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9/11 and its aftermath was to have a dramatic impact on the visual arts and the artistic response to the War on Terror. This study surveys the evolution of these responses from the dramatic events of 11 September 2001 to the longer term reactions generated by the two-decade long encounter with the so-called War on Terrorism, primarily via the Imperial War Museum's Age of Terror/Art Since 9/11 exhibition of 2017–2018. The analysis suggests that the visual artistic response moved from the initial amazement at the destruction of the Twin Towers, through satirical caricature of the terrorist persona, to a trite predictability that mirrored official equivocation about the threat posed by violent jihadist activism. Artistic endeavor on these terms became notable only for its moral ambiguity and complicity in self-censorship rather than contributing to the creation of artwork of enduring value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Popular music was the most immediate way in which the cultural response to 9/11 manifested itself. Initially music offered a way of mourning and coping with grief. As the United States moved toward the invasion of Iraq, pop music also began to reflect the divisions in society between patriot-artists who supported the invasion, most notably in country music, and protest-artists who articulated critical attitudes to war. These anti-war songs did not attain the stature of those that characterized the era of protest during the Vietnam War, nor did they offer a musical accompaniment to a social movement with any enduring political significance. One little observed dissonance that a longitudinal survey of the musical response to political violence reveals, however, is that over time the attitudes of protest songwriters and the patriots transvalued. Ironically, interventionist "rednecks" became disillusioned with the endless wars of intervention, whilst the "protest" writers lost their voices after President Obama came to power. Ironically, icons of popular music instead turned their ire on those who voted for an anti-establishment President Trump who vowed not to involve the U.S. in further military adventures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In theory, the idea of strategy is easy to comprehend but in practice it is a hard taskmaster because it often involves calculations of political values that are rarely amenable to the kind of rationalistic application of "expert" opinion to which Western nations invariably default when considering overseas interventions. Based on remarks to the Oxford Changing Character of War Centre, this research note argues that foreign policy experts frequently find themselves out of touch with the sentiments of their own populations, which in part is responsible for the poor strategic outcomes that Western foreign policies have incurred in recent years. A number of remedies are suggested, based principally on returning Western policy making to a tradition of prudential realism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines what factors cause states to withdraw from foreign territorial interventions. Scholarly analyses of withdrawal are rare, whilst within the broader research area of territorial conflict, studies are often dichotomized into neorealist or constructivist-inspired works, emphasizing a select few variables and one level of analysis alone. We argue these excessive simplifications of international politics lack utility for understanding territorial withdrawal. Instead, we employ the principles of strategic theory informed by a Clausewitzian paradigm, and construct a framework of three "arenas of bargaining," spanning multiple variable-types and levels of analysis, to explain territorial withdrawal. In so doing, the analysis delineates a comprehensible and novel theoretical framework for understanding an under-researched policy problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the imperative of 'prevention', the process of information production for investigatory purposes forms a crossover between intelligence gathering and law enforcement. Digital surveillance programmes collect personal data prior to any probable cause of suspicion, whereas law enforcement activities are concerned with collecting evidence of crimes after the event. When future looking preventative approaches to the prosecution of crimes are forced into the linear, temporal narrative by which criminal investigations unfold, a tension emerges. The article demonstrates the ultimate incompatibility between 'out of the ordinary' intelligence activities and 'ordinary' criminal investigations by unearthing the procedural character behind evidence laundering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debate over whether there exists a British counter-insurgency tradition of minimum force is one that has been thoroughly discussed. Is there anything left to say? This study suggests there is further insight to be attained if one explicitly evaluates the concept of minimum force in relation to the conduct of the security forces in the years of the Northern Ireland conflict. Through an examination of three key periods in the conflict, it will be shown that while there was invariably an awareness of the need to act with restraint among senior officers at the strategic level, this was often difficult to apply at the tactical level in the heat of confrontation. The argument demonstrates that the British Army, and other instruments of the state, rarely acted in a manner that could be described as ‘minimal’. Instead, it was the broader liberal values of the British state that explains largely the degrees of restraint exhibited by the government and security forces. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Few academically rigorous accounts exist of the financial activities that sustained the rise of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) during the Northern Ireland Troubles. Through a sustained methodology this study seeks to challenge some popular preconceptions and address omissions in the limited historical record. The article explores the organization's evolving financial sophistication by analyzing PIRA's acquisition of capital rather than its arms dealings. Using a new quantitative evaluation, this investigation confronts the prevailing understanding that Irish-American funds were of unrivaled significance to PIRA. It points to an array of domestic fund-raisers that collectively provided the overwhelming bulk of revenue. The study reveals also how PIRA developed an extensive reliance on criminal gangs for its expertise in illegal fund-raising, suggesting that moneymaking schemes were perceived as a necessary but unpopular byproduct of the greater political objective. Finally, this article briefly explores how the British authorities sought to interdict PIRA's funding. While the general perception is that little was done to counteract PIRA's financing initiatives in the early phases of its violent campaign, this study, nevertheless, reveals that a subtle counterfinance initiative did take place in Belfast across the 1970s. Overall, the analysis enables a more rounded comprehension of the group's financial resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fairness is an important topic that forms part of an organisation's sustainability practice and agenda, particularly from a social dimension. However, past studies have rarely considered the role of fairness as a driver of sustainability in multi-tier supply chains. The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, it examines the impact of fairness perceptions on the relationship between multi-tier supply chain partners. Second, it investigates the dynamics of on-going fairness formations in different stages of the vibrant multi-tier supply chain relationship development process. These gaps have been addressed by reporting the findings of qualitative research. Primary data were obtained from 18 procurement and supply practitioners of buying firms and their top tier-1 & 2 suppliers. Findings show that fairness perceptions have an impact on collaborative activities between multi-tier supply chain partners. These collaborative responses such as information sharing, joint relationship effort, and dedicated investment can also impact critical aspects of the multi-tier supply chain relationship such as trust, commitment, satisfaction, and conflict resolution. The findings show that multi-tier supply chain partners have different expectations but usually evaluate fairness at the review phase of the relationship development process. These considerations offer theoretical and practical guidance towards the advancement of sustainable multi-tier supply chain relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empowerment projects and research have focused on marginalised women, but often with less attention to the intersectional and relational conditions affecting their marginalisation. Ethnic minority women in Vietnam have multiple marginalising conditions, and they are targeted by government programmes to increase their participation in labour markets, their income, and their empowerment. Yet what the empowerment process looks like and achieves for these women is an important area for further study. This paper draws on a mixed-methods longitudinal study of an economic empowerment and livelihoods project that involved Hmong and Dao households in Vietnam. The quantitative data showed differences in women's and men's empowerment as measured on the A-WEAI, and among the different ethnic groups. Given these differences, we explored how power relations in the household and in the community affected Hmong and Dao women's empowerment differently. We used a relational capabilitiarian approach to analyse the relations between men and women as well as the community structures that affected empowerment and wellbeing. The analysis shows that women's and men's sharing of information, resources and workload are critical for improving women's livelihoods and wellbeing, but these processes look different for Hmong and Dao women, and they are affected by different social structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Home and community-based services (HCBS) for older adults have been promoted worldwide to address the growing problems of aging. This systematic review included 59 studies published from 2013 to 2023 to explore factors influencing the utilization of HCBS among older adults. The review identified 15 common factors grouped into four levels of influence: individual, inter-relationship, community, and social contextual levels. The findings suggest that HCBS utilization is a dynamic process influenced by multiple factors at different levels. Gerontological social work should incorporate ecological thinking to improve practice and strengthen caregiver-recipient relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The escalation of militarized interstate disputes (MIDs) into interstate wars has been studied extensively with opportunity and willingness frameworks. In this article, we conceptualize and operationalize proto-insurgencies as a civil war equivalent to MIDs. Just as most MIDs do not escalate into interstate war, most proto-insurgencies never make the key tactical transitions needed to produce the onset of civil war. We separately examine proto-insurgency formation and proto-insurgency escalation to onset. We find that proto-insurgency formation is associated with political persecution, such as denial of access to justice, regime corruption, and mid-range levels of repression. Our theoretical focus is on how state repressive violence creates diffusion effects that push proto-insurgencies toward the tactical transitions that enable the escalation to civil war. Proto-insurgency escalation to civil war onset is driven by high levels of state repressive violence directed against proto-insurgency and its area of origin. This leads to the dispersal of proto-insurgents and the displacement of surrounding populations, inducing the spread of state repression to a larger number of administrative units. This creates the foundation for guerrilla warfare and establishes the conditions for rebels to offer sanctuary to displaced persons in return for active support, marking the onset of civil war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of structural equation models for causal inference from panel data is critiqued in the causal inference literature for unnecessarily relying on a large number of parametric assumptions, and alternative methods originating from the potential outcomes framework have been recommended, such as inverse probability weighting (IPW) estimation of marginal structural models (MSMs). To better understand this criticism, we describe three phases of causal research. We explain (differences in) the assumptions that are made throughout these phases for structural equation modeling (SEM) and IPW-MSM approaches using an empirical example. Second, using simulations we compare the finite sample performance of SEM and IPW-MSM for the estimation of time-varying exposure effects on an end-of-study outcome under violations of parametric assumptions. Although increased reliance on parametric assumptions does not always translate to increased bias (even under model misspecification), researchers are still well-advised to acquaint themselves with causal methods from the potential outcomes framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This pilot randomized controlled trial aimed to evaluate the feasibility and potential outcomes of an innovative 16-session multicomponent intervention model to improve cognitive abilities in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) by promoting healthy lifestyle, cognitive skills, tai chi and mindfulness practices. This study was a multicentre, randomized controlled, two-arm, parallel-group, unblinded trial in Hong Kong. 57 Chinese older adults with MCI recruited from three local elderly centers were randomly assigned to either the control or intervention group. The study results support the feasibility and efficacy of the multicomponent intervention, and recommend future larger-scale randomized control trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because Null Hypothesis Significance Tests (NHST) can be misleading particularly when sample sizes are large, reporting effect sizes is recommended. Effect sizes such as Cohen's d, however, are abstract statistics and not relevant to decision-making. This article introduced an alternative formulation of Cohen's d based on a "minimal important percent difference" (MIPD) between groups that has an intuitive, practical meaning. Cohen's d was calculated based on detecting MIPDs of 5% and 10% differences in means. Power analyses were used to determine the number of responses needed to detect differences in means. Power-probability sample size requirements were examined for an 80% and a 50% chance of accepting a difference of MIPD at p <.05. We proposed a four-step process to show how both effect size and NHST jointly contribute to decision-making. To demonstrate the process, data were obtained for 6 years of annual waterfowl surveys in Illinois (N = 17,265, average response rate = 41%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sub-Saharan African countries like Malawi have been experiencing a rapid increase in cervical cancer incidence and mortality. Cervical cancer screening services are essential for reducing cancer incidence and associated fatalities. Previous attempts to understand the determinants of cervical cancer testing have predominantly focused on the independent influence of residence and socioeconomic status on the utilization of screening services. This has limited our understanding of intersectional sources of inequities in healthcare usage. Guided by an intersectionality framework, we used data from the 2015 to 2016 Malawi Population-Based HIV Impact Assessment Project (n = 11,313) to examine the intersecting effects of women's residence and socioeconomic status on cervical cancer screening tests. We found residential and socioeconomic inequalities in cervical cancer screening in Malawi. Respondents' levels of education and household wealth had a statistically significant effect on the use of both lifetime and past-3-years cervical cancer screens. Further results showed a significantly greater influence of household wealth among rural than among urban Malawian women in both lifetime and past-3-years cervical cancer screens. Conversely, a significantly lower influence of education in rural compared to urban areas in lifetime cervical cancer screening was observed. Our study highlights the need to consider the residential context's role in modifying socioeconomic inequalities in cervical cancer screening among women. Such structural considerations are necessary to increase cervical cancer screening and health and well-being among women in the global south. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professional development in policy for K–12 teachers is relatively rare despite the indelible role that teachers play in policy implementation. This study describes the experiences of five teachers who completed the 10-month Texas Education Policy Fellowship Program. Results showed that the experienced classroom teachers garnered the most policy knowledge, situated leadership development, and networks. Additionally, they sought new professional development, and provided input to policy processes locally and with other teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The internationalisation of higher education as well as the emergence of evidence for the claim that bi/multilingualism in science should be the norm, not just an option, are conditions that explain the rise in university bilingual science courses. Thus far, however, little is known about how to foster bilingual scientific argumentation in this type of course. The purpose of this study was to provide evidence that the creation of bilingual scientific argument podcasts (BSAP) – a form of podcast where two languages are used to communicate elements of scientific argument structure (e.g. argument, counterargument, rebuttal) – can be used as a springboard to foster undergraduate bilingual scientific argumentation. The data was derived from scripts of the podcast episodes produced by twenty-seven students (19 females and 8 males, 19–25 years old) during a university Spanish-English bilingual science course taught within a formative assessment environment. Results indicate that student-created BSAP effectively enriched participants' skills to produce (counter) arguments and rebuttals in Spanish (g = 0.79) and in English (g = 1.20). Moreover, findings suggest that undergraduates benefited from formative assessment practices such as instructor feedback and peer feedback. Implications related to bilingual science education practices and supporting students' development of bilingual scientific argumentation within formative assessment environments are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, researchers conducted an examination of the consequences, both positive and in need of improvement, of a large college of education's student support process (SSP). The SSP was put in place by college of education leaders in order to better support the teacher education students enrolled throughout its teacher education program, through both their coursework and student teaching experiences. Researchers used multiple methods to examine the SSP's purposes and objectives, the SSP's strengths and challenges, and the typical students being served via the SSP (e.g. in terms of demographics, also to understand impacts). Researchers collected and analyzed institutional data as well as data derived via the self-reported perspectives of faculty and staff engaged throughout all stages of the SSP. Findings are offered, as are implications for internal as well as external audiences including but not limited to college of education faculty, staff, and leaders, potentially within and well beyond the United States (US). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While prior research has demonstrated the importance of narratives as tools for young children's science learning, limited research has considered how narratives can be integrated into the design of science learning environments to support opportunities for children to engage in science practices. We designed four ∼30-minute preschool science programs for museum settings built around narratives from children's science storybooks. Video-data was gathered for three to four iterations of each program with preschool-age children (3-to-5 years) at a small children's science museum and local preschools. Using conjecture mapping as our analytic framework, we found that story-driven programs provided children with opportunities to co-construct evidence-based explanations as mediated by verbal and gestured discourse, engagement in investigation of science phenomena, and generation of representations. Importantly, results suggest that while elements of the storybooks' narrative (structure, events, and agency) supported children's co-construction of explanations, the stronger influence on children's explanations was through the way the storybook's phenomenon was integrated into the program. These findings can help educators better understand the role narratives may play in young children's science learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a theoretical framework on strategic innovation in terrorist organizations. By comparing three historical organizations (ETA, PIRA, and Red Brigades), it seeks to understand the rationale and dynamics of strategic innovation. In doing so, it delineates this phenomenon as a process articulated in four stages: Evaluation, Formulation, Adoption, and Implementation. While the first two stages involve different actors, leadership is crucial during the stages of Adoption and Implementation. Additionally, the framework discusses how innovation is not necessarily related to escalations in violence and highlights an important difference between strategic change and strategic innovation. Finally, the paper explores the role of culture to then suggest areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a Polanyian capabilitarian framework to understand and justify the universal basic income. I combine Amartya Sen's capabilities approach with Karl Polanyi's substantive view of economy to mount a normative case for basic income. Using this approach, I also ground the basic income debate in a relational ontology, the idea that the self and society are mutually constituted. By doing so, I problematise hegemonic assumptions underlying much of the basic income discourse and call for ontological and epistemic diversity. The paper both provides a critique of individualist ontology and offers an affirmative modification centred on relationality and interdependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Arizona state legislature has aimed to pass a series of bills banning those in schools from teaching topics associated with inclusion, social justice, and equity. Since 2020, the legislature has targeted teaching 'critical race theory' (CRT), often (mis)using the term to refer to any ideas related to systemic discrimination and racial inequality. The debates on the need to educate children about race and racism are ongoing, and school leaders in Arizona have been cast into the debate on the CRT bans. In this study, I put actor–network theory (ANT) to work to explore how school leaders navigate the uncertainties, contradictions, and controversies of the debate and potential bans. I demonstrate the ways in which ANT is particularly useful in exploring controversies in education leadership and policy that bring to the fore the uncertainties of who is acting, when, with what and whom – for what purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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There is an urgent need for targeted efforts to better translate effective, evidence-based interventions (EBIs) to community settings. EBI adaptations or modifications that respond to community members' needs and recommendations are critical to improve fit and use in publicly funded children's mental health services. The current mixed-methods study utilized caregiver and mental health therapist perspectives regarding the perceived fit and necessary adaptations to a school-based, transdiagnostic intervention targeting executive functioning for implementation in children's mental health settings. We gathered community perspectives through surveys (n = 43) and four focus groups with mental health therapists (total n = 14, mean participants per focus group = 3.5, range 2–5) and semi-structured interviews with caregivers (n = 17). Results indicated the perceived relevance of an EBI targeting executive functioning in mental health services. Key adaptation recommendations included: a) modifying and simplifying intervention materials, b) incorporating educational material regarding executive function, c) a stronger emphasis on caregiver involvement, and d) adjusting the intervention format and length to improve fit with the mental health services context. Findings suggest community-partnered processes are necessary to adapt EBIs as well as to improve fit and translation between school and mental health settings. We also review resulting adaptations as well as next steps and future recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sharing of genomic data aims to make efficient use of limited resources, which may be particularly valuable in rare disease research. Adult research participants and parents of pediatric research participants have shown support for data sharing with protections, but little is known about adolescent attitudes on genomic privacy and data sharing. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 adolescents and 18 parents of children enrolled in a pediatric genomic research repository. Interview transcripts were analyzed for themes on attitudes toward genomic privacy, restricted-access data sharing, and open-access data sharing. Findings in adolescent and parent participants were compared and contrasted. No adolescents endorsed privacy concerns for restricted-access data sharing. Both adolescents and parents saw value in data sharing for reaching the goals of research and discussed trust in institutions and researchers to protect their data and use it as intended. Adolescents were more likely than parents to accept open-access data sharing, including after risks were discussed. In this exploratory study, adolescents and parents enrolled in a genomic research repository shared many attitudes about genomic data sharing, but adolescents were less concerned about privacy and more agreeable toward open-access data sharing. Future research is needed to investigate this hypothesis in expanded populations and settings, and to clarify whether adolescent attitudes change with age and experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predictive maintenance strategies are becoming increasingly more important with the increased needs for automation and digitalization within pulp and paper manufacturing sector. Hence, this study contributes to examine the most efficient pre-processing approaches for predicting sensory data trends based on Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) neural networks. To validate the model, the data from two paper pulp presses with several pre-processing methods are utilized for predicting the units' conditions. The results of validation criteria show that pre-processing data using a LOWESS in combination with the Elimination of discrepant data filter achieves more stable results, the prediction error decreases, and the predicted values are easier to interpret. The model can anticipate future values with MAPE, RMSE and MAE of 1.2, 0.27 and 0.30 respectively. The errors are below the significance level. Moreover, it is identified that the best hyperparameters found for each paper pulp press must be different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contemporary manufacturing environments, companies face various challenges in trying to meet customer demand in a timely manner. This paper investigates simultaneous part input sequencing and robot scheduling of flexible manufacturing systems for mass customisation. A mathematical model is formulated for this simultaneous and continuous time-based decision-making problem. A segment set-based approach is proposed to solve the problem. Numerical studies are performed by simulation and statistical analyses to evaluate the approach. The proposed approach is compared to different approaches and analysed under various conditions. Conclusions, managerial implications, and future research suggestions are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the two-stage proportionate blocking flow shop scheduling problem with the objective of simultaneously minimising the mean and the variation of job waiting times. We show that the problem can be solved in O (nlogn) time by evaluating at most two candidate optimal sequences. In some cases, the shortest processing time (SPT) sequence is optimal for any set of processing times. In all other cases, the optimal sequence is either the SPT sequence or a V-shaped sequence. We show that the optimal solution value for the corresponding no-wait flow shop scheduling problem is no worse than the optimal solution value for the blocking flow shop problem. We then analyse the blocking flow shop problem with the option of rejecting jobs from the sequence by paying their job-specific rejection penalties. We show that the problem with the job rejection option can be solved in O (n 3) time by dynamic programming (DP). Finally, we show that our results also apply to the corresponding flow shop scheduling problem with synchronous job transfers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study embarks on a scientific quantitative assessment of Russian disinformation effects in Baltic States. A cross-sectional survey and the partial least squares structural equation modeling were employed as research tools. It was found that Russian disinformation is aimed at increasing the perceived distrust of governments, perceived lack of career possibilities, perceived lack of justice, and perceived imminence of military actions in the region. These are also echoed in the decrease in citizens' incentives for investment activities. The largest of the Baltic States, Lithuania, served as an empirical basis for the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows that the concept of academic futility is promising for studying the mechanisms that cause differences in educational outcomes in general and vocational programmes. The aim of this paper is to test the hypothesis that in the Czech Republic, a country with one the largest VET sectors in Europe, the worse achievement of students in vocational programmes can also be explained by academic futility, and to explore the relationship between futility and the track attended. The conceptualisation of academic futility returns to the three-dimensional concept proposed by Brookover and Schneider in 1975. The analysis was carried out on a sample of 4871 upper secondary students. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit of the model for a two-level (student and class) concept of academic futility. Two-level structural equation modelling showed a negative relationship between futility and achievement and a lower culture of futility in classes with higher socio-economic status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the no-wait flow shop scheduling problem with rejection. We first show how to augment the travelling salesman problem formulation for the no-wait flow shop minimum makespan problem to incorporate the rejection option. We then focus on polynomially solvable cases by considering problems with ordered jobs. We present a third-order polynomial-time dynamic programming algorithm to minimise the sum of makespan and total rejection cost and faster quadratic algorithms for two special cases. We also present a third-order polynomial-time dynamic programming algorithm to minimise the sum of total completion time and total rejection cost with ordered jobs. We also exploit the duality between no-wait and no-idle flow shops to determine which operations to outsource in a no-idle flow shop with an outsourcing option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its substantive development after the Second World War, Strategic Studies has seen different waves of research foci, each rising as the other declines. This special issue uses a 'fashion' lens to analyse these frequent thematical shifts and their related conceptual creations. It looks at both long-term and short-term changes in strategic thought, addressing changes in content and their underlying dynamics and patterns. This issue contributes to our understanding of the history and sociology of Strategic Studies, but also sheds new light on recent debates in the field, including on hybrid warfare, counterinsurgency, and cyber war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of an integrated health promotion program has been proposed in recent years. However, the traditional program with lectures might decrease the effectiveness of learning. A game-based learning program provides a supportive social environment and further increases the quality of life and positive emotions. The present study evaluates the effectiveness of the proposed game-based health promotion program, KABAN!, to enhance health literacy, positive emotions, and quality of life for older adults. The proposed intervention included physical exercises, nutritional knowledge, social interaction, cognitive training, and oral health care skills. All activities were designed based on the gamification principles and experiential learning theory. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from participants and instructors. A total of 221 older adults were randomly recruited (age: mean = 71.1, SD = 7.1) as participants. To gather feedback on program implementation, 22 experienced instructors were selected based on the criteria of leading five or more sessions. Health literacy, quality of life, and emotional states before and after participation were collected. The instructors were invited to provide constructive feedback through open-ended survey questions. Analyses revealed that health literacy levels, positive emotions, and quality of life significantly increased after participation, while negative emotions remained identical. Further investigation of qualitative data via the constant comparison method showed positive feedback on instructors' perceived changes in participants. This study showed that participation in health promotion programs like KABAN! significantly enhanced older adults' health literacy, quality of life, and positive emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While expository texts are an efficient and dominant genre used by science teachers in the United States, they generally lack justification for their claims and fail to reflect science as practice. In contrast, epistemically considerate texts detail specific scientific experiments, providing the reader insight into the methods and data of a biological discovery. This multi-case exploratory comparison analysed videos of students in introductory and advanced high school biology classes who individually read and then discussed the main ideas, sources of justification, and questions raised expository and alternate biology texts. Videos of eight class periods were analysed with a focus on the types of statements students made during the discussion, points of comprehension, questions posed, and whether and how students identified sources of justification for the texts' claims. The epistemically considerate texts were perceived as more difficult to comprehend, but for both developmental levels, and particularly for students in the advanced class, these alternate texts elicited more sequences of productive talk and more elaborative, cognitively deep questions, particularly related to the practices of science. We discuss the potential implications for developing complementary sets of texts to optimise students' science learning and link elements of genre to students' reading and discussion experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A collaborative partnership among community-based organizations (CBOs) could strengthen local services and enhance the capacity of a community to provide services as well as meet the diverse needs of older adults. The United Way of Tarrant County developed the LIVE WELL Initiative, partnering with six CBOs to provide nine evidence-based or evidence-informed health interventions to improve the health and lower healthcare costs of vulnerable individuals at risk for poor health. The nine programs include specific target areas, such as falls prevention, chronic disease self-management, medication management, and diabetes screening and education. A total of 63,102 clients, nearly 70% of whom were older adults, were served through the Initiative. Significant improvements in self-reported health status were observed among served clients. The percentage of clients reporting self-rated health as good, very good, and excellent increased from 47.5% at baseline to 61.1% at follow-up assessment. The mean healthy days improved from 16.9 days at baseline to 20.6 days at follow-up assessment. Additional improvements in program-specific outcomes demonstrated significant impacts of targeted intervention focus among served clients by program. The findings of this study emphasize that the impact of a collaborative partnership with multiple CBOs could promote health and well-being for older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informed by prior research and influenced by concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic heightened social isolation, this project examined the impact of a 12-month long letter writing project on levels of loneliness. Through partnerships with local anti-poverty agencies, pen pals were paired between MSW students and community members who utilize services at these organizations. Participants completed the UCLA Loneliness Scale before and after the intervention. We found a mean decrease in loneliness at the end of the intervention. Letter writing was a successful way to attend to loneliness due to its accessibility to the participants. Our letter writing intervention is different in many ways from e-mail and texting. Participants noted that the waiting process between letter gave them time to think more deeply about their response as well as event to look forward to (e.g. getting mail). We found that the low-tech aspects of the project might have been helpful to some participants. Letter writing is an easily replicable, low-cost, low-tech activity for use by practitioners, which may be useful in a variety of social work settings to reduce loneliness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational experiences include coursework and career development activities offered by the educational institution, which contribute to students' self-efficacy. In an academic discipline such as hospitality and tourism, students frequently get practical work experience(s) to build up their self-efficacy. This study surveyed hospitality students to examine the mediation role of the five sub-factors of career decision-making self-efficacy in the relationship between work experience and career expectations. All five sub-factors of self-efficacy are significant and positive mediators of the relationship between work experience and career expectations. The mediation results provide possibilities for hospitality educators to combine the work or internship experiences with assignments or exercises to help students build their self-efficacy and better understand the interrelationship of the two. An example assignment is comparing and contrasting what is learned in the classroom with a work or internship experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the articles in this special issue on "Psychological Perspectives on the Effects and Effectiveness of Assessment Feedback" have shown, feedback is a key factor in education. Although there exists a substantial body of research on the topic, it is imperative to continue advancing the field. My aim is to outline five steps to solidify the potential paradigm shift that the feedback field may already be experiencing, while incorporating the insights gleaned from the articles within this special issue. Firstly, there is a need to develop new models that thoroughly explore and operationalize the intricacies of the feedback phenomenon. Secondly, it is essential to conceptualize feedback as a dynamic process and collect data that directly investigates this process. Thirdly, it would be advantageous to leverage insights from the self-regulated learning field, which has made significant strides in advancing measurement methods applicable to feedback research. Fourthly, employing multimodal methods can enrich our comprehension of the multifaceted nature of the feedback process. Lastly, placing the feedback agent at the core of the feedback process, with particular attention to individual differences, is of utmost importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent work suggests that age-related hearing loss (HL) is a possible risk factor for cognitive decline in older adults. Resulting poor speech recognition negatively impacts cognitive, social and emotional functioning and may relate to dementia. However, little is known about the consequences of hearing loss on other non-linguistic domains of cognition. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of HL on covert orienting of attention, selective attention and executive control. We compared older adults with and without mild to moderate hearing loss (26–60 dB) performing (1) a spatial cueing task with uninformative central cues (social vs. nonsocial cues), (2) a flanker task and (3) a neuropsychological assessment of attention. The results showed that overall response times and flanker interference effects were comparable across groups. However, in spatial cueing of attention using social and nonsocial cues, hearing impaired individuals were characterized by reduced validity effects, though no additional group differences were found between social and nonsocial cues. Hearing impaired individuals also demonstrated diminished performance on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and on tasks requiring divided attention and flexibility. This work indicates that while response speed and response inhibition appear to be preserved following mild-to-moderate acquired hearing loss, orienting of attention, divided attention and the ability to flexibly allocate attentional resources are more deteriorated in older adults with HL. This work suggests that hearing loss might exacerbate the detrimental influences of aging on visual attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a mesoscale approach to the study of the urban landscape surrounding the fourteenth–sixteenth century Swahili site of Songo Mnara just off the southern Tanzanian coast. The study is based on a systematic, intensive survey of the town's immediate island hinterland. Such an approach, we argue, exposes a set of activities that extend out from the urban core and situates the traditional objects of study (urban center, rural villages) in an integrated landscape. This scale of activity is particularly apparent in an island context where urban activities encompassed the island itself. This example demonstrates why urban societies in island contexts must be considered in their landscape setting, as a range of territorial relationships can be discerned in the past that were an integral part of the ways that urban lives were constructed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The explosive growth of information and the development of data processing technology have generated 'big data' tools, which have opened up major transformations in various fields. The field of criminal justice has also been subjected to big data application without exception, and it is undergoing a major development from partial data statistics to 'full data' analysis, from retrospective thinking to predictive thinking. Big data has been applied to various stages of investigation, prosecution, and delivery of punishment, but it still faces the issues of fairness and legitimacy, and its utility cannot be truly realized. Effective regulation and supervision of data and algorithms can prevent discrimination and improve the fairness of big data tools, and by redesigning relevant judicial procedure rules and clarifying the basic principles of personal information data collection, it can help realize big data applications and secure basic rights and achieve the best balance between protection which make it acceptable to the public. Finally, the auxiliary role of big data in criminal justice needs to be reassured which means it cannot and should not overstep the tasks that are exclusively for criminal justice decision-makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]