Methodological Template Research Articles

Bioinspired design of rhodium single-atom nanozymes enable a non-poisoning pathway for direct formic acid oxidation in enzymatic biofuel cells

Solving the dilemma of CO poisoning in electrocatalysts is the crucial step in the commercialization of direct formic acid fuel cells, however, it remains a challenge to design catalysts with high reaction tendency for the direct formic acid oxidation reaction (FAOR) as elaborately as natural enzymes. Herein, inspired by formate oxidase (FOD) with a delicate catalytic pocket, we report that rhodium single-atom nanozymes (Rh SAzymes) can catalyze direct FAOR without worrying about CO poisoning. Impressively, Rh SAzymes exhibit non-CO pathway for direct FAOR in both enzyme-like biocatalytic and electrocatalytic conditions. By combining docking studies and density functional theory calculations, we reveal that this striking reaction tendency mainly stems from thermodynamically unfavorable pathway in the generation and adsorption of CO, much more like that of natural FOD. Moreover, we successfully construct the membrane-less FA/O2 enzymatic biofuel with an open-circuit potential (OCP) of 0.68±0.01 V and a maximum power density (Pmax) of 0.41±0.01 mW cm−2. With 100 % selectivity toward direct anti-poisoning pathway and flexible configuration, the device realizes long-term stable operation and miniaturized goals. Our work not only provides a methodological template for exploring the CO-resilient reaction mechanism of enzyme-like biocatalysts as well as their homologous electrocatalysts in canonical reactions of fuel cells but also paves avenues for the integration of nanozymes in energy equipment.

Comparison of oral anticoagulants for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation using the UK clinical practice research Datalink Aurum: A reference trial (ARISTOTLE) emulation study.

Stroke prevention guidance for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) uses evidence generated from randomised controlled trials (RCTs). However, applicability to patient groups excluded from trials remains unknown. Real-world patient data provide an opportunity to evaluate outcomes in a trial analogous population of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) users and in patients otherwise excluded from RCTs; however, there remains uncertainty on the validity of methods and suitability of the data. Successful reference trial emulation can support the generation of evidence around treatment effects in groups excluded or underrepresented in trials. We used linked United Kingdom primary care data to investigate whether we could emulate the pivotal ARISTOTLE trial (apixaban versus warfarin) and extend the analysis to investigate the impact of warfarin time in therapeutic range (TTR) on results. Patients with AF in the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD Aurum) prescribed apixaban or warfarin from 1 January 2013 to 31 July 2019 were selected. ARISTOTLE eligibility criteria were applied to this population and matched to the RCT apixaban arm on baseline characteristics creating a trial-analogous apixaban cohort; this was propensity-score matched to warfarin users in the CPRD Aurum. ARISTOTLE outcomes were assessed using Cox proportional hazards regression stratified by prior warfarin exposure status during 2.5 years of patient follow-up and results benchmarked against the trial results before treatment effectiveness was further evaluated based on (warfarin) TTR. The dataset comprised 8,734 apixaban users and propensity-score matched 8,734 warfarin users. Results [hazard ratio (95% confidence interval)] confirmed apixaban noninferiority for stroke or systemic embolism (SE) [CPRD 0.98 (0.82,1.19) versus trial 0.79 (0.66,0.95)] and death from any cause [CPRD 1.03 (0.93,1.14) versus trial 0.89 (0.80,0.998)] but did not indicate apixaban superiority. Absolute event rates for stroke/SE were similar for apixaban in CPRD Aurum and ARISTOTLE (1.27%/year), whereas a lower event rate was observed for warfarin (CPRD Aurum 1.29%/year, ARISTOTLE 1.60%/year). Analysis by TTR suggested similar effectiveness of apixaban compared with poorly controlled warfarin (TTR < 0.75) for stroke/SE [0.91 (0.73, 1.14)], all-cause death [0.94 (0.84, 1.06)], and superiority for major bleeding [0.74 (0.63, 0.86)]. However, when compared with well-controlled warfarin (TTR ≥ 0.75), apixaban was associated with an increased hazard for all-cause death [1.20 (1.04, 1.37)], and there was no significant benefit for major bleeding [1.08 (0.90, 1.30)]. The main limitation of the study's methodology are the risk of residual confounding, channelling bias and attrition bias in the warfarin arm, and selection bias and misclassification in the analysis by TTR. Analysis of noninterventional data generated results demonstrating noninferiority of apixaban versus warfarin consistent with prespecified benchmarking criteria. Unlike in ARISTOTLE, superiority of apixaban versus warfarin was not seen, possible due to the lower proportion of Asian patients and higher proportion of patients with well-controlled warfarin compared to ARISTOTLE. This methodological template can be used to investigate treatment effects of oral anticoagulants in patient groups excluded from or underrepresented in trials and provides a framework that can be adapted to investigate treatment effects for other conditions.

Elicitation of expert prior opinion to design the BARJDM trial in juvenile dermatomyositis.

To elicit and quantify expert opinion concerning the relative merits of two treatments for a rare inflammatory disease: Juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM). The formal expression of expert opinion reported in this paper will be used in a Bayesian analysis of a forthcoming randomised controlled trial known as BARJDM (baricitinib for juvenile dermatomyositis). A Bayesian prior elicitation meeting was convened, following a previously described methodological template. Opinion was sought on the probability that a patient in the BARJDM trial would achieve clinically inactive disease, off glucocorticoids (GC) within a 12-month period with either methotrexate (standard of care); or baricitinib (a Janus kinase inhibitor, JAKi), with GC schedules identical in both arms of the trial. Experts' views were discussed and refined following presentation and further discussion of summated published data regarding efficacy of methotrexate or JAKi for JDM. Ten UK paediatric rheumatology consultants (including one adolescent paediatric rheumatologist) participated in the elicitation meeting. All had expertise in JDM, leading active National Health Service clinics for this disease. Consensus expert prior opinion was that the most likely probability of clinically inactive disease off GC within 12 months was 0.55 on baricitinib and 0.23 on methotrexate, with a greater degree of uncertainty for baricitinib. Experts currently think that baricitinib is superior to MTX for the treatment of JDM, although there is uncertainty around this. BARJDM will therefore integrate randomised trial data with this expert prior opinion to derive a posterior distribution for the relative efficacy of baricitinib compared with MTX.

Individual Predictors of Response to A Behavioral Activation-Based Digital Smoking Cessation Intervention: A Machine Learning Approach

ABSTRACT Background: Depression is prevalent among individuals who smoke cigarettes and increases risk for relapse. A previous clinical trial suggests that Goal2Quit, a behavioral activation-based smoking cessation mobile app, effectively increases smoking abstinence and reduces depressive symptoms. Objective: Secondary analyses were conducted on these trial data to identify predictors of success in depression-specific digitalized cessation interventions. Methods: Adult who smoked cigarettes (age = 38.4 ± 10.3, 53% women) were randomized to either use Goal2Quit for 12 weeks (N = 103), paired with a 2-week sample of nicotine replacement therapy (patch and lozenge) or to a Treatment-As-Usual (TAU) control (N = 47). The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator was utilized to identify a subset of baseline variables predicting either smoking or depression intervention outcomes. The retained predictors were then fitted via linear regression models to determine relations to each intervention outcome. Results: Relative to TAU, only individuals who spent significant time using Goal2Quit (56 ± 46 min) were more likely to reduce cigarette use by at least 50% after 12 weeks, whereas those who spent minimal time using Goal2Quit (10 ± 2 min) did not exhibit significant changes. An interaction between educational attainment and treatment group revealed that, as compared to TAU, only app users with an educational degree beyond high school exhibited significant reductions in depression. Conclusions: The findings highlight the importance of tailoring depression-specific digital cessation interventions to individuals’ unique engagement needs and educational level. This study provides a potential methodological template for future research aimed at personalizing technology-based treatments for cigarette users with depressive symptoms.

Implementation costs of the appraise alcohol brief intervention (ABI) for male remand prisoners: A micro-costing protocol and preliminary findings.

This paper documents the methods used to assess the implementation costs of the APPRAISE alcohol brief intervention (ABI) delivered to male remand prisoners across two study sites in Scotland and North East England. We first developed a comprehensive taxonomy of the activities constituting the APPRIASE ABI. Next, data were collected for each activity about the study staff and the subject time spent, in addition to the other resources used and unit costs. From the pilot data collection it was possible to construct a narrative, for both study sites, for how the intervention was delivered and the time required for each activity. The ABI was delivered by Change Grow Live and Humankind intervention staff and staff salaries were obtained from both organizations to calculate the staff delivery costs for each site. Other costs, such as the printing of materials, were estimated based on APPRAISE study records. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions and limited access to prison resources and staff, there were significant deviations from the initial study protocols. As a result, we document the costs of implementing the ABI as delivered rather than as planned. This paper provides the first estimates of the implementation costs of an ABI delivered in criminal justice setting in the UK. Although these costs are from a pilot implementation that was heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, this paper nonetheless provides useful, policy-relevant information on the potential costs of providing ABI to remand prisoners. It also serves as a methodological template, guidance, and proof of concept for future micro-costing studies of ABIs in criminal justice settings.

Morphologic Adjustment of a River Reach with Groynes to Channel Bypassing

AbstractThis article is focused on the investigation of the spatio-temporal variability of the Danube River reach’s vertical accretion thickness due to the response of the Danube River reach to bypassing. Five groyne-induced benches (GIBs) of the bypassed channel developed after water diversion in 1992 was studied by changes in topography for three-time spans (for the original gravel surface, for the surface before the 2013 flood and for the surface after the 2013 flood). The allostratigraphic approach was applied to 548 drilling probes at all GIBs and toptop, supra-platform, tail and backchannel geomorphic units have been identified at each GIB. The main to side-channel system connectivity increase sedimentation rates and the accretion was controlled by large flood events. The 100-year flood in 2013 contributed to the total volume by almost 26%. During study period 1992–2017, totally 1,146,589 m3 was accreted on five GIBs, of this 209,752 m3 during flood event in 2013 and 267,700 m3 in post flood period 2014–2017. The top geomorphic unit exhibits the highest median values of vertical accretion and for all GIBs accretion thickness are not related to the height above the mean channel water level. The thickness of accretion varied, likely because the variability of the vegetation cover caused variable hydraulic conditions and accretion rate span from 3.8 cm.year−1 to 5.3 cm.year−1. The investigation of the sediment thickness over long time spans 24 years and a large flood event) allowed us to conclude that the thickness is spatially variable for individual GIBs; however, its trend over time remains constants depending on the intake of sediments during large floodsd events. This article also provides a methodological template for the detailed investigation of river channel adjustment due to bypassing.

Pastoral Theology: A Methodological Approach to Analyzing Social Cases

Religious life cannot be separated from society. As a religious institution, the church must impact society through concrete action. One of these approaches is through pastoral theology. This research aims to provide a methodological template for academics and churches, in particular, to use pastoral theology to analyze societal problems. This is necessary because some churches are still bound by dogmas that restrict the church’s role to “spiritual” matters rather than matters of concrete social concern. So, churches often distance themselves from the social theory approach in dissecting society's problems. The analytical tool used in this paper is the pastoral cycle method. A pastoral theological approach focuses on cases that have occurred or are currently occurring in society. This paper uses the case of food scarcity, namely cooking oil, which has occurred in Indonesia. The research results show that the social theological approach, which has been shunned by evangelical theology, can be used in dissecting and mapping social cases in society to contribute to the church in determining anticipatory steps and responding with concern to these social problems. Through this research, it can be concluded that the social function of the church as light and salt of the world can be achieved by using pastoral theology. The implications of this research will encourage churches to position themselves as government partners in realizing the achievement of SDG targets on the one hand and the other hand, provide new insight that pastoral theology does not only deal with “spiritual” (i.e., intangible) matters. It can be seen that a Biblical approach can be intertwined with social analysis for the purpose of social welfare.

E‐FINGERPRINT Pilot Study: Assessing the feasibility of digital data collection and multidomain lifestyle guidance towards the prevention of cognitive decline and dementia

AbstractBackgroundThe ongoing eFINGER‐PRINT Pilot Study is a is a pioneering virtual feasibility study to evaluate different methodologies for recruitment and digital phenotyping in the context of readiness cohorts. In addition, the pilot aims to test virtual cognitive and other tools in their ability to detect changes in cognitive performance and lifestyle parameters over time, and associations between changes across other key health outcomes. The one‐year study was initiated in May 2022.MethodCognitively unimpaired individuals (up to 500) aged 60+ years residing in London, were recruited through the Cognitive Health in Ageing Register for Investigational and Observational Trials (CHARIOT). Inclusion criteria include no dementia diagnosis, access to the internet and a suitable device and English competency with no significant visual or auditory disability. The study collects subjective demographics, comorbidities, and health behaviours, sleep, frailty, functional abilities, and subjective memory symptoms, through repeated 4‐monthly questionnaire surveys administered online. Longitudinal cognitive data were obtained via a validated online cognitive assessment platform, and included customised assessments shown to be sensitive to AD related cognitive decline. Furthermore, participants are invited to join a preventative multi‐domain lifestyle guidance, based on repeated self‐reported evaluations of modifiable risk factors and a healthy lifestyle index, using a mobile, application. By joining the application, participants receive also bi‐monthly online educational literature on dementia prevention and healthy ageing, including guidance on nutrition and physical exercise and are asked to complete a variety of e‐based mental activities, targeting cognitive domains, such as memory, mental agility, visuospatial, and attention.ResultA minimum recruitment rate of 20% and a retention rate of 50% will provide a methodological template for the e‐FINGER PRINT study. Furthermore, participant feedback and experience will aid in optimising recruitment processes, user acceptability and sustainability of the selected digital tools. A low attrition rate will indicate a positive user experience.ConclusionThe pilot study will inform the design of the eFINGER PRINT main study, a five years’ large‐scale virtual FINGER‐based study that will be conducted in Greater London (2023‐2028). Given the promise of economic sustainability, utility of e‐based tools for disease prevention can offer dramatic up‐scalability and allow for the implementation of a prescriptive medicinal approach.

Stop... Just stop! The use and misuse of methodological template prescriptions in qualitative family business research and ways forward

Qualitative research can offer meaningful insights into the complexities of family businesses and inspire and inform theory development in family business as well as other fields. Unlike in quantitative approaches, there are no general standards for conducting and reporting qualitative research. In lieu of such standards, following templates in previously published papers has become a popular means of establishing a certain level of standardization in qualitative research. However, recent discussions about the detriments of mindless template use have highlighted the dangers of inappropriate standardization for research quality of qualitative research. This article raises awareness of the challenges and inherent risks of template prescriptions in qualitative family business research and proposes alternative avenues going forward. Scholars, as well as journal editors and reviewers, may take inspiration and orientation from these alternatives to harness the diversity and core strengths of qualitative family business research without enforcing generalized standards.

Defects and Persistent Luminescence in Eu -Doped SrAl 2 O 4

We investigate native point defects and rare-earth (co)dopants in SrAl$_2$O$_4$ using hybrid density-functional defect calculations. Europium (Eu) and dysprosium (Dy) are found to be mixed valence and energetically most favorable at the Sr lattice sites. However, unlike Eu where both Eu$^{2+}$ and Eu$^{3+}$ can be realized in synthesis, Dy is stable predominantly as Dy$^{3+}$, and the divalent Dy$^{2+}$ may only be photogenerated under irradiation. On the basis of an analysis of Eu-related band-defect (including charge-transfer) and interconfigurational $5d$-$4f$ optical transitions, we assign the characteristic broad blue (445 nm) and green (520 nm) emission bands in Eu$^{2+}$-doped SrAl$_2$O$_4$ to the $4f^65d^1$ $\rightarrow$ $4f^7$ transition in Eu$^{2+}$ incorporated at the Sr1 and Sr2 sites, respectively. Strontium interstitials (not oxygen vacancies, in contrast to what is commonly believed) and Dy$_{\rm Sr}$ can act as efficient electron traps for room-temperature persistent luminescence. This work calls for a re-assessment of certain assumptions regarding specific carrier trapping centers made in all mechanisms previously proposed for the persistent luminescence in Eu- and (Eu,Dy)-doped SrAl$_2$O$_4$. It also serves as a methodological template for the understanding and design of rare-earth doped phosphors.

Interpretativne mogućnosti pripovetke "Kraljević Marko po drugi put među Srbimaˮ Radoja Domanovića u nastavnim okolnostima

Summary: The paper examines the interpretative possibilities of the short story "Kraljević Marko for the second time among the Serbsˮ by Radoje Domanović in teaching process. Since the mentioned work is not included in the contents of the current teaching programs, the intention of this paper is to offer a methodological template that would indicate the distinct correlative power of this short story and its useful value, and thus use the teaching potential of this literary work. The research is thereby placed in the teaching field of study, the basic theoretical-methodological starting point in the interpretation of Domanović's short story will be within the field of literature teaching methodology. Taking into account the age of the pupils and their achievements, the character of Marko Kraljević stands out as the central integrative factor of the teaching analysis, which is viewed in relation to his template from oral literature. Similarities and differences in the hero's characterization procedures are observed with a comparative approach, while the peculiarity of the artistic world of Domanović's satire is revealed at the same time. The correlative power of the short story "Kraljević Marko for the second time among the Serbsˮ is thus primarily realized vertically, within the subject Serbian language and literature, while, other possibilities of functional connection of the contents of different subjects are proposed at the review level. Finally, the work also opens up the issue of the phenomenon of readers' reception with an effort to determine whether and to what extent Radoje Domanović's satire encourages laughter among pupils of the modern age.

Implementation of Contemporary Teaching Methodology Knowledge in Order to Achieve Outcomes in Croatian Language Teaching in Primary Education

The implementation of modern methodological knowledge implies respect for the algorithm of the initial science in the choice of teaching content and a scientifically determined choice of teaching procedures that most effectively enable the achievement of outcomes provided by the curriculum. Methodological articulation should be such that students are active participants in the teaching process, i.e. that they are involved in the language activities of listening, speaking, reading and writing. The microstructured model of teaching the Croatian language comprises a motivational introduction, language teaching template, lesson-content announcement, introduction to language occurrences in context, practice, repetition, evaluation of student’ achievement and a sequence for global word memorization.The choice of the methodological system in which the teaching model will be microstructured depends on the teacher’s assessment of what is the optimal correlation between teachers, pupils, content and the methodological template in order to achieve the goal/learning outcomes. This paper describes the correlation between these factors with examples of usual methodological systems in the teaching of the Croatian language. Fourth-year students of the Faculty of Teacher Education of the University of Zagreb (N = 39) observed the teaching process during 70 classes of Croatian language teaching. The aim was to investigate whether teachers implement modern methodological knowledge in the teaching process. The results indicate that 20% of the observed articulations of teaching classes deviate from the methodologically based structure; linguistic-methodological templates (texts intended for teaching language items) are appropriate, but 30% of teachers do not use the provided linguistic methodological templates for teaching a language item. It was further noticed that the most common methodological system is communication (94.9%), however, further analysis shows that 89% of students are involved in language production, mostly in the language activity of speaking.The results of the work contribute to the scientific foundation of the methodological organization and articulation of the teaching process in the subject Croatian language in primary education.

Belief and Belonging: Ritual Ramifications of the Failed Assassination Attempts on Emperor Alexander II of Russia

This article opens up a new scholarly subfield (royal-assassination-attempt commemoration) within the long-neglected field of annual (especially, provincial) ruler festivities in the nineteenth-century Russian Empire. It does so by subjecting an array of untapped, geographically dispersed sources to a systematic, highly theoretically underwritten analysis. As a result, the article generates many insights into the principles and pathways of pious thought and action of Russian imperial subjects from all walks of life vis-à-vis their monarch. In the process, it provides a methodological template for future studies of the intersections between belief and belonging going into the modern age, not only in Russia, but across the world.

Health and economic gain attributable to the introduction of the World Health Organization's drinking water standard on arsenic level in Hungary: A nationwide retrospective study on cancer occurrence and ischemic heart disease mortality

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 140 million individuals are at risk from consumption of drinking water containing arsenic at concentrations above the WHO guideline value of 10 μg/l. Arsenic mitigation is considered to be the most effective way to prevent arsenic related diseases. After joining the European Union, Hungary implemented a Drinking Water Quality Improvement Programme (DWQIP) to reduce levels of arsenic in drinking water below the WHO guideline value. But what impact did this have on health? We estimated the change in lifetime excess skin, lung, and bladder cancer risks and mortality from ischaemic heart disease (IHD) associated with chronic arsenic intake among those exposed before (2004–2007) and after (2014–2017) the implementation of DWQIP. A population-based risk assessment approach was used to assess lifetime excess cancer risk applying two scenarios for lung and bladder cancers. The economic benefits of the DWQIP were estimated by the combination of cost of illness and value per statistical life methods. Compared to the period before the DWQIP, its implementation was associated with a significant reduction in arsenic in drinking water [median: 3.0 μg/l interquartile range (IQR): 1.5–12.0 μg/l to median: 2.15 μg/l IQR: 1.0–5.79 μg/l]. The two scenarios were estimated to be associated with 225.2 and 35.9 fewer cancer cases each year. The number of annually prevented IHD deaths was estimated to be 88.9. It was estimated that the benefits of the DWQIP will outweigh its costs. We conclude that reducing arsenic levels in drinking water to 10.0 μg/l resulted in significant health and economic benefits. Our study goes beyond the existing research, offering both new insights into the impact of arsenic mitigation and providing a methodological template for similar studies in the many parts of the world that have yet to reduce arsenic exposure.

New Interpretations of Data about South Slavic Gentes from the De Administrando Imperio of Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (944-959)

This paper presents an overview of historical research of one of the most important documents for the earliest history of South Slavs – the De administrando imperio by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (944–959). It is evident that previous researchers investigated this work according to a black/white, correct/incorrect template and that the most important things remained unanalysed – where does all this information come from, who collected it and when, for which occasion was it written and with which aim? The researchers posed of the source legitimate questions but in an incorrect order. The firstthing which should have been asked is: on what sources is the work based on, when and where was it written, and who wrote it. Beside the historiographic part of the work, the author, using his own methodological template, also provides information about the newest results in the study of this historical text. He argues that the Emperor’s main source on the settlement of theSouth Slavic peoples on the Balkan peninsula was the now lost work titled De conversione Croatorum et Serborum. Including this element into research allows us to understand some of the Emperor’s claims which but which were never properly understood by historians.

Adaptation of the INTERGROWTH-21st neurodevelopment assessment (INTER-NDA) to the context of the English-speaking Caribbean

BackgroundAdaptation of standardized early child development (ECD) assessments to low- and middle-income countries can be challenging because of culture-specific factors relating to language, content, context, and tool administration, and because the reliance of these tests on specialist healthcare professionals limits their scalability in low resource settings.MethodsWe report the cross-cultural adaptation of an international, standardized ECD instrument, the INTERGROWTH-21st Project Neurodevelopment Assessment (INTER-NDA), measuring cognitive, language, motor and behavioural outcomes in 2-year-olds, from a UK-based English-speaking population to the English-speaking Caribbean. Children aged 22-30 months were recruited from a pre-existing randomized controlled neurodevelopment intervention study in Grenada, West Indies.ResultsEight of 37 INTER-NDA items (22%) were culturally and linguistically adapted for implementation in the Caribbean context. Protocol adherence across seven newly-trained non-specialist child development assessors was 89.9%; six of the seven assessors scored ≥80%. Agreement between the expert assessor and the non-specialist child development assessors was substantial (κ = 0.89 to 1.00 (95% CI [0.58, 1.00]). The inter-rater and test-retest reliability for non-specialist child development assessors was between κ = 0.99 -1.00 (95% CI [0.98, 0.99]) and κ = 0.76 - 1.00 (95% CI [0.33, 1.00]) across all INTER-NDA domains.ConclusionsThe current study provides evidence to support the use of the adapted INTER-NDA by trained, non-specialist assessors to measure ECD prevalence in the English-speaking Caribbean. It also provides a methodological template for the adaptation of child developmental measures to cultural and linguistic contexts that conform to the cultural standards of the countries in which they are utilized to aid in the measurement of neurodevelopmental impairments (NDIs) in a variety of global clinical settings.

Practice-based Research and Creative Arts Practice:

This research uses a creative arts practice emerging from the processes of drawing and installation to create and explore the relationships between the artist and the outdoor spaces of the British Peak District. A mobile working kit made from paper, fabric and wood is used to make temporary installations outdoors in response to wind, weather and topography. The mobile working kit modules are then returned to the studio and later installed in art exhibition spaces, their display indexing the connection between self, other and the outdoors. The multitude of processes in outdoor environments and their relationships to landscape and its inhabitants’ actions is used as a methodological template to frame change. Based on the dichotomy of mobility and inscription, artmaking actions and the research process are described through the conceptual lenses of ‘gesture’, ‘practice’ and an expanded understanding of drawing. Following this, a taxonomy is suggested that categorises the embodiment of artmaking events from the tensions between their experienced particularities and the artist’s perceived material practice frameworks.

Replication studies in international business

In international business, as well as in many other social sciences, replication studies have long been treated as a poor relative, discounted and discouraged as “not original”. We argue that by teasing out confounding factors, validating causal mechanisms, and testing spatial and temporal boundaries, replication studies can stimulate debate, add to our body of knowledge, and fine-tune theory. Our goal in writing this editorial is to promote replication studies. We build a case for them by recognizing their value and showcasing their different types. We also offer a methodological template for carrying them out with academic rigor. Finally, we make concrete recommendations on how to go about increasing the number of them published.

Balkan Narrative in the Movie – Cultural Diplomacy or Propaganda? Mediological Analysis of the Bosnian and Serbian Oscar Nominees 2021

This article discusses the Balkan narrative in the movies, as a model for cultural diplomacy or propaganda, through the analysis of two Balkan movies nominated for the Best International FeatureFilm Oscar – Bosnian Quo Vadis Aida? and Serbian Dara from Jasenovac. The analysis is based on"film cards“, a methodological template of the author's research for the doctoral thesis, but also on the articles of journalists, film critics, and political analysts published in the period January 4th, 2021 -March 4th, 2021. In the analysis of the movies and the published texts, the author discusses various forms of public diplomacy (foreign and domestic), building/dismantling of the relations between nations in the Balkans, online media impact on social networks and their users informing public opinion, and achieving effective goals through strategic communication with the targeted public. Conclusions dewpoint to the importance and the power of online communication through the media and social networks, but also at their importance of strategic planning of the communication with targeted audiences in achieving the planned goals.

Patterns of bacterial motility in microfluidics-confining environments

Understanding the motility behavior of bacteria in confining microenvironments, in which they search for available physical space and move in response to stimuli, is important for environmental, food industry, and biomedical applications. We studied the motility of five bacterial species with various sizes and flagellar architectures (Vibrio natriegens, Magnetococcus marinus, Pseudomonas putida, Vibrio fischeri, and Escherichia coli) in microfluidic environments presenting various levels of confinement and geometrical complexity, in the absence of external flow and concentration gradients. When the confinement is moderate, such as in quasi-open spaces with only one limiting wall, and in wide channels, the motility behavior of bacteria with complex flagellar architectures approximately follows the hydrodynamics-based predictions developed for simple monotrichous bacteria. Specifically, V. natriegens and V. fischeri moved parallel to the wall and P. putida and E. coli presented a stable movement parallel to the wall but with incidental wall escape events, while M. marinus exhibited frequent flipping between wall accumulator and wall escaper regimes. Conversely, in tighter confining environments, the motility is governed by the steric interactions between bacteria and the surrounding walls. In mesoscale regions, where the impacts of hydrodynamics and steric interactions overlap, these mechanisms can either push bacteria in the same directions in linear channels, leading to smooth bacterial movement, or they could be oppositional (e.g., in mesoscale-sized meandered channels), leading to chaotic movement and subsequent bacterial trapping. The study provides a methodological template for the design of microfluidic devices for single-cell genomic screening, bacterial entrapment for diagnostics, or biocomputation.