Government Scientists Research Articles

Organizational behavior and diversity

The use of behavioural science in government and policy and regulation has been gaining popularity and momentum over the last five to ten years. Applications have historically been related to individual behaviour – either individuals working within government or citizens themselves. However, there is growing interest among governments and policy institutions to utilize behavioural science to enhance organisational behavior – from government institutions themselves to external organisationsthat interact with and are regulated by governments. Organizational Behavior is the identification, analyzing and application ofknowledge about howindividuals and groups act in organizations. It interprets people-organization relationships in terms of the person, group, organization, and whole social system. Objective of it is to build better relationships by achieving people objectives, organizational objectives, and social objectives. It encompasses a wide range of areas, such as human behavior, Training and development, change management, leadership, teams, Group behavior etc. In the study of organizational behavior and diversity, the use of models, theories, and past experience are each helpful in gaining a complete understanding. Individuals within an organization behave as they do as a result of the context in which they are immersed. This short article seeks to examine this context in order to further the cause of helping managers deal with issues in their organizations from a standpoint of knowledge and understanding, rather than guesswork andout-dated methods. First, the organization as a system will be discussed, including its interdependence upon other systems. Next, the importance of relationships as a vital part of the operation of organizations will be mentioned. Then, the management of diversity will be outlined, leading to a discussion of the importance of culture in influencing values. This paper is a theoretical paper with some concept in the behavior organizational as a important part of management.

Examination Malpractice as Determinant for Poor Academic Performance of Students in Agricultural science in Ife Central Local Government, Osun State

This paper investigates examination malpractice as one of the determinants of poor performance in agricultural science among students in secondary schools in Ile – Ife. This will help in identifying the major factors responsible for this, and how to improve the students’ performance in agricultural science so as to build students in developing more interest in the subject for better agricultural productivity at all levels. The descriptive research survey type was used. The population is made of all senior secondary school students offering agricultural science and agricultural science teachers of selected schools in Ife central local government. Two hundred secondary school students were selected. Fourty students were randomly selected from each of the five schools from the local government. Also, two agricultural science teachers were selected each from the five schools in the local government. Data were analyzed using frequency counts and percentages. Findings revealed that there were examination malpractices among students in Agricultural science. Poor performance of students in agricultural science as a result of examination malpractice reduces the interest of young secondary school leavers especially youths in the area of agriculture.

Pentingnya Menjadi Pemilih Cerdas Menuju Pemilu Berkualitas dan Berintegritas Pada Pemilu 2024

Elections are indicators or benchmarks in a democratic country. The means of sovereignty are realized in the form of citizens' voting rights, a general election that is based on direct, general, free, secret, honest and fair purposes to elect leaders who will continue the previous leadership relay with the aim of continuing, managing government administration and serving all levels of society. Voters have a big role in Indonesia's leadership in the upcoming 2024 election. If the wrong leader is chosen, it can result in the destruction of the nation and state. The method used in this socialization activity is as follows: (1) the lecture method is used to explain material related to "the importance of being an intelligent voter in realizing quality and integrity elections in the 2024 election. (2) the discussion method is used to deepen the discussion material with questions and answers delivered to socialization participants. (3) the method of pre-test and post-test questions to determine the increase in participants' understanding before and after socialization. This socialization activity was located in the UBR 31 classroom, the government science study program, the faculty of social sciences and political science. The result of this socialization activity is that students as socialization participants are more aware of the importance of being smart voters to realize elections of quality and integrity in the 2024 elections.

Factors Influencing Student Financial Literacy (Case Study of Students at the Faculty of Economics and Government Science, Indo Global Mandiri University)

This study aim to analyze the factors that affect student financial literacy with variables of class rank, GPA and pocket money. The object of this research is students of the faculty of Economics and Government Sciences, Indo Global Mandiri University. Data collection techniques were carried out by distributing questionnaires to 263 respondents individually. The hypothesis testing method is done by the chi-square test. The results of this study indicate that the class rank and GPA factors influence students’ financial literacy, while the pocket money factor do not affect students’ financial literacy.

PERAN PEMUDA DALAM MENYUKSESKAN PEMILU DI DESA TERUSAN KECAMATAN BATURAJA TIMUR KABUPATEN OGAN KOMERING ULU

Youth participation during general elections in democratic countries still cannot be said to be high, this is influenced by the factor of many young people who miss at the time of general elections. One of the efforts to reduce it is by holding political education socialization and general elections to the public and youth in particular as prospective novice voters for the 2024 election, in order to reduce the number of abstentions and make youth smarter in elections and understand the role of youth in the success of the upcoming 2024 elections. The holding of political socialization so that youth not only become political objects but become political subjects. Therefore, the Government Science Study Program, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Baturaja University conducts service on political education and elections to welcome the 2024 election in Canal Village, East Baturaja District, Ogan Komering Ulu Regency. The entire stage was carried out well as expected.

Communication in the science-policy interface: Evidence from a boundary organization in Nebraska, USA

Boundary organizations have a crucial function in environmental governance by facilitating the processes through which scientists and decision-makers generate, exchange, evaluate, and utilize knowledge to identify societal problems, propose potential solutions, and make decisions on appropriate courses of action. This support for evidence-informed decision making is essential in addressing environmental challenges effectively. Despite the growing popularity of boundary organizations, there remains a significant challenge in designing information dissemination platforms to bridge the communication divide between scientific experts and non-experts. To address this gap, we used natural language processing tools to analyze the communication strategies of a specific boundary organization – the Nebraska Water Center – and examined how these strategies evolved over time to address relevant water policy issues in the state. We identified three prominent topics in the Center’s periodicals between 1970 and 2018: policy and planning, water quality and quantity, and public engagement and workforce development. The prevalence of each topic changed over time, reflecting changes in both federal and state legislative priorities and subsequent responses from the scientific community. Our results also demonstrate how boundary organizations can design information exchange platforms that consider perspectives and needs of not only scientists and policymakers but also more diverse groups of actors. These findings are critical for developing strategies for bridging science and policy in environmental governance.

COVID-19 vaccination attitudes across the European continent

This study was conducted to determine the predictors of COVID-19 vaccination attitudes across multiple waves in seven countries geographically spread across the European continent, using data from a COVID-19 survey provided by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology COVID-19. Facebook users from across the globe participated in this survey which collected information on their knowledge of COVID-19, attitudes towards risk and available information, and their willingness or lack thereof to take the vaccine. In this secondary data analysis study, neural networks were used with special attention given to the importance of the predictors of COVID-19 vaccination attitudes. Perception of social norms regarding COVID-19 vaccination was found to be the most important predictor of vaccine acceptance. Country of residence and wave of data collection were among the important predictors, with different patterns for each country emerging across different waves. Other strong predictors included attitudes towards masks and mask wearing; attitudes towards the influenza vaccine; distrust in government health authorities and scientists; and level of knowledge of existing treatments for COVID-19. The results of this study can inform effective public health prevention and intervention efforts against infectious diseases.

Is scientific inquiry still incompatible with government information control? A quarter-century later

Twenty-six years ago, in response to regionally devastating fisheries collapses in Canada, Hutchings et al. asked “Is scientific inquiry incompatible with government information control?” Now, a quarter-century later, we review how government science advice continues to be influenced by non-science interests, particularly those with a financial stake in the outcome of the advice. We use the example of salmon aquaculture in British Columbia, Canada, to demonstrate how science advice from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) can fail to be impartial, evidence-based, transparent, and independently reviewed—four widely implemented standards of robust science advice. Consequently, DFO's policies are not always supported by the best available science. These observations are particularly important in the context of DFO having struggled to sustainably manage Canada's marine resources, creating socio-economic uncertainty and putting the country's international reputation at risk as it lags behind its peers. We conclude by reiterating Hutchings et al.’s unheeded recommendation for a truly independent fisheries-science advisory body in Canada to be enshrined in the decision-making process.

Deep Learning-Based Classification of High-Resolution Satellite Images for Mangrove Mapping

Detailed information about mangroves is crucial for ecological and environmental protection and sustainable development. It is difficult to capture small patches of mangroves from satellite images with relatively low to medium resolution. In this study, high-resolution (0.8–2 m) images from Chinese GaoFen (GF) and ZiYuan (ZY) series satellites were used to map the distribution of mangroves in coastal areas of Guangdong Province, China. A deep-learning network, U2-Net, with attention gates was applied to extract multi-scale information of mangroves from satellite images. The results showed that the attention U2-Net model performed well on mangrove classification. The overall accuracy, precision, and F1-score values were 96.5%, 92.0%, and 91.5%, respectively, which were higher than those obtained from other machine-learning methods such as Random Forest or U-Net. Based on the high-resolution mangrove maps generated from long satellite image time series, we also investigated the spatiotemporal evolution of the mangrove forest in Shuidong Bay. The results can provide crucial information for government administrators, scientists, and other stakeholders to monitor the dynamic changes in mangroves.

Cultured Meat Safety Research Priorities: Regulatory and Governmental Perspectives.

As with every new technology, safety demonstration is a critical component of bringing products to market and gaining public acceptance for cultured meat and seafood. This manuscript develops research priorities from the findings of a series of interviews and workshops with governmental scientists and regulators from food safety agencies in fifteen jurisdictions globally. The interviews and workshops aimed to identify the key safety questions and priority areas of research. Participants raised questions about which aspects of cultured meat and seafood production are novel, and the implications of the paucity of public information on the topic. Novel parameters and targets may require the development of new analytical methods or adaptation and validation of existing ones, including for a diversity of product types and processes. Participants emphasized that data sharing of these efforts would be valuable, similar to those already developed and used in the food and pharmaceutical fields. Contributions to such databases from the private and public sectors would speed general understanding as well as efforts to make evaluations more efficient. In turn, these resources, combined with transparent risk assessment, will be critical elements of building consumer trust in cultured meat and seafood products.

Imperial Academy of Sciences and organization of statistical research in Russia

This article is devoted to the history of the institutional formation of statistical research in the Imperial Academy of Sciences. It is noted that the first experiments in statistical descriptions of the territory of Russia date back to the second quarter of the 18th century. They were in line with the German tradition of descriptive government studies and involved the systematization of geographical, ethnographic, political, and economic information important for the development of the country. The spread of government studies in Russia was facilitated by German scientists invited to the country. Based on a wide range of published sources and archival materials, the author analyzes the process of adding the list of academic disciplines with statistics and government science and studies the contribution of the first academic statisticians to the development of this branch of knowledge. The article analyzes various forms of supporting statistical research by the Academy of Sciences.

Implementing the human right to science in the regulatory governance of artificial intelligence in healthcare.

Artificial intelligence (AI) enables a medical device to optimize its performance through machine learning (ML), including the ability to learn from past experiences. In healthcare, ML is currently applied within controlled settings in devices to diagnose conditions like diabetic retinopathy without clinician input, for instance. In order to allow AI-based medical devices (AIMDs) to adapt actively to its data environment through ML, the current risk-based regulatory approaches are inadequate in facilitating this technological progression. Recent and innovative regulatory changes introduced to regulate AIMDs as a software, or 'software as a medical device' (SaMD), and the adoption of a total device/product-specific lifecycle approach (rather than one that is point-in-time) reflect a shift away from the strictly risk-based approach to one that is more collaborative and participatory in nature, and anticipatory in character. These features are better explained by a rights-based approach and consistent with the human right to science (HRS). With reference to the recent explication of the normative content of HRS by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the United Nations, this paper explains why a rights-based approach that is centred on HRS could be a more effective response to the regulatory challenges posed by AIMDs. The paper also considers how such a rights-based approach could be implemented in the form of a regulatory network that draws on a 'common fund of knowledges' to formulate anticipatory responses to adaptive AIMDs. In essence, the HRS provides both the mandate and the obligation for states to ensure that regulatory governance of high connectivity AIMDs become increasingly collaborative and participatory in approach and pluralistic in substance.

Metaverse-based social skills training programme for children with autism spectrum disorder to improve social interaction ability: an open-label, single-centre, randomised controlled pilot trial.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterised by abnormalities in social interactions and restricted and repetitive behaviors. Children with high-functioning ASD (HFASD), lack social communication skills, do not interact with others, and lack peer relationships. We aimed to develop, and evaluate the feasibility of, a metaverse-based programme to enhance the social skills of children with HFASD. This open-label, single-centre, pilot parallel randomised controlled trial (RCT) was conducted on boys aged 7-12 years with HFASD. Children were recruited from a treatment centre for children with HFASD in Korea or by self-referral through online community webpages for the parents of children with HFASD. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) by a blinded researcher to receive either four weeks of a metaverse-based social skills training programme or a control group. Randomisation was stratified by age (children aged 7-9 and 10-12 years) using permuted blocks (block size 4). The metaverse-based social skills training programme was delivered via the metaverse platforms (Roblox) and Zoom. Children in the intervention group completed the metaverse-based social skills training programme at home for four weeks. The intervention consisted of four sessions, one session per week, for 60min each. The control group did not receive any interventions. The primary outcome measure was the median change in the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (SRS-2) scores from pre-to post-intervention. SRS-2 is an assessment tool used to confirm the effectiveness of social interactions. Higher scores indicate lower social functioning. The trial is registered with CRIS Registration Number; KCT0006859. Between February 14, 2022, and March 31, 2022, 20 participants were enrolled. Overall, 15 children (median [Interquartile range (IQR)] age, intervention group: 9.0 [8.0-10.0]; control group: 8.5 [8.0-10.0]) participated in the programme. The intervention group included nine participants (60%), and the control group included six participants (40%). The SRS-2 total scores for the intervention group decreased from baseline 96.0 (IQR: 74.0-112.0) to post-intervention 85.0 (IQR: 84.0-103.0). The group median difference in SRS-2 scores between the intervention and control groups was 11.5 (95% CI: 8.5-14.0), with a further reduction in the intervention group. Similar trends were seen for social cognition (group median difference, 95% CI: 2.0, 1.0-4.0), social communication (group median difference, 95% CI: 2.0, 1.0-4.0), and autistic mannerism (group median difference, 95% CI: 4.0, 1.0-5.0). There were no adverse events related to study participation. The findings of this feasibility study suggest that children with HFASD can potentially be familiarised, through metaverse-based programmes, with real-life social situations to improve sociality and reduce emotional and behavioural problems. Such interventions could be delivered at home and possibly be extended to target groups that have difficulty in interacting with peers offline. The Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation grant, via the Ministry of Science and ICT of the South Korean Government.

Preface: 5th International Conference on Automatic Control and Mechatronic Engineering (ACME 2023)

2023 5th International Conference on Automatic Control and Mechatronic Engineering (ACME 2023) is to facilitate an exchange of information on best practices for advanced automation, control technology, vehicle engineering, electronic engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and mechatronic engineering, addressing the problems and opportunities of a sustainable future.
 This conference provides a forum for engineers and scientists in academia, industry, and government to address the most innovative research and development including technical challenges and economic issues, and to present and discuss their ideas, results, work in progress and experience in these aspects. ACME 2023 was held during April 15-16, 2023 in Chongqing, China.
 The development of science occurs by utilizing collaboration with other branches of science such as technology, mechanical engineering, and mathematics. The distinctive feature of collaboration that has become an important value. We thank all participants for ACME 2023 who have contributed their research. I hope, with this kind of collaboration, we can jointly improve the development quality in this era.
 Organizing Committees of ACME
 Chongqing, China

НАПРАВЛЕНИЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ПО ПРОФИЛАКТИКЕ НЕЗАКОННОЙ МИГРАЦИИ В РОССИИ

Main topic of this article is an issue of the illegal migration in Russia, as well as some legal methods of its prevention. The authors analyzed the literature sources related to the topic of the study, the re-sults of which outlined a number of topical aspects that determine the need for legal regulation of the status of migrants in Russia. At the same time, the issue of the emergence and development of measures to counteract illegal migration has been studied, and the main directions chosen by states in the implementation of migration policy have been described. The article also presents different points of view of government officials and scientists, demonstrating the commonality of their views on migration as a global problem in the context of the country's state security and the development of interethnic relations. Special attention in the study is paid to preventive measures to influence migra-tion processes, including measures to block and eliminate Internet resources that provide illegal ser-vices to foreign citizens in the field of migration

The Smart Classroom: Learning Challenges in the Digital Ecosystem

Digital devices are causing the emergence of new learning ecosystems, including the smart classroom. This model changes the pedagogical intermediation paradigm, redefining educational values and principles. The present paper delves into this scenario through the results of a doctoral thesis funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of the Spanish Government. The research is based on a qualitative approach, involving a field study in four schools in the Valencian Community. The information is collected through the study of the school documentation, in-depth interviews with 23 teachers and participant observation sessions. This information is analysed under the postulates of discourse analysis. The results show that teachers see the smart classroom as an innovative paradigm that facilitates active learning. However, the focus tends to be on technologies, which are assumed to optimise learning. Teachers opt for the implementation of technology-mediated methodologies, such as the flipped classroom, PBL or gamification, but these often operate more at the formal level than at the applied level. Despite this, a learning ecosystem is emerging that is significantly different from the traditional one, involving a change of logic in which digital technologies adopt the centrality formerly held by the textbook or the teacher.

Citizen Science for Disaster Risk Governance: Towards a Participative Seismological Monitoring of the Mayotte Volcanic Crisis

The United Nations (UN) Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 aims to mitigate natural disasters, specifically in developing regions. It promotes the adoption of people-centered disaster risk reduction approaches. Hence, citizen science represents an interesting tool to engage populations in the mitigation of disaster risk, through data collection and analysis, and in the dissemination of scientific and safety information. Herein, we evaluate the potential and feasibility of a citizen science project on the island of Mayotte (in the Mozambique Channel). Mayotte has been experiencing an unexpected volcano-seismic crisis since 2018, which has generated strong anxiety in the population. To address this, we have developed a citizen seismology program to engage Mayotte’s inhabitants in seismic data processing. First, we conducted an initial test of our protocol to identify seismic events with a set of university students. We then conducted 15 interviews with members of local administrations and associations to assess the potential for engaging the general population in this project. The results show that we are able to collect reliable data from citizens with non-professional backgrounds using the protocol designed in the project. We also show a strong demand for scientific information from Mayotte’s inhabitants, associated with a robust trust in science and scientists, despite the circulation of alternative explanations for the seismicity among the population. Based on these results, our citizen science project could be positively received by Mayotte’s inhabitants, if advertised adequately. Finally, we discuss the value of these results for disaster risk reduction in vulnerable territories.

Supporting regional co-operation in the South China Sea with an initial assessment of the data-limited skipjack tuna fishery

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) requires coastal states of semi-enclosed seas, like the South China Sea (SCS), to coordinate in the management and conservation of marine environments and living resources, specifically highly migratory trans-national stocks. One of the world’s top five fishing grounds, sovereignty disputes continue to bedevil joint fisheries management in the SCS. To develop new norms and standards for regional cooperation, and to support parallel domestic fisheries policymaking, scientists from China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam overcame political constraints and data limitations, to develop a Common Fisheries Resource Analysis (CFRA) of skipjack tuna (SKJ). A valuable highly migratory species SKJ is fished extensively by SCS states, but regionally, was previously, unassessed. Applying Length-Based Spawning Potential Ratio assessment to evaluate catch size compositions within a Weight of Evidence framework, we conclude fishing targeted at adult stocks would probably be sustainable, but for the continuing intensification of fishing for juveniles. Fishing pressure is apparently eroding SCS food webs and serially depleting local stocks. We conclude, domestic policies need to be developed to halt the continuing expansion of fishing fleets, and reduce fishing pressure, particularly on juvenile fish. The challenge of policy development and implementation requires the support of international frameworks, like Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs), to regularise cooperation between government and non-government scientists of coastal states The existing Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) could provide that framework, unfortunately, intensifying geopolitical competition makes that extremely unlikely.

Political orientation, trust and discriminatory beliefs during the COVID-19 pandemic: Longitudinal evidence from the United Kingdom.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the world in many ways; for example, evidence from the United Kingdom indicates that higher rates of discriminatory behaviours against immigrants have been recorded during this period. Prior research suggests that political orientation and trust are instrumental in discriminatory beliefs against immigrants. A longitudinal study (six waves and a follow-up) was conducted in the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 pandemic (September 2020-August 2021) using convenience sampling (N = 383). The hypotheses enquired about whether political orientation predicts trust in government, trust in science and discriminatory beliefs. Multilevel regression and mediation analyses were conducted, using repeated measures nested within individuals. It was found that conservative views are associated with higher discriminatory beliefs, lower trust in science and higher trust in government. Furthermore, trust in science promotes reduction of discrimination, whereas trust in government, increases discriminatory beliefs. However, a nuance revealed by an interaction effect, shows that a positive alignment between political and scientific authorities may be required to reduce prejudice against immigrants. Exploratory multilevel mediation showed that trust is a mediator between political orientation and discriminatory beliefs.

Scope and financial impact of unpublished data and unused samples among U.S. academic and government researchers

Unpublished data and unused samples are common byproducts of research activity, but little is known about the scope and economic impact of their disuse. To fill this knowledge gap, we collected self-reported anonymous survey responses from 301 academic and government scientists from randomly selected institutions. Respondents estimated that they published ∼60% of their data and 95% had unpublished data. Of those collecting specimens, 60% stored unused samples. Systemic and logistical issues were identified as major contributory factors. The median cumulative self-reported estimated value of unused resources per researcher was $28,857, with life science ($36k) and government ($109k) researchers reporting the costliest assets. Using NSF headcounts, we estimated that the current cumulative value of unused resources at universities is approximately $6.2 billion, about 7% of the current annual R&D budget. These findings provide actionable information that can be used by decision makers to reduce obstacles that undermine scientific progress and productivity.