In general practice, qualitative research contributes as significantly as quantitative research, in particular regarding psycho-social aspects of patient-care, health services provision, policy setting, and health administrations. In contrast to quantitative research, qualitative research as a whole has been constantly critiqued, if not disparaged, by the lack of consensus for assessing its quality and robustness. This article illustrates with five published studies how qualitative research can impact and reshape the discipline of primary care, spiraling out from clinic-based health screening to community-based disease monitoring, evaluation of out-of-hours triage services to provincial psychiatric care pathways model and finally, national legislation of core measures for children's healthcare insurance. Fundamental concepts of validity, reliability, and generalizability as applicable to qualitative research are then addressed with an update on the current views and controversies.
Isura Manchanayaka, Zainab Razia Zaidi, Shanika Karunasekera
et al.
The rise of social media has been accompanied by a dark side with the ease of creating fake accounts and disseminating misinformation through coordinated attacks. Existing methods to identify such attacks often rely on thematic similarities or network-based approaches, overlooking the intricate causal relationships that underlie coordinated actions. This work introduces a novel approach for detecting coordinated attacks using Convergent Cross Mapping (CCM), a technique that infers causality from temporal relationships between user activity. We build on the theoretical framework of CCM by incorporating topic modelling as a basis for further optimizing its performance. We apply CCM to real-world data from the infamous IRA attack on US elections, achieving F1 scores up to 75.3% in identifying coordinated accounts. Furthermore, we analyse the output of our model to identify the most influential users in a community. We apply our model to a case study involving COVID-19 anti-vax related discussions on Twitter. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of our model in uncovering causal structures of coordinated behaviour, offering a promising avenue for mitigating the threat of malicious campaigns on social media platforms.
Amendment to the Regulation of Minister of Labour and Social Policy of 1 December 1998 on safety and occupational hygiene at positions equipped with display monitors, adopted on October 18th, 2023, entered the long-awaited by employees possibility of reimbursement for corrective contact lenses, adjusting the Polish legislation to European directive regulating working conditions with display screen equipment. Contact lenses in many cases of refractive errors can be an alternative to prescription glasses method of correcting the visual impairment. There are however many clinical conditions, in which contact lenses can provide a better corrective effect on visual acuity. The information contained in medical databases of articles and scientific journals (PubMed, Biblioteka Nauki), online publications (Lippincott Journals), books, applicable legal regulations (available in Internetowy System Aktów Prawnych) and guidelines published by organizations and associations (Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine in Łódź, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Tear Film & Ocular Surface Society) were analyzed, covering the discussed issues over the years 2000–2023. Non-correction or suboptimal correction of a refractive error can cause a wide variety of troublesome symptoms, such as eye pain, headache, double vision, balance disorders, nausea, disturbances in the perception of the surroundings, contributing to poorer work efficiency, faster fatigue or an increased risk of error. This article, which is a narrative review, aims to present these conditions, as well as provide a brief overview of the types of contact lenses used, complications that may result from their use and contraindications to the use of this type of correction. Med Pr Work Health Saf. 2024;75(4):383–390
Healthcare is increasingly datafied, and a wide range of actors—patients, clinicians, administrators, policymakers, and industry lobbyists—want to be able to exchange and access health data internationally and use them for an increasing number of purposes. Therefore, competing initiatives aimed at fostering international data integration proliferate, with the proposed European Health Data Space as one of the most prominent examples. But how do legislators conceptualize a health data space? And what could they gain from rethinking the governmental object of this legislation? To explore these questions, we suggest taking the term “data space,” present in the European Health Data Space initiative, and develop it theoretically to establish a vocabulary fit for understanding international data-intensive health environments. Space is a concept with appealing affordances. It is a way of naming a mode of being which is simultaneously symbolic and material, abstract and concrete, social and physical. We show how these affordances of the concept of space can be helpful when exploring new ways of living in cross-border data-intensive healthcare settings. Whereas policy reports often describe data sharing as a matter of providing technical means and legal provisions to “wire together” existing data resources, we argue that data spaces should be understood as sociotechnical constructs enacted through three formative and four experiential dimensions.
Significant global challenges, particularly in the areas of economics, society, and the environment, are posed by urbanization. In this researcher-led study, we look at how Jordan is trying to bring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to life in its capital, Amman, by bringing urban laws in line with these global goals. The paper finds legislative flaws that prevent SDG incorporation through a thorough analysis of the Amman Building and Regulation Act of 2019. Some of the main points covered are public participation, the use of renewable energy sources, sustainable construction practices, resilience in urban areas, and the management of natural resources. Although a lot of work has gone into it, the analysis shows that if Jordan wants to accomplish the 2030 Agenda and have sustainable urban growth in the future, it must overcome these institutional and legal barriers. As a model for other cities facing a similar challenge, Amman is being asked to lead the way in SDG localization through more public involvement, new laws, and innovative resource management.
This article discusses audience education as a ‘third mission’ commitment, a specific institutional task assigned to universities by recent government legislation, as well as a preferred subject of recent debate among Italian musicologists. Starting from a distinction between various types of audiences, from the general public to the diverse group of university audiences, the article proposes two action perspectives for universities in their task of educating the public, both in a curricular and extracurricular setting, focusing in particular on the former. The notion of ‘education’ as Bildung is recalled and applied to the field of music education within the broader context of democratic education. The notion of a ‘knowledge society’, which lies at the heart of the social, political and economic development of Western societies, is also reconsidered as part of a reflection on the complexity of today’s knowledge production, in particular expert knowledge, and on the ways in which knowledge itself is acquired by the general public. Within this perspective, the article finally proposes four directions for university teaching in musicological subjects aimed at audience education: a rigorous disciplinarity, as the foundation of true cross-disciplinarity; an enhancement of historical training; laboratory teaching; the mutual support that universities can provide in their own research efforts, teaching and third mission initiatives, also thanks to Rete Universitaria per l’Educazione musicale [University Network for Music Education].
Music and books on Music, Musical instruction and study
Anders Håkansson, Johanna Tjernberg, Helena Hansson
BackgroundVoluntary self-exclusion from gambling is a common but underdeveloped harm reduction tool in the management of gambling problems or gambling disorders. Large-scale, multi-operator, and operator-independent self-exclusion services are needed. A recent nationwide multi-operator self-exclusion service in Sweden (Spelpaus), involving both land- and web-based gambling sites, is promising, but recent data have revealed limitations to this system and possibilities to breach one’s self-exclusion through overseas web-based gambling. More knowledge is needed about the benefits and challenges of such an extensive self-exclusion service, and its effects as perceived by gamblers.
ObjectiveThis study protocol describes the rationale and design of a qualitative interview study addressing the effects and limitations perceived by individuals with gambling problems and their concerned significant others. The study aims to provide an in-depth experience of this novel self-exclusion service and to inform stakeholders and policymakers in order to further improve harm reduction tools against gambling problems.
MethodsIndividuals with gambling problems will be recruited primarily through social media and also from a treatment unit, if needed, for a qualitative interview study. Recorded interview material will be analyzed through content analysis, and recruitment will continue until saturation in the material is reached. This study will provide in-depth information about a harm reduction tool that is promising and commonly used, but which has proven to be breached by a significant number of users, potentially limiting its efficiency. The aim is to interview a sufficient number of gamblers until saturation has been obtained in the interview material. Saturation will be considered through a continuous analysis, comparing recently collected data to previously collected data.
ResultsResults will be reported as the themes and subthemes identified after the thorough analysis and coding of the transcribed text material and will be accompanied by citations representing relevant themes and subthemes. Results are planned to be provided before the end of 2023.
ConclusionsThis study will likely provide new insights into user perspectives on a multi-operator self-exclusion service that involves both web- and land-based gambling operators, and which according to previous literature attracts many gamblers but also appears to have limitations and challenges in the target group of individuals with gambling problems. Policy and legislation implications, as well as clinical implications for treatment providers, will be discussed. Results and conclusions will be disseminated to policy makers in Sweden and internationally, as well as to peer organizations, treatment providers, and the research community.
Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT05693155; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05693155
International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)PRR1-10.2196/47528
Medicine, Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics
The study synthesizes the most important events and transformations that marked Moldovan society in 1989 and its future developments. The study’s primary aim is to highlight the most important events from 1989 that led the Moldovan society towards obtaining the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Moldova. At the same time, the study also shows the current knowledge of the 1989 developments to draw new research perspectives. Thus, in chronological order, the most critical social, cultural, and political events that have had long-term effects on Moldovan society are reviewed. The article analyzes the national emancipation movement’s emergence, activity, and counter-movements to maintain the Soviet regime. The 1989 events in the Moldavian SSR resulted from Gorbachev’s reforms (glasnost, perestroika) and the “revolutions” in the socialist states that succeeded in bringing down the communist regimes. Starting with cultural demands and rights (the language and alphabet), people had reached economic and political demands (economic autonomy, sovereignty, independence). The emergence of alternative political forces to the Communist Party, their official registration, the legalization of their meetings, and public manifestations led to the consolidation of the critical mass opposed to the Communist regime. Changing the language legislation, returning to the Latin alphabet, and condemning the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact are just some of the successes of 1989 that impacted the following years, resulting, eventually, in the Declaration of Sovereignty of 1990 and the Declaration of Independence of 1991.
En este artículo se busca dar a conocer la reciente experiencia, implementación e impacto que tuvieron los Comités de Prevención y Solución de Conflictos Mario Juliano[1] como dispositivos en materia de Justicia restaurativa dentro de unidades del Servicio Penitenciario Federal de la República Argentina, donde se encuentra alojada la población joven adulta. Desde una perspectiva socio-antropológica y jurídica se pretende indagar sobre el propósito y la implicancia que tienen los dispositivos de Justicia restaurativa dentro del ámbito penitenciario, relevar y visibilizar a la población joven adulta que se encuentra alojada en las unidades penales y describir y analizar en qué consiste la puesta en funcionamiento de los Comités destinados específicamente a los jóvenes adultos.
This article aims to present the recent experience, implementation, and impact of the Mario Juliano[2] Conflict Prevention and Resolution Committees as Restorative Justice mechanisms within prison units of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Argentine Republic, where the young adult population is housed. From a social, anthropological, and legal perspective, the aim is to inquire into the purpose and implications of restorative justice mechanisms within the penitentiary environment, to survey and make visible the young adult population that is housed in prisons, as well as to describe and analyze the implementation of the Committees specifically designed for young adults.
[1] Mario Juliano fue Juez Penal, Director Ejecutivo de la Asociación Pensamiento Penal e integrante del Comité de Prevención y Solución de Conflictos del penal de Mar del Plata, mejor conocida como cárcel de Batán, Provincia de Buenos Aires. Mirta López González es quién implementó los Comités de Prevención y Solución de Conflictos que funcionan actualmente en las unidades penitenciarias de Ezeiza y Marcos Paz, es también quien está a cargo de la coordinación de los mismos.
[2] Mario Juliano was a Criminal Judge, Executive Director of the Asociación Pensamiento Penal and member of the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Committee of the Mar del Plata prison, better known as Batán prison, Province of Buenos Aires. Mirta López González is the person who implemented the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Committees currently operating in the penitentiary units of Ezeiza and Marcos Paz, and is also in charge of their coordination.
While social media offers freedom of self-expression, abusive language carry significant negative social impact. Driven by the importance of the issue, research in the automated detection of abusive language has witnessed growth and improvement. However, these detection models display a reliance on strongly indicative keywords, such as slurs and profanity. This means that they can falsely (1a) miss abuse without such keywords or (1b) flag non-abuse with such keywords, and that (2) they perform poorly on unseen data. Despite the recognition of these problems, gaps and inconsistencies remain in the literature. In this study, we analyse the impact of keywords from dataset construction to model behaviour in detail, with a focus on how models make mistakes on (1a) and (1b), and how (1a) and (1b) interact with (2). Through the analysis, we provide suggestions for future research to address all three problems.
Simone Casale-Brunet, Mirko Zichichi, Lee Hutchinson
et al.
This paper presents an analysis of the role of social media, specifically Twitter, in the context of non-fungible tokens, better known as NFTs. Such emerging technology framing the creation and exchange of digital object, started years ago with early projects such as "CryptoPunks" and since early 2021, has received an increasing interest by a community of people creating, buying, selling NFT's and by the media reporting to the general public. In this work it is shown how the landscape of one class of projects, specifically those used as social media profile pictures, has become mainstream with leading projects such as "Bored Ape Yacht Club", "Cool Cats" and "Doodles". This work illustrates how heterogeneous data was collected from the Ethereum blockchain and Twitter and then analysed using algorithms and state-of-art metrics related to graphs. The initial results show that from a social network perspective, the collections of most popular NFTs can be considered as a single community around NFTs. Thus, while each project has its own value and volume of exchange, on a social level all of them are primarily influenced by the evolution of values and trades of "Bored Ape Yacht Club" collection.
Ishita Vohra, Meher Shashwat Nigam, Aryan Sakaria
et al.
The pandemic required efficient allocation of public resources and transforming existing ways of societal functions. To manage any crisis, governments and public health researchers exploit the information available to them in order to make informed decisions, also defined as situational awareness. Gathering situational awareness using social media has been functional to manage epidemics. Previous research focused on using discussions during periods of epidemic crises on social media platforms like Twitter, Reddit, or Facebook and developing NLP techniques to filter out relevant discussions from a huge corpus of messages and posts. Social media usage varies with internet penetration and other socioeconomic factors, which might induce disparity in analyzing discussions across different geographies. However, print media is a ubiquitous information source, irrespective of geography. Further, topics discussed in news articles are already newsworthy, while on social media newsworthiness is a product of techno-social processes. Developing this fundamental difference, we study Twitter data during the second wave in India focused on six high-population cities with varied macroeconomic factors. Through a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods, we further analyze two Indian newspapers during the same period and compare topics from both Twitter and the newspapers to evaluate situational awareness around the second phase of COVID on each of these platforms. We conclude that factors like internet penetration and GDP in a specific city influence the discourse surrounding situational updates on social media. Thus, augmenting information from newspapers with information extracted from social media would provide a more comprehensive perspective in resource deficit cities.
The relevance of the study lies in the fact that at all times an integral part of the social structure is real estate. It is the cornerstone element of any economy. The development of relations related to the turnover of real estate has led to the formation of independent state accounting and registration and measurement activities of the state cadastral registration and cadastral activities of specific subjects - cadastral engineers. In 2015. Federal Law No. 228-FZ of 13.07.2015 «On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation» amended the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Article 1702 of the Criminal Code defined liability for knowingly false information entered by cadastral engineers into the technical plan, land survey plan or survey act (Article 1702 of the Criminal Code). To date, the question of the need to criminalize the deed of cadastral forgery remains controversial. The main purpose of the study is a comprehensive analysis of the social prerequisites of criminalization of illegal actions of cadastral engineers, expressed in the introduction of knowingly false information in the technical plan, land survey plan or in the act of survey and consideration of controversial points of view among both theorists and practitioners. The main problem is the determination of necessity of introduction of such subject as cadastral engineer and justification of criminalization of cadastral forgery. As a result of the research conclusions are made that the measures taken by the legislator to amend the legislation and the establishment of criminal liability of cadastral engineer were logically justified and will bring positive changes in the field of immovable property.
Echo chambers may exclude social media users from being exposed to other opinions, therefore, can cause rampant negative effects. Among abundant evidence are the 2016 and 2020 US presidential elections conspiracy theories and polarization, as well as the COVID-19 disinfodemic. To help better detect echo chambers and mitigate its negative effects, this paper explores the mechanisms and attributes of echo chambers in social media. In particular, we first illustrate four primary mechanisms related to three main factors: human psychology, social networks, and automatic systems. We then depict common attributes of echo chambers with a focus on the diffusion of misinformation, spreading of conspiracy theory, creation of social trends, political polarization, and emotional contagion of users. We illustrate each mechanism and attribute in a multi-perspective of sociology, psychology, and social computing with recent case studies. Our analysis suggest an emerging need to detect echo chambers and mitigate their negative effects.
The establishment of the communist regime in Poland in 1944 is a current subject of reflection in the doctrine and practice of legislation and judiciary. There has been no uniform position on these events, which means that the then sanctioned political and normative order continues to produce controversial assessments and, above all, certain legal effects. This results from the fact that the new people’s power, empowered by force, and not by legal or social basis, has given itself the competence to establish a normative order. The lack of legitimacy for the rightful rule and legislative activity, in principle – from the point of view of the idea of the rule of law – undermines the political and legal status of the people’s authorities. This is all the more so because the system of unified power and sources of law created at that time was evidence of building a totalitarian state modelled on the Soviet Union. The events and legal behaviours of that time led to numerous, often radical changes in many areas of private and public life. They caused certain social and material effects, difficult to reverse today, which Polish society still faces. Therefore, modern standards of the rule of law require that public authorities undertake comprehensive and effective activity. They require that the principles of just and fair compensation for material damage and compensation for moral losses resulting from the rule of this system be implemented. This seems all the more important because some regulations of the people’s power, especially those concerning changes in the ownership structure, are still in force and form the basis of court and Constitutional Tribunal decisions.
Law, Political institutions and public administration (General)
Amera Mojahed, Stephanie Brym, Helene Hense
et al.
While the COVID-19 pandemic forced millions of people to stay home and minimize their social contacts, newspaper reports worldwide raised concerns as they reported an increasing rate of intimate partner violence (IPV). One link of the measures enforced to control the pandemic to IPV might be a possible side effect of those measures, namely social and geographical isolation. As there was no scientific data investigating the association of IPV and social and geographical isolation in the context of epidemics or pandemics at the time of conducting this rapid review, we aimed at investigating a broader range of contexts of social as well as geographical isolation and its association with IPV to draw conclusions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. We searched Embase, PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science (core collection). A research strategy was developed and observational studies were included if they considered men and/or women, estimates of social and geographical isolation, and IPV as a primary outcome. Of the 526 identified studies, 11 were included in this review. The included studies involved 15,695 women and were conducted in the USA, Sweden, Ethiopia, Egypt, Spain, and Turkey. Indicators of social isolation such as lack of social, emotional, or informational support or the frequency and quality of social contacts were narratively assessed. Geographical isolation was primarily assessed by physical distance to the next town or support service. Both social and geographic isolation were found to be associated with an increased risk of IPV. Recommendations made by the individual studies include the following: (a) improving access to social networks outside the victims' own group, (b) improving their economic circumstances, (c) asserting the responsibility for those in contact with the victims, and (d) increasing the focus on access to preventive services and programs need to be taken into account. Therefore, considering the particular infrastructure and legislation of the countries affected by the pandemic, policies need to ensure constant access to shelters and other help services and increase awareness for IPV in the society. In addition, future studies are warranted to assess prevalence rates and risk factors of IPV during the COVID-19 pandemic.
<p>To increase earthquake preparation, it is beneficial to understand the effects of different types of information used in risk communications. This thesis adapts methods that have been used with other hazards or in hypothetical situations and applies them to increasing support for current earthquake-strengthening legislation in Wellington, New Zealand (NZ). Study 1 examined valence and numerical format framing. Expressing the number of buildings affected by the legislation as a negatively-valenced frequency was found to be most effective at increasing earthquake-related judgments¹. Study 2 examined descriptive and injunctive norms and found that a range of subject factors such as age and previous knowledge of the legislation influenced the effects of norms. Study 3 used the same manipulation and included a sample from Palmerston North, where earthquake risk perceptions are lower. This study showed several clear norm effects, with the combination of both descriptive and injunctive norms the most effective at increasing support for the earthquake legislation. All three studies showed that belief in the effectiveness of strengthening earthquake-prone buildings predicted support for the legislation and lower earthquake-risk tolerance, suggesting that this could be a key perception to target in communications. Overall, these studies suggest that certain messages are more effective at increasing support for the governmental legislation, but also that framing and social norm effects on real-world issues interact with other variables such as age and knowledge which ought to be examined further to increase the usefulness of psychological research to risk communication. ¹ The results of this study have been accepted for publication as a peer-reviewed journal article: Vinnell, L. J., McClure, J., & Milfont, T. L. (in press). Do framing messages increase support for earthquake legislation? Disaster Prevention and Management, 26(1).</p>
In South Africa (SA), exclusive breast feeding remains rare, with breast-milk substitutes (BMS) commonly being used in ways that are detrimental to infant and young child nutrition, health and survival. The use of internet, digital and mobile platforms has increased, including in low-income and middle-income countries, like SA and these platforms are avenues for BMS marketing. SA has national legislation (Regulation R991) to enforce the International Code of Marketing of BMS. This paper aims to provide pertinent examples of how BMS manufacturers in SA use social media to market their products thus violating national regulations. A digital (and social media) ethnography approach was used to study BMS organisations’ activity on Facebook and Instagram. Purposively selected examples of social media posts observed (from 2015 to 2019) were included, and content analysed in terms of national legislation. Several examples of BMS social media marketing are presented and interpreted according to provisions of national regulations that they violate. BMS manufacturers have found ways on social media to market their products in a media space that is complex to regulate, and where it is difficult to enforce national regulations. It is necessary to engage with stakeholders, notably social media companies, to alert them to relevant regulations applicable to their platforms. Monitoring the marketing of products for infants and young children by national governments needs to include online and digital platforms especially social media.