Paradigm Research Articles

The Ontology of Power: An Institutional and Axiological Aspect

The article contains the author’s reflections on the essence of political power. Its manifestations are considered in three phases: con- quest, realization and retention of power. The complex issue of combining domination (in fact, violence) with conscience and morality is analyzed. The author’s approach is characterized by a combination of a scientific paradigm based on positivism and a theological paradigm. According to the author, for a long time the moral traditions formed with the inherent moral divine imperative of people certainly influenced the behavior of government representatives. But conscience really came to power along with faith, when the attitude towards people became a relationship with God. The article defines such concepts as “power”, “conscience”, “mentality”, “ideology”. It is argued that the combination of these concepts in the practice of political management is possible if the government takes into account the mental fields of the population and has a conscience – a complex sense of anticipating the possible consequences (including God’s punishment) of its actions.

Earth Sciences in the secondary education of Bulgaria

About 50 years ago, the study of geology has been removed from the curricula of the Bulgarian secondary education system. The young generations have to receive from the Geography textbooks (centred more on Human Geography) only unsystematic knowledge about some physical geographical features related to geological processes and structures, as the generalized Earth’s shape and structure, volcanoes, earthquakes, the geomorphology, and the elementary knowledge of plate tectonics as the basic paradigm of modern Earth sciences. Even basic knowledge of minerals, crystals and symmetry, rocks, and fossils was evicted not to speak about the sedimentation, igneous and metamorphic rocks, formations, and processes. With the present paper a short review of the secondary (high school) education in European and American schools is made. On its basis together with the rich experience in former textbooks of Geography and Geology (before 1970), suggestions are made for the replacement of the curricula and textbooks of Geography for the 8th to 10th classes (grades) by curricula and textbooks of Earth Sciences based on the modern knowledge of the Planet Earth System.

Automated Analysis of Changes in Privacy Policies: A Structured Self-Attentive Sentence Embedding Approach

The increasing societal concern for consumer information privacy has led to the enforcement of privacy regulations worldwide. In an effort to adhere to privacy regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), many companies’ privacy policies have become increasingly lengthy and complex. In this study, we adopted the computational design science paradigm to design a novel privacy policy evolution analytics framework to help identify how companies change and present their privacy policies based on privacy regulations. The framework includes a self-attentive annotation system (SAAS) that automatically annotates paragraph-length segments in privacy policies to help stakeholders identify data practices of interest for further investigation. We rigorously evaluated SAAS against state-of-the-art machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL)-based methods on a well-established privacy policy dataset, OPP-115. SAAS outperformed conventional ML and DL models in terms of F1-score by statistically significant margins. We demonstrate the proposed framework’s practical utility with an in-depth case study of GDPR’s impact on Amazon’s privacy policies. The case study results indicate that Amazon’s post-GDPR privacy policy potentially violates a fundamental principle of GDPR by causing consumers to exert more effort to find information about first-party data collection. Given the increasing importance of consumer information privacy, the proposed framework has important implications for regulators and companies. We discuss several design principles followed by the SAAS that can help guide future design science-based e-commerce, health, and privacy research.

Appeal and Sensory Characteristics of Oral Nicotine Products in Young Adults Who Vape E-Cigarettes.

This study applied a novel tobacco regulatory science paradigm to characterize inter-product variation in the appeal and sensory features of emerging commercial and therapeutic oral nicotine products (ONPs) among young adults that vape e-cigarettes. Twenty-three young adults without ONP experience who use e-cigarettes completed a single-blind, single-visit remote lab study. Participants rated appeal and sensory characteristics during 5-minute standardized self-administrations of 8 ONPs (4 fruit, 4 mint) from various brands (Lucy, Rouge, Solace, Nicorette, On!, Velo). Participants were randomized between-subjects to ONP type (pouches or gum). Gum ONPs were rated sweeter (B = 19.5, 95% CI = 4.3, 34.7), stronger in flavor (B = 25.6, 95% CI = 12.2, 39.0), and lower in tingling sensation (B = -14.0, 95% CI = -27.8, -0.2) than pouches. Fruit-flavored ONPs were sweeter (B = 12.9, 95% CI = 6.1, 19.7) and caused less burning (B = -12.0, 95% CI = -19.5, -4.5) than mint. Product type x flavor interactions found that gum vs. pouch enhanced sweetness and flavor strength more for fruit than mint, while pouch vs. gum increased burning and harshness more for mint. Nicorette White Ice was most appealing, while Rogue Fruit and Nicorette Mint were less so. Appeal correlated with most types of sensory experiences (rs = -.33-.54), except for tingling and burning. Nicotine gums may offer a more pleasant sensory experience than pouches for young adults who use e-cigarettes, with variation across brand/flavor variants. Results indicate that gum ONPs and fruit flavors may offer greater appeal and a more pleasant sensory experience than pouch ONPs and mint flavors for young adults who use e-cigarettes and are ONP-naïve, with heterogeneity in user experience across some brand/flavor variants. This study also introduces a method for assessing the appeal and sensory features of ONPs, which can inform regulatory efforts and strategies to reduce nicotine dependence among young adults who use e-cigarettes.

Evolution of commitment theory: global approaches

Commitment is a fundamental aspect of interpersonal relationships that is actively studied across various fields of psychology. This article explores the origins of the phenomenon of commitment within different scientific psychological paradigms, specifically: general psychology, organizational psychology, and economic psychology. Through a theoretical analysis of relevant literature, we compare how these disciplines conceptualize the phenomenon of commitment. In the general psychological perspective, the subjects and objects of study are individuals or groups, with commitment manifesting as either unilateral or reciprocal. In contrast, organizational and economic psychology focus primarily on individuals or groups as subjects, while the objects include economic organizations, their divisions, trademarks, goods, services, consumer habits, and ideas. Commitment plays a crucial role in stabilizing interpersonal relationships, enabling individuals to be predictable for one another and fulfill their responsibilities even when faced with better alternatives or challenging circumstances. In organizational psychology, commitment contributes to employees' positive attitudes toward their employers (organization), reduces staff turnover, and can enhance the efficiency of an organization's economic activities. While the classical concept of commitment is rarely employed in economic psychology and behavioral economics, the term is often applied to brands, companies, products, and services. This interpretation is viewed as a critical factor in establishing long-term, mutually beneficial relationships between economic entities. The article underscores the significance of examining commitment from various psychological perspectives to develop effective strategies for managing interpersonal relationships. Additionally, it considers avenues for future research, including the exploration of cross-cultural differences in commitment formation mechanisms, the stages and characteristics of developing a sense of commitment throughout a person’s ontological development, as well as the relationships, similarities, and differences in the commitment and loyalty of customers across various organizations in their consumer behavior

КОНСТРУКТИВНИТЕ ИГРИ – ОСНОВНО СРЕДСТВО ЗА СЕНЗОРНО ВЪЗПИТАНИЕ НА ДЕЦАТА

The child's contact with his environment is organically connected with the course of sensory processes. The task of the educator is to organise, guide and explain this interaction with the environment, drawing on scientific paradigms from psychology, pedagogy, methodology, as well as the use of specialised literature, but last but not least – drawing on his own experience. The place of ideas, imagination and pictorial thinking occupy a significant share in the planning of the upcoming construction activity. However, in the actual implementation of the conception, the necessity of the sensory processes of sensation and perception, without which the realisation of the constructive game is impossible, comes to the fore again.

CONSTRUÇÃO DE UM CIRCUITO DE MEDIÇÃO TRANSISTORIZADO PARA O ENSINO DA FÍSICA DOS SEMICONDUTORES NO ENSINO MÉDIO

Technology has proven to be an inseparable element in modern society, reshaping the way we live, learn and interact, individually and collectively. In this context, Physics teaching prioritizes the substantive training of subjects capable of analyzing, reflecting and using scientific tools to solve everyday or technological problems. As current technologies are based on the semiconductor behavior of silicon and the various digital electronic automation, control, communication and information systems, present in various sectors of society, semiconductor physics represents important content for high school, allowing greater reach in scientific understanding and technological by the subject. Based on current scientific education paradigms, this article aims to highlight the results of a didactic proposal based on the design and construction of a transistorized water level measuring circuit by students in the 2nd year of high school at a state school, belonging to the Alagoas comprehensive education program (pALei), located in the municipality of Arapiraca, during the delivery of the Integrator Project curricular component, belonging to the program's diversified base. Throughout the development of the component, the students, divided into groups, were led to the question of monitoring the water level present in the school's water tank, being able to size the circuit, assemble it and carry out tests, solving the problem initially presented based on the theoretical contribution developed in the project, based on the principles of electrodynamics and the physics of semiconductors.

Soil arthropod diversity, richness, and abundance in agroecological and conventional cotton production systems in Chaco, Argentina

In Argentina, agroecology has grown in last years as a scientific paradigm that seeks to design and evaluate agroecosystems considering sustainability, complexity, and uncertainty. Diversity is a key factor in the design and management of production systems and a necessary component for conservation biological control and the reduction of agrochemicals use. Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) crop in northern Argentina is usually managed with high load of agrochemicals: agroecological production arises as an alternative. This study evaluated the diversity, richness, and abundance of soil arthropods using pitfall traps in two experimental cotton plots under conventional (CONV) and agroecological management (AE) in Chaco, Argentina. AE system presented higher diversity and richness of predators compared with CONV, even when natural preparations were used for pest control. The phytophagous arthropods showed higher diversity and richness in CONV, even when pyrethroid insecticides were applied for pest control and preventively. The abundance in AE was lower for predators and higher for phytophagous arthropods. Agroecological production of cotton can be a tool that favors conservative biological control and an alternative for areas where protecting the health of farmers and the ecosystem is a priority.

DeepSecure: A computational design science approach for interpretable threat hunting in cybersecurity decision making

Businesses and industries are placing a greater emphasis on information systems for cybersecurity decision-making due to the rising cybersecurity threat landscape and the critical need to protect their digital assets. Threat hunting provides a data-driven and proactive approach to cybersecurity, enabling organizations to efficiently detect, analyze, and respond to cyber threats in real-time. Despite playing a crucial role, these systems face several obstacles, including the manual analysis of technical threat intelligence, the non-Gaussian nature of real-world data, the high rate of false positives produced during threat hunting, and the lack of interpretation and justification for these complex models. This article adopts the computational design science paradigm to develop a novel IT artifact for threat-hunting named DeepSecure. First, to automatically extract latent patterns from multivariate time series datasets, we propose a dynamic vector quantized variational autoencoder technique. Second, a multiscale hierarchical attention bi-directional gated recurrent unit-based threat-hunting mechanism is designed. Finally, we provide the visualization of attention scores to aid in model interpretation. We evaluate the DeepSecure against state-of-the-art benchmarks on two publicly available datasets, namely, ToN-IoT and CSE-CIC-IDS2018. The experimental evaluation proves that our model can efficiently identify threat types. Beyond demonstrating practical utility, the proposed framework can help address the lack of interpretation and justification for complex models in cyber threat detection and will allow organizations to respond to potential security incidents quickly.

Prediction of microstructural evolution of multicomponent polymers by Physics-Informed neural networks

As emerging concepts, leveraging physical information with machine learning to construct hybrid models enables a scientific data-driven paradigm for the investigation of complex kinetic issues in the field of polymer science. Herein, the model of physics-informed neural networks (PINNs), integrating advantages of neural networks with physics-based knowledge, is extended to predict the spatiotemporal patterns of phase-separated microstructures of multicomponent polymers. It is demonstrated that the PINN-based data-driven model can achieve the forward, backward and bidirectional predictions of spatiotemporally phase-separated patterns of homopolymer blends. All predicted patterns reveal a high accuracy and robustness of PINN-based data-driven model by leveraging a small amount of training data. Particularly, the PINN-based method can be harnessed to infer the latent physical law about the growth kinetics of phase-separated microstructures. In addition, PINN-based data-driven model can also be generalized to forecast the spatiotemporal patterns of microphase-separated nanostructures of block copolymers and infer their growth kinetics. Our study opens the possibility of learning non-equilibrium phenomena of complex polymer systems from only a few snapshots of microstructural evolution.

The principle of compromise-in-competition: understanding mesoscale complexity of different levels

This perspective is not meant to be a complete summary of the full series of our studies over decades, rather it aims to look back across the entire process to outline: What inspired this work at its beginning? How did the mindset gradually evolve from a solely engineering study to the new concept of Mesoscience? And where is the research currently being focused and to be extended? This approach elucidates the central importance of correlating precise engineering problems to be resolved with associated missing links in the underlying, fundamental science while exploring a notable commonality, namely, the universality of Mesoscience. Inspired by the physical phenomenon of the coexistence and interaction between a gas-rich dilute phase and a solid-rich dense phase with different physical mechanisms dominating the behaviour for each phase in gas–solid fluidization, it was recognized that an underlying compromise-in-competition (CIC) exists between these two physically dominant mechanisms. This, then, is the CIC principle. We believe that this is the origin of inherent structural complexity in these and other systems. We have shown that this CIC principle can be formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem through the so-called energy-minimization multi-scale model, leading to a massive improvement in both the accuracy and scalability of computation and its wide application in both academia and industries. Furthermore, this approach was extended to formulate and understand other complex systems in many apparently disparate fields, indicating the wide applicability of the CIC principle and then resulting in the proposition and advancement of the concept of Mesoscience. Furthermore, within the main body of this perspective article, future directions for identifying, developing and applying the concept of Mesoscience will be prospected. This includes extending its possible generality and applications in many different disciplines and fields, even to analysing global challenging issues and promoting CIC-informed AI. In this way, many challenging problems in engineering—identified through their underlying mesoscale complexity—will be closely correlated with the development of future fundamental science. Through this approach, we hope to illustrate that fundamental research can now tackle the intrinsic complexity existing in a multitude of engineering problems. Through the concept of Mesoscience, we aim to explore the possible commonality from complexity. The deduction of commonality from diversity is possible in resolving global challenges, shifting paradigms in science and filling in the existing gaps at the mesoscales of different levels of our knowledge, though there are difficulties and uncertainty coming from diversity.

Scientific Models, Paradigms and Systems of Ecology: From Symbol Apparatuses to the Real

Abstract An evolutionary framework of epistemology is presented where different paradigms offer different shadings of the ecological real. It is argued that better approximations will look cross-culturally and cross-temporally in order to increase the amount of scientifically fallible testing perspectives. General concepts are sought out, translating, for instance, a Homeric shield to a general human need for protection, and Mesopotamian agriculture to a need for sustenance. Once concepts are generalized, their recurrence becomes the best estimation of a human reality (protection, food) where the initial local abstractions (shield, agriculture) are more partial. Such interparadigmatic ideas are claimed to comprise a more sustainable view of science and interdisciplinary knowledge. (EZ)

Professor Damodar Joshi: A life that shaped the Ayurveda Pharmaceutics

Abstract The study presents a comprehensive life profile of Professor (Prof.) Damodar Joshi and his professional trajectory within the domain of Ayurvedic pharmaceutics. His pivotal role in integrating Rasa Shastra and Bhaishajya Kalpana with contemporary scientific paradigms, specifically focusing on the analysis and advancements related to mineral/metallic formulations derived from different metal and mineral sources, is highly regarded in modern Rasa Shastra. The present study unfolds Prof. Damodar Joshi’s scientific accomplishments, advances in literature, and resolution of scientific quandaries under his mentorship, as well as his professional journey, post-retirement contributions, research publications, and an array of awards and recognitions received.

Problems of Developing Researches on Women’s Political Leadership: A Bibliometric Analysis

The attention of researchers to the problems of recruiting new types of elites remains consistently high in the context of the modern political process transformation. But at the same time, the interest of researchers in women’s political leadership remains insignificant because the authors’ work continues to highlight gender inequality in politics, as demonstrated by the results of the study (113 publications versus 11,374). The paradigm of gender studies remains outdated: special attention is paid to the numerical indicators of women in top political positions, to the problems of unequal access and stereotypes of the electorate. Using the methodology of scientometric research approach, the author demonstrates the slow development of research problems of female political leadership in modern domestic science, as well as specifics and directions of development of research on possible institutionalization of women’s political leadership by means of bibliometric analysis of gender studies development on the basis of the e-library and RSCI. Citation analysis allows presenting statistics on the researched topic in popular search engines. The article notes that the problem field of female political leadership lies at the interdisciplinary interface of various scientific disciplines: political sciences, economic sciences, sociological sciences, psychological sciences and historical sciences. At the same time, the number of citations of publications on women’s political leadership more often prevails in economics, sociology and psychology. Researchers of leading Russian universities are mainly interested in the problems of women’s political leadership, including Lomonosov Moscow State University, structures of the Russian Academy of Sciences, The Presidential Academy RANEPA, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, etc. The findings of the study lead to conclusions about the well-established convictions in the scientific community among the gender researchers regarding inequality in politics. However, the transformation of the political process in recent years does not cause corresponding changes in the scientific paradigm among studies on women's political leadership.

Phenomenology of Mystical Psychedelic Experiences: The Case of Existential Anxiety

AbstractThe essay offers an interpretation of psychedelic peak experiences. It criticizes the quasi-scientific naturalistic attempts to explain such experiences and offers an alternative ontology underlying a more complex sense of naturalism, thus defending an entheogenic view irreducible to mere psychological effects. First, the mainstream ontology in the paradigm of natural sciences is exposed as being a version of the ontology of presence. This fact is shown as the reason for the phenomenological gap and the impotence of the natural sciences to address human experience. Next, existential anxiety is interpreted in terms of Heidegger’s ontology and is suggested as the core dimension of possible spiritual transformation. Finally, the phenomenology of mystical psychedelic experiences (MPE) is interpreted in terms of overcoming existential anxiety– a well-documented effect of MPE – and explicated in ontological terms. The psychedelic experience is shown to be mystical in a sense of transcending the everyday mode of existential denial of the enigmatic nature of the universe by facing the nothingness in a way that transforms one’s stand within it into a stand of original belongingness to the field of emptiness (Nishitani). Different aspects of psychedelic experience are explained and co-related in terms of such a transformation.

Exploring the professional discourse on environmental social work: a descriptive content analysis of selected publications from Germany and the US

Climate change and its disproportionate impacts on vulnerable groups have prompted the social work profession to become increasingly involved in environmental justice issues. Academic discourse on environmental social work has surged in the last decade, but limited studies examine its implementation by practitioners or information dissemination by professional organisations. Translational research highlights the crucial role of professional associations in informing practitioners of new scientific discoveries and practice paradigms. This qualitative content analysis compares a small selection of articles and podcast episodes published through the professional associations of social workers in the US (the National Association of Social Workers) and Germany (the Deutscher Berufsverband für Soziale Arbeit e.V.), respectively, focusing on environmental social work and its implications for the social work profession. The findings suggest that publications from both countries use similar arguments for proving the relevance of climate change issues for the profession but diverge considerably in their focus on how environmental social work should be applied.

Defining Unique Features of Discourse in Club of Funny and Inventive: A Study of Humor in KVN Performances

This article focuses on identifying the distinctive characteristics of discourse within the "Club of the Funny and Inventive" (Russ. KVN). The primary material for this study consists of team performances from the KVN television show. Attention is given to the challenge of defining the concept of discourse, along with a review of major approaches to its interpretation. It is demonstrated that humorous performances in KVN can be analyzed within the existing scientific paradigm as a communicative figure comprising three components: "reality – text – discourse," as well as being viewed as a specific communicative event. The authors examine the ontological characteristics of humor, highlighting its basis in contradiction and its sociocultural nature. Functions such as communication, socialization, identification, and differentiation facilitated by humor are described. The relevance of this research is underscored by the significance of KVN as a cultural phenomenon in shaping and developing humorous discourse as a whole. The article posits that KVN can be regarded as a distinct variety of humorous discourse due to its thematic and stylistic coherence. It is suggested that the specific characteristics and conditions governing KVN lead to the emergence of traits similar to those found in institutional discourse. The novelty of this study lies in articulating the antinomic characteristics of KVN discourse, concluding that their existence is intrinsically linked to the foundational contrast inherent in humor itself.

Paradigm changes in research: Kuhn meets socio-ecological transition theory

Recent research indicates that disruptiveness in science has decreased, triggering discussions about the reason for this. Earlier Thomas Kuhn discussed why revolutions in science are slow but inevitable processes. To better understand transition processes within a scientific discipline, this article draws on a novel transition concept. The concept combines ideas about the structure of scientific revolutions with the concept of adaptive cycles. Combining these two approaches facilitates theorization of the reasons for the reduced disruptiveness at the scientific discipline (system) level. To elucidate the interplay between individuals and the scientific discipline, and thus their role in processes of scientific paradigm shifts, the new model further integrates resilience theory. Factors determining the resilience of an adaptive system explain resistance to change at individual and system levels, as well as the interplay between these two levels. The discourse between environmental and ecological economics is used to illustrate the theoretical discussion and apply the novel transition concept to a specific case. The analysis shows that institutionalization, providing better answers to anomalies, and uncovering maladaptation are key in the transition process.

Indian philosophy as a precursor of the string theory of consciousness. Part 2

Introduction. The article examines the formation of the Ancient Indian philosophy and its connection to consciousness. The Indian philosophy has come a long way from its onset, in parallel with the Chinese and Ancient Greek philosophy. At the same time, the ideas of some of its branches and schools differ in a number of features. Purpose setting. By the example of the Sankhya school of philosophy, we have explored the evolution of the views of Ancient Indian philosophers on the evolution of the Universe, nature and man. We have put particular emphasis on the concept of consciousness.Methodology and methods of the study. In Sankhya system, the fundamental Prakriti and Purusha principles are identified. Other elements are supplementary. Ancient philosophers laid special emphasis on the three vibrating gunas. These are sattva, rajas, and tamas. We have revealed the functional connections between the gunas. The way they interact, in balance or dominance, determines the entire variety of material and spiritual processes. The evolution of the Universe in the Sankhya interpretation is close to the scientific theory of the Big Bang. The development of nature can be traced through the complication of atoms starting from the influence of a stimulus on unconscious chaos. The result of human evolution is the emergence of consciousness derivatives: intellect, mind and I (Ego). This allows better understanding of the behavioral characteristics of an existing personality. Yoga complements Sankhya system and makes it possible to transform consciousness in a number of states.Results. The analysis was carried out using scientific articles and monographs relatively unknown in the Russian press. Cognitive development occurs in a spiral. The scientific theory of strings appeared two and a half millennia after the emergence of the gunas concept. We have made a number of analogies between Ancient Indian gunas and contemporary string theory. And have substantiated the theory of consciousness not with quantum theory, but with a deeper string theory. The concept of consciousness is supported in line with the scientific paradigm of T. Kuhn. The leading ideas are the ideas about information of D. Chalmers and the physicist J. Wheeler.Conclusion. Thus, the phenomenon of consciousness has a silicon and biological basis. We insist on using the semantic concept of artificial consciousness instead of artificial intelligence. Therefore, between human consciousness and artificial consciousness there may be dangerous risks of dominance of the latter.

Концепция структурно-экосистемного понимания ценностей в решении задач стратегии экономической безопасности Российской Федерации

The objective of the article is to define the formation of an environmentally-oriented socially responsible approach to the design of complex intelligent technical systems to solve the problem of ensuring the economic security of the Russian Federation,which cannot be solved through the use of prevailing engineering-centric methods. In the article, to take into account the potential strengths of existing fundamental values, it is proposed to apply a scientific world view paradigm that allows them to be integrated in to the practice of designing complex intelligent systems based on some common foundation, considered from the stand point of the theoretical construction of technetics