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Out-of-school youth sport in the United States is bigger, more varied, and more impactful than ever before. In dialogue with existing scholarship, this paper uses multisite, collaborative fieldwork to identify core elements of program variation and develop a composite typology of this organizational field. The typology is based on a distinction between "sport-focused" programs and programs oriented toward nonsport social and developmental goals. Our primary insight is that programs within these domains exhibit two different organizational logics, one hierarchical, the other categorical. We also argue that variabilities of funding, social context, and reliance on public facilities are additional factors that impact the operation and effectiveness of these program types including their ability to address the racialized challenges of access, equity, and inclusion. Theorizing these differential configurations and their underlying characteristics can help parents, policymakers, practitioners (including coaches), and sports researchers engage youth sports more effectively under increasingly competitive neoliberal conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What role should libraries play to ensure citizens develop the competencies they need to fulfill their vital civic roles in our democracy? Alarms raised over widening civic knowledge gaps have prompted a renewed commitment to building more civically literate, active citizens. Like their counterparts in schools and universities, librarians teach many of the skills and dispositions that citizens need to participate in civic life. Yet their information literacy frameworks equip twenty-first century learners primarily for success in college and career, not citizenship. With schools and colleges launching new initiatives to bolster civic participation, librarians must join forces with other civic literacy proponents to empower citizens to emerge as civic agents that cocreate their future together. While the nation's great experiment in democracy undergoes a momentous test, libraries must assert their role in fostering civic literacy as central to their mission as cornerstones of democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of 21st-century skills, such as critical thinking, collaboration, and digital literacy, significantly enhances the academic performance of senior high school students by equipping them with the essential tools to navigate and excel in a rapidly evolving educational landscape. Along this line, this study determined the level of 21st-century skills and academic performance among senior high school learners in the Alicia District, Bohol Division, for the school year 2018-2019 The research employed a descriptive correlational design, involving 205 senior high school learners from four schools in the district. Data were collected using a modified questionnaire based on Jason Ravitz's tool for measuring 21st-century teaching and learning, which assessed students' acquisition of skills in four dimensions: Core Subjects and 21st-century themes, Learning and Innovation Skills, Life and Career Skills, and Information, Media, and Technology Skills. Academic performance data were obtained from school officials. The findings revealed that the majority of students achieved a Very Satisfactory academic performance, with a mean score of 86.46. Respondents demonstrated moderate proficiency across all dimensions of 21st-century skills, with an overall mean score of 2.72. Life and Career Skills had the highest composite mean (2.83), followed by Learning and Innovation Skills (2.76), Information, Media, and Technology Skills (2.75), and Core Subjects and 21st-century themes (2.53). A weak but statistically significant positive correlation (r = 0.2485, p < 0.05) was found between 21st-century skills and academic performance, suggesting that as students' proficiency in these skills increases, their academic performance tends to improve modestly. The results underscore the need for educators and policymakers to prioritize the integration of 21st-century skills into the curriculum and instructional practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and purpose: The article deals with the problem of obesity, which significantly increases the number of cases among children, adolescents and adults all over the world, leading to the occurrence of systemic disorders. A noticeable increase in the incidence of atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrome and diabetes leads to a reduction in life expectancy. The main aim of the work is to emphasize the seriousness of the contemporary problem, which causes impairment of the functioning of many systems. A secondary goal is to indicate the current standards of obesity treatment and how to deal with overweight. Brief description of the state of knowledge: Obesity is a disease that affects nearly 800 million people around the world and affects every fourth Pole. Uncontrolled weight gain is caused; lifestyle changes, consumption of highly processed foods, and genetic and endocrine factors. It is a chronic disease with a tendency to relapse, with serious consequences and in need of diagnostics, personalized treatment, and often associated with psychological support. Material and methods: The article analyzes the research to date and the latest treatment methods, which show that a person struggling with obesity is at risk of over 200 complications, including, for example, fatty liver, stroke, type 2 diabetes or cancer. Results and conclusion: According to our analysis, obesity is a pathological condition that is truly life-threatening. Despite the society's downplay of the problem, people affected by this disease struggle with many comorbidities that worsen their quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apartheid has become an increasingly important framework for understanding and challenging Israeli rule in Palestine. The Apartheid Convention states apartheid is a crime against humanity. We contend what is missing from this definition of apartheid is an economic and ontological link. Although the current legal definition focuses solely on the political regime, it does not provide a strong basis for critiquing the economic aspects of a settler colonial state embedded in apartheid. To address this concern, we propose a more comprehensive definition of apartheid which grew out of the struggle in South Africa during the 1970s that gained support among revolutionaries due to the limits of decolonisation in South Africa after 1994 — highlighting the reality(ies) that apartheid is intimately connected to capitalism. This conceptualisation was termed racial capitalism. This article argues that racial capitalism provides a more thorough understanding of the destructive dynamics of the Israeli settler colonial project, one that insists that the struggle against Israeli domination must confront both the apartheid state and the racial capitalist system if Palestinians ever hope to achieve liberation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For much of the modern history of U.S.-Thai relations, the United States has tried to balance democracy and security, with the latter mostly taking precedence. During the Cold War, the United States sought to keep Thailand anti-communist by supporting various military governments. Democracy was an afterthought, though the United States purported to promote it. After the Cold War, other strategic concerns replaced the fear of communism, specifically the rise of China. By examining the Cold War period in comparison to the years 2014 to the present, we can see a pattern in U.S. foreign policy toward Thailand. This article draws on archival work in the United States and Thailand, along with recently published sources to focus on U.S. policy during the Cold War and the 2014 to the present. Drawing parallels between challenges the U.S. government faced during the Cold War and recent events, I argue that the United States has pursued an unbalanced policy between security and democracy and will continue to do so to protect its interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic of the twenty-first century. To better prepare for the next one, it is essential that we make honest appraisals of the utility of different responses to COVID. In this paper, we focus specifically on epidemiologic forecasting. Characterizing forecast efficacy over the history of the pandemic is challenging, especially given its significant spatial, temporal, and contextual variability. In this light, we introduce the Weighted Contextual Interval Score (WCIS), a new method for retrospective interval forecast evaluation. Methods: The central tenet of the WCIS is a direct incorporation of contextual utility into the evaluation. This necessitates a specific characterization of forecast efficacy depending on the use case for predictions, accomplished via defining a utility threshold parameter. This idea is generalized to probabilistic interval-form forecasts, which are the preferred prediction format for epidemiological modeling, as an extension of the existing Weighted Interval Score (WIS). Results: We apply the WCIS to two forecasting scenarios: facility-level hospitalizations for a single state, and state-level hospitalizations for the whole of the United States. We observe that an appropriately parameterized application of the WCIS captures both the relative quality and the overall frequency of useful forecasts. Since the WCIS represents the utility of predictions using contextual normalization, it is easily comparable across highly variable pandemic scenarios while remaining intuitively representative of the in-situ quality of individual forecasts. Conclusions: The WCIS provides a pragmatic utility-based characterization of probabilistic predictions. This method is expressly intended to enable practitioners and policymakers who may not have expertise in forecasting but are nevertheless essential partners in epidemic response to use and provide insightful analysis of predictions. We note that the WCIS is intended specifically for retrospective forecast evaluation and should not be used as a minimized penalty in a competitive context as it lacks statistical propriety. Code and data used for our analysis are available at https://github.com/maximilian-marshall/wcis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do the relationships between the concept of being indigenous and the processes of ethnoeducation manifest in southwestern Colombia? This ethnographic study explores the complexities of constructing ethnic identity among the indigenous peoples of Nariño, focusing on the implementation of educational programs driven by a population perspective. By questioning the foundations of ethnoeducation from the late 20th century to the early 21st century, we establish a dialogue among various institutional agents within the broader framework of ethnic-based social organization. We also examine the historical relationships, institutional archaisms, and contemporary challenges faced by ethnic educational processes in Nariño. We conclude with insights into the construction of ethnic identity and its implications for the social order governing the interactions between community members and government representatives. We conceptualize the relationship between the State, school, and ethnic identity as a fundamental part of Colombia’s modern project, which has been in development since the republican era. The institutional framework has fluctuated between protectionist, paternalistic, and cultural assimilation policies. However, the current threats to the physical and cultural survival of ancestral peoples must be addressed through the State’s institutional mechanisms and governance technologies. These mechanisms are designed to tackle the challenges of interculturality within a complex and often contradictory framework of relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A central debate in contemporary Latin American social sciences revolves around the enduring presence of colonial patterns, practices, and forms of domination in research methodologies and the subjective framing of societal issues. However, decolonizing initiatives are emerging, concurrently, to challenge the ways coloniality has been entwined with the expansion of capital in the 21st century. This introductory article explores the key debates surrounding colonial persistence and decolonization within the social sciences. The dossier employs a methodology centered on documentary analysis and participatory social and political reflection, particularly through experimental approaches. The articles reviewed reveal that colonial persistence and decolonization are inherently dialectical, contradictory, and conflict-ridden, manifesting across diverse social, cultural, economic, and political domains. The uniqueness of this thematic issue lies in its ability to weave together a theoretical and conceptual discourse on symbolic and imaginary aspects within culture, spanning anthropological, legal, and educational dimensions. The analysis underscores that these issues are pluralistic and deeply intertwined with struggles over land and natural resources, enriching interdisciplinary understanding of the complex dialectical relationships between social, anthropological, economic, and political factors, alongside the aesthetics of cultural practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surprising omission or reduction of vital resources (food, fluid, social partners) can induce an aversive emotion known as frustrative nonreward (FNR), which can influence subsequent behavior and physiology. FNR is an integral mediator of irritability/ aggression, motivation (substance use disorders, depression), anxiety/fear/threat, learning/conditioning, and social behavior. Despite substantial progress in the study of FNR during the twentieth century, research lagged in the later part of the century and into the early twenty-first century until the National Institute of Mental Health’s Research Domain Criteria initiative included FNR and loss as components of the negative valence domain. This led to a renaissance of new research and paradigms relevant to basic and clinical science alike. The COVID-19 pandemic’s extensive individual and social restrictions were correlated with increased drug and alcohol use, social conflict, irritability, and suicide, all potential consequences of FNR. This article highlights animal models related to these psychiatric disorders and symptoms and presents recent advances in identifying the brain regions and neurotransmitters implicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces the evolution of vegetarianism among practitioners of the Chinese-Taiwanese religious movement Yiguandao (Way of Pervading Unity) from the late nineteenth century until the contemporary global COVID-19 pandemic. Even though abstention from meat and related food products is not a requirement for membership, devoted Yiguandao practitioners nevertheless value it as a hallmark of religious commitment and dedication. I argue that we can observe a clear shift in discourses on vegetarianism that is intimately related to the evolution of Yiguandao from a local religious group at the beginning of the twentieth century to a globalized movement in the early twenty-first century. Although throughout most of the twentieth century Yiguandao's discourses on vegetarianism favored a self-centered approach aimed at the physical and religious well-being of the individual, in recent decades they have been infused with scientific concepts and have become increasingly linked to social and environmental concerns on a global basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students in the 21st century are expected to possess the ability to solve ill-defined complex problems (ICPs). One challenge to understanding students’ ability to solve ICPs is the lack of methods for measuring noncognitive and metacognitive behaviors and relating those behaviors to cognitive behaviors with the goal of investigating differences in student performance across ability levels. Based on the principles of the synthetic intelligence (PSI) framework, this study utilized a computerized interactive assessment platform to design a multidimensional evaluation framework (including the four dimensions of perception, cognition, metacognition, and motivation) and analyzed log file data collected from 132 elementary students with regard to solving ICPs. The results revealed new problem-solving strategies among students in the high-achievement group, who spent more time constructing problem models. Due to their ability to exercise goal-oriented self-control, students in the high-achievement group were able to fully explore the information they needed to optimize their solutions. The results also revealed three types of behaviors that characterized differences in motivation, the most notable of which characterized students who succeeded after relentless attempts. This study also explains the interaction mechanism underlying mental processes based on the PSI framework. The findings suggested that educators can highlight differences between environmental stimuli and students’ internal assumptions, encourage students to adopt strategies that disambiguate the task goal and object, and strengthen their ability to search for relevant information to improve their performance in solving ICPs. The results also provide a new paradigm for assessing problem-solving capabilities based on the PSI framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current New Zealand (New Zealand Building Code), Australian (National Construction Code) and American (International Building Code) building codes include deemed-to-satisfy requirements for a given proportion of a house's floor area (e.g. 10%) to be in windows. These, plus the current English Building Regulations, also require a proportion of windows to be openable (e.g. one-half or 5% of the floor area). A detailed summary table supported by code extracts is used to trace the evolution of these requirements. Even the architects of antiquity provided only rules for window proportions but not for window area or size based on room dimensions. The paper demonstrates the evolution of this 21st century requirement follows a direct line to the English 1859 model ' Byelaws as to New Streets and Buildings '. Prior to that date, only two rules from 1842 (room volume based) and 1734 (height and volume based) have been found which gave a required window area based on room size. It is hypothesised that one of these led to the current rules. Although the current proportion rules may be appropriate, no empirical research-based origin has been identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although ethical reforms in biological anthropology have gained ground in recent years, there is still a scarcity of ethical standards for work involving historical documented collections (HDCs) at US museums and universities. These collections of deceased individuals were created in the late 19th to mid‐20th centuries under anatomy laws that targeted socially marginalized communities and allowed for the dissection of these individuals without their consent. Due to the extensive information associated with the individuals and made available to researchers, these collections have served as foundational resources for theory and methods development in biological anthropology into the 21st century. Recognizing the need for ethical guidelines for research, teaching and training, community engagement, and curation involving HDCs, we held a workshop called "Ethical Futures for Curation, Research, and Teaching in Biological Anthropology" on November 15–17, 2021. Here we summarize the conversations and major points of consensus among the workshop participants on these topics in order to advance these ethical considerations more broadly across the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate change is one of the most significant challenges of the twenty first century, requiring its integration into K-12 science education curricula to foster informed and climate-literate citizens. However, challenges remain in effectively teaching climate change, including a lack of instructional materials and a reliance on traditional teaching methods that limit student engagement and understanding. To address these challenges, this study developed a unit that combines socioscientific issue-based instruction, scientific modeling, and systems thinking to improve climate education. The unit was implemented by a teacher trained in the Socioscientific Issues and Model-based Learning (SIMBL) framework and showed promising results. Students demonstrated an improved understanding of climate complexity, as evidenced by the inclusion of multiple factors in their system maps and the justification of policy decisions based on their knowledge. In addition, the integration of media literacy tools improved students' critical engagement with online content. Overall, the SIMBL unit facilitated transformative learning experiences that empowered students to understand and address the multifaceted challenges of climate change. The study suggests implications for teachers and advocates for adapting the sequence to various standards and socioscientific topics beyond climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two decades after the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) adopted the 2002 consensus definition of dyslexia, this special issue of the Annals of Dyslexia revisits that definition in light of advances in scientific understanding and evolving needs. Through contributions from leading researchers and interdisciplinary teams, the issue examines the strengths and limitations of the definition as it has been applied in research, policy, and practice. Key themes emerged, which included reconsidering the need to include the neurobiological basis of dyslexia in the definition, the intersection of literacy challenges and mental health, and the role of context in shaping how dyslexia is defined. Contributors to this special issue also reflected on how the definition serves different audiences, including educators, policymakers, and families. As the IDA embarks on a thoughtful reassessment of the 2002 definition, this collection of articles offers insights to guide the path forward, ensuring the definition remains a robust tool for research, identification, intervention, and advocacy in the coming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In offering a commentary upon the IDA definition, we address its main components in turn. While each is technically accurate, we argue that, when taken together, the definition, or more accurately, the use to which it is often put, becomes problematic. We outline different current conceptions of dyslexia and conclude that the operationalisation of the definition for diagnostic purposes often results in scientifically questionable diagnoses and inadvertently leads to significant educational inequity. We propose a simpler definition that describes the primary difficulty, avoids reference to causal explanation, unexpectedness, and secondary outcomes, and redirects practitioner and policymaker focus to the importance of addressing and meeting the needs of all struggling readers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the development of the essential facilities doctrine and the right to refuse to deal, and the issues of their application to the digital economy in the 21st century. Topics covered include the doctrine's constitutionality in application, and its constitutionally suspect finding under the First and Fifth Amendments. Also noted are issues of applying the doctrine to the digital economy based on decisions on both Amendments as of 2024.

Ernst B. Haas is a seminal figure in the study of International Relations whose work helps guide our understanding of twenty-first century politics as well. He was instrumental in developing many of the themes commonly used to understand world politics: regional integration, international regimes, science and institutions, and nationalism. He was also a founding father of Constructivism. This piece serves as an introduction to this special issue on Ernst B. Haas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution proposes a fourth paradigm for twenty-first century careers adopting a sustainable development framework. First the evolution of the career development field through three paradigms (individual differences, individual development, life design) of career science and practice is offered. Then sustainable development as a fourth paradigm is introduced considering two pillars, Sustainability Science including contributions from the psychology of sustainability and sustainable development, and Human Security Psychology. Enhancing the well-being of individuals and environments, the fourth paradigm asks for redefining sustainable careers, career intervention, and skills for career counselors. Decent work, decent lives and healthy lives issues are included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The STEM approach is a learning approach that is in line with learning needs to face the challenges of the 21st century. Then, the use of the STEM approach is highly recommended. It is needed an innovation to facilitate the application of the STEM approach such as integrating the STEM approach with the learning model. So, an integration of the PBL model and the STEM approach is created and then arranged which is known as the PLOICE learning model. The PLOICE learning model is a learning model that has the following syntax: Problematize, Learn, Organize, Investigate, Create, and Evaluate. In this research, students will be involved in scientific investigations on the management of shade-grown coffee to increase coffee production. Student participation in determining the management of shade-grown coffee can help develop students' science process skills. The research implemented a quasi-experiment where two classes received different treatments, namely the experimental and control classes. The experimental class received treatment using PLOICE and control using conventional treatment. In the results that the application of the PLOICE model had a significant effect on the development of students' science process skills. In implementing the PLOICE model, students are more active in discussions and questions and answers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 21st century, various unexpected events such as the financial crisis and COVID‐19 have exacerbated the uncertainty of economic policies, whose influence, especially those at the firm level, on the labor share remains to be studied. This article constructs the firm‐level economic policy uncertainty (FEPU) through text analysis and empirically analyzes its impact on labor share. Empirical evidence suggests that FEPU can significantly decrease labor share, particularly among firms with financing constraints, low productivity, and high market shares. And the results hold up after a series of robustness tests. Moreover, mechanism analysis indicates that precautionary saving motives play a crucial role in driving firms' reduction in labor share rather than capital substitution motives. Finally, we further find that although FEPU harms the labor share, it significantly reduces executive payment and has no significant effect on the payment of ordinary employees, thus reducing within‐firm inequality. This study enhances our comprehension of how economic policy uncertainty at the firm level affects firm behavior and provides theoretical and practical guidance for increasing labor share and employee welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silicon monoxide nanowires have become ubiquitous in twenty-first century technology due to their superior photoelectric properties, widely utilized in semiconductor manufacturing and emerging energy fields. While numerous studies have concentrated on tailoring material properties, scant attention has been paid to the impact of process parameters on the productivity of silicon monoxide during synthesis. Through response surface methodology, the effects of holding time, heating temperature, and Si/SiO2 molar ratio on the volatilization ratio of silicon monoxide have been investigated. The optimization of silicon monoxide nanowire preparation via vacuum silicothermic reduction was aimed at achieving maximum efficiency. According to the established mathematical model, the volatilization ratio of silicon monoxide reaches 92.057% when the holding time is 126 min, the heating temperature is 1663 K, and the molar ratio is 1. A comprehensive analysis revealed that temperature is the most significant factor affecting silicon monoxide volatilization among the studied parameters. Furthermore, the reduction slag of the system was characterized and analyzed. The results indicate that vacuum conditions can lower the starting temperature of the silicothermic reduction, thereby promoting the volatilization of SiO(g). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current generation of children must grow up with different competencies to thrive in this highly complex and interconnected world. Amongst others, we need to equip them with twenty-first century skills that include curiosity, self-direction, creativity, innovation, and an inquiring mindset. We are short-changing our children if we teach them the way we were taught. In this era, education must emphasise discovery and facilitate inquiry and problem-solving, and learning should be self-directed and collaborative, as well as meaningful and transferable. From this perspective, teacher education cannot be about teacher training. It must be about developing professional leaders in the field of education. Drawing from Singapore's experience of preparing teachers for the twenty-first century, this paper will touch on the four pillars of teacher education in the recent development of the Nanyang Technological University-National Institute of Education Teaching Scholars Programme, the enhanced Bachelor of Arts/Science (Education), and the 16-month Postgraduate Diploma in Education Programmes. The four pillars are deepening professionalism, strengthening practice, broadening pedagogies, and developing perspectives. In essence, the paper will focus on developing thinking professionals through (1) ownership of learning and inquiry that deepen professionalism; (2) reflective practice and focused conversations that strengthen teaching competencies and crystallise teacher identity; (3) pedagogical innovations and technology-enabled learning that develop facilitators of learning and architects of learning environment; and (4) a three-pronged approach of the 'community as coach', the 'industry as partner', and the 'world as our classroom' that facilitates a worldview and fosters new ways of thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article will reflect on the first author's deanship journey from 2008 to 2014, which saw the mobilization of the NIE Teacher Education Model for the 21st Century (TE21) and conceptualization of the V3SK framework for teacher education curriculum. Taking a big picture approach, the model and framework were architecturally derived through our building block and improvement systems approach where strong foundations were critical. The period of the late 2000s through the next decade saw an increased interest in education reforms worldwide. Two major trends saw a confluence in interest in Singapore. Firstly, there was increased research pointing to the importance of the teacher factor. Secondly, enhanced interest in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and international comparisons placed Singapore under global spotlight owing to her remarkable performance. Singapore drew much attention from education ministries around the world, which were visiting Singapore to learn how we invest in education and more importantly what we do to bring ideas to fruition. It became clear that the teacher factor was a significant reason for Singapore's success. This article will share on how TE21 was a scholarly and pragmatic endeavour resulting from research-informed and motivated teacher educators working with partners and stakeholders in practice whilst taking a globalized perspective. The pinnacle of the TE21 model was the V3SK framework which continues to permeate theory and practice. The framework has gone beyond a professional guidepost to capturing the importance of the teacher symbol. In essence, we were building on roots, culture, values, and wisdom as we tapped on science and evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The researchers believe that the number of epidemic diseases will increase in the twenty-first century. The recent virus histories, Sars-CoV, H1N1/09, MERS-CoV, Zika, Sars-CoV-2, point to this new reality. We need to be prepared to give a fast and precise response to the new epidemic diseases. We need to improve the responses because the current measures are so expensive in all aspects. To help with this new demand, we propose an epidemic model developed with a focus on control applications. The proposed model describes epidemic diseases split into unlimited compartments defined by classes (biological aspects) and groups (populational aspects) that are independent. It divides the population into clusters of individuals with homogeneous behavior. The high flexibility of the proposed model gives it the versatility needed in control applications. Moreover, the proposed model is an epidemic model with a deterministic behavior that presents an approximation for stochastic effects, contemplates the individuals' contact network effects, and its structure is ready for the big-data age. In this work, we analyzed, showed the mathematical properties, and simulated the proposed compartmental epidemic disease model to detail for the reader how the model works and how to use it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The relevance of the research topic is due to the enrichment of the musical language and methods of performing works of the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as a significant update in the means of their transmission to the listener. The study aimed to reveal the tendencies of modern pianism in the context of Western (Italy) and Eastern (China) traditions, which contribute to the realisation of its uniqueness in the process of formation of high‐level professionals. This study is based on theoretical and practical methods. Theoretical methods include analysis, comparison and synthesis. Practical methods are online monitoring with systematisation and questioning. In China, the reliance on folklore is manifested in 85%, the philosophical interpretation of the content of musical works and their interpretation in 80%, the perfection of the mastery of performance technique in 95% and the synthesis of the achievements of Chinese and world performance practice in 80%. The spiritual and semantic aspect of piano performance in the framework of both countries is meaningful in 85%, the material and technical basis in 80% and ethnic self‐identification in 82%. The present findings can be used both in pedagogical and performance practices of different countries, traditions and cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration has become one of the most pronounced global issues of the twenty-first century. Migration has been recognised as an essential driver for accessing economic opportunities, development, social upward mobility and regional integration. Hence, under the aegis of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), concerted efforts have been directed to pursuing policies such as the Free Protocol Movement, visa-free and borderless economic communities towards deepened regional integration. However, despite ECOWAS laudable initiatives, migrants in West Africa are faced with migration securitisation and new nationalism from their host states. Securitisation of migration connotes that migration is perceived as an existential security threat to the host state and thus deserves at least some control and, at best, stopping. Also, a new form of nationalism has endangered immigrant (non-citizen) activities in their host countries, especially with the prism of "son of the soil" versus "immigrants or strangers." Both have resulted in the expulsion, deportation, and harassment of immigrants from their host countries to their countries of origin. Using the Nigeria-Ghana relations problem, the article explores the causes and crises attached to migration securitisation and new nationalism. The article also interrogates the ECOWAS migration framework within the context of its appropriateness for addressing immigrants' vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heatwaves are projected to substantially increase at a global scale, exacerbating worldwide heat-related risks in the future. However, understanding future heterogeneous heatwave changes and their origins remains challenging. By analyzing the output of various climate models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6, we found pronounced spatial disparity of projected heatwave increases in the Northern Hemisphere, even outstretching seven-fold inter-regional differences in extreme heatwave occurrences, attributed primarily to future changes in heat-dome-like circulations and soil moisture–temperature coupling. Specifically, we found that by the end of the 21st century, the modulations of combined Pacific El Niño and positive Pacific Meridional Mode on magnified heat-dome-like circulations would be translated into summertime hotspots over western Asia and western North America. Amplified soil moisture–temperature couplings then further aggravate the heatwave intensity over these two hotspots. This study provides support for formulating impact-based mitigation strategies and efficiently addressing the potential future risks of heatwaves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhanced warming of the Arctic region relative to the rest of the globe, known as Arctic amplification, is caused by a variety of diverse factors, many of which are influenced by the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). Here, we quantify the role of AMOC changes in Arctic amplification throughout the twenty-first century by comparing two suites of climate model simulations under the same climate change scenario but with two different AMOC states: one with a weakened AMOC and another with a steady AMOC. We find that a weakened AMOC can reduce annual mean Arctic warming by 2 °C by the end of the century. A primary contributor to this reduction in warming is surface albedo feedback, related to a smaller sea ice loss due to AMOC slowdown. Another major contributor is the changes in ocean heat uptake. The weakened AMOC and its associated anomalous ocean heat transport divergence lead to increased ocean heat uptake and surface cooling. These two factors are inextricably linked on seasonal timescales, and their relative importance for Arctic amplification can vary by season. The weakened AMOC can also abate Arctic warming via lapse rate feedback, creating marked cooling from the surface to lower-to-mid troposphere while resulting in relatively weaker cooling in the upper troposphere. Additionally, the weakened AMOC increases the low-level cloud fraction over the North Atlantic warming hole, causing significant cooling there via shortwave (sw) cloud feedback despite the overall effect of sw cloud feedback being a slight warming of the average temperature over the Arctic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the ageing and decreasing numbers in teaching religious orders, it is necessary for lay people to continue their mission within order-based Catholic schools. This study explores in what ways the characteristics of a Josephite approach to education were evident in the leadership practices of principals and their leadership teams in six Australian schools in the Josephite tradition. Literature is initially reviewed regarding three types of leadership models used by principals and their leadership teams – transactional, transformational and transcendental. The research design is then explained, including the epistemology of constructivism, the research participants, data collection and data analysis. Results are presented under four themes: coherency between mission tradition and practice; educational excellence and rigour; serving families and forming community; and the relevance of Josephite principles in 21st Century education. This research is significant as it examines the situation that a vast majority of teaching religious orders are experiencing and identifies ways to strengthen the principal and leadership team’s awareness of the tradition espoused by the order. The study also has wider relevance as other teaching religious orders transition to a lay leadership within schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, sensitivity to situational norms is understood as deriving from internal cognitive states that represent the rules for appropriate conduct. On an alternative view, norms are 'out there', in the practices and situations themselves, without being duplicated in the head. However, what does normativity look like when it is performed by people engaging with a concrete situation? A 'behaviour setting' offers a window onto these dynamics. This article presents an observational case study of normative coordination within a behaviour setting. Immersed in a scientific laboratory setting, the observations show how the normative demands of the overall behaviour setting can give shape to various places of action, or 'synomorphs', which invite the participants' activities. Responding to the different needs of each synomorph, in turn, maintains the behaviour setting. What connects these two reciprocal timescales of activity are the situationally sensitive activities of the participants. We end with several examples that bring such sensitivity to the interdependence of the norms of a behaviour setting to the fore. This article is part of the theme issue 'People, places, things, and communities: expanding behaviour settings theory in the twenty-first century'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we explore behaviour settings that enable reasoning and the diversity of constraints that not only limit but also make these behaviour settings possible. We focus specifically on reasoning and surveying how behaviour settings allow for the generation of norms of action that are nevertheless differentiated by geographies and sociocultural systems. These geographies and sociocultural systems involve diverse trajectories for reasoning even within similar behaviour settings. We will touch on places for reasoning like Twitter, social movements, traditional knowledge and laboratories set up for experimentation on our reasoning abilities. We will show how these places and the behaviour settings that emerge in them can be studied in terms of the complexity of the interactions between their participants and in terms of enabling constraints. This article is part of the theme issue 'People, places, things, and communities: expanding behaviour settings theory in the twenty-first century'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For people in homelessness, access to social services may appear difficult and alienating, which often contributes to poor health and a risk of accelerated marginalization. Historically, day centres for people in homelessness have been characterized by an emphasis on providing refuge and momentary restitution, accommodating urgent basic needs. In this article, we present a case study of the design of a new day centre in Denmark that aspires to move beyond the historical place-for-being. Rather, the new day centre is to be a place-for-being-and-becoming, focusing on bridging the varied needs of people in homelessness with easy access to social services at the day centre. This article explores the creation of new behaviour settings along with the challenges and considerations in designing enabling spaces for people in societally marginalized positions, concurrently offering and supporting a sense of inclusion, the possibility to develop one's agency and experience of lived citizenship. This article is part of the theme issue 'People, places, things, and communities: expanding behaviour settings theory in the twenty-first century'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article recounts 6 years of empirical research in a humanitarian context on spatial behaviour using the behaviour settings theory. This research journey details the shortcomings of conventional architectural processes and the subsequent development of a human-centred behaviour setting methodology that drives behaviour change for adaptable spaces. The research work puts Barker's theory of behaviour settings into practice to show its significant methodological abilities in shaping behaviours through spaces. While the original theory was solely an analytical account of existing behaviours in certain settings, this study marks the first pragmatic exploration of the theory into both residential and refugee contexts. The methodology that is subsequently proposed is a complementary tool to account for the deficiencies of conventional architectural design processes. A method that enables one to fully immerse themselves in the environment, recognize specific architectural interventions, assess their effects and reiterate. It is a proposal for humanizing architecture, sympathizing its processes and personalizing its results for the users of any space. This article is part of the theme issue 'People, places, things, and communities: expanding behaviour settings theory in the twenty-first century'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People are spending more and more time interacting with virtual objects and environments. We argue that Roger Barker's concept of a 'behaviour setting' can be usefully applied to such experiences with relatively little modification if we recognize subjective aspects of such experiences such as presence and immersion. We define virtual behaviour settings as virtual environments where the partly or fully digital milieu is synomorphic with and circumjacent to embodied behaviour, as opposed to the fragmented behaviour settings of much-mediated interaction. We present two tools that can help explain and predict the outcomes of virtual experiences—the behaviour setting canvas (BSC) and model—and demonstrate their utility through examples. We conclude that the behaviour setting concept is helpful in both designing virtual environments and understanding their impact, while virtual environments offer a powerful new methodological paradigm for studying behaviour settings. This article is part of the theme issue 'People, places, things, and communities: expanding behaviour settings theory in the twenty-first century'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article revisits the notion of behaviour settings, coined by Roger G. Barker (Barker 1968, Ecol. Psychol. 28, 39–55 (10.1080/10407413.2016.1121744)), as a useful concept for the analysis of situations and communicative needs of persons after larynx removal surgery (laryngectomy). We claim that behaviour settings offer a way to characterize types of situations and types of participation, which, in turn, helps to identify aspects of communication where compensation is needed; these steps are crucial in the design process of reliable and context-sensitive speech aids. Moreover, we advocate complementing the behaviour setting concept as a unit of analysis with modern developments in the cognitive sciences, such as conversational analysis of co-operative actions (Goodwin 2017, Co-operative action (learning in doing: social, cognitive and computational perspectives). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (10.1017/9781139016735)) and the analysis of multi-perspectival experience (De Jaegher 2021, Phenomenol. Cogn. Sci. 20, 847–870 (10.1007/s11097-019-09634-5)). Such an integration of macro- and micro-level patterns should help discover the relevant relations and values in particular situations. We illustrate our claims with examples from Barker's own work and from our ongoing analyses of the everyday life of persons after laryngectomy. This article is part of the theme issue 'People, places, things, and communities: expanding behaviour settings theory in the twenty-first century'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychological phenomena occur across a wide range of scales, ranging from small, quick events of neurology and biology, to broader, more prolonged unfoldings typical of extended cultural practices. Although theories deployed by psychologists of different stripes have tended to incorporate these different scales, this is typically done in a manner that is implicit, and often unsystematic. That is, typical psychological research is conducted in a manner that is 'scale-blind'. In this article, I explore some of the historical and more recent recognition of this scale-blindness and place it in the context of recent work on the concept and implications of scale. I conclude by elucidating some of the important ways in which behaviour settings theory, and the researchers who developed it, are explicit and disciplined in their approach to scale, and how such scale-aware work promises practical value in improving scientific practice. This article is part of the theme issue 'People, places, things, and communities: expanding behaviour settings theory in the twenty-first century'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1950s, Roger Barker's theory of behaviour settings has been useful for a wide number of disciplines. Few realize, however, that behaviour settings theory is also a methodology. Barker fully describes how to identify, describe and measure behaviour settings in his seminal book Ecological psychology: concepts and methods for studying the environment of human behavior (1968), and this method is further delineated in Phil Schoggen's Behavior settings: a revision and extension of Roger G. Barker's ecological psychology (1989). Nevertheless, beyond these two (rather expensive) books there are few other resources available to twenty-first century researchers who wish to systematically describe and measure behaviour in its ecological context using the principles of behaviour settings theory. In this article, I offer a practitioner's field guide to implementing the behaviour settings method, which includes a contemporary illustration of defining a behaviour setting using a recent observational study of an art gallery in Lethbridge, Canada. I discuss how researchers can use Barker's original methodology to determine what is a behaviour setting and how to define its boundaries, and I suggest best practices, offering practitioners the tools to replicate Barker's procedures. This article is part of the theme issue 'People, places, things, and communities: expanding behaviour settings theory in the twenty-first century'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The behaviour settings approach was introduced as a means to study the variability of human beings' behaviour outside the lab. More recently, it has been argued that it also provides a fruitful avenue for developing situated accounts of cognition. This article will provide a proof of concept for the latter suggestion, focusing on the science of self-control. Self-control is the ability of individuals to pursue goals they value in the face of conflicting motivations. The hypothesis we bring forward is that this ability should be understood as a set of skills by which individuals modulate their relation to their environment, more specifically the behaviour settings they inhabit. With this conception of self-control in hand, we will take a critical look at well-known experiments involving delayed gratification tasks and propose concrete suggestions on how to improve them. This will bring us to the conclusion that the behaviour settings framework might have a valuable role to play in developing a situated science of self-control. This article is part of the theme issue 'People, places, things and communities: expanding behaviour settings theory in the twenty-first century'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behaviour settings theory is the product of Roger Barker and Herbert F. Wright's decades-long Midwest Field Station research programme. The theory followed from the demonstration that the best predictor of a person's behaviour was the setting (i.e. location, timing and activity) in which their behaviour took place, rather than any individual trait (e.g. personality). Now little known in psychology, behaviour settings theory is often further obscured by being presented as a theory only, neglecting the clear methodology Barker provided for investigating the question: 'What do people do in everyday life?' This literature review takes a comprehensive look at Barker's contributions both within and outside of psychology. The corpus comprises both theoretical and empirical articles; however, our primary interest is in the empirical articles. We describe the who, when and where of behaviour settings research over the past half-century, and we identify branches and neighbours of behaviour settings research (e.g. manning theory, behaviour mapping and activity settings theory). Primarily, however, we attempt to answer the following questions: (i) Are any of Barker's tools for studying people in everyday settings being used currently? (ii) How accurately has Barker's theory been explained, or his methods applied? (iii) Does such work contribute to behaviour settings theory in a meaningful way? This article is part of the theme issue 'People, places, things and communities: expanding behaviour settings theory in the twenty-first century'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behaviour settings are sociocultural places defined by three main ecological aspects: the affordances of material structures, typical patterns of skilful action and socially situated norms. These aspects explain the observed regularities of human behaviour associated with the material characteristics of places. However, the focus of ecological theories on how individual agents attune their actions to the pre-established order of behaviour settings neglects the agents' active role in sustaining or motivating transformations in this order. We therefore propose an alternative enactive approach to behaviour settings that accounts for the role of agents as active supporters and transformers of behaviour settings. Based on the enactive concepts of agency, normativity and dialectics, we argue that agents, as participants of behaviour settings, simultaneously respond to multiple normative dimensions (e.g. biological, sensorimotor and interactive). To sustain the order of behaviour settings, agents sometimes need to inhibit other normative responses of their bodies, which sometimes is detrimental to one or many aspects of their lives. Nonetheless, agents can collectively trigger the transformation of behaviour settings. This transformation can occur dialectically as tensions between two or more norms to which human bodies respond are resolved, even if new tensions arise and the process of changing behaviour setting continues. This article is part of the theme issue 'People, places, things and communities: expanding behaviour settings theory in the twenty-first century'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decade, profound political and economic transformations have reshaped the landscape of globalization and challenged the conventional notions of the liberal international order. The traditional boundaries between the economy and security realms have become blurred, giving place to a geoeconomic turn illustrated by the high utilization of economic statecraft in international politics. While much scholarly attention has been devoted to understanding the geoeconomic strategies of global powers like the US and China, the agency and roles of emerging and developing countries, notably those in Latin America, have often been overlooked. This article addresses this gap by examining how Latin American nations engage in 21st-century geoeconomic dynamics. Using qualitative comparative analysis across 18 case studies, the study assesses the conditions and key characteristics of geoeconomic actions involving Latin American countries since 2017. The article presents a typology that sheds light on the mechanisms at play within economic statecraft in the region through six different situations: (a) local geopolitical-driven economic statecraft, (b) Latin American value-driven economic statecraft, (c) extra-regional sanctions, (d) economic inducement strategy, (e) coercive strategy for strategic assets and technologies, and (f) precautionary defensive economic statecraft. The contribution is twofold: On the one hand, the article casts light on the different facets Latin American countries have in the geo-economic trends; on the other hand, the analysis and classification of these situations help understand the links between economic and strategic policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dongting Lake is the second largest freshwater lake in China, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Since the 21st century, it has faced intensified human activities, particularly the Three Gorges Dam impoundment and sand mining. The water quality of Dongting Lake has significantly changed due to human activities and climate change. Currently, quantitative studies on the spatial–temporal variations of total suspended matter (TSM) during Dongting Lake's dry season and the human impacts on its concentration are lacking. This study utilizes Landsat-5 TM and Landsat-8 OLI data to estimate the changes in TSM concentration during the dry season from 1986 to 2021, analyzing their spatial–temporal variations and driving mechanisms. By evaluating the atmospheric calibration accuracy and model precision metrics, we select a model based on the ratio of red to green band, achieving an R 2 of 0.84, R M S E of 18.94 mg/L, and M R E of 27.32%. Applying this model to the images, we map the distribution of the TSM concentration during the dry season from 1986 to 2021, analyzing its spatial pattern and inter-annual variation, and further investigate the impacts of natural factors and human activities on the TSM concentration. Our results show the following: (1) From 1986 to 2021, the TSM concentration during the dry season ranges from 0 to 200 mg/L of Dongting Lake, with an area-wide average value between 41.61 and 75.44 mg/L. (2) The TSM concentration from 1986 to 2021 is significantly correlated with the water level. Before 2006, it correlates positively, but no significant correlation exists from 2006 onward. (3) From 2006 onward, the mean TSM concentration is notably decreased compared to that before 2006, likely due to the Three Gorges Dam, while our analysis indicates a significant positive correlation between the TSM concentration and sand mining intensity during this period. This study highlights the influence of the Three Gorges Dam and sand mining on the TSM concentration in Dongting Lake during the dry season, providing valuable insights for related research on similar lakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variable structure control systems are known to provide a high level of robustness to external disturbances and modeling uncertainties with comparably low computational complexity. Thanks to these features, they have found applications in various fields, such as power engineering, electronics, robotics, and aviation. In recent decades, the field of sliding mode control has developed significantly. Therefore, this study aims to discuss the basic concepts and design methodology of such strategies. Although in the 20th century, continuous-time sliding mode control has been the center of the control engineering society's attention, it has certain major shortcomings. In particular, such control schemes result in undesirable high-frequency oscillations when applied digitally. Therefore, the more recent discrete-time approach to sliding mode control has gained recognition in the 21st century. Since the introduction of discrete-time sliding mode control strategies, the reaching law-based controller design method has been designed, within which two main paradigms may be named: the switching type and the nonswitching type quasi-sliding mode. This paper presents a broad review of the discrete-time sliding mode control strategies, starting from the definition of sliding mode through the controller design procedures and up to potential applications. The aim of this study is to provide an up-to-date state of the art and introduce readers to the newest trends and achievements in the field of sliding mode control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we conducted a low-temperature exothermic (LTE) investigation on 1-year-old (1a) branches of sixteen peach cultivars through a differential thermal analysis (DTA) procedure. We used a three-point approach to determine the lethal injury temperature (LT-I) of the xylem, the LTE correlation indexes, and the subordinate function value method were applied to compare cold hardiness of sixteen peach varieties. The results showed that the slope of the LT-I for the xylem of sixteen peach cultivars was different, and the LTE indexes were significantly different. Among all the studied varieties, the cold hardiness was strongest in Donghe No.1, followed by Wangjiazhuangmaotao No.2 and Hunchun. Qiuyan and Yanhong are second, and belong to the cold-resistant type; Qiuyi, Okubo, Zhongnongjinhui, and Chunmei, exhibited medium cold hardiness. Zhongtaohongyu, Spring snow, Yufei, and Zhongyou No.8 varieties exhibited low hardiness; while the 21st century, Golden Honey No. 1 and Zhonghuashoutao have the worst cold hardiness and are the weakest cold-hardiness types. In addition, the injury degrees of xylem from LT-I analysis were significantly related to the browning rates (BR) and electrolytic leakage (EI) from traditional low temperature freezing analysis. It is demonstrated that the LTE analysis is a simple, accurate, and practical method for identifying the cold hardiness of 1a branches of peach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractCyberspace is a primary battleground of the twenty-first century. Yet, grand strategists have been slow to address cyber strategy. We examine the implications of four prominent American grand strategies—restraint, deep engagement, liberal internationalism, and conservative primacy—for core topics in cyber strategy. Several unique features of cyberspace, including its nonviolent effects, pervasive secrecy, and the challenges of global governance, generate counterintuitive implications. For example, advocates of restraint, usually skeptical of conventional military force, should be more comfortable wielding cyber power, generating surprising convergences with conservative primacy. Conversely, liberal internationalists place importance on legitimating the use of force, rendering them more cautious than even proponents of the "restraint" strategy. We also briefly explore two newer grand strategies—progressivism and conservative populism—in order to show how our framework applies to emerging debates. Our approach can also help analyze how grand strategies extend to other emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been recognized as an important health crisis in the twenty first century. Type IV secretion systems (T4SSs) play key roles in the dissemination of AMR plasmids. Novel strategies that combat AMR problem by targeting T4SS sprung up in recent years. Here, we focus on the strategy of male-specific phages that could target and kill bacteria carrying conjugative AMR plasmids encoding T4SSs. We reviewed the recent advances in male-specific phages, including anti-conjugation mechanisms, clinical isolation and identification methods, classification and characteristics, in vitro and in vivo anti-conjugation efficacy and improving strategies. Male-specific phages constitute exciting candidates for developing sustainable anti-resistance biocontrol applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research indicates that Learning Action Cell (LAC) sessions are essential to teachers' ongoing professional development. Further research is required to characterize and identify the methods and obstacles involved in putting LAC into practice. The study investigates the implementation of LAC sessions in the district utilizing mixed method. There were 53 public elementary teachers and 22 participants who underwent interviews for the challenges they encountered in LAC implementation. Findings revealed that only one indicator which is fully implemented along Learner Diversity and Student Inclusion whereas other indicators that were implemented are Content and Pedagogy; Assessment and Reporting; 21st Century Skills and ICT Integration; and Curriculum Contextualization, Localization and Indigenization. Also, there were eight (8) extracted themes on the challenges encountered by the participants. These are time commitment, LAC implementation activities and LAC Plan; Non-participation to LAC session in online modality; overlapping of activities; redundancy of LAC topics; difficulty in internet connectivity; nonarticulation of LAC session objectives, and difficulty in learning methodology and program addressing learners' needs. Ultimately, the analysis comes to the conclusion that the school implements its LAC sessions using procedures. The developed framework may be implemented in this regard. It is noteworthy that larger-scale research of this kind is required, with the aim of implementing and assessing the study's output in terms of its efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]