Knowledge Systems Research Articles

Disentangling gender and social difference for just and transformative biocultural approaches

Abstract Advancing research and practice that recognize diverse worldviews, knowledge systems, and value orientations is essential to enable transformative change towards sustainability. Biocultural approaches recognize the diverse ways in which people relate to nature, offering a potential pathway for sustainability transformations. However, recent scholarship on biocultural approaches to sustainability has highlighted that social aspects such as equity and justice have not been substantively addressed, whereby gender issues have been overlooked to a great extent. Through qualitative content analysis, this review synthesizes the conceptualizations of gender and social difference within the literature on biocultural approaches to sustainability published in English and Spanish. The biocultural literature predominantly focuses on describing knowledge and management practices, neglecting power and gender relations that affect access and control over resources, and how different axes of social difference matter across different social‐ecological contexts. Overall, we found that gender considerations within the literature reviewed do not build upon feminist and gender theories. Based on these findings, we provide insights into how more nuanced engagements, especially in relation to feminist theories and tools as intersectionality and decolonial perspectives, can allow for more just scholarly efforts to address biocultural relations. Finally, we draw attention to responsible and engaged praxis towards promoting biocultural approaches that include the diverse perspectives of those who can contribute to transformative change, and which prevent the reinforcement of gender‐based power relations. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

A study on the influence of digital literacy on elderly user’s intention to identify social media false information

PurposeThis research exclusively focuses on China’s elderly Internet users given how severe a threat disinformation has become for this particular population group as social media platforms thrive and the number of elderly netizens grows in China. The purpose of this study is to explore the mechanism of how elderly social media users’ intention to identify false information is influenced helps supplement the knowledge system of false information governance and provides a basis for correction practices.Design/methodology/approachThis study focuses on the digital literacy of elderly social media users and builds a theoretical model of their intention to identify false information based on the theory of planned behaviour. It introduces two variables – namely, risk perception and self-efficacy – and clarifies the relationships between the variables. Questionnaires were distributed both online and offline, with a total of 468 collected. A structural equation model was built for empirical analysis.FindingsThe results show that digital literacy positively influences risk perception, self-efficacy, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control. Risk perception positively influences subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and the attitude towards the identification of false information. Self-efficacy positively influences perceived behavioural control but does not significantly impact the intention to identify. Subjective norms positively influence the attitude towards identification and the intention to identify. Perceived behavioural control positively influences the attitude towards identification but does not significantly impact the intention to identify. The attitude towards identification positively influences the intention to identify.Originality/valueBased on relevant theories and the results of the empirical analysis, this study provides suggestions for false information governance from the perspectives of social media platform collaboration and elderly social media users.

Cree-driven community-partnered research on coastal ecosystem change in subarctic Canada: a multiple knowledge approach

Indigenous-driven and community-partnered research projects seeking to develop salient, legitimate, and credible knowledge bases for environmental decision-making require a multiple knowledge systems approach. When involving partners in addition to communities, diverging perspectives and priorities may arise, making the pathways to engaging in principled research while generating actionable knowledge unclear to disciplinarily-trained natural science researchers. Here, we share insights from the Eeyou Coastal Habitat Comprehensive Research Project (CHCRP), an interdisciplinary, Cree-driven community-academic partnership. This project brought together Cree community members, regional organizations, industry (Hydro-Québec), and academics from seven universities across Canada to address the unprecedented loss of seagrass Zostera marina (eelgrass), the concurrent decline in migratory Canada geese and its impact on fall goose harvest activities in Eeyou Istchee. After describing the history and context of the project, we discuss the challenges, complexities, and benefits of the collaborative approach balancing saliency, legitimacy and credibility of the knowledge produced. We suggest the paper may be of use to researchers and partners seeking to engage in principled and actionable research related to environmental change including impacts of past development.

Nexus between Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Adaptation to Climate Change Strategies by Farmers in Kajiado County, Kenya

Indigenous knowledge (IK) has played an important role in adaptation to climate change in traditional agricultural communities. These approaches have been shown to be more effective when integrated with scientifically developed strategies. In this study, a perception survey questionnaire was used to find out whether there is a nexus between IK systems and the uptake of modern Climate Change Adaptation Strategies (CCAS) among farmers in Kajiado County, Kenya. A mixed research approach that involved the use of household questionnaire surveys, key informant interviews, focus group discussions (FGD), and observations was used to obtain data. The two theories, namely the Situated Learning Theory (SLT) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), formed the basis for illustrating the relationship between variables, while the Model of Private Proactive Adaptation to Climate Change (MPPACC) was the key theoretical model employed. A total of 382 small-scale rural household representatives randomly selected from 3 Kajiado sub-counties were the principal respondents. The key informants included officers in the departments of agriculture, environment, meteorology, trade, and industry, as well as local administration and village elders. Statistical tools such as chi-square, correlation, and binary logistic regression analysis were used to determine associations. Thematic analysis of data collected from key informants and focus group discussions (FGD) was conducted to triangulate the survey results. Farmers' awareness of climate change, risk perceptions of impacts, existing locally developed approaches to climate change adaptation, and perceptions of CCAS were the main areas of investigation. The majority of farmers (85%) indicated that prolonged drought was the main extreme event that affected their farming activities. Of the indicators observed, drought (X2 = 13.861, p =.000) was perceived as the greatest risk associated with climate change to their agricultural productivity. Their IK adaptation strategies resulted from their interactions with the effects of drought on their livelihoods over the years. Farmers who were nomadic (IK practitioners) were not willing to apply for CCAS. For example, they were 72% less likely to increase their irrigated cropped area and 79% less likely to increase the number of better livestock breeds. Among the CCAS approaches, water resource management was the only preferred strategy. This particular finding shows that climate change policies can be easily adopted by indigenous farming communities if they are developed around an issue that matches their socio-ecological priorities. Without taking into account the prevailing social, cultural, and geo-environmental context of specific communities, the adoption of CCAS by farmers would be significantly affected. The study recommends that integrating indigenous agricultural knowledge into climate change adaptation policies enhances community resilience. Aligning adaptation strategies with local responses enriches farmer knowledge and boosts resilience against climate change impacts. Effective climate change adaptation plans should incorporate local weather prediction, environmental conservation, and proven community-based strategies, especially in water resource management for arid and semi-arid pastoralist communities.

What does a just transition mean for urban biodiversity? Insights from three cities globally

Just transitions – responses to environmental change that minimise negative impacts on the most affected people and places, while ensuring nobody is left behind – are gaining scholarly and policy significance in areas beyond their original focus on carbon-intensive jobs and sectors. Yet attention to what a just transition means for biodiversity, as another aspect of the global environmental crisis, remains limited. Given the critical role that biodiversity plays in supporting livelihoods and wellbeing, this is a notable gap. This paper assesses what a just transition means for biodiversity, focusing on urban environments as the spaces in which many people encounter biodiversity globally. We undertake interview research across three case study cities representing different geopolitical and environmental contexts: Bristol (UK); Yubari (Japan); and Cape Town (South Africa) and ask two questions: what does biodiversity tell us about the concept of just transitions in the lived environment; and what are the consequences of considering just transitions in the context of biodiversity in the lived urban environment? Based on our findings, we set out six principles for a just transition in relation to urban biodiversity, as areas for further empirical enquiry: a shared sense of what a just transition and biodiversity mean in the local context; diverse social and ecological knowledge systems informing decision-making; integration and cohesion across policies; inclusive, meaningful and early engagement; supporting communities during and after implementation; and measures for assessing the effectiveness of outcomes from an ecological and a social perspective.

Структура емоційної культури майбутнього вчителя початкових класів в умовах надзвичайних ситуацій

The article defines the category «emotional culture of the future primary school teacher in emergency situations» as the teacher's perceived readiness to implement emotional competencies necessary for the constructive solution of professional tasks in the complex conditions of today. A theoretical analysis of the scientific literature was carried out, and on its basis two aspects were distinguished in the structure of the emotional culture of the future primary school teacher in emergency situations ‒ intrapersonal (understanding one's own emotions and managing them) and interpersonal (understanding the emotions of other participants in the educational process and managing them), as well as psychological, pedagogical and cultural components are defined. It was established that the emotional culture of the future primary school teacher in emergency situations presupposes his motivation for effective professional activity, a system of relevant knowledge and skills, therefore the criteria for evaluating the level of its formation are determined: motivational-value, emotional-cognitive, reflective-active. It was concluded that a high level of emotional culture formation is one of the indicators of future teachers' readiness to effectively perform professional tasks in emergency situations. The teacher needs to know the potential risks from emergency situations, to be able to predict and recognize dangers, and if possible, to avoid or at least minimize their negative impact on the participants of the educational process thanks to a developed emotional culture

The City as an Object of Legal Science: Problems and Prospects of Legal Regulation

One of the modern trends in the development of society and the State is total urbanization, which is embodied in the withering away of the rural way of life and the concentration of population and capital in megacities and surrounding agglomerations. The paper examines the historical patterns of urbanization, investigates the place of the city in the system of humanitarian knowledge, and explains the emergence of a new interdisciplinary field of urban research, namely, legal urbanology, the subject of which is the legal space of a modern city. Historically, cities have been centers of politics, trade, and education, and the spread of urban life has become one of the integral features of the capitalist mode of production that is the dominant economic system of production and distribution at the present stage. Nevertheless, the legal regulation of urban relations is associated with a number of problems that require resolution both at the theoretical level and at the legislative level. In this regard, the paper analyzes current Russian legislation, as well as subordinate and departmental rulemaking for compliance with the requirements of the time and evaluation of the effectiveness of regulating the foundations of the legal space of the city. To resolve the identified problems, it is proposed to adopt a systematic program act, the preparation of which can take into account the experience of foreign regulation of the sphere of urban relations.

Фактори ефективності кооперативного навчання: теоретичні підходи і емпіричні дослідження

The article deals with the problem of factors and psychological mechanisms of influence of cooperative learning on students' achievement. On the basis of comparative analysis, four approaches to understanding the factors of effectiveness of cooperative learning are distinguished: motivational, socio-psychological, cognitive-genetic, and cognitive-functional. The motivational approach (D. Johnson, R. Johnson, R. Slavin) brings to the fore the motivation of performing joint educational tasks, determining the structure of rewards or group educational tasks that stimulate and direct the activity of students. The socio-psychological approach (E. Aronson, V. Battisch, D. Solomon, K. Delucci, E. Cohen, S. Sharan, Y. Sharan) emphasizes the cohesion of students, their interpersonal relationships, which depend on the success of educational activities: students actively participate in group tasks and help each other if they identify with the group and strive for joint success. Proponents of this approach attach great importance to ways of forming student groups (teams), establishing constructive interpersonal relationships during joint learning, as well as reflecting on the process and results of joint cognitive activity. Proponents of cognitive approaches believe that interaction between students in itself increases their success due to intensive cognitive processing of information, rather than motivation or social cohesion of students. Two slightly different cognitive approaches are distinguished, which developed in parallel ways: cognitive-genetic and cognitive-functional. The cognitive-genetic approach, which was formed in line with the theories of mental development of L. Vygotsky and J. Piaget, is based on the assumption that communicative interaction in the process of performing cognitive tasks contributes to the mental development of students and increases the quality of assimilation of educational material (M. Burns, B. Wadsworth, W. Damon, F. Murray). The cognitive-functional approach arose in the vein of cognitive psychology and claims that the positive effect of cooperative learning on the success of students is ensured by cognitive restructuring (processing) of educational information, which contributes to its preservation in memory and integration into the previously learned system of knowledge (S. Allen, N. Webb, M. Wittrock, D. Dansereau, L. Devin-Sheehan, A. O'Donnell, A. Palincsar, M. Presley, R. Feldman). Summarizing the results of research in the field of cooperative learning makes it possible to create a coherent theoretical model that integrates various approaches and comprehensively considers the main factors of the effectiveness of cooperative learning: motivation, group cohesion, processes of interpersonal interaction that stimulate cognitive development and processing of educational material. In such a model, each of the four approaches considered plays a role and makes an important contribution to understanding the interrelated processes of cooperative learning.

Gendered anti-blackness, maternal health & chattel slavery: OB/Gyn knowledge as a determinant of death of black women

This archival investigation of the Southern Medical and Surgical Journal (SMSJ) focuses on the construction of the American Ob/Gyn profession's medical knowledge system alongside chattel slavery, between 1834 and 1860. I find that language, methods of clinical management of bodies and decision-making processes illustrate the pathways that obstetrical knowledge served as a determinant of death for Black women under chattel slavery. These are byproducts of the condition of possibility, my theoretical framework. The condition, or use of gendered anti-Black logic/practice, specifically the social death and biological indispensability of Black women in the context of chattel slavery, shapes the subjective nature of medical knowledge into a determinant of maternal death for Black women. Using the condition of possibility as a theoretical framework, I will lay the groundwork to reframe the Ob/Gyn knowledge system as a current and ever-present threat to Black women and girls' health. This study's sociological contribution lies in examining medical knowledge construction as a series of social interactions, informed by gendered and racial ideologies, that determine health outcomes for Black women.

Embarking on the era in new medicine: reshaping the systems of medical education and knowledge

Abstract Recent revolutions in science and technology have driven human civilisation to an unprecedented level and have promoted the rapid development of modern medicine. New Medicine (NM) is proposed in response to the recent technological revolution and higher requirements for health. The characteristics of NM have been summarised using systems, holistic, intelligent, and precision (SHIP) paradigms. The development of NM has led to substantial changes in healthcare systems and related human resources. However, information regarding how current medical talent cultivation goals adapt to the developments in the era of NM remains unclear. Such adaptations may require a systemic revamping of the current medical education. Recently, medical educators have proposed the construction of New Medical Education (NME), but no unified consensus on its connotation and roadmap exists. Systematically understanding the core essence of NM and identifying the matched strategies of NME are crucial and will benefit future reform strategies that attempt to tackle potential challenges and achieve sustainable goals for medical services. Here, we aim to summarise the changes that have emerged in the field of medicine, how these changes affect the development of medicine, and how the field should prepare for the future medical education.

Informal groups in EU foreign policy: a social network analysis

ABSTRACT After decades of increasing integration and institutional development in EU foreign policy, the persistence of informal groups calls into question the understanding of European integration as a straight progressive line from informal to formal cooperation. Nonetheless, to date there is no systematic empirical knowledge of informal groups in EEC/EU foreign policy. To address this knowledge gap, the article offers an exploratory study. By means of social network analysis, it maps the frequency and types of informal groups in EEC/EU foreign policy in regard to Kosovo, Libya and Syria in three different phases of EEC/EU foreign policy integration. The article’s findings show that the frequency of informal groups has remained fairly stable across the three phases of EEC/EU integration considered. At the same time, informal groups have generally been relatively small, like-minded, and dominated by individual member states. Overall, these results suggest that by accommodating member states’ interests, especially those of powerful states and of states for which certain foreign policy issues are particularly salient, informal groups have provided the cooperation needed for the coherent functioning of the EEC/EU foreign policy system. While doing so, they have consolidated as socially meaningful patterns among member states’ representatives.

ФОРМУВАННЯ НАВИЧОК ІНФОРМАЦІЙНОЇ ГІГІЄНИ СТУДЕНТСЬКОЇ МОЛОДІ В УМОВАХ НЕФОРМАЛЬНОЇ ОСВІТИ (ДОСВІД ПАРТНЕРСЬКИХ ПРОЄКТІВ ЗАКЛАДІВ ФАХОВОЇ ПЕРЕДВИЩОЇ ТА ВИЩОЇ ПЕДАГОГІЧНОЇ ОСВІТИ)

The article discusses the development of information hygiene skills among student youth in the context of non-formal education, particularly through the experience of partnership projects involving institutions of professional pre-higher and higher pedagogical education. Based on the methods of analysis and synthesis of scientific sources, as well as practical experience, certain aspects of the concept of "information hygiene" are outlined: a system of knowledge that explores the patterns of influence of the information space and information flows on the social well-being, mental, and physiological health of individuals and society as a whole. The goal of forming information hygiene among student youth is to prevent the negative impact of information and to develop a set of skills to prevent such negative impacts during preventive measures. The components of information hygiene include media literacy skills, information habits, and behavior; the safety and protection of the information space; information-psychological resilience and counteraction to negative influences; stable value orientations; and psychological and physical health. The formation of information hygiene among student youth in the context of non-formal education is presented considering the principles of project-based and activity-based approaches. Non-formal education is defined as organized and continuous educational activities carried out within joint projects implemented in partnership with the Resource Center for Teacher Professional Development of Sumy State Pedagogical University named after A. S. Makarenko, the cycle commission of the Priluky Humanitarian-Pedagogical Professional College named after Ivan Franko of the Chernihiv Regional Council, and the Department of Journalism of the Machine-Building Professional College of Sumy State University. The focus is on practical approaches to education implemented through partnership media literacy projects, which include interactive methods, practical tasks, and activities aimed at developing critical thinking and information analysis skills. The results of these projects and their impact on enhancing the level of information literacy among students are analyzed. Key words: information hygiene, non-formal education, future teacher, future journalist, interregional project, exercises, text, higher education institution, professional pre-higher education institution, Sumy State Pedagogical University named after A. S. Makarenko, Priluky Humanitarian-Pedagogical Professional College named after Ivan Franko of the Chernihiv Regional Council, Machine-Building Professional College of Sumy State University.

India's knowledge system - A needed approach in NEP2020 to regain the deep roots of our nation- India

"Ingrained in India" is a significant idea established in the New Education Policy of 2020 as a critical component of new education in India. To support a comprehensive, inclusive, and culturally rich educational experience, this idea is weaved throughout the NEP. The phrase represents an educational philosophy that is closely linked to India's rich intellectual, historical, cultural, and spiritual legacy. "Ingrained in India" is a cornerstone of NEP 2020 and will have a significant impact on the composition and design of the upcoming educational framework. Groundedness in India is a deep idea that transcends simple political or geographic connections. It encompasses a profound kinship with the intricate web of Indian customs, values, knowledge, and spirituality as well as a feeling of eternal belonging. I shall examine the cultural, historical, philosophical, and spiritual foundations of Ingrained in India in this article as I dig into its many facets as understanding cultural diversity, Historical continuity, Understanding Spirituality and Philosophy of our country, and the importance of Inculcating Ethical and Moral values among our future generation.

The State of Nationalism (SoN): Nationalism and International Conflict

Does nationalism increase the probability of international conflict? An affirmative answer has intuitive appeal: Nationalists promote force to protect their land and people from foreign threats. Research on nationalism in international conflict implicates elites, masses, and political interactions between these actors when asserting its status as a powerful force that raises the risk for interstate wars. Yet both micro- and macro-level evidence cautions against drawing broad conclusions about how nationalism affects conflict. Nationalism sometimes prompts aggression. In other contexts, nationalism produces restraint. Systematic knowledge about how nationalism relates to international conflict therefore requires answers to questions about which nationalisms promote conflict and whose nationalism matters. This article first reviews theory and evidence about nationalism’s conflict-causing potential. We discuss the microfoundations that link nationalism to foreign policy attitudes before describing research that implicates nationalism as a cause of militarized conflict. Next, we argue that understanding the complex relationships between nationalism and conflict requires theorizing the causal processes that connect various stakeholders’ nationalism to foreign policy outcomes. Moreover, research on identity content suggests that nationalism is compatible with a variety of foreign policy preferences. Throughout, we centre research that features nationalism as a principal independent variable or causal mechanism precipitating conflict. Any review about nationalism must contend with the delicate matter of conceptualization — the field contains nearly as many definitions for nationalism as articles about nationalism and war. The research we discuss variously describes nationalism as an identity, ideology, or belief, for example. For our purposes, nationalism captures a set of sentiments related to a national group and its superiority. This broad perspective centers the phenomenon implicated in international conflict research.

Co-management as an Ethical Space of Engagement: Prospects for Reconciliation in Vuntut National Park

Parks Canada’s commitments to reconciliation marks a significant shift in the governing paradigm of national parks, moving away from a colonial framework towards models that respect and elevate Indigenous forms of governance and knowledge systems. However, the extent to which a land claims–based co-management model, as the dominant mechanism of governance and engagement employed by Parks Canada, can serve as a vehicle for reconciliation is an open question. This paper endeavours to better understand the relational dynamics of co-management for their potential to advance reconciliation in national park settings. Using the lens of ethical space, we identify factors that either facilitate or impede relationship building between Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation and Parks Canada in the co-management of Vuntut National Park. Insights from semi-structured interviews conducted in 2021 with 11 community members and park managers indicate that an evolving-management relationship is sustained through extensive community engagement and Parks Canada’s support for strengthening community connections to the land. By adopting an ethical space framework for analysis, we were able to highlight different conditions and elements necessary for a protected-area co-management arrangement to serve as a solid foundation for reconciliation. Our analysis also revealed various structural impediments to the establishment of an ethical space conducive to reconciliation, particularly in the context of co-management arrangements based on land-claims agreements. These challenges included: discrepancies in approaches to protected-area management between Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation and Parks Canada, further complicated by the governance system employed by Parks Canada; issues of scale related to Parks Canada’s nested management structure, which affected relationship building between co-managers; financial constraints; and capacity constraints.

Representational exchange and edgework: towards theorising the coping with fragmentary information

Introduction. People face often situations when the available information is fragmentary and epistemically and ontologically different stemming from multiple incongruous systems of knowledge. While this is obvious on the basis of the vast corpus of information behaviour research to date, relatively little attention has been conducted so far to explicate the mechanisms of how people routinely manage to use such unsatisfactory sources in their pursuits. Method. The conceptual paper describes two theoretical concepts identified in the literature. Results. The paper discusses the applicability of the notions of representational exchange and edgework to explain the mechanisms of how people parse together heterogeneous and fragmentary information together in a meaningful whole. Conclusion. The theory of representational exchange explains how people are capable of translating epistemically and ontologically incongruous types of information to work in concert. Edgework describes a type of information work necessary to parse together different forms of previous knowledge and new information with the help of (meta) information and knowledge on the two and their processes of becoming.

Power and place: Uncovering the politics of global medical education.

Politics is characterised by power relations, and the deployment of power is inescapably political. In an increasingly globalised and interconnected modern world, politics is shaping the field of medical education more than ever before. Global frameworks that classify peoples and places are political tools that are fundamentally shaped by hegemonic knowledge systems. Despite this, they continue to form the basis for global thinking and practices, including in medical education. Political analysis can help to expose and challenge such thinking. To better understand impacts of globalisation in medical education, we explore the previously under-examined political dimensions that underpin it, focusing particularly on deconstructing power relations. We situate our analysis of global medical education in political terms, including through examination of ideology, economics, market and the enduring effects of colonialism. We interrogate the construct of the Global South (GS), considering the geopolitical and historical ideas that have enabled it to be widely propagated. We go on to examine the consequences of the GS construct in medical education and consider what this tells us about how power is enacted in the field. In analysing the politics of global medical education, we shed light on how power is exerted and draw attention to forces that permit and enable trends, policies and positions. Notwithstanding the emancipatory rhetoric that has been associated with the GS construct, we highlight its reductive potential and argue that it can lead to an oversimplification of power relations and vested interests. Given the growing recognition that educational approaches do not transfer well across countries and cultures, we encourage the medical education community to consider why ideas from more dominant countries continue to be imitated so routinely. In doing so, we urge them to use political lenses to recognise the influence of multiple complex and interconnected forces of global power that shape all aspects of medical education.

AN INTEGRATIVE ANALYSIS OF PRANAVAHA SROTAS: CORRELATING AYUR-VEDIC RESPIRATORY CHANNELS WITH MODERN ANATOMICAL AND PHYS-IOLOGICAL INSIGHTS

This study presents an integrative analysis of Pranavaha Srotas (Respiratory Microchannels), correlating Ayurvedic concepts of respiratory channels with modern anatomical and physiological insights. Pranavaha Srotas, described in Ayurveda, pertains to the movement of Prana (life force) and is closely related to the func-tions of the respiratory system, including the nasal passages, pharynx, larynx, trachea, and bronchi. The re-search undertakes a comprehensive literature review to explore the Ayurvedic perspective on Pranavaha Srotas and its comparison with modern biomedical descriptions of the upper respiratory tract. The analysis delves into the background, significance, and unique principles of Ayurveda, aiming to bridge the gap between these two knowledge systems. It highlights the role of Pranavaha Srotas in health and disease, emphasising its signifi-cance in contemporary respiratory conditions, including the COVID-19 pandemic. The study offers a detailed comparative analysis, enhancing the understanding of respiratory channels through a holistic approach that in-tegrates Ayurvedic wisdom and modern scientific knowledge.

Avasthātraya: Deeper insights

The Upaniṣad or Vedānta is certainly the most brilliant expression of Indian wisdom. From time immemorial it has been the driving force behind all intellectual and spiritual pursuits of the seers. The crowning glory of the Upaniṣad lies in its spirit of inquiry into the nature of truth. It has not only impacted the knowledge systems of India but has gained a global recognition for its consistently significant contribution to the development of the science of consciousness, in addition to the value-based knowledge it imparts. It conceives of pure consciousness to be the eternal, all-pervasive and transcendental Reality which is termed Ātman or Brahman. The individual being is the worldly manifestation of the pure consciousness and it is ignorant of its real nature owing to its association with the limiting adjuncts. According to a few principal Upaniṣads, that real nature, as pure consciousness, can be intuited by an individual after transcending three intermediate states Jāgaritasthāna, Svapnasthāna and Suṣuptasthāna. These three consecutive states do not refer only to the ordinary states of sleep and wakefulness but may be regarded as the steps towards the realization of Supreme Reality. In-depth analysis reveals a close correspondence of these three states with the states of Samādhi as mentioned in the Pātañjala Yogasūtra. The paper offers a deeper insight into the nature of these three intermediate states through which the absolute Consciousness can be perfectly realized in its entirety.

A scientometric review of knowledge domains on nuclear radiation

Nuclear energy is an important energy component to achieve the goal of “carbon peak and carbon neutrality”. Nuclear radiation is one of the hot spots in the development and utilization of nuclear energy. This study used bibliometric methods to gain a preliminary understanding of the knowledge system in the field of nuclear radiation and explored the network relationships of cooperation in the field of nuclear radiation. The literature data for the study were obtained from the Web of Science core collection database. All literature from 2008 to 2023 was downloaded, totalling 1602 articles. VOSviewer and CiteSpace were used to analyze several aspects such as article volume, keyword clustering and collaborative network relationships. The research showed that the years 2011–2014 and 2017–2020 were periods of vigorous literature development, with a sharp increase in the number of literature. In the collaborative network, the author collaborative network was divided into five different clusters, mainly dominated by Tsubokura, Masaharu and Yasumura, Seijiz. Research and development in various countries were uneven, and cooperation between underdeveloped national institutions in this field was even more limited. In the keyword clustering, five cluster models have been established, including the investigation and related treatment of nuclear radiation hazards, the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, research on nuclear radiation products, optical properties of nuclear radiation, and research on shielding materials. Recently, radiation shielding materials, photons and neutrons have become research hotspots. Through this study, we can gain a deeper understanding of the development status, cooperation networks, and cutting-edge research information in the nuclear field, which can serve as a reference for researchers.