Underdeveloped Area Of Research Research Articles

Strategic housing decisions and the evolution of urban settlements: optimality modelling and empirical application in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Investments in housing influence migration and landscape construction, making them a key component of human-environment interactions. However, the strategic decision-making that builds residential landscapes is an underdeveloped area of research in evolutionary approaches to human behaviour. Our contribution to this literature is a theoretical model and an empirical test of this model using data from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. We develop a model of strategic housing decisions using stochastic dynamic programming (SDP) to explore the trade-offs between building, moving and saving over time, finding different trade-offs depending on optimization scenarios and housing costs. Household strategies are then estimated using data on 825 households that settled in the Ger districts of Ulaanbaatar between 1942 and 2020. The Ger districts are areas of self-built housing that feature both mobile dwellings (gers) and immobile houses (bashins). Using approximate Bayesian computation (ABC), we find the parameters of our dynamic programming model that best fit the empirical data. The model is able to capture the time horizon of housing changes and their bi-directionality, showing that moving from a fixed to mobile dwelling can also be an optimal strategy. However, the model underpredicts household persistence in dwelling types. We discuss deviations from model predictions and identify a more detailed exploration of risk and population mixes of strategies as key steps for future research.

Asexual geographies: the allosexualisation of space in Ireland

This paper contributes towards the beginnings of asexual geographies, an area that has been largely overlooked within sexualities and queer geographies. Indeed, despite gradually increasing awareness of asexuality as a concept and identity, asexuality remains an underdeveloped area of academic research and is still widely misunderstood and invisible across society. Scholarship in the burgeoning field of asexuality studies has sought to redress this invisibility by exploring asexual people’s lives, identities, and experiences. Through these explorations, asexuality scholars have developed the concept of ‘compulsory sexuality’ to describe the ways in which social norms and practices assume that all people are sexual. However, within this growing field, the spatialities of asexuality and compulsory sexuality have yet to be fully developed. In this paper, I therefore aim to bring together work in geography and asexuality studies to introduce the concept of the allosexualisation of space. Drawing from qualitative interview data collected from seven asexual people living across Ireland, I examine the ways in which participants described feeling excluded, invisible, and/or out of place in a variety of spatial contexts – illustrating how spaces can come to reflect and co-produce the logic and assumptions of compulsory sexuality. In doing so, I argue that space matters to our understandings of asexuality and asexual people’s lived experiences, as well to the ways in which compulsory sexuality is manifest throughout our everyday lives. This paper thus contributes to beginning geographical discussions of asexualities, and extends emerging research on asexuality by introducing a geographical lens.

On the use of scale distortion for visual humour

In contrast to verbal humour, visual humour remains a relatively underdeveloped area of research. In this exploratory study, we investigate whether scale incongruity – i.e., discrepancy between the expected and actual experience of the size of an object – can serve as a source of humour in the visual modality. We adapt a pre-existing visual data set of mundane scenes by altering the size of an individual object in each scene and collecting humorousness ratings from human annotators on the original and scale-distorted versions. Our analysis of these annotations reveals that scenes with distorted objects are perceived to be significantly funnier than the original images.

Work-related suicide: Evolving understandings of etiology & intervention.

Previously published analyses of suicide case investigations suggest that work or working conditions contribute to 10%-13% of suicide deaths. Yet, the way in which work may increase suicide risk is an underdeveloped area of epidemiologic research. In this Commentary, we propose a definition of work-related suicide from an occupational health and safety perspective, and review the case investigation-based and epidemiologic evidence on work-related causes of suicide. We identified six broad categories of potential work-related causes of suicide, which are: (1) workplace chemical, physical, and psychosocial exposures; (2) exposure to trauma on the job; (3) access to means of suicide through work; (4) exposure to high-stigma work environments; (5) exposure to normative environments promoting extreme orientation to work; and (6) adverse experiences arising from work-related injury or illness. We summarise current evidence in a schema of potential work-related causes that can also be applied in workplace risk assessment and suicide case investigations. There are numerous implications of these findings for policy and practice. Various principle- and evidence-based workplace intervention strategies for suicide prevention exist, some of which have been shown to improve suicide-prevention literacy, reduce stigma, enhance helping behaviours, and in some instances maybe even reduce suicide rates. Prevailing practice in workplace suicide prevention, however, overly emphasises individual- and illness-directed interventions, with little attention directed to addressing the working conditions that may increase suicide risk. We conclude that a stronger emphasis on improving working conditions will be required for workplace suicide prevention to reach its full preventive potential.

On the Role of Starchy Grains in Ice Nucleation Processes.

Little is known about the role of starchy food on climate change processes like ice nucleation. Here, we investigate the ice nucleation efficiency (INE) of eight different starchy food materials, namely, corn (CO), potato (PO), barley (BA), brown rice (BR), white rice (WR), oats (OA), wheat (WH), and sweet potato (SP), in immersion freezing mode under mixed-phase cloud conditions. Notably, among all these food materials, PO and BA exhibit the highest ice nucleation efficiency with ice nucleation temperatures as high as -4.3 °C (T50 ∼ -7.0 ± 0.5 °C) and -6.5 °C (T50 ∼ -7.2 ± 0.2 °C), respectively. We also explore the effect of environmentally relevant physicochemical conditions on ice nucleation efficiency, including different pH, temperature, UV/O3/NOx exposure, and various cocontaminants. The change in shape, size, surface properties, hydrophobicity, and crystallinity of materials accounted for the altered INE. The increase in shape, size, and hydrophobicity of the sample generally reduces the INE, whereas an increase in crystallinity enhances the INE of the sample under our experimental conditions. The results suggest that environmentally relevant concentrations slightly alter INE, indicating their role as catalysts in environmental matrices. The outcome of studies on the ice nucleation properties of these food-containing aerosols might help in the physicochemical understanding of other biomolecule-induced ice nucleation, which is still an underdeveloped research area.

Microfibres Release from Textile Industry Wastewater Effluents Are Underestimated: Mitigation Actions That Need to Be Prioritised

The release of microfibres (MFs) from textiles has been observed in various environments, pointing towards the impact of human activities on natural systems. Synthetic textile microfibres, a subset of microplastic fibres (MPFs), are reported to be the primary contributor to microplastic pollution. With the forecasted growth in textile production, the problem of MF pollution is expected to worsen and become more challenging to address. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are crucial in managing microfibre pollution as they can act as a sink and source of these pollutants. Studies have shown that textile industrial effluent can contain MFs at a rate of up to a thousand times higher than municipal wastewater. As more garments are made than sold and worn, the impact of industrial MF release could be higher than predicted. The detection and quantification of microfibres released in industrial wastewater effluents do not have a standard test method, and legislation to address this issue is not yet feasible. To tackle this issue, it is crucial to raise awareness in the industry and tackle it using a more holistic approach. With its urgency, but still being an underdeveloped research area, priorities for mitigation actions are examined where efforts are needed to accelerate. These include the need to raise awareness and encourage more investigations from industry and academia. A consistent protocol will help us to compare studies and find solutions of high impact and measure MFs in WWTPs, which can help define the maximum limit for MF releases and support legislation implementation.

Influence of integration of multimodal writing portfolios into academic writing courses on novice researchers' academic writing

PurposeMultimodal writing portfolios were introduced and integrated into an undergraduate course and a graduate course in a research-oriented university in northwest Taiwan. This study aims to examine the influence of multimodal writing portfolios of novice researchers' academic writing.Design/methodology/approachComparative case studies involve collecting data from several cases and analyzing the similarities, differences and patterns across cases (Merriam, 2009). To address this underdeveloped area of research, a comparative case study method was employed to understand undergraduate and graduate students' multimodal writing portfolios in academic writing in two courses in Taiwan.FindingsFirst, multimodal writing portfolios enabled novice researchers to be more familiar with the structure of academic paper and they had better performance in intrapersonal and linguistic aspects. Second, novice researchers held positive attitude toward multimodal writing portfolios because they regarded process of making multimodal writing portfolios as preparation for their future academic writing. Finally, participants highly valued the class PowerPoint slides, weekly writing tasks and the instructor's modeling as effective facilitation for making multimodal writing portfolios.Research limitations/implicationsLimited studies focus on multimodal writing portfolios (e.g. Silver, 2019). The present case study explores the integration of a multimodal writing portfolio into one undergraduate and one graduate course to explore learners' attitude and performance in academic writing.Practical implicationsNovice researchers can learn to compose multimodal academic texts for the academic writing community.Social implicationsSuggestions on effective integration of multimodal writing portfolios into academic writing instruction were provided based on the research findings.Originality/valueThe findings of the study provide the field of L2 writing with insights into the pedagogical development of multilingual writing portfolios and help educators to be better prepared for teaching novice researchers to comprehend and compose multimodal texts and enter the academic writing community. The framework in Figure 1 and suggestions on course designs for academic writing can inform educators on the integration of multimodality in academic discourse. Moreover, this study moves beyond general writing courses at the tertiary level and could contribute to L2 writers' deeper understanding of how multimodal writing portfolios can be constructed.

How fashion cewebrity influences customer engagement behavior in emerging economy? Social network influence as moderator

Social media provides opportunities for individuals to become cewebrities by gaining fame via their presence on different platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. But, how cewebrities are engaging consumers is an under-developed research area that needs researchers' attention. Therefore, this research aims to determine the influence of fashion cewebrity on opinion leaders and customer engagement behaviors in the apparel fashion industry. Also, the moderating role of social networking influence in the relationship between opinion leadership and customer engagement is tested. The data was collected from 472 consumers following fashion cewebrities of five luxury apparel brands, and hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. The results confirmed the validity of the newly established scale of fashion cewebrity and endorsed the fashion cewebrity's impact on opinion leadership while opinion leadership mediates the fashion cewebrity – customer engagement behavior relationship. This study proposes that the managers should involve fashion cewebrities during all product development and promotion stages and establish collaboration to reap profit and create strong brand equity.

Computational fluid dynamics modelling of microclimate for a vertical agrivoltaic system

The increasing worldwide population is leading to a continuous increase in energy and food demand. These increasing demands have led to fierce land-use conflicts as we need agricultural land for food production while striving towards renewable energy systems such as large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, which also require in most of the cases agricultural flat land for implementation. It is therefore essential to identify the interrelationships between the food, and energy sectors and develop sustainable solutions to achieve global goals such as food and energy security. A technology that has shown promising potential in supporting food and energy security, as well as supporting water security, is agrivoltaic (AV) systems. This technology combines conventional farm activities with PV systems on the same land. Understanding the microclimatic conditions in an AV system is essential for an accurate assessment of crop yield potential as well as for the energy performance of the PV systems. Nevertheless, the complex mechanisms governing the microclimatic conditions under agrivoltaic systems represent an underdeveloped research area. In this study, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for a vertical AV system is developed and validated. The CFD model showed PV module temperature estimation errors in the order of 0–2 °C and ground temperature errors in the order of 0–1 °C. The shading caused by the vertical PV system resulted in a reduction of solar irradiance by 38%. CFD modelling can be seen as a robust approach to analysing microclimatic parameters and assessing AV system performance.

Programme responses for men who perpetrate intimate partner violence in the context of alcohol or other drugs: a scoping review

PurposeSubstance use plays a significant role in the perpetration of much intimate partner violence (IPV). However, responses to these two issues are rarely integrated. Single focus programme responses can lead to poor outcomes for men as well as their families experiencing these intersecting issues. This scoping paper aims to establish the current state of knowledge on contextual factors influencing the development and implementation of combined programmes.Design/methodology/approachFour electronic databases were systematically searched in May 2021 and December 2021. Twenty-one peer-reviewed studies reporting on ten programmes were included.FindingsThis scoping review revealed that combined programme responses are an underdeveloped area of research and evaluation. The limited evidence base indicated systemic barriers hindering services’ capacity to expand this field of work, affecting implementation and outcomes. Support is required from the wider service systems to intervene in men’s perpetration of IPV in the context of substance use.Practical implicationsFindings in this scoping review demonstrate the importance of fostering a coordinated and collective response to IPV in the context of substance use. Combined programmes have the potential to reduce siloed practices, enabling more holistic responses for men with intersecting issues. However, researchers and policymakers must also address contextual issues hindering or enabling combined programmes’ implementation and development.Originality/valueMapping the evidence based on combined programmes provides direction for further development and research to expand this field of inquiry.

Decoding the employee influencer on social media: applying Taylor’s six segment message strategy wheel

PurposeThe paper aims to examine how employees influence their employer’s brand by applying Taylor’s (1999) six segment message strategy wheel in an employee influencer context.Design/methodology/approachThe research uses a content analysis of employees’ public social media posts – including captions and images – to analyze the message strategies employees use to promote their employers.FindingsWhile ego and social were popular message strategies in both the images and captions, the findings evidence the varying message strategies employees use in text-based versus image-based messages. Four “imagined audiences” of employee influencers are identified: current customers, prospective customers, current employees and prospective employees.Research limitations/implicationsThe research provides insight into how employees act as influencers in building their employer brand on social media.Practical implicationsA unique measurement tool is developed that can be used by companies and future researchers to decode employees’ online communications.Originality/valueThis research contributes to theory and practice in the following important ways. First, the research provides a modernization of an existing framework from an offline setting to an applied industry context in an online setting. Second, this research focuses on a subtype of social media influencer, the employee influencer, which is an underdeveloped area of research. Third, a unique measurement tool to analyze text-based and image-based social media data is developed that can be used by companies and future researchers to decode employees’ online communications.

A literature review of Iranian publications on video game localization between 2009 and 2022

Abstract Although video game localization has lately attracted the attention of researchers, with many papers and books being devoted to this practice, it is still an underdeveloped area of Translation Studies research in Iran. The present study provides a literature review of research carried out in Iran on video game localization since 2009 to address this gap. The reviews revealed that studies on Iranian game localization fall into translational, social, cultural and political, and historical categories. The review also showed that the translational aspect is the most explored area followed by social, cultural and political, and historical aspects. The historical aspect has received the least attention in the literature, specifically in academic publications. This paper offers potential areas for future research on game localization in Iran in each aspect.

Cysteine Oxidation in Proteins: Structure, Biophysics, and Simulation.

Cysteine side chains can exist in distinct oxidation states depending on the pH and redox potential of the environment, and cysteine oxidation plays important yet complex regulatory roles. Compared with the effects of post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation, the effects of oxidation of cysteine to sulfenic, sulfinic, and sulfonic acid on protein structure and function remain relatively poorly characterized. We present an analysis of the role of cysteine reactivity as a regulatory factor in proteins, emphasizing the interplay between electrostatics and redox potential as key determinants of the resulting oxidation state. A review of current computational approaches suggests underdeveloped areas of research for studying cysteine reactivity through molecular simulations.

Narrative and folklore as methodologies for studying emotions, embodiment, and water during the 2014 Elk River chemical spill in West Virginia

ABSTRACT Water is an urgent topic of research in cultural and feminist geographies. Geographers study water through interdisciplinary approaches including critical resource geography, political ecology, and feminist theory. An emerging area of research within cultural and feminist geography considers the affective, emotional qualities of water as part of water’s social and political ramifications. Methodologically, the emotional qualities of water are commonly explored through data on everyday lived phenomena and respondents´ narratives. Although emotions have been studied by feminist geographers for at least two decades, geographers continue to debate the range of approaches and methodologies for studying emotions and suggest that methodological gaps remain. An underdeveloped area of research on the emotional geographies of water acknowledges the contextual and performative aspects of narrative. We explore the performative aspects of narrative using folklore studies and its methodological usage in emotional geography. We connect emotional geography with folklore studies concepts of context and performance. We do this through a case study of the 2014 Elk River chemical spill in West Virginia to explore personal experience narrative as a methodological tool for analyzing emotions to contribute to methodologies of emotional geography.

Framework of Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior: Consequences, Conditions, and Processes

Recently, workplace behaviors that are simultaneously pro-organizational and anti-social have attracted increased scholarly attention. Although prior research on such ubiquitous workplace behaviors has added insightful contributions to the literature, current research is limited to a few topics, such as predicting unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB). Therefore, in this study, the authors address underdeveloped research areas by proposing a framework that explains the consequences of UPB. First, by reviewing the literature and integrating theories, this study proposes a holistic process model of UPB consequences. Second, the study further explores the mechanisms that explain the links between UPB and its outcomes. Third, it suggests potential variables within individuals and organizations that might influence the consequences of UPB. The article also contributes to the research on within-individual co-occurrence of unethical and ethical behaviors. Finally, the authors develop propositions, discuss the implications, and identify future research considerations.

Additives in the food supply chain: Environmental assessment and circular economy implications

Food additives constitute an integral ingredient of food production and processing operations, as their functional properties are paramount to not only improving the organoleptic qualities but also preventing spoilage thus prolonging food products' shelf life. Despite their cardinal role in the food industry as key facilitators of global food supply and distribution, aspects related to the food additives supply chain remain an underdeveloped research area. Using as a case study a food processing company in Greece that specialises in the production of meat additives, the objective of this paper is twofold. First, to assess the environmental performance of the company's production process, identifying the main hotspots and drivers for environmental impacts by means of the Life Cycle Assessment method. Second, following the identification of employed circular economy practices, to discuss corresponding managerial implications. The latter will attempt to contribute to the enrichment of circular economy in the context of food supply chains relevant literature through exploring strategies of reducing meat additives surpluses, shading light on the underexplored yet paramount industry between the stages of food production and processing. In addition, some social considerations based on the obtained Life Cycle Assessment results will be given, to discuss the consequences of productive behaviours and to understand how they perform in the national context.

What Does Fake Look Like? A Review of the Literature on Intentional Deception in the News and on Social Media

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the content features of intentional deceptive information in the news (i.e., fake news) and on social media. Based on an extensive review of relevant literature (i.e., political journalism and communication, computational linguistics), we take stock of existing knowledge and present an overview of the structural characteristics that are indicative of intentionally deceptive information. We discuss the strength of underlying empirical evidence and identify underdeveloped areas of research. With this paper, we aim to contribute to the systematic study of intentional deception in the news and on social media and to help setting up new lines of research in which intentionally deceptive news items can be operationalized in consistent ways.

The study on psychological resilience of tinnitus and associated influencing factors

The association between tinnitus and psychological resilience is an underdeveloped area of research. This cross-sectional study investigated such associations and factors potentially affecting resilience in 61 patients. Demographic and psychometric data were collected by questionnaires. The Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), Medical Coping Modes Questionnaire (MCMQ), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), Big Five Inventory (BFI) and Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS) were completed by participants. Data were analyzed using independent t-test and Pearson's correlation analysis and multiple linear regression modeling. The CD-RISC score was relatively low (66.97 ± 15.71), negatively correlated with tinnitus (r = −0.276, p < 0.001) and associated with age (r = 0.270，P＜0.001). As protective factors, SWLS (r = 0.486, p < 0.001), GSES (r = 0.555, p < 0.001), PSSS (r = 0.538, p < 0.001) and extraversion were positively correlated with CD-RISC and BFI scores (r = 0.287, p < 0.001). We also detected a negative correlation with neuroticism (r = −0.395, p < 0.001), which is a known risk factor for worse CD-RISC scores. Identifying protective and risk factors for psychological resilience can be used to predict treatment outcomes in tinnitus patients, which will help devise personalized solutions and improve patients' quality of life.

Is Bariatric Surgery Brain Surgery?

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) reliably produces sustained weight losses, reduces circulating blood glucose, and lowers risk of type 2 diabetes (1). Accompanying these benefits, however, is symptomatic hypoglycemia, reported by up to one-third of post–bariatric surgery patients (2,3). In an estimated <1% of RYGB patients (4), postprandial hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia causes severe symptoms including neuroglycopenia with significant morbidity. New mechanistic insights and treatment options for these patients are needed. Potential contributors include rapid glucose delivery into the bloodstream, improved β-cell function, and gut adaptations, but the role of the central nervous system (CNS) is an important and underdeveloped area of research (3). In their article in this issue of Diabetes , Almby et al. (5) investigate whether RYGB alters the brain response to hypoglycemia in humans—a topic with further relevance to the CNS contribution to RYGB’s modification of overall glucose homeostasis. Human neuroimaging studies document RYGB-induced changes in brain function and suggest reversibility of obesity-associated findings (6–8). Studies of cerebral metabolism measuring [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake by positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) show that brain glucose uptake is elevated in participants with obesity and partially reversed post-RYGB (6,7), but controlled studies of the cerebral metabolic response to insulin-induced hypoglycemia are lacking. Cerebral blood flow response to insulin-induced hypoglycemia assessed by arterial spin labeling (ASL) showed increased regional blood flow (vs. euglycemia) in the cortex, thalamus (9), and hypothalamus (10) in healthy adults. Almby et al. provide novel data on the effect of RYGB on brain response to hypoglycemia (5). Almby et al. included 11 participants that underwent, before and …

Political integration and the career opportunities of immigrants in political parties: Experiences from Swedish party organisations

Abstract Political parties are an important part of the institutional framework for migrants’ political integration, but remain an underdeveloped area of research in the literature on political opportunity structures (POS) for migrants. Departing from the POS framework, this article addresses the question of what role the intra-party structure of candidate recruitment has for enabling the political career path of people with migrant background. It focuses on the case of Sweden, which has one of the most open POS in terms of formal political rights. Based on an interview study with party officials and political candidates with migrant background, we identify a number of party-internal factors in this POS. The empirical analysis combines two approaches in institutional theory in order to differentiate between ‘thresholds’ related to strategic considerations and short-term vote-maximisation, and ‘barriers’ embedded in roles, identities and organisational practices. In addition to making a contribution to research on the responsiveness of political systems in open-POS countries, the article discusses how the institutional approach can be useful for identifying possible solutions for supporting the political career of immigrants.