bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Resource sharing in Lebanese libraries in times of unprecedented disruptions
Authors: Chalhoub Carla , Farah Ibrahim
Published: March 2024

Purpose

This paper aims to study the after-effects of the crises hit by the Lebanese population and the solutions implemented to alleviate the ensuing problems on resource sharing in Lebanese libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaire to academic libraries. Nine libraries in Lebanon offer resource sharing services; all nine are academic. A self-administered questionnaire was sent to these nine libraries; eight responded. A semi-quantitative approach was used to analyze the responses. The questionnaire was administered through Microsoft Forms. The form was designed to include dichotomous questions for the sake of quantitative analysis and a short answer format that allowed responders to provide additional details. American University of Beirut Data. The access services department at the American University of Beirut Jafet Library compiles on a daily basis interlibrary loan statistics. The compiled data were divided into two groups: duration of two fiscal years prior to June 2020; and from June 2020 to June 2022. June 2020 was used as a cutoff date after which the interlibrary loan initiatives in response to COVID-19 were implemented. The services that were analyzed were RSCVD, OCLC WorldShare ILL profiled groups, Emergency Temporary Access Service for HathiTrust members and Open Access Services from vendors.

Findings

Libraries in Lebanon were able to continue providing resource-sharing services with a minimal budget due to four major initiatives and through the help of the international resource-sharing community.

Originality/value

Limited publication about inter library loan in Lebanese Libraries. The pandemic hit economies worldwide; however, Lebanon got hit by three synergetic crises, and the initiatives were instrumental in drastically reducing resource sharing expenditure without affecting the interlibrary loan fill rate.
Nexus between green human resource management practices and corporate social responsibility: does transformational leadership make difference?
Authors: Taamneh Mohammad M. , Al-Okaily Manaf , Abudoleh Jamal Daoud , Albdareen Rokaya , Taamneh Abdallah M.
Published: March 2024

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate the connection between green human resource management (GHRM) and corporate social responsibility (CSR). In addition, this study also investigates how the impact of GHRM varies depending on the extent of transformational leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

Adopting a quantitative approach, the sample consists of 376 employees who hold leadership positions in the academic body and those who work in human resources units at universities who won the Web Metric Award.

Findings

Results have shown that all GHRM practices were found to have a significant and positive effect on CSR. In addition, the findings revealed that transformational leadership positively moderates the relationship between GHRM and CSR.

Originality/value

The findings of this study contribute to the existing body of knowledge by providing empirical evidence of the positive relationship between GHRM practices, transformational leadership and CSR performance. In addition, the study highlights the moderating influence of transformational leadership on the relationship between GHRM and CSR, suggesting that transformational leadership can increase the efficacy of GHRM practices in promoting CSR outcomes.
Consumer response to the new normal: examining the role of anticipated recovery, smart governance and prosocial behavior in driving satisfaction
Authors: Dhir Amandeep , Madanaguli Arun , Jabeen Fauzia , Yahiaoui Dorra , Quaglia Roberto
Published: March 2024

Purpose

Drawing on the stimulus–organism–response framework, this study examined the environmental stimuli driving tourists' internal, or organismic, states. In addition, the authors investigated the association of the identified organismic variables with the response variables during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the study examined how the associations between tourists' anticipation of recovery and the national government's smart governance, on one hand, and tourists' desire to travel domestically, their attitude toward domestic travel and their willingness to exhibit prosocial behaviors, on the other, further drive the satisfaction they derive from domestic travel.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used an online questionnaire to collect self-report, single-wave data from individuals residing in India, an emerging market (N = 421).

Findings

The findings demonstrate (1) the association of anticipated recovery on the desire to travel and prosocial behavior; (2) the association of smart governance on attitude (although negative); (3) the association of desire, attitude and prosocial behavior on satisfaction; and (4) the lack of any moderation effect for perceived severity.

Originality/value

This study is the first empirical study to investigate the impact of tourists' perceptions and dispositions and the efficacy of the national government on tourists' desire to travel domestically and on their satisfaction with domestic travel. The findings can help emerging market multinationals and global brands engage better with domestic consumers in emerging markets within the context of the current pandemic. In addition, the findings can help to prepare these players to handle future disruptions caused by global health contingencies.
Design and experiment of transmission tower climbing robot inspired by inchworm
Authors: Tang Shufeng , Kou Yongsheng , Zhao Guoqing , Zhang Huijie , Chang Hong , Zhang Xuewei , Zou Yunhe
Published: March 2024

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to design a climbing robot connected by a connecting rod mechanism to achieve multi-functional tasks such as obstacles crossing and climbing of power transmission towers.

Design/methodology/approach

A connecting rod type gripper has been designed to achieve stable grasping of angle steel. Before grasping, use coordination between structures to achieve stable docking and grasping. By using the alternating movements of two claws and the middle climbing mechanism, the climbing and obstacle crossing of the angle steel were achieved.

Findings

Through a simple linkage mechanism, a climbing robot has been designed, greatly reducing the overall mass of the robot. It can also carry a load of 1 kg, and the climbing mechanism can perform stable climbing. The maximum step distance of the climbing robot is 543 mm, which can achieve the crossing of angle steel obstacles.

Originality/value

A transmission tower climbing mechanism was proposed by analyzing the working environment. Through the locking ability of the screw nut, stable clamping of the angle steel is achieved, and a pitch mechanism is designed to adjust the posture of the hand claw.
Early prediction models and crucial factor extraction for first-year undergraduate student dropouts
Authors: Huynh-Cam Thao-Trang , Chen Long-Sheng , Lu Tzu-Chuen
Published: March 2024

Purpose

This study aimed to use enrollment information including demographic, family background and financial status, which can be gathered before the first semester starts, to construct early prediction models (EPMs) and extract crucial factors associated with first-year student dropout probability.

Design/methodology/approach

The real-world samples comprised the enrolled records of 2,412 first-year students of a private university (UNI) in Taiwan. This work utilized decision trees (DT), multilayer perceptron (MLP) and logistic regression (LR) algorithms for constructing EPMs; under-sampling, random oversampling and synthetic minority over sampling technique (SMOTE) methods for solving data imbalance problems; accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve and area under ROC curve (AUC) for evaluating constructed EPMs.

Findings

DT outperformed MLP and LR with accuracy (97.59%), precision (98%), recall (97%), F1_score (97%), and ROC-AUC (98%). The top-ranking factors comprised “student loan,” “dad occupations,” “mom educational level,” “department,” “mom occupations,” “admission type,” “school fee waiver” and “main sources of living.”

Practical implications

This work only used enrollment information to identify dropout students and crucial factors associated with dropout probability as soon as students enter universities. The extracted rules could be utilized to enhance student retention.

Originality/value

Although first-year student dropouts have gained non-stop attention from researchers in educational practices and theories worldwide, diverse previous studies utilized while-and/or post-semester factors, and/or questionnaires for predicting. These methods failed to offer universities early warning systems (EWS) and/or assist them in providing in-time assistance to dropouts, who face economic difficulties. This work provided universities with an EWS and extracted rules for early dropout prevention and intervention.
Doctor of philosophy students’ academic success and the role of personal values
Authors: Jaffu Richard
Published: March 2024

Purpose

The study determined the role of personal values in doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) students’ academic success in Tanzania. Specifically, it looked into the influence of openness to change values, self-enhancement values and conservation values on Ph.D. students’ academic success.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employed a cross-sectional survey design, in which 200 Ph.D. students from Tanzanian universities were involved by responding to a questionnaire. The relationship between the variables was determined by using structural equation modeling, and testing of the measurement model was done by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

Findings

The results indicate that personal values influence Ph.D. students’ academic success. Particularly, openness to change values have an ß value of 0.209 and p value of < 0.001, self-enhancement values have an ß of 0.173 and p-value of < 0.001 and conservation values have ß of 0.339 and p-value of < 0.001.

Practical implications

In the quest to improve Ph.D. students’ academic success, universities and Ph.D. students should foster openness to change values, self-enhancement values and conservation values in Ph.D. students.

Originality/value

The results of this study extend the use of the Schwartz theory of basic human values in explaining the academic success of Ph.D. students in Tanzanian universities. Past studies that applied this theory were based on secondary school and college students. Moreover, based on the author’s knowledge, this study is one of the early studies to systematically look into the role of personal values on Ph.D. students’ academic success. Thus, the study contributes to the existing literature on personal values and academic success because previous studies on this subject could not examine Ph.D. students’ success in isolation.
Deciphering the shadows: an empirical exploration of corruption’s impact on SMEs credit costs in OECD countries
Authors: Al Qudah Anas , Al-Qalawi Usama , Alwaked Ahmad
Published: March 2024

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the intricate relationship between corruption and the credit costs faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in OECD countries, a critical yet underexplored area in financial crime research. The primary aim is to dissect and understand how corruption impacts SMEs’ access to credit, highlighting a significant yet overlooked aspect of financial crime. This research seeks to fill a gap in the literature by providing empirical insights into the economic consequences of corruption, specifically on SMEs financing.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used secondary panel data from the World Bank and OECD databases. The data covered the period 2007–2020 for 25 OECD countries. This study used interest rate for SMEs loans as a dependent variable and GDP per capita, inflation and corruption index as independent variables. This study used the panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model to examine the relationship between variables.

Findings

The empirical findings derived from Panel ARDL postulate an intriguing dichotomy in the effects of GDP per capita, inflation rate and corruption on interest rates in both the short and long run. It was discerned that an increase in GDP per capita and inflation rate correlates with a decrement in interest rates in the long run, suggesting a potential compromise by central banks between controlling inflation and fostering economic growth.

Originality/value

This paper makes a novel contribution to the field of financial crime by illuminating the often-overlooked economic dimensions of corruption in the context of SMEs financing. It provides a unique perspective on the ripple effects of corrupt practices in credit markets, enriching the academic discourse and informing practical approaches to combating financial crime.
Manager attributes, psychological factors and sustainability reporting in small and mediumsized enterprises in Ghana
Authors: Owusu Acheampong , Venancio Tauringana , Asare Nicholas
Published: March 2024

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of manager attributes and psychological factors on the adoption of sustainability reporting (SR) among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on a cross-sectional data gathered using questionnaires administered to managers of SMEs in Ghana. The data is analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results reveal that SME managers with requisite educational qualifications and knowledge about sustainability accounting adopt SR. The attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control of managers of SMEs on issues of sustainability also affect the adoption of SR. However, SMEs with old and long-serving managers do not adopt SR. SMEs with manager attributes such as professional education, gender and religious affiliation do not appear to adopt SR.

Practical implications

There is the need for regulators and other stakeholders to sensitize, persuade and provide awareness, training and educational certification to support managers of SMEs to enable them to adopt SR.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature on SR by offering a clear understanding of how manager attributes and psychological factors influence the adoption of SR by SMEs in developing countries.
Dietary diversity linked to anthropometric measurements of women of reproductive age in Ekiti State, Nigeria
Authors: Olawuyi Yetunde , Antwi Janet , Adepoju Oladejo
Published: March 2024

Purpose

This purpose of this study was to assess dietary diversity among women of reproductive age (WRA) and the associations between consumption of a diversified diet and overweight/obesity statuses in Ekiti State, Nigeria.

Design/methodology/approach

Cross-sectional study of 207 WRA from six local government areas in Ekiti State, Nigeria, was done. A validated interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on sociodemographic characteristics, dietary intake and anthropometry. Dietary intake was assessed with 24-h dietary recall to calculate the Minimum Dietary Diversity Score for Women (MDD-W). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Spearman rank correlation and Chi square test at α0.05.

Findings

Majority of the participants (65.2%) were aged between 19 and 34 years, 58.5% were married and 49.8% had high school as their highest level of education. Mean MDD-W and body mass index (BMI) were 3.8 ± 0.9 and 25.46 ± 6.4 kg/m2, respectively. All participants (100%) consumed foods from the “grains, white roots and tubers” group and majority also from the “meat and poultry” group (79.7%) but ranked low in the consumption of foods from other food groups. Many were overweight (34.8%), obese (14.0%) and a few (1.9%) had morbid obesity. MDD-W was significantly associated with marital status (X2 = 7.7, P = 0.022) and BMI (X2 = 11.4, P = 0.023) and had a weak positive correlation with BMI (r = 0.189, P = 0.007).

Research limitations/implications

Study shows that both undernutrition and overweight/obesity coexist in the population, indicating a case of double burden of malnutrition (DBM) at a population level. However, further studies may be needed to investigate the extent of DBM at individual levels. Although there was a positive correlation between MDD-W and BMI, it cannot be used to predict causality. Study further reveals that the micronutrient intake of the WRA population in Ekiti is inadequate. Considering the importance of the 10 food groups highlighted in MDD_W to nutrition and health, the promotion of the consumption of foods from these food groups with more attention to the micronutrient-rich ones needs to be heightened.

Originality/value

Diet of participants was not diverse enough, indicating micronutrient inadequacy. Promotion of the consumption of a diverse diet, particularly from the food groups rich in micronutrient, needs to be heightened, while food groups high in calorie should be minimally consumed to forestall DBM.
Employing people who have “been there, experienced that” to inform innovative HRM responses to workforce mental health issues: practice insights from industry
Authors: Wang Ying , Chapman Melissa , Byrne Louise , Hill James , Bartram Timothy
Published: March 2024

Purpose

This case documents an innovative human resource management (HRM) practice adopted by an Australian organization in the energy sector, purposefully introducing lived experience informed “mental health advocate” (MHA) roles into the organization, to address pressing mental health workforce issues. MHA roles provide experiential, first-hand knowledge of experiencing mental health issues, offering a novel, common-sense and impactful perspective on supporting employees with mental health challenges.

Approach

Data that informed this case came from desktop research using publicly available resources, as well as a series of conversations with four key stakeholders in the organization. This approach allowed insights into Energy Queensland’s journey towards establishing novel MHA roles to delineate the day-to-day work practice of these roles.

Contribution to Practice

This is a novel HRM practice that has only recently emerged outside of the mental health sector. We discuss key considerations that enabled the success of the roles, including taking an evolutionary perspective, obtaining support from senior executives and relevant stakeholders, making a long-term financial commitment, and providing autonomy and flexibility in role design. This is the first article that documents this innovative practice to offer new insights to HRM scholars, as well as practical guidelines to other organizations in addressing workforce mental health issues.
Impact of executive isolation on leadership and learning culture: a study across chief executive officers and employees of technology enterprises in India
Authors: Kappal Rishi , Mishra Dharmesh K.
Published: March 2024

Purpose

Executive isolation, also known as workplace loneliness, its factors and impact are major issues for organizational development, future of work for leadership and learning culture. The purpose of this study is to examine the Executive isolation phenomenon where relationships between power distance, organizational culture and executive isolation of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) are analysed on how it is considered by their teams. The same is contextualized through the inputs received through interviews conducted with CEOs and employee surveys.

Design/methodology/approach

The qualitative in-depth interviews of five CEOs, and survey across 34 of the 50 employees, were undertaken over the course of two phases of this study. The investigation focused on identifying executive isolation of CEOs and perspectives of employees that can impact the leadership and learning progress of organizations based on work culture, power distance and decision-making; awareness and experience of executive isolation; workplace friendliness and rejection; and management development initiatives to minimize the impact of executive isolation. Qualitative data analysis was conducted using MAXQDA 2022 (Verbi Software, Berlin, Germany), which is a qualitative data analysis software.

Findings

The findings highlight and expose the significant gap between understanding and analysing of the factors due to which the CEOs undergo executive isolation. It also extends to providing details related to the lack of awareness of the teams’ actions contributing to the CEOs’ isolation. It further highlights the fact that the difference of perspectives between the CEOs and teams leads to the organization slowing in its learning activities due to the leaders’ own challenges of executive isolation The findings also provide immense need of developing knowledge assets and management development initiatives for learning interventions, to help understand, analyse and mitigate executive isolation, in the interest of the organizational learning and development.

Originality/value

Earlier research work have contextualized the executive isolation impact on CEOs ability to be a leader. This study extends it to include the implications of leadership and learning culture on the teams that are affected by organization culture, power distance, decision-making and analysing the gap between the understandings about executive isolation of the CEOs. Eventually, it interprets how CEOs courting the executive isolation impacts the overall developmental culture of the organization. This will help in asserting the serious need of new learning frameworks needed to minimize the impact of CEO-level executive isolation.
Contradictory Results: Reassessing the Impact of Loan‐to‐Value Restrictions on House Price Inflation
Authors: Andrews Antony
Published: March 2024

Using Bayesian Structural Time Series analysis, this study examines the causal impact of loan‐to‐value (LTV) restrictions imposed by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand in October 2013. By incorporating state‐space components, such as local linear trend, seasonality and regression, counterfactual values of house price indices are predicted. Surprisingly, the study reveals that the implementation of LTV restrictions had no significant effect on national house price indices, contradicting prior Central Bank studies that reported a nearly 3 percentage‐point decrease in housing cost inflation. This contradictory evidence challenges existing perceptions of the effectiveness of LTV restrictions in curbing house price inflation.
Colonoscopy combined with laparoscopy can improve post‐operative quality of life in patients with colon cancer
Authors: Ding Suyan , Zhu Buluan , Sun Tiantian , Qu Lili
Published: March 2024

Aim

The study aimed to elucidate the clinical efficacy of colonoscopy combined with laparoscopic radical resection for patients with colon cancer.

Methods

Cases with colon cancer were divided into the control group (received laparoscopic radical resection) and the experimental group (received colonoscopy combined with laparoscopic radical resection). Inflammatory cytokines’ levels and immune functions were evaluated before and after the operation. The 36‐item Short Form Health Survey (SF‐36) was used to evaluate the living quality.

Results

Relative to the control group, individuals in the experimental group had a shorter hospital stay and post‐operative anal exhaust, and reduced intraoperative blood loss. Changes in serum interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ), interleukin‐8 (IL‐8) and IL‐10 levels were minimal in the experimental group. Serum CD3+%, CD4+% and CD4+/CD8+ values of the two groups were significantly decreased compared with the preoperative values, which increased more significantly in the experimental group relative to the control group. After the operation, individuals in the experimental group presented higher SF‐36 scores than those in the experimental group. The experimental group presented a low incidence of post‐operative complications.

Conclusions

Colonoscopy combined with laparoscopic radical resection for colon cancer had only a little effect on immune function and inflammatory response. It can shorten the recovery time of patients and reduce post‐operative complications, which is worthy of further clinical promotion.
Unsubscribed and undemanding: Partisanship and the minimal effects of a field experiment encouraging local news consumption
Authors: Hopkins Daniel J. , Gorton Tori
Published: March 2024

Local newspapers convey extensive subnational political information but have dwindling audiences. In a nationalized and polarized information environment, can online interventions increase state/local news consumption and with what effects? We explore this question via a preregistered experiment randomizing Pennsylvania residents (n = 5059) to staggered interventions encouraging news consumption from leading state newspapers. A total of 2529 individuals were offered free online subscriptions, but only 44 subscribed; we find little evidence of treatment effects on knowledge, engagement, or attitudes. We then administered a second treatment element—promoting subnational news directly via Facebook feeds—with a higher application rate but similarly limited impacts. Observational analyses of these respondents and separate national samples show that Democratic political partisanship has come to predict local newspaper subscriptions. Contemporary local newspapers may face a demand‐side dilemma: The engaged citizens who formerly read them now prefer national, partisan content.
Characterising the motion and cardiorespiratory interaction of preterm infants can improve the classification of their sleep state
Authors: Zhang Dandan , Peng Zheng , Sun Shaoxiong , van Pul Carola , Shan Caifeng , Dudink Jeroen , Andriessen Peter , Aarts Ronald M. , Long Xi
Published: March 2024

Aim

This study aimed to classify quiet sleep, active sleep and wake states in preterm infants by analysing cardiorespiratory signals obtained from routine patient monitors.

Methods

We studied eight preterm infants, with an average postmenstrual age of 32.3 ± 2.4 weeks, in a neonatal intensive care unit in the Netherlands. Electrocardiography and chest impedance respiratory signals were recorded. After filtering and R‐peak detection, cardiorespiratory features and motion and cardiorespiratory interaction features were extracted, based on previous research. An extremely randomised trees algorithm was used for classification and performance was evaluated using leave‐one‐patient‐out cross‐validation and Cohen's kappa coefficient.

Results

A sleep expert annotated 4731 30‐second epochs (39.4 h) and active sleep, quiet sleep and wake accounted for 73.3%, 12.6% and 14.1% respectively. Using all features, and the extremely randomised trees algorithm, the binary discrimination between active and quiet sleep was better than between other states. Incorporating motion and cardiorespiratory interaction features improved the classification of all sleep states (kappa 0.38 ± 0.09) than analyses without these features (kappa 0.31 ± 0.11).

Conclusion

Cardiorespiratory interactions contributed to detecting quiet sleep and motion features contributed to detecting wake states. This combination improved the automated classifications of sleep states.
Supportive error feedback fosters students' adaptive reactions towards errors: Evidence from a targeted online intervention with Italian middle school students
Authors: Soncini Annalisa , Matteucci Maria Cristina , Tomasetto Carlo , Butera Fabrizio
Published: March 2024

Background

Although it is well established that students' adaptive reactions towards errors promote learning outcomes, little is still known about the role of error feedback in promoting these reactions.

Aim

Through a targeted intervention based on an online teaching unit, this study aimed at testing whether supportive error feedback promotes more adaptive students' reactions towards errors and higher learning outcomes.

Sample

A total of 250 (Mage  = 12.18, SD = .89; 46.4% girls) Italian middle school students took part in the intervention. Students were randomly assigned to either a discouraging error feedback condition (n  = 124) or a supportive error feedback condition (n  = 126).

Method

The intervention consisted of an online teaching unit, which students filled in at home, that was divided into pre‐test, intervention and post‐test phases. During the intervention, students replied to training questions and every time they made an error, informative feedback appeared: supportive smileys and sentences in the supportive feedback condition, and disappointed smileys and sentences in the discouraging feedback condition. Before the intervention, students filled in the pre‐test and after the intervention, students reported their reactions towards errors and filled in the post‐test.

Results

Receiving supportive feedback resulted in more adaptive affective‐motivational reactions towards errors, which in turn were related to more adaptive action reactions towards errors. Differently from our expectations, action reactions towards errors were not related to the post‐test scores.

Conclusions

Our findings can inform the development of online teaching units that promote an error‐oriented approach.
Coping styles and the developmental trajectories of anxiety symptoms in children during transition into early adolescence
Authors: Zhang Qiaochu
Published: March 2024

The study investigated how active and avoidant coping styles predicted the trajectory membership of anxiety symptoms during the transition into early adolescence. A total of 321 Chinese children aged 9 to 10 years were recruited from a primary school in mainland China. Self‐reported trait anxiety, coping styles and anxiety symptoms were assessed at baseline. After 6 months, self‐reported anxiety symptoms were measured at three follow‐up assessments with an interval of 6 months. Latent class growth modelling revealed high (18.7%) and low (81.3%) trajectories of anxiety symptoms in children during the transition into early adolescence. After controlling for trait anxiety, depression and sex, high active coping style predicted the trajectory of high anxiety symptoms, which was not moderated by trait anxiety. Before controlling for these covariates, the relation between active coping style and anxiety symptoms was in the opposite direction. A high avoidant coping style showed a trend to predict the trajectory of high anxiety symptoms only for children with low trait anxiety. These findings add a developmental context to the relationships of active and avoidant coping styles to anxiety symptoms and suggest that trait anxiety may moderate these relationships.
Anordissement, autochtonisation et rétention du personnel extrarégional de l'éducation, de la santé et des services sociaux au sein des communautés innues et naskapie de la Côte‐Nord (Québec)
Authors: Bellehumeur Charlotte , Guimond Laurie
Published: March 2024

La pénurie de main‐d'œuvre au sein de la fonction publique dans les communautés autochtones du Nord pose un double problème, celui d'engager sur‐le‐champ des professionnel·le·s, souvent des allochtones en provenance du Sud, et de s'assurer que leur intégration outrepasse les fondements du racisme systémique. Cet article se penche sur les mécanismes existants entourant un meilleur espace de rencontre entre les allochtones du Sud et les milieux de travail et les communautés innues et naskapie de la Côte‐Nord, au Québec. Des entrevues ont été menées auprès d'acteurs et d'actrices clés des secteurs de l'éducation, de la santé et des services sociaux afin de mettre en lumière les dynamiques de sensibilisation, de formation, d'intégration et de rétention existantes auprès des individus, des milieux de travail, des communautés, au sein du territoire environnant ainsi que de la région nord‐côtière. Les résultats soulèvent l'importance des processus d'anordissement et d'autochtonisation comme moyens d'amélioration de l'espace de rencontre en milieu professionnel autochtone.
The role of adolescent social inclusion in educational attainment among vulnerable youth
Authors: Renner Heidi M. , Rowland Bosco , Hutchinson Delyse , Toumbourou John W.
Published: March 2024

Background

Completing high school enables access to educational and employment opportunities associated with better physical and mental health and improved quality of life. Identifying modifiable factors that promote optimal educational trajectories for youth experiencing disadvantage is an important research focus. Social inclusion has been theorised to play a role in promoting better educational outcomes for this priority population, however limited research has examined this relationship.

Method

This study used three waves of data from the state‐representative Australian arm of the International Youth Development Study (IYDS) (youngest cohort, N = 733; 54% female, 95% Australian born) to examine the extent to which vulnerability in primary school (Grade 5; Mage = 10.97, SD = 0.38) and social inclusion in mid‐adolescence (Year 10; Mage = 15.50, SD = 0.53), were associated with school completion in young adulthood (post‐secondary; Mage = 19.02, SD = 0.43).

Results

Regression models identified an interaction between social inclusion and vulnerability (OR = 1.37, 95% CI [1.06, 1.77], p = .016), indicating that the association between vulnerability and school completion varied as a student's level of social inclusion increased. Higher social inclusion was beneficial for youth with lower levels of vulnerability but did not appear to influence school completion for the most vulnerable students.

Conclusions

For many young people, promoting social inclusion may support engagement in education and play a protective role. However, further research is needed to better understand the role of social inclusion for highly vulnerable youth, particularly the mechanisms via which social inclusion may have differential effects on school completion.
Temporal Gestures in Different Temporal Perspectives
Authors: Akbuğa Emir , Göksun Tilbe
Published: March 2024

Temporal perspectives allow us to place ourselves and temporal events on a timeline, making it easier to conceptualize time. This study investigates how we take different temporal perspectives in our temporal gestures. We asked participants (n = 36) to retell temporal scenarios written in the Moving‐Ego, Moving‐Time, and Time‐Reference‐Point perspectives in spontaneous and encouraged gesture conditions. Participants took temporal perspectives mostly in similar ways regardless of the gesture condition. Perspective comparisons showed that temporal gestures of our participants resonated better with the Ego‐ (i.e., Moving‐Ego and Moving‐Time) versus Time‐Reference‐Point distinction instead of the classical Moving‐Ego versus Moving‐Time contrast. Specifically, participants mostly produced more Moving‐Ego and Time‐Reference‐Point gestures for the corresponding scenarios and speech; however, the Moving‐Time perspective was not adopted more than the others in any condition. Similarly, the Moving‐Time gestures did not favor an axis over the others, whereas Moving‐Ego gestures were mostly sagittal and Time‐Reference‐Point gestures were mostly lateral. These findings suggest that we incorporate temporal perspectives into our temporal gestures to a considerable extent; however, the classical Moving‐Ego and Moving‐Time classification may not hold for temporal gestures.
Large Language Models: A Historical and Sociocultural Perspective
Authors: Ji Eugene Yu
Published: March 2024

This letter explores the intricate historical and contemporary links between large language models (LLMs) and cognitive science through the lens of information theory, statistical language models, and socioanthropological linguistic theories. The emergence of LLMs highlights the enduring significance of information‐based and statistical learning theories in understanding human communication. These theories, initially proposed in the mid‐20th century, offered a visionary framework for integrating computational science, social sciences, and humanities, which nonetheless was not fully fulfilled at that time. The subsequent development of sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology, especially since the 1970s, provided critical perspectives and empirical methods that both challenged and enriched this framework. This letter proposes that two pivotal concepts derived from this development, metapragmatic function and indexicality, offer a fruitful theoretical perspective for integrating the semantic, textual, and pragmatic, contextual dimensions of communication, an amalgamation that contemporary LLMs have yet to fully achieve. The author believes that contemporary cognitive science is at a crucial crossroads, where fostering interdisciplinary dialogues among computational linguistics, social linguistics and linguistic anthropology, and cognitive and social psychology is in particular imperative. Such collaboration is vital to bridge the computational, cognitive, and sociocultural aspects of human communication and human−AI interaction, especially in the era of large language and multimodal models and human‐centric Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Decoding human in vitro terminal erythropoiesis originating from umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells and pluripotent stem cells
Authors: Wang Xiaoling , Zhang Wei , Zhao Siqi , Yan Hao , Xin Zijuan , Cui Tiantian , Zang Ruge , Zhao Lingping , Wang Haiyang , Zhou Junnian , Li Xuan , Yue Wen , Xi Jiafei , Zhang Zhaojun , Fang Xiangdong , Pei Xuetao
Published: March 2024

Ex vivo red blood cell (RBC) production generates unsatisfactory erythroid cells. A deep exploration into terminally differentiated cells is required to understand the impairments for RBC generation and the underlying mechanisms. Here, we mapped an atlas of terminally differentiated cells from umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells (UCBMN) and pluripotent stem cells (PSC) and observed their dynamic regulation of erythropoiesis at single‐cell resolution. Interestingly, we detected a few progenitor cells and non‐erythroid cells from both origins. In PSC‐derived erythropoiesis (PSCE), the expression of haemoglobin switch regulators (BCL11A and ZBTB7A) were significantly absent, which could be the restraint for its adult globin expression. We also found that PSCE were less active in stress erythropoiesis than in UCBMN‐derived erythropoiesis (UCBE), and explored an agonist of stress erythropoiesis gene, TRIB3, could enhance the expression of adult globin in PSCE. Compared with UCBE, there was a lower expression of epigenetic‐related proteins (e.g., CASPASE 3 and UBE2O) and transcription factors (e.g., FOXO3 and TAL1) in PSCE, which might restrict PSCE's enucleation. Moreover, we characterized a subpopulation with high proliferation capacity marked by CD99high in colony‐forming unit‐erythroid cells. Inhibition of CD99 reduced the proliferation of PSC‐derived cells and facilitated erythroid maturation. Furthermore, CD99–CD99 mediated the interaction between macrophages and erythroid cells, illustrating a mechanism by which macrophages participate in erythropoiesis. This study provided a reference for improving ex vivo RBC generation.
Self‐change from problems with alcohol and drugs: A scoping review of the literature since 2010
Authors: De Meyer Florian , Bencherif Nellie , De Ruysscher Clara , Lippens Lou , Vanderplasschen Wouter
Published: March 2024

Issues

Self‐change from alcohol and drug use problems is increasingly acknowledged in research. Despite the growing number of published studies, the most recent broad review of this dispersed field dates back to 2010. The present review narratively synthesises key findings from empirical studies and critically identifies research gaps and directions for further research.

Approach

Following the PRISMA guidelines for scoping reviews, a systematic search was conducted in multiple scientific databases, resulting in the identification of 56 relevant articles with explicit empirical results on self‐change.

Key Findings

The scoping review presents findings related to: (i) methods and definitions used; (ii) the prevalence of self‐change; (iii) indicators of self‐change; (iv) the process of self‐change; and (v) population views on self‐change.

Conclusion

The review highlights the significant growth in research on self‐change considering key themes as well as the need for a relational and time‐bound approach to self‐change in research and practice.
Echinacoside promotes osteogenesis and angiogenesis and inhibits osteoclast formation
Authors: Yi Qingqing , Sun Miaomiao , Jiang Guowei , Liang Pengchen , Chang Qing , Yang Rong
Published: March 2024

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to demonstrate echinacoside promotes osteogenesis and angiogenesis and inhibits osteoclast formation.

Methods

We conducted a cell experiment in vitro to study how echinacoside affects angiogenesis, osteogenesis and osteoclast formation. We used polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting to detect the expression levels of proteins and genes related to angiogenesis, osteogenesis and osteoclast formation. We established a bone fracture model with rats to test angiogenesis, osteogenesis and osteoclast formation of echinacoside. We labelled osteogenic markers, blood vessels and osteoclastic markers in fracture sections of rats.

Results

The in vitro cell experiments showed echinacoside improved the osteogenic activity of mouse embryo osteoblast precursor cells and promoted the migration and tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells. In addition, it inhibited differentiation of mouse leukaemia cells of monocyte macrophage. Echinacoside increased the expression of related proteins and genes and improved angiogenesis and osteogenesis while inhibiting osteoclast formation by repressing the expression of related proteins and genes. From in vivo experiments, the results of IHC and HE experiments demonstrated echinacoside significantly decreased the content of MMP‐9 and improved the content of VEGF and OCN. The fluorescence immunoassay showed echinacoside promoted the activities of RUNX2 and VEGF and inhibited CTSK. Echinacoside reduced the content of TNF‐α, IL‐1β and IL‐6, thus demonstrating its anti‐inflammatory activity.

Conclusion

Echinacoside improved angiogenesis and osteogenesis and inhibited osteoclast formation to promote fracture healing.
Dosing‐time, feeding, and sex‐dependent variations of everolimus pharmacokinetics in mice
Authors: Ozturk Civelek Dilek , Ozturk Seyhan Narin , Akyel Yasemin Kubra , Gazioglu Isil , Pala Kara Zeliha , Orman Mehmet N. , Okyar Alper
Published: March 2024

Background

Everolimus is an oral mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor used as an immunosuppressant and anticancer. Its pharmacokinetics is highly variable, it has a narrow therapeutic window and shows chronotoxicity with the best time at ZT13 and worst time at ZT1 (ZT; Zeitgeber time, time after light onset) in the preclinical setting.

Objectives

In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether the pharmacokinetics of everolimus vary according to dosing time and whether sex and feeding status interfere with the chronopharmacokinetics.

Method

A single dosage of 5 mg/kg everolimus was administered orally to C57BL/6J male and female mice, in fed or fasted states at ZT1‐rest and ZT13‐activity times and blood and tissue samples were collected at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 12, and 24 h following drug administration. Ileum, liver, plasma, and thymus concentrations of everolimus were determined.

Results

Females had a greater ileum AUC0–24h than males when fed (P = 0.043). Everolimus AUC0–24h in the liver was substantially greater at ZT1 than at ZT13 in a fasted state (P = 0.001). Plasma Cmax, AUC0–24h, and AUCtotal were not statistically significant between the groups (P = 0.098). In one of the target organs of everolimus, the thymus, males had considerably higher amounts at ZT1 than females (P = 0.029).

Conclusion

Our findings imply that the pharmacokinetics of everolimus in mice may differ according to dosing time, sex, and feeding. Greater tissue distribution of everolimus at ZT1 may be associated with the worst tolerated time of everolimus. Our research suggests that oral chronomodulated everolimus therapy may be more effective and safer for cancer patients.
Whether you've tied the knot shouldn't matter: Anyone, regardless of marital status, should be permitted to adopt in New York if it is in the child's best interests
Authors: Struck Melissa
Published: March 2024

New York Domestic Relations Law Section 110, which outlines who can adopt, precludes married petitioners from adopting without their spouse joining in the adoption petition, even when all parties involved support the adoption, and it is in the child's best interests. Some judges have prioritized the child's best interests and granted adoptions in such cases, while others have rigidly construed the statute and denied them. Amending the statute so that anyone can adopt, regardless of marital status, if it is in the child's best interests would ensure the child's best interests are the judicial system's primary consideration in approving adoptions.
Predict the effects of climate change by studying the effects of climate change
Authors: Wiens John J. , Zelinka Joseph
Published: March 2024

Booth (2024) recently criticized our review on climate change and global species extinctions because we mentioned studies of introduced species but not forestry trials (deliberately introduced trees). However, as noted by Booth (2024), a relevant database is lacking for these trials, thus preventing their inclusion. More broadly, we suggest that researchers interested in extinction and other impacts of climate change should focus directly on studying the recent effects of climate change, rather than on introduced species, forestry trials, or other more indirect lines of evidence.
An a priori assessment of the impact of harvesting from five wild populations for conservation translocations
Authors: Mitchell William F. , Nance Alexandra H. , Clarke Rohan H.
Published: March 2024

Given the frequency with which translocation is implemented as a conservation tool, remarkably little research has assessed the sustainable management of translocation source populations. We sought to make an a priori estimate of the impact of multiple alternative harvesting scenarios on five passerine species endemic to Norfolk Island which may benefit from future translocation. Population parameters for our five focal taxa were quantified using distance sampling at 298 point surveys conducted in 2019. Intensive nest monitoring between 2018 and 2020 was used to estimate reproductive rates. We modelled population trajectories for all five taxa under alternative harvesting scenarios in forward projections over a 25‐year period to assess the likelihood that focal populations could recover from a harvesting event. We used sensitivity analysis to assess the robustness of models to uncertainty around some population parameters. We estimate that Norfolk Island National Park supported 1486 Norfolk Robins Petroica multicolor (95% confidence interval (CI) 1017–1954), 7184 Slender‐billed White‐eyes Zosterops tenuirostris (95% CI 5817–8551), 2970 Norfolk Grey Fantails Rhipidura albiscapa pelzini (95% CI 2094–3846), 3676 Norfolk Gerygones Gerygone modesta (95% CI 2869–4482) and 1671 Norfolk Golden Whistlers Pachycephala pectoralis xanthoprocta (95% CI 1084–2259) in 2019. All five species were predicted to recover from the harvest of 50, 100 or 150 individuals within 10 years. Despite considerable variation in population parameters, we demonstrate that all five focal taxa have the potential to sustain harvesting at rates required for future conservation translocations. We provide a clear comparison of differing intensity harvesting strategies for on‐ground managers. More broadly, we provide a rare example of an a priori assessment of the impact of harvesting for translocation.