Related Disciplines Research Articles

Exploring the evolving landscape of human-centred crisis informatics: current challenges and future trends

Abstract Modern Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been used in safety-critical situations for over twenty years. Rooted in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and related disciplines, the field of crisis informatics made considerable efforts to investigate social media use and role patterns in crises, facilitate the collection, processing and refinement of social media data, design and evaluate supportive ICT, and provide cumulative and longitudinal research. This narrative review examines contemporary challenges of human-centred crisis informatics and envision trends for the following decade, including (I) a broadening scope of crisis informatics, (II) the professionalisation of cross-platform collaboration of citizen communities and emergency services, (III) expert interfaces for explainable and multimodal artificial intelligence for user-generated content assessment, (IV) internet of things and mobile apps for bidirectional communication and warnings in disruption-tolerant networks, as well as (V) digital twins and virtual reality for the effective training of multi-agency collaboration in hybrid hazards.

Archaeological object interviews as a method to study and engage with finder-collectors

The activities of metal-detectorists and other finders and collectors of archaeological objects are increasingly of interest for researchers in archaeology and related disciplines. In this methods article, the authors introduce semi-structured archaeological object interviews—inspired by the object interview in sociology—as a means of observing the meanings and biographies that finder-collectors create for, and with, the objects in their stewardship. The challenges and opportunities for researchers using this method are explored and the authors offer reflections from in-the-field experiences with finder-collectors in Flanders, Finland and Norway.

Short-time mentoring – enhancing female medical students’ intentions toward surgical careers

ABSTRACT Background Women pursuing a career in surgery or related disciplines are still in the minority, despite the fact that women compose at least half of the medical student population in most Western countries. Thus, recruiting and retaining female surgeons remains an important challenge to meet the need for surgeons and increase the quality of care. The participations were female medical students between their third and fifth academic year. In this study, we applied the well-established psychological theory of planned behavior (TPB) which suggests that the intention to perform a behavior (e.g. pursuing a career in surgery) is the most critical and immediate predictor of performing the behavior. We investigated whether a two-part short-mentoring seminar significantly increases students’ intention to pursue a career in a surgical or related specialty after graduation. Method The mentoring and role-model seminar was conducted at 2 days for 90 minutes by six inspiring female role models with a remarkable career in surgical or related disciplines. Participants (N = 57) filled in an online survey before (T0) and after the seminar (T1). A pre-post comparison of central TPB concept attitude towards the behavior, 2) occupational self-efficacy and 3) social norm) was conducted using a paired sampled t-test. A follow-up survey was administered 12 months later (T2). Results The mentoring seminar positively impacted female students’ attitude towards a career in a surgical specialty. Female students reported a significantly increased positive attitude (p < .001) and significantly higher self-efficacy expectations (p < .001) towards a surgical career after participating in the mentoring seminar. Regarding their career intention after the seminar, female students declared a significantly higher intention to pursue a career in a surgical specialty after graduating (p < .001) and this effect seems to be sustainable after 1 year. Conclusion For the first time we could show that short-mentoring and demonstrating role models in a seminar surrounding has a significant impact on female medical student decision´s to pursue a career in a surgery speciality. This concept may be a practical and efficient concept to refine the gender disparity in surgery and related disciplines.

Role of Cultural Intelligence and Customer Involvement on Behavioral Loyalty Toward Manufactured Products in Nigeria

Evidence from the literature reveals that customer loyalty research is growing and is becoming more widely integrated into related disciplines. This study evaluates the role of sales representatives’ cultural intelligence (CI) in the behavioral loyalty (BL) of customers of SMEs in Nigeria, through the mechanism of customer involvement (CuI). Two sets of questionnaires were administered directly to the sales representatives, and indirectly to the customers, via the sales representatives. Three hundred and fifty copies of the sales representatives’ questionnaire were administered, based on the population of 65 manufacturing SMEs and an average of 5.4 copies per SME, while 384 copies of the customers’ questionnaire were sent to the unknown pool of customers. Data were col- lected from the two sets of respondents, which were analyzed through a variance-based structural equation modeling using Smart-PLS software. The results reveal a positive and significant relationship between cultural intelligence and behavioral loyalty, while the in- direct relationship reveals customer involvement does strongly mediate the relationship between the antecedent and the outcome. The findings imply that behavioral loyalty is engendered when sales representatives possess high cultural intelligence, and customers are strategically involved through consultations and product co-creation.

Studying ‘Religion’ Critically and the Decolonial Turn: Lessons for Critical Terrorism Studies

Abstract Being ‘critical’ when studying religion, whilst it does not have to be limited to studying religion’s discursive (and colonial) employments only, it certainly has to begin with it, if we aim to contribute to much-needed decolonial efforts across the social science disciplines. Critically studying religion, as I argue in this article, means starting with a normative and moral responsibility and aspiration towards a more just, equal, and progressive social world that grapples with the coloniality, and structures of white supremacy we are all embedded in. In this article I will reflect on the contributions of Critical Religion (CR) especially to fields like (Critical) Terrorism Studies and related disciplines which regularly discuss ‘religion’ and religiously-inspired violence but never actually acknowledge ‘religion’s’ colonial and gendered implications, definitional instability, or Euro- and Christian-centric invention. The work Critical Religion does in uncovering and excavating the modern-colonial origins of the term ‘religion’, I argue, is essential in realising and contributing to the decolonial turn we are currently experiencing and which disciplines like (Critical) Terrorism Studies can only benefit from.

The broken Alzheimer's disease genome.

The complex pathobiology of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) poses significant challenges to therapeutic and preventative interventions. Despite these difficulties, genomics and related disciplines are allowing fundamental mechanistic insights to emerge with clarity, particularly with the introduction of high-resolution sequencing technologies. After all, the disrupted processes at the interface between DNA and gene expression, which we call the broken AD genome, offer detailed quantitative evidence unrestrained by preconceived notions about the disease. In addition to highlighting biological pathways beyond the classical pathology hallmarks, these advances have revitalized drug discovery efforts and are driving improvements in clinical tools. We review genetic, epigenomic, and gene expression findings related to AD pathogenesis and explore how their integration enables a better understanding of the multicellular imbalances contributing to this heterogeneous condition. The frontiers opening on the back of these research milestones promise a future of AD care that is both more personalized and predictive.

Public perception of psychiatry, psychology and mental health professionals: a 15-year analysis

BackgroundX (previously known as “Twitter”) serves as a platform for open discussions on mental health, providing an avenue for scrutinizing public perspectives regarding psychiatry, psychology and their associated professionals.ObjectiveTo analyze the conversations happening on X about psychiatrists, psychologists, and their respective disciplines to understand how the public perception of these professionals and specialties has evolved over the last 15 years.MethodsWe collected and analyzed all tweets posted in English or Spanish between 2007 and 2023 referring to psychiatry, psychology, neurology, mental health, psychiatrist, psychologist, or neurologist using advance topic modelling and sentiment analysis.ResultsA total of 403,767 tweets were analyzed, 155,217 (38%) were in English and 248,550 (62%) in Spanish. Tweets about mental health and mental health professionals and disciplines showed a consistent volume between 2011 and 2016, followed by a gradual increase from 2016 through 2022. The proportion of tweets discussing mental health doubled from 2016 to 2022, increasing from 20% to 67% in Spanish and from 15% to 45% in English. Several differences were observed on the volume of tweets overtime depending on the language they were written. Users associated each term with varied topics, such as seeking for help and recommendation for therapy, self-help resources, medication and side effects, suicide prevention, mental health in times of crisis, among others. The number of tweets mentioning these topics increased by 5-10% from 2016 to 2022, indicating a growing interest among the population. Emotional analysis showed most of the topics were associated with fear and anger.ConclusionThe increasing trend in discussions about mental health and the related professionals and disciplines over time may signify an elevated collective awareness of mental health. Gaining insights into the topics around these matters and user’s corresponding emotions towards them presents an opportunity to combat the stigma surrounding mental health more effectively.

Validation of TRMM and GPM Satellite Data Using Daily Precipitation Observations

Accurate precipitation data holds immense significance in hydrological analysis. A common challenge in this field often stems from the lack of comprehensive data availability. High-resolution satellite-based precipitation measurements covering large areas offer a potential solution. However, disparities in the resolution of observed rainfall data can impact data accuracy. The main goal of this study is to evaluate the accuracy of rainfall data obtained from the TRMM and GPM satellites in the Kuranji watershed. The evaluation was conducted on the performance of the GPM IMERG-F from the Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for the GPM mission and the TRMM 3B42RT on a daily scale spanning from 2015 to 2019 over the Kuranji watershed. The daily precipitation measurements were validated using three widely used statistical metrics (R, RMSE, and RB). The precipitation detection capability (POD, FAR, and CSI) was also considered in this assessment. The findings demonstrate that both satellite estimations exhibit a substantial correlation coefficient (0.68 for GPM, 0.62 for TRMM) with the measurements obtained from gauges, along with an inclination to overestimate precipitation. GPM IMERG-F and TRMM 3B42RT manifest a consistent spatial pattern in daily precipitation distribution, effectively representing the observed precipitation distribution. The greater probability of detection (POD), critical success index (CSI), and lower false alarm ratio (FAR) exhibited by GPM IMERG-F at varying rainfall intensities suggests its superior performance in accurately identifying observed precipitations. This finding supports the preference for GPM IMERG-F data over TRMM 3B42RT data across various applications, hydrology, and related disciplines in the future.

Theories and practices of disability from the Global South: a critical anthropological perspective

“Critical disability studies” (CDS) is an interdisciplinary field of research that examines social, political, economic, racial, gendered and historical constructions of bodily non-normativity across different geopolitical areas and scales. Despite its diverse and multiple contributions and objectives, current research in critical disability studies has been described as mainly focusing on disability issues in the Global North and as having universalizing tendencies. In this context, intersubjective perspectives and empirical data offered by ethnographic works in medical and disability anthropology and related disciplines have been either in accord or tension with the broader field of CDS. On the one hand, this review article illustrates the many ways anthropologists have adopted various research perspectives to explore bodily non-normativity outside settings in the Global North. On the other, it shows the importance of research by anthropologists working on topics related to disability, as well as their recent fruitful collaborations with CDS scholars and approaches. By exploring these epistemological and empirical entanglements, this paper concludes that deeper engagements between CDS and anthropology, as well as a more thorough focus on the ethnographic analysis of bodily non-normativity, can open new creative routes for the analysis of disability in various world contexts.

Research and Practice of Structural Mechanics Teaching Design in the Digital Age

This paper explores innovative strategies and practical applications for teaching structural mechanics courses in the digital era. The focus is on analyzing how online-offline hybrid teaching models can optimize the educational process in structural mechanics and enhance teaching efficiency and student learning outcomes. The paper elaborates in detail on how digital technologies support the teaching of structural mechanics, including the use of various digital tools and platforms to foster student interaction and participation, as well as improve their understanding and mastery of course content. Additionally, the research discusses the effective integration of ideological and political education within structural mechanics teaching, aimed at fostering students' comprehensive abilities. This study provides new perspectives and methods for the teaching design of structural mechanics and related disciplines in a digital learning environment.

Computer Networking: Fundamentals, Models, and Security Considerations

Computer networking is an emerging and fascinating field of study. A computer network allows communication and exchange of information between two or more independent computers and other devices. Computer networking is based on the related discipline of electrical engineering, computer engineering, and computer science. Nodes and Links constitute the basic building blocks of the computer network. An equipment for data communication or equipment of data terminal that connects two or more computers such as modem, router etc. can be exemplified as a network node. Links include wires, cables or free spaces of wireless networks. Working of computer networks relies on a set of defined rules or protocols. The network structure can be composed of various patterns known as network topology. Various networking models are developed that relies on various networking layers made of different protocols. In modern times, the importance of computer networks is remarkable in almost every areas including education, entertainment, business, military, healthcare, insurance, transportation and others. With so much reliance on computer networking, it becomes important to ensure a safe and secure networking system and thus network security system was developed such includes firewall, VPNs, IDS and IPS, etc

Employee Engagement With Corporate-Based Health and Wellness Programs: A Multiple Regression Analysis

Organizations for decades have offered a myriad of health benefit options designed to engage employees in their own personal health. These programs have been aimed at supporting a healthier workforce in hopes that, a healthy workforce would also equate to a more productive and engaged workforce. As a result, organizations have developed a myriad of choices that employees can choose from to enhance their personal health (i.e., wellness programs, assistance counseling, health risk assessments, etc.). From a workplace perspective, research in the Human Resource Development (HRD) field, as well as related disciplines, have started to explore connections between work and health. Despite emerging research on work and the working experience, organizationally focused health and wellness offerings have been historically absent from most models of work in HRD. The purpose of this research was to examine how work and the working experience influenced employee decision points around personal levels of health engagement. Using two multiple regression models with data from 206 participants working at a Fortune 500 global logistics company, we explored the linkage between work, health, and employee agency in participating in corporate wellness programs. Through our work, we contribute to traditional engagement theory as well as an emerging framework in HRD— Work Determinants of Health (WDOH)—and provide practical suggestions for how leaders could prioritize employee wellness and health engagement within their organization.

What we already know about corporate digital responsibility in IS research: A review and conceptualization of potential CDR activities

Advances in new technologies affect private and professional lives alike, posing new opportunities and threats for companies, consumers, and society. In this context, the concept of corporate digital responsibility (CDR) gains traction enabling technologies benefitting humanity while exceeding mere technology advancements. Yet, theory and practice still lack a systematic in-depth understanding of the concept’s scope up to concrete activities. The aim of this paper is to enable a more concrete and deeper understanding of the concept scope by drawing on available knowledge in the thematically related discipline of information systems (IS) in general and electronic markets in particular. The study employs an extended systematic literature review to aggregate prior knowledge in this research domain relatable to the concept of CDR and to develop an in-depth classification of potential CDR activities inductively according to ten dimensions, corresponding sub-dimensions, and respective fields of action. This contributes to the overarching goal to develop the conceptualization of CDR and to anchor the concept in the context of electronic markets, thereby fostering human and social value creation.

Transitivity and agency in Richard Jefferies’s rural essays: an ecostylistic analysis

Abstract This essay aims to provide an ecostylistic analysis of transitivity and agency in selected extracts from Richard Jefferies’s late nineteenth-century rural essays, which were collected in his so-called country books. Jefferies’s portrayal of the interconnection between humans and the natural environment has been variously described as “pantheistic”, a “pantheist revery”, or an “ecstatic communion”. The present study proposes to validate these claims by showing that Jefferies’s essays utilise patterns of transitivity to depict manifold relationships between human and non-human agents in placid landscape descriptions. These can be regarded as positive discourse praising the rural environment and humans’ entanglement with other animal and vegetable organisms. An in-depth scrutiny of the linguistic patterns of Jefferies’s texts, corroborated by the theoretical and methodological framework of (eco)stylistics and related disciplines (i.e. Systemic Functional Grammar), offers useful insights into the author’s ecosophy and holistic understanding of the human and non-human world. By conceptualising the various constitutive elements of the physical environment as active/agentive participants in particular types of processes, Jefferies gives special prominence to ecocentric, rather than anthropocentric positions.

External post-mortem examination in virtual reality-scalability of a monocentric application.

Conducting external post-mortem examinations is an essential skill required of physicians in various countries, regardless of their specialization. However, the quality of these examinations has been a subject of continuous debates, and notable errors were reviled. In response to these shortcomings, a virtual reality (VR) application was developed at Halle's medical department in Germany, focusing on the scene of discovery and the completion of death certificates. The initial trial of this VR application in 2020 involved 39 students and 15 early-career professionals. Based on the feedback, the application underwent improvements and was subsequently introduced to the medical department in Dresden, Germany, in 2022. Its primary objective was to showcase the VR training's adaptability and scalability across various educational structures and levels of medical expertise. Out of 73 students who participated, 63 completed the evaluation process. 93.1% (n = 58) of the evaluators reported increased confidence in conducting external post-mortem examinations, and 96.8% (n = 61) felt more assured in filling out death certificates, crediting this progress to the VR training. Additionally, 98.4% (n = 62) believed that repeating forensic medical aspects in their coursework was crucial, and 96.8% (n = 61) viewed the VR examination as a valuable addition to their academic program. Despite these positive responses, 91.6% (n = 55) of participants maintained that training with real corpses remains irreplaceable due to the insufficiency of haptic feedback in VR. Nevertheless, the potential for enhancing the VR content and expanding the training to additional locations or related disciplines warrants further exploration.

Defining and Controlling Information Leakage in US Equities Trading

We present a new framework for defining information leakage in the setting of US equities trading, and construct methods for deriving trading schedules that stay within specified information leakage bounds. Our approach treats the stock market as an interactive protocol performed in the presence of an adversary, and draws inspiration from the related disciplines of differential privacy as well as quantitative information flow. We apply a linear programming solver using examples from historical trade and quote (TAQ) data for US equities and describe how this framework can inform actual algorithmic trading strategies.

Entrepreneurial Orientation and Transformational Leadership for the Development of Innovation Capabilities

Purpose: This paper aims to analyse the impact of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) through the relationship of transformational leadership (TL) for the development of dynamic capabilities (DC) for organisational innovation. Methodology/Approach: Under a qualitative method, and a single case study strategy, data were obtained from interviews with 15 senior managers and leaders of innovation activities; the document review and data triangulation method was used to analyse causality relations proposed in the theoretical framework. Findings: The empirical results confirm that the EO and TL have a positive relationship with the development of innovation capabilities. Findings indicate that risk-taking, proactiveness, assimilation, and exploitation of internal and external knowledge remain the main difficulties in improving innovation capabilities and adaptability in the technological environment. Research Limitation/implication: The present paper gathered data from a specific organisation in the field of EO. The research allowed us to better understand the incidence of EO, TL, and DC  regarding the relationship between variables, and it should be considered a potential source for enhancing innovation management capabilities. Originality/Value of paper: This work is the first that integrates the concepts of EO with other related disciplines into a single case strategy, within a specific entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem context in a large automotive industry.

Episodic eruptions of young accreting stars: the key role of disc thermal instability due to Hydrogen ionisation

Abstract In the classical grouping of large magnitude episodic variability of young accreting stars, FUORs outshine their stars by a factor of ∼100, and can last for up to centuries; EXORs are dimmer, and last months to a year. A disc Hydrogen ionisation Thermal Instability (TI) scenario was previously proposed for FUORs but required unrealistically low disc viscosity. In the last decade, many intermediate type objects, e.g., FUOR-like in luminosity and spectra but EXOR-like in duration were found. Here we show that the intermediate type bursters Gaia20eae, PTF14jg, Gaia19bey and Gaia21bty may be naturally explained by the TI scenario with realistic viscosity values. We argue that TI predicts a dearth (desert) of bursts with peak accretion rates between 10−6 ${\rm {\rm M}_{\odot }}$ yr−1  $\lesssim \dot{M}_{\rm burst} \lesssim 10^{-5}$ ${\rm {\rm M}_{\odot }}$ yr−1, and that this desert is seen in the sample of all the bursters with previously determined $\dot{M}_{\rm burst}$. Most classic EXORs (FUORs) appear to be on the cold (hot) branch of the S-curve during the peak light of their eruptions; thus TI may play a role in this class differentiation. At the same time, TI is unable to explain how classic FUORs can last for up to centuries, and over-predicts the occurrence rate of short FUORs by at least an order of magnitude. We conclude that TI is a required ingredient of episodic accretion operating at R ≲ 0.1 au, but additional physics must play a role at larger scales. Knowledge of TI inner workings from related disciplines may enable its use as a tool to constrain the nature of this additional physics.

Unlocking Diverse π-Bond Enrichment Frameworks by the Synthesis and Conversion of Boronated Phenyldiethynylethylenes.

The π-bond enrichment frameworks not only serve as a crucial building block in organic synthesis but also assume a pivotal role in the fields of materials science, biomedicine, photochemistry, and other related disciplines owing to their distinctive structural characteristics. The incorporation of various substituents into the C═C double bonds of tetrasubstituted alkenes is currently a highly significant research area. However, the synthesis of tetrasubstituted alkenes with diverse substituents on double bonds poses a significant challenge in achieving stereoselectivity. Here, we reported an efficient and convergent route of Cu-catalyzed borylalkynylation of both symmetrical and unsymmetrical 1,3-diynes, B2pin2, and acetylene bromide to the construction of boronated phenyldiethynylethylene (BPDEE) derivatives with excellent chemo-, stereo-, and regioselectivities. BPDEE derivatives could transform into novel tetrasubstituted organic π-conjugated gem-diphenyldiethynylethylene (DPDEE), vinylphenyldiethynylethylene (VPDEE), and phenyltriethynylethylene (PTEE) derivatives by a stepwise process, which provides a flexible platform for the synthesis of complex π-bond enrichment frameworks that were difficult to synthesize by previous methods. The initial optical characterization revealed that the synthesized molecules exhibited aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties, which further establishes the groundwork for future applications and enriches and advances the field of functional π-conjugated frameworks research.

The Updated Scope of Dermato

We are very happy that Dermato has now entered its fourth year, having published notable papers covering the wide field of dermatology and other closely related disciplines [...]