Complex View Research Articles

Deconstruction of Early Marriage: A Critical Study of Imam Shafi'i's Views and Implications on Community Welfare

Early marriage is still a crucial issue in various countries, including Indonesia. Imam Shafi'i's views on early marriage need to be examined critically in a modern context. This article aims to deconstruct Imam Shafi'i's views on early marriage and analyze its implications on the welfare of society. A qualitative approach is used with the method of literature study. Data were collected from books of jurisprudence and other secondary sources. Imam Shafi'i's view of early marriage has several dimensions, including the minimum age of marriage, the legal requirements of marriage, and the consequences of early marriage. This view has complex implications for people's well-being, both positive and negative. The purpose of this article is to critically discuss Imam Shafi'i's views on early marriage and identify its implications on the welfare of society. In doing this, we will conduct a literature study that involves an analysis of the books of jurisprudence and other secondary sources. Thus, this article will provide a deeper understanding of Imam Shafi'i's views and their impact on society as a whole. A qualitative approach was used in this study with the method of literature study. Through this method, data were collected from various books of jurisprudence relating to Imam Shafi'i's views on early marriage. In addition, other relevant secondary sources are also used to enrich the data collected. By combining these two data sources, this study has a solid basis in analyzing Imam Shafi'i's views and their implications on people's welfare. Imam Shafi'i has a complex view of early marriage. In the modern context, this view needs to be critically deconstructed to understand its implications for the well-being of society. One important factor to consider is age. Imam Shafi'i sets a minimum age of marriage that must be met before a person can marry. In addition, maturity must also be considered. One must have sufficient physical, mental, and emotional maturity before deciding to get married. In addition, socioeconomic conditions are also important to consider. Financial conditions and economic stability greatly affect the welfare of married couples. Therefore, in making marriage decisions, it is important for individuals and society to consider these various factors carefully.

Advances in Chitosan Derivatives: Preparation, Properties and Applications in Pharmacy and Medicine

Chitosan (CS) derivatives have been extensively investigated to enhance the physicochemical and biological properties of CS, such as its solubility, biocompatibility, and bioactivity, which are required in various areas of pharmacy and medicine. The present work emphasizes the ongoing research and development in this field, suggesting that the further exploration of CS derivatives could lead to innovative solutions that benefit society. The physicochemical properties, biological activities, methods of preparation, advantages, limitations, intended application areas, and realized practical implementations of particular CS derivatives are summarized and discussed herein. Despite the numerous promising attributes of CS derivatives as reported in this paper, however, challenges like target selectivity, standardization (purity, chitosan structural variability), and cost-effectiveness still need addressing for widespread implementation, especially in drug delivery. Therefore, basic research studies still prevail in CS drug delivery systems. However, for specific applications such as wound healing and tissue engineering, implementations of CS derivatives in practice are found to be more frequent. To obtain a more complex view of the topic, information from the scientific papers reviewed is supplemented with information from actual patents and clinical studies. Both basic research advances and the most successful and important medical implementations of CS derivatives are discussed concerning further challenges and future perspectives.

Emergence of psycho-cognitive and socio-political perspectives during the dashboard appropriation process: The case of industrial SMEs in Morocco

The study aims to explore how the dashboard, initially designed to provide a rational view of organizational complexity, is appropriated by organizational actors in Moroccan Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The process of appropriation is iterative and complex, involving modifications to the artifact dimension of the tool and adaptations by user-actors in their cognitive, behavioral, and social dynamics. The research highlights the psycho-cognitive and socio-political factors influencing the use of the dashboard as a key management control tool. The motivation behind this study is to understand why such a tool can lead to disruptions, resistance to change, contextualization issues, and adoption problems within organizations, rather than fulfilling its initial purpose of rationalizing processes and standardizing behaviors. The research adopts a qualitative approach using the case study method, specifically multiple embedded case studies. The sample consists of three Moroccan SMEs within the industrial food sector. We deemed it appropriate to use a textual data analysis approach, selecting two methods for this purpose: lexical analysis and thematic analysis. The qualitative data analysis was conducted using NVivo 12 software. The findings indicate that the Pre-Appropriation phase creates a context that balances technical and political factors to reduce resistance among stakeholders. The subsequent Original Appropriation Phase involves a collective decision to adopt the dashboard, which can lead to either compliant integration or deviations that enhance user adaptation. Lastly, the Reappropriation phase challenges established routines, potentially resulting in either meaningful transformations or superficial engagement with the dashboard's features. This study demonstrates that the iterative process of dashboard appropriation in Moroccan SMEs, influenced by psychocognitive and sociopolitical factors, can result in resistance, adoption challenges, and unanticipated organizational adaptations and transformations.

President Wonder Woman and Congresswoman Batgirl: the authoritarian Überfrau and democratic resilience in superheroine comics

ABSTRACT Comic books are important sites where norms related to gender, leadership, and democratic engagement are negotiated. In this essay, we examine two comic book depictions of women’s political leadership: Diana Prince/Wonder Woman’s stint as US president, published in 1944, and Barbara Gordon/Batgirl’s tenure as a member of US Congress, published between 1972 and 1980. We contrast Wonder Woman’s tale of democratic fragility and gendered conflict with a Batgirl narrative that promotes a more complex view of women’s political agency and subordinates superheroism to the strength of democratic community. We contend that Wonder Woman #7 reflects the fascist tendencies observed in other Golden Age comics and theorize Überfrau as a counterpart to Übermensch, rooted in an ostensible ethic of protection and authoritarian white femininity. Reading Wonder Woman #7 through the lens of the Überfrau reveals the contours of an antidemocratic white women’s authoritarianism that continues to resonate in twenty-first century politics. An antidote to the reactionary Überfrau is offered by Batgirl, who eschews the role of super savior and puts the responsibility for democratic health into voters’ hands. We conclude by examining how these contrasting visions of women’s political leadership are echoed by women politicians in contemporary political culture.

Rooted in Family, Exploring the World: The Integrated Identities of Advantaged Guatemalan Adolescents

Adolescents in today’s globalized world construct their identities within complex and intersecting ecologies. In majority world countries, such as Guatemala, adolescents are exposed to external influences through international media, travel, and visitors from other cultures. In this study, 131 middle and high school adolescents (53% girls, Mage = 14.5, range = 11–19) attending a bilingual school in Guatemala completed two quantitative measures (concerning local and remote acculturation and identity domain importance) and two qualitative measures (open-ended responses to the prompt “I am” and an autophotography exercise). The quantitative results showed that cultural affiliation with Guatemala was associated with a collective identity. Qualitative findings provided a deep and complex view of identity in the context of collectivism and global influences. In response to the prompt “I am,” adolescents described themselves as profoundly social, embedded in networks of nuclear and extended family and friends. They reported personal qualities that foster and maintain social bonds, including friendliness, kindness, sincerity, and a sense of humor. Reflexive thematic analysis of the text from the autophotography activity revealed participants’ interdependent self-construals and their developmental model of growth strategies and aspirations. Integration of traditional and global influences was creative and seamless for these adolescents who saw themselves as firmly embedded in family, Guatemala and its culture, while confidently growing and exploring the world. A mixed-methods approach can provide complementary findings that are more meaningful and expansive than either quantitative or qualitative methods alone.

Dynamic Analysis and Temporal Governance of Safety Risks: Evidence from Underground Construction Accident Reports

Due to the complexity and dynamics of underground construction projects, safety risk management has experienced significant challenges restricting the sustainable development of underground space. The research on risk causal chains and risk coupling has yet to reveal the dynamic interactive characteristics of these risk factors and their temporal relationships over time. This study utilized a complex system view for safety risk analysis, using 37 accident investigation reports of underground construction projects. Combined with two novel and emerging analytical methods, temporal qualitative comparative analysis and crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis, this study discusses the temporal relationship of risk factors to the cause of accidents and explores the multi-actor coupling characteristics of management risk. The findings indicate that (1) compared with general construction projects, underground construction should pay more attention to management safety risks because they have an obvious time lag effect expressed in all accident causation paths, namely, preceding management risk, management risk, and machine/material risk cross-concurrently, and management risk initiation and (2) underground construction project management risks have three key main paths, namely, single-actor-dominated management deficiency (supervisors, owners, and subcontractors that cause management risks as a single-core actor) and dual-actor-dominated management deficiency (owner and subcontractor as dual core actors of management risk). Multi-actor-dominated management deficiency (owners, subcontractors, and supervisors are the multiple core actors of management risk). This study thus developed a temporal governance framework of underground construction safety risks based on the synergy of multi-actors and proposed risk governance strategies, such as synergistic multi-actor governance, to consider the temporal relationship of safety risk. This study further reveals the temporal and coupling characteristics of safety risks to enrich the risk casual chain theory and risk coupling theory and establish a systematic risk analysis framework for new guidance for safety and risk management for underground construction projects.

“It’s Not About Numbers, It’s About Power”: How Latino Young Adults Imagine the Ethnic and Racial Demographic Future of the United States

The ethnoracial composition of the United States has been changing rapidly in recent decades, a trend expected to persist into the foreseeable future. While quantitative studies have investigated individual attitudes about these shifts, we know little about Americans’ more nuanced and complex views about the projected growth of Latinos, Blacks, Asians, and others in the United States and the decline of non-Hispanic Whites over the next 25 to 30 years. Drawing from research about ethnoracial demographic sentiments, the sociology of the future, and U.S. generations, we offer the first qualitative exploration of how Americans imagine the country’s ethnoracial demographic future. Our analyses of intensive interview data gathered from 91 U.S.-born Latinos aged 18 to 29 in Arizona in Winter 2021 focus on how Latino Gen Z and Millennials talk about this future. Latino young adults express optimism about a more heterogeneous nation in 2050 and imagine impacts on diversity, politics and political power, and racial discrimination. However, their optimism is tempered by skepticism about whether population growth among people of color will lead to lasting and meaningful changes, given U.S. history and existing structural inequalities. Latino Gen Z and Millennials also express concerns about current and future White responses to these population dynamics. Understanding how young adults in the United States envision the country’s ethnoracial demographic future has important social, political, and economic implications.

A complexity view of atmospheric particulate matter concentration

We studied the distribution of the annual PM2.5 concentrations of countries and territories as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the last decade using self-reported data from governments and other contributing institutions. The distributions follow various regimes corresponding to the low, intermediate, and high PM2.5 concentrations. The intermediate regime is fitted with a power-law with scaling exponent close to 2.44 and explained from a complexity perspective using a truncated exponential growth model with random truncation growth rates. The self-organization resulting from the interplay between natural and human-induced factors in the atmosphere is deemed to persist despite the gradual evolution of the actual statistical manifestations.

Virginia Woolf, David Jones, and the Parenthetical Space of War

Abstract Home and war seem to be spaces set apart, one defined by the rules and order of society and the other by the absolute, order-undoing destruction of battle. Yet for those families who endure war even from afar, and for those who return from war, its violence continues to fester unseen. Through a reading of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and David Jones’s World War I epic In Parenthesis, this essay interrogates that duality through the way in which the parenthetical, repressed violence of World War I steals into the home, threatening to undermine its foundations. These works, each with its emphasis on either home or front, present a complex view of that war as well as its dark, lingering influence. Ranging from the home to the trenches, Woolf and Jones unfurl a scene of violence, composed of countless parentheticals, that presents the Great War not as a space apart but as an invasive event.

Subsistence Strategies of the Sarmatians in the Central Region of the Carpathian Basin in the fourth–fifth centuries AD

ABSTRACT The Carpathian Basin witnessed several migration events throughout its history. The plains between the Danube and Tisza Rivers, and those stretching east from the Tisza gave home to groups under the umbrella demonym ‘Sarmatian’ from as early as the first century AD. It has been hypothesised that the subsistence strategy of these populations was influenced by their traditions and the knowledge of the conquered indigenous peoples. This paper presents the archaeobotanical and the archaeozoological results of a fourth–fifth century Sarmatian settlement, and delineates a complex view of its subsistence strategies. The results show that the main vegetable pillar of subsistence was cereals. However, cereal consumption did not seem to be uniform across Sarmatian sites, with differences in the cereal crops identified. The appearance of grapevine might be considered as evidence of Roman influences. Despite the diverse environmental setting, gathered wild plants were not a significant part of everyday diet. The local subsistence strategy was also characterised by the dominance of cattle, followed by other small ruminants and pigs. The presence of wild terrestrial and aquatic species – collected or hunted – in the close proximity of the village could also be proved, suggesting intensive exploitation of the quite diverse environment.

Determinants of financial well-being for emerging adults: the moderating effect of financial risk tolerance

PurposeThis study explores the determinants of financial well-being (FW) among emerging adults and investigates the moderating role of financial risk tolerance in the relationship between financial capability and financial behavior.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 257 useable data were collected from federal and private university students, representing Emirati emerging adults aged 18 to 29. The analysis employed a structural equation model through AMOS 17.0.FindingsStructural modeling results show that gender, monthly expenses, financial literacy and financial socialization influence financial capability and financial capability impacts both financial behavior and FW. Financial risk tolerance moderates the relationship between financial capability and financial behavior.Practical implicationsThis study offers insights useful for policymakers, industry players and educators seeking to address financial literacy, financial capability and financial behavior to enhance the FW of emerging adults.Originality/valueThe study sheds light on the intricate yet comprehensive FW model of emerging adults in a non-Western context. The study also offers a new, more complex view of the function of financial literacy and financial socialization in financial capability. Combining family financial socialization and risk-return theories in an organic viewpoint allows for a more in-depth examination of a critical distinction between the role of literacy and socialization in shaping attitude and behavior and its function as a platform for financial discourse, which can inform how educational efforts and social platforms can be leveraged to improve financial acumen and FW.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-08-2023-0668

Free-Running Cardiac and Respiratory Motion-Resolved Imaging: A Paradigm Shift for Managing Motion in Cardiac MRI?

Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is widely used for non-invasive assessment of cardiac morphology, function, and tissue characteristics due to its exquisite soft-tissue contrast. However, it remains time-consuming and requires proficiency, making it costly and limiting its widespread use. Traditional cardiac MRI is inefficient as signal acquisition is often limited to specific cardiac phases and requires complex view planning, parameter adjustments, and management of both respiratory and cardiac motion. Recent efforts have aimed to make cardiac MRI more efficient and accessible. Among these innovations, the free-running framework enables 5D whole-heart imaging without the need for an electrocardiogram signal, respiratory breath-holding, or complex planning. It uses a fully self-gated approach to extract cardiac and respiratory signals directly from the acquired image data, allowing for more efficient coverage in time and space without the need for electrocardiogram gating, triggering, navigators, or breath-holds. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the free-running framework, detailing its history, concepts, recent improvements, and clinical applications.

The body in old age: Pernicious medical and materialist thinking

This article looks at the historical construction of knowledge about the elderly body from a medical perspective that is concerned with the materiality of the body and associated losses. It recalls, presents and analyses the paradigm of loss, decline and failure that dominates the way care is provided, and examines the issues associated with this domination. By presenting old age as a social construct produced by language and subject to values relating to a certain performance of the body, the author invites us to shift our perspective and take a finer, more complex and broader view of the body and the experience of being old.

Uncovering an emerging policy direction for Australian energy and future fuels using a “participatory decision-making” framework

IntroductionAn online deliberative engagement process was undertaken with members of the general public to understand what they value or would like to change about the energy system, within the broader context of decarbonizing Australia's energy networks, identifying a role for future fuels (hydrogen and biogas). Citizens developed a set of principles that could guide Australia's path toward a low-carbon energy future, reflecting on expectations they place upon energy transition. Next, citizens' principles were shared with policy-makers in government and policy-influencers from the energy industry using an online interactive workshop.MethodsThis study analyses policy-makers and -influencers response to citizens' guiding principles using the 'diamond of participatory decision-making' framework for analysis. Convergence and divergence in diverse, complex and rich views across cohorts and implications thereupon energy policy were identified.ResultsAlthough considerable alignment between multi-stakeholders' views was noted, key areas of divergence, or what is called the “groan zone” were easily identified in relation to social and environmental justice issues. This groan zone highlights the struggles that energy policy-makers face -the need to listen and respond to citizens' voices, vs. the need for practical and workable policies that also support overarching government or industry objectives.DiscussionPolicy making when the views of different stakeholders align is relatively straightforward. However, this is not the case where the expectations diverge. More creative measures will be needed to address divergent views and expectations whilst maintaining procedural fairness, in this case, using democratic deliberative engagement processes. While the use of deliberative processes is gaining momentum worldwide, particularly concerning climate change and energy transition policies, this paper also highlights the benefits of conducting a robust post facto analysis of the content of the processes. Areas of alignment, where policy can be made and implemented relatively easily without contention are identified. Other areas (such as making electrification mandatory) might be more complex or have unwanted negative social and environmental justice effects. Overall, this paper bridges an analytical gap between “expectation studies” and participatory research. By borrowing terminology from a participatory research framework we sharpen the concepts in “expectation studies” from a consensus, inclusion and diversity standpoint.

Weight in sport: changing the focus from ‘weight-sensitive sports’ to risk groups of athletes

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to examine how different types of sports rules place unique demands upon athletes with regard to their weight and how these demands condition different strategies of weight management. We categorized sports rules into three main categories according to their relationship to weight: 1) sports with weight-prescribing rules; 2) sports rules that advantage lean light bodied athletes; and 3) sports rules that advantage lean robust muscular athletes. This enabled us to provide a more complex view than has been presented by authors in sports sciences, whose emphasis is usually on researching athletes’ body composition, sometimes establishing the ‘desired body’, or addressing the problematic aspects of athletes’ weight-controlling practices within ‘weight-sensitive sports’. We advocate a change of focus from ‘weight-sensitive sports’ to risk groups, since not all athletes in a sport are equally affected by weight issues raised by the sporting test. Thus, this approach offers an athlete-centred approach to weight management in sport, rather than an emphasis on certain types of sports.

The nursing ethnographic research into complex societies

Introduction: Multicultural societies of the postmodern world are characterized by the complexity of their structure, organization, and operation. In such societies, there is a heterogeneous set of social players who experience a variety of phenomena in their daily lives in cities. Within this context, nursing care has developed and nurses in recent years have turned to ethnography as a tool in understanding socio-cultural reality and experience from the perspective of those living these experiences. This is a theoretical study seeking to reflect upon the application of an ethnographic approach in Brazilian nursing research in complex societies.Ethnography in Brazilian nursing research in complex societies: Brazilian nurses have appropriated the methodological tools and theories of nursing and anthropological studies to investigate the experiences and meanings attributed to health-disease process, cultural influence on health-related behaviors, as well as to evaluate and manage work processes. Further studies are emphasized to attempt to theorize and reflect upon the methodological construction of this research. This move highlights a shift in focus on nursing research and practice for a more integrative and complex view of human beings and reality. Ethnography helps us learn about a given reality and, as a result, we obtain new insights for understanding the phenomena.Reflection: It is considered that anthropological knowledge extends the nurses’ views on the subject about which they devote their practice, refining it. Being closer to the lives and experience of subjects, permits the perception of phenomena from the perspective of the players involved, offering professionals a different view on the needs and outcomes of nursing care.

The Side-Effects of Imprisonment: Harm to the Family

AbstractImprisonment affects prisoners’ families. Empirical research tells us that some families benefit from this separation, particularly when they are victims of crime or abuse. But for many, imprisonment has a negative impact on family life, which can be intensified by other pre-existing factors. The main literature on the harm that imprisonment causes family members is empirical, but these empirical findings raise difficult moral questions. How might we approach these side-effects? One view, The Simple View, suggests these side-effects are proportionate so long as the overall harm produced does not outweigh the good punishment aims to achieve. This paper defends The Complex View. Here, proportionality requires us to think about factors beyond the magnitude of harm. Drawing upon existing moral and political philosophy, I aim to show three other factors that may alter how certain harms and benefits figure in proportionality calculations.

The 17 January 1994 Northridge, California, Earthquake: A Retrospective Analysis

Abstract The 17 January 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake was a watershed event with far-reaching societal and scientific impacts. The earthquake, which occurred in the early days of both broadband seismic networks and the Internet, spurred advances in seismic monitoring, real-time systems, and development of data products. Motivated by the 30th anniversary of the earthquake, we present a brief retrospective of the earthquake and its impact, and reconsider both ground motions and the aftershock distribution using modern tools and the best-available data. With improvements in instrumentation and analysis methodology, recent earthquakes continue to reveal the increasing complexity of ground motions, fault systems, and earthquake ruptures. Even in the absence of data from state-of-the-art instrumentation, a retrospective consideration of ground-motion data from the Northridge earthquake reveals complexities beyond what could be characterized (and modeled) 30 yr ago. Aftershock relocations for both the 1971 Sylmar and 1994 Northridge earthquakes also reveal an updated view of fault complexity. Our study does provide a cautionary tale regarding legacy data sets and research results that are not easily accessible, which can result in discrepancies between catalog data and products from the best available science. We also briefly describe outreach products produced as a part of the anniversary commemoration.

Understanding the impact of community-based sun safety interventions on a college campus in Texas

Objective: Examine the impact of a community-based, multi-component sun intervention on the campus of Lee College in Baytown, Texas. Participants: 735 respondents completed the survey as part of a range of campus topics. Methods: Survey data on the program were gathered through an emailed campus-wide survey to better understand the community’s perceptions and awareness as well as campaign effectiveness over time. Results: Sun safety self-efficacy and awareness of the importance of sun safety behaviors were high in the community. Students reported a lower level of sun safety self-efficacy than employees. Open-ended responses also offered insight into complex views some community members hold about sun-safety behavior, raising questions about the effectiveness of sunscreen and the need for vitamin D. Conclusions: The paper found high awareness of sun-safe behaviors, high self-efficacy in taking personal action, and appreciation for the institutional effort to care for the community.

Water-saving and water-spending strategy: The physiological, proteomic and metabolomic investigation of wheat response to drought and the following recovery

Drought as water deficit in the soil represents the most commonly occurring and the most variable environmental stress factor worldwide. Plants have evolved various strategies to cope with drought stress in relation to their other needs such as the necessity to supply carbon in plants with a C3 type of photosynthetic assimilation. In the present study, two wheat cultivars, Baletka and Tobak, representing two contrasting water management strategies, were studied at physiological, proteomic and metabolomic levels to provide a complex view on their phenotypic responses to drought treatment and subsequent recovery. Physiological characteristics clearly distinguished Baletka and Tobak and, moreover, in water-saving Baletka, both proteomics and metabolomics analyses revealed significant remodelling of cell wall, changes in endocytosis and cell signalling, and, especially, changes in synthesis of other defence proteins and LTI65kDa protein (also known as RD29B protein) which has been detected in wheat for the first time. LEA1 protein was proposed as a component of drought stress memory in Baletka. An amazing finding was the enhanced accumulation of oxalate oxidase implying enhanced oxalate oxidase activity leading to faster degradation of oxalate with the simultaneous gain of two molecules of CO2 which may represent an alternative source of CO2 for C3 plants exposed to drought stress.