Public Attention Research Articles

Analyzing the role of social value in megaprojects: toward a new performance framework

Purpose Megaprojects stimulate and challenge public opinion across countries, generating extensive reactions from citizens. Given their ability to attract public attention, they may also influence public participation in collective choices and political decision-making. These issues are relevant for evaluating projects, but are unfortunately rarely discussed in the managerial literature. This study aims to open up a debate on social issues and how they could be taken into account within management studies. Design/methodology/approach This study carried out a systematic review of the literature on the social impact of megaprojects to identify different research areas related to the evaluation of megaprojects from a social perspective. Findings This study identified three different research areas related to the evaluation of megaprojects from a social perspective: the role of power and social issues; infrastructure and social space; and stakeholder engagement and endorsement. Originality/value This paper underlines the need to go beyond current understanding of the social impacts of megaprojects and calls for a more interdisciplinary research agenda.

Highly sensitive and selective fluorescent "turn-on" sensor for Ag+ detection using MAPbBr3@PCN-221(Fe): An efficient Ag+-bridged energy transfer from perovskite to MOF.

Metal ion-induced water pollution is attracting increasing public attention. Perovskite quantum dots and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), owing to their outstanding properties, hold promise as ideal probes for detecting metal ions. In this study, a composite material, MAPbBr3@PCN-221(Fe), was prepared by encapsulating MAPbBr3 quantum dots with PCN-221(Fe), demonstrating high chemical stability and good reusability. The composite material shows a sensitive fluorescence turn-on signal in the presence of silver ions. The fluorescence intensity of the composite material exhibits a linear relationship with the concentration of Ag+ in the solution, with a low detection limit of 8.68 µM. Moreover, the fluorescence signal exhibits a strong selectivity for Ag+, enabling the detection of Ag+ concentration. This fluorescence turn-on signal originates from the Ag+-bridged energy transfer from the conductive band of MAPbBr3 to the excited state of the MOF, which is directly proportional to the concentration of silver ions. Simultaneously, this finding may open up a new possibility in artificial controlled energy transfer from perovskite to MOF for future development.

An epidemiological profile of medico-legal autopsies at a tertiary care center

Background: An essential and necessary component of any investigation into a sudden, suspicious death is the medico-legal autopsy. It's critical to understand the profile of medico-legal autopsy cases in order to ascertain the mortality rate from non-natural causes in a given area and addressing the demographic requirements in accordance with the region's unique mortality statistics. Material & Method: The present study was a retrospective study of autopsies performed at a tertiary care centre in southern Haryana, from January 2018 to December 2023. During this period a total of 886 medico legal autopsies were conducted. Relevant information and subjective data like age, gender, marital status & manner of death have been collected from medico legal autopsy register from January 2018 to December 2023. Results: It was observed that out of 886 cases male outnumbered females in ratio 2.06:1. Majority of the victims belonged to the age group 21-30 years. Majority of the deaths occurred due to poisoning (n=264, 29.79%), followed by road traffic accidents 26.74%. Conclusion: Majority of cases were in the 3rd decade of life, males outnumbered females. Poisoning and road traffic accidents were the leading cause of death. Public attention, awareness, preventive and remedial strategies should be undertaken to reduce similar incidents.

Regulating Laboratory Tests: What Framework Would Best Support Safety and Validity?

Policy Points With increasing public attention to cases of inaccurate and misleading laboratory-developed tests, there have been calls for regulatory reform. To protect patients from faulty laboratory tests, we need a framework that balances comprehensive test review with laboratory flexibility. The Verifying Accurate Leading-edge IVCT [In Vitro Clinical Test] Development (VALID) Act would have helped ensure laboratory test safety and validity through a much-needed expansion of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversight. However, Congress did not pass the VALID Act in 2022, forcing the FDA to start the regulatory reform process on its own.

Framing and prosecutorial discretion: evidence from Brazil

Abstract Prior studies in the United States argue that the discretionary decisions of federal prosecutors regarding which issues to prioritize are shaped by the politicians who appoint them, while studies on state prosecutors emphasize the role of press coverage and public opinion. However, these studies leave untheorized whether prosecutors’ discretionary decisions are also affected by how their peers frame issues within and beyond prosecution offices. Building on the scholarship of collective action frames, this study develops a framework to explain how prosecutors’ framing work affects their colleagues’ decisions about which issues to focus on. I draw on the case of Brazil, where federal prosecutors focused on crime-fighting and human rights, but in the mid-2010s switched focus to corruption following a large-scale investigation called Lava Jato. I compare Lava Jato with two similarly large investigations that failed to transform corruption into the dominant issue within the Public Prosecutor’s Office. Drawing on 131 original interviews, I show how federal prosecutors’ framing work can persuade their colleagues to focus on the same issue through two stages: (1) conceptualization of versatile frames that speak to problems a variety of issues prosecutors care about and (2) diffusion of frames through professional meetings – providing roadmaps for how other prosecutors can implement the new frame – and to the press, increasing public attention.

Effect Of Viral Marketing And Celebrity Endorsers On Purchasing Decisions For Somethinc X NCT Dream Skincare At TikTok Shop

The development of the internet shows that there is growth in more and more internet users worldwide, and Indonesia is one of them. However, in modern times this has spread widely to the economic and entrepreneurial fields, so the term E-commerce or online trading has emerged to meet daily needs such as Tiktok Shop. The success of Tiktok Shop in Indonesia is due to the way business actors change promotional strategies using viral marketing and celebrity endorsers to get public attention and viral news on social media. This study aims to determine the effect of viral marketing and celebrity endorsers on purchasing decisions for something X NCT Dream skincare at TikTok Shop. The method used is a Quantitative approach with the type of associative research is data collection by distributing questionnaires using an online system via Google form with as many as 200 respondents. Data processing was then analyzed using IBM SPSS 25 Version for Windows. The data analysis used is Multiple Linear Analysis. All hypotheses show significance. The conclusion is that the influence of viral marketing and celebrity endorsers has a significant and positive effect on purchasing decisions for something X NCT Dream skincare at TikTok Shop.

Pandemic Persona and Digital Culture: The Role of Celebrity Politicians on Social Networks

The paper discusses a specific intersection of the politics, celebrity, and digital culture. In the last few decades, more and more people from the entertainment realm entered the world of institutional politics trying to leverage their popularity. Thanks to the media, they manage to transfer their celebrity capital, namely accumulated media visibility and recognisability (Driesens 2013) into the political sphere. In the beginning, they improve their visibility with the help of mass media that place their personas and private lives in the focus of public attention. However, with the digitalization of the media, the popular-political landscape has changed (Marshall 2020), so today they have dispositional new bases for practising personalized politics, i.e. imposing their personality instead of political party programmes. In this paper, attention is directed to former American president Donald Trump, president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Miroslav Škoro, who was a candidate in the presidential, parliamentary, and local elections in Croatia. Although there were obvious differences between these three celebrities mentioned before entering the political arena, their later use of social networks vividly shows how they built their political/pandemic persona in the evolving mediatization of politics.

Transmission patterns of multiple strains producing New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase variants among animals and the environment in live poultry markets

The widespread transmission of blaNDM among livestock and the live poultry industry attracts considerable public attention. However, studies have not yet addressed its impact on public health in live poultry markets (LPMs). Herein, we investigated the prevalence and genomic epidemiology of blaNDM-positive bacteria in various niches, and explored the transmission patterns of blaNDM within LPMs. Samples were collected between 2019 and 2022 from two LPMs in China. blaNDM was most prevalent in wastewater (35/66, 53.03%). All vegetable samples were negative for blaNDM. blaNDM was mainly distributed among Escherichia coli (266/336, 79.17%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (62/336, 18.45%), and Acinetobacter baumannii (3/336, 0.89%). Some novel hosts, including Pseudomonas monteilii and Pseudomonas otitis, were also identified. Diverse variants blaNDM-1, blaNDM-5, blaNDM-9, blaNDM-13, and blaNDM-27 were identified. The blaNDM-positive E. coli ST2659 was dominant. blaNDM was found to coexist with mcr-1 (4/51, 7.84%). Horizontal gene transfer plays a vital role in blaNDM transmission within the LPMs. Some blaNDM-harboring clones transfer among animals and the environment through the food chain and close contact. More efforts are needed to curb the transmission trend of blaNDM among humans, animals, and the environment within LPMs.

Follow the media? News environment and public concern about immigration

AbstractImmigration is a hot topic in Europe, but research on the media effects on public attention to immigration remains limited. We examine how media coverage affects the degree of importance attached to immigration in seven Western European Union member states. Data come from an extensive analysis of claims in printed newspapers, and the Eurobarometer (2002–2009). The continuous sample of news coverage is aggregated into a biannual panel, and we relate these data to citizens’ perceptions of the most important issues in their country 6 months later (lagged). The public consider immigration more important than other policy‐related issues when there is an increase in the volume of news and more political claims on the topic in the media. The media environment appears to be an exogenous actor that can have agenda‐setting effects on public concern about immigration. Our results highlight limitations of both the ‘policy‐gap’ thesis and thermostatic models of policy making.

Government subsidies and income smoothing

AbstractThis study examines the relationship between government subsidies and income smoothing using a sample of US‐listed firms. We find that subsidized firms smooth their earnings more aggressively than their unsubsidized peers. This finding is consistent with the reasoning that subsidized firms bear higher political costs and have more incentives to smooth earnings to avoid public attention. In addition, smoothing by subsidized firms is more pronounced when the subsidies are granted through non‐tax‐related channels than through tax‐based channels, and the positive association between government subsidies and income smoothing is stronger for firms under higher public scrutiny and with less transparent information environments. Further analysis shows that smoothing by subsidized firms serves mainly to obfuscate earnings and that subsidized firms that smooth earnings tend to continue receiving subsidies in the future. Overall, our results help explain the role of government subsidies in shaping firms' accounting and disclosure choices.

Bill 7633 on the restriction of the use of Russian text sources in Ukrainian research and education: analysing language policy in times of war

AbstractFor centuries, Ukraine has been a site of conflicts over language rights. During 70 years of Soviet leadership, Ukraine experienced’relentless Russification’ (Reznik in Language of conflict: discourses of the Ukrainian crisis (pp. 169–191). Bloomsbury Publishing, London, 2020 p. 170). After breaking from Soviet rule, the Ukrainian language became an increasingly powerful symbol and means of national identity. Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the language issues have gained yet more public and political attention. Addressing the urgency, the Ukrainian parliament adopted, in the first reading, Bill 7633, aiming to restrict the use of any Russian sources in Ukrainian school and academia, a bill that was met with criticism and experienced intensified debates. This article analyses a range of text sources (both governmental and non-governmental) debating Bill 7633, using Discourse Analysis, and reveals how ‘liberal values’ and ‘lived liberalism’ (Fedirko et al. in Social Anthropol/Anthropol soc 29(2):373–386, 2021) are practiced or violated through problematising or justifying the Bill. Thus, the article contributes to the (recently emerged, i.e. since the start of Russian annexation of the Crimea in 2014) body of research on political and public discourses of the Ukrainian conflict (Epstein in Studies in East Eur Thought 74(4), 475–481; Jones, 2020; Lanvers and Lunyova in Eur J Lang Policy 15(1), 25–68; Slobozhan et al. in Soc Netw Anal Min 12(1), 1–12, 2022). Results show a comprehensive range of arguments both for and against Bill 7633 in both governmental and non-governmental texts which is interpreted as a form of liberalism in fragments (Fedirko in Social Anthropol/Anthropol Soc, 29(2), 471–489, 2021). The conclusion debates the unreserved applicability of western conceptualisation of liberal language policy in the context of war and prolonged linguistic contestations.

Determinant Factors of Cyber Security Disclosure: A Systematic Literature Review

Cyber security disclosures as risk factor disclosures are particularly important. The importance of cyber security disclosure decisions is intensified by a significant number of data breaches that occur throughout the year raising serious concerns about corporate cyber security programs. Costs of data breaches can be significant. On the other hand, research on cyber security disclosure is still rare. This study aims to identify the factors that influence cyber security disclosures. Articles from various international journals were reviewed. Literature review was conducted to find determinant factors that determine cyber security disclosures. The results show that the determinant factors of cyber security disclosures are cyber security breach/previous cyber incidents, peer breach, public attention, WFH, board size, board independence, board gender diversity, institutional shareholders, foreign shareholders, capital expenditure, intangible asset, firm’s size, firm’s growth, firm’s leverage, firm’s profitability, firm’s loss, industry, guidance, technology committee, and executive change. Based on the literature review, the authors provide suggestions for future research. This research contributes by providing a comprehensive discussion of the determinant factors of cybersecurity disclosure from various studies. The limitation of this study is that the authors only reviewed articles published in English. Future research must include articles published in multiple languages. Keywords: cyber, cybersecurity, disclosure, cybersecurity disclosure, determinants

An Analysis and Countermeasures of News Inversion in the Post-truth Era

In the digital age, the swift proliferation of the Internet and new media has led to the frequent occurrence of “news inversion”, significantly undermining societal trust and the credibility of mainstream media. Such news, often pivoting on social hot topics, garners extensive public attention and epitomizes the challenges of the “post-truth” era, where traditional journalistic ethics are under siege. This paper aims to dissect the roots and repercussions of news inversion and propose effective strategies to mitigate its widespread influence.

Frost quakes in wetlands in northern Finland during extreme winter weather conditions and related hazard to urban infrastructure

Abstract. The paper reports the first results of an experiment in northern Finland during winter 2022–2023 that aimed at studying seismic events caused by seasonal freezing in the so-called critical zone (CZ) of the Earth. These events have attracted public attention recently, as multiple reports about them from local inhabitants in Arctic and sub-Arctic areas appeared on social networks. To make an instrumental study of such events, to reveal the relationship between their occurrence and winter weather conditions, and to evaluate the possible hazard, we installed two high-resolution seismic arrays with co-located soil temperature stations at two sites in Finland, one of them being in the city of Oulu in the sub-Arctic area (65.04° N, 25.61° E) and the other one above the polar circle in the municipality of Sodankylä (67.36° N, 26.63° E). The equipment recorded continuous seismic and soil temperature data during November 2022–April 2023. Based on reports from the inhabitants of Talvikangas (Oulu) about the ground shaking and unusual noises on 6 January 2023 and their observations of new fractures on the roads there, we selected the time interval for the identification of frost quakes that originated during that day from continuous seismic records in Talvikangas and in Sodankylä. During the selected time interval, the extremely rapid air temperature drops of about −1.4 °C h−1 in Talvikangas and −0.88 °C h−1 in Sodankylä were observed. We identified and located two types of seismic events – namely, frost quakes with frequencies of about 10–20 Hz, with waveforms like those of tectonic events, and irregularly shaped frost tremors with frequencies of about 120–180 Hz. The sources of frost quakes in Talvikangas are mainly located on irrigated wetland, while in Sodankylä, about 50 % of registered frost quakes were caused by ice fracturing on the Kitinen River. However, several relatively strong events, with their origin in the wetlands, were also recorded. A significant number of sources of frost tremors are confined to wetland areas cut by irrigation channels and to roads cleaned from snow during winter both in Talvikangas and in Sodankylä. We calculated ground accelerations and ground velocities for the strongest events from both groups and compared them to equivalent properties of other seismic signals, like distant local earthquakes in the area, mining production blasts, and cargo train vibration. Our study shows that high-frequency frost tremors corresponding to surface fracture opening in the uppermost frozen surface layer of a thickness of up to 5 cm can directly damage infrastructure objects like roads and basements of buildings. Surface waves, produced by frost quakes and propagating inside the shallow soil layer, have large enough ground accelerations at epicentral distances of hundreds of metres. Therefore, frost quakes should be considered a phenomenon that can potentially damage infrastructures, and they have to be taken into account in seismic hazard assessments. Our research is the first instrumental study of seismic events originating from wetland areas. These events occur as a result of the interaction between the uppermost layer of the solid Earth's CZ and atmosphere processes that deserves further study.

The Long Hazy Tail: Analysis of the Impacts and Trends of Severe Outdoor and Indoor Air Pollution in North China.

China, especially the densely populated North China region, experienced severe haze events in the past decade that concerned the public. Although the most extreme cases have been largely eliminated through recent mitigation measures, severe outdoor air pollution persists and its environmental impact needs to be understood. Severe indoor pollution draws less public attention due to the short visible distance indoors, but its public health impacts cannot be ignored. Herein, we assess the trends and impacts of severe outdoor and indoor air pollution in North China from 2014 to 2021. Our results demonstrate the uneven contribution of severe hazy days to ambient and exposure concentrations of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <2.5 (PM2.5). Although severe indoor pollution contributes to indoor PM2.5 concentrations (23%) to a similar extent as severe haze contributes to ambient PM2.5 concentrations (21%), the former's contribution to premature deaths was significantly higher. Furthermore, residential emissions contributed more in the higher PM2.5 concentration range both indoors and outdoors. Notably, severe haze had greater health impacts on urban residents, while severe indoor pollution was more impactful in rural areas. Our findings suggest that, besides reducing severe haze, mitigating severe indoor pollution is an important aspect of combating air pollution, especially toward improving public health.

Analysis of Child Labor Rights Fulfillment Based on Maqashid Syariah

Child Labor is a serious problem that has attracted national and international public attention. The purpose of writing this article is to analyze in depth the review of the fulfillment of child Labor rights based on maqashid sharia. This article's research method uses a type of normative legal research using secondary data obtained through literature study. The collected data was then analyzed descriptively qualitatively using a conceptual approach, namely the concept of maqashid sharia. The results and findings in this article are that Islam places the fulfillment of children's rights as an important thing to realize. The general aim of Allah SWT in sending down the Shari'a is to bring about benefits. The basic concept of benefit is realizing benefits and preventing harm. The practice of child Labor is prohibited, because it conflicts with the five main principles of maqashid sharia, namely the protection of religion, soul, mind, property and descendant, which are primary needs (dharuriyyah) that must be fulfilled in humans. The priority of a child's age is to fulfill the rights of religion, soul, reason and heredity rather than fulfilling the need for wealth.

Attention to global warming, consensus transition, and crypto trading

Does public attention to global warming affect crypto trading? We address this question by investigating how Google users' search on global warming is associated with the trading activeness of Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency in the world. Exploiting Ethereum's transition to a green blockchain (i.e., “The Merge”), we find that before the transition, Google search on global warming is negatively associated with the transaction volumes of Ethereum, but the relationship turns significantly positive after The Merge, suggesting online users' green orientation towards energy-efficient cryptocurrencies. Our analysis sheds light upon an emerging research on the environmental issues in crypto markets.

Leveraging virtual datasets to investigate the interplay of pollinators, protected areas, and SDG 15

Biodiversity loss amplifies the need for taxonomic understanding at global, regional, and local scales. The United Nations Environmental Programme Sustainable Development Goals are explicit in their demand for greater accountability with respect to ecosystem management, and Sustainable Development Goal 15, Life on Land, specifically calls for a halt to biodiversity loss. Pollinators (bees and butterflies) are two functional groups with public attention for protection, yet little long-term data availability. National Parks, including those in the United States, act as optimal sites to study biodiversity loss, but historic data tends to vary in availability. This study addresses systematic taxonomic and digitalization biases present within historic (museum), modern (citizen science), and non-digitized (private collection) datasets for Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks from 1900 to 2021. We find that, although database record availability is representative of butterfly and bumble bee groups known for the area, categories such as data rescue, digitalization/availability, and management/archiving vary across database types. These findings on virtual datasets offer opportunities for conservationists to understand the efficacy of digitized collections in addressing questions of species loss over time, including the strengths and pitfalls of digitized data repositories. Additionally, virtual datasets can be utilized to monitor biodiversity under Sustainable Development Goal 15 targets while also promoting broader access to resources such as museum collections for educational purposes.

Cry wolf and it appears: debt ceiling debates and new corporate bond issues

We provide evidence that attention to debt ceiling debates affects the pricing of new corporate bond issues. Measuring public attention by using data from the Google Search Volume Index with the keyword “debt ceiling,” we find an increase in bond yields for non-investment grade short maturity issues at times of high attention. Further analysis suggests that the results are likely not due to changes in uncertainty or risk aversion, rather, to attention spillover to lower quality firm's short-term financing needs.

Changes in water conservation and possible causes in the Yellow River Basin of China during the recent four decades

As water quality declines and water resources become scarce, water conservation emerges as the central challenge of water resource management and sustainable development in the watershed ecosystem. The Yellow River, known as the “mother river” of China, of which the water conservation function has received significant public attention in the changing environmental conditions. In the study, the InVEST water yield model was utilized to evaluate the spatiotemporal dynamics of water conservation; the MK trend test and Sen’s slope were used to examine the trends of precipitation and water conservation, respectively. Additionally, the response of water conservation to climate, land use, and soil changes during the period 1981–2020 was also discussed. The results showed that under the comprehensive influence of various factors, the water conservation of the YRB showed a decreasing and then increasing trend, which was presumed to be associated with the Grain for Green Project. Water conservation showed an increasing trend in the upstream area of the study area while decreasing in the lower reaches in recent decades. The changes in water conservation function in the YRB resulted from the comprehensive influence of climate factors, soil conditions, and land use types. Besides, woodland and grassland provide the highest water conservation capacity, which initially increased and then decreased with the increase of slope. The spatial analysis emphasized the critical role of water conservation in the Yellow River Basin, particularly highlighting the source area (above Lanzhou Station), the southern tributaries of the Wei River, and the upper reaches of the Yiluo River as significant water conservation zones. These areas should be considered crucial and given priority in regional water resource management and ecological protection efforts. The findings of this study could provide a theoretical foundation for ecological protection and water security in the YRB, which are essential for sustainable development.