A Socioscientific Issue Approach to Understanding Middle School Students' Beliefs and Intentions Toward Climate Change

This chapter is a demonstration of how to use socioscientific issues to impact middle school students' beliefs and intentions towards climate change. Fifty-one middle school students from a summer enrichment program in the Northeastern United States participated in this study. The duration of this curricular unit took place over six consecutive one-hour class periods. The researcher utilized quantitative and qualitative procedures to analyze the students' abilities to think critically and to argue persuasively about their beliefs and intentions about climate change. The results indicate that the students concluded that human actions are a significant factor in climate change. The students' intentions to act, as well as their desire to encourage others to take actions necessary to mitigate climate change, were compelling. Additionally, the knowledge the students gained from the interventions used enhanced their abilities to write persuasively to the chief executive officers from power plants and waste treatment facilities to a round table discussion on ways to mitigate climate change.

Conceptual Foundations of Modeling Tourist Service Market in Russia by Using Digital Technologies

Big participants of IT market, whose profits can depend seriously on dynamics of tourist flows use today’s analytical systems in order to get information concerning tourist service providing. Such information can be used for efficient distribution of resources. In March 2021 spokespeople of such companies as ‘RZhD’, ‘Yandex’, ‘Megafon’, ‘MTS’, ‘Roscosmos’ and others delivered reports on possibility to use indirect data to analyze tourist flows at the round table discussion ‘Managing Tourist Industry on the Basis of Data’, that was arranged by the Analytical Center under the Government of the Russian Federation. Opportunities to use big data and advanced methods of data analysis were demonstrated. However, such systems are not meant to solve problems of social character. Moreover, a player cannot affect the steps and preferences of the considerable circle of people, which means that there is no need to test the community response on possible planned events that can increase usefulness of the entity. In view of state entities the latter is rather important, especially in case usefulness is considered in the social-economic aspect. As a conclusion the authors underline significance of tourist market modeling in Russia by using digital technologies.

What polyglots talk about: transcribing the round table discussion on polyglottery and education held in New York City, 2013

This paper is based on the experience gained while transcribing the audio recording of the round table discussion on polyglottery and education held at the international conference Multilingual Proficiency: Language, Polyglossia and Polyglottery (New York City, 2013). The discussion covered such topics as the definitions of a polyglot, the measurement of language knowledge, the phenomenon of switching languages in speech and the implementation of polyglots’ experience in language education systems. A summary of the discussion is provided, the key ideas of the participants are pointed out, and some personal observations on the matter are shared, including the difficulties confronted during the process of transcription.

Round Table Discussion: Making Sense of Current Liposuction Technologies

Suction-assisted lipectomy (or “liposuction”) is a fundamental technique for all plastic surgeons, and like many procedures in aesthetic surgery, its applications are continuing to evolve. With the rapid introduction of new technologies, many plastic surgeons are left with questions about how these new devices work, what results to expect, and how to best apply these technologies in their practice. We recognized that there is a need for unbiased recommendations to guide surgeons on how to approach current liposuction devices (as well as their adjuncts), and how to use them effectively for their patients. Using available literature and personal experience, we answer the most common questions that we hear from our plastic surgery colleagues.

Core Competencies Identification and Development: Evidence from Oil and Gas Exploration Company

Background Key trends say that to stay as a primary energy source for the upcoming years Oil & Gas companies shall concentrate their efforts on efficiency and technologies, including digital. The situation in the Exploration sector is challenging, as there are almost no "easy" resources left to explore. One of the ways to build a further development strategy for the Oil & Gas Exploration Companies is to define and build development plans for their core internal capabilities. To boost their efficiency, companies shall concentrate their attention and efforts around their core competencies. Purpose The principal aim of this paper is to suggest the method of identifying the internal sources of competitive advantage (the core competencies of an organization) and building the plans of their development on the example of the selected Oil & Gas Exploration Company. Methodology A case study was carried out utilizing the methods synthesized by the author basing on the critical analysis of the previous conceptual and research studies, including strategic architecture, value chain analysis, POCCI model and both quantitative and qualitative methods. The identification of core competencies was based on a discussion nature of focus group activities organized in the form of strategic sessions among the top management level of the selected Company. Findings Five core competencies were identified for any Oil & Gas Exploration Company: managing personnel motivation and development, managing uncertainties, regional / basin analysis, building an integrated business-case, and geological modelling. These results were validated and proved by a crosscheck analysis, final discussions with the focus group and a round table discussion among industry experts, consultants and top managers of major oil companies. Discussions and recommendations for further development The validity of methods suggested by the author is proved, however, some points of further methodology were identified during the research. The clear understanding of internal capabilities, the core competencies development level and what is the company is capable of today and tends to be capable of in the future will become one of the most valuable parts in every strategic decision-support package. The clear picture of identified and estimated competences together with an on-going benchmarking becomes a valuable guide in systematization and managing the company's development.

The influential factors for achieving universal health coverage in Iran: a multimethod study

Background The initial purpose of healthcare systems around the world is to promote and maintain the health of the population. Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is a new approach by which a healthcare system can reach its goals. World Health Organization (WHO) emphasized maximum population coverage, health service coverage, and financial protection, as three dimensions of UHC. In progress for achieving UHC, recognizing the influential factors allows us to accelerate such progress. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the influential factors to achieve UHC in Iran. Methods This is a multi-method study was conducted in four phases: First, a systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify the factors in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, ProQuest, Cochrane library, and Science Direct databases, and hand searching google scholar search engine. For recognizing the unmentioned factors, a qualitative study consisting of one session of Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and five semi-structured interviews with experts was designed. The extracted factors were merged and categorized by round table discussion. Finally, the pre-categorized factors were refined and re-categorized under the health system’s control knobs framework during three expert panel sessions. Results Finally, 33 studies were included. Eight hundred two factors were extracted through systematic review and 96 factors through FGD and interviews (totally, 898). After refining them by the experts’ panel, 105 factors were categorized within the control knob framework (financing 19, payment system7, Organization 23, regulation and supervision 33, Behavior 11, and Others 12). The majority of the identified factors were related to the “regulation and supervision” dimension, whilst the “payment system” entailed the fewest. The political commitment during political turmoil, excessive attention to the treatment, referral system, paying out of pocket(OOP) and protection against high costs, economic growth, sanctions, conflict of interests, weakness of the information system, prioritization of services, health system fragmented, lack of managerial support and lack of standard benefits packages were identified as the leading factors on the way to UHC. Conclusion Considering the distinctive role of the context in policymaking, the identification of the factors affecting UHC accompanying by the countries’ experiences about UHC, can boost our speed toward it. Moreover, adopting a long-term plan toward UHC based on these factors and the robust implementation of it pave the way for Iran to achieve better outcomes comparing to their efforts.