Science Review Research Articles

Early copies of New Zealand Science Review now available online

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AI-powered peer review process

Code review is a common type of peer review in Computer Science (CS) education. It’s a peer review process that involves CS students other than the original author examining source code and is widely acknowledged as an effective method for reducing software errors and enhancing the overall quality of software projects. While code review is an essential skill for CS students, they often feel uncomfortable to share their work or to provide feedback to peers due to concerns related to coding experience, validity, reliability, bias, and fairness. An automated code review process could offer students the potential to access timely, consistent, and independent feedback about their coding artifacts. We investigated the use of generative Artificial Intelligence (genAI) to automate a peer review process to enhance CS students’ engagement with code review in an industry-based subject in the School of Computing and Information System, University of Melbourne. Moreover, we evaluated the effectiveness of genAI at performing checklist-based assessments of code. A total of 80 CS students performed over 36 reviews in two different weeks. We found our genAI-powered reviewing process significantly increased students’ engagement in code review and, could also identify a larger number of code issues in short times, leading to more fixes. These results suggest that our approach could be successfully used in code reviews, potentially helping to address issues related to peer review in higher education settings.

The mechanism of prosperity: New Zealand Association of Scientists 1954–73

​The issue is: Have the authorities properly looked after the mechanism of prosperity and not only retained the best scientists but attracted further talent from overseas? This concluding remark by Dr F B (Brian) Shorland1 in his Presidential Address in 1955, reported in the media [1] as well as in New Zealand Science Review [2], was the issue that occupied a prominent part of the Association’s activities over most of the next twenty years. Time and time again, representations were made to Government and officials about the need to provide competitive salaries and working conditions for New Zealand’s scientific workforce.

Ling-Ling Chen: RNA has its own features; don’t study it as a protein

Abstract Non-coding RNA (ncRNA) has been a very active research area over the past 30 years. From small ncRNA – the discovery of RNA interference won the lead researchers the Nobel Prize, to long ncRNA (lncRNA), which has attracted much attention in recent years, various ncRNAs participate in all kinds of biological processes and show a variety of biomedical application prospects. Recently, National Science Review (NSR) interviewed Ling-Ling Chen, a professor at the Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science (CEMCS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), deputy director of the State Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology and director of the CAS Key Laboratory of RNA Science and Engineering, to talk about the magic world of RNA. Ling-Ling Chen and her team have been studying ncRNA for more than 10 years, and have witnessed and promoted the development of this field. They discovered unconventional lncRNAs without polyadenylated (polyA) tails or N7-methylguanosine (m7G) caps, including sno-lncRNAs (small nucleolar lncRNAs), SPAs (5' snoRNA capped and 3' polyadenylated RNAs) and circRNAs (circular RNAs), and have made remarkable progress clarifying the biogenetic mechanisms and functions of these RNAs and exploring their biomedical application. Chen said: ‘I am 45 years old. I hope I will not stagnate here, but make new discoveries.’

Comment on “Palynology, palaeoclimate and chronology from the saalian glacial to Saint-Germain II interstadial from two long cores at the limit between the mediterranean and euxinian regions” by Leroy et al., Quaternary Science Reviews 311 (2023) 108,145

Comment on “Palynology, palaeoclimate and chronology from the saalian glacial to Saint-Germain II interstadial from two long cores at the limit between the mediterranean and euxinian regions” by Leroy et al., Quaternary Science Reviews 311 (2023) 108,145

Reviews and Reviewing: Approaches to Research Synthesis. An Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST) paper

AbstractReviews have long been recognized as among the most important forms of scientific communication. The rapid growth of the primary literature has further increased the need for reviews to distill and interpret the literature. This review on Reviews and Reviewing: Approaches to Research Synthesis encompasses the evolution of the review literature, taxonomy of review literature, uses and users of reviews, the process of preparing reviews, assessment of review quality and impact, the impact of information technology on the preparation of reviews, and research opportunities for information science related to reviews and reviewing. In addition to providing a synthesis of prior research, this review seeks to identify gaps in the published research and to suggest possible future research directions.

Barriers and Facilitators of Center-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation Utilization in South Asian Ethnic Minorities: A META-SYNTHESIS.

The aim of this review was to synthesize literature on the perceptions of South Asian ethnic minorities of the barriers and facilitators to center-based, phase II cardiac rehabilitation (CR). A meta-synthesis approach was used, and findings were reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A comprehensive literature search was conducted from database inception dates to July 2022 using the following databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, APA PsycINFO, Cochrane Database of Systematic Review, CINAHL, Scopus, and Web of Science. The inclusion criteria were studies that examined the barriers and/or facilitators of structured center-based CR among South Asian adult ethnic minorities. Critical appraisal of the included studies was conducted using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Findings were synthesized using a thematic synthesis approach. Among the 7110 records initially retrieved only nine studies conducted in the United Kingdom or Canada met the inclusion criteria. More barriers than facilitators were studied and reported. Key barriers were the English language difficulty, fatalistic beliefs, previous bad interactions with and negative perception of health care professionals, transportation problems, work schedule conflict, safety issues, and long-distance CR centers. The facilitators included patient-preferred environment, presence of family members during exercise, family and friends support, and encouragement to change lifestyle and enroll in a CR program. The review findings revealed that South Asian ethnic minorities encounter various barriers and facilitators to enroll and complete CR. The findings can inform researchers and clinicians in the development of interventions that are tailored to their cultural needs. The findings can be valuable to health care professionals and policy makers in designing customized CR programs for South Asian minorities.

Public and Patients' Perspectives Towards Data and Sample Sharing for Research: An Overview of Empirical Findings.

We aimed to review the attitudes and perspectives of the public and patients towards the sharing of data and biospecimens for research and to identify common dimensions, regardless of setting. Our review included systematic, scoping or thematic reviews of empirical studies retrieved from Medline (PubMed interface), Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest and Cochrane Reviews. The main themes identified and synthesised across the 14 reviews were readiness and motivations; potential risks and safeguards; trust, transparency and accountability; autonomy and preferred type of consent; and factors influencing data and biospecimen sharing and consent. Sociodemographic factors and research and individual context remain relevant influencing factors in all settings, while preferences for types of consent are highly heterogeneous. Trusted environments and adapted consent options with participant engagement are relevant to improve research participation.

Mức độ trưởng thành chuyển đổi số Tạp chí Khoa học và Đào tạo Ngân hàng trong bối cảnh chuyển đổi số hệ thống báo chí quốc gia

In June 2023, the Ministry of Information and Communications issued the Digital Media Transformation Maturity Index. One of the important meanings of the Index is to help each media agency determine which stage they are in the digital transformation process, and therefore have an appropriate roadmap, plan, and digital transformation solutions. Based on a comprehensive document review and analysis, the article evaluates the digital transformation maturity of the Banking Science and Trainning Review according to the 5 pillars set by the criteria of the Ministry. The initial results indicate that the Journal has performed well in pillars (1) Strategy, (2) Digital Infrastructure, Platform, and Information Security, and (3) Organizational and Professional Consistency. However, the Journal should continue to work on enhancing in pillars (4) Readership, Audience, and Listenership, and (5) Level of Digital Technology Application. This results provide a foundation for the overall Banking Academy of Vietnam and the Banking Science and Trainning Review to develop further solutions to continue maturing in the digital transfromation journey.

Geoengineering: proactive measures to tackle climate change.

As of 20 August, 2023, extensive parts of northern China including the capital city of Beijing had experienced arguably the hottest summer in recent years, recording consecutive days of high temperatures at or near 40°C. Against this backdrop, National Science Review (NSR) organized a web forum on a climate-related topic that needs more exposure to Chinese public and researchers alike: geoengineering. Compared to commonly-known methods to address climate change such as emission reduction, geoengineering proposes to take much more proactive measures such as injecting aerosol into the stratosphere to increase solar reflection, implementing iron fertilization in the ocean to promote microbial growth, and capturing and liquifying CO2 and injecting it directly into exhausted oil fields. The forum was hosted by Prof. Tong Zhu of Peking University with four panelists. Together, they introduced the scientific backgrounds and implementations of these proactive measures and discussed the pros and cons anticipated by researchers so far. Fei Chai () Professor, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University Zhijun Jin () Professor, SONOPEC Petroleum Exploration and Production Research Institute; Dean, Institute of Energy, Peking University; Dean, Peking University Ordos Research Institute of Energy Shawchen Liu () Professor, Institute for Environmental and Climate Research, Jinan University Jianhua Xu () Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Management, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering and Institute for Global Health and Development, Peking University Tong Zhu () (Chair) Professor, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University.

The Rohingya Influx into Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar: Mapping Internal Security Threats

Following the recent 2017 Rohingya influx, Bangladesh now hosts nearly one million Rohingyas. Being persecuted by the Myanmar state machinery and some local vigilantes, they fled for safe refuge in Bangladesh’s Cox's Bazar. Bangladesh sheltered them in 34 overcrowded camps located in the Teknaf and Ukhiya sub-districts of Cox’s Bazar. At present, Rohingyas are counted more than double compared to the local host population in these two areas. This study makes efforts to explicate why and how these stranded Rohingyas can be a security threat to Bangladesh. Theoretically, the study relies on security discourse; ecological and resource scarcity model; and relative deprivation theory. Under the qualitative research approach, the researchers conducted semi-structured interviews mainly with key informants and subject experts to gather field data. The study brings out that this overpopulation has perplexed the security milieu of the country and forecasts multifaceted internal security threats. Thus, the study offers salient policy recommendations to ameliorate the crisis response by neutralizing the identified and forecasted conflictual issues. Social Science Review, Vol. 40(1), Jun 2023 Page 89-107

The Tyranny of Modern Mothers: Understanding the Lived Realities of Motherhood among Middle-class Professional Women in Dhaka

Motherhood, which generally relates to a combination of joy, pleasure, and fulfilment, frequently defines the social status of women within their families and communities. Although as a social institution, motherhood provides women with expanded authority and responsibilities, these are frequently defined by gendered social norms and behaviours. As a result, there is a significant disparity between the myths and celebratory appeal of motherhood and the everyday realities that mothers encounter. Particularly, among Dhaka’s middle-class, where professional mothers are expected to strike a balance between their personal and professional roles, the challenges and constraints of motherhood double. In Bangladesh, the societal pressure on women to become mothers and fulfil their obligations results in a gendered division of labour and multifaceted problems that hardly received adequate attention in existing feminist literature. This empirical study explored the meanings and manifestations of motherhood, as well as the tension, role conflict, and dilemma that middle-class mothers in Dhaka encounter in everyday personal and professional lives. Guided by the principles of feminist research methodology, this qualitative study employed twenty-five Life History Interviews (LHI) and two Focus Group Discussions (FGD) with professional mothers in Dhaka. The results of this ethnographic study indicate that professional mothers in Dhaka experience challenges with household chores, caregiving roles, and professional responsibilities, which add a triple burden to their everyday lives. Social Science Review, Vol. 40(1), Jun 2023 Page 57-72

Race, electoral pressure, expected judicial ideology, and the vote to confirm Justice Clarence Thomas

ABSTRACT The paper “Courting Constituents? An Analysis of the Senate Confirmation Vote on Justice Clarence Thomas” tests the theory that electoral pressure from Black constituents played a role in the confirmation of Justice Clarence Thomas to the United States Supreme Court (Overby, L. Marvin, Beth M. Henschen, Michael H. Walsh, and Julie Strauss. 1992. “Courting Constituents? An Analysis of the Senate Confirmation Vote on Justice Clarence Thomas.” American Political Science Review 86 (4): 997–1003. https://do.org/10.2307/1964351). This paper reveals several methodological errors in the original paper and also provides a friendly critique of several of the underlying assumptions put forth in the 1992 paper. This paper then offers an alternative explanation that the expected judicial ideology of Clarence Thomas nomination was relatively more important than electoral pressure from Black voters.

Spatio-temporal Analysis of the Changes in Rooftop Gardening in Dhaka Metropolitan Area

Urban Rooftop gardening (RTG) as a possible solution to food insecurity gets popularised due to the reduction of urban agricultural land and regarded as an effective climate change impact mitigation strategy. This paper identified the spatio-temporal changes of RTG practices in Dhaka Metropolitan Area (DMA) between 2016 and 2021. This evidence-based study was conducted based on manually extracted build-up (building rooftop) areas of DMA for 2021 and RTG areas of DMA for 2016 and 2021 through digitization from Google earth images using Google Earth Pro software. It is identified that the different zones of DMA experience changes in RTG differently based on their zonal development stages. The DMA received moderate increase (i.e. 15 percent) in RTG between 2016 and 2021 where the western part has greater RTG area than the eastern part. The study also reveals that planned residential areas have higher RTG areas than any other landuse whereas most Government/ Non-Government buildings have less RTG throughout the 20 zones of DMA and the Dhaka Cantonment area. Social Science Review, Vol. 40(1), Jun 2023 Page 129-150

The Significance of Right Speech in Theravada Buddhism and its Importance in the Present Day Context

The highest importance is given to right speech in Buddhism. It plays a vital role in the present day context. There are enormous examples of speech to inflame violence and make separation among the people and even the world communities. It is hard to find out the path of peace and harmony among the society. Right speech can contribute significantly to building a harmonious and sustainable society to achieve SDG’s. Social Science Review, Vol. 40(1), Jun 2023 Page 151-163

Interfaith Dialogue to Counter Radicalization in Bangladesh: An Approach to Move from Extremism to Pluralism

The fundamental objective of this research paper is to examine how interfaith dialogue can be an effective mechanism to combat the forces of radicalization and extremism in Bangladesh. To unveil the answer to this question, this study has explored the nature of the politicization of Islam and the scope of Islamic fundamentalism in Bangladesh. Reviewing the existing pieces of literature, this research paper has identified that there has been a rise in Islamic extremism since the beginning of the 21st century, which evolved throughout the last two decades changing in its nature and intensity. It has illustrated that after the military coup of 1975, the military rulers and the following democratic governments of Bangladesh carried on the tendency of politicizing religion and have used state mechanisms to Islamize Bangladeshi society. However, to address this recent trend of rising militancy, interfaith dialogue can be an effective approach that will shrink the potential of radicalization and extremism in Bangladesh. This study proposes incorporating an interreligious curriculum in the education system of Bangladesh and the engagement of religious preachers as well as mass people of different faiths including various sects of each religion in such interfaith dialogue initiatives to improve understanding and compassion. Social Science Review, Vol. 40(1), Jun 2023 Page 165-184

The Dynamics of the US-Iran Relationship after the Assassination of Qassem Suleimani: Explanations and Predictions

The political dynamics of the US-Iran relationship have kept the two states always on the brink of the eruption of a major conflict. The targeted assassination of Major General Qassem Suleimani, one of the most consequential figures in Iranian military history, took the world to the brink of a global conflict on January 3, 2020. Fortunately, however, the subsequent events did not escalate to declared or undeclared war. This article provides a theoretical analysis of the conflict following the assassination of Major Suleimani to explain why and how war was avoided in this context. The analysis based on contemporary context, regional power dynamics, and relevant conditions illustrates how de-escalation of conflict was possible and argues why, in light of existing theories, there is hardly any possibility of a manifest war between the US and Iran in the near future despite prevailing in an alternate and latent form. Social Science Review, Vol. 40(1), Jun 2023 Page 185-201

The Rationale for Initiation and Continuation of Drug Abuse among Female Users: A Study of the Youth in Dhaka City

This paper explores the reasons for female drug abuse in an urban setting. It is concerned with a gender-sensitive approach to one of the burning issues of the 21st century: abusive and non-medical consumption of drugs among the youth. It focuses on social learning theory, control theory, labeling theory, and strain theory to understand and explain why female drug abusers initiate and continue to abuse drugs. This phenomenological research was carried out in three female rehabilitation centers in the Dhaka region. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty research participants: twelve female drug abusers (aged 12-30 years), seven rehabilitation personnel, and an official working with the Department of Narcotics Control, Bangladesh. This study finds some crucial reasons for initiating and continuing drug abuse among young female drug abusers, including traumatic experiences in life, the influence of peers and relatives, curiosity and sensation-seeking, easy access to and availability of unprescribed medicinal drugs, and social stigma. Social Science Review, Vol. 40(1), Jun 2023 Page 21-39

Women Leadership in the Emergence of Bangladesh: A Study on Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib

The emancipation of Bangladesh occupies a significant place in world history. Both men and women of Bangladesh valiantly participated in the liberation struggle and consequently, in the nation-building process. However, throughout the long period, liberation has been constructed as an exclusively male endeavour that ignores the contribution made by women in the process of bringing the nation into being. As women played an active and significant role in the process of constructing this nation, the need is now to reconstruct the traditional ways of representation as well as to see the role of women's leadership in the emergence of Bangladesh with a special focus on the life of Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib. In this regard, accommodating qualitative research methodology, more specifically the feminist research approach, this paper aims to explore the leadership of Bangamata by adorning the ‘Behavioural Theory of Leadership’ along with ‘Transformational Leadership Theory’ that emphasizes the actions, not on mental or inner characteristics of a leader. These theories centre on how an individual's surroundings structure that person into a leader. This paper has depicted the leadership of Bangamata in the creation of Bangladesh and its political-economic journey onwards. Social Science Review, Vol. 40(1), Jun 2023 Page 1-20

Prejudices on In-vitro Fertilization: Experiences from Couples Struggling with Fertility of Urban Dhaka

The biomedical treatment of infertility has spread throughout the world rapidly, though the cultural understanding of its techniques stagger in various cultures and societies. The local moral ideologies and cultural urge of fertility have treated the infertile people miserably. In Bangladesh, biomedical treatments of infertility are being introduced, and many are approaching it, depending upon not only their affordability but also on various socio-cultural factors. The cultural interpretation of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) depends on various social components, like patriarchy, moral values, and belief system related to childbirth. Thus, the social exposure and moral pioneers of the recipient of treatment play significant roles in postulating the conception of IVF. This paper identifies the cultural interpretation of IVF among the infertile couples of urban Dhaka through their experience in addressing biomedical infertility treatment. Social Science Review, Vol. 40(1), Jun 2023 Page 41-55