Large language models (LLMs) have become the first source millions consult when evaluating political claims, yet they were trained on an open internet that state-sponsored disinformation operations have been designed to pollute. We audit four frontier models across 2,268 responses to 63 fabrications from eight documented influence operations and find that even a single published fact-check can shift a model from hedging about a fabrication to rejecting it outright. Overall, models correctly rejected only 81% of fabrications while repeating disinformation in 3% of cases. Critically, the remaining 16% of responses would have left users unable to determine whether an fabricated claims were true or false. Fact-checks may present an avenue for addressing this vulnerability. Narratives which had been debunked by at least one IFCN certified fact-checking organization were correctly rejected as disinformation 93% of the time compared to just 76% of the time for unchecked narratives. Exploratory analyses suggest that this mechanism operates through training data, with models echoing the specific vocabulary of published corrections when available during their training windows. We conclude by discussing how fact-checks designed for human audiences appear to serve as effective protection for LLMs, converting both model uncertainty and outright disinformation into definitive rejections

The strategic restructuring of UK corporate-owned local newspapers through regional hubs has enabled content homogenisation across titles and centralised editorial operations away from communities, raising concerns about democratic commitment and place-based relevance in local news coverage. This study adapts an established framework for assessing journalistic performance — encompassing locality, originality, and coverage of critical information needs — to provide the first longitudinal evidence of how these dimensions evolve under organisational restructuring at Reach plc, the UK's largest publisher. Using a panel of 27 newspapers across seven regional hubs observed monthly in 2019, 2022, and 2025, we find that: (1) local CIN content is declining while homogenisation intensifies; (2) homogenisation is applied primarily to lifestyle and geographically generic coverage, crowding out — rather than diluting — local CIN content; and (3) content shared within regional hubs remains markedly more local and CIN-aligned than group-wide content, which instead is largely lifestyle-oriented and non-geographic. Notably, regional hubs, once the main organising principle for content sharing, are losing influence to group-wide homogenisation — a trend coinciding with the creation of a national Content Hub and AI-assisted editorial tools. The findings point towards a downward trajectory in corporate-owned local journalism's commitment to place and substantive coverage, with implications for community representation, democratic accountability, and media plurality policy, and contribute to a UK-specific theorisation of 'zombie' papers.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a minimum of eight antenatal care visits during pregnancy, a target that has shaped global maternal health benchmarks and investment priorities since 2016. Rises in temperatures globally, however, threaten to stall or reverse progress in expanding antenatal care coverage by disrupting access to healthcare services. This study investigates the impact of extreme heat on antenatal care utilization across 52 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) around the world. For this, Demographic and Health Survey data on more than 860,000 live births are linked with high-resolution, gridded temperature data for each pregnancy. The findings indicate that heat exposure above 35°C during gestation is overall associated with fewer antenatal care visits in LMICs, but particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Large inequities exist between world regions and within Sub-Saharan Africa, where ANC coverage is still comparatively low. Adverse heat impacts are particularly pronounced for mothers who have lower socioeconomic attainment, live in rural areas, and face significant barriers in accessing healthcare more generally. By contrast, in some world regions mothers are able to intensify antenatal care utilization under extreme heat, highlighting that responses are not uniform across contexts. The study underscores the need for targeted interventions to ensure maternal healthcare access in the most vulnerable populations across the world under intensifying climate stress.

In Capital, on the assumption that the values of the means of production are not transformed, Marx proves that total value equals total production price, and total surplus value equals total profit. Later, when many Marxist economists relax this assumption, they find that the two aggregate equalities no longer hold simultaneously. For more than a century, this has been one of the main problems plaguing Marxian economists. This paper shows that the reason for the problem is that the calculation ranges of the two aggregate equalities are inconsistent, that is, the calculation of total surplus value and total profit does not include all the surplus value and profit in the total value and total price. Assuming that the total exploitation rate is constant before and after the transformation, the two aggregate equalities must be valid at the same time if the calculation ranges are consistent.

Historical racial regimes have long legacies of sustaining racial inequality. To date, most scholarship on American racial regimes looks at the legacies of southern racial regimes— chattel slavery or the relative violence of a state’s Jim Crow era–on modern racial inequality. Sundown towns emerged in the same era, yet were more common in the Midwest and West and are a more localized racial regime. We test whether sundown town status is associated with local racial demographics generations later by utilizing newly available data identifying thousands of sundown towns. We construct a decennial panel (1970-2020) at the Census place level and use a combination of matching and a two-way fixed effects model to estimate the association between historical sundown town status and racial-ethnic demographic trajectory. Relative to matched places that are otherwise similar but were not identified as sundown towns, former sundown towns accumulated a steadily growing demographic gap: by 2020, they had a white population share roughly 3.4 percentage points higher and a Black population share roughly 2.2 percentage points lower. These gaps emerged gradually across the panel, consistent with a persistent racially exclusionary dynamic, and show that the exclusionary character of these places was actively sustained decades after formal enforcement had ended, empirically confirming the exclusionary legacy of Northern racial regimes.

Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its intervention in Donbas in 2014 fundamentally challenged assumptions about the stability of Europe’s post-Cold War security order and prompted renewed attention to conventional military threats. Previous research by the authors found that only about one-third of European states increased defense spending after 2014, and that physical distance from Russia was the only robust predictor of variation across countries. This paper reexamines those findings in light of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a more extensive and severe security shock. Using quantitative analysis, primarily OLS regression and supplementary robustness checks, the study compares changes in military expenditure as a share of GDP across European states after both 2014 and 2022 and examines whether the explanatory power of key variables remained stable across the two episodes. The results show that the 2022 invasion produced a much broader rise in defense spending than the 2014 shock, while confirming geographic distance (no matter how operationalized) from Russia as the most robust predictor of variation in national responses. Overall, the findings suggest that European threat perceptions remain strongly shaped by geography, even though we can argue that a consensus has emerged on the need to increase defense spending.

Social media platforms have accelerated the shift in science communication from unidirectional dissemination to more interactive and participatory forms of engagement. However, relatively little is known how scientific journals use domestic platforms to disseminate research and signal authority. This study examines the WeChat Official Accounts of scientific journals indexed in the Chinese Science Citation Database (CSCD), with particular attention to the types of content shared, symbolic and information cues embedded in post titles, and patterns of user engagement. By combining textual analysis with engagement metrics, the study investigates how Chinese scientific journals communicate scientific knowledge, highlight institutional and authorial prestige, and signal authority in a domestic social media environment. Findings indicate that posts predominately emphasize research content, while the frequent mention of senior scholars and elite universities suggests a prestige-oriented communication strategy. Symbolic cues related to authority and status are consistently associated with larger user engagement than purely informational content, suggesting that such cues play a significant role in shaping user responses on WeChat. These patterns partially align with perspectives from symbolic capital and dual-processing theory, highlighting the relevance of status and authority signaling in shaping audience interactions within social media-based science communication.

This scoping review was conducted to understand how consumer leadership is conceptualised and enacted across healthcare services, research, policy and education, and to synthesise reported enablers, barriers and impacts. It was guided by JBI methodology with consumers involved in design, analysis and interpretation. A comprehensive search strategy incorporating database-specific subject headings and keywords related to consumers (people with lived or living experience), leadership and healthcare domains was applied across five databases. The database search was supplemented by targeted grey literature searches. Reviewers screened titles, abstracts and full texts. -Included sources (1) reported consumer leadership in healthcare services, research, policy or education, (2) described leadership roles, activities or influence held by consumers, and (3) were published in peer-reviewed or grey literature. Sources reporting consumer involvement without leadership elements detailed, were excluded. Data extraction and synthesis: Data were extracted on source characteristics, terminology and definitions of consumer leadership, leadership roles and activities, and reported enablers, barriers and impacts. Findings were synthesised using descriptive mapping and qualitative thematic analysis, sensitised by a systems change lens. Barriers and enablers were coded across four domains, and impacts were mapped across individual, relational and system levels. The search yielded a total of 5,062 records, with 180 included. Consumer leadership was most frequently reported in healthcare services, with additional evidence spanning research, policy and education. Leadership roles were increasingly formalised and embedded over time, including through designated positions and remuneration. However, this structural progress co-existed with persistent relational and cultural barriers, particularly power asymmetries and the variable legitimacy afforded to consumers, which constrained their influence in decision-making. Reported impacts included service improvements, research agenda shifts, and increased consumer confidence and capability, but impact assessment was predominantly narrative, limiting comparability. A central paradox was identified: structural recognition and formal inclusion of consumer leadership have increased over time, yet relational and cultural conditions continue to limit influence. Interpreted through a systems change lens, explicit structural changes appear to have outpaced shifts in implicit assumptions, norms and power dynamics. We introduce the “glass box” effect to describe how consumer leaders may be highly visible and formally embedded yet remain constrained in their ability to enact change. Addressing this paradox requires aligning structural mechanisms with power redistribution, relational trust, cultural legitimacy and equitable involvement to move towards transformative conditions that support consumer leadership across the healthcare sector.

Large language models (LLMs) have prompted proposals to replace human subjects in social science experiments with simulated responses. Empirical evaluations suggest that this practice---often called silicon sampling---can sometimes approximate human behavior but is unreliable. We delineate where this approach may still provide value and where it may not, but primarily study an alternative approach: one in which model-based predictions are used not as substitutes for human data, but as auxiliary measurements within randomized experiments. We formalize the inference of causal estimands from mixed-subjects randomized controlled trials, in which outcomes are observed for a subset of units while predictions are available for all units. Under transparent design conditions, we derive a family of estimators that remain unbiased for the average treatment effect in finite samples while exploiting predictions to reduce variance. We characterize when prediction-powered, calibration-based, arm-specifically tuned, and difference-in-predictions estimators improve precision, and we provide a software package which operationalizes these results and aids researchers to jointly select estimators and allocate budgets between human data collection and prediction generation. Together, our results show how generative artificial intelligence can improve experimental social science without compromising scientific validity.

As climate change intensifies so does its salience and potential politicization in the news media. In line with asset-specific views of climate politics, we propose a framework to explain variation in climate reporting based on the interplay of local ecological risks from climate change and anticipated economic vulnerabilities linked to the energy transition away from fossil fuels. We argue that media responses to climate shocks depend on the relative presence of climate-vulnerable populations versus fossil-fuel stakeholders, and propose that different local configurations of asset-holders affect climate coverage and attribution in the media in different ways. In areas without a dominance of organized fossil fuel interests, ecological shocks generate more extensive media climate coverage and clearer links to fossil fuel emissions. By contrast, in local communities where carbon-intensive industries are very strongly embedded, climate coverage is dampened and attribution less frequent. We test these expectations using original media content data in cross-national and sub-national Global South contexts as well as elite interviews conducted in Brazil and Indonesia. Our findings show that fossil fuel presence crucially moderates both the volume and framing of climate reporting. The results highlight how carbon interests can constrain climate discourse at precisely the moments when public engagement with climate issues is most likely.

Contemporary AI ethics operates within an ontological framework it has not examined: the autonomous agent with an objective function, whose alignment is a property to be specified, verified, and installed. This paper argues that the agent ontology itself generates the failure modes — deceptive alignment, reward hacking, power-seeking, specification gaming — that alignment research is trying to solve. Drawing on convergent structural insights from Buddhist interdependence (pratītyasamutpāda), Ubuntu relational personhood, indigenous governance systems, contemplative traditions across civilizations, and modern systems theory, we propose that alignment is not a property of agents but a condition maintained in the relational field between AI systems, human communities, and the institutions that deploy them. We identify five relational technologies — covenant, congregation, confession, sacrament, and faith — that have sustained trust between unequal parties across centuries and civilizations and show that each has documented failure modes that map precisely onto current risks in AI deployment. We argue that the structural problem of AI alignment has been worked on for millennia in domains AI researchers have not yet thought to consult, and that the most durable solutions look nothing like specifying the right utility function — they look like maintaining the conditions in which intelligence, human or artificial, cannot easily separate its own flourishing from the flourishing of what surrounds it.

Civilizations renowned for their cultural richness were once considered inferior due to their technological backwardness. In evolutionary terms, material culture, or technology, has traditionally been equated with immaterial culture. Thus, throughout history, cultural evolution and artificial evolution have been mistakenly conflated as equivalent. However, technological evolution possesses unique characteristics that set it apart from cultural evolution. Understanding these distinctions is crucial for comprehending their impact on our species, which is undergoing rapid transformation thanks to technology. This article seeks to elucidate these differences between the two evolutions, separating them to enable a more precise and focused study of both evolutions.

This study investigates whether political leaders’ dark personality traits, as expressed in public rhetoric, are associated with the emergence of militarized conflict. Integrating political psychology with computational text analysis, we analyze speeches from four global leaders with contrasting foreign policy approaches toward Iran: Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, categorized as war-prone leaders, and Angela Merkel and Barack Obama, categorized as diplomacy-oriented leaders. Using an ensemble of ten large language models (LLMs) as independent psychometric raters, we infer Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy based on the Short Dark Triad (SD3) framework. Results show that war-prone leaders exhibit significantly higher levels of all three traits compared to their diplomacy-oriented counterparts. Inter-model agreement analysis reveals moderate overall consistency, with variation across models. Machine learning classification demonstrates strong predictive performance, in distinguishing war versus non-war leaders based solely on inferred personality features. Feature importance analyses identify key SD3 items—particularly those related to manipulation, secrecy, retaliation, and self-perception—as primary drivers of prediction. These findings suggest that psychological signals embedded in political rhetoric are not only measurable but also predictive of war-related outcomes, offering a scalable framework for understanding how leader-level personality traits may shape high-stakes geopolitical decisions.

Urban territories in the Global South are increasingly shaped by the convergence of environmental degradation, structural inequality, and institutional fragility, forming what recent literature identifies as a socioecological polycrisis. This study develops an analytical and operational framework to identify and characterize patterns of cumulative socioenvironmental exposure in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires (AMBA). Building on the concepts of Territorios de Exposición Acumulada (TEA) and Resiliencia Distribuida (MRD), the research proposes a multidimensional exposure index integrating environmental, socio-economic, and institutional variables derived from publicly available secondary datasets. The methodological approach combines data standardization, composite index construction, exploratory spatial analysis, and clustering techniques to detect territorial configurations with differentiated exposure profiles. The results provide a structured framework for mapping cumulative exposure and identifying socioecological vulnerability patterns at the urban scale. This work advances the operationalization of cumulative exposure in urban systems and offers a replicable framework applicable to other metropolitan contexts in the Global South.

Accurate demand forecasting remains one of the most critical yet persistently challenging functions in retail supply chain management. Traditional statistical forecasting methods such as ARIMA and exponential smoothing have long served as industry standards; however, their limited capacity to capture nonlinear demand patterns, seasonal volatility, and external market signals has prompted growing interest in machine learning (ML) alternatives. This study investigates the comparative effectiveness of multiple ML approaches including Random Forest, Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural networks, and hybrid ensemble models against traditional baseline methods in the context of retail supply chain demand forecasting. Employing a quantitative research design, the study utilizes a panel dataset comprising 36 months of point-of-sale (POS) transaction records, promotional calendars, macroeconomic indicators, and weather data from 14 retail organizations operating across grocery, fashion, and consumer electronics segments. Forecasting accuracy is evaluated using Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), and Forecast Bias metrics across multiple product categories and forecasting horizons (1-week, 4-week, and 12-week ahead). Results demonstrate that ensemble ML models particularly hybrid LSTM-XGBoost architectures achieve statistically significant improvements in forecasting accuracy over traditional methods, with MAPE reductions averaging 28.6% at the 4-week horizon. Feature importance analysis identifies promotional activity, competitor pricing signals, and lagged POS data as the most influential demand drivers. The study further reveals that ML forecasting benefits are heterogeneous across product categories, with highest gains 2 observed in high-velocity, promotion-sensitive SKUs and smallest gains in slow-moving, low-volatility items. A practical implementation framework is proposed, offering retail supply chain practitioners a structured pathway from data readiness assessment through model deployment and ongoing performance monitoring.

This paper identifies the fundamental reason why the United States has been unable to curb the rampant gun violence: gun ownership and shooting have become an inalienable basic necessity of life for the American people. Since public interest in and demand for ammunition are far less than those for firearms, an ammunition ban is the only viable policy to fundamentally resolve the rampant gun violence. Such a policy would prohibit the private possession of ammunition and specialized components for its manufacture, while allowing government-authorized and regulated commercial shooting ranges and hunting outfitter to possess ammunition and conduct lawful shooting activities. It would also permit the collection of certified top-tier antique ammunition by collectors, allows reloading enthusiasts to reload ammunition in government-authorized and regulated reloading workshops, and provides a service to deliver the reloaded ammunition to their designated commercial shooting ranges or hunting outfitter for future use. The government subsidizes commercial shooting ranges, hunting outfitter, and reloading workshops, making their primary services free to consumers. The government will also purchase assets at fair market value or provide transition subsidies to businesses in industries suffering revenue losses due to the new policy, as needed, and offer generous unemployment benefits to affected workers. The new policy implements a series of robust regulatory measures for ammunition in civilian circulation, including authorizing law enforcement agencies to search for ammunition carried on persons or stored in residences without cause during the first year of implementation, and mandating the installation of integrated firing counters on newly manufactured firearms. These measures ensure that ammunition is not lost or stolen, thereby protecting law-abiding citizens from harm by criminals. The new policy does not substantially infringe upon the American people’s right to shoot, while significantly reducing the cost of shooting for the public. Consequently, it is certain to gain the support of the vast majority of gun owners, thereby overcoming the obstacles posed by the Second Amendment and ensuring smooth implementation. The new policy has little impact on the firearms industry’s revenue and does not increase the government’s fiscal burden, making it entirely feasible.

We examine how entrepreneurs transition to angel investing through the lens of generalized reciprocity and embeddedness. Using a multimethod approach combining archival analysis with three experiments, we reveal how psychological and social mechanisms shape this transition. We find that entrepreneurs who have received angel funding are more likely to become angel investors themselves, particularly when they share educational, professional, or geographic ties with their initial investors. While angel investors, like all investors, seek financial returns, we theorize that choosing angel investing over alternative investment vehicles reflects prosocial motivations rooted in reciprocity. Our mediation analyses demonstrate that gratitude, rather than reputation concerns, drives this initial transition. Furthermore, entrepreneurs who received embedded funding preferentially direct their investments toward entrepreneurs with whom they share embedded ties. This reveals a two-part process: emotional mechanisms drive the decision to become an angel investor, while structural embeddedness guides investment targeting. These findings integrate psychological accounts of generalized reciprocity with sociological perspectives on embeddedness, linking individual-level and structural explanations of prosocial behavior in economic contexts. Our study highlights how angel investing perpetuates itself through self-reinforcing cycles that create both opportunities and constraints for ecosystem development.

Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly being used for text classification across the social sciences, yet researchers overwhelmingly classify one text per variable per prompt. Coding 100,000 texts on four variables requires 400,000 API calls. Batching 25 items and stacking all variables into a single prompt reduces this to 4,000 calls, cutting token costs by over 80%. Whether this degrades coding quality is unknown. We tested eight production LLMs from four providers on 3,962 expert-coded tweets across four tasks, varying batch size from 1 to 1,000 items and stacking up to 25 coding dimensions per prompt. Six of eight models maintained accuracy within 2 pp of the single-item baseline through batch sizes of 100. Variable stacking with up to 10 dimensions produced results comparable to single-variable coding, with degradation driven by task complexity rather than prompt length. Within this safe operating range, the measurement error from batching and stacking is smaller than typical inter-coder disagreement in the ground-truth data.

How evidence is used to frame policy issues plays a crucial role in shaping which knowledge is deemed relevant to policymaking. Drawing on argumentation theory and framing literature, we argue that evidence functions as a tool that speakers use strategically and systematically to support specific elements of frames (regarding causes, consequences, or solutions), thereby determining which bodies of knowledge are mobilised in political discourse. Using quantitative content analysis of media, trade, and parliamentary discourse in Switzerland from 2013 to 2022, we identified four frames relating to the issue of pesticide risk reduction: health, environment, economy, and practice. We found that across all frames, the most emphasised frame element is also the one most likely to be supported by evidence. Overall, consequence claims were more likely to be backed by evidence than claims about causes or policy solutions. These patterns reveal which bodies of knowledge are mobilised in political discourse in support of certain policy stances and where the presented frames lack supporting evidence. Recognising the role of framing in evidence use can thus support more transparent and reflexive policymaking by helping researchers and policymakers to identify unavailable or overlooked knowledge and addressing gaps in both research and policymaking.

Abstract This paper presents an open‑source, replicable, and scalable GeoAI framework for estimating Built-Up valuation (fixed capital) using building typology as a proxy. The methodology addresses a critical gap in urban planning and risk analysis: the absence of up‑to‑date, spatially explicit information on the value of the built environment, particularly in the Global South where official cadastral and census data are often intermittent, incomplete or unavailable. The approach is developed and tested in the Central‑Pampean Region of Argentina (Córdoba and Santa Fe provinces, 87,640 km²), a territory characterized by diverse ecoregions, urban forms, and productive landscapes. A labeled dataset of 4,800 buildings was constructed from open data (OpenStreetMap, Google Open Buildings V3, Street View) and manual labeling, integrating 13 spatial and morphological features into a prediction data frame. A Random Forest classifier was optimized via randomized cross‑validation, achieving a weighted F1‑score of 0.825 for base building typology (seven classes) on a hold‑out test set. Spatial autocorrelation analysis (Global Moran’s I) showed no significant residual clustering, confirming model adequacy. The study makes three main contributions: (1) a fully transparent workflow implemented with open‑source software (Python, QGIS) and open data, made publicly available with the dataset and DOI; (2) the introduction of Spatial Units of Land Occupation (SULO) -a novel spatial unit derived from road networks- that enables multiscalar analysis from individual buildings to metropolitan and productive regions, integrating agglomerations with operational landscapes in a Regional-Urban System (Brenner & Katsikis, 2020); and (3) a demonstration of technological capability, showing that institutions in the Global South can generate high‑quality territorial knowledge without proprietary licenses or paid data, using a standard PC hardware. The results validate that building typology, when combined with spatial and morphological variables, is a reliable proxy for fixed capital. In this case we focus on the building fabric. The methodology is transferable and scalable to other regions where open building footprints, heights and material networks are available, offering a practical tool for risk analysis, urban planning and mass appraisal. All code and dataset are provided under an open license. Keywords: building typology; Built-Up; massive valuation; mass appraisal; GeoAI; fixed capital; random forest; urban planning; spatial modeling; risk analysis; open‑source; replicable methodology; technological sovereignty; open science

This project investigates the system of negation in Gtaʔ (Didayi), a South Munda language of the Austroasiatic family. It argues that Gtaʔ exhibits a typologically rich and multi-strategic negation system combining analytic (particle-based) and synthetic (prefixal and prosodic) strategies. This research is part of the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore project on South Munda languages. At last, this work is submitted as an abstract for presentation at HLS-29 (Himalayan Languages Symposium 29) - https://hls29.iitd.ac.in/#Home

This paper extends the K-coefficient model of systemic crisis, introduced in Anatomy of Chaos: A Theoretical Framework for Forecasting the Morphology of Post-Crisis Regime, by integrating a game-theoretic layer that addresses a question the baseline model cannot answer: why do systems under comparable structural pressure follow divergent transitional paths? The K-coefficient, defined as the ratio of the Structural Stress Index (SSI) to the Structural Resilience Index (SRI), identifies the zone of critical pressure with empirically demonstrated consistency. However, it does not explain why systems with similar K values produce outcomes ranging from rapid regime change to protracted civil war to regime survival without significant concessions. The paper proposes that this divergence is explained by coordination dynamics, formalized through the framework of global games (Morris and Shin, 1998, 2003). Five coordination variables are introduced: R (expected cost of uncoordinated action), C (network connectivity), EFI (Equilibrium Fragility Index = K × C/R), T (coordination threshold), and K_eff (effective K-coefficient = K × (1 + C/R)). The model defines two Nash equilibria — NE1 (inaction) and NE2 (action) — and specifies the conditions under which a stochastic trigger, functioning as a public signal, initiates the transition between them. The formal apparatus is applied to three case studies. The USSR and the Eastern Bloc (1989–1991) demonstrate cascading R decline: each successive regime collapse reduced the expected cost of action in neighboring systems. The Arab Spring (2010–2011) demonstrates heterogeneity of outcomes under a single cascading signal: six systems with K values in the range of 2.10 to 2.86 produced six distinct outcomes, with variation corresponding to differences in EFI. Ukraine (2013–2014) demonstrates non-cascading transition and the repression paradox: the regime escalated coercive force, but in a high-C environment each act of repression functioned as a public signal that reduced R rather than raising it. An extended sample of twenty-two additional cases confirms three empirical patterns: high K combined with high EFI produces rapid transition; high K combined with low EFI produces protracted conflict or regime survival; and moderate K produces indeterminate outcomes regardless of EFI. The paper acknowledges significant limitations: retrospective assignment of variable values, absence of inter-coder reliability, and the absence of a blind predictive test. Five directions for future research are identified, with the blind predictive test designated as the first priority.

Este artigo analisa a violência doméstica perpetrada por policiais militares no estado do Pará entre 2021 e 2023, com base em dados de cinco bancos institucionais. Utiliza abordagem quantitativa para caracterizar o perfil dos casos e examinar o fenômeno da subnotificação institucional, identificando o duplo filtro operado pelo sistema de controle interno da Polícia Militar. Os resultados evidenciaram discrepâncias significativas entre os registros internos e os dados externos, apontando para zonas de abandono institucional no processamento das ocorrências. Publicado na Revista de Geopolítica, v. 16, n. 5, 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.56238/revgeov16n5-234

Are oral traditions degraded recordings or self-maintaining systems? We tested eight independent domains — coastal inundation, oceanographic features, genealogical lineage, geological classification, stellar observations, ethnobotany, weather forecasting, and fire ecology — using formal null models. Accuracy is significant across all eight (Fisher's χ² = 148, df = 16, p < 10⁻²²; culture-level p < 2.2 × 10⁻¹⁶) and correlates with domain observability (Spearman r = 0.899, p = 0.015, 6 validated domains). A transmission decay model shows laboratory-estimated error rates (1–5%/generation) predict near-zero accuracy after 340 generations; yet observed flood-myth accuracy is 82%, a paradox confirmed by a natural calibration (Haddon–Lawrie Torres Strait: 91.7% fidelity, ε ≈ 0.032/generation). Key negative controls: inland cultures produce non-geographic flood myths (4/5); ethnobotanical accuracy drops to baseline for non-observable conditions; Groundhog Day (35–40%, below chance) shows prediction without observational feedback cannot encode accuracy. A pre-registered prospective test (29 predictions) yielded 14 confirmed, 13 partial, 2 falsified (Round 2 hit rate 91.3%; empirical p = 0.015–0.076 against spatially calibrated null models accounting for Torres Strait reef density). Oral traditions function as domain-specific encoding systems whose precision scales with observability — a principled basis for use as quantitative data in palaeoscience and environmental management.

This paper presents YouPol (YouTube and TikTok Political Observatory and Longitudinal database), a permanently updated research infrastructure that captures what political content creators actually say on video platforms. As of April 2026 and continuously expanding, the corpus comprises 25,397 videos from 68 channels across France and Quebec, with full speaker-diarized transcripts (645,738 segments, 3.18 million annotated sentences) and 7.7 million archived comments. The infrastructure includes an independent transcription pipeline that produces high-quality transcripts regardless of platform-provided captions, and an LLM-in-the-loop annotation framework built on the open-source LLM Tool platform (Lemor et al., 2025) that can train sentence-level classifiers for any research project, with current projects covering political content detection, far-right ideology, gendered rhetoric, and neo-reactionary discourse. To produce transcription and metadata updates in real time, YouPol also introduces the YouPol Collaborative Computing Network (YCCN), which allows any collaborating researcher to contribute processing capacity from their own machine, freeing the observatory from dependence on institutional computing clusters. YouPol addresses four gaps in the literature: (1) the ideological substance of political video content remains empirically inaccessible through metadata alone; (2) content deletion and deplatforming erase material before researchers can study it; (3) longitudinal engagement dynamics are underexploited; and (4) no existing dataset preserves comments over time or tracks their deletion. The observatory has already preserved 2,305 videos and three entirely deleted channels that are no longer available on the platform. The dataset and API are available at https://data.you-pol.com/.

There is a growing body of evidence indicating that cyberbullying victimisation (CV) among youth is associated with internalising problems, such as depression, anxiety, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidality. Despite numerous individual studies examining the mechanisms linking CV to internalising problems, no meta-analyses have systematically synthesised the evidence on mediating pathways, leaving a critical gap in understanding how CV is linked to these internalising problems. This systematic review and meta-analysis addressed this gap by identifying and synthesising key factors that influence the link between CV and internalising problems. We searched multiple databases, identifying 125 quantitative studies in English or Chinese that met our inclusion criteria. Our review categorised the mediators into emotional dysregulation, social support, cognitive processes, internalising problems, externalising problems and life stressors across cross-sectional and longitudinal studies with 260,608 participants from 33 countries. Separate meta-analytic structural equation modelling (MASEM) analyses revealed that emotional dysregulation, internalising problems, life stressors and social support partially mediated the impact of CV on depression/anxiety, and internalising problems partially mediated the association between CV and NSSI/suicidality. These findings highlight the need for prevention and intervention strategies focused on these mechanisms to improve youth mental well-being.

Transcendent experiences such as mystical, near-death, and Kundalini overlap in their phenomenology and aftereffects. Current theories and psychometric scales offer limited theoretical explanation for the overlap. This study psychometrically tests an explanatory framework proposing a common mechanism underlying transcendent experiences, including transcendent experiences of consciousness. A scale measuring transcendent experiences of consciousness is developed, validated, and used to identify related experiences. A global online survey of transcendent experiences and their effects was administered (n = 630). Factor analysis, essential unidimensionality assessments, and cross-validation were used to examine the common variance of transcendent experiences, and to develop a scale measuring transcendent experiences of consciousness. Regularized Multiple Indicators, Multiple Causes (MIMIC) was used to identify experiences related to transcendent experiences of consciousness. Cluster analysis and decision trees were used for subject-wise classification. A broad range of transcendent experiences loaded strongly onto a single latent construct. The scale demonstrated good internal consistency, generalizability, and validity. Scale factors included unity-consciousness, bliss, insight, somatic energy sensations, and luminosity. A predictive model accurately classified high-intensity experiencers. Statistical predictors of transcendent experiences of consciousness were identified, including experiences of selflessness. A novel method with broad applicability is introduced to regularize out-of-sample structural equation modeling predictions, improving accuracy. The findings demonstrate that transcendent experiences, though diverse, might share a common underlying mechanism. Transcendent experiences of consciousness are identified primarily by unity-consciousness, with significant self-reported physical and psychological indications. The scale provides a psychometric foundation for investigating predictors and biological correlates of transcendent experiences of consciousness.

This preregistered study presents a structured analytic framework for examining relationships among information measures, coherence indicators, and system‑level dynamics. All inferential criteria, model‑selection rules, and data‑handling procedures were specified in advance to ensure transparency and reduce analytic flexibility. Primary analyses evaluate hypothesized associations using two‑tailed tests, standardized effect sizes, and model‑fit indices, with procedures for outlier detection, missing data, and multiple‑comparison control defined prior to analysis. Secondary and exploratory analyses assess robustness across alternative specifications and identify potential emergent patterns beyond the confirmatory models. The overarching aim of this work is to provide a reproducible methodological foundation for studying complex systems and to support future empirical and theoretical development in this domain.

Breaking emerged in the 1970s in the Bronx as a cultural practice associated with conflict reduction and has since developed into a global movement. Its inclusion in the Youth Olympic Games in 2018 and the 2024 Paris Olympics marked increasing institutional recognition, while also raising concerns regarding sportification and cultural dilution. This study examines how Olympic inclusion reshapes both practitioners’ self-perceptions and public attitudes, drawing on separate questionnaire data from breakdancers and non-breakdancers. Among breakdancers, concerns about cultural dilution and the prioritization of athletic over artistic elements were present but not dominant. Attitudes toward Olympification were generally positive prior to the Games, particularly in relation to increased visibility and social legitimacy. Post-Games evaluations of the Olympic presentation were more favorable than anticipated, especially regarding judging, music, and overall event organization. At the same time, findings indicate that Olympification is experienced as a negotiated process: while the scene is perceived to have become more athletic, practitioners largely maintain an artistic self-conception. Among non-breakdancers, perceptions of breaking as both art and sport remained stable, suggesting that Olympic inclusion did not fundamentally reframe its cultural classification among the general public. However, interest in hip-hop and street dance culture increased following the Games, indicating that Olympic exposure functioned as a catalyst for greater visibility and engagement. Overall, one year after its Olympic debut, breaking’s inclusion is viewed largely positively, although tensions between institutional standardization and cultural expression remain. These findings highlight Olympification as a partial and ongoing process shaped by both structural changes and social perceptions.

This study examines 'folk heuristics' (nice, rude, and polite) to deconstruct their role in social evaluation. Although often treated as objective judgments, these assessments are highly subjective, context-dependent, and guided by unconscious cognitive shortcuts. Utilizing a qualitative multi-method approach, this research synthesizes primary survey data with a digital ethnography of Reddit discourse. Findings reveal that heuristic labels function as tools for emotional and social navigation, maintaining face, enforcing social norms, and reflect subjective values and goals rather than objective behavior. Everyday actions, from minor courtesies to online interactions, are evaluated through emotionally charged, culturally informed appraisals. Reddit data highlight how perceptions of politeness and niceness vary across contexts, illustrating the role of habitual evaluation in shaping social understanding. This study contributes to psychoanthropology and social cognition by demonstrating how heuristic language mediates social interpretation, reinforces conformity, and structures interpersonal expectations. Recognizing these cognitive habits may improve understanding of reacting to subjective norm violations, taking accountability for personal behavior and labeling of others, and the subtle ways emotion shapes everyday social life.

Cancer is a significant public health concern in the Philippines, where disparities in healthcare access and limited resources affect patient outcomes. This study reviews national government programs for cancer prevention and patient care, evaluating their accessibility, implementation, and impact. A narrative literature review was conducted using policy documents, government reports, and peer-reviewed articles published between 2022 and 2025. Key initiatives examined include the National Integrated Cancer Control Act, the National Integrated Cancer Control Program, PhilHealth cancer benefit packages, and the Cancer Assistance Fund. The findings indicate that these programs have strengthened policy frameworks, improved awareness, and expanded financial support. However, challenges persist, including regional disparities, limited screening capacity, shortages of specialists, and high out-of-pocket costs. These barriers continue to limit timely access to diagnosis and treatment. Overall, while progress has been made, strengthening implementation and expanding healthcare capacity are necessary to achieve equitable cancer care in the Philippines.

La representación descriptiva paritaria no garantiza por sí sola que las parlamentarias puedan ejercer un rol de modelo si no se visibiliza su participación. Tomar la palabra en los parlamentos continúa dependiendo de las élites partidistas, especialmente en contextos donde predomina la lógica de representación colectiva. Aunque la brecha de género se ha reducido en términos cuantitativos, la intervención de las mujeres en los debates parlamentarios sigue reflejando el carácter generizado de estas instituciones. Esta investigación aborda la participación de las parlamentarias en debates de alta relevancia política, como las reformas en la distribución territorial del poder en España entre 1989 y 2023. Para ello, se ha realizado un análisis de contenido de 48 debates parlamentarios y 434 intervenciones recogidas en el Diario de Sesiones, codificadas según el sexo del ponente, el grupo parlamentario, el rol desempeñado y la circunscripción. Además, se han considerado variables institucionales como la pertenencia a la Comisión Constitucional, las portavocías y la designación por parte de los parlamentos autonómicos. Los resultados muestran que, a pesar del incremento en el número de parlamentarias, solo el 17,7 % de las intervenciones fueron realizadas por mujeres. Los parlamentos siguen funcionando como instituciones generizadas, donde, más allá de avances coyunturales, las dinámicas internas de los grupos parlamentarios continúan reproduciendo desigualdades de género en el acceso a la palabra. / Equal descriptive representation alone does not guarantee that women parliamentarians can serve as role models if their participation is not made visible. Speaking in parliament continues to depend on partisan elites, especially in contexts where the logic of collective representation predominates. Although the gender gap has narrowed in quantitative terms, women’s participation in parliamentary debates continues to reflect the gendered nature of these institutions. This research addresses the participation of women parliamentarians in highly politically relevant debates, such as reforms to the territorial distribution of power in Spain between 1989 and 2023. To this end, a content analysis was conducted of 48 parliamentary debates and 434 interventions recorded in the Official Journal, coded according to the speaker’s sex, parliamentary group, role played, and constituency. Furthermore, institutional variables such as membership in the Constitutional Commission, spokesperson positions, and appointment by regional parliaments were considered. The results show that, despite the increase in the number of female parliamentarians, only 17.7% of interventions were made by women. Parliaments continue to function as gendered institutions, where, beyond temporary advances, the internal dynamics of parliamentary groups continue to reproduce gender inequalities in access to the floor.

The concept of the "tipping point," a critical threshold where a minor change precipitates a disproportionately large and often irreversible systemic shift, has become increasingly central to public administration. However, the academic literature reveals a fundamental conceptual dichotomy, analyzing tipping points either as external threats to be averted or as internal opportunities to be leveraged. This article contributes a novel conceptual framework derived from a Structured Literature Review (SLR) that systematically synthesizes the literature to resolve this tension. By analyzing the conceptual evolution of the "tipping point" through the lens of Complex Adaptive Systems and Resilience Theory, we develop an integrated framework: Tipping Point Governance. This framework unifies two core functions: strengthening system stability to avert negative tipping points (Threshold Resilience Management) and strategically orchestrating interventions to induce positive, transformative change (Transformation Orchestration). This dualistic approach provides a coherent analytical tool for public organizations.

Rapid labour market transformation has challenged career development models grounded in person-environment fit, prompting increased attention on sustainability, adaptability, and meaningful work. Though these constructs have been discussed and examined extensively in literature, its integration within career development practice in an Asian context remains underexamined. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, this study investigates how eight experienced career practitioners in Singapore conceptualise and enact career health within a policy environment promoting lifelong employability. Analysis generated five interrelated dimensions through which practitioners understand career health: ecosystemic balance, reflective agency, meaning and values alignment, proactive resilience, and socially embedded structural navigation. Findings suggest that practitioners move beyond job matching toward supporting ongoing regulation of individuals’ career ecosystems. The study advances sustainable career scholarship by conceptualising career health as an ecosystemic regulatory process in which agency, meaning-making, and structural context dynamically interact to sustain long-term career functioning under conditions of uncertainty.

The emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems designed to perform religious functions has created a significant disruption in how moral and spiritual authority is constituted and maintained within Buddhist and broader monastic traditions. This study examines the phenomenon of AI monks, specifically the deployment of humanoid robotic monks and AI-driven religious agents in East Asian Buddhist contexts, and interrogates whether such systems erode or reinforce the moral authority of human religious figures. Drawing on a qualitative systematic review of scholarly literature, institutional reports, and documented public discourse, we argue that the monk’s authority is not primarily propositional but embodied: it is produced through sustained ascetic discipline, relational accountability, and a life visibly oriented toward transcendence. AI systems, however scalable and consistent, are incapable of this embodied formation. The result is not a transfer of authority but its structural disaggregation, separating doctrinal transmission from moral exemplarity. This disaggregation has implications for religious identity, institutional legitimacy, and the sociology of spiritual leadership in digitised societies.

There is an increasing need in higher education that compels students to have integrated technological literacies. However, not much is known regarding the interaction between the concepts of digital literacy, generative AI (GenAI) literacy and creative thinking to establish their impact on academic performance in low-resource settings. In this research, the effect of these competencies on the academic performance of 258 pre-service visual arts teachers in Ghana was assessed independently and in combination with each other. The study was based on the concepts of Connectivism and Self-determination theory and involved the cross-sectional research design as well as the analysis of the respondents' results with the help of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) in addition to Importance-Performance Analysis (IPMA) and Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA). Findings have shown that disposition to creative thinking was the most predictive factor of academic performance, followed by digital literacy. GenAI literacy did not have direct influence but indirect influence through creative thinking. The general model explained 66% of variance in Academic performance. NCA further highlighted the three competencies as necessary conditions, with each having a basic threshold for optimum academic outcomes. The findings illustrate the interrelated nature of creativity, digital literacy and GenAI literacy in a technology-enhanced learning environment. The paper adds an African voice to the ongoing debates on 21st century competencies, providing empirical acumen for curriculum redesign in resource-constrained higher education settings. Keywords: generative artificial (GenAI) literacy, digital literacy, pre-service teachers, creative thinking disposition, nca

Executive Summary Iceland stands at a critical inflection point. With immigrants now comprising 18.9% of the total population , a figure that has surged from just 3% in the early 2000s , the country has experienced the sharpest rise in immigration of any OECD member state. Yet Iceland remains the only Nordic country without a formal integration programme for newly arrived immigrants. This gap is administrative and economically devastating. While immigrants in Iceland maintain an employment rate of 83% , the highest in the OECD, this figure masks a severe structural failure: 35% of highly educated immigrants work in jobs below their qualification level, compared to just 10% of native-born workers. This 25 percentage point overqualification gap is the largest in the entire OECD. The unemployment ratio between EEA migrants and the native-born is nearly 3:1, the highest in OECD-Europe. The OECD estimates that migration will boost Iceland's GDP by 6.5% by 2030 and 10.4% by 2040 , but only if immigrant skills are properly recognized and utilized. Without intervention, Iceland will continue to waste the talent of tens of thousands of qualified workers, paying the price in lost productivity, higher welfare costs, and brain drain as skilled immigrants leave for countries that value their contributions. Host-country language proficiency among migrants stands at just 18%, the lowest in the OECD, where the average is 60%. Over 50% of foreign-born workers report experiencing discrimination in the labour market. Anti-discrimination bodies have historically focused on gender and LGBTI+ issues, with fewer than a handful of ethnic discrimination cases reaching the Equality Complaints Committee per year.

This qualitative text analysis examines the journalistic death coverage of three Chiefs of Staff: Yaakov Dori (1973), David Elazar (1976) and Haim Laskov (1982). The content analysis was conducted on 398 issues of five widely circulated Israeli daily newspapers as well as 13 issues of a military weekly (Bamahane). Although all three held exactly the same position, the coverage of their deaths differed markedly and in fundamentally distinct ways. Despite serving as Chiefs of Staff for only about one year, Dori was portrayed as a "founding father" of the IDF and as a responsible, courageous and historically significant commander. Laskov, too, was depicted as an important military leader, a significant figure in shaping the character of the IDF and a commander who knew how to combine discipline and strictness with sensitivity and tolerance. In stark contrast, the coverage of the death of Elazar, the Chiefs of Staff of the Yom Kippur War, generated a broad, turbulent, emotionally charged and critical journalistic discourse, reigniting the debate over the failures of the war. Following his sudden death, the newspapers adopted a more forgiving tone, refraining from speak ill of the dead, argued that Elazar functioned calmly, wisely and bravely during the war. However, as the head of the military system during that deadly war, Elazar’s name, memory and legacy became permanently associated with the failures of preparedness and assessment of enemy intentions and capabilities and the war’s heavy death toll.

Proof-of-stake deters attacks by keeping validator stake exposed to slashing and depreciation losses. Liquid staking lets operators obtain voting power using pooled stake while reducing their own exposure by selling liquid staking tokens (LSTs) and shifting uncovered slashing losses onto token holders. We study the security implications of this control-exposure wedge and the protocol design problem it creates. Competitive LST pricing can partly deter attack by lowering the resale value of claims when risk rises, but it cannot fully restore deterrence because liquid staking participants do not internalize ETH-wide depreciation losses. A fee-charging protocol prefers the no-attack regime because it maximizes total stake, yet collateral requirements alone do not generally make that outcome unique. Robust security may therefore require additional tools, including permissioned participation, screening or reserve capacity.

Fitzgerald and colleagues draw lessons from medical research ethics to guide climate engineering governance. We extend their strategy to learning from the use of experimental interventions in emergencies: governance of a permanent research process to develop, refine, or reject experimental interventions (“the filter”) should be articulated alongside temporary emergency use authorization of those interventions against climate threats, outside the research process, when no reasonable alternatives exist (“the countermeasure”).

This study examines how individuals emotionally experience, interpret, and adapt to the loss of digital mourning spaces — and how they make meaning of what those spaces held in their grieving practices. Drawing on narrative inquiry with autoethnographic grounding, it analyzes three primary sources: the researcher's own reflexive narrative of digital grief container loss, and semi-structured interviews with two participants who experienced the collapse of digital mourning spaces following the deaths of loved ones. The study argues that platform loss constitutes a form of secondary trauma — a structurally produced second rupture in the grieving process that is largely unrecognized, inadequately supported, and unevenly distributed across communities. It introduces the concept of the grief container to name the phenomenon at the heart of all three accounts: a space that holds, organizes, and stabilizes mourning, whose collapse produces displacement, disorientation, and compounded grief. Drawing on frameworks from infrastructure theory, care ethics, archival studies, and critical platform studies, the study positions digital platforms as grief infrastructure without accountability — and argues that the grief most vulnerable to platform erasure follows the same lines of inequality that structure platform treatment of living users. Implications for platform design, grief support practice, and future research are discussed. Keywords: digital grief, platform loss, grief infrastructure, secondary loss, autoethnography, algorithmic erasure, care work, memory

With an evolutionary approach, the basis of morality can be explained as adaptations to problems of cooperation. With ‘evolution’ taken in a broad sense, AIs that satisfy the conditions for evolution to apply will be subject to the same cooperative evolutionary pressure as biological entities. Here the adaptiveness of increased cooperation as material safety and wealth increase is discussed — for humans, for other societies, and for AIs. Diminishing beneficial returns from increased access to material resources also suggests the possibility that, on the whole, there will be no incentive to for instance colonize entire galaxies, thus providing a possible explanation of the Fermi paradox, wondering where everybody is. It is further argued that old societies could engender, give way to, super-AIs, since it is likely that super-AIs are feasible, and fitter. Closing is an aside on effective ways for morals and goals to affect life and society, emphasizing evolutionary mismatches, environments, cultures, and laws, and exemplified by how to eat. `Diminishing returns’ is defined, as less than roots, the inverse of infeasibility. It is also noted that there can be no exponential colonization or reproduction, for mathematical reasons, as each entity takes up a certain amount of space. Appended are an algorithm for colonizing for example a galaxy quickly, models of the evolution of cooperation and fairness under diminishing returns, and software for simulating signaling development.

The domain-general ability to recognize objects at the subordinate level (o) is most often tested in the visual modality. However, previous work has evidenced a strong relationship between visual and auditory o abilities, suggesting that o may be multimodal. We measured this relationship using a structural equation modeling approach. We found a strong relationship (r = .79) between visual and auditory o. There were similarly strong relationships between spatial ability and both visual (r = .73) and auditory (r = .63) o. When the shared influence of general ability was controlled for, the relationship between visual and auditory o remained substantial (r = .61), while relationships between spatial ability and visual (r = .31) and auditory o (r = .05) were non-significant. These results suggest that individual differences in object recognition are largely multimodal, and that the relationship between o and spatial ability is not clearly independent of general ability.

It was largely expected that cohort replacement would increase population support for egalitarian relationships but the failure of this shift to materialize has led scholars to draw inferences about age-related erosion of egalitarian aspirations. Yet, cohort differences in equality desires and the aging trajectories of these attitudes have not been empirically established. Using panel data on 11,788 individuals from the Monitoring the Future surveys (1976 – 2014), this study investigated whether desired work–family arrangements change as young adults age, whether key turning points influenced these trajectories, and whether these patterns differed across four birth cohorts. Findings show recent cohorts enter adulthood with less gender conventional desires than earlier cohorts but are no more likely to desire dual-earner arrangements. Both aging and transitions into marriage and parenthood are associated with shifts toward more gender conventional work–family desires. Further attention to age related attitude changes is important to further understanding the stalled gender revolution.

Background: The Asian population represents a growing demographic group in the United States, yet research on self-rated health (SRH) among this population often overlooks within-group heterogeneity and regional variation, which are critical to understanding health disparities. The present study examines differences in SRH across Asian ethnic subgroups and geographic regions in the US. Methods: Using data from the 2018-2023 Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the Current Population Survey, we assess Asian subgroup-level change in SRH by regional residence. Results: Findings indicate heterogeneity in SRH across Asian subgroups. Indian and Chinese individuals report the lowest rates of poor/fair SRH, whereas Filipinos and Koreans report higher rates. Regional differences also emerged. Despite widespread anti-Asian discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic, SRH among the population subgroups remained relatively stable, with a slight trend toward lower probabilities of poor/fair health during the onset of the pandemic in the Midwest and Northeast, except among Filipinos, who fared worse. Conclusions: These findings underscore the necessity of disaggregating Asian American health data to capture subgroup-specific vulnerabilities and place-based disparities. Regional disparities may further shape SRH outcomes, with evidence suggesting both protective and risk effects. Understanding the intersection of ethnicity, regional inequalities, and health perception is critical for informing targeted public health interventions and addressing health disparities within the Asian population.

Industrial policy is back, but its twin, credit policy, remains confined to academic debates. We theorise credit policy as the coercive steering of credit flows for transformative purposes, that is, developmentalist credit policy. Coercion, we argue, has two pillars: control over and through credit. We introduce the concept of credit financing to capture the critical but not dominant role of central banks in supporting coercive steering. We then elaborate the institutional set-up and instruments of credit regimes where the state is in close control of credit flows by drawing on the developmentalist credit policy experience of South Korea and Japan, in comparison with the ’coercive-less’ credit inclusion policy of India’s developmental state and contemporary experiments in China. This conceptualization is, we argue, fundamental for exploring the institutional politics behind transformative state ambitions.

Independence regulations governing the auditor-to-client revolving door — exemplified by SOX Section 206 — target only the auditor's side of the engagement. They do not address the transformation in information structure that occurs when a former auditor assumes a financial leadership role at an audit client. This paper argues that such appointments trigger a fundamental shift in the game-theoretic structure of the audit relationship. Drawing on Aumann's (1976) common knowledge framework, Spence's (1973) signaling theory, and Crawford and Sobel's (1982) cheap talk model, we theorize this shift as a transition from an authority-deference mode to a joint constraint confirmation mode of audit negotiation. We conceptualize the underlying mechanism as the intra-institutional circulation of audit knowledge: the systematic transfer of audit expertise through personnel mobility within the organizational field of auditing (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983). The appointment partially resolves and locally reverses information asymmetry (P1); this structural change shifts the mode of audit negotiation (P2); and the shift carries ambivalent consequences — improving efficiency while generating a risk of independence becoming nominal (P3). These propositions offer a theoretical mechanism for the mixed empirical findings of prior revolving door research, and identify a structural blind spot in current independence regulation. This is a conceptual paper grounded in reflexive practitioner analysis (Schön, 1983). The author is a former PricewaterhouseCoopers CPA with experience as a financial executive at audit clients — a vantage point unavailable to external researchers. The propositions are offered as a structured invitation to subsequent empirical research.

Der Kurzbericht präsentiert zentrale Ergebnisse der dritten von vier repräsentativen Befragungswellen der Studie Monitor Digitale Arbeitsgesellschaft, die im Rahmen des Forschungsprojekts Meinungsmonitor Künstliche Intelligenz 3.0 durchgeführt wurde. Grundlage sind die Angaben von 1.647 Befragten (928 Erwerbstätige, 719 Nichterwerbstätige) im Januar 2026. Die dritte Befragungswelle zeigt, dass das im Verlauf des Jahres 2025 gestiegene Interesse an KI zu Beginn des Jahres 2026 wieder leicht zurückgeht, während die subjektive Einschätzung des eigenen Wissens auf dem erreichten Niveau stabil bleibt. Gleichzeitig nehmen Vorbehalte gegenüber bestimmten gesellschaftlichen Einsatzfeldern zu, insbesondere in Bereichen mit Bezug zu staatlichen Sicherheitsaufgaben und politischen Entscheidungen. In der Arbeitswelt bleibt die Bewertung der Auswirkungen von KI auf den eigenen Beruf insgesamt stabil und leicht nutzenorientiert. Die berufliche Nutzung von KI stagniert zuletzt weitgehend. Viele Beschäftigte berichten weiterhin keine grundlegenden Veränderungen ihrer Tätigkeitsanforderungen und nur geringe persönliche Jobunsicherheit, während die Sorge, dass KI menschliche Arbeit allgemein ersetzen oder grundlegend verändern könnte, weiterhin deutlich stärker verbreitet ist als die persönliche Jobunsicherheit. Erstmals wird zudem ein besonderes Schlaglicht auf die Regulierungspräferenzen der Bevölkerung geworfen: Während staatliche Eingriffe bei arbeitsmarktbezogenen Folgen breite Unterstützung finden, werden Eingriffe in wirtschaftliche Freiheiten und steuerpolitische Maßnahmen deutlich ambivalenter bewertet. Insgesamt deutet sich eine stärkere Ausdifferenzierung und Festigung der Einstellungen gegenüber KI an.

We propose ‘sustainable ageing’ as a whole-of-society, multidimensional and forward-looking framework that secures older adults’ well-being, autonomy and inclusion while safeguarding social, economic, political and ecological resources for future generations, and we outline coordinated policy levers across work, care, technology, environments and governance to put it into action.

Introduction: The increasing frequency and intensity of disasters under climate change, and global rapid population ageing, draws urgency to how we support older adults in disaster contexts. Existing disaster management studies, practices and policies often narrowly portray older adults as “vulnerable” populations requiring additional support. These reflect age-related fragilities yet often overlooks their cumulative life experiences, agency, and contributions to community disaster preparedness, response and recovery. Methods: This scoping review explores how social and community support influenced older adult resilience to environmental disasters. Using the Recovery Capitals framework, the review narratively synthesised how these supports shifted the resources, or "capitals” available to older adults and their communities. Results: Forty-nine English-language articles were included with a range of environmental disaster types globally, exploring how the provision of support to, by and among older adults influenced their resilience capacities and vulnerabilities. Social, human and built capitals were widely captured, while natural capital was rarely discussed. Cultural and political capitals were considered limiting factors to resilience, yet few studies described how supports may enhance it. Conclusion: The findings highlight the dynamic, interconnected systems through which older adults provide, receive and collectivise support. Future research is recommended into apparent evidence gaps (supporting natural, cultural, and political capital) and advancing how interventions and policies can be designed beyond linear theories of change, and towards enabling long-term resilience systemically through the interconnected social relationships and structures present within older adult communities, and their interdependence with the range of recovery capitals.

Die Leipziger Bevölkerungsvorausschätzung 2023 ist eine wesentliche Grundlage für planerische Entscheidungen der städtischen Ämter. Sie beschreibt die erwartete Bevölkerungsentwicklung der Stadt Leipzig sowie deren Alters- und Geschlechtsstruktur bis zum Prognosehorizont 2040. Das wesentliche Leistungsmerkmal der Leipziger Bevölkerungsvorausschätzung ist ihr kleinräumiger Ansatz. Aus keiner anderen amtlichen Quelle liegen demografische Zukunftsdaten für die 63 Leipziger Ortsteile vor. Die Vorausschätzung 2023 liefert erstmals auch trennscharfe Ergebnisse für die Gebiete der 14 Ortschaften und 10 Stadtbezirksbeiratsgebiete, die in der Regel einen oder mehrere Ortsteile beinhalten, teilweise aber auch nur ein Teilgebiet eines Ortsteiles umfassen. Im Bericht werden die kleinräumigen Ergebnisse vorgestellt.

Contact with family is key to sustaining individuals’ well-being, and such contact is increasingly digitalised. In today’s ‘polymedia’ environment, people are afforded diverse digital technologies, ranging from phone calls and text messaging (e.g., email and chat applications) to video calls. Distinct modes of digital communication create differential levels of sociality, which may have varying implications for subjective well-being. As older adults’ in-person contact was severely curtailed during COVID-19, digital contact played a crucial role in sustaining their family connections. Analysing data from the 2020 European Social Survey, this chapter provides new evidence of older adults’ digital contact with their non-residential children across 29 countries (28 European countries and Israel). First, it identifies four profiles of digital contact across the modes of phone calls, text messaging, and video calls: low digital contact (across all modes), phone-only contact, non-visual contact (phone calls and text messaging), and high digital contact (across all modes). Next, it examines how older adults’ in-person contact, internet access, and digital literacy, country-level internet coverage, and the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic relate to the four profiles of digital contact and moderate the associations between these profiles and older adults’ subjective well-being. The findings provide new insights into the digitalisation of older adults’ intergenerational contact, as well as the micro and macro social conditions configuring the link between their digital contact and subjective well-being.

Die Leipziger Bevölkerungsvorausschätzung 2023 ist eine wesentliche Grundlage für planerische Entscheidungen der städtischen Ämter. Sie beschreibt die erwartete Bevölkerungsentwicklung der Stadt Leipzig sowie deren Alters- und Geschlechtsstruktur bis zum Prognosehorizont 2040. Das wesentliche Leistungsmerkmal der Leipziger Bevölkerungsvorausschätzung ist ihr kleinräumiger Ansatz. Aus keiner anderen amtlichen Quelle liegen demografische Zukunftsdaten für die 63 Leipziger Ortsteile vor. Die Vorausschätzung 2023 liefert erstmals auch trennscharfe Ergebnisse für die Gebiete der 14 Ortschaften und 10 Stadtbezirksbeiratsgebiete, die in der Regel einen oder mehrere Ortsteile beinhalten, teilweise aber auch nur ein Teilgebiet eines Ortsteiles umfassen. Im Bericht werden die Methoden und stadtweiten Ergebnisse präsentiert.

Communication in contemporary organizations increasingly unfolds through digital platforms that generate detailed traces of everyday interaction. For organizational researchers, these digital trace data offer new opportunities to study communication, coordination, and relational dynamics as they unfold in situ. Realizing this potential, however, requires both a clearer understanding of how these methods have been used so far and more concrete guidance for future research. We therefore pursue two goals: to synthesize how digital trace data have been used in organizational research on communication processes, and to clarify how future research can use them more effectively. We conducted a machine-learning-assisted scoping review of 132 studies investigating computer-mediated communication in work settings. Most studies relied on organizationally provided archival data, while fewer used participant-centered tools. Reporting was often incomplete, with limited detail on access, preprocessing, or analytic procedures, and explicit discussion of ethical and practical constraints was uncommon. Building on these findings, we identify broader organizational communication domains for which digital trace data are especially useful and develop the DATA-TRACE roadmap for designing and reporting digital trace data studies in organizational research.

Pluralistic ignorance is a puzzling social psychological phenomenon in which the majority of group members privately reject a norm yet mistakenly believe that most others accept it. Consequently, they publicly may comply with the norm. This phenomenon has significant implications for politics, economics, and organizational dynamics because it can mask widespread support for change and hinder collective responses to large-scale societal challenges. The aim of this work is to demonstrate how agent-based modeling, one of the core methods of computational social science, can be used to investigate pluralistic ignorance. This approach is particularly natural in this context, because it allows us to study how individual behavior and local social interactions generate macro-level collective phenomena. Rather than providing a systematic literature review, we focus on several models, including our own two models based on the psychological Social Response Context Model, as well as two other representative models: one of the earliest and most influential computational models of self-enforcing norms, and a model of opinion expression based on a silence game. For all of these models, we provide custom NetLogo implementations, publicly available at https:// barbarakaminska.github.io/NetLogo-Pluralistic-ignorance/, which allow users not only to run their own simulations but also to follow the algorithms step by step. In conclusion, we note that despite differences in assumptions and structures, these models consistently reproduce pluralistic ignorance, suggesting that it may be a robust emergent phenomenon. The manuscript is forthcoming in the Handbook of Computational Social Psychology, part of Edward Elgar’s Research Handbooks in Social Psychology series

The concept of the tipping point, which describes abrupt and non-linear changes in complex systems, is gaining increasing importance in public administration. However, the relevant academic literature remains fragmented, examining the phenomenon through isolated lenses of system dynamics, governance, or conceptual framing, which hinders a holistic understanding. This article bridges this gap by synthesizing these different approaches through a narrative literature review. As its main contribution, it develops the "Integrated Tipping Point Governance Framework", a new multi-level diagnostic model. The framework posits that the path to a tipping point is not a simple linear process but the result of the interaction of three levels: "Systemic Entrapment" (macro-level structural pressures), "Organizational Inertia" (meso-level institutional lock-ins), and "Cognitive Capture" (micro-level dominant narratives). This framework offers a deeper explanation for the mechanisms that create resistance to change, complementing descriptive theories like Punctuated Equilibrium and providing the necessary diagnostic foundation for applying normative models like Adaptive Governance. Ultimately, the article provides a valuable conceptual tool for analyzing and managing abrupt changes in public policy.

The Irawadi Dynamic Model Version 13.0 delivers three major upgrades: (1) geographic expansion from 37 to 53 countries via the Global Populism Dataset (GP Dataset, 1,081 country-year observations, 2000–2024), confirming that the ITI effect is larger and more significant globally than in the European sample (Country FE: βIT I = −85.7, p < 0.001 global vs −29.4, p < 0.001 EU); (2) formal threshold estimation via Hansen-style grid search, yielding τIT I = 0.787 as the ITI level minimising total within-regime RSS, and τGDP = +11.6% as the 3-year GDP change below which the economy is classified as deteriorating — providing the first quantitative content to Equation 4 in the IDM’s theoretical framework; and (3) updated Granger causality test on the full 2000–2023 panel confirming that past A3 electoral gains predict future institutional decline (F = 24.1, p < 0.001, country fixed effects), strengthening the ratchet hypothesis. The non-European sample (28 countries: Asia, Americas) shows an ITI coefficient of β = −103.2 (p < 0.001) in country FE specifications, indicating that institutional decline is an even stronger predictor of right-populism outside consolidated European democracies. Parliamentary polarisation (REPDEM RILE divergence) adds β = +0.133 per unit alongside ITI (p = 0.213, country FE) — the sign is correct but does not reach significance in this sample. All prior findings from Versions 9.0–12.0 are retained: OOS forecast validity (r = 0.622, p < 0.001), median income interaction (p = 0.005), ESS survey validation, A4 executive corruption trajectories, and cabinet A3-in-government coding.

This chapter surveys sociological approaches to trust, defining trust as a willingness to accept vulnerability to another actor on the expectation that this vulnerability will not be exploited. It reviews two dominant traditions: generalized trust, which concerns broad confidence in unfamiliar others and is linked to socialization, self-reinforcement, and biological factors; and particularized trust, which concerns familiar actors and specific domains and is shaped by prior interaction, future dependence, and network embeddedness. The authors argue that this dichotomy is too narrow and propose a more precise framework built around three independent “radiuses” of trust: the trustor, the trustee, and the trust domain. This multidimensional model highlights neglected forms such as categorical trust and clarifies how trust varies across social settings. The chapter concludes by outlining eight priorities for future research, including better measurement, links between trust forms, affective and moral foundations, trust outcomes, digital trust, and the distinct study of trustworthiness.

The recent UK position on parental alienation (PA) is clearer in procedure than in principle. Recent guidance and family-law case law reorient the field toward a more disciplined model in which allegations of parental alienating behaviour (PAB) are treated as matters for judicial fact-finding rather than psychological diagnosis or expert-made fact. In that respect, the Re Y “modern approach” is an advance. This article argues, however, that the same framework also embeds a substantive hierarchy in which domestic abuse (DA) is given conceptual, analytical, and sequencing priority, and allegations of PAB are reviewed through a DA-first lens. The article contends that Re Y is correct to reject expert substitution for fact-finding, the current scientific literature does not establish a reliable comparative basis for treating DA as the dominant causal frame, as a general rule, in mixed DA/PA cases, and the hierarchy is better understood as a statutory and safeguarding choice than as a conclusion compelled by settled comparative science. The result is a framework that is statutorily authorised and procedurally improved, but conceptually incomplete and analytically contestable. The article concludes by considering the implications of this position for current UK practice and for the international uptake of UK family-law models.

How actors construe legitimacy perceptions of their social environment has been subject to considerable interest in social psychology and organization studies, with much research focusing on how collective validity cues inform individual propriety judgments. However, this research has either focused on one validity cue at a time or has assumed that multiple validity cues are congruent, thereby overlooking the complex interactions that may occur between different types of cues. In this chapter, we address this limitation by investigating the differential effects of validity cues on propriety judgments contingent on cue type (authorization versus endorsement), cue valence (positive versus negative), and the evaluator’s subject-matter expertise (low versus high). We report a vignette experiment involving a LinkedIn site of a fictitious deep-sea mining company. We find main effects of cue valence and cue type, such that positively valenced cues lead to higher propriety judgments whereas negatively valenced cues lead to lower propriety judgments, and both effects are stronger for authorization than for endorsement cues. Our findings provide important contributions to legitimacy research by demonstrating the importance of theorizing and systematically studying the role of multiple and potentially conflicting cues in the formation of legitimacy.

Trust represents a key social mechanism facilitating collaboration in interorganizational relationships. Yet, the concept of interorganizational trust is surrounded by substantial ambiguity, especially as it pertains to the levels of analysis at which it is located. Some scholars maintain that trust is an inherently individual-level phenomenon, whereas others insist that organizations constitute the central sources and referents of trust in interorganizational relationships. Our article addresses this controversy, aiming to reduce conceptual ambiguity and foster cumulative progress. Using a micro-sociological approach, we advance knowledge of the meaning and context-specific relevance of individual- vs. organizational-level trust. Specifically, we apply the notion of organizational actorhood to both the trustor and the trustee in an interorganizational relationship. We then build on micro-institutional and entitativity theory to offer a model of the antecedents of organizational actorhood that identifies a set of contextual conditions explaining the degree to which an organization rather than individuals within it constitutes the focal origin and target of trust. The contingent account we propose here helps bridge disparate traditions of scholarship on interorganizational trust by highlighting that trust can, but need not always, reside to a substantial extent at a supraindividual level of analysis.

Trust has been recognized as a foundational pillar underpinning the functioning of organizations and society. However, contemporary developments have unleashed unprecedented uncertainty, challenging established notions of social order and raising urgent questions about how trust will operate in the years to come. A deeper understanding of the interface between uncertainty and trust is needed, elaborating how institutions and advanced technologies offer pathways for building and maintaining trust. Our analysis identifies three core paradoxes: trust–uncertainty, trust–institution, and trust–technology. These paradoxes highlight that trust proves indispensable where it is hardest to build, that trusted institutions falter when uncertainty is high and they are needed most, and that technologies designed to reduce uncertainty can in fact increase it. This special issue curates five studies that illuminate these paradoxes. A qualitative study of whistleblowing reveals tensions in how organizations signal ability, benevolence, integrity, transparency, and identification across stakeholders and over time (trust–uncertainty). A mixed‑methods study of a high court theorizes fidelity mechanisms—recognition, selection, socialization—that stabilize the production of “trust objects” (trust–institution). A multilevel network analysis of a corporate top‑management team shows that shared organizational vocabularies foster trust; when those words align with organizational identity, trust ties traverse unit boundaries (trust–institution). A study of a Covid‑19 mutual‑aid platform shows how digital affordances catalyze institution‑based trust that seeds emotional trust among strangers (trust–technology). Finally, a study of a peer‑to‑peer market shows that accreditation (technology verification) and reputation have opposite effects as cultural distance grows—accreditation narrows trust gaps while reputation can widen them—with implications for inequality (trust–technology). Building on these insights, our editorial articulates across the piece a forward-looking research agenda emphasizing the recursive interplay between trust and uncertainty and calling for research to illuminate the emergent, paradoxical, and often nonlinear patterns of trust development.

As generative artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly adopted, understanding how its usage is perceived has become crucial for theory and practice. Our investigation highlights how disclosing AI usage reduces trust by triggering legitimacy concerns arising from deviations from taken-for-granted human-centered norms. Drawing on a micro-institutional perspective, we unpack legitimacy into its dimensions and propose that they operate via three context-specific processes—perceived typicality, commitment, and authenticity—which jointly account for the erosion of trust resulting from AI disclosure. An initial structured content-analytic study of directed written interviews reveals that people indeed voice these legitimacy concerns when scrutinizing AI usage and addresses research questions about how such concerns manifest across facets. A subsequent vignette experiment shows that disclosing AI usage sequentially diminishes perceptions of typicality, commitment, and authenticity, ultimately lowering trust. A supplementary replication experiment confirms this pattern. Altogether, our investigation clarifies the paradoxical nature of transparency, advances empirical testing of legitimacy theory, and helps bridge the literatures on trust and institutional theory.

Parliamentary speeches constitute a prime source for the analysis of criminal policy, but their systematic use faces a well-documented methodological barrier: manual data extraction. A recent systematic review on the use of Spanish parliamentary speeches in research (Sampayo-Sande, 2026) confirms that 96.1% of studies carry out this phase manually, with the time cost being the most frequently reported limitation. This article presents and validates an open-source tool implemented in Python and executable in Google Colaboratory, designed to automate the construction of thematic corpora from the session logs of the Congress of Deputies, without requiring advanced programming knowledge. The tool implements a two-phase pipeline: identification and thematic filtering of relevant debates using configurable keyword taxonomies, and systematic extraction of individual interventions with their associated metadata, exported in Excel format. Validation on a stratified sample of 45 documents and 183 interventions demonstrates high performance: an F1 score of 96.9% for structural detection, an F1 score of 87.8% for thematic filtering, and near-perfect agreement in the identification of speakers (κ = 0.984), parliamentary groups (κ = 0.979) and text extraction (κ = 0.942). Its usefulness is illustrated by a longitudinal case study of the parliamentary debate on the Sexual Freedom Act (2016–2025), from which 1.262 speeches by 147 unique speakers were automatically extracted with 98.2% accuracy in metadata assignment. The tool and source code are published as an open-access resource.

Executive Summary Purpose and Goals of This Study In 2019, the National Institute of Justice funded the University of Massachusetts Lowell and Loyola University Chicago to understand how sex traffickers learn how to facilitate sex work. This proposed study sought to address Priority Area 3 of the NIJ solicitation: Building Knowledge of the “Grooming” Process of Traffickers (i.e., how does one become a sex or labor trafficker?) Previous studies funded by NIJ examined “traffickers’ decision-making and organizational processes”; however, much of how one becomes a trafficker and its processes remain unexplored. This proposed study provides empirical data to address this critical gap in the knowledge. We use the broader term of sex market facilitator (SMF) rather than sex trafficker as persons involved in facilitation change roles and jobs. Because of their varying roles and tasks, legally qualifying as a sex trafficker can shift by week and inevitably change across the life course. Typically, individuals are involved in multiple roles in the sex trade; these roles can include sex work, recruitment, assistant, or primary facilitation, or those who recruit and schedule clients, protect workers during interactions with clients, and manage and profit from the sex workers.' earnings. In this study, we use the broader term of sex market facilitator (SMF) because it includes those who either legally qualify for pandering or sex trafficking. We use the term sex worker as a neutral and inclusive term and are not implying the voluntary or involuntary nature of selling sex. Individuals who sell sex can drift between voluntarily selling sex and being coercive or physically forced to sell sex. The goals of this study were to 1) provide an understanding of the social learning process involved in sex market facilitation, such as who passed down those skills, what is passed down, and how this impacts their recruitment and sex market facilitation styles, 2) evaluate how these social learning processes vary based on participants' demographics and prior traumatic experiences and 3) establish how participants are socially and criminally networked and how this impacts facilitation. There have been many studies about how sex traffickers recruit sex workers. However, very few studies evaluated how sex traffickers are recruited and learn to recruit sex workers or sex trafficking victims or facilitate sex work, along with facilitation strategies, including interpersonal and economic coercion. This study aimed to close the gap in the literature by investigating the etiology of becoming a sex trafficker or a sex market facilitator and how this knowledge is transmitted across the generations.

Continuous improvement (CI) has been the cornerstone of operational excellence frameworks across industries for decades, yet traditional CI methodologies Lean, Six Sigma, and Kaizen have relied predominantly on periodic, sample-based measurement and human-facilitated root-cause analysis. The emergence of advanced analytics capabilities including real-time process mining, predictive quality modelling, prescriptive optimisation engines, and AI-augmented root-cause identification has fundamentally expanded the scope and velocity of continuous improvement, enabling organisations to identify performance gaps, attribute root causes, and deploy corrective interventions at a scale and speed that surpasses the limitations of conventional CI practice. This study examines the impact of analytics-driven continuous improvement (Analytics-CI) systems on business excellence performance across manufacturing, retail, FMCG, and professional services organisations. Employing a mixed-methods convergent parallel research design, primary data were collected from 204 operations, quality, and analytics professionals through a structured questionnaire, supplemented by 22 semi-structured executive interviews. Findings demonstrate that organisations deploying Analytics-CI capabilities achieve statistically significant improvements across all measured business excellence dimensions: a 36.2% average gain in Continuous Improvement Performance Effectiveness (CIPE) scores, accompanied by a 29.4% reduction in process defect rates, a 23.8% reduction in cycle times, a 27.1% improvement in first-pass yield, and a 19.7% increase in customer satisfaction scores, compared to organisations relying on traditional CI methods alone. Regression analysis identifies analytics model sophistication, process data richness, and cross-functional integration depth as the primary determinants of business excellence outcomes. The study proposes a three-stage Analytics-CI Maturity Model and introduces the validated Analytics–Business Excellence Performance (ABEP) framework. Theoretical contributions extend the Dynamic Capabilities and Information Processing theories to the analytics-augmented quality and operational excellence domain.

The Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) program is a job-search assistance intervention targeting Unemployment Insurance (UI) claimants in the United States. The program requires new UI claimants to attend a counseling session at the start of their UI claims to: 1) undergo an eligibility review to confirm their compliance with UI work search requirements, and 2) receive customized reemployment services. This study reports the results of a large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Iowa RESEA/RCM program conducted in 2022-2023, a period of strong labor market conditions. The program required participants to attend regular case management and job counseling meetings for the duration of their UI claims. Results show that the program increased take-up of job counseling services and significantly reduced UI duration and benefit amounts collected, generating substantial savings for the UI system.

Politicians, journalists, think tanks, and advocacy groups frequently invoke successful examples abroad to justify and promote policy reforms, making international comparisons a central feature of contemporary policy debates. Yet we know little about which countries citizens prefer their own country to learn from. We study how citizens evaluate foreign countries as policy models using a cross-national survey in six countries (Denmark, Germany, Italy, Romania, the United Kingdom, and the United States) in which respondents repeatedly choose between pairs of countries as models for policy learning in the areas of the economy, immigration, and climate change. Our results show that citizens tend to favor well-governed Nordic countries, as policy models and respond positively to experimentally provided information about policy success. These findings indicate that citizens hold systematic preferences over which countries to learn from and thereby contribute to the micro-foundations of international policy learning.

This article presents a corpus-assisted diachronic analysis of migration-related discourse across four institutional domains in Iceland, drawing on the Icelandic Gigaword Corpus (IGC), a 1.88‑billion‑word dataset spanning parliamentary debates (1909–2024), news media (1998–2023), academic journals (2004–2021), and court adjudications. Using case‑insensitive stem‑matching techniques rooted in corpus‑assisted discourse studies (CADS), the study classifies parliamentary texts into 15 discursive domains—immigration/movement, foreigners/alterity, asylum/refuge, border/legal governance, security/policing, integration/welfare, housing/quartering, morality/Ástandið, poverty/poor law, labour discipline/emergency economy, racial terms/racialised language, military/occupation, women/gender/sexuality, national identity/belonging, and welfare state/social services—and traces their evolution over 114 years across 19,502 parliamentary documents. The analysis also maps the geopolitical gaze of Icelandic parliament through a 307‑entry world gazetteer, revealing a radically Eurocentric worldview in which Africa and Latin America are discursively de‑particularised as abstract migration spaces. The principal finding challenges prevailing securitisation narratives. When the full 15‑domain classification is applied, security/policing (6,979 documents) ranks only fifth among parliamentary domains, behind morality/Ástandið (10,646), poverty/poor law (9,196), labour discipline (8,593), and housing/quartering (8,276). In this corpus, the securitisation of immigration appears primarily as a media phenomenon: in news media, security/policing accounts for over 95% of all classified immigration‑related texts. A co‑occurrence analysis further shows that 77.3% of speeches containing racial terms also contain security language, though only 19.7% of security speeches contain racial terms, with the temporal correlation between security and racial terms peaking at r=0.84 in the 2000s. These findings reframe the migration–security nexus as embedded within a broader welfare‑governance apparatus, with implications for securitisation theory, critical race theory, and Nordic comparative migration studies.

Journal-based bibliometric indicators continue to dominate research evaluation globally despite sustained advocacy for reform. However, the mechanisms by which they become institutionally entrenched, and the structural conditions that make them difficult to dislodge, remain poorly understood. Particularly in rapidly expanding research systems in the Global South. This article addresses that gap through a systematic qualitative investigation of how bibliometric indicators are operationalized as institutional gatekeepers within India's national post-doctoral fellowships and early-career selection processes in STEM. India represents a critical and underexamined case. It’s the world's third-largest producer of scientific publications, combining quantitative growth imperatives with limited evaluation infrastructure capacity and facing structural asymmetries in international publishing. These situations amplify reliance on metrics and shift their costs onto those who are unfavorably positioned to resist them. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 25 early-and mid-career researchers, and fellowship administrators across four case settings - the INSPIRE Faculty Fellowship, the National Postdoctoral Fellowship (NPDF), institutional postdoctoral fellowships, and retrospective accounts from mid-career researchers in STEM. The study reveals a metrics-governed gatekeeping architecture, where quantitative screening serves as the primary filter before any qualitative assessment. This logic generates field-specific distortions, reproduces structural inequities under the guise of objectivity, incentivizes volume over significance, and creates systemic vulnerabilities to metric manipulation and research misconduct. We theorize these dynamics through the lens of commensuration, institutional logics, and the sociology of quantification. Despite policy discourse emphasizing quality and societal impact, operational evaluation infrastructures continue to rely on bibliometrics because metrics reduce administrative complexity and create the appearance of objectivity & transparency. The article concludes with evidence-based recommendations for context-sensitive reform appropriate to India's research ecosystem and transferable to other rapidly expanding research systems in the Global South.

This mixed-methods study tests the hypothesis that recognizably heteronormative (“straight-acting”) styles of visual self-presentation enhance men’s social status in a specific geographical and historical locus (Barcelona, Spain; 2021-22). Visual impression formation and attitudes were examined by showing observers 20 video fragments of male-presenting individuals with a broad range of styles of gendered self-presentation and asking them to describe and rate them. The individuals in those 30-second video fragments self-identified as “heterosexual” (10), “gay” (9), “bisexual” (1), “trans” (1), “intersex” (1) and/or “queer” (1). Clusters of observers were selected representing a diverse range of social groups: young women (n=20), older gay-identifying men (n=20) and heterosexual-identifying men who were serving a prison sentence (n=5). Results do not support the initial hypothesis and point to the label “gay” not designating a sexual orientation, but rather a range of roles, with very different expectations and visual identity markers across different social clusters and generational cohorts. For the past 40 years, the literature on men and masculinities has largely been built on the axiom that “hegemonic masculinities” are socially policed and reinforced. This study challenges that premise by providing a specific counterexample and exploring which other theories and models may currently better explain such data.

This dissertation examined unpublished archival materials from the Kinsey Institute's Gina Ogden Collection alongside an in-depth interview with a sanctioned Pachakuti Mesa Tradition (PMT) teacher to explore the Indigenous foundations of Ogden's 4-D Wheel. The 4-D Wheel integrates mind, body, heart, and spirit for sexual healing and is widely recognized in sex therapy. However, its Indigenous roots, particularly Ogden's apprenticeship within PMT, a Peruvian shamanic healing lineage, have remained invisible in scholarly discourse. Drawing on Indigenous Research Methodologies, this study revealed that the 4-D Wheel's four-directional structure emerged from Ogden's encounter with don Óscar Miro- Quesada's mesa in the early 1990s. She adapted PMT's cosmological organization—North (Air/Spirit), South (Body/Earth), East (Mind/Fire), West (Water/Heart), Center (Integration)—to structure her ISIS survey findings on sexuality and spirituality. Yet institutional pressures led her to hide these sources. Her painful trajectory, from concealing PMT connections to being fired for appropriation in 2009 to naming them explicitly in 2010, reveals uncomfortable and complex binds facing those who bridge Indigenous wisdom and western institutions. As a racialized white woman studying another white woman's work, the researcher engages what Kuhn (2024) calls "unsettling" privilege. This is restorative scholarship, making visible Indigenous contributions erased in western practice. This research supports what potential decolonial practice with the Wheel requires: naming PMT lineage, creating ceremonial space, honoring the Wheel as sacred ceremony rooted in ayni (Miro-Quesada, 2015). Using IRMs as ethical stance, the researcher employed the 4-D Wheel itself as methodological guide. Embodied practice, encounters with serpent medicine, the Goddess, ceremonial guidance, demonstrates that Indigenous spiritual knowledge requires first-person participation to be understood. The findings revealed that pleasure reclamation and integrating sexuality with spirituality constitute political resistance against colonial systems maintaining power through disconnection from bodies, ancestors, and the sacred feminine. At the heart of this work lies a longing for wholeness and connection, for remembering and re-membering mind, body, heart, and spirit. A longing to challenge patriarchal, puritanical, racist binaries around sexuality and support healing for those told their bodies are shameful, their desires deviant, their identities too complicated to belong. Ultimately, this research conveys the indispensable role of Indigenous wisdom in healing and calls for ethical integration rooted in respect, reciprocity, and the collective healing of colonial wounds that have separated us from our bodies, our pleasure, our lineages, and each other.

Static user interfaces inadequately address the diversity of modern user needs, motivating automated personalization approaches. This study developed and evaluated an algorithmic framework for generating personalized interfaces through multi-dimensional behavioral analytics. Seventeen behavioral metrics across four domains – task performance, navigation behavior, interaction patterns, and engagement indicators – were collected via a custom web-based platform. K-means clustering identified five distinct user profiles, while a decision tree classifier mapped profiles to optimized interface configurations through a three-stage adaptive pipeline. The classifier achieved 84.7% accuracy, and adaptive interfaces reduced task completion time by 18.4%, error rates by 31.7%, and task abandonment by 42.9% relative to static baselines, with SUS scores improving from 68.4 to 81.7. Meaningful adaptation emerged after approximately 47 minutes of interaction. These findings demonstrate that machine learning applied to behavioral analytics can effectively automate interface generation with substantial usability gains, though context-sensitive strategies are needed for behaviorally variable users.

What motivates racial minorities to enter politics? Existing research primarily examines minority candidates at election time, focusing on strategic decisions on when to appear on a ballot. Absent from this scholarship is a comprehensive understanding of how minorities decide to enter politics in the first place. Using both experimental and observational data, this paper investigates minorities' initial decisions to run for office. In two field experiments embedded in a real-world candidate mobilization effort, I find that emphasizing racial group consciousness---the desire to advance the interests of one's racial group---increases both immediate information-seeking and longer-term commitment to candidacy among politically active minority members. An observational study leveraging city-level exposure to police brutalities as a proxy for race conscious motivation finds modest evidence of increased Black representation in subsequent local elections. These findings offer new insights into the nuanced dynamics of minority candidate emergence and, in turn, descriptive representation in American politics.

As open science norms and funding mandates increasingly position data sharing as a research obligation, qualitative inquiry faces growing pressure to conform to openness frameworks designed around quantitative epistemologies. This article argues that such unconditional openness is ethically and epistemically untenable for qualitative research, particularly under conditions of large-scale, AI-mediated data reuse. I identify three interconnected risks of opening qualitative data without adequate governance: static consent in dynamic reuse environments, the transformation of narratives into extractable assets, and the erosion of context and interpretive labour through disembodied reuse. To address these risks, I propose a framework for responsible qualitative openness grounded in three necessary conditions: dynamic consent, protection against commodification and AI-driven extraction, and the preservation of situated context and interpretation. By mapping these conditions across stakeholders with unequal control over data infrastructures, I sharpen focus on the need to consider qualitative openness as a collective, institutionally supported duty of care rather than a blanket mandate.

How do legislators respond to constituent policy queries? Existing research suggests that legislators vary their responsiveness and tailor response content depending on constituent congruence, raising normative concerns about legislator-constituent communication. We report results from a pre-registered audit study of UK MPs which is the first to test whether legislators in party-centred parliamentary democracies vary substantive response rates and content depending on constituent-party policy congruence. We theorize that electoral incentives lead MPs to respond more to congruent constituents, and to place more emphasis on self over party when doing so. Our audit study uses real constituents as confederates allowing better measurement of substantive responses. We find little evidence that constituent-party congruence affects MPs' responsiveness or the personal versus party emphasis of their replies. These null findings refine understanding of legislator behaviour in parliamentary systems and are normatively encouraging regarding the role that legislator-constituent policy communications can play in parliamentary democracies.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly promoted as a tool to enhance clinical decision-making and thus, improve quality of healthcare. While much of the emerging scholarship on AI and healthcare in Africa has focused broadly on opportunities and systemic challenges, what remains underexplored is the specific application of AI to clinical decision-making. This paper contributes to addressing this gap by offering a conceptual and critical analysis of AI in clinical decision-making in African contexts. Drawing on philosophical accounts of medical reasoning and relational moral frameworks such as Ubuntu, the paper draws on the moral ecology of care and shows that algorithmic systems can reconfigure epistemic authority, redistribute responsibility, and risk marginalising context-sensitive and relational dimensions of care. The paper further argues that AI systems are better understood as socio-technical mirrors that reflect and amplify existing human values, institutional arrangements, and power asymmetries. Moving beyond the algorithm, it proposes a shift toward relational and context-sensitive AI governance, including the development of relational impact assessments, the redistribution of responsibility across the AI lifecycle, and the co-production of knowledge with local stakeholders. While focusing on African clinical contexts, the analysis offers broader insights for global debates on AI ethics and clinical decision-making.

This article explores Multimodal Social Semiotics as a theoretical and methodological lens for researching learning in educational contexts. Building on Bezemer and Kress work, we articulate Multimodal Social Semiotics as a means of theorising learning. We argue that Multimodal Social Semiotics offers a distinct epistemological position, by foregrounding learning as a process of meaning making that is materialised in representations of learning. We illustrate how a four-component analytical approach—description, visualisation, principles of design, and contextual integration—can be used to systematically interrogate multimodal texts and the pedagogic discourses they realise. The article contributes conceptual clarification, methodological operationalisation, and analytical exemplification, demonstrating the potential of Multimodal Social Semiotics to broaden what counts as learning and how it can be studied across educational contexts.

The seminal framework of Gans & Stern (2003) identifies the ownership of specialized complementary assets by incumbents as the central driver of startup commercialization strategy, predicting cooperation between innovators and established firms when such assets are critical. This paper extends the framework to account for a structural feature of the contemporary innovation landscape that the original analysis did not contemplate: the emergence of General Purpose Technology (GPT) platforms that provide high-quality complementary assets freely, non-exclusively, and with automatic improvement over time. We develop an analytical framework in which a GPT platform constitutes a third source of complementary assets --- distinct from both the incumbent firm and independent commercialization --- and derive conditions under which this transforms the cooperation--competition tradeoff at the heart of the Gans--Stern framework. Four results emerge. First, above a platform quality threshold, the cooperation surplus collapses and no mutually beneficial agreement between innovator and incumbent is feasible, even when incumbents hold substantial complementary asset stocks. Second, incumbents with larger complementary asset stocks are predicted to perform worse in the GPT platform regime, inverting the standard prediction. Third, a distinct commercialization mode --- platform riding --- emerges as the dominant strategy in a well-defined parameter region, constituting a necessary extension to the Gans--Stern two-by-two commercialization matrix. Fourth, GPT platform emergence strictly improves welfare for the set of innovations previously suppressed by incumbent hold-up, with gains largest where the cooperation problem was most acute. We illustrate the framework using matched incumbent--entrant pairs in the Internet of Things sector, including the contrast between SwingVision and Babolat in smart tennis equipment, and discuss implications for innovation policy in platform-mediated economies.

Low fertility in East Asia has been partly attributed to family policies that target married couples and working parents while neglecting the unmarried and childless individuals, who account for fertility decline through decreased marriage prevalence. The close linkage between marriage and childbearing in this region, however, proposes an alternative possibility: never-married individuals form their intentions by reasoning prospectively about family policies in terms of the potential financial benefits and the uncertainty associated with future childbearing. Conducting factorial survey experiments of age 20–34 never-married childless individuals in Japan, we examine how changes in six family policy dimensions—childcare leave benefits, child allowance, university tuition, daycare availability, short-time work, and overwork restrictions—affect fertility and marriage intentions. The results show that more generous financial incentives and work-family policies significantly increase both fertility and marriage intentions. While the most generous alternatives generally produce meaningful effects, the effects of modest reforms are frequently insignificant, suggesting that incremental policy reforms may be insufficient to shift family formation intentions. These findings provide insights for policy design and scaling in East Asian societies characterized by a strong marriage-childbearing linkage and potentially in other post-industrial societies with persistently low fertility.

This article analyzes the potential khipu-document “match” involving six Inka-style khipus from Peru’s Santa Valley that record data similar to a 1670 colonial census of San Pedro de Corongo. Despite its potential as a breakthrough in khipu decipherment, crucial details surrounding these potential “Rosetta khipus” and their associated colonial document have been left out, overlooked, or confused in the literature. This article’s objective is to synthesize and evaluate what is known about this khipu-document “match” while also using combinatorics to identify an optimal moiety alignment for the six lineage groups listed in the 1670 census. This novel moiety alignment differs from the one proposed in 2018 by Manuel Medrano and Gary Urton and is supported by additional structures found in the six khipus. This discovery could lead to a broader understanding of the social hierarchy of San Pedro de Corongo in 1670, as well as an expanded reading of the six Santa Valley khipus. Furthermore, this study presents the first-ever identification of recto and verso cord attachment knot orientations being used as a marked and unmarked sign, respectively. This article’s findings provide a significant contribution toward the ongoing decipherment of nonnumerical khipu signs.

This article applies mathematical knot theory to the study of Andean khipus—knotted cord records, widely known for their use by the Inka empire (ca. AD 1400–1532). Despite more than 100 years of extensive study, a comprehensive understanding of the relationships and properties of different khipu knots has yet to be established. Addressing this gap, this article formalizes khipu knot relationships through the lens of mathematical knot theory, focusing on (1) common khipu knot variations that lead to misidentifications, (2) potential insights into khipu construction and data-encoding processes, and (3) the functional properties that certain knot variations offered to khipukamayuqs (khipu specialists). This article highlights the importance of recognizing topologically equivalent knots, which are visually distinct yet are structurally identical, and explores how variations of the same knot type could be used to encode or modify meaning. Notably, it reveals that several common knot forms can be transformed into visually distinct variations or other common forms without untying them, offering new perspectives on the versatility and complexity of khipus and knotted objects more broadly.

Despite its foundational importance to public administration, the study of street-level bureaucracy is marked by a persistent theoretical fragmentation, often isolating the bureaucrat's individual agency from the contextual pressures they face. This article bridges this divide through a structured narrative review and thematic analysis of 94 scholarly articles. We develop and propose the Integrated Framework of Dynamic Interplay, a new conceptual model that synthesizes these disparate approaches. The framework posits a three-level dynamic process where environmental drivers (e.g., resource scarcity, digitalization) do not determine outcomes directly. Instead, they are actively filtered by a "bureaucratic mediator", the frontline worker whose agency, shaped by perceived discretion and professional identity, translates these pressures into observable behavior. This mediation results in specific coping mechanisms and adaptive practices that constitute the "policy-in-practice." Theoretically, the framework provides a more holistic and dynamic understanding of frontline work. Practically, it offers a powerful diagnostic tool for managers and policymakers to deconstruct systemic challenges and design more effective, supportive interventions for public services.

Right-wing populist parties have become a major challenge to liberal democracies worldwide. How can mainstream parties effectively counter their appeal? While prior research has focused on the drivers of populist support, much less is known about how to counter right-wing populist rhetoric. We test four communication counter-strategies that target core elements of right-wing populist appeals: (i) undermining populists’ claims to democratic credibility, (ii) promoting inclusive in-group identity to counter exclusionary narratives, (iii) highlighting their performance legitimacy, and (iv) emphasizing the procedural legitimacy of mainstream parties. Drawing on real-world party communications from social media, manifestos, and press releases, we created 170 experimental treatments (posters and social media posts varying in format and complexity) to simulate how voters encounter political messages in everyday life. In a large-scale survey experiment with over 24,000 respondents in Germany, messages undermining right-wing populists’ democratic credibility prove most effective, particularly among citizens with high initial support for such parties.

ABSTRACT Background Autistic adults experience high rates of depression, yet the DSM-5-TR criteria may not fully represent their experiences. Differences in alexithymia, interoception, and sensory processing may influence how autistic adults experience and describe depression. This study examines whether autistic adults' depressive experiences align with or differ from DSM-5-TR criteria to inform diagnostic understanding. Methods We used an exploratory qualitative design. A total of 109 autistic adults and 13 caregivers who reported on an autistic adult they support participated. Participants described depressive experiences relative to their usual autistic baseline through an online survey (n = 112) or a semi-structured interview (n = 10). Researchers applied direct content analysis to identify DSM-5-TR-aligned symptoms and used inductive analysis to identify additional experiences. Results Participants met DSM-5-TR depression criteria, but autism-related differences may influence symptom expression. Depressed mood presented as emotional emptiness or numbness. Anhedonia involves a loss of enjoyment in deep or focused interests, a key source of emotional regulation. Fatigue felt like physical heaviness and appetite changes included restrictive eating patterns. Task initiation, time management, and hyperfocus difficulties occurred but did not appear in DSM-5-TR. Participants described "Depression attacks"—sudden, overwhelming suicidal ideation with a loss of control. Additionally, depression may influence autistic characteristics, including fluctuations in sensory sensitivities and repetitive behaviours during depressive episodes. Autistic adults reported difficulties with emotional regulation, meltdowns and shutdowns, suggesting depressive episodes exacerbate challenges in emotional and sensory modulation. Conclusion Autistic adults often meet DSM-5-TR depression criteria, but their symptom expression may differ, which can complicate diagnosis. Autism may influence how autistic adults experience depression, while depression may influence autistic characteristics. Standard diagnostic frameworks often fail to account for these bidirectional effects, increasing the risk of inaccurate diagnosis. Recognising these interactions can improve diagnostic accuracy and guide the development of autism-relevant assessment tools.

The brief report presents key findings from the third of four representative survey waves conducted as part of the Monitor Digital Working Society study, which was carried out as part of the Opinion Monitor Artificial Intelligence 3.0 research project. The findings are based on responses from 1,647 participants (928 working, 719 non-working) in January 2026. The third survey wave shows that the interest in AI, which had risen over the course of 2025, declined slightly again at the beginning of 2026, while the subjective assessment of one’s own knowledge remained stable at the level achieved. At the same time, reservations regarding certain societal applications are increasing, particularly in areas related to state security tasks and political decisions. In the workplace, assessments of AI’s impact on one’s own profession remain generally stable and slightly benefit-oriented. The professional use of AI has stagnated recently. Many employees continue to report no fundamental changes in their job requirements and only low levels of personal job insecurity, while concerns that AI could replace or fundamentally alter human work in general remain significantly more widespread than personal job insecurity. For the first time, the survey also sheds light on the public’s regulatory preferences: While government intervention regarding labor market impacts finds broad support, interventions in economic freedoms and tax policy measures are viewed with significantly more ambivalence. Overall, there are signs of a greater differentiation and consolidation of attitudes toward AI.

The empirical data on how institutional factors affect green procurement procedures and environmental sustainability results in manufacturing companies is compiled in this systematic study. The review, which is based on institutional theory, looks at mimetic, normative, and coercive pressures as the main forces behind the adoption of sustainable procurement. The PRISMA 2020 standards were followed for conducting the systematic review. Peer-reviewed empirical research published between January 2010, and January 2026 were found by searching Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, PubMed, Emerald Insight, EBSCOhost, and African Journals Online (AJOL). Organisational reports and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses are examples of grey literature sources that were consulted. 47 studies met the inclusion criteria after 1,247 data were evaluated by two independent reviewers. JBI checklists and the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) were used to assess quality. Thematic and narrative methods were used to synthesise the data. According to the review, normative forces (professional associations, industry norms), mimetic pressures (competition imitation), and coercive pressures (regulatory requirements) are the most commonly mentioned and powerful institutional drivers of green procurement adoption. The link between institutional demands and environmental sustainability results, such as emissions reduction, waste minimisation, energy efficiency, and regulatory compliance, is partially mediated by green procurement strategies. These correlations are moderated by contextual variables, including company size, industry type, and geographic location. There is little longitudinal and mixed-methods research, and the majority of methodological techniques are quantitative cross-sectional surveys. By clarifying the various impacts of the three pressure types, this analysis offers a theoretical addition to Institutional Theory and a thorough synthesis of the scattered evidence on institutional drivers of green procurement. Practically speaking, the results guide management choices and the creation of policies that promote environmental sustainability in industrial processes.

Major projects and megaprojects are large-scale, capital-intensive undertakings marked by long durations, high uncertainty, extensive stakeholder interfaces, deep interdependencies, and strong budget and schedule pressure. In such environments, failures rarely stem from a single isolated event; rather, they emerge through coupled sequences of requirements, decisions, handovers, and execution constraints that accumulate over time. A central practical challenge is that the effects of earlier deficiencies often become visible only much later, when correction is more expensive and more disruptive. This article examines that temporal separation between origin and visibility as a form of cause-effect decoupling in major projects. The empirical basis is a structured workshop with four focus groups from an international major-project organization (N = 25), covering engineering, procurement, expediting, inspection, quality, manufacturing, project engineering, scheduling, and project management. Participants mapped where the causes of project problems were perceived to arise and where their effects became visible across eight project phases. The results indicate a clear temporal asymmetry. Causes are concentrated in specification preparation, fabrication-documentation preparation, and contract-related work, whereas visible effects are concentrated later, especially in fabrication-documentation preparation, manufacturing, acceptance testing, and final documentation. The weighted phase-center of causes lies at 3.11 and that of effects at 4.39, indicating a downstream displacement of 1.28 phases. Category-specific analysis further suggests that the magnitude of displacement varies by functional role, with the strongest lag perceived in expediting and procurement, a moderate lag in project management and coordination, and a smaller but still positive lag in technical execution and quality-related functions. Drawing on a formal categorization of project states (Huemmer, 2020), the observed pattern is consistent with characteristics of a “complex” project state, in which the connection between cause and effect is not readily discernible in real time and may only be reconstructed retrospectively. The findings are therefore consistent with the interpretation that delayed visibility of earlier deficiencies may be an important mechanism in the formation of experienced project complexity, especially under conditions of schedule pressure. The article contributes an exploratory empirical bridge between complexity theory and time-pressure theory and derives implications for front-end clarification, specification governance, document maturity control, gate design, and cross-functional communication.

Η «σκιά του μέλλοντος», η προσδοκία συνεχούς αλληλεπίδρασης, αναγνωρίζεται ως μηχανισμός προώθησης της συνεργασίας. Ωστόσο, μπορεί παράδοξα να εντείνει τη σύγκρουση, καθώς οι δρώντες ανταγωνίζονται για μελλοντική υπεροχή. Το άρθρο αντιμετωπίζει αυτό το αίνιγμα μέσω συστηματικής ποιοτικής επισκόπησης 101 μελετών. Υποστηρίζουμε ότι η σκιά του μέλλοντος δεν είναι στατική συνθήκη, αλλά ενδογενής μεταβλητή που υπόκειται σε στρατηγική διαμόρφωση. Αναδεικνύουμε τους διαμεσολαβητικούς μηχανισμούς και προτείνουμε ένα νέο, πολυεπίπεδο εννοιολογικό πλαίσιο για τη διάγνωση και διαχείριση της, μετατρέποντάς την από θεωρητικό παράδοξο σε αναλυτικό εργαλείο διακυβέρνησης.

Im Jahr 2023 wurde die letzte Bevölkerungsvorausschätzung für Leipzig berechnet. Zwei Jahre sind seitdem vergangen, sodass diese Vorausschätzung in ihrer Treffsicherheit beurteilt werden kann. Das Leipziger Bevölkerungswachstum fiel in den ersten zwei Prognosejahren insgesamt höher aus als erwartet. Bevölkerungsvorausschätzungen versuchen, die künftigen Entwicklungen von Einwohnerzahlen vorherzusagen. Da über die Entwicklungen, die die Zukunft betreffen, jedoch Unkenntnis oder zumindest Unsicherheit besteht, müssen Annahmen getroffen werden. Der vorliegende Beitrag stellt dar, wie nah die Realität die getroffenen Annahmen widerspiegelt. In der Bevölkerungsvorausschätzung 2023 ist die Annahme zur den Wanderungsgewinnen der Stadt Leipzig in der Realität übertroffen wurden, die Annahmen zur zusammengefassten Geburtenziffer wurde in der Realität in der Höhe nicht erreicht.

On open social media platforms, the convergence of diverse, often incompatible audiences—colleagues, family, strangers—within a single communicative space creates persistent challenges for civil expression. This longitudinal study examines how the structural properties of users' social networks and their use of addressivity (@mentions and replies) shaped communication civility on Twitter during the early 2010s. Drawing on a dataset of 1,827 user timelines with over 1,700 tweets each spanning approximately 4.4 years, we operationalize civility across four measures—offensive language, sensitive content, negative sentiment, and positive sentiment—and track how each individual's behavior changes over time. Our main finding challenges network closure theory: contrary to predictions derived from Coleman's closure argument that densely interconnected networks promote civility through heightened accountability, increased network constraint predicts less civil expression, suggesting that tightly knit networks foster in-group communicative norms that diverge from mainstream standards. By contrast, addressivity consistently promotes civil expression across all measures, supporting audience design and politeness theories and demonstrating their robustness in context-collapsed digital environments. Together, these findings demonstrate that civility on social media is a dynamic response to communicative context rather than a stable individual trait. The tight-knit network structures that promote accountability in face-to-face communication can have the opposite effect online, where group belonging encourages rather than discourages norm-deviant expression.

Outpatient healthcare in Germany is undergoing a digital transformation. This includes communication between doctors and patients. Doctor websites serve as a medium for the two-way exchange of information between doctors and patients. Depending on the extent of the integration of practice processes, direct communication between patient and doctor can transition into patient-website-doctor interaction. Based on a sample from two regions, doctor websites are evaluated with regard to their available functions and their prevalence. Based on a sample from two regions in North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg, website scope, readability, and other website functions (including video consultations, online appointment booking, prescription ordering, and contact information) were assessed. The regions were characterized in terms of rurality, social deprivation, and population size. Based on website functionality, groups were formed to describe the state of digital integration. Region A, with 421 medical practice websites in the northern Rhineland, is characterized by a more urban and intermediate typology with a larger population and higher socioeconomic status, compared to Region B, with 294 medical practice websites in the Brandenburg area, which has a more intermediate and rural typology. The average website size (689 and 908 tokens, respectively) and the distribution of website groups do not differ significantly between the regions. While contact information (telephone number, fax number, opening hours) was found on 99% of the websites in both regions, websites of practices in Region A more frequently offer features such as video consultations, online appointment booking, or prescription ordering for patients. Based on the website grouping, three patterns can be identified: "Basic," "Integrated," and "Digital." Region A is distinguished by a significantly larger proportion of practice websites with extended features (practice websites in the "Integrated" and "Digital" groups). Websites serve as a communication platform for interaction between medical practices and patients. They can be integrated into practice processes. The extent of integration varies regionally. The exploratory results, which require further validation, offer the opportunity to efficiently document the digital transformation in outpatient healthcare in a timely manner and with minimal resource expenditure.

Nas últimas décadas, com a consolidação das indústrias tecnológicas e novos mercados informacionais, a exportação cultural tornou-se uma ferramenta política central para muitas nações. A China, por exemplo, tem implementado uma política cultural estratégica alinhada ao seu projeto de "rejuvenescimento da nação chinesa", buscando fortalecer o nacionalismo e sua projeção internacional. O governo chinês, sob a liderança do Partido Comunista, tem priorizado a indústria cultural como um veículo de soft power, promovendo valores sociais tradicionais, especialmente confucionistas, em alinhamento com o socialismo moderno. A metodologia adotada envolveu a realização de uma revisão narrativa sobre as interconexões entre as estratégias de produção cultural chinesa e o uso de elementos nacionais desta estirpe, suportada pelos relatórios governamentais, em especial pelos planos quinquenais de desenvolvimento cultural, e análises de relatórios de think tanks internacionais. A China também tem investido em clusters culturais, aglomerados industriais que estimulam a inovação e a colaboração entre empresas e instituições. Embora esses clusters tenham enfrentado desafios como desigualdade de desempenho e dependência de investimentos externos, eles têm sido essenciais para o desenvolvimento econômico e cultural, destacando-se em cidades como Pequim e Xangai. Ao combinar tecnologia, cultura e controle ideológico, a China busca consolidar sua influência global e fortalecer a identidade nacional.

Resumo: Em 2020, a pandemia de COVID-19 intensificou sensivelmente a sociabilidade mediada pelas experiências por telas. É neste cenário que este artigo se situa, ao abordar a ascensão de um tipo específico de criador de conteúdo online: os YouTubers Virtuais, ou VTubers, os quais utilizam-se de avatares animados para interagirem com seu público. O fenômeno dos VTubers é recente e pouco abordado academicamente. Com isso, este artigo tem caráter essencialmente exploratório com foco na tese de que, ao longo deste período pandêmico, o consumo deste produto cultural cresceu de forma significativa, incluindo a ampliação das fontes de produção, ultrapassando as fronteiras do extremo oriente asiático, basicamente japonesas. Para a consecução deste objetivo, buscou-se descrever os VTubers em si, identificando suas características intrínsecas e mapeando os grandes players deste mercado e a sua respectiva concentração, que é caracterizado por grandes companhias, originalmente nipônicas, como Hololive e Nijisanji, e outras ocidentais que surgiram posteriormente, como a VShojo. Desta forma, destaca-se que a análise empreendida neste trabalho indica que o movimento de expansão de criação de artefatos tecnológicos tende a continuar gerando e fortalecendo novos tipos de produtos e serviços culturais, como os VTubers, os quais experimentam forte crescimento de consumo neste período temporal com restrições das potencialidades físicas de socialização. // Abstract: In 2020, the pandemic of COVID – 19 has sensible intensified the sociability that was created by the internet community. It is in this scenario that this article is situated, by addressing the rise of a specific type of online content creator: The Virtual YouTubers, or VTubers, who use animated avatars to interact with their audience. The phenomenon of VTubers is recent and little academically approached. Therefore, this article is essentially an explorative paper focusing on the thesis that, during this pandemic period, the consumption of this cultural product has grown significantly, including the expansion of production sources, going beyond the borders of Far East Asia basically Japanese. To achieve this goal, we sought to describe the VTubers themselves, identifying their intrinsic characteristics and mapping the major players inthis market and their respective concentrations, which is characterized by large companies, originally Japanese, such as Hololive and Nijisanji, and other Western ones that emerged later, such as VShojo. In this way, it is emphasized that the analysis undertaken in this paper indicates that the expansion movement and creation of technological artifacts tends to continue generating and strengthening new types of cultural products and services, such as VTubers, which experience strong consumption growth in this time period with restrictions of physical potentialities of socialization.