Unique Path Research Articles

Post-War Reconciliation Process in Sri Lanka: A Unique Path to Peace Building

This study examines the unique aspects of Sri Lanka’s peacebuilding and ethnic reconciliation process following the end of its civil war in 2009. Unlike many post-conflict societies that rely on formal peace agreements, Sri Lanka's reconciliation efforts were driven by a military victory without a negotiated settlement between conflicting parties. This study discusses key milestones in Sri Lanka’s reconciliation journey, including institutional reforms such as the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and the Office of Missing Persons (OMP). It examines the unique challenges, including political dominance in the process, limited engagement of minority communities, and inconsistencies in policy frameworks. The study provides a comprehensive understanding of the factors that have shaped Sri Lanka's reconciliation approach by drawing on qualitative data from key informant interviews (KII) and through a comparative analysis with global post-conflict practices. Ultimately, this study offers valuable insights for policymakers and scholars on the complexities of peacebuilding in unique post-conflict settings, highlighting the need for more inclusive and sustainable efforts to achieve lasting peace.

A Neural Phillips Curve and a Deep Output Gap

Many problems plague empirical Phillips curves (PCs). Among them is the hurdle that the two key components, inflation expectations and the output gap, are both unobserved. Traditional remedies include proxying for the absentees or extracting them via assumptions-heavy filtering procedures. I propose an alternative route: a Hemisphere Neural Network (HNN) whose architecture yields a final layer where components can be interpreted as latent states within a Neural PC. First, HNN conducts the supervised estimation of nonlinearities that arise when translating a high-dimensional set of observed regressors into latent states. Second, forecasts are economically interpretable. Among other findings, the contribution of real activity to inflation appears understated in traditional PCs. In contrast, HNN captures the 2021 upswing in inflation and attributes it to a large positive output gap starting from late 2020. The unique path of HNN’s gap comes from dispensing with unemployment and GDP in favor of an amalgam of nonlinearly processed alternative tightness indicators.

Merging bound states in the continuum-driven ultrahigh sensing figure of merit in all-dielectric metasurfaces.

Radiation-free photonic bound states in the continuum (BIC) in metasurfaces allow ultrahigh quality (Q) factor and strongly confined mode volume, which are extremely advantageous in the development of ultrasensitive microcavity sensors. However, the conventional isolated BICs are susceptible to failure due to symmetry breaking caused by fabrication imperfection and nonzero incident angle. Here, we propose a silicon nitride-based metasurface with multiple BIC merging. The merging of accidental BIC and symmetry-protected BIC can increase the Q-factor near the Brillouin zone Γ point and thus robustly induces a figure of merit (FOM) of refractive index sensing at small incident angles two orders of magnitude higher than that in isolated BIC configuration. Specifically, the FOM in merging BIC reaches 108 at a 2° incident angle. The BIC merging can be universally achieved in square lattices with C4 symmetry, and slower decay of Q-factor and higher FOM can further occur in hexagonal lattices benefiting from higher-order topological charges. The advantage of merging BIC is also maintained when considering in-plane and out-of-plane symmetry breaking. These results offer a unique design path for high-performance metasurface sensors and can be extended to other high-Q applications such as low-threshold lasers, nonlinear frequency conversion, and low-loss waveguides.

Evaluation of Structural Equation Model Forests Performance to Identify Omitted Influential Covariates

Model misspecification is typical in applied structural equation modeling (SEM). Traditional specification search methods, such as modification indices, search for misspecifications within the model’s variables but overlook influential variables not initially included and fail to detect interactions. This study evaluates SEM forests as a complementary method to conduct SEM specification search related to omitted influential covariates. The omitted influential paths include unique, mixed, and interaction paths. SEM forests’ performance is evaluated under different factor loading magnitudes, covariate path magnitudes, and sample sizes. Results show SEM forests accurately identify omitted influential covariates without falsely identifying non-influential covariates in large samples (1,000) with strong covariate-latent variable paths ( β = .5).

Strategy and Management of Aesthetic Education in Vocational Ability Cultivation—Explore the Practice and Achievements of "Family Culture" of Chinese Business Characteristic Education

Under the background of the rapid development of today's society, vocational ability cultivation has become an important issue that cannot be ignored in education. Aesthetic education, as a key link in the national comprehensive quality education system, is becoming increasingly important. It is not only related to the improvement of individual aesthetic quality, but also the key factor to promote the comprehensive development of students and enhance their professional competitiveness. Through the in-depth study of the practice of "family culture" of Chinese business characteristic education in the cultivation of professional ability, this paper not only verifies the significant role of aesthetic education on the improvement of students' comprehensive quality, but also reveals its unique strategy and management path. According to the data, students who participated in the practice of "family culture" of Chinese businessmen showed higher teamwork willingness and leadership potential in the career orientation test. Their average teamwork ability score was 15% higher than that of the control group, and their leadership self-evaluation score also increased by about 10 percentage points. In terms of management strategy, Through the construction of a multi-level aesthetic education curriculum system, Huashang College organically integrates art appreciation, creative thinking, professional ethics and other contents into daily teaching, forming an interdisciplinary and comprehensive training mode. Using Internet technology to build an online aesthetic education platform, provide rich artistic resources and learning communication space, and further broaden the learning boundary of students. This mixed online and offline teaching mode not only improves students' interest and participation in learning, but also effectively promotes the internalization and application of knowledge. In short, integrating aesthetic education into the vocational education system can not only enhance students' aesthetic perception and creativity, but also show a positive impact on key professional abilities such as teamwork, leadership and social responsibility.

The Intersection of Anorexia Nervosa and Personality Disorders: A Comprehensive Review of Comorbidities, Influencing Factors, and Therapeutic Approaches

Complex eating disorders like anorexia nervosa (AN) and personality disorders (PDs), including obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD), often co-occur. The confluence of PDs and AN poses distinct difficulties in terms of diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy, complicating clinical management and producing less favorable results. To summarize the most recent findings on the co-occurrence of anorexia nervosa and personality disorders, this review will look at their prevalence, psychopathological relationships, effects on treatment results, and efficacy of different therapy modalities, with a thorough search conducted, concentrating on research published between 2000 and 2024, utilizing peer-reviewed publications from PubMed, PsycINFO, and Proquest. Past literature presents a substantial overlap between PDs and AN, and concomitant PDs have been linked to recurrence rates, treatment resistance, and more severe types of AN. The psychopathological relationships among these illnesses are complex, encompassing both common and unique etiological paths. Depending on the PD implicated, various therapy modalities, such as dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), have been investigated with varying degrees of success. This review emphasizes the need for more specialized, integrated treatment approaches targeting AN and concomitant PDs and appeals that future research should concentrate on creating tailored therapies and early detection techniques to enhance therapeutic results. The results emphasize the importance of considering personality pathology while managing AN to improve treatment efficacy and promote long-term recovery.

Better Hardness Results for the Minimum Spanning Tree Congestion Problem

AbstractIn the spanning tree congestion problem, given a connected graph G, the objective is to compute a spanning tree T in G that minimizes its maximum edge congestion, where the congestion of an edge e of T is the number of edges in G for which the unique path in T between their endpoints traverses e. The problem is known to be $$\mathbb{N}\mathbb{P}$$ N P -hard, but its approximability is still poorly understood, and it is not even known whether the optimum solution can be efficiently approximated with ratio o(n). In the decision version of this problem, denoted $${\varvec{K}-\textsf {STC}}$$ K - STC , we need to determine if G has a spanning tree with congestion at most K. It is known that $${\varvec{K}-\textsf {STC}}$$ K - STC is $$\mathbb{N}\mathbb{P}$$ N P -complete for $$K\ge 8$$ K ≥ 8 , and this implies a lower bound of 1.125 on the approximation ratio of minimizing congestion. On the other hand, $${\varvec{3}-\textsf {STC}}$$ 3 - STC can be solved in polynomial time, with the complexity status of this problem for $$K\in { \left\{ 4,5,6,7 \right\} }$$ K ∈ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 remaining an open problem. We substantially improve the earlier hardness results by proving that $${\varvec{K}-\textsf {STC}}$$ K - STC is $$\mathbb{N}\mathbb{P}$$ N P -complete for $$K\ge 5$$ K ≥ 5 . This leaves only the case $$K=4$$ K = 4 open, and improves the lower bound on the approximation ratio to 1.2. Motivated by evidence that minimizing congestion is hard even for graphs of small constant radius, we also consider $${\varvec{K}-\textsf {STC}}$$ K - STC restricted to graphs of radius 2, and we prove that this variant is $$\mathbb{N}\mathbb{P}$$ N P -complete for all $$K\ge 6$$ K ≥ 6 .

Development of China’s digital economy: path, advantages and problems

PurposeChina has fully capitalized on the opportunities presented by the latest wave of technological revolution and industrial transformation, paving the way for a path with Chinese characteristics in the development of the digital economy. This paper analyzes the development of China’s digital economy, outlining its path, advantages and challenges. It aims to provide insights into how China capitalized on technological and industrial transformation to foster a digital economy with distinct Chinese characteristics.Design/methodology/approachThis paper adopts a descriptive analytical approach to outline the evolution of China’s digital economy through various stages of development. It highlights the pivotal role of market demand, the intricate government-market relations and technological advancements in shaping this evolution. The approach also identifies key factors that have contributed significantly to China’s success in digital economy development.FindingsThe key findings reveal that China’s digital economy has grown rapidly, driven by market demand, technological innovation and government support. The “Chinese path” prioritizes consumer internet, leverages scale advantages and emphasizes data-driven development. However, challenges exist in balancing governance systems, endogenous growth and external environments.Originality/valueThis paper offers original insights into the unique development path of China’s digital economy, highlighting its advantages and challenges. It provides valuable insights for other countries seeking to foster their own digital economies, especially in managing government-market relations and leveraging domestic market demand.

Guide to Understanding and Supporting International Medical Graduates in Hematology/Oncology by the ASCO International Medical Graduates Community of Practice.

International medical graduates (IMGs) are an essential component of the oncology workforce in the United States, comprising a third of all practicing oncologists and almost half of hematology/oncology fellows. In this article, we discuss the contributions of IMGs in the US oncology workforce, review unique challenges faced by IMGs, and propose potential solutions to overcome these challenges. ASCO's IMG Community of Practice was established with the mission to connect, mentor, guide, raise awareness, and overcome the challenges unique to IMGs interested in pursuing medical oncology in the United States. The content of this article is based on discussions at the IMG Community of Practice meetings at ASCO's 2023 and 2024 Annual Meetings. IMGs bring an inherent diversity of thought and experience to the oncology workforce. They provide high-quality, culture- and language-concordant care to a diverse population of patients with cancer. However, IMGs in oncology face significant hardships throughout their careers, including visa-related restrictions, psychosocial and cultural struggles, as well as differential treatment while applying for residency and fellowship training, and early career positions. Greater awareness of these challenges among the members of the hematology/oncology community, along with institutional and individual efforts to support IMGs, is warranted. We encourage oncology professionals and institutions to join our efforts in recognizing the unique paths of IMGs and providing support and advocacy to maximize the potential of IMGs in the US oncology workforce.

Muyu Raymi, the Seeds Festival: Indigenous Women’s Means to Sustain, Resist, and Rebuild

ABSTRACT Among the Raymis, the Indigenous celebrations of the Andes, the seeds festival Muyu Raymi has a unique path. It is a colorful one-day event that most explicitly exemplifies interculturalidad and the achievements of Indigenous Peasant politics at a local level in Ecuador. Nevertheless, Indigenous women’s active and committed involvement in the event is not sufficiently understood from the intersection of culture and politics. This work aims to identify the ways in which Indigenous women have managed to link themselves to Muyu Raymi and what Muyu Raymi shows about our understanding of interculturalidad. This work argues Muyu Raymi has its origins in the dawn of neoliberalism and remains connected to a long process of resistance led by Indigenous women. The findings are discussed through a lens of interculturalidad that highlights people’s ability to sustain, resist, and rebuild their ways of living. The analysis considers the existence of a relationship between human and non-human actants as explainer of social life; in this case, Indigenous women and the seeds. This work highlights the transformative potential of the women-seeds connections and their mixed strategies to resist and support systems of power, through a history that correctly attributes credit to women as history makers.

Research on the Role of the Third Front Construction in China’s Modernization

The Third Front Construction was a major national strategy implemented by China in the 1960s, aimed at promoting the industrialization of the central and western regions while addressing external security threats. This initiative not only laid a solid foundation for China’s industrialization but also revealed unique paths of Chinese modernization, such as regional coordinated development and the integration of national defense and economic growth. However, the Third Front Construction also brought about environmental degradation and over-exploitation of resources, providing important lessons for contemporary China’s development. In the modernization process, it is crucial to draw on the experiences of the Third Front Construction, focusing on regional coordinated development and enhancing social mobilization capabilities. By summarizing the experiences and lessons of the Third Front Construction, this paper provides historical references and future directions for the development of Chinese-style modernization.

Neuromodulation in Small Animal fMRI.

The integration of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with advanced neuroscience technologies in experimental small animal models offers a unique path to interrogate the causal relationships between regional brain activity and brain-wide network measures-a goal challenging to accomplish in human subjects. This review traces the historical development of the neuromodulation techniques commonly used in rodents, such as electrical deep brain stimulation, optogenetics, and chemogenetics, and focuses on their application with fMRI. We discuss their advantageousness roles in uncovering the signaling architecture within the brain and the methodological considerations necessary when conducting these experiments. By presenting several rodent-based case studies, we aim to demonstrate the potential of the multimodal neuromodulation approach in shedding light on neurovascular coupling, the neural basis of brain network functions, and their connections to behaviors. Key findings highlight the cell-type and circuit-specific modulation of brain-wide activity patterns and their behavioral correlates. We also discuss several future directions and feature the use of mediation and moderation analytical models beyond the intuitive evoked response mapping, to better leverage the rich information available in fMRI data with neuromodulation. Using fMRI alongside neuromodulation techniques provide insights into the mesoscopic (relating to the intermediate scale between single neurons and large-scale brain networks) and macroscopic fMRI measures that correlate with specific neuronal events. This integration bridges the gap between different scales of neuroscience research, facilitating the exploration and testing of novel therapeutic strategies aimed at altering network-mediated behaviors. In conclusion, the combination of fMRI with neuromodulation techniques provides crucial insights into mesoscopic and macroscopic brain dynamics, advancing our understanding of brain function in health and disease. EVIDENCE LEVEL: 1 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 1.

What makes a lifetime? Growing teaching practices with/in communities

What makes a teacher? How might educators be oriented toward children, rather than institutions? How might we grow pedagogies through humans, instead of systems? In a time of scope, sequence, standards, and scripted lessons, the orientation of teachers is often turned away from the actual people who inhabit the classrooms: the children and the teachers themselves. But what is that alternative? How might we frame teacher education and practice toward and through the classrooms themselves? This narrative, auto-ethnographic study examines a non-traditional path into teaching. This unique path, absent the formalized structures and expectations of what teaching is/should be, invites reconceptualizations of how teaching might emerge through communities, rather than institutional systems. Through the experiences of a young settlement house “teacher” and her classroom of young children, I explore the possibilities of building a curriculum, a democracy, a practice and a lifetime of teaching in collaboration with children, and all members of the community.

What Influences Users’ Continuous Intention to Use Function-Oriented Systems: A Different Impact Mechanism for Patent Information Platforms

Patent information platforms have become crucial for innovators to stay informed about technological advancements. These platforms, distinguished by their function-oriented nature, differ significantly from traditional systems, highlighting the need for research on user behavior impact. This study proposes a research model to investigate how information, system, and interface quality influence continuous use intention, with perceived pleasure and needs satisfaction as mediators. A survey with 468 users was conducted, followed by regression and structural equation modeling for path and mediation analyses. The findings indicate that information and system quality have positive but distinct impacts on perceived pleasure and needs satisfaction, while interface quality affects only perceived pleasure. Needs satisfaction mediates the impact of information and system quality on continuous use intention, whereas perceived pleasure does not. This study introduces a function-oriented scenario into information systems research and identifies the unique impact paths of information and system quality. For these function-oriented platforms, the influence of interface quality on needs satisfaction or perceived pleasure on continuous use intention is insignificant, establishing a new context relevant to pragmatism and push–pull–mooring theories. Practical insights are provided for managers to improve system efficiency and enhance user loyalty.

A Conversation with Michelle Hewson: A Unique Path to a Data Science Career

A Conversation with Michelle Hewson: A Unique Path to a Data Science Career

The Search for Legitimacy over Yugoslavia: Rudolf Bićanić and the Power of Gold

Abstract While historical narratives of the communist legitimation of power in Yugoslavia have often marginalized perspectives of lesser-known civil servants, this study highlights the crucial role of Dr. Rudolf Bićanić, a renowned Yugoslav economist. Departing from the diplomatic, foreign political, and military perspectives when investigating the Yugoslav émigré government actions, this article explores the ideas espoused, networks created, and actions performed by Bićanić across diverse transnational settings. Bićanić’s lens as a vice-governor of the Yugoslav National Bank demonstrates that the debates regarding the future social and economic policies shaped the transition process between the two Yugoslav states. Driven by a mission to enhance peasant living conditions in Yugoslavia, Bićanić embarked on a brief yet impactful governmental career from 1941 to 1945. The article posits that Bićanić’s anti-government propaganda disseminated through the United Committee of South Slavs and his financial malversations led to the transfer of economic and political legitimacy over Yugoslavia in April 1944 to the National Liberation Council. With this action, Bićanić accelerated the signing of the Tito-Šubašić agreement in June 1944, which empowered him to negotiate the post-war reconstruction aid and loans in Washington, DC, carving a unique path for Yugoslavia between socialism and capitalism.

Exploring the Role of Big Data Analytics in Personalizing E-Learning Experiences

In this digital age, personalized e-learning experiences are becoming more important. These use big data analytics to make sure that educational material and delivery methods are tailored to each learner's needs. This abstract talks about how big data analytics can be used to make e-learning more personalized, focused on its methods, benefits, and problems. In e-learning, big data analytics makes it possible to gather, process, and look at huge amounts of student data to find useful information. Based on things like learning styles, growth rates, and tastes, these findings are used to make learning situations more relevant to each person. Educators can create unique learning paths that keep students interested and help them remember what they've learned by combining data from different sources, such as how students interact with course materials, test results, and demographic data. Big data analytics makes personalized e-learning possible, which has many benefits. Customized material that is based on learners' hobbies and skill levels makes them more interested and motivated. Adaptive learning systems change in real time to offer more help or tasks, which improves how well students learn. Insights gleaned from data help teachers make better lessons and plan for when students need extra help. This makes teaching more effective overall. On the other hand, there are some problems with using big data analytics in e-learning. Privacy worries about collecting and using learning data mean that strong data security methods and following the rules are needed. Also, combining different types of data and making sure the quality of the data is good is hard to do technically and needs advanced analytics tools and knowledge.

Control of fate specification within the dorsal head of Drosophila melanogaster.

During development, unique combinations of transcription factors and signaling pathways carve the nascent eye-antennal disc of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster into several territories that will eventually develop into the compound eye, ocelli, head epidermis, bristles, antenna and maxillary palpus of the adult head. Juxtaposed patterns of Hedgehog (Hh) and Decapentaplegic (Dpp) initiate compound eye development, while reciprocal domains of Dpp and Wingless (Wg) induce formation of the antennal and maxillary palp fields. Hh and Wg signaling, but not Dpp, contribute to the patterning of the dorsal head vertex. Here, we show that combinatorial reductions of the Pax6 transcription factor Twin of Eyeless and either the Wg pathway or the Mirror (Mirr) transcription factor trigger a transformation of the ocelli into a compound eye and the neighboring head epidermis into an antenna. These changes in fate are accompanied by the ectopic expression of Dpp, which might be expected to trigger these changes in fate. However, the transformation of the field cannot be replicated by increasing Dpp levels alone despite the recreation of adjacent Hh-Dpp and Wg-Dpp domains. As such, the emergence of these ectopic organs occurs through a unique regulatory path.

Early changes in microRNA expression in Arabidopsis plants infected with the fungal pathogen Fusarium graminearum.

Plants respond to biotic stressors by modulating various processes in an attempt to limit the attack by a pathogen or herbivore. Triggering these different defense processes requires orchestration of a network of proteins and RNA molecules that includes microRNAs (miRNAs). These short RNA molecules (20-22 nucleotides) have been shown to be important players in the early responses of plants to stresses because they can rapidly regulate the expression levels of a network of downstream genes. The ascomycete Fusarium graminearum is an important fungal pathogen that causes significant losses in cereal crops worldwide. Using the well-characterized Fusarium-Arabidopsis pathosystem, we investigated how plants change expression of their miRNAs globally during the early stages of infection by F. graminearum. In addition to miRNAs that have been previously implicated in stress responses, we have also identified evolutionarily young miRNAs whose levels change significantly in response to fungal infection. Some of these young miRNAs have homologs present in cereals. Thus, manipulating expression of these miRNAs may provide a unique path toward development of plants with increased resistance to fungal pathogens.

Ritual Dynamics and Spiritual Practices in the Teaching of Tarekat Qadiriyah wa Naqsyabandiyah

This study explores the intricate dynamics of rituals and spiritual practices within the Tarekat Qadiriyah wa Naqsyabandiyah, a prominent Sufi order in Indonesia. Through a comprehensive literature analysis, in-depth interviews, and participant observation, the research delves into the historical evolution, theological foundations, and the multifaceted role of rituals and spiritual exercises in shaping the followers' spiritual journey. The findings reveal that the integration of Qadiriyah and Naqsyabandiyah traditions fosters a unique spiritual path that balances exoteric religious observance with esoteric contemplation. Key themes include the transformative impact of rituals, the pivotal role of the sheikh, the significance of communal practices, and the holistic pedagogical approaches employed within the Tarekat. The study concludes that these rituals and practices are central to individual and collective spirituality, providing a cohesive and supportive spiritual community. This research contributes to the broader understanding of Indonesian Sufism and the enduring relevance of Sufi practices in contemporary Islamic spirituality.