Changing World Research Articles

Identidad cultural versus ciencias sociales

The well-known debate that has become a myth regarding the relationship between Social Sciences and Particular Sciences today reaches a different nuance when the processes of cultural identity are studied from the former, the latter concept of polysemy and fluidity. which gives rise to a multitude of definitions and reinterpretations. In the brief space of this work, the relationship between cultural identity and the Social Sciences is analyzed from a theoretical perspective to discern some challenges that today's changing world imposes on this important nexus. The human being, when transformed into a knowing, valuing, affective subject with acquisition and capable of producing knowledge, is part of a culture and therefore of a cultural identity. The main results are found in the challenges for the social sciences, among which we can mention: dynamics of historical development of society over time, cultural differences seen as particular identities where prejudices and tolerance are included, and cultural awareness that allows know the ways in which human beings express and represent their roots or belonging to a social group. The conclusions assert that cultural identity is constantly being created, it should not be reduced only to belonging to a group, it is something that is outlined as a horizon without a finished point.Keywords: culture. Identity. Cultural identity. Social Sciences.

Resilience and renewal: charting the future of cardiovascular care in a changing world.

Resilience and renewal: charting the future of cardiovascular care in a changing world.

Integrating remotely sensed imagery in a forest gap model to study North American boreal forests in a changing world

Abstract Boreal forests of Alaska and Western Canada are experiencing rapid climate change characterized by higher temperatures, more extreme droughts, and changing disturbance regimes, resulting in forest mortality and composition changes. Mechanistic models are increasingly important for predicting future forest trends as the region experiences novel environmental change. Previously, many process-based models have generated starting conditions by ‘spinning up’ to equilibrium. However, setting appropriate initial conditions remains a persistent challenge in using mechanistic forest models, where stochastic events and latent parameters governing tree establishment have long-lasting impacts on simulation outcomes. Recent advances in remote sensing analysis provide information that can help address this issue. We updated an individual-based gap model, the University of Virginia Forest Model Enhanced (UVAFME), to include initial conditions derived from aerial and satellite imagery at two locations. Following these updates, material legacies (e.g., trees, seed banks, soil organic layer) allowed new forest types to persist in UVAFME simulations, landscape-level forest heterogeneity increased, and forest-wide biomass estimates increased. At both study sites, initialization from remotely sensed data had a strong impact on forest cover and volume. Climate change impacts were simulated decades earlier than when the model was ‘spun up'. In Alaska’s Tanana Valley State Forest, warmer climate scenarios drove deciduous expansion, increased drought stress, and resulted in a 28% decrease in overall biomass by 2100 between historical and high emissions climate scenarios. At a lowland site in Northern British Columbia, lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) remained dominant and became more productive with exogenous climate forcing as temperature, nutrient, and flooding limitations decreased. These case studies demonstrate a new framework for forest modeling and emphasize the advantages of integrating remotely sensed data with mechanistic models, thereby laying groundwork for future research that explores near-term impacts of non-stationary ecological change.

Online language teaching in times of change: a CALL to action for language teachers and educators

Abstract Change, whether slowly developing over decades or rapid change caused by worldwide crises, affects education and educators profoundly. This article argues for a change in language teacher education embracing the changing world of online communication, and emphasising the epistemological awareness language teachers need to bring to the online classroom. Based on Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) research and best practice examples from across the world, the paper outlines past changes, contextualises online language teaching in the wider area of online communication and describes progress in practice, theory and epistemological understanding of online teaching. It culminates in a series of evidence-based suggestions for future training and education of language teachers that will integrate adequate pedagogy and an enhanced epistemological understanding.

Grand Strategies of Russia and China: common trends and potential confrontation

The article focuses on the grand strategies of Russia and China, including both common and specific goals of two states. The current system of international relations is undergoing drastic changes as the status of the United States as a superpower and its global power are eroding. More regional poles of power appear, including Russia and China. Through the implementation of their grand strategies, they seek for their place in a changing world order. Both share the desire to form a more just, multipolar world order based on the supremacy of international law and norms, as well as advocate strengthening the role of the United Nations as the basis and guarantee of following the principles of international relations. Both countries oppose hegemony and the imposition of the norms of the “collective West” on other participants of the world order, interference in internal affairs and undermining the national security. At the same time, it is obvious that Russia and China also have differences in their geopolitical aspirations. China today is increasingly obtaining the features of a superpower, and some researchers believe that she may become one in the future. That is why there is a need to take into account the potential risks of China’s rising for Russian grand strategy and place in the world system in general. As a result, the article concludes that although the current Russian-Chinese relations are beneficial and provide broad support for both countries, it is necessary to analyse potential conflicts when building relations with a rising China.

Substantial increase of organic carbon storage in Chinese lakes

Previous studies typically assumed a constant total organic carbon (OC) storage in the lake water column, neglecting its significant variability within a changing world. Based on extensive field data and satellite monitoring techniques, we demonstrate considerable spatiotemporal variability in OC concentration and storage for 24,366 Chinese lakes during 1984–2023. Here we show that dissolved OC concentration is high in northwest saline lakes and particulate OC concentration is high in southeast eutrophic lakes. Along with increasing OC concentration and water volume, dissolved and particulate OC storage increase by 44.6% and 33.5%, respectively. Intensified human activities, water input, and wind disturbance are the key drivers for increasing OC storage. Moreover, higher OC storage further leads to an 11.0% increase in nationwide OC burial and a decrease in carbon emissions from 71.1% of northwest lakes. Similar changes are occurring globally, which suggests that lakes are playing an increasingly important role in carbon sequestration.

Camelid herding may homogenize Andean grassland plant communities

The current global decline in biodiversity is a matter of pressing concern, necessitating the conservation of diverse ecosystems across various spatial scales. Regions such as the tropical Andes face the imminent threat of biotic homogenization due to intensive livestock grazing, posing a significant risk to biodiversity. This study is focused on the sub-humid grasslands of northwestern Bolivia, within the the National Park Apolobamba. We surveyed a total of 105 plots distributed across seven sites, representing a natural gradient of grazing intensity. Within each site, the plots were organized into five clusters to explore the impact of environmental factors on plant diversity within and among communities. Our research reveals that local plant diversity, quantified by species richness and the inverse Simpson index, is predominantly shaped by soil pH. Notably, more acidic soil is associated with diminished diversity. Furthermore, our findings highlight that the dissimilarity in species composition among local communities may be linked to grazing intensity. This suggests that intensified grazing may have the potential to homogenize plant communities across the landscape. A concerning implication is the likelihood of communities becoming dominated by acquisitive species, leaving them more susceptible to the impacts of climate variability. The study underlines the necessity to analyze multiple facets of diversity for a comprehensive understanding of the environmental factors regulating and therefore to address potential drivers of diversity loss. To mitigate these threats, managers may consider adjusting livestock quantities and the spatial range used by grazers, aiming to sustain multiple aspects of plant diversity and prevent homogenization and degradation of grasslands in a changing world.

A wide range of abiotic habitat factors and genetic diversity facilitate expansion of Trapa natans within its native range

Climate change and intense human activity are exacerbating changes in species' ranges. While the rapid spread of invasive alien species is well documented worldwide, the phenomenon of the spread of native species is poorly understood. To explain the problem of rapidly spreading species in the changing world, it is necessary to understand their ecology, genetic diversity and habitat limitation. The aim of our study was to analyze the ecological requirements and genetic diversity in the population of the macrophyte Trapa natans s. l., an invasive alien species in North America but native in Europe and Asia. We investigated the populations in its native range (Central and Northeastern Europe), where the species is defined as rare or extinct. We found the occurrence of T. natans in Northeastern Europe aquatic habitats where, up to now, it was described as an extinct species. The results of our environmental studies showed that the species has a wide range of tolerance to habitat conditions and lives in medium to highly nutrient-rich water with low and high salinity. Using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) analysis, we revealed high genetic variability within populations with relatively limited differentiation between populations. We showed that some populations are highly diverse (possibly refugia; Central Europe) and others are homogeneous (new sites, commercial reintroduction; Northeastern Europe). Conservation status of T. natans in its native range should be reconsidered, as the species has spread rapidly in recent decades and could be detrimental to aquatic habitats. The conclusion is that expansion/invasion can start from small populations, but under favorable conditions these populations spread rapidly. The introduction of species (even native) should be done carefully, if at all, as uncontrolled introduction to new locations, e.g. private ponds, could be the start of dispersal (native habitats) or invasion (non-native area).

Shining a Light on the Specimen Room: Enhancing Global Research on Bird Eggs through Standardized Digital Archives

Bird egg collections in natural history museums are valuable resources for studies such as how birds’ eggs may evolve under different environmental conditions, providing information that is critical in our changing world and of great interest to scientists. However, the millions of bird egg specimens, many collected over 100 years ago, are often not prioritized in digitized archives. To assess the current status of digitized egg specimens, we examined data available on open-source platforms such as iDigBio, based on the Marini et al. (2020) review of egg collections. Millions of bird egg specimens are preserved in museums worldwide, but only about 21% have been digitally cataloged and made accessible on global platforms, mostly from Western countries. While the technology used for extracting features from digital objects has greatly advanced for studying the size, color and spottiness of eggs (e.g., SpotEgg), the digitized specimens may not be formatted to meet the needs for research, thereby limiting their application. For example, among eight museums with digitized collections, images from six include a scale, but only the Yale Peabody Museum also incorporates a color chart with standardized gray patches for calibration (e.g., Calibrite Color Checker). Furthermore, coordinates obtained through georeferencing are essential for studying environmental influences on egg traits. Yet, fewer than half of the specimens (49%) have been georeferenced. Here we demonstrate how properly digitized specimens—using a dark background, adding a scale, and incorporating a standard color chart in the photo—can be utilized to study the evolution of egg color in birds. We urge the adoption of a standard digitization protocol for bird egg collections, the enhancement of georeferencing for the specimens, and the integration of local databases into global platforms to increase accessibility for the scientific community. These procedures should also be implemented at the early stage of the digitization process to maximize the value of digitized specimens.

Adaptive Governance: Empowering Data Sharing for Public Health Impact - Insights from North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services

Objective and ApproachAt the 2022 IPDLN Conference, we presented work led by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHSS), in partnership with university-based researchers, to build legal and ethical processes for routine data sharing. This session provides significant updates on the methods, results, and implications of these efforts–namely, that NCDHHS implemented an enterprise-wide data governance process and a legal framework that has enabled timely, impactful use of cross-sector data. We relied on Participatory Action Research and Deliberative Dialogue methods to engage a diverse range of partners in a data landscape overview and the co-creation of new data sharing processes that better enables the enterprise to adapt to a changing world. ResultsFour key actions were taken as a result of the participatory research process: NCDHHS developed a data strategy, created a data sharing guidebook, staffed their Data Office, and implemented a new legal framework. In addition to describing how these actions support data use across a large US state health and human services agency, we provide three use cases demonstrating the impact of this work. ConclusionsEstablishing routine data sharing presents legal, technical, and cultural challenges, particularly in large agencies. Through a collaborative, participatory approach, the NCDHHS successfully established enterprise-wide data governance and a legal framework to support data-driven policymaking and, ultimately, improve health outcomes for residents. ImplicationsThis research presents a successful, actionable, and replicable framework for developing and implementing processes to support intradepartmental data access, linkage, and use.

Advances in Protective Clothing Research Meeting the Challenges in the Changing World

The world keeps changing, and the changes are becoming quicker with technological development [...]

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PUBLIC SERVICE MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW

In the last decades, an increasing attention has been given to the relationship between job satisfaction and employee motivation in the public sector. In a world of constant change and growing demands, it is crucial for public sector organizations to understand and promote a work environment that supports both employee satisfaction and motivation. This article explores this complex relationship and proposes ways in which managers and leaders in the public sector can improve job satisfaction and employee motivation. This article reviews the literature on public service motivation and job satisfaction. In the first part we conduct a brief literature review of the concepts involved. In the main part of the article, we examine 33 WoS articles on the relationship between public service motivation and job satisfaction. In the discussion section, we stress some points relevant for public management practice.

The War Against Ukraine and the EU: Facing New Realities, edited by Claudia Wiesner and Michèle Knodt. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. XIII, 230 pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35040-5.

This book discusses the multiple implications of the war against Ukraine for the EU political system. It draws on a number of different authors to analyse the main dimensions of the Russian attack on Ukraine and the subsequent large-scale war, which impact the global order and EU foreign policy. In the context of war and Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU needs to position itself in a changing world order, internal and external challenges to liberal democracy and the development of its strategic autonomy. In various chapters of the book, the development and strengthening of strategic partnership and friendship with Ukraine is considered by the EU as one of the central foreign policy priorities. Without the support of the Ukrainian partner, it is difficult for the EU to achieve positive results in European politics and play the role of an influential power in the international arena. In this context, various authors note that only the formation of political and economic ties between the EU and Ukraine will be the optimal way out of the full-scale war and crisis that Ukraine has found itself in. Only the combination of opportunities and efforts will allow the Ukrainian political elite and society to eventually stand on par with leading European countries.

Transformation of Modern Wars in the South Caucasus: Azerbaijan's Hybrid War Against Artsakh

The Third Artsakh war has dramatically transformed the security environment in the South Caucasus. Being a result and indicator of changing world order, it unleashed the parameters of the newly-developing formats of conflicts, confrontations, and wars, called hybrid warfare. From this perspective the paper studies the parameters of hybrid warfare against Artsakh launched by Azerbaijan. Application of hybrid warfare against Artsakh is not a new phenomenon and has being practiced by Azerbaijan at least during the last 10-15 years. However, the results of the 44-day war has provided new framework, opportunities, and instruments to intensify hybrid operations, striving to maximize the results. Hence, the paper discusses the Azerbaijani strategy of hybrid war against Artsakh by analyzing the main strategies, tactics, instruments and tools used by Azerbaijan against Artsakh, specifically, after 44-day war. The paper argues that after the Third Artsakh war of 2020 Azerbaijan has launched a full scale hybrid operation to provide ethnic cleansing of Artsakh and receive ‘Nagorno-Karabakh without Armenians’. The operation was based on the following components: information-psychological campaign/influence operations (against Armenians in Artsakh), economic and energy aspects, ecological issues, blockade, international campaigns, support to split Armenian power (in Armenia and Armenian Diaspora), sabotage against critical infrastructure and population, and so on. Concluding the paper launches, a discussion about Azerbaijani engagement with Armenia after the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh of Autumn of 2023.

President’s address*

ABSTRACT Delivered at the 20th IPHS conference in Hong Kong, this President’s Address explores the role of society and of planning history in a changing world. It argues that the society has a long history of international, innovative, and inter-generational engagement. It proposes that planning history can help promote ecosystemic thinking, facilitate understanding of historic path dependencies and their impact on contemporary spaces and planning, and provide a foundation for activating for planning societally just futures. Together, the members of the society can help explore the role of history for future planning.

Is climate change awareness a predictor of anxiety among nursing students?: A cross-sectional study

BackgroundDetermining the climate change anxiety and awareness of student nurses, who will provide health services in various parts of the world after the borders are removed, is important in combating climate change. ObjectivesThe study aims to assess whether nursing students' climate change awareness is a predictor of climate change anxiety. DesignThis research adopts a descriptive cross-sectional study design. ParticipantsThe population of the study consisted of a total of 562 students studying in the nursing department of a state university. 419 students were included in study. MethodsData were gathered from 419 students enrolled in the nursing department of a university during the fall semester of 2022–2023, employing online questionnaires via Google Forms from January to March 2023. The research instrument comprised three parts: a Descriptive Information Form developed in line with the literature, the Global Climate Change Awareness Scale, and the Climate Change Anxiety Scale. SPSS 20.0 software was used for data analysis. The study obtained ethical committee approval, institutional permissions, and participant consent. ResultsFindings indicated that nursing students' mean Global Climate Change Awareness Scale total score was 59.06 ± 15.78, Climate Change Anxiety Scale total score was determined to be 21.27 ± 8.75. A moderate positive relationship was identified between global climate change awareness and climate change anxiety levels among nursing students (r = 0.304, p < 0.05). Furthermore, the study revealed that the participants' awareness of global climate change served as a predictor for their anxiety levels. ConclusionThe climate change awareness of nursing students significantly influences their levels of anxiety related to climate change. Integrating climate change awareness into nursing education is quite important and necessary. This can empower future nurses to be more prepared and effective in a changing world.

Silvicultural regime shapes understory functional structure in European forests

Abstract Managing forests to sustain their diversity and functioning is a major challenge in a changing world. Despite the key role of understory vegetation in driving forest biodiversity, regeneration and functioning, few studies address the functional dimensions of understory vegetation response to silvicultural management. We assessed the influence of the silvicultural regimes on the functional diversity and redundancy of European forest understory. We gathered vascular plant abundance data from more than 2000 plots in European forests, each associated with one out of the five most widespread silvicultural regimes. We used generalized linear mixed models to assess the effect of different silvicultural regimes on understory functional diversity (Rao's quadratic entropy) and functional redundancy, while accounting for climate and soil conditions, and explored the reciprocal relationship between three diversity components (functional diversity, redundancy and dominance) across silvicultural regimes through a ternary diversity diagram. Intensive silvicultural regimes are associated with a decrease in functional diversity and an increase in functional redundancy, compared with unmanaged conditions. This means that although intensive management may buffer communities' functions against species or functional losses, it also limits the range of understory response to environmental changes. Policy implications. Different silvicultural regimes influence different facets of understory functional features. While unmanaged forests can be used as a reference to design silvicultural practices in compliance with biodiversity conservation targets, different silvicultural options should be balanced at landscape scale to sustain the multiple forest functions that human societies are increasingly demanding.

Science in a changing world

Science in a changing world

Ideas of Collaboration and Convergence in Education: to the Essence of Concepts

Artificial intelligence, distance and hybrid formats, Internet challenges that create the opportunity to search for original ideas in the educational space, actualize such resource contents as collaboration and convergence, which create opportunities for improving education as a complex phenomenon of challenges and opportunities, meanings and values in a changing world. The purpose of the article. To methodologically substantiate and theoretically develop a model of education based on the ideas of two innovative paradigms – collaboration and convergence, to reveal their essential resource characteristics in relation to the phenomenon of “education”. Methodology. The basis of the methodology of the model developed by us is the ideas of the scientific school of L. I. Novikova, N. L. Selivanova, P. V. Stepanov, T. A. Romm, M. V. Shakurova. The systemic and interdisciplinary approaches formed the basis for the selection of the content and types of educational activities in the organization and implementation of the educational process. “Collaboration” and “convergence” as pedagogical phenomena of the interdisciplinary approach constitute the methodological integral core of the model, which is characterized by organization, openness, internal activity, dynamism and integration, and promising cooperation. Results. The analysis of sources allowed us to reveal the essence of the concepts: “collaboration” and “convergence”. In the course of the study, we established two facts: on the one hand, collaboration and convergence are tools and mechanisms for improving the organization of education; on the other hand, the synthesis of ideas of collaboration and convergence – create conditions for the value and semantic space in improving and enriching the phenomenon of modern education. Conclusion. The author’s contribution consists in the theoretical and methodological substantiation and development of a model based on the ideas of collaboration and convergence in education, its essential characteristics are given. The presentation and meaning of the organization of the education process based on the ideas of convergence and collaboration are expanded, 10 characteristics are developed that combine these two phenomena in the education process for the effective achievement of the goal.

Radiotherapy and theranostics in a changing world

Radiotherapy and theranostics in a changing world