Research Progress of Gliomas in Machine Learning

In the field of gliomas research, the broad availability of genetic and image information originated by computer technologies and the booming of biomedical publications has led to the advent of the big-data era. Machine learning methods were applied as possible approaches to speed up the data mining processes. In this article, we reviewed the present situation and future orientations of machine learning application in gliomas within the context of workflows to integrate analysis for precision cancer care. Publicly available tools or algorithms for key machine learning technologies in the literature mining for glioma clinical research were reviewed and compared. Further, the existing solutions of machine learning methods and their limitations in glioma prediction and diagnostics, such as overfitting and class imbalanced, were critically analyzed.

Sustainable food consumption promotion through online marketing communication: The case of Slovenian and Croatian grocery stores

In this paper we discuss promotion of sustainable food consumption through online marketing communication. In the research we comparatively analyze selected Slovenian and Croatian grocery stores’ webpages from the aspect of the scope and the approaches of sustainable food consumption promotion. We focused on the sustainable/green products in the grocery stores’ sales offers, including products’ packaging, brands and labels, sustainable food products’ related projects, additional informing of consumers about important sustainability topics, placement, and the scope of advertising of sustainable products on the grocery stores’ websites, as well as on the comprehensiveness of communication, reflected also in the provision of sustainability reports. The research findings show that sustainability efforts are visible from the webpages of all analyzed grocery stores, however, the online marketing communication of sustainable food products is most developed in international grocery stores’ chains that are globally present and have more resources at their disposal. We noticed several differences in the scope of sustainable food products sales offers between the observed grocery stores, and in the approaches towards branding, labelling, and providing information about sustainable/green food products. We recognize the importance of institutional support to the awareness rising about the importance of sustainable consumer behaviour for society’s long-term common good. We indicate the COVID-19 pandemic as an important turning point for future orientations of businesses and consumers, particularly in the case of food products. Here, the digital marketing communication can take a leading role in promoting sustainable food consumption.

The Divergent Mental Health Effects of Dashed Expectations and Unfulfilled Aspirations: Evidence from American Lawyers’ Careers

Considerable work has shown that optimistic future orientations can be a resource for resilience across individuals’ lives. At the same time, research has shown little downside to “shooting for the stars” and failing. Here, we bring these competing insights to the study of lawyers’ careers, investigating the relationship between mental health and failure in achieving desired career advancement. To do this, we differentiate between expectations and aspirations for the future, a conceptual distinction that has been much theorized but little tested. Using longitudinal data, we show that dashed expectations of making partner are associated with depreciated mental health outcomes, whereas a similar relationship does not exist for unfulfilled aspirations. We conclude that inasmuch as expectations are more deeply rooted in an individual’s realistic sense of their future self, failing to achieve what is expected is more psychologically damaging than failing to achieve what is simply aspired. Our findings contrast with studies of younger people that demonstrate fewer consequences for unfulfilled future orientations, and so we highlight the importance of specifying how particular future-oriented beliefs fit into distinct career and life course trajectories, for better or for worse. In the process, we contribute to the academic literatures on future orientations, work, and mental health.

Reframing the Narrative

The authors apply a positive youth development (PYD) approach to examine self-descriptors of Roma adolescents in domains of positive self-appraisal, self-knowledge and goals, and positive interpersonal relationships. They first quantitatively explore the relationships among self-esteem, ethnic identity, and self-description domains, then use qualitative content analysis to explore youths’ sense of self across domains including future orientations, relationships, and personal characteristics. Intragroup comparisons of self-esteem revealed more positive, less critical self-references among youth with high self-esteem. Additionally, youth with higher ethnic identity scores invoked more descriptors that involved culture or group differences. Despite experiences of isolation and negative self-evaluation, self-descriptors also depicted a deep sense of family closeness and meaningful friendships with peers. The conclusions of this study underscore the existence of positive self-systems among Roma youth despite complex life challenges.

Does government support matter in the relationship between future orientations on women’s effective leadership

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand emerging future orientations, women’s effective leadership and further examine its impact on government support in the context of higher education institutions. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey with 500 full-time women employees, working in Saudi Arabia Public University, was selected using a quantitative approach and analysed on the proposed hypotheses. Findings The initial prediction was that future orientations is significant on women’s leadership effectiveness as well as on government support, to the extent that it is associated with women’s leadership effectiveness where it tends to have a stronger relationship. Surprisingly, the indirect effect of government support on the relationship between future orientations on women’s leadership effectiveness was not significant. Practical implications Academic scholars/leaders in higher education should realize that the development of women leadership has a positive effect on future orientations. Policymakers and leaders of higher education institutions should focus on women leaders to improve their leadership effectiveness. Originality/value From the perspective of emerging nations, this paper extends the knowledge regarding the complexity leadership theory which explains the development of women’s leadership effectiveness and provides empirical evidence.

Rethinking African Futures after COVID-19

This article focuses on the impact of COVID-19 in Africa, describes its effects for ongoing research, and asks how it may impact African studies. In Africa, as elsewhere in the world, the pandemic is changing the way people think about the future. The crisis gives rise to a feeling of uncertainty, while casting doubt on future orientations based on forecasts and planning. This scepticism does not concern the African continent alone, but it is here that the call to open a fresh perspective on the future is expressed most emphatically. COVID-19 reinvigorates the question of how African futures are imagined and shaped in relation to the world at large. Against this backdrop, this article suggests three areas where future-oriented African studies should be revised in response to the current crisis – namely, how to incorporate uncertainty, how to decolonise understandings of African futures, and how to translate these considerations into research practice.

Economic Crisis, Lived Experiences and Temporal Reasoning Among Polish Migrants in Iceland

The article focuses on the relationship between the lived experiences of economic crisis and its lingering effects on Polish migrants’ understandings of the current matters in Iceland. It shows that even though the economic collapse in 2008 was experienced differently, it has also induced different emotions and became a significant point of reference for Polish migrant community in Iceland. Interestingly, long after Iceland’s economic recovery, the crisis continues to inform migrants’ ways of negotiating the present and unfolds the intricate relationship between past experiences and future orientations. Thus, by drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, the article introduces an affective approach to the consequences of the crisis and problematises migrants’ temporal reasoning, which leads to the emerging states of alertness and anticipation of another crisis. In doing so, it shows the ways in which the past happenings affect the present matters and impinged migrants’ understandings of the future.

The European coal curse

In this paper we examine the impact of natural resource wealth by focusing on historical coal-mining across European regions. As an exogenous source of variation in coal extraction activities, we rely on the presence of coal-deposits located on the earth’s surface, which historically facilitated the discovery and extraction of coal. Our results show that former coal-mining regions are substantially poorer, with (at least) 10% smaller per-capita GDP than comparable regions in the same country that did not mine coal. We provide evidence that much of this lag is explained by lower levels of human capital accumulation and that this human-capital effect is concentrated in men. Finally, we provide suggestive evidence that the persistently lower levels of human capital in coal mining regions that we document result from the crystallization of negative attitudes towards education and lower future orientations in these regions.