Normative Process Research Articles

Challenges and possibilities in adolescent loneliness interventions

Abstract Researchers typically associate the high prevalence of loneliness during adolescence with evolving dynamics and changes in relationships, both familial and peer-related. Consequently, transient feelings of loneliness are anticipated and considered part of the normative developmental process. While many adolescents naturally navigate through periods of loneliness by reconnecting with peers, a subset experiences prolonged feelings of loneliness. This group faces an increased risk of additional mental health issues and potential adverse health consequences. Such findings underscore the importance of effective and scalable interventions. This presentation draws upon a comprehensive meta-analytical review of loneliness interventions and a dedicated chapter in the upcoming Cambridge Handbook of Loneliness. focusing on interventions for adolescents. It will offer a brief overview of contemporary loneliness interventions and intervention strategies. Furthermore, it will discuss the unique considerations required when addressing loneliness in adolescents compared to other age groups. This includes the critical importance of loneliness prevention for adolescents, particularly within the school environment. Furthermore, the presentation will discuss the potential of community-based interventions aimed at tackling adolescent loneliness, showcasing the ongoing Danish community-based intervention ‘More Together.’ ‘More Together’ is a large-scale, complex, multi-component and multi-level intervention for community change that aims to reduce loneliness among young and elderly people. The intervention is rooted in an extensive cross-sector partnership. The presentation will highlight potentials and pitfalls encountered when addressing adolescent loneliness within a community setting.

Queer Renaturalisations: Guy Hocquenghem’s Contradictory Nature Politics, Between Identity and Desire

Queerphobic discourses variably frame nature as defined by reproductive heterosexuality or as defined by unruly desires that civilised heterosexuality promises a progress away from. This article argues that both these politicised determinations of nature follow the logic of ‘renaturalisation’ – a strategy that invokes nature and the natural to reinforce a normative process – and that the ambiguity in nature discourses stems from the conflictual construction of queerness as both social and antisocial. Because queerness oscillates between being a recognisable identity and a critique of everything social, nature discourses used to justify heteronormative ontologies are contradictory and must change according to the context of the argument. Excavating a theory of renaturalisation from Guy Hocquenghem, this article suggests that queer politics should take nature seriously not because nature is inherently progressive or conservative but because this very duality materialises through cultural anxieties around queerness.

Meaning without Agency: The Establishment of Meaningful Time Relations as Prerequisite for the Emergence of Biosemiosis

AbstractThis article reexamines meaning, agency, and interpretation by challenging the view that they require primary or secondary agency. Using Paul Ricœur’s narrative temporality, it explores Terrence Deacon’s autogenic theory, reinterpreting it as a narrative process with non-agentic meaning by distinguishing between distended and displaced temporal relations. Distended relations pertain to agency and biosemiosis, while displaced relations involve the meaning found not in the entity but the processes which gave it a functionally historicized existence. Applying Ricœur’s analysis of temporal aporia and Deacon’s concept of zero, the article suggests that meaning in Deacon’s model mirrors the normative process of narrative interpretation. It emphasizes that primary agency requires meaningful organization for agentic action to have a self for which decisions matter, concluding that meaning, life, and primary agency are grounded in already existing displaced temporal relations resultant from proto-interpretative relations not bounded within an organism.

LAS ÁREAS MARINAS PROTEGIDAS DE LA REPÚBLICA DE ARGENTINA

This article analyzes the situation of the Argentine Republic for the protection of Marine Areas in order to conserve biodiversity and ecosystem processes. In this regard, we see how the normative process began in 2013 with the creation of the first Protected Marine Area Namuncurá Banco Burdwood I and continued with the creation of a National System of Protected Marine Areas and the creation of two new protected areas: Namuncurá Banco Burdwood II and Yaganes. In line with this, and notwithstanding the progress made by the country in terms of care and conservation of these spaces, there is a lack of Management and Conservation Plans, as well as human and economic resources, in order for the legal protection of these areas to be truly effective.

Повышение ресурса рабочих колес центробежных насосов шахтного водоотлива

Mining The article discusses the main failure causes of centrifugal pumps used in the mine dewatering plants. The factors causing intensive wear of the impellers used in centrifugal pumps of the CNS-33-66...330 type are analysed, as well as the ways of increasing their serviceability. The gas dynamic cold spraying is recognized as the most promising and efficient method of applying functional coatings, which makes it possible to improve the condition of the surface layer and eliminate surface defects of the initial impeller blanks, which have a significant impact on the serviceability of the parts. The main research trends are outlined in the studied area, and practical recommendations are provided on using the gas dynamic cold spraying methid both in the pump manufacturing process and in their overhaul. It is shown that one of the promising trends in development the gas dynamic cold spraying applications is the creation of multilayer coatings on the impeller blades based on compositions of various metal-ceramic powders. Along with the hardening treatment, this combination will allow to provide the impellers with a set of necessary functional characteristics for the hydro-abrasive wear conditions. technological process as a sequence of changing the natural state of the Earth's subsoil to obtain a certain quantity and quality of mineral products is characterized by departures from the specified normative parameter values, which is due to causes of different nature. Most of these causes are man-made, anf they are created during the performance of specific process operations by the personnel. The article presents an original approach to managing the control over the technological process parameters in a coal strip mine. To reduce the magnitude and probability of the process departures from the normative values, the authors propose to create technical and organizational control loops. Each loop is a closed chain of technical means and organizational tools, which secures up-keeping of the normative technological process state. Production risk is proposed to be used as a criterion to assess the efficiency of the control loops. The methodology allowing to calculate the risk is described. The results of the contour approach application to the technological process control at the Solntsevsky coal strip mine are presented.

Формирование контуров контроля технологического процесса угольного разреза

Mining technological process as a sequence of changing the natural state of the Earth's subsoil to obtain a certain quantity and quality of mineral products is characterized by departures from the specified normative parameter values, which is due to causes of different nature. Most of these causes are man-made, anf they are created during the performance of specific process operations by the personnel. The article presents an original approach to managing the control over the technological process parameters in a coal strip mine. To reduce the magnitude and probability of the process departures from the normative values, the authors propose to create technical and organizational control loops. Each loop is a closed chain of technical means and organizational tools, which secures up-keeping of the normative technological process state. Production risk is proposed to be used as a criterion to assess the efficiency of the control loops. The methodology allowing to calculate the risk is described. The results of the contour approach application to the technological process control at the Solntsevsky coal strip mine are presented.

Сoncept of the draft normative-legal act аs a law-making phenomenon

In the article, the author focuses on the relevance of the conceptual and categorical analysis of any phenomena and processes of legal reality, especially the phenomenon of the concept, which is today the basis of improving the functioning of jurisprudence. It was noted that due to constant changes in the socio-economic situation, technological progress, as well as foreign policy factors, it is important to adapt the legislation to new realities. Understanding and studying various concepts of the development of legislation, as well as their impact on legal practice, allows you to effectively analyze and improve the country's legal system. This approach helps to ensure legal stability, protection of citizens' rights, and increased confidence in the legal system in general. First of all, in cognitive terms, it is important to conduct an analysis of the studied phenomenon of the concept through the prism of its conceptual-categorical dimension, which will allow to generalize its properties and improve the definition. The indicated vector of scientific knowledge will first of all strengthen the methodological basis for further research of concepts as a law-making phenomenon, define clear boundaries of the subject of scientific knowledge, establish cognitive regularities of concepts, putting them in the basis of a corresponding unified doctrinal understanding of them. In the content of the work, an analysis of the concept as a special law-making phenomenon, determination of approaches to its understanding that have developed in legal science, clarification of the features of the concept of the project of a normative-legal act, and improvement of the definition of the concept as a component of the conceptual and categorical apparatus of legal science are carried out. It was concluded that in the process of preparing a draft of a comprehensive normative legal act, one cannot do without a preliminary conclusion of its concept. In addition, the concept of writing a normative legal act can be brought up for discussion. In this way, it is proved that the concept of a normative legal act is an important stage and component of the normative design process, because the development of the correct concept allows to further formulate the provisions of the text of the normative act more clearly.

Collaborative Governance in Tourism Village Development in Ciamis Regency, West Java Province, Indonesia

Tourism villages are a potential sector in the development of an area with very minimal risk of environmental damage. This makes village tourism a leading sector for all villages, including villages in Ciamis Regency. The development of tourist villages in the normative and empirical process needs to be carried out through collaborative governance because tourist villages have multidimensional characteristics. The development of tourist villages in Ciamis Regency is still not optimal because even though it has great potential and is supported by the Tourism Information Center, it turns out that the development process is still carried out separately between all parties involved. The aim of this research is to analyze collaborative government governance in developing tourist villages and find an ideal collaborative governance model in developing tourist villages in Ciamis Regency. For this purpose, Ansell and Gash's government collaboration theory is used which includes four dimensions, namely initial conditions, facilitative leadership, institutional design, and collaboration processes. The research uses a qualitative approach with descriptive research type. Data analysis was carried out through data reduction and drawing conclusions. The research results show that the ongoing tourism village development process has not fully adopted collaborative governance. This is because trust has not been formed in each of the actors involved. The ideal tourism village development model that adopts collaborative governance is the Tourism Development Model. This model prioritizes building trust and sustainable commitment to each actor in tourism village development.

What shapes food waste behaviors? New insights from a comprehensive action determination model

The sharp increase in food waste poses a serious threat to food security and environmental sustainability. However, most existing studies have investigated the determinants of food waste behaviors in a separate behavioral process without considering the potential impacts of different factors in an integrated process. To narrow this gap, a comprehensive action determination model (CADM), which integrates network embeddedness and incentive measures, was constructed to explore the impact of various determinants in different processes on food waste behaviors, using data collected from 913 residents in eastern China via an online survey. The empirical results showed that environmental concern was the largest positive factor in predicting personal norms (β = 0.80, p < 0.001), followed by network embeddedness. With the habitual process considered, residents with ingrained waste habits were more likely to waste food (β = 0.38, p < 0.001). Moreover, the normative process alleviates behavioral decisions via intentions to reduce food waste. This study confirmed the differences in the situational process and suggested that menu tips increase food waste behaviors, while incentive measures reinforce the influence of intentions on behavior. We therefore address the insufficient ingredients on the effects of different processes on behavior and provide a new perspective for formulating behavioral intervention policies.

Please ''bridge'' the Gap! Conceptualizing ''Practicality'' as a Field of Inquiry

Entrepreneurship research as a field is going through a transformational phase along its growth trajectory, with its practical relevance being put under the spotlight, triggered by the rapid changes in markets and the external environment. While it originated as a practice-based field a few decades ago, it has grown distant from real life in recent years due to several factors. Extant literature on the research-practice gap has been rather prescriptive or focused on one part of the problem only. This led to scholarly calls for more theory-building and inclusive approach in addressing it. This note proposes a processual model to theorize practicality as a field of inquiry. The model is formed of four phases that reflect the normative process of scientific research and highlight the shared responsibility of academia and industry. The antecedents of each phase are discussed and potential measures to resolve them are proposed, guided by literature and real-life examples.

Transubstantiation as a normative process: James Joyce and Carl Schmitt in 1922

The thesis that legal norms are rooted in theology is not new. It is worth considering, however, to what extent not only singular norms, but also models of normativity are the structural representation of theological concepts. In this article, I consider transubstantiation as one of such ideas. I analyse its place in two political theologies published at the same time (in 1922): Carl Schmitt’s Political Theology and James Joyce’s Ulysses. I argue that both thinkers used the idea of transubstantiation as a normative mechanism to deal with anomie that encompassed European societies after the First World War.

Low and very low birthweight disadvantage in compulsory education achievement and the transition to upper secondary education in the Finnish birth cohorts of 1987 to 1997.

We compared the educational achievements of very low-birthweight (VLBW) and low-birthweight (LBW) adolescents (ages 16 to 19) to those of their normal-birthweight (NBW) peers in the complete Finnish birth cohorts of 1987 to 1997. We focused on three key phases of the education process: the end of compulsory education (9th-grade completion), and the transition to and the completion of upper secondary-level education. We used register data on grades, educational transitions and completed education. We employed multiple indicators on the progression of the education process and estimated population-level and within-families linear probability (LPM) models with robustness checks at the population level using logistic regression. We tested whether parental education and the child's sex modify the association between (V)LBW and educational achievement. Results of both descriptive analysis and the population-level and within-family LPM models indicate that (V)LBW is associated with an increased risk of not being able to keep up with the normative education process and to compete for upper secondary education study places at the end of compulsory education. The modifying effect of parental education was robust, whereas that of the child's sex was not. Among (V)LBW students who were able to keep up with the normative education process, (V)LBW was not associated with a lower grade point average or with a meaningfully lower probability of completing upper secondary education by the normative age. The upper secondary-level educational choices and achievements of the children born with (V)LBW who managed to complete the standard compulsory education curriculum and complete the transition to upper secondary-level education within the expected time did not, in essence, differ from those of the NBW children. Some specific characteristics of the Finnish education system likely contributed to these results, such as the grading at compulsory education being only relatively loosely standardized.

Novice Auditors and Audits of Fair Values: Knowledge and Skill Requirements*

AbstractNovice auditors are increasingly being asked to perform tasks that were not expected of them in the past, including evaluation of fair values (FVs). This study contributes to the auditing literature by investigating novice auditors' competencies required for correct performance of FV auditing tasks, identifying weaknesses, and suggesting actions that could be taken by educators and practitioners to address those weaknesses. Using the audit of goodwill impairment under IFRS as the exemplar task for identifying FV auditing competencies, we create a normative process table for the task based on accounting and auditing standards and authoritative valuation literature. We analyze the verbal protocols of novice auditors while they perform the task and compare their processes to the normative table to understand weaknesses in their competencies. Our findings are of interest to auditing educators and audit firm personnel responsible for staff training programs, audit program development (e.g., checklists), supervision, and review.

Securitization of Politics in Ethiopia: Scrutinizing Crisis in Western Oromia in Post-2018

The article is aimed to scrutinize security crisis in Western part of Oromia, within the broader context of unearthed securization of politics in Ethiopia. The post-2018 political situation in Ethiopia is characterized by severe security crises in almost all parts of the country, and these security crises have regional and international dimensions. Politicians build security sectors to secure their political life when the normative political process has stalled. There are also ongoing security crises in the western part of Oromia Regional State, ranging from the displacement of Oromo from Benishangul Gumuz Regional State and border areas in Oromia to the ongoing massive massacres of Oromo in East and Horro Guduruu Wallagga by mercenaries from Amhara Regional State, to ongoing human rights violations such as arrests, extrajudicial killings, etc. Accordingly, this article intended to discuss the imperatives of securitized political issues in perpetuated security crisis in Western Oromia since 2018. The research was approached as qualitative research with a case study design to exhaustively discuss the security crisis in West Oromia as a particular case. Both primary and secondary data were used. Primary data was collected through interviews, personal observations, and semi-structured conversations with peers, while secondary data was obtained through a content analysis of the literature. The research found that the failure of the 2018 political transition perpetuated a security crisis across the country. Western Oromia is marked as a sensitive political ecology, and political issues are highly securitized. Geographically speaking, West Oromia is viewed as an outlying area, yet it holds a central position within the national political landscape. Hence, within the examined region, political inquiries are approached through security measures, resulting in a complex security crisis with severe consequences for the local population. Therefore, desecuritizing the political agenda and giving a chance to normative politics or finding a “political solution to the political problem” is recommended as the only way forward in the country.

The power threat meaning framework and people with learning disabilities: Psychological professionals’ perspectives

The systematic review aimed to identify whether changes in adaptive behaviour occur as people with Down Syndrome (DS) age, and if so, when and how these changes occur. Both longitudinal and cross-sectional observational studies were included, if they reported on how adaptive behaviour outcomes change with age, for DS participants older than 30. In 2022, a search of three databases (Pubmed, Web of Science, PsycInfo), a database for unpublished theses (ERIC) and reference lists, found 26 eligible studies. Quality assessment revealed considerable bias in at least 5 studies. Given the extensive heterogeneity amongst studies, thematic synthesis was chosen to synthesise the study findings. Tentative results -reveal that declines occur for adaptive behaviour skills after the mid-40s, akin to dementia neuropathology and cognitive declines, with motor skills and receptive language declining first. However, both intra- and inter-individual differences were found, which supports the evidence that dementia in DS is not a normative process and baseline assessments should be utilised to support diagnoses. Other factors such as comorbidities and residential status did not appear to affect declines. Adaptive behaviour assessments should aim to be specific and sensitive to individual baseline functions to avoid ‘floor’ effects, however such measures may be superior to cognitive tests in supporting early detection of dementia in more profoundly intellectually disabled (ID) groups. More research is required to further these findings.

Systematic Review: Do adaptive behaviour skills change as people with Down Syndrome age and if so, how?

The systematic review aimed to identify whether changes in adaptive behaviour occur as people with Down Syndrome (DS) age, and if so, when and how these changes occur. Both longitudinal and cross-sectional observational studies were included, if they reported on how adaptive behaviour outcomes change with age, for DS participants older than 30. In 2022, a search of three databases (Pubmed, Web of Science, PsycInfo), a database for unpublished theses (ERIC) and reference lists, found 26 eligible studies. Quality assessment revealed considerable bias in at least 5 studies. Given the extensive heterogeneity amongst studies, thematic synthesis was chosen to synthesise the study findings. Tentative results reveal that declines occur for adaptive behaviour skills after the mid-40s, akin to dementia neuropathology and cognitive declines, with motor skills and receptive language declining first. However, both intra- and inter-individual differences were found, which supports the evidence that dementia in DS is not a normative process and baseline assessments should be utilised to support diagnoses. Other factors such as comorbidities and residential status did not appear to affect declines. Adaptive behaviour assessments should aim to be specific and sensitive to individual baseline functions to avoid ‘floor’ effects, however such measures may be superior to cognitive tests in supporting early detection of dementia in more profoundly intellectually disabled (ID) groups. More research is required to further these findings.

The Importance of Being Casiopeina as Polypharmacologycal Profile (Mixed Chelate–Copper (II) Complexes and Their In Vitro and In Vivo Activities)

In this review, we present a timeline that shows the origin of mixed chelate copper (II) complexes, registered as Mark Title Casiopeínas®, as the first copper (II) compounds proposed as anticancer drugs in 1988 and 1992. In the late twentieth century, the use of essential metals as anticancer agents was not even considered, except for their antifungal or antibacterial effects; also, copper, as gold salts, was used for arthritis problems. The use of essential metals as anticancer drugs to diminish the secondary toxic effects of Cisplatin was our driving force: to find less toxic and even more economical compounds under the rational design of metal chelate complexes. Due to their chemical properties, copper compounds were the choice to continue anticancer drug development. In this order of ideas, the rational designs of mixed chelate–copper (II) complexes (Casiopeínas, (Cas) homoleptic or heteroleptic, depending on the nature of the secondary ligand) were synthesized and fully characterized. In the search for new, more effective, and less toxic drugs, Casiopeína® (Cas) emerged as a family of approximately 100 compounds synthesized from coordinated Cu(II) complexes with proven antineoplastic potential through cytotoxic action. The Cas have the general formula [Cu(N–N)(N–O)]NO3 and [Cu(N–N)(O–O)]NO3, where N–N is an aromatic substituted diimine (1,10-phenanthroline or 2,2′-bipyridine), and the oxygen donor (O–O) is acetylacetonate or salicylaldehyde. Lately, some similar compounds have been developed by other research groups considering a similar hypothesis after Casiopeína’s discoveries had been published, as described herein. As an example of translational medicine criteria, we have covered each step of the established normative process for drug development, and consequently, one of the molecules (Casiopeína III ia (CasIIIia)) has reached the clinical phase I. For these copper compounds, other activities, such as antibacterial, antiparasitic and antiviral, have been discovered.

Biological sensitivity to adolescent-parent discrepancies in perceived parental warmth

IntroductionParenting behaviors are formative to the psychological development of young people; however, parent and adolescent perceptions of parenting are only moderately correlated with each other. Whereas discrepant perceptions may represent a normative process of deindividuation from caregivers in some adolescents, in others a discrepancy might predict psychological maladjustment. The biological sensitivity to context model provides a framework from which individual differences in development can be estimated in adolescents whose perceptions of parenting diverge from those of their parents. MethodsAt baseline we obtained diurnal cortisol samples from US adolescents (M = 13.37 years of age, SD = 1.06) as well as parents' and adolescents’ ratings of parental warmth; we obtained adolescent-reported symptoms of psychopathology at baseline and again at follow-up two years later (N = 108, 57.5% female). We estimated waking cortisol, cortisol awakening response, and daytime cortisol slopes using piecewise regression models. ResultsLower adolescent than parent ratings of parental warmth predicted increased externalizing symptoms at follow-up. Higher waking cortisol and steeper cortisol awakening response and daytime slopes predicted increased internalizing symptoms at follow-up. Further, discrepant ratings of parental warmth interacted with cortisol awakening response and daytime slopes such that greater discrepancies predicted greater increases in externalizing symptoms in adolescents with steeper cortisol slopes. ConclusionsThese findings indicate that steeper changes in cortisol production throughout the day index a greater sensitivity to perceived parental warmth. Lower adolescent than parent ratings of parental warmth may represent dysfunction in the parental relationship rather than a normative process of deindividuation in adolescents with steeper diurnal cortisol slopes.

The impact of normative institutions on socially sustainable supply chain management: the role of individual cultural values

PurposeDrawing on institutional theory, this study investigates the role of individual cultural values on the adoption of socially sustainable supply chain management (socially SSCM) for Chinese suppliers facing the normative institutional pressures of guanxi (interpersonal relationships).Design/methodology/approachUsing empirical data collected in three waves from 205 Chinese manufacturers supplying international markets, the proposed theoretical model is tested through partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsThe results indicate that guanxi has a positive impact on socially SSCM, and this positive effect is strengthened when the individual cultural values of the supplier's representative embody high collectivism and low uncertainty avoidance.Research limitations/implicationsThis study highlights the leading role of guanxi in improving socially SSCM practices due to its normative institutional force. In addition, the findings suggest that future studies should consider individual differences in supply chain partners, which may lead to distinct reactions when facing normative institutional pressures.Practical implicationsThis study suggests international buyers should adopt guanxi management with their Chinese suppliers to encourage them to adopt socially SSCM. In addition, managers should note that the guanxi strategy is more effective when the supplier's representative collectivism is high and uncertainty avoidance is low.Originality/valueThis study contributes to socially SSCM research in emerging economies by unveiling the role of guanxi as a key driver of socially SSCM in the Chinese market and providing empirical evidence of the moderating effect of individual culture on the guanxi normative institutionalization process.

The Biosynthesis of Proteins for Nano Engines as a Normative Process

In this article two questions are discussed with regard to semiosis in protein biosynthesis for nano engines. (1) What kind of semiosis is involved in the construction of these proteins? and (2) How can we explain the semiotic process observed? With regard to the first issue we draw attention to comparisons between semiosis in protein biosynthesis and human natural language. The notion of normativity appears to be of great importance for both. A comparison also demonstrates differences. Nevertheless, because of the normative symbolic information processing in it, we suggest to employ the term symbolic reference (employed in linguistics as a distinguishing feature of human language) to indicate the semiotic processes in protein biosynthesis. With regard to explaining semiosis in protein synthesis we compare different approaches. We conclude that a Kantian approach should be preferred. In such an approach strengths of the mechanistic and organicist approaches can be combined, and the observed symbolic information processing acknowledged.