Development Perspective Research Articles

A holistic and pluralistic perspective for justice through tourism: a regenerative approach

Justice is integral in transformative tourism approaches that call for a complete restructuring of the travel and tourism sector worldwide. While justice through alternative tourism models promotes responsible, sustainable transitions in the tourism sector, these models are frequently informed by a perceived binary between the social and the environmental and long-held patterns of West-centric thought and West versus ‘the rest’ power dynamics, found both in tourism theory and practice and within justice frameworks. In this article, we explore the potential of the regenerative development paradigm to bridge these divides and adopt a pluriversal lens to devise a more just practice of tourism. The holistic, transformative tenets and pluralistic perspective of regenerative development and tourism are used to build a novel framework for justice. The framework’s capacity to analyse, unlock and catalyse place regeneration in different knowledge systems and restore just relationships has been leveraged in two rural areas in Colombia and Ecuador. Collecting data through mixed qualitative methods that combine reflexive ethnography with in situ and online interviews, we identified actions taken to address local inequalities and challenges while fostering pathways to the systemic transformation of residents’ livelihoods. These place-specific actions inspired by ancestral traditions have revitalised the areas’ ecosystems, including local human communities and the latter’s tourism activities. The discussion of results examines the potential of pluriversal regenerative development and tourism principles grounded in diverse knowledge and ethics frames to guide actions for systemic social and environmental justice.

Výuka geověd včera, dnes a zítra – reflexe učitelů a žáků

This article focuses on the historical development, current state, and future perspectives of geology education in the Czech Republic. The theoretical part of the article presents analysis of the evolution of the geology curriculum and its position within the Czech educational system. It highlights significant personalities and events in geological sciences and describes the changes in geology education since the 18th century to the present. The empirical part of the article employs qualitative research through focus group interviews to reflect on current approaches to geology education in lower secondary schools (ISCED 2). The respondents included ninth-grade students from primary schools, teacher education students at the Faculty of Science of Charles University, and science teachers. Based on their statements, SWOT analyses were created to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with geology education. Strengths include practical field exercises and field trips that provide students a direct contact with geological materials and demonstrate interdisciplinary connections between geology, chemistry, physics, and geography. Weaknesses involve low student interest, lack of teaching aids, and the complexity of integrating geology into other subjects. Threats include low teacher motivation and inadequate resources in school natural science collections, while opportunities lie in tandem teaching and collaboration with research and educational institutions. The article emphasizes the need to strengthen interdisciplinary connections, increase teacher support and motivation through further education, and improve school collection. Emphasis is also placed on popularizing geology to make it more attractive not only to students but also to the broader public. Overall, it is essential for geology education to respond to current challenges and trends, thus contributing to the formation of comprehensive scientific education that will inspire students to further study and interest in natural sciences.

Teacher Agency of Novice Teachers: A Scoping Review

Global policies, accountability standards, and various challenges in education around the world have a negative impact on the professional lives of novice teachers. Teacher agency has gained attention as a popular topic that offers different, new perspectives for teachers' professional development and efforts to improve the quality of education. The present study aims to examines the agency of novice teachers. For this purpose, the distribution of the compiled studies by years, countries, research method, sample size, experience level, and subject was examined. It also examined the barriers to novice teachers' agency and the findings of studies focusing on novice teacher agency. In order to identify the relevant peer-reviewed studies in the literature for scoping, research was conducted in the Web of Science, ERIC, Scopus, PsychINFO, and MEDLINE databases. The studies obtained from the databases were accessed in 53 studies using PRISMA research methodology. The study was prepared according to the stages of the scoping review methodology created by Hilary Arksey and Lisa O'Malley. As a result, the conditions affecting the agency of novice teachers were evaluated from teacher education, school context, and policy perspectives, and recommendations were made to researchers, teacher educators, and policymakers.

A novel perspective of calvarial development: the cranial morphogenesis and differentiation regulated by dura mater.

There are lasting concerns on calvarial development because cranium not only accommodates the growing brain, but also safeguards it from exogenous strikes. In the past decades, most studies attributed the dynamic expansion and remodeling of cranium to the proliferation of osteoprecursors in cranial primordium, and the proliferation of osteoprogenitors at the osteogenic front of cranial suture mesenchyme. Further investigations identified series genes expressed in suture mesenchymal cells as the markers of the progenitors, precursors and postnatal stem cells in cranium. However, similar to many other organs, it is suggested that the reciprocal interactions among different tissues also play essential roles in calvarial development. Actually, there are increasing evidence indicating that dura mater (DM) is indispensable for the calvarial morphogenesis and osteogenesis by secreting multiple growth factors, cytokines and extracellular matrix (ECM). Thus, in this review, we first briefly introduce the development of cranium, suture and DM, and then, comprehensively summarize the latest studies exploring the involvement of ECM in DM and cranium development. Eventually, we discussed the reciprocal interactions between calvarium and DM in calvarial development. Actually, our review provides a novel perspective for cranium development by integrating previous classical researches with a spotlight on the mutual interplay between the developing DM and cranium.

The application of evolutionary computation in generative adversarial networks (GANs): a systematic literature survey

As a subfield of deep learning (DL), generative adversarial networks (GANs) have produced impressive generative results by applying deep generative models to create synthetic data and by performing an adversarial training process. Nevertheless, numerous issues related to the instability of training need to be urgently addressed. Evolutionary computation (EC), using the corresponding paradigm of biological evolution, overcomes these problems and improves evolutionary-based GANs’ ability to deal with real-world applications. Therefore, this paper presents a systematic literature survey combining EC and GANs. First, the basic theories of GANs and EC are analyzed and summarized. Second, to provide readers with a comprehensive view, this paper outlines the recent advances in combining EC and GANs after detailed classification and introduces each of them. These classifications include evolutionary GANs and their variants, GANs with evolutionary strategies and differential evolution, GANs combined with neuroevolution, evolutionary GANs related to different optimization problems, and applications of evolutionary GANs. Detailed information on the evaluation metrics, network structures, and comparisons of these models is presented in several tables. Finally, future directions and possible perspectives for further development are discussed.

Perceptions of Pedagogy Lecturers and Students Regarding the Manifestation of Local Wisdom Values

In the realm of education local wisdom has gained recognition as a foundational element for both individual and community growth. This study examines the shared perceptions of local wisdom values among lecturers and pedagogy students in Indonesia, aiming to understand the extent of their consensus and its potential influence on teaching practices. The research employs a descriptive quantitative approach, utilizing a purposive sampling technique that includes 120 students and 10 lecturers. Data collection is conducted primarily through a questionnaire-based survey, with the gathered information subjected to thorough mathematical and statistical analysis. Both descriptive and inferential statistical methods are applied to uncover significant insights. The findings indicate that most students (77.2%) and lecturers (80%) agree on the substantial role of local wisdom values in fostering unity amidst diversity. However, there are perceptual differences influenced by variables such as age, educational background, and life experiences. The study suggests that educational stakeholders should consider these diverse perspectives in curriculum development and teaching methodologies. Despite its limitations, research paves the way for further exploration into the interpretation of local wisdom values in pedagogical practices and their impact on student learning outcomes, as well as their contribution to sustainable development and culturally responsive education policies.

Transforming Children’s Library Services: Literacy and Competency Development Perspectives

ABSTRACT This research highlights the crucial function of children’s library services in advancing literacy and competency development. It underscores the urgency for libraries to evolve beyond conventional roles, advocating for a comprehensive literacy framework that integrates reading, writing, digital literacy, and critical thinking. Through qualitative analysis, the study outlines strategic measures for transforming libraries into vibrant, interactive spaces that nurture children’s intellectual and social growth, positioning libraries as key facilitators of lifelong learning. It calls for a significant paradigm shift in children’s library services to adeptly address emerging educational demands, emphasizing innovation and inclusivity in service design.

კროს-რეგიონული თანამშრომლობის როლი შიგარეგიონული დისპროპორციების დაძლევაში პოსტ-კრიზისულ საქართველოში

Regionalism and regional studies are one of the most topical issues and research directions at the current stage. Therefore, it is quite difficult to find an issue in the relevant space that has not yet been studied by Georgian or foreign researchers. However, it should be noted here that the rapidly changing world full of contradictions will constantly activate new challenges, which require re-examination of the problem that has been analyzed many times and its study in relation to the changed environmental conditions. The aim of the present paper was to study the discussions related to the expediency of further regionalization in Georgia, strengthening of inter-regional ties, and the analysis of the current processes, to determine the expediency of transforming its results into the reality of our country, to outline the future perspectives of rapid post-crisis rehabilitation and development, and to develop appropriate recommendations. In the process of working on this article, as methodological material, the authors reviewed research papers, analytical materials, reports and regulatory documents of governmental or international organizations, and others that were related to the problem posed in the paper. We paid special attention to the examples of the Baltic states, the Scandinavian countries, and the Eastern Partnership countries, because we think that studying and sharing their experiences can positively affect the development and implementation of relevant policies in our country, in one hand, and the outline of the perspectives of regional cooperation, in other hand.

우크라이나 전쟁 이후 러시아 재정준칙과 국부펀드(NWF) 운용에 관한 연구

Russia’s National Wealth Fund (NWF) is formed from oil and gas income and operates under Russia's fiscal rule. The NWF finances the federal budget deficit and development projects in key areas. As the Ukraine war continues, the federal budget deficit grows, and the role of the NWF seemingly increases. Despite the NWF temporarily financing the federal budget deficit on a larger scale, the fund continues to grow, which infers that the Russian government’s long-run growth strategies are still valid. However, from the perspective of budget expenditure, war and economic development would eventually not be compatible. Scarce resources should be effectively allocated and used for Russia’s high-technology development and balanced development across the country.

Open Innovation or Traditional Patenting Strategies to Efficiently Address Health Emergencies? How Patent Information Was Used Towards Effective Treatments for COVID-19.

During the 1150 days of COVID-19 pandemic there were great efforts to develop efficient treatments for the disease. After this long time, some drugs emerged as treatment for COVID-19. Some of them are new drugs, most of them, known drugs. These developments were triggered by information already available in patent documents. Pharmaceutical companies, therefore, rushed to conduct drugs evaluations and trials in order to deliver to the world a reasonable treatment that could reach the majority of its population. However, it is not immediately clear how companies operated to reach their goals. The ability of open innovation to achieve results assertively and faster than closed innovation strategies is questioned and therefore, it is questioned whether pharmaceutical companies use open innovation to face COVID-19. In this work, data available on patent databases were mined to inform about the scientific and technological panorama of selected drugs tested for COVID-19 treatment and to understand the perspectives of such developments during the pandemic. This study evidenced that most treatments were based on known drugs, that some of the initially promising drugs were abandoned during the pandemic, and that it was able to inform if open innovation and collaborations were explored strategies. This study evidenced that the developments during COVID-19 were not based on open innovation by revealing a patent race towards the treatment development, but with practically no collaborations or information exchange between companies, universities, and research facilities.

Восточные элементы в российской культуре

The article examines the influence of oriental elements of culture on the development of the Russian cultural tradition. The aim of the work is to show the importance of elements of the culture of Oriental peoples in the formation of various aspects of the culture of Russian civilization and to identify its specific oriental features and characteristics. The relevance of the research is determined by changes in the current geopolitical situation of the Russian Federation, the rupture of many historical, cultural and ideological ties with Western countries a pivot towards the East, and Russia’s transition to more productive cooperation and close interaction with Eastern countries in the Asian and South Pacific regions in various spheres of public, governmental, and socio-cultural life: politics, economics and socio-cultural relations. The scientific novelty is defined by the authors’ examination of the objective characteristics of Eastern elements of culture and their comprehensive analysis of the degree of their impact on Russian cultural tradition. Moreover, in solving this research task, they proceed from the self-sufficiency of the considered Eastern elements of Russian culture without tracing their connection to other forms of cultural development of human civilization. The authors have shown that Eastern elements have played a significant role in the development of the creative, human potential of Russian culture, and the prolonged silence about this fact, focusing exclusively towards Westernized cultural patterns, violated the principle of objectivity accepted in Russian science. Revisiting this principle concerning Eastern culture promises to aid impartial researchers in objectively scrutinizing cultural processes, spanning both historical retrospectives and modern historical period. In conclusion, the research highlights the pivotal role of oriental cultural elements in shaping Russian civilization, underscoring the necessity for a balanced and objective approach to cultural analysis. Embracing this principle will facilitate a more nuanced understanding of Russian cultural development, bridging historical and modern perspectives.

Global perspectives for cellular and gene therapy development and regulatory expectations: a conference report from the 2023 NIFDS-PMDA-USP Workshop for Advanced Therapies

Global perspectives for cellular and gene therapy development and regulatory expectations: a conference report from the 2023 NIFDS-PMDA-USP Workshop for Advanced Therapies

Spatial Development and Coupling Coordination of Society–Physics–Informational Smart Cities: A Case Study on Thirty Capitals in China

The smart city concept has taken center stage as a paradigm shift in urban governance, promising innovation, sustainability, and strategic upgrades, and drawing the attention of researchers globally. However, existing frameworks for assessing smart cities remain incomplete and simplistic. This paper aims to address the following question: what is the process and current situation of 30 capitals in China after the implementation of smart city construction, especially from the new perspective of social, physical, and informational space development? To this end, we focus on 30 national and provincial capitals in China, proposing a novel, tri-dimensional SPI model—Social, Physical, and Information space—for smart city spatial development assessment. Employing a robust methodological approach, including entropy weighting, coupled coordination degree models, and the Dagum Gini coefficient, we conduct a spatial development and coordination analysis of these cities from 2011 to 2021. In addition, we utilize BP neural networks to evaluate the contribution of each indicator to the spatial coupled coordination. Our findings indicate a steady increase in the spatial coupled coordination development level of smart capitals in China, alongside a narrowing disparity in development speeds across regions, resulting in a staggered spatial distribution pattern. Specifically, the Information space subsystem represents the most influential driver of coupled coordination. The significance of this research lies in its unique tri-dimensional spatial perspective, offering valuable insights into the spatial development and coordination discrepancies in the smart city concept. These insights offer evidence-based support for regional planning and optimization strategies in China.

Sexualpädagogische Professionalisierung als Aufgabe der Hochschullehre

Sexuality is a constitutive part of pedagogical practice, while sex education has been an interdisciplinary task of schooling since the 1960s (Germany) and since 1970 (Austria). Nevertheless, professionalization in sexuality education has not been implemented as a compulsory part of either education science or teacher education and other pedagogical studies. This article offers an overview of the current state of sexuality education in university teaching – including the prevention of sexual violence – by differentiating terms and task fields, introducing different approaches and discussion points as well as outlining development perspectives.

Core‐Shell Zeolite with Confined Nickel Particles as Prominent Catalyst for the Hydrogenation of Maleic Anhydride

AbstractTransformation of maleic anhydride (MA) into succinic anhydride (SA) through the development of high‐performance catalysts is an appealing approach from a sustainable development perspective. Herein, a core‐shell catalyst with silicate‐1 supported and MCM‐41 encapsulated nickel was prepared, which exhibited extraordinarily high MA conversion (99.8 %) and SA selectivity (99.9 %). Detailed structural characterizations and catalytic evaluation demonstrated that the core‐shell catalyst derived from the liquid deposition method is a hierarchically porous material with tunable shell thicknesses, possessing strong interaction between Ni particles and the supports. Key to this success is the MCM‐41 shell that covered the defects such as silanol nests on the surface of the silicate‐1 zeolite, diminishing both the surface and intra‐particle diffusion barriers, thus the specially‐designed catalyst achieved high activity under rather mild conditions (100 °C, 3.0 MPa), which is 59 % higher than the conventional silicate‐1 supported Ni catalyst. Furthermore, the mesoporous MCM‐41 shell plays a crucial role in minimizing the leaching and sintering of Ni particles, thereby bolstering catalytic stability. Overall, the research provides a new approach for the rational design to optimize the performance of hydrogenation catalysts and introduces a novel idea to enhance the activity and stability of Ni‐supported catalysts.

Double loading of nickel phosphide surface for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction

Metal phosphide, as a highly conductive, chemically stable catalyst material, modulating its hydrogen adsorption is crucial to enhance hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity. In this study, we propose a double loading strategy to build Ag and AgP2 heterogeneous structures on Ni2P nanosheets (Ag-AgP2/Ni2P). This is the first application of AgP2 materials in HER. This innovative synthesis was achieved by liquid-phase adsorption of precursors and heat-treatment phosphorization, surface adsorbed AgNO3 is converted to Ag-AgP2 double loading at the same time as Ni2P formation. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the double loading structure optimizes charge distribution and d-band center. Its hydrogen adsorption free energy is closer to electroneutrality than that of single loading and simple heterostructures. Benefiting from the special structure, Ag-AgP2/Ni2P exhibits excellent HER performance in alkaline media, requiring only 78 mV overpotential to reach 10 mA cm−2 and stability up to 200 h. This dual loading strategy broadens the perspective of heterogeneous electrocatalyst development.

ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF USING THE POTENTIAL OF BIOENERGY CROPS FOR BIOGAS PRODUCTION AND ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES FOR DIGESTATE APPLICATION

The research examines the prospects for using the potential of the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine to study green technology innovations during economic development under martial law. Based on the study, it is proved that technological innovations in the agricultural sector contribute to economic development and improve the quality of agricultural land. The article analyses the successful implementation of the case of LLC Yuzhef-Mykolayiv Biogas Company, which has successfully restructured the production of a sugar plant and produces biogas and digestate with further processing into electricity and fertiliser. The modern capacities of the studied enterprise are highlighted, which allow to produce 2800 m3 of biogas and ensure the production of 5200 kWh of electricity, while consumption does not exceed 150 kW, at a load of 80%. The volume of digestate produced per year is 100,000 tonnes. In the regional context, innovative environmental technologies aimed at improving the quality of agricultural land have been introduced. An effective mechanism of spatial synergy with adaptation of this practice at most sugar factories through restructuring of production - creation of biogas production facilities on the basis of sugar factories - is proposed. As a long-term development perspective, the paper presents further creation of alcohol production facilities to use excess heat energy from mini-thermal power plants for the production of alcohol and bioethanol. Furthermore, this study confirms the non-linear effect of economic development; a significant result shows that the impact of green technology innovations on improving the quality of agricultural land (soil humus content, amount of mineral and organic fertilisers, pesticides, area of land under organic production, etc.) contributes to the increase in the level of regional economic development of the agricultural sector. The article clarifies the intermediary role of economic development of the agro-industrial complex. The results of the study implement the tasks of sustainable development, such as improving the environment through the innovation of green technologies and achieving regional synergy in green development.

The effect of ESG performance on enterprises’ internationalization : from the perspective of cooperative research and development

ABSTRACT This study constructs a comprehensive and integrated enterprise internationalization (EI) index using data of Chinese A-share listed companies between 2009 and 2019 to explore the effect of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) performance on EI. The study finds that firms’ ESG performance can facilitate internationalization, and the result hold after addressing endogeneity and robustness concerns. The mechanism test shows that cooperative research and development (R&D) is a channel through which the process of ESG performance promotes EI. These findings enrich the literature in ESG related fields and provide new insights for enterprises to accelerate the internationalization process.

The PCV3 Cap Virus-like Particle Vaccine with the Chimeric PCV2-Neutralizing Epitope Gene Is Effective in Mice.

Porcine circovirus type 3 (PCV3) infection can cause symptoms similar to those of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) infection, and coinfections with both PCV2 and PCV3 are observed in the swine industry. Consequently, developing chimeric vaccines is essential to prevent and control porcine circovirus infections. In this study, we used both E. coli and mammalian expression systems to express PCV3 Cap (Cap3) and a chimeric gene containing the PCV2-neutralizing epitope within the PCV3 Cap (Cap3-Cap2E), which were assembled into virus-like particle (VLP) vaccines. We found that Cap3 lacking nuclear localization signal (NLS) could not form VLPs, while Cap3 with a His-tag successfully assembled into VLPs. Additionally, the chimeric of PCV2-neutralizing epitopes did not interfere with the assembly process of VLPs. Various immunization approaches revealed that pCap3-Cap2E VLP vaccines were capable of activating high PCV3 Cap-specific antibody levels and effectively neutralizing both PCV3 and PCV2. Furthermore, pCap3-Cap2E VLPs demonstrated a potent ability to activate cellular immunity, protecting against PCV3 infection and preventing lung damage in mice. In conclusion, this study successfully developed a PCV3 Cap VLP vaccine incorporating chimeric PCV2-neutralizing epitope genes, providing new perspectives for PCV3 vaccine development.

Data-Driven Weather Forecasting and Climate Modeling from the Perspective of Development

Accurate and rapid weather forecasting and climate modeling are universal goals in human development. While Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) remains the gold standard, it faces challenges like inherent atmospheric uncertainties and computational costs, especially in the post-Moore era. With the advent of deep learning, the field has been revolutionized through data-driven models. This paper reviews the key models and significant developments in data-driven weather forecasting and climate modeling. It provides an overview of these models, covering aspects such as dataset selection, model design, training process, computational acceleration, and prediction effectiveness. Data-driven models trained on reanalysis data can provide effective forecasts with an accuracy (ACC) greater than 0.6 for up to 15 days at a spatial resolution of 0.25°. These models outperform or match the most advanced NWP methods for 90% of variables, reducing forecast generation time from hours to seconds. Data-driven climate models can reliably simulate climate patterns for decades to 100 years, offering a magnitude of computational savings and competitive performance. Despite their advantages, data-driven methods have limitations, including poor interpretability, challenges in evaluating model uncertainty, and conservative predictions in extreme cases. Future research should focus on larger models, integrating more physical constraints, and enhancing evaluation methods.