Humanities Research Research Articles

Enhancing Methodological Approaches for Studying Health Effects of High-Concentration THC Products.

For public health protection, informed decision-making relies on having a robust foundation of evidence concerning risks and their prevention. Application of an evidence-based framework depends on the availability of pertinent, scientifically sound data generated by well-directed and valid research endeavors. In this essay, we address the current state of research in humans and the evidential base concerning high-concentration delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9-THC) products, which are readily available in the United States. Furthermore, we explore the intricate challenges faced in carrying out research on these products, which reflect the full range of study design issues: measurement of exposure and outcomes, confounding, selection bias, and the generalizability of findings. We offer recommendations to guide future research toward providing more informative evidence. By following these recommendations, researchers and funders on this emerging topic could move toward generating the valid and comprehensive evidence needed to effectively inform public health initiatives and guide policy decisions regarding high-concentration delta-9-THC products and their use. The urgency of generating such evidence cannot be overstated, given the widespread legalization and increasing availability and use of these products. (Am J Public Health. 2024;114(S8):S639-S644. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307724).

A Study of Thing-Narrative in The Masque of the Red Death

The Masque of the Red Death is one of Edgar Allan Poe‘s most important works, which has been studied by numerous scholars from the perspectives of style, narrative aesthetics, and semiotics. However, the relevant interpretation to date has almost completely ignored the description of things in the novel. At present, there is an obvious “material turn” or “non-human turn” in the field of humanities research, that is, the research perspective turns to the “object” components that have been largely ignored in the past, including animals, plants, minerals, ecosystems, landscapes, places, etc. Therefore, from the perspective of the thing-narrative, combined with the social and historical background of the works, this paper analyzes Poe‘s use of thing-narrative techniques through close reading of the text. Through the in-depth analysis of the interaction between things and characters in the story, the author explains how castles, rooms, and ebony clocks, as cultural symbols, agents with subjectivity, exist as noumenon, influence or predict the fate of characters, and promote the development of the plot. And to further clarify Poe‘s theme in this novel - the inevitability of death.

Capability of ChatGPT to support the screening process of scoping reviews: A feasibility study

Abstract Background The time-consuming screening phase in health-related evidence syntheses is increasingly supported by artificial intelligence (AI). However, scoping reviews have not benefited as much as systematic reviews from such AI tools as they utilize conceptual rather than keyword-specific search strategies to address broad research questions. Context-understanding chatbots based on large language models could potentially enhance the efficiency of scoping review screenings. This study evaluates the performance of ChatGPT against an open-access AI tool used for abstract screening in systematic reviews and the costs involved. Methods Leveraging data from a prior scoping review, we compared the performance of ChatGPT 4.0 and 3.5 against Rayyan, using human researchers’ decisions as a benchmark. A random set of 50 included and 50 excluded abstracts was used to train Rayyan’s algorithm and to develop ChatGPT’s prompt. ChatGPT 4.0’s evaluation was repeated after 5-7 days to assess response consistency. We computed performance metrics including sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. Results ChatGPT 4.0 and 3.5 achieved 68% accuracy, 11% precision, 99% negative predictive value, and 67% specificity. Sensitivity was high at 88-89% for ChatGPT 4.0 and 84% for ChatGPT 3.5. ChatGPT 4.0 showed a substantial interrater reliability between the two evaluations and moderate reliability compared to ChatGPT 3.5. The cost of deployment varied, with Rayyan being free, ChatGPT 3.5 costing $9.06 and ChatGPT 4.0 $505.72. Conclusions Given the exponential increase in publications, effective mechanisms to support the screening phase of scoping reviews are needed. Our feasibility study using ChatGPT to decide on abstracts’ inclusion or exclusion achieved good performance metrics. Given further positive evaluation, such chatbots might be incorporated in the standard screening process, possibly replacing a second screener, saving time and costs, and accelerating evidence synthesis. Key messages • ChatGPT performs well in supporting screening for scoping reviews, outperforming a traditional AI tool at reasonable costs. • Employing chatbots like ChatGPT could potentially cut costs and time in scoping reviews.

Securities Markets in Which Some Investors Receive Information About Cash Flow Betas

We analyze a single-factor setting in which there is private information regarding cash flows as well as their betas. Private information about betas, together with market makers’ risk aversion and mean betas’ nonnegativity, implies a nonlinear price schedule whose stochastic slope covaries positively with order flow when the expected factor payoff is positive and vice versa. We predict a negative relation between the covariance and expected returns and an attenuation of the beta anomaly in asset returns after accounting for this relation. Empirical tests confirm these predictions. This paper was accepted by Lukas Schmid, finance. Funding: L. Yang acknowledges the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [Grant 435-2021-0040] and Bank of Canada Fellowship for financial support. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.02061 .

Teaching poetry using Instagram: An international, interdisciplinary study with adolescents mobilizing literacy and the arts

Young people engage daily with various social media platforms to communicate with each other across the globe. Adolescents not only share text, but also use images and sound to express themselves on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok to provide access to user-created content. The recent emergence of InstaPoetry—poetry with images on Instagram—has been part of such communication and provides a good entry point into adolescents’ engagement with literature and the arts. Limited research exists, however, on how this literate practice, paired with virtual and in-person museum visits, influences young people’s self-expression. In this article, we offer ways of integrating and involving these dynamic dimensions into research projects based on four sites of inquiry located in Canada and Australia. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, this research project provides concrete avenues to investigate teachers’ methods to foster adolescents’ engagement with literature and the arts (i.e., contextual design, procedures, environment) in (post) COVID-19 times.

Spanish participation in the social science and humanities research projects within the 7th European Union Framework Programme (2007-2013)

The objectives of this paper are to describe the Social Science and Humanities projects involving Spanish participation within the Seventh EU Framework Programme (FP7) (2007-2013), along with the scholarly output generated by these projects, and to compare the findings with the data from FP6 (2002-2006) in order to track their evolution. First, we determine the most significant characteristics of the projects with Spanish participation (duration, funding, topics, type of institution, etc.). Second, we analyse the scholarly production derived from a sample of projects taken from the Scopus database to analyse some bibliometric features. The results show an increase in the leadership and prominence of Spanish institutions, compared to FP6-SSH. In terms of scholarly outputs, none of the sources used (CORDIS, OpenAIRE and SCOPUS) allows a detailed study of scholarly production, although this output is characterized by articles written predominantly in English, published in first-quartile journals. Moreover, data showed that research funding for SSH may have long-term effects, with some outputs acknowledging funding being published a decade after the end of the project.

Interpretation of Buddhist Scriptures from the Perspective of Sinicization of Buddhism

The interpretation of Buddhist scriptures from the perspective of Sinicization of Buddhism has undergone a long and fruitful development process. From the initial period of Buddhist transmission with grid-meaning translation, to the elaboration of Buddhist doctrines during the Wei, Jin, Northern, and Southern Dynasties, to the doctrinal taxonomy in the Sui and Tang dynasties, and then to the interpretation of mind and nature during the Song and Ming dynasties, up to the modern trend of humanistic Buddhism, the interpretation of Buddhist scriptures has always interacted with the spirit of Chinese native culture, presenting a unique landscape of integration and innovation. The Sinicized interpretation of Buddhist scriptures not only demonstrates cultural confidence but also provides wisdom and inspiration for modern society. In the future, cross-cultural dialogue with the world, interdisciplinary integration and development, digital humanities research, and innovative communication methods will become new directions and challenges for the Sinicized interpretation of Buddhist scriptures.

Relationship between human capital and entrepreneurship orientation from the intellectual capital perspective of innovative literacy

PurposeThis study measures the relationship between human capital and innovative literacy from the perspective of intellectual capital. For this purpose, the relationship between human capital and innovative literacy was first investigated to measure intellectual capital. Subsequently, the moderating effect of entrepreneurial orientation on the influence of innovative literacy on human capital was also analysed.Design/methodology/approachThis study analyses the relationship between innovative literacy, human capital and entrepreneurial orientation through structural equation modelling – the study sample comprised 457 participants in Türkiye.FindingsThe results suggest a positive relationship between human capital, a sub-component of intellectual capital and innovative literacy. Innovative literacy can influence intellectual capital and increase value. Our finding further confirms that entrepreneurial orientation has no moderating effect on the same relationship.Research limitations/implicationsDespite the observed correlation between IL and HC growth, this study had some limitations. First, the generalisability of the findings is limited because the sample was selected from individuals with a high level of education in Türkiye. Despite these limitations, this study has important theoretical and practical implications for developing countries. Türkiye is a developing country, and the selected sample is the most critical database in the country for an Innovative Literacy Scale. However, future research could focus on whether there is a potential source of bias and collect and compare data from heterogeneous workers. In addition, research on existing research frameworks in other countries may consider varying levels of education and business sectors. This research aims to be a pioneering initiative towards the advancement of IL. The question of whether IL should be considered equivalent to or a subset of HC, which has been previously proposed as a dimension of IC, can be clarified through a thorough examination of what IL means.Practical implicationsIn a theoretical framework, transforming human capital into value through innovations derived from innovative literacy activities will significantly increase the company's intellectual capital. Organizations in which innovative literacy play an important role achieve organizational goals, strengthen commitment and contribute to sustainability through the emergence of new potential innovative individuals. This research also contributes significantly to the existing literature. Initially regarding theoretical implications, this study examines the concept of innovative literacy in the existing literature on intellectual capital, human capital and entrepreneurial orientation. Additionally, this study offers a new perspective on intellectual capital.Social implicationsThe findings of this research also provide managerial outcomes. Initially, the assessment of concepts, research and development capabilities and efficient knowledge management are indicators of innovative literacy proficiency at the individual level. Human capital is a subcomponent of intellectual capital and refers to knowledge, skills and experience. Innovative and literate team members should be developed in order to strengthen the intellectual capital structure of an organization.Originality/valueThis study contributes to understanding innovative literacy from an intellectual capital perspective using the Innovative Literacy Scale to reveal important dimensions that influence innovative literacy. Using a measurement tool with new sub-dimensions not included in the extant literature on intellectual capital is unique. This study suggests that scholars should include innovative literacy – a distinct subset of intellectual capital – in their body of knowledge on human capital. Our findings have the potential to help meet the needs of human resource departments, researchers, educational institutions, public institutions and enterprises.

From greatest simplicity to full power

AbstractWhile language processing services are key assets for the science and technology of language, the possible ways under which they may be made available to the widest range of their end users are critical to support an Open Science policy for this scientific domain. Although providing such processing services under some web-based interface, at large, offers itself as an immediate and cogent response to that challenge, turning this view into an effective access to language processing services is an undertaking deserving a clear conceptual direction and a corresponding robust empirical validation. Based on an extensive overview of major undertakings towards making language processing tools available and on the design principles worked out and implemented in the PORTULAN CLARIN infrastructure, in this paper we advocate for a Research-Infrastructure-as-a-Service (RIaaS) model. This model unleashes accessibility to language processing services in as many web-based interface modalities as the current stage of technological development permits to support, in order to serve as many types of end users as possible, from IT developers to Digital Humanities researchers, and including citizen scientists, teachers, students and digital artists among many others.

A traditional ecological knowledge summit

A traditional ecological knowledge summit The Global Center for Climate Change and Transboundary Waters (GCTW) cohosts a Traditional Ecological Knowledge Summit (1), as Gail Krantzberg (2), Peter Czajkowski, Dawn Martin-Hill, Rohini Patel, Hiliary Monteith, and Drew Gronewold explain. The Global Center for Climate Change and Transboundary Waters (GCTW) integrates hydroclimate modeling, water quality forecasting, and community-engaged mixed methods that harmonize and propagate Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), Indigenous Knowledge (IK), and Western Science (WS) into robust 21st-century transboundary water resources governance protocols. The U.S. National Science Foundation and the Canadian Social Science and Humanities Research Council fund the Center. It supports a multinational network of researchers that is designed to promote information sharing across borders.

Postdigital Citizen Science and Humanities: Dialogue from the Ground

AbstractWhilst much global research takes place in universities, many researchers in the sciences and humanities do not work within these institutions. Some citizen researchers run their own companies or provide independent consultancy, having left their roles in universities through a conflict of values, where they experienced hostile, hierarchical, or restrictive practices. In a world where many postdigital and biodigital challenges do not sit neatly under one discipline or sector, collaboration with community experts to research potential solutions is crucial, as demonstrated during the Covid-19 pandemic. Universities count knowledge exchange partnerships as a key part of their activities, linked to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, yet a closer look at how this works in practice reveals different forms of ‘lockdowns’ that prevent equitable research collaborations. In this collective article, we offer a postdigital perspective on citizen science and humanities research from the ground. This includes a provocation to knowledge-producing institutions via recommendations that emerged from our collective citizen researcher workshop held in Zagreb in Spring 2024. There is now a pressing need to review institutional policies and practices around citizen research, towards more inclusive knowledge exchange partnerships, if we are to collaborate successfully to address many global challenges.

A Case Study Analysis of Library Services for Adults Experiencing Chronic Homelessness in Harrison County, Mississippi

ABSTRACT The author partnered with the Harrison County Library System (HCLS) to create a multilevel program plan for expanding library services to the growing number of homeless people who seek refuge in the library’s facilities. The research for this program plan involved evaluating existing library resources such as collections, programming, and available staff resources; identifying the best practices for providing services to people experiencing homelessness; identifying staff perceptions of working with the homeless; and identifying potential partners for expanded service offerings. The author used document analysis to research data on the library system (IMLS 2021 and reviewed library policy to identify barriers to providing service for the homeless. The author applied qualitative and humanistic research methods involving personal narratives (scenarios) provided through two separate one-on-one interviews with the library director to discuss the library system in general, and one one-on-one interview with six library staff working in the three libraries with the highest use by people experiencing homelessness. This paper discusses the findings from this mixed methods research project and their application to expanding services for chronically homeless patrons who use the HCLS.

Photobiomodulation Therapy Effects at Different Stages of the Dystrophic Phenotype: A Histomorphometric Study

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) on the gastrocnemius muscle of X-linked muscular dystrophy (mdx) mice. MethodsThe study used an experimental model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, at 3 stages of degeneration/regeneration of muscle fibers: an acute stage (14-28 days old), acute and stabilized stages (14-42 days old), and a stabilized stage (28-42 days old). Photobiomodulation therapy (also known as low-level light therapy) at 0.6 J was applied 3 times per week to the dystrophic gastrocnemius muscle of mdx mice at ages 14 to 28, 14 to 42, and 28 to 42 days. After the treatment period, the gastrocnemius muscle was collected, and cryosections were prepared for histopathologic analysis. ResultsIn all 3 stages evaluated, a significant reduction was observed in immunoglobulin G uptake by muscle fibers, the inflammatory area, macrophage infiltration, the reactive dihydroethidium area, and the number of autofluorescent lipofuscin granules in the gastrocnemius muscle of mdx mice after PBMT. ConclusionThe results demonstrated that low-level light therapy, when applied during or after the acute phase of the degeneration/regeneration muscle process, improves the pathological histomorphologic features in dystrophic muscle. Based on these results, PBMT appears to be a promising therapy for dystrophinopathies, warranting further research in humans to verify its efficacy.

Exploratory Search in Digital Humanities: A Study of Visual Keyword/Result Linking

ABSTRACTWhile searching within digital humanities collections is an important aspect of digital humanities research, the search features provided are usually more suited to lookup search than exploratory search. This limits the ability of digital humanities scholars to undertake complex search scenarios. Drawing upon recent studies on supporting exploratory search in academic digital libraries, we implemented two visual keyword/result linking approaches for searching within the Europeana collection; one that keeps the keywords linked to the search results and another that aggregates the keywords over the search result set. Using a controlled laboratory study, we assessed these approaches in comparison to the existing Europeana search mechanisms. We found that both visual keyword/result linking approaches were improvements over the baseline, with some differences between the new approaches that were dependent on the stage of the exploratory search process. This work illustrates the value of providing advanced search functionality within digital humanities collections to support exploratory search processes, and the need for further design and study of digital humanities search tools that support complex search scenarios.

Revolutionizing Knowledge Synthesis: Introducing AI-Enhanced Collaborative Theory (AIECT)

In an era of unprecedented data development, standard literature review approaches can result in information overload and missed chances for theoretical innovation. This paper introduces AI-Enhanced Collaborative Theory (AIECT), a paradigm for dynamic collaboration between artificial intelligence (AI) systems and human researchers to improve knowledge synthesis and theoretical progress. AIECT focuses on the intersection of human intuition and AI capabilities, including essential components like dynamic co-creation, iterative feedback loops, contextual intelligence, and ethical frameworks. Empirical experiments show that AIECT can significantly increase the efficiency and depth of literature reviews and theory creation, showing its potential to revolutionize research processes and address information overload concerns. While limitations such as sample size and the need for additional validation are acknowledged, the findings indicate that AIECT represents a transformative approach to academic inquiry, encouraging innovative, ethical, and nuanced research techniques. By safely integrating AI, AIECT sets the way for advances in knowledge synthesis and provides a systematic foundation for future scholarly endeavors in various domains.

ChatGPT as a Digital Assistant for Archaeology: Insights from the Smart Anomaly Detection Assistant Development

The introduction of generative AI has the potential to radically transform various fields of research, including archaeology. This study explores the potential of generative AI, specifically ChatGPT, in developing a computer application for analyzing aerial and satellite images to detect archaeological anomalies. The main focus was not on developing the application itself but on evaluating ChatGPT’s effectiveness as an IT assistant for humanistic researchers. Starting with a simple prompt to analyze a multispectral orthophoto, the application was developed through successive iterations, improved through continuous interactions with ChatGPT. Various technical and methodological challenges were addressed, leading to the creation of a functional application with multiple features, including various analysis methods and tools. This process demonstrated how the use of large language models (LLMs) can break down the barriers between humanities and computer science disciplines, enabling researchers without programming skills to develop complex applications in a short time.

Code review in digital humanities

Abstract Software and computational methods offer tremendous possibilities for digital humanities research, both accelerating existing work and opening up entirely new questions. However, software also has the potential to introduce new kinds of errors into the research workflow. How do we know that the software developed for a digital humanities project is error free and does what we think it does? Code review is a widespread technique to improve software quality and reduce the number of flaws, where a programmer other than the author reviews and comments on the source code. However, given that many digital humanities developers work in developer teams of one, code review is often not possible. In this article, we share progress and insights from an effort to establish a community code review process for digital humanities, and provide background to help understand the need and potential impacts of this work.

Humanities Research Centers on Artificial Intelligence (NEH)

Humanities Research Centers on Artificial Intelligence (NEH)

Gender, Race, and Entrepreneurship: A Randomized Field Experiment on Venture Capitalists and Angels

We study gender and race in high-impact entrepreneurship using a tightly controlled randomized field experiment. We sent out 80,000 pitch emails introducing promising but fictitious start-ups to 28,000 venture capitalists and angels. Each email was sent by a fictitious entrepreneur with randomly assigned gender and race. Female entrepreneurs received 9% more interested replies than males pitching identical projects and Asians received 6% more than Whites. Our results suggest that investors do not discriminate against female or Asian entrepreneurs when evaluating unsolicited pitch emails and that future research on investor biases should focus on networks and in-person interactions. This paper was accepted by Tomasz Piskorski, finance. Funding: The grant is Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Development [Grant 430-2019-00306] “Gender and racial discrimination in venture capital” through the University of British Columbia. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2024.4990 .

Rational partitioning of spectral feature space for effective clustering of massive spectral image data

We have successfully proposed and demonstrated a clustering method that overcomes the “needle-in-a-haystack problem” (finding minuscule important regions from massive spectral image data sets). The needle-in-a-haystack problem is of central importance in the characterization of materials since in bulk materials, the properties of a very tiny region often dominate the entire function. To solve this problem, we propose that rational partitioning of the spectral feature space in which spectra are distributed, or defining of the decision boundaries for clustering, can be performed by focusing on the discrimination limit defined by the measurement noise and partitioning the space at intervals of this limit. We verified the proposed method, applied it to actual measurement data, and succeeded in detecting tiny (~ 0.5%) important regions that were difficult for human researchers and other machine learning methods to detect in discovering unknown phases. The ability to detect these crucial regions helps in understanding materials and designing more functional materials.