Research Workshop Research Articles

Futures literacy in collaborative foresight networks: advancing sustainable shipbuilding

Businesses are facing increasing pressure from society and regulators to become more sustainable and do their part to address the climate crisis. These businesses will require continual sustainability innovation formulation and implementation processes to meet these demands. Collaborative foresight (CF) has high potential for helping business sectors produce a continuous stream of sustainability options to select and deploy in finished products. Recent developments in futures studies indicate that a capability called futures literacy (FL)—acts of individuals or groups switching their modes and purposes for imagining futures—is relevant to the production of innovation-related outcomes. FL may be key to driving the effectiveness of such foresight collaborations; however, little is known about its exact functions in such business networks and processes. This article examines this issue in the context of a luxury-cruise shipbuilding network in Finland. It analyzes research data from the foresight workstreams of a multi-partner consortium active across three sequential projects between 2016 and 2022. The foresight team took an interventionist research approach, conducting interviews and workshops as part of all three projects. In this article, we analyze the materials produced from these interventions for the appearances of FL enhancement. Based on this analysis, we found that FL can play key functions in CF, such as supporting actors in perceiving new developmental pathways, identifying new opportunities for innovation, and identifying alternative priorities built from new realizations and insights—a finding in line with existing claims by FL scholars and educators. This article contributes to ongoing discussions about the significance of CF and FL in addressing the most pressing environmental issues of our time. It offers an evidence-based argument for the relevance of taking a capabilities approach (i.e., introducing and developing FL) for business networks seeking to use foresight when engaging in sustainability innovation.

Development of a Power Tiller Operated Safe Grain Cleaner

Threshed grain contains impurities which should be removed as soon as possible after harvesting and certainly before storage. A clean grain has esteem value, improves storability, reduces price penalties, and improves milling quality. Traditionally farmers use wind or fan to remove foreign matter from the grain. In mechanical grain cleaner, a fan and several superimposed reciprocating sieves or screens are now used. These can be operated manually or by electric motor. Traditional cleaning methods are laborious and mechanical cleaners are costlier for a farmer. An attempt was made to develop a power tiller-operated grain cleaner incorporating safety protection. Power tiller-operated (PTO) grain cleaner has been developed at the BRRI research workshop and tested at farmers’ yards. Two flat bars of 680x100 mm size were taken and both ends of the bars were curved in the same direction. Those were fixed with a pulley as a cross blade and fitted rigidly with the flywheel of a power tiller engine and a protection cage was made as safety measures to protect the operators/ users from accidents. The cage was made with mild steel (MS) wire (1/8th) and tightly attached to the chassis and oil tank by nut bolts. The air flow rate was found 7 m/s at a linear distance of 1 m and decreased to 3 m/s at 5 m from the center of the flywheel. No foreign matter was observed in the cleaned grain during the operation. Fuel consumption was found about 700 ml/hr. About 1200-1600 kg paddy can be cleaned in an hour. Males or females can use it easily without any accidental risk i.e. clogging dress with flywheel. However, the developed safe grain cleaner can significantly contribute to improving product quality by separating un-ambient materials, especially foreign matter, insect bored, and diseased grain.

Qualitative Research in Digital Era: Innovations, Methodologies and Collaborations

The differentiation of contemporary approaches to qualitative data analysis can seem daunting even for experienced social science researchers. Especially when they move forward in the data analysis process from general analytical strategies used in qualitative research to more specific approaches for different types of qualitative data, including interviews, text, audio, images, videos, and so-called virtual data, by discovering the domain ontology of the qualitative research field, we see that there are more than twice as many different classes of data analysis methods as qualitative research methods. This article critically reflects on qualitative research and the qualitative computer data analysis process, emphasising its significance in harnessing digital opportunities and shaping collaborative work. Using our extensive analytical and research project experience, the last research results, and a literature review, we try to show the impact of new technologies and digital possibilities on our thinking. We also try to do the qualitative data analysis. The essence of this procedure is a dialectical interplay between the new world of digital technology and the classic methodology. The use of digital possibilities in qualitative research practices shapes the researcher’s identity and their analytical and research workshop. Moreover, it teaches collaborative thinking and teamwork and fosters the development of new analytical, digital, and Information Technology (IT) skills. Imagining contemporary qualitative research and data analysis in the humanities and social sciences is difficult. Opening to modern technologies in computer-based qualitative data analysis shapes our interpretation frameworks and changes the optics and perception of research problems.

Proceedings of a Workshop to Promote Community Health Worker Interventions in Nephrology.

Latinx populations face a higher burden of kidney failure and associated negative outcomes compared with non-Latinx White populations, despite sharing a similar prevalence of CKD. Community health worker (CHW) interventions have been shown to improve outcomes for Latinx individuals, but they are largely underutilized in kidney disease. We convened a workshop of four ongoing kidney disease CHW programs to identify successes, challenges, potential solutions, and needed research to promote CHW programs for Latinx individuals with kidney disease. Key points from the workshop and recommendations for intervention and research are highlighted. Facilitators of program success included prioritizing trust-building with participants, enabling participants to determine what aspects of the intervention were needed, providing participants with tools to help themselves and others after the intervention, and taking a trauma-informed approach to relationships. Challenges included persistent systemic barriers despite successful care navigation and low recruitment and retention. Research is needed to capture the effect of CHW interventions on outcomes and to determine how to implement CHW interventions for people with kidney disease nationwide.

TECHNICAL AND IMPLEMENTATIONAL ISSUES OF USING A VIDEO PLATFORM (FLIP.COM) FOR ONLINE LEARNING FOR TEACHERS IN KENINGAU, SABAH

The recent Covid-19 health pandemic (2020 – 2022) had caused great concern for educators across the globe. Schools were closed under the Moverment Control Act of each respective country to curb the spread of the virus. School lessons were replaced with online sessions. Purpose: The main purpose of this research is to explore and share teachers’ experience and perceptions for using an online video platform (flip.com) for teaching and learning. Teachers related these experiences via research workshops conducted at the 4 venues in Sabah. Methods: Data were elicited via the reflection notes approach and analyzed qualitatively to support the investigation. The researchers reported findings from selected a sample of 12 informants from the Kota Kinabalu Workshop, Sabah. Results: Eight out of twelve informants registered positive perceptions regarding the usage and suitability of flip.com for non-Mathematic subjects while negative comments were for the unsuitability usage for Mathematic, requests for professional development training and some technical issues while implementing the software. Recommendation: The research recommended that in order for an innovation such as flip.com to be accepted teachnologically by fulfilling the perceived usefulness and perceived ease-to-use components of the TAM Model, teachers’ comments on the feature of usefulness, user-friendliness of the interfaces and technicality issues of the software must be considered closely by the software provider.

Using participatory action research to empower district hospital staff to deliver quality-assured essential surgery to rural populations in Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania.

In 2017 the SURG-Africa project set out to institute a surgical, obstetric, trauma and anesthesia (SOTA) care capacity-building intervention focused on non-specialist providers at district hospitals in Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania. The aim was to scale up quality-assured SOTA care for rural populations. This paper reports the process of developing the intervention and our experience of initial implementation, using a participatory approach. Participatory Action Research workshops were held in the 3 countries in July-October 2017 and in October 2018-July 2019, involving representatives of key local stakeholder groups: district hospital (DH) surgical teams and administrators, referral hospital SOTA specialists, professional associations and local authorities. Through semi-structured discussions, qualitative data were collected on participants' perceptions and experiences of barriers to the provision of SOTA care at district level, and on the training and supervision needs of district surgical teams. Data were compared for themes across countries and across surgical team cadres. All groups reported a lack of in-service training to develop essential skills to manage common SOTA cases; use and care of equipment; essential anesthesia care including resuscitation skills; and infection prevention and control. Very few district surgical teams had access to supervision. SOTA providers at DHs reported a demand for more feedback on referrals. Participants prioritized training needs that could be addressed through regular in-service training and supervision visits from referral hospital specialists to DHs. These data were used by participants in an action-planning cycle to develop site-specific training plans for each research site. The inclusive, participatory approach to stakeholder involvement in SOTA system strengthening employed by this study supported the design of a locally relevant and contextualized intervention. This study provides lessons on how to rebalance power dynamics in Global Surgery, through giving a voice to district surgical teams.

Impact of AAOIFI’s Governance Standards on Quality Corporate Governance by Islamic Financial Institutions

This study examines the impact of AAOIFI’s governance standards on quality the corporate governance practices by Islamic Financial Institutions. The paper is purely a literature-review-based research work where adequate literature relevant to the study are reviewed and the AAOIFI Governance Standards are studied with a view to finding out how compliance with the standards by the IFIs could translate into achievement of their set objectives, especially the objective of growing up the wealth of the shareholders. A rundown was given to the thirteen (13) governance standards (GS 1-13) issued by the AAOIFI, to show importance compliance with them would make the IFIs more “lovely” and more wealth-creating. It was found that AAOIFI’s governance standards have positive impact on the corporate governance practices of IFIs, as the standards lead to a certain degree of consistency in products and services offered by IFIs and the promotion of standardized practices at country level, as well as at the global level. The study also revealed that scholars in the field of Corporate and Public Governance have less interest in conducting studies on the AAOIFI’s GS the way they pay research attention to conventional Corporate Governance and Public Governance matters. The study recommended that AAOIFI should ensure that scholars and professionals in the field of Corporate and Public Governance are encouraged to pursue high level research on the practicality of all the 13 Governance Standards through provision of Research Grant, seminars and workshops.

Teaching Reproducible Methods in Economics at Liberal Arts Colleges: A Survey

Economics has become increasingly empirical and, alongside this shift, has come more demand for improved transparency and reproducibility in empirical economic research. In this article, we distribute a survey to almost 1500 economics faculty from the top 161 liberal arts colleges with an economics major (according to U.S. News & World Report) in the United States to determine the prevalence of teaching reproducible methods in undergraduate economics, summarize the most-common methods of instruction, and determine the intended student learning objectives. We find that of the economics faculty at liberal arts colleges who teach these reproducible methods, most do so in advanced upper-level (42%) and basic econometrics (31%) courses. Those faculty report teaching reproducibility using the following methods: transparent coding (85%), organizational skills (78%), and producing replication documentation (47%) through individual research projects (82%), homework assignments (55%), and/or workshops (33%). We conclude with some qualitative text analysis to shed light on the intended learning objectives and find that research skills (59%) and the importance of reproducibility (37%) are the most common reasons cited for teaching these methods.

Rethinking and inventing Territory, Infrastructure and Housing in the case of Post pandemic Region of Lezha (Albania) - Part II

This issue opens with a foreword by Prof. Besnik Aliaj and Prof. Sotir Dhamo analyzing through a descriptive and analytical-critical reflection a series of proposals made by the participants of the research workshop between Ferrara and Polis. The innovative character of this issue is immediately distinguished by the analysis of the sustainability of Albanian settlements and of the main administrative actors made by Dr. Rudina Toto. The author analyzes the concept of sustainability and resilience at a theoretical level, focusing continuously on the local context. The interaction between the main actors to have a stable and resilient settlements is synthesized in the second scheme of Toto's essay. There it is clearly described how a resilient system works in relation to its goals. After the theoretical and practical framework has been laid out in the first two chapters, the same scheme is followed with the previous issue on the Region of Lezhe, where proposals for a sustainable region have been made. These proposals have been synthesized into intervention strategies in similar contexts with similar critical points. The proposals follow the same scheme, starting from those for infrastructure to those for the environment and ending with the proposals for dwelling and housing.

Using the multiple streams model to elicit an initial programme theory: from policy dialogues to a roadmap for scaling up integrated care

IntroductionThe ‘SCale-Up diaBetes and hYpertension care’ Project aims to support the scale-up of integrated care for diabetes and hypertension in Cambodia, Slovenia and Belgium through the co-creation, implementation and evaluation...

Implementation evaluation ofa medical student-led intervention to enhance students' engagement with research: Findings and lessons learned.

Medical colleges globally have student organizations that serve to enable students' involvement in research. However, details of their approach and activities are seldom published to serve as learning for student organizations in other settings. The Student Research Forum (SRF), a student organization based at a private medical school in Pakistan aims to facilitate students in acquiring research skills. Following the observation of a downward trajectory of student initiative and interest, SRF leadership restructured the organization and improve its impact. This study describes the development and implementation evaluation of the interventions. The operational framework was revised using the Theory of Change by the core group. Major interventions included enhanced social media and outreach coordination, research workshops, journal clubs, and mentorship to increase research output, mentorship opportunities, and knowledge of medical research; ultimately improving quality in research. The outcomes generated over the course of the study's duration from July 2019 to September 2021 were analyzed using the process metrics of reach, adoption, and efficacy. As a result of the interventions, SRF expanded its reach by conducting a total of 41 events during the duration of the study, facilitated by social media growth on each of SRF's online platforms, with a 300% increase in followers on Facebook, and a nationwide network of 91 student ambassadors. An annual workshop series taught research skills to more than 3800 participants. Students leading their own events, SRF featuring international speakers, and the abstracts submitted to SRF's annual conference, along with the conference's reach of 10,000 students, are seen as improvements in the ToC-informed interventions' adoption. The efficacy of the interventions manifested as the REACH program allocated 56 research projects to vetted applicants. The applied interventions have accelerated SRF's progress towards achieving its long-term outcome of increased quality in research as translated by increased research output quantity, mentorship, and knowledge of medical research. Further evaluation is required to assess the success of the ToC. As SRF continues to grow, a continued analysis of the implementation outcomes is imperative to gauge its effectiveness.

Management in formative research to strengthen investigative competencies in officers of the Naval War Academy

The aim of this research is to define the structure of a management model based on formative research to optimise the research skills of student officers of the Staff Course of the Naval War Academy of Ecuador. The methodological approach is quantitative, descriptive, with a non-experimental cross-sectional design. The data was collected through a Likert scale survey, its reliability was measured with Cronbach's alpha and its normality with the Shapiro-Wilk test. The behaviour of the data was analysed by frequency tabulation. The MICMAC program was used as a structural analysis tool to identify key variables and their potential impacts within a formative research management model at the Naval War Academy, based on a study of global, regional and local regulations. The research found that formative research workshops are a key strategy whose multiplier effect increases research capacity and productivity. They become spaces for multidisciplinary groups that benefit from shared experiences and help to generate differential skills and capabilities, enabling students to compete in the labour market after fulfilling their academic goals.

Utilizing a CRISPR-Cas9 targeted foodborne pathogen antimicrobial within livestock feed: A Market Research Perspective

A customizable CRISPR-Cas9 targeted pathogen killing system has recently been studied and offers potential as a novel antimicrobial product in the production livestock animal market. Questions remain however regarding the commercialization and market acceptability of the new CRISPR-Cas9 product. A study was designed to evaluate the product's value, the target customer, and the regulatory aspects of how the product will move in the target market ecosystem. The current study utilizes a three-pronged integrated methodology involving attendance of a market research workshop to learn the tools necessary to complete market research, an interview process, and a comprehensive literature review. Overall, the interviews resulted in 20 interviews consisting of industry experts, production livestock operations personnel, regulatory experts, and academicians. Additionally, the primary focus of the market ecosystem for the novel product was found to be the regulatory process. This determination was established on the basis of the definition of the product being one of a new animal drug with intent to reduce foodborne pathogens in the public sector. Overall, our study maintains that our new CRISPR-Cas9 biotechnology offers producers an alternative intervention method, could improve consumer perception, and outlines a regulatory pathway for the target market ecosystem.

A Comprehensive Research Workshop on Artificial Intelligence in Parliaments

Abstract Disruptive technologies, particularly Artificial Intelligence (ai), currently dominate the debate on the future of societal organisations and structures and this trend has intensified since the emergence of ChatGPT in late 2022. Naturally, such topics are related to the opportunities and challenges that arise when utilising ai-based approaches and cannot be omitted from the discussion about the evolution of parliamentary institutions. This report describes the content and conclusions of a two-day international workshop on artificial intelligence in parliaments that took place from 3–4 July 2023 in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

New Information Technologies and Data Security

The paper provides a review of the research workshop “New Information Technologies and Data Security” took place on 23 May 2023 at the Institute of Foreign Legislation and Comparative Law (ILCL). The authors reflect the keynotes of the reports made by representatives of the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law, Kutafin Moscow State Law University, National Research University–Higher School of Economics (NRU-HSE), Moscow State Lomonosov University (MGU), Plekhanov State University of Economics, Moscow State City Pedagogical University, etc. The paper provides an insight into the legal issues under discussion: concept and meaning of data security in the current environment; development vectors of the data security institution in the context of digitization; limits of sovereignty in the information domain; international legal regulators of data security; sustainable security mechanisms in the face of contemporary challenges and threats; impact of advanced information technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, machine-sensible right to data security; personal data security; state control and liability for violation of information law, etc.

Confronting Challenges: An Inductive Thematic Analysis Of Barriers And Solutions To Undergraduate Medical Research In Pakistan.

To qualitatively analyse the barriers in pursuing undergraduate research, and to propose solutions for the problems identified. The qualitative study was conducted from May to October 2021 after approval from the institutional ethics review board of the Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, and comprised undergraduate students of either gender at various public and private medical universities across Pakistan having some level of research experience and good communication skills. Data triangulation was employed to collect qualitative data through open-ended survey, face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions. Using the information of one method to inform the rest, linked trajectories were established that allowed validation of information at each level. Data was coded manually by two researchers independently. Data was subjected to inductive thematic analysis. Of the 33 subjects, 17(51.5%) were males, 17(51.5%) were from private medical colleges, 18(54.5%) were from Karachi, and 11(33.3%) were in the final year of medical school. Overall, 13(39.4%) students completed the open-ended survey, 6(18.2%) completed face-to-face interviews, and 14(42.4%) participated in focus group discussions. Thematic analysis showed that students were interested in research to improve their career prospects, but not all were passionate about it. Students were not satisfied with the quality of research being conducted in the country. Dearth of motivated faculty, unavailability of well-maintained and digitalised data registries, ineffective research methodology teaching and lack of access to medical journals and research software were the major barriers in undergraduate research. Time constraint was a projecting problem which challenged the students. Frequent research workshops and conferences, strong networking, reorienting curriculum to provide early exposure to research and student-led initiatives were suggested to improve undergraduate research in Pakistan. Students' lack of initiative coupled with administrative and faculty-related issues pose a serious threat to the future of evidence-based medicine. Proposed solutions offer a ray of hope to the future of undergraduate research in Pakistan.

Lived experience perspectives guiding improvements to the Systematic Tailored Assessment for Responding to Suicidality protocol.

Suicide risk assessment protocols have traditionally been developed by clinical or research experts in suicidology, with little formal involvement of those with a lived experience of suicide. This study broadly aimed to seek lived experience perspectives of the Systematic Tailored Assessment for Responding to Suicidality (STARS) protocol A further aim was to elicit lived experience suggestions for wording and language used in the existing items within sections of the STARS protocol (STARS-p). Participants were 33 adults (Female = 64%) with a lived experience of suicide, who attended a virtual research workshop at the National Lived Experience of Suicide Summit (2021). After being educated about STARS-p, participants provided their overall perceptions of STARS-p as well as suggestions for rewording and language use across the sections of STARS-p. Their responses were gathered using a virtual online platform for live electronic data collection. A three-phase process of qualitative content analysis was used, engaging both inductive and deductive approaches to explore study aims one and two, respectively. The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research was followed to enhance quality of reporting. Qualitative content analysis of participants' views of the STARS-p reflected three main categories, namely, STARS philosophy; What STARS aspires to; and Continuity of care and meeting needs. Responses characterized participants' perceptions of the core purpose of STARS-p and ways for refining or adapting it to suit diverse needs and settings. Based on deductive content analysis, suggested modifications to wording of items and additional items to extend sections were identified. The study yielded novel perspectives from those with a lived experience of suicide, which will inform improvements to the next edition of STARS-p. The STARS training (required for licensed use of the protocol) will be updated accordingly, in line with these results.

Recommendations from Diabetes UK's 2022 diabetes and physical activity workshop.

To describe the process and outputs of a workshop convened to identify key priorities for future research in the area of diabetes and physical activity and provide recommendations to researchers and research funders on how best to address them. A 1-day research workshop was conducted, bringing together researchers, people living with diabetes, healthcare professionals, and members of staff from Diabetes UK to identify and prioritise recommendations for future research into physical activity and diabetes. Workshop attendees prioritised four key themes for further research: (i) better understanding of the physiology of exercise in all groups of people: in particular, what patient metabolic characteristics influence or predict the physiological response to physical activity, and the potential role of physical activity in beta cell preservation; (ii) designing physical activity interventions for maximum impact; (iii) promoting sustained physical activity across the life course; (iv) designing physical activity studies for groups with multiple long-term conditions. This paper outlines recommendations to address the current gaps in knowledge related to diabetes and physical activity and calls on the research community to develop applications in these areas and funders to consider how to stimulate research in these areas.

Existential aspects of parenthood transition seen from the health professionals’ perspective - an interview and theatre workshop study

ObjectivesA sense of existential vulnerability is embedded in parenthood transition. It is linked to meaning in life, relationship changes, awareness of death, and sometimes a transcendent belief. Nevertheless, in most maternity service guidelines, the existential aspects of life are not an explicit focus. Therefore, this study aimed to explore how health professionals in maternity services experience and understand existential aspects of parenthood transition among new parents.Study Design: Data were generated through a user-involving two-phase process inspired by action research consisting of three focus group interviews with health professionals (n = 10) and, subsequently, a theatre workshop for parents, health professionals, and researchers (n = 40). Between the two phases, case narratives were constructed using information from the interviews and, in collaboration with a dramatist, dramatized and then played out at a workshop by professional actors. We used thematic analysis for all data. ResultsWe identified five themes in the data material: 1. Death and fragility in maternity care, 2. Existential aspects in camouflage, 3. Existential and spiritual aspects of being professional in maternity care, 4. Talking about existential aspects of care, 5. Equipped for providing existential care? ConclusionsExistential aspects were often recognized during birth, specially in traumatic situations or discerned in the physical and non-verbal relational energy between the birthing woman and midwife or partner. Less often, existential aspects were recognized during pregnancy and the post-partum period.

Hemp Morphology and Physiology Standards for Research and Industry Applications

Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) research and commercial production has recently experienced a global revival motivated by passage of laws reversing long-standing prohibitions and by expansion in markets. Collaborative research has been initiated in response to renewed interest in hemp production, such as the American Society for Horticultural Science Hemp Research and Extension Professional Interest Group (ASHS Hemp). Collaborators new to this crop have identified a lack of standard definitions, descriptions, and procedures for cohesive study specific to hemp production. Standards are necessary for synthesis of data gathered across research and industry programs. ASHS Hemp convened a workshop of hemp researchers and industry representatives to establish consensus on a minimum set of standards for research data and industry assessments. The resulting morphology and physiology standards developed at the workshop are presented here with a focus on plant height, flowering time, and crop quality. Plant height was defined as the vertical distance between the root crown at the soil surface and the stem node (or tip) of the apical meristem of the tallest branch. Plant height was importantly distinguished from stem length and canopy height, which may differ based on pruning and management of the plant. Flowering time was defined to indicate date of initiation of inflorescence development as the earliest day terminal flowering clusters appear visually. Flowering time was distinguished from solitary flowering behavior and floral maturity. Crop quality was determined to be a feature that should be established first by industry based on market standards and then subsequently adopted by researchers targeting outcomes in specific areas. A standard moisture content for dry flower, seed, and straw must be established. A moisture content of 10% to 12% was identified as a current standard for floral yield, whereas 8% was identified as a moisture content standard for seed crops. Bast-to-hurd ratio and decortication efficiency were fiber quality metrics identified for minimum standards, and thousand seed weight, protein content, oil content, and oil composition were considered for minimum seed quality standards. The hemp research community is well positioned to standardize genomic references and establish best management practices for production targets. These efforts would be assisted by the adoption of the proposed standard definitions, descriptions, and procedures decided by consensus at the ASHS Hemp 2022 workshop.