Choosing the right COVID-19 indicator: crude mortality, case fatality, and infection fatality rates influence policy preferences, behaviour, and understanding

Individuals worldwide are overwhelmed with news about COVID-19. In times of pandemic, media alternate the usage of different COVID-19 indicators, ranging from the more typical crude mortality rate to the case fatality rate, and the infection fatality rate continuously. In this article, we used experimental methods to test whether and how the treatment of individuals with different types of information on COVID-19 is able to change policy preferences, individual and social behaviours, and the understanding of COVID-19 indicators. Results show that while the usage of the crude mortality rate proves to be more efficient in terms of supporting policy preferences and behaviours to contain the virus, all indicators suffer from a significant misunderstanding on behalf of the population.

Identifying the roots of inequality of opportunity in South Korea by application of algorithmic approaches

This study identifies the roots of inequality of opportunity in South Korea by applying algorithmic approaches to survey data. In contrast to extant studies, we identify the roots of inequality of opportunity by estimating the importance of variables, interpreting the estimated results, and analyzing the importance of individual variables, instead of measuring inequality of opportunity. We apply a decision tree classification algorithm, light gradient boosting machine, and SHapley Additive exPlanations to estimate the importance of the studied variables and interpret the estimated results. According to the estimated results, the region where the individuals grew up, their gender, and their father’s job during their childhood were the main factors contributing to inequality of opportunity. This study proves that the considerable regional disparity and social environment perpetuate gender inequality in South Korean society. It argues that an individual’s socio-economic achievements are strongly influenced by their father’s background, thus, outweighing other family background-related factors. Individuals receive unequal opportunities owing to a combination of region, father’s background, and their own gender, thereby, affecting their socioeconomic achievements. If these factors remain influential from birth to adulthood, removing the conditions that structure them would be one way to achieve equality of opportunity.

Towards responsible science and technology: How nanotechnology research and development is shaping risk governance practices in Australia

Incorporating perspectives of multiple stakeholders concerning the appropriate balance of risks and benefits of new and potentially disruptive technologies is thought to be a way of enhancing the societal relevance and positive impacts of those technologies. A risk governance approach can be instrumental in achieving balance among diverse stakeholders, as it enables decision-making processes informed by multiple dimensions of risk. This paper applies a risk governance approach to retrospectively examine the development of nanotechnology research and development (R&D) in Australia to identify how risk governance is reflected in the practices of a range of stakeholders. We identify ten risk-related challenges specific to nanotechnology R&D based on a review of the international literature, which provided the foundation for documenting how those working in the Australian nanotechnology sector responded to these global risk-related challenges. This case study research draws on a range of sources including literature review, semi-structured interviews, and a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches for data analysis to identify key themes and generate visualisations of the interconnections that exist between risk governance practices. The ability to visualise these interconnections from the qualitative data is a key contribution of this research. Our findings show how the qualitative insights and professional experiences of nanotechnologists provide evidence of how risk governance approaches have been operationalised in the Australian nanotechnology R&D sector. The findings generate three important insights. First, the risk research undertaken by Australian nanotechnologists is interdisciplinary and involves multiple stakeholders from various disciplines and sectors. Unlike traditional risk governance approaches, our findings document efforts to assess, not only physical risks, but also social and ethical risks. Second, nanotechnology risk governance is a non-linear process and practices undertaken to address specific challenges occurred concurrently with and contributed to addressing other challenges. Third, our findings indicate that applying a risk governance approach enables greater intersection and collaboration, potentially bridging any disconnect between scientists, policymakers, and the public to realise transdisciplinary outcomes. This research highlights opportunities for developing systematic methodologies to enable more robust risk governance of other new and emerging technologies.

Effect of sleep and mood on academic performance—at interface of physiology, psychology, and education

Academic achievement and cognitive functions are influenced by sleep and mood/emotion. In addition, several other factors affect learning. A coherent overview of the resultant interrelationships is essential but has not been presented till date. This unique and interdisciplinary review sits at the interface of physiology, psychology, and education. It compiles and critically examines the effects of sleep and mood on cognition and academic performance while including relevant conflicting observations. Moreover, it discusses the impact of several regulatory factors on learning, namely, age, gender, diet, hydration level, obesity, sex hormones, daytime nap, circadian rhythm, and genetics. Core physiological mechanisms that mediate the effects of these factors are described briefly and simplistically. The bidirectional relationship between sleep and mood is addressed. Contextual pictorial models that hypothesise learning on an emotion scale and emotion on a learning scale have been proposed. Essentially, convoluted associations between physiological and psychological factors, including sleep and mood that determine academic performance are recognised and affirmed. The emerged picture reveals far more complexity than perceived. It questions the currently adopted ‘one-size fits all’ approach in education and urges to envisage formulating bespoke strategies to optimise teaching-learning approaches while retaining uniformity in education. The information presented here can help improvise education strategies and provide better academic and pastoral support to students during their academic journey.

Insufficient social support for fathers of children with developmental disorders

Many parents carry exceptional burdens in childcare, especially while raising children with developmental disabilities (DD). Japanese local governments provide considerable support to mothers and their families, which indicates that such services are in high demand. However, similar assistance for fathers in the context of children with DD may be lacking. This study evaluated the social support status of fathers raising children with DD towards considering increased paternal support. Multiple-choice questionnaires on support for information (6 items), emotion (7 items), evaluation (3 items), and daily living (3 items) were completed by Japanese fathers (n = 85) and mothers (n = 101) of children with DD attending rehabilitation facilities. Regarding information support, fathers answered “spouse” as the main provider for all items, which differed significantly from mothers. For emotional support, fathers significantly more frequently received assistance from their workplace and spouse. Daily living support was also significantly more predominant for fathers in the workplace. Evaluation support sources were comparable between the respondent groups, with “spouse” being most frequently answered by fathers. These findings indicate a deficiency in external resources for fathers and support a need to consider increasing non-spouse resources and social support for fathers in raising children with DD.

The price of prosociality in pandemic times

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has imposed widespread negative impacts (economically, psychologically, neurologically, and societally), and has changed daily behaviors on a global scale. Such impacts are more significant and pervasive in countries with higher levels of inequality and reduced Government capacity and responsiveness, such as those in the Global South (e.g., Colombia). Differences in social and moral cognitive skills may significantly impact individual attitudes and responses to the pandemic. Here, we aimed to assess the extent to which factors associated with prosociality (including empathy, theory of mind (ToM), and moral judgments) predict the perception of SARS-CoV-2 impacts and responses. Participants (N = 413) from Colombia answered factors associated with prosociality measures and judgments about SARS-CoV-2 risk, impact, and acceptance of quarantine guidelines. Results revealed that affective empathy (personal distress and empathic concern) and moral tendencies (deontological trends) predicted greater acceptance of quarantine but in turn yielded an increased perception of risks and individual impacts of SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, age (older) and gender (female) also increased the risk perception and impact estimation. These results underscore the role of prosocial-related predispositions informing individual responses to the pandemic and provide an opportunity to exploit this knowledge to inform successful interventions favoring behavioral change.

Reconciling fragmented sectors of health research regulation: toward an ecosystem of processual regulation

The delivery of good outcomes from human health research is entirely dependent on the proper functioning of the attendant regulatory systems. This article focuses on the processes of regulation themselves, and how these might be better understood, so that regulators and other stakeholders have a strong normative basis upon which to pursue the regulatory objective of achieving outcomes with maximum social value. The argument is made that the concept of ‘processual regulation’—which promotes a whole systems approach to regulation—can assist greatly in the design, implementation, and review of human health research. This moves beyond the current often-fragmented approach to regulation towards a joined-up, reflective, and responsive system that has fitness-for-purpose at its core.

Banking disclosure and banking crises in Africa: does board gender diversity play a role?

The paper aims to investigate the impact of board gender diversity in explaining the relationship between bank disclosure and the predicted probability of banking crises in Africa. The study employs robust panel estimates based on an aggregate dataset of banks in 42 African countries over the 2006–2018 periods. From the study, board gender diversity (more women on boards and the presence of women on boards) has a positive impact on information disclosure of banks. We find that board gender diversity and bank disclosure have the possibility of reducing a banking crisis. We observe that board gender diversity enhances the reductive effect of bank disclosure on a predicted probability of a banking crisis. The implication is that women on boards provide prudent decisions on financial information disclosure that significantly reduce the possibility of a banking crises in order to ensure stable banking systems.

The production of social science research in Nigeria: status and systemic determinants

Nigeria has a very large research system, with nearly 200 universities that employed more than 60,000 academic staff at the end of 2019. The country is also one of Africa’s largest producers of scientific research across all disciplines, surpassed only by South Africa and Egypt. In the social sciences, in particular, Nigeria is Africa’s second-largest producer of published research, after South Africa. However, the country’s social science research (SSR) production does not match the size of its SSR system. Using mixed methods, we come up with two important reasons for this: (i) research inputs are low, mainly because research is poorly funded and researchers devote too little time to research as a result of poor organisational climate, and (ii) the research support system is weak. No single institution currently has a clear mandate to centrally coordinate SSR in Nigeria. Consequently, research efforts are often duplicated and the limited research resources are spread too thin. Moreover, logistical support for research is missing or inefficient in most organisations. Therefore, improving research productivity in the country would require much stronger research coordination and wide-ranging improvements in the research climate.