copyright and the NASW Technology Standards of Practice. Discussion: Prior to participation, the social workers reported fear and hesitancy using technology. After workshop completion, workers experienced a greater sense of confidence using digital technology as well as identifying organizational and systemic issues, which hindered field-based technological engagement.

How Cultural Environments Shape Online Sentiment Toward Social Movements: Place Character and Support for Feminism*

This study explores the relationship between offline and online contexts in social movement discourse. We test whether local place character—the cultural reputations, values, and ideals associated with a particular location—predict support for feminism expressed on Twitter. Applying topic modeling to a unique corpus describing cities’ cultural reputations, we identify five cultural attributes of U.S. cities that constitute their place character. Then, we use these measures to predict the percentage of tweets that are positive toward feminism in each location. The results indicate that while social media may connect people from geographically distant areas, online discourse is still heavily influenced by the local spaces where users reside. Cities with a place character of Revitalization have more positive Twitter sentiment toward feminism, while areas known as Local Hubs for shopping and leisure are more negative. These findings contribute to social movement scholarship by highlighting one way that offline and online contexts are connected. Far from transcending local geographies, social movement discourse taking place online remains shaped by the cultural environment where it originates.

A frontline service? Nursery Schools as local community hubs in an era of austerity

Nursery Schools in the UK have been described as the ‘jewel in the crown’ of early years provision because of the quality of education and a wide range of other support services that they provide, particularly for children from socio-economically disadvantaged families and those with complex special educational needs (SEN). In this paper, we explore the role of Nursery Schools in the local community, arguing that they have been re/constructed as a frontline service in the context of austerity policies enacted in England over the past decade. The data presented in support of this argument arise from detailed interviews with 17 staff based in four Nursery Schools. Our data lead us to argue that, in the current context of austerity and cuts to a range of local services, Nursery Schools are filling welfare gaps for families by providing clothing, trips and food voucher advice to families. They are also supporting increasing numbers of SEN children and are described as a first point of contact with state-run services by many, especially minority ethnic and working-class families. We conclude by arguing that Nursery Schools’ funding must be protected so that they can continue to provide support to some of the most vulnerable children and their families in England.

A two‐tier urban delivery network with robot‐based deliveries

AbstractIn this article, we investigate a two‐tier delivery network with robots operating on the second tier. We determine the optimal number of local robot hubs as well as the optimal number of robots to service all customers and compare the resulting operational cost to conventional truck‐based deliveries. Based on the well‐known p‐median problem, we present mixed‐integer programs that consider the limited range of robots due to battery size. Compared with conventional truck‐based deliveries, robot‐based deliveries can save about 70% of operational cost and even more, up to 90%, for instances with customer time windows.

The Local Co-Working Hub: A Merging Solution

The coronavirus pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges and has changed society; some of these changes seem temporary, and others seem permanent. The uncertainty of the duration of this pandemic has introduced changes without the knowledge of how permanent they are, and has raised awareness regarding a need for a shift to a new normal. This new normal will affect different aspects of our life routines and activities, such as travel behaviour, personal hygiene, socializing, and our working environment. In the wake of the global pandemic, which has been followed by lockdowns, curfews, social distancing, and working from home, the future of the office has turned into an open question, as COVID has changed our expectation of how, where, and when people can do their jobs. Big companies like Twitter and Facebook have announced that they are allowing employees to permanently work from home; however, some industry leaders are using the work-from-home experience to reimagine the role of the office in the future. What will the future office look like, and what can we expect of the workplace environment? In this paper, we propose a third solution, which is the merging of the current scenario of the classic office and working from home, which is entitled the ‘local co-working hub’. By studying the challenges and opportunities of each of the current approaches, the potential of the local co-working hub is highlighted.

Investigating the network consequences of focal brain lesions through comparisons of real and simulated lesions

Given the increased interest in the functional human connectome, a number of computer simulation studies have sought to develop a better quantitative understanding of the effects of focal lesions on the brain’s functional network organization. However, there has been little work evaluating the predictions of this simulation work vis a vis real lesioned connectomes. One of the few relevant studies reported findings from real chronic focal lesions that only partially confirmed simulation predictions. We hypothesize that these discrepancies arose because although the effects of focal lesions likely consist of two components: short-term node subtraction and long-term network re-organization, previous simulation studies have primarily modeled only the short-term consequences of the subtraction of lesioned nodes and their connections. To evaluate this hypothesis, we compared network properties (modularity, participation coefficient, within-module degree) between real functional connectomes obtained from chronic stroke participants and “pseudo-lesioned” functional connectomes generated by subtracting the same sets of lesioned nodes/connections from healthy control connectomes. We found that, as we hypothesized, the network properties of real-lesioned connectomes in chronic stroke differed from those of the pseudo-lesioned connectomes which instantiated only the short-term consequences of node subtraction. Reflecting the long-term consequences of focal lesions, we found re-organization of the neurotopography of global and local hubs in the real but not the pseudo-lesioned connectomes. We conclude that the long-term network re-organization that occurs in response to focal lesions involves changes in functional connectivity within the remaining intact neural tissue that go well beyond the short-term consequences of node subtraction.

Antecedents of social sustainability noncompliance in the Indian apparel sector

Consumers expect global apparel suppliers to adhere to strict social sustainability standards following several deadly noncompliance incidents. This study provides a unique contribution to social sustainability governance by utilizing a causal-effect analysis to classify noncompliance antecedents into causal and effect groups and analyze the interactions. Combining a structured Delphi technique, involving thirty senior manufacturing professionals in the Indian apparel sector, with a fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory method (DEMATEL) revealed specific antecedents related to the adherence to social sustainability standards. The most influential antecedents identified were manufacturing cluster behavior, stringent regulations, multiple standards, business continuity, and buyer preference. Notably, the study theorizes that a supplier's compliance deliberations intertwine with operational considerations around business volumes, costs, inappropriate governance, and regional cultural norms. Stakeholder theory and the theory of reasoned action help explain the institutional logics underlying the interactions between antecedents and highlight the crucial need for local production hubs to adopt universal social compliance codes. To our knowledge, this research is the first to identify manufacturing cluster behavior as a leading cause of noncompliance, highlighting the need to recognize clusters as essential stakeholders. The study has notable implications for brands, suppliers, governments, manufacturing councils, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that call for coordinated action and new forms of governance to minimize the incidences of noncompliance by apparel suppliers.

“It’s like my kid came back overnight”: Experiences of trans and non-binary young people and their families seeking, finding and engaging with clinical care in England

Background Trans and non-binary children and young people in England, UK struggle to gain access to affirming clinical care, despite the international research evidence pointing toward this best practice approach. Concurrently, they are subject to constant discussion in the UK national media and politics, where many negative assumptions are made about their needs, experiences and clinical provision. Their journey to seek appropriate care has not yet been documented. Aims We trace the experiences of trans and non-binary children and youth and their families in their decision to seek, searches for and experiences with affirmative and non-affirmative clinical input for help with their gender. Method 27 dyadic, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with trans and non-binary children and young people and their parents from 13 families. Results The process of seeking support via National Health Service clinical routes in England, UK is beset with lengthy waiting lists, issues with geographical inaccessibility, a lack of relevant clinical knowledge, and a failure to recognize the value of family expertise. Family doctors provide contraceptive hormones in lieu of proper access to puberty blocking or gender affirming hormones, and most families resort to private care they can ill afford. Discussion Training in gender identity and gender dysphoria is recommended for both family doctors, and children’s mental health services. Gender identity development services could be decentralized, with local hubs offering more accessible support.

Trademark potential increase and entrepreneurship rural development: A case study of Southern Transylvania, Romania.

Cultural heritage capitalization in rural areas redefines the local development model. Thus, heritage tourism has become the engine of economic activities diversification. This study aims to identify a decision-making-model substantiating algorithm in order to support the local heritage capitalization (lesser known on the international cultural consumption market), based on three types of qualitative researches, and the improved Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. In case of lesser known heritage, trademark potential and international cultural tourism route for heritage capitalization are smart choices for the innovative local hub development. The developed AHP version allows for a broader investigation of the characteristics that can lead to a trademark associated development based on integrated and innovative tourism products. To substantiate our approach and validate the model, we conducted a pilot study on a geographic area (Southern Transylvania, Romania), slightly exploited from the perspective of heritage potential, and characterized by a combination of heritage assets. The study’s results can be used by local authorities as a foundation for sound and strategic development of the area with economic potential from tangible and intangible heritage (re)interpretation.

Beyond the pandemic: the role of the built environment in supporting people with disabilities work life

PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic has engendered changes in previously unimaginable timeframes, leading to new ways of working, which can quickly become the “ordinary” way of working. Many traditional workplace and educational practices and environments, however, are disadvantageous to people with disability and consequently are under-represented in the workforce and higher education.Design/methodology/approachContributing factors include exclusionary societal and employer attitudes and inaccessible built environments including lack of attention to paths of travel, amenities, acoustics, lighting and temperature. Social exclusion resulting from lack of access to meaningful work is also problematic. COVID-19 has accelerated the incidence of working and studying from home, but the home environment of many people with disability may not be suitable in terms of space, privacy, technology access and connection to the wider community.FindingsHowever, remote and flexible working arrangements may hold opportunities for enhancing work participation of people with disabilities. Instigating systemic conditions that will empower people with disability to take full advantage of ordinary working trajectories is key. As the current global experiment in modified work and study practices has shown, structural, organisational and design norms need to change. The future of work and study is almost certainly more work and study from home. An expanded understanding of people with disabilities lived experience of the built environment encompassing opportunities for work, study and socialisation from home and the neighbourhood would more closely align with the UNCRPD's emphasis on full citizenship.Originality/valueThis paper examines what is currently missing in the development of a distributed work and study place continuum that includes traditional workplaces and campuses, local neighbourhood hubs and homes.

Frontal Functional Network Disruption Associated with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: An fNIRS-Based Minimum Spanning Tree Analysis.

Recent evidence increasingly associates network disruption in brain organization with multiple neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a rare terminal disease. However, the comparability of brain network characteristics across different studies remains a challenge for conventional graph theoretical methods. One suggested method to address this issue is minimum spanning tree (MST) analysis, which provides a less biased comparison. Here, we assessed the novel application of MST network analysis to hemodynamic responses recorded by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) neuroimaging modality, during an activity-based paradigm to investigate hypothetical disruptions in frontal functional brain network topology as a marker of the executive dysfunction, one of the most prevalent cognitive deficit reported across ALS studies. We analyzed data recorded from nine participants with ALS and ten age-matched healthy controls by first estimating functional connectivity, using phase-locking value (PLV) analysis, and then constructing the corresponding individual and group MSTs. Our results showed significant between-group differences in several MST topological properties, including leaf fraction, maximum degree, diameter, eccentricity, and degree divergence. We further observed a global shift toward more centralized frontal network organizations in the ALS group, interpreted as a more random or dysregulated network in this cohort. Moreover, the similarity analysis demonstrated marginally significantly increased overlap in the individual MSTs from the control group, implying a reference network with lower topological variation in the healthy cohort. Our nodal analysis characterized the main local hubs in healthy controls as distributed more evenly over the frontal cortex, with slightly higher occurrence in the left prefrontal cortex (PFC), while in the ALS group, the most frequent hubs were asymmetrical, observed primarily in the right prefrontal cortex. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the global PLV (gPLV) synchronization metric is associated with disease progression, and a few topological properties, including leaf fraction and tree hierarchy, are linked to disease duration. These results suggest that dysregulation, centralization, and asymmetry of the hemodynamic-based frontal functional network during activity are potential neuro-topological markers of ALS pathogenesis. Our findings can possibly support new bedside assessments of the functional status of ALS’ brain network and could hypothetically extend to applications in other neurodegenerative diseases.

From Place-Branding to Community-Branding: A Collaborative Decision-Making Process for Cultural Heritage Enhancement

The international debate on cultural heritage enhancement and cultural cross-overs, highlights the need to rethink the relationship between economy, society and territory by working on innovative urban planning and evaluation approaches. In recent times, the concept of “place branding” has become widespread in strategic urban plans, linking marketing approaches to the attractive features of places. The purpose of this study is to outline a holistic approach to cultural heritage enhancement for urban regeneration based on creative and collaborative place branding: “Community branding”. The methodology was tested in Pisticci—near Matera (Basilicata region, Italy)—starting from its historic center. As a multi-methodological decision-making process, Community branding combines approaches and tools derived from Place Branding, Community Planning, Community Impact Evaluation and Place Marketing. The main results achieved include: an innovative approach that combines both management and planning aspects and empowers communities and skills in network; the co-evaluation of cultural, social and economic impacts for the Pisticci Sustainable Urban Lab (PLUS); the writing and signing of an “urban contract” with local Municipality, research centers and PLUS hub association.

COVID-19 and its effect on the nursing team in primary care

The COVID-19 pandemic changed how care was organised in general practice. Anne-Marie Brennan and Rebecca Willcox explain how a ‘cold hub' was set up in their primary care network and the challenges the nursing team faced The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way general practice is organised. A significant proportion of care is now managed over the telephone or via video consultation. However, some patients need to be seen face-to-face and many nursing tasks need to be completed in person. In our local area, hot and cold hubs were set up for face-to-face contact with patients. This article describes how Lewisham and our primary care network (PCN) activated the local COVID-19 plan, the challenges the nursing team faced, and how many of these were overcome.

AHP를 활용한 중소도시 생활SOC 주요지표의 중요도 평가

This study evaluated the importance between the major indicators of living SOC in small and medium cities. AHP layer analysis was performed on a group of experts and their importance and priorities were evaluated. The results of the assessment are as follows: First, the village(walking) living zone was considered relatively more important than the local hub(vehicle) living zone. Second, the importance of health care in the local hub(vehicle) living area was assessed to be the most important in the comprehensive evaluation. Third, medical care, care, education and convenience in the village(walking) living area were ranked second, third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Fourth, the relative importance of physical education, learning, physical education, learning, relaxation, culture and village(walking) living areas in the local hub(vehicle) living areas were valued low. It is necessary to seek living SOC policies and directions in consideration of the special nature of urban social structure in small and medium-sized cities in Korea.

The Intrinsic Cardiac Nervous System and Its Role in Cardiac Pacemaking and Conduction.

The cardiac autonomic nervous system (CANS) plays a key role for the regulation of cardiac activity with its dysregulation being involved in various heart diseases, such as cardiac arrhythmias. The CANS comprises the extrinsic and intrinsic innervation of the heart. The intrinsic cardiac nervous system (ICNS) includes the network of the intracardiac ganglia and interconnecting neurons. The cardiac ganglia contribute to the tight modulation of cardiac electrophysiology, working as a local hub integrating the inputs of the extrinsic innervation and the ICNS. A better understanding of the role of the ICNS for the modulation of the cardiac conduction system will be crucial for targeted therapies of various arrhythmias. We describe the embryonic development, anatomy, and physiology of the ICNS. By correlating the topography of the intracardiac neurons with what is known regarding their biophysical and neurochemical properties, we outline their physiological role in the control of pacemaker activity of the sinoatrial and atrioventricular nodes. We conclude by highlighting cardiac disorders with a putative involvement of the ICNS and outline open questions that need to be addressed in order to better understand the physiology and pathophysiology of the ICNS.

The spatial dimension of coronavirus crisis management and the role of subnational actors in the German–Polish border region

ABSTRACT The paper is concerned with the spatial dimension of the coronavirus crisis and the tensions it created in multilevel governance in the Polish–German border region. Regarding the spatial dimension of the crisis, territoriality is referred to as the political competence to exert control over a national territory and over places particularly affected by the coronavirus crisis and its management – from local hubs of outbreaks to twin cities in border regions facing closed borders. Territoriality was mirrored in the unilateral decisions of the central governments to close national borders in Europe. Considering spatiality as well as the asymmetric multilevel setting of cross-border Polish–German relations, this paper investigates to what extent subnational actors were able to interact in a cross-border sense in this situation. The paper shows the relevance of subnational political authorities and highlights the significance of civil society actors in times of crisis, as they were able to lobby for a less restrictive border management response and helped to hold – merely through digital activities – the web of bilateral relations together. In this light, it may enhance the ability of further research to take a multilevel territorial perspective for a more nuanced picture of the pandemic’s effects.

Formalising and Detecting Community Structures in Real World Complex Networks

Community structure is an integral characteristic of real world networks whichever processes or areas they emerge from. This paper addresses the problem of community structure detection theoretically as well as computationally. The authors introduce a number of concepts such as the neighbourhood and strength of a subgraph, p-community, local maximal p-community, hubs, and outliers that play elemental role in formalising the concept of community structure in complex networks. A few preliminary results have been derived that lead to the development of an algorithm for community structure detection in undirected unweighted networks. The algorithm is based on a local seed expansion strategy that uses the concept of interaction coefficient. The authors have analysed the algorithm on a number of parameters such as accuracy, stability, and quality on synthetic and real world networks from different areas.

Resilience hubs: a Maui case study to inform strategies for upscaling to resilience hub networks across coastal, remote, and island communities

Resilience hubs are buildings that enhance community cohesion during normal operations, while also enhancing resilience during emergencies. Maui Island is part of the Hawaiian archipelago, approximately 2500 miles from the nearest major continent. Due to its remote location, Maui is ideal to pilot projects that enhance resilience in isolated communities. At the neighborhood-scale, there is a need for establishing sites that empower communities to strengthen their cohesion, resilience and self-sufficiency. This can be achieved by investing in facilities that offer critical community services during emergencies (e.g. backup power, telecommunications, medical supplies, shelter from weather, and food and water rations). Ideally, local communities have a sense of ownership of resilience hubs and frequently use them during both normal and emergency periods. This ensures that hubs are accepted and trusted. Use cases presented in this research offer a methodology for assessing the suitability of proposed resilience hub pilot sites. Resilience hubs must also be assessed for vulnerabilities to climate change impacts and natural disasters, such as flooding, tsunamis, hurricanes, wildfires, and sea level rise. Resilient power systems can be developed for resilience hubs to ensure services are powered whether the power grid is operational or down, as well as to provide additional benefits during normal periods. These methodologies can be used by communities pursuing the establishment of resilience hubs. The highlighted methodologies are particularly applicable to island communities, coastal areas and remote locations, which are disproportionately affected by climate change impacts and natural disasters. This research paper describes three sites on Maui assessed for their suitability as resilience hubs by using the aforementioned methodologies. This research provides a methodology for establishing local resilience hubs on Maui, and how to upscale for application in other communities facing similar conditions. Once established, resilience hubs become a critical part of community resilience planning, while providing year-round benefits and services to local residents and enhancing community cohesion and emergency response and recovery capabilities.

Shifting away from the business-as-usual approach to research conferences.

ABSTRACTTo combat the climate crisis, we need rapid, unprecedented social change. Scientists can play a lead role by signaling to society that we recognize the critical importance of redesigning our business-as-usual approach to research conferences. Traditional research conferences have high CO2 emissions as well as significant financial and travel time costs for participants. Using available technology, early career scientists Chelsie Counsell and Franziska Elmer created a global, virtual, coral reef research conference with live talks, recorded contributions, and networking events. Funding from The Company of Biologists allowed this event to be free, supporting attendance of 2700 subscribers and content contributions from 165 participants from diverse backgrounds and career stages. We provide metrics on content viewership and participation in networking activities, note the success of incorporating regionally focused sub-events, and discuss the emergence of a collaborative research project. We highlight the broad accessibility of virtual conferences as well as their increased flexibility in programming, health benefits, and cost savings. Our approach to organizing and hosting a global, low-carbon emission research conference is documented. Finally, we propose a hybrid approach to future conferences with virtually connected remote (sub-regional or local) hubs.

Clinical endodontic management during the COVID-19 pandemic: a literature review and clinical recommendations.

The spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in millions of confirmed cases and hundreds of thousands of deaths. Despite all efforts to contain the spread of the disease, the number of infections and deaths continue to rise, particularly in some regions. Given its presence in the salivary secretions of affected patients, and the presence of many reported asymptomatic cases that have tested positive for COVID-19, dental professionals, including Endodontists, are at high risk of becoming infected if they do not take appropriate precautions. As of today, there are no predictable treatments or approved vaccines that can protect the public and healthcare professionals from the virus; however, there is speculation that a vaccine might be available sometime in 2021. Until then, general dentists and Endodontist will need to be able to treat emergency patients in order to relieve pressure on emergency clinics in hospitals or local community hubs. In addition, as the pandemic continues, strategies to manage patients will need to evolve from a palliative to a more permanent/definitive treatment approach. In this article, an update on the treatment considerations for dental care in general is provided, as well as a discussion on the available endodontic guidelines reported in the literature. Recommendations on clinical management of endodontic emergencies are proposed.