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This paper describes a novel method for building affectively intelligent human-interactive agents. The method is based on a key sociological insight that has been developed and extensively verified over the last twenty years, but has yet to make an impact in artificial intelligence. The insight is that resource bounded humans will, by default, act to maintain affective consistency. Humans have culturally shared fundamental affective sentiments about identities, behaviours, and objects, and they act so that the transient affective sentiments created during interactions confirm the fundamental sentiments. Humans seek and create situations that confirm or are consistent with, and avoid and suppress situations that disconfirm or are inconsistent with, their culturally shared affective sentiments. This “ affect control principle ” has been shown to be a powerful predictor of human behaviour. In this paper, we present a probabilistic and decision-theoretic generalisation of this principle, and we demonstrate how it can be leveraged to build affectively intelligent artificial agents. The new model, called BayesAct , can maintain multiple hypotheses about sentiments simultaneously as a probability distribution, and can make use of an explicit utility function to make value-directed action choices. This allows the model to generate affectively intelligent interactions with people by learning about their identity, predicting their behaviours using the affect control principle, and taking actions that are simultaneously goal-directed and affect-sensitive. We demonstrate this generalisation with a set of simulations. We then show how our model can be used as an emotional “plug-in” for artificially intelligent systems that interact with humans in two different settings: an exam practice assistant (tutor) and an assistive device for persons with a cognitive disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The control of rail signalling is known to be highly dependent on local knowledge and local factors. It is also known to be highly cognitive in its nature involving a constant balancing of system performance within the constraints of safety. In the current paper, data generated through field work with signallers were used to understand the role of local knowledge, set against the background of an existing Local Knowledge Framework (Pickup et al., 2013) that was proposed to help determine the contents and mechanisms behind local knowledge in rail signalling. The field work included interviews with signallers and operations managers along with observations of signaller work. The results showed that the local knowledge framework needs to be expanded to include aspects related to the general public at user worked crossings and level crossings. In addition, the analysis highlights some of the issues with the transmission of local knowledge. The paper then discusses some of the gaps in the current framework, highlighting the importance not only of local knowledge for specific functions of signalling, but how these interact to support trade-offs to balance performance with safety. The implications for the design of signaller work are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable product-service system (SPSS) concept highlights that achieving sustainability requires changes in both ‘production’ and ‘consumption’. Nevertheless, attention has focused mainly on ‘production’. This paper enriches the SPSS approach with insights from the sociology of consumption and practice theory to provide a deeper understanding of the use of products and services in daily life contexts. The paper advances three key insights related to: a) the internal dynamics of user practices, b) the strength of linkages of practice elements (loose and tight coupling), c) external linkages to other practices. These insights are mobilised to provide a deeper understanding of the uptake and diffusion of innovations such as SPSS. The insights are illustrated with two cases in which interventions designed to stimulate diffusion have had differential success: energy efficient light bulbs and low temperature laundry. Implications for understanding the diffusion of SPSS are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I discuss the way in which early sociology addressed the metabolic relationships between society and nature. Father founders of social science such as Comte, Spencer, Marx, Schaeffle, Lilienfeld, Giddings, Ward, Kidd, Geddes and some others shared a physiological vision of metabolism and all were concerned on the problem of social regulation of metabolism. On closer examination, early social sciences had realized that social and natural worlds are deeply interconnected even though they were trapped in the dilemma between mechanism and finalism. A metabolic perspective allows us to understand where the organic interchange between nature and society has problems endangering social reproduction. Yet, metabolism is not only a matter of physical sciences but also of social ones for it is ruled and driven by social agents. Given the set of practices, knowledge, and sociotechnical regimes that enable the metabolism, it is notable the almost entirely absence of a sociology of metabolic exchanges, of the manner in which social systems (towns, firms, households) consume “environment”, i.e. matter, energy, and bio-capacity. The paper suggests that social scientists should investigate in the field of societal metabolic processes in an interdisciplinary perspective for exploring metabolic activators such as organized labor, consumption, and practice regimes as was suggested by early sociologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Social scientists have paid increasing attention to health technology assessment (HTA). This paper provides an overview of existing social scientific literature on HTA, with a focus on sociology and political science and their subfields.Methods: Narrative review of key pieces in English.Results: Three broad themes recur in the emerging social science literature on HTA: the drivers of the establishment and concrete institutional designs of HTA bodies; the effects of institutionalized HTA on pricing and reimbursement systems and the broader society; and the social and political influences on HTA decisions.Conclusion: Social scientists bring a focus on institutions and social actors involved in HTA, using primarily small-N research designs and qualitative methods. They provide valuable critical perspectives on HTA, at times challenging its otherwise unquestioned assumptions. However, they often leave aside questions important to the HTA practitioner community, including the role of culture and values. Closer collaboration could be beneficial to tackle new relevant questions pertaining to HTA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper focuses on the relationship between the socio-technical system and the user–technology interface. It looks at specific aspects of the organisational context such as multiple user roles, job change, work processes and workflows, technical infrastructure, and the challenges they present for the interaction designer. The implications of trends such as more mobile and flexible working, the use of social media, and the growth of the virtual organisation, are also considered. The paper also reviews rapidly evolving technologies such as pervasive systems and artificial intelligence, and the skills that workers will need to engage with them. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper summarises some of the research that Ken Eason and colleagues at Loughborough University have carried out in the last few years on the introduction of Health Information Technologies (HIT) within the UK National Health Service (NHS). In particular, the paper focuses on three examples which illustrate aspects of the introduction of HIT within the NHS and the role played by the UK National Programme for Information Technology (NPfIT). The studies focus on stages of planning and preparation, implementation and use, adaptation and evolution of HIT (e.g., electronic patient records, virtual wards) within primary, secondary and community care settings. Our findings point to a number of common themes which characterise the use of these systems. These include tensions between national and local strategies for implementing HIT and poor fit between healthcare work systems and the design of HIT. The findings are discussed in the light of other large-scale, national attempts to introduce similar technologies, as well as drawing out a set of wider lessons learnt from the NPfIT programme based on Ken Eason's earlier work and other research on the implementation of large-scale HIT. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper some tendencies of indicator development and application are presented from a quantitative and a qualitative point-of-view. The results of a mainly statistical analysis of the first twenty volumes of the journal Ecological Indicators are described and discussed. The focus of this investigation has been set on five questions:. [(A)] Which types of ecological indicators have been applied and how frequently have they been used? [(B)] In which management context have the indicators been applied? [(C)] Which integrative tools have been utilized to present the results in an aggregated form? [(D)] Has a theory for the application and interpretation of ecological indicators been developed? [(E)] Which are the resulting challenges in indicator development and application? The answers to the first three questions are given in tables and figures, while the fourth question is answered shortly and with references to the key papers that are covering the theoretical considerations behind the application of ecological indicators. Discussing the focal challenges it is foreseen that two theoretical questions will require enhanced attention the coming years: to apply fewer and more general indices and to translate the multitude of indicators to the concept of sustainability that covers the ecological–sociological–economic and political background of the overall indication activities. Furthermore, the general demands for aggregation and integration and an assessment of normative loadings in indicator systems are listed as focal tasks for future development in the field. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Scientific research on the banking crisis 2007–08 has answered many important questions according to generally accepted methodological standards. However, there remains at least one outstanding question that has not been answered with methodological accuracy: What caused the severe USA banking crisis 2007–08? To address this question the paper uses a counterfactual definition of ‘cause,’ distinguishes between separable and non-separable causes, and employs a well-posed methodology for the causation analysis of singular events. In addition, first causes and preponderant causes are distinguished. The main result of this paper is that the preponderant causes of the banking crisis 2007–08 were securitization and ignorance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to change organizational ethical behavior in times of economic crisis by finding measures to prevent unethical behavior at organizational level. Objectives: Objectives of this research are: 1. to identify the most important causes that lead to unethical behaviors in organizations in times of economic crisis; 2. changing organizational behavior in times of economic crisis by proposing measures for prevent unethical behavior in organizations. Approach: Starting point of approach was reviewing literature for defining concepts and finding the current state of knowledge in the field. Quantitative research contained in this paper is a survey-based sociological questionnaire. Two questionnaires were used, one to identify the causes that lead to unethical behaviour during the economic crisis in organizations, and the second to identify the measures for prevent unethical behaviour during the economic crisis in organizations. Results: The research was conducted in Romanian organization; 265 people have answered questionnaires. The research results show that the most important causes in the opinion of respondents that lead to unethical behavior during the economic crisis. Were also identified the most important measures to prevent unethical behavior in times of economic crisis, measures in correlation with causes that lead to unethical behaviors. Implications: The results of this research will help to change organizational behavior in times of economic crisis by proposing measures to prevent unethical behaviors; a better management of crisis situations in organizations using ethical behavior. Originality Value: Propose measures for ethical behavior change in times of economic crisis in organizations; [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract While always an interdisciplinary endeavour, rapid growth in the fields of Ethnomethodology (hereafter EM) and Conversation Analysis (hereafter CA) has led to the broader application of EM/CA methodologies and the engagement of researchers from beyond the more traditional fields of sociology and linguistics. EM/CA methodologies are being used to both understand the orderliness of social interaction and also to address specific institutional issues, in this instance in higher education settings. This paper explores the challenges inherent in using these approaches to researching institutional relationships, particularly when a primary aim of the research is to inform practitioners of practices used within institutional settings. We argue the need to draw on a variety of analytical tools to understand in situ practices alongside other lenses to translate these understandings of institutional practice to practitioners. Drawing on data from a study of audio-recorded conversations between supervisory and preservice teachers during the school-based professional experience component of initial teacher education, our analysis illustrates how the tools of conversation analysis and membership categorization analysis reveal the intricacies of how supervising and preservice teachers negotiate issues of asymmetry and position themselves through references to specific institutional documents. We then use the work of Dorothy Smith to support the translatability of descriptive findings to support interventions in the field. We use this example to demonstrate the affordances of using various analytic tools in complementary ways to overcome methodological challenges and provide new insights into institutional relationships and inform future practice. Highlights • Proposes the combined use of analytical tools to translate EM/CA findings to inform both method and practice. • Explores the ongoing development of CA methods, focusing on moves to applied Conversation Analysis. • Discusses the changing nature of academic research and positioning of CA researchers within disciplinary fields. • Illustrates the affordances of combining analytical tools from CA, MCA, and the work of Dorothy Smith in uncovering patterns and theorising approaches to interactions between preservice teachers and supervising teachers in school-based professional experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Academic discourse is characterised by being 'enormously diverse' (Hyland, 2004) because of its different disciplines and genres. Authors of academic texts are influenced by their disciplines, and by the 'discourse formats' (Fløttum et al., 2006) of what they are writing. However, genres exist across disciplines. For instance, research articles and PhD theses are found in different disciplines, namely medicine and sociology. Added to that, Systemic Functional Linguistics proposes that lexicogrammatical choices are activated by the context, which is, in this case, multiple. This paper seeks to study how the different parameters of context might influence the choices of PPs. A corpus of PhD theses and research articles from medicine and sociology is collected, and a sample is extracted and annotated via CorpusTool. The result revealed that certain choices reveal that while research articles are more similar across the disciplines, PhD theses are less restricted and disciplinary and personal differences are prominent. Highlights • Linguistic choices of Prepositional Phrases can be related to the different parameters of context in academic writing. • Certain lexico-grammatical choices are global: they reveal features of the field of academic writing, in general. • Other choices distinguish the different types of context: the genres and disciplines studied. • The boundary between genre and discipline is not fixed; it depends on the genre itself, as certain genres (Research Articles) have more restrictions than others (PhD Theses). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: As the scientific view of life as an emergent property in the universe continues to gain traction, it has become increasingly necessary to assess the potential for religious engagement with astrobiological issues. Astrobiology is an endeavor conducted on behalf of all humanity, and the fruits of its continued progress promise to have a far-reaching impact on every belief system and worldview. While the body of literature gauging the religious implications of the possibility of life beyond Earth continues to expand, there has, to date, been a disproportionate emphasis placed on the examination of Christian theology. Given that more than two-thirds of the world''s population is non-Christian, astrosociological outreach to the religious community should strive to encompass all of the major religions of the world. This paper seeks to provide an overview assessment of the world religious landscape as it relates to astrosociology through an examination of the nineteen largest religious groups in the world. The analysis contained in the paper relies on surveys of religious leaders and adherents, religious literature that directly and indirectly addresses astrobiological issues, conference and workshop proceedings, and the astrobiological literature addressing society and religion. This paper illustrates the capacity of religion to act as a mutually beneficial partner with science in helping to contextualize astrobiological issues in diverse societies across the world. Most studies on the religious implications of astrobiology have tended to focus on whether Christianity is flexible enough to reconcile life beyond Earth with human-centered doctrines such as a special creation, a unique incarnation, and vicarious redemption. This paper shows that while there is reason to believe that most of Christendom would be amenable to astrobiological evidence, the larger religious landscape of the world seems to be philosophically constituted to not merely survive astrobiological pursuits, but to be explicitly compatible with, or even validated by, evidence of the universe harboring life beyond Earth. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract Degrowth—the reduction of energy and material throughput via shrinking total economic production and consumption in a socially sustainable way—would entail fewer working hours. However, work time reduction is not a sufficient condition for lower throughput because people may engage in environmentally harmful activities during expanded leisure. The purpose of this paper is to revisit the pessimistic and critical traditions to explicate unconventional utopian images of inactivity as a valuable feature of a better society. Pessimism makes a case for renouncing dissatisfaction-causing desires, an ethic that takes on a collective and futuristic form in Eduard von Hartmann and Emil Cioran. In the critical tradition, an indirect foundation of degrowth thinking, the central goal of the abolition of alienated labor is elevated to utopian heights in Theodor W. Adorno's brief portrayal of peace as humanity reconciled with nature in rest. These forecasts and hopes help envision what aspects of leisure may look like in post-growth society. For example, work time reduction policies should be paired with consumption-curbing policies, especially advertising limits. I warn against recuperation via "minimalist" commodities. Readers interested in degrowth and sustainability will benefit from contributions to discussions surrounding work time reduction, sustainable consumption, and post-growth imaginaries. Highlights • Work time reduction is not a sufficient condition for degrowth. • Increased inactivity is an underexplored form of low-impact leisure. • Pessimism and critical theory help visualize an idler society. • The argument is formulated as resignation from desire in the pessimistic tradition. • Critical theory envisions reconciliation, perpetual peace in a post-work society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A theoretical orientation toward 'strategies' is proposed in this paper. This theoretical approach suggests that we study both the context for immediate decision-making and the broader context in which reflection and deliberation occur. Whilst these are very broad concerns, the paper itself is based on fieldwork about land rental relationships in rural South India. The paper introduces strategies as a solution to the theorists' dilemma of choice vs. constraints. We treat tenants (as both households and as individual agents) in their structural contexts whilst respecting the complexity and co-mutuality of their agency. The strategies that people use involve an orientation to current and future events, including possible events which are imagined or which could happen. Both structural relationships and concrete past incidents act as reference points for decisions made today in a given relationship. The strategies of tenants include being pliable vis-à-vis landlords but some tenants make this conditional upon landlords' proper behaviour. Agents negotiate and enforce proper behaviour and, thus, both create and change the system of norms that exists. In Macintyre's terms (1985), the virtues intrinsic to the socio-economic practices are continually being re-worked. The theory of strategies reframes 'virtue' in dynamic structure-and-agency terms. Agents are not simply individuals. The debate about rational choice vs. holism can be augmented by looking at agency supra-individualistically. The strategy of a household is an emergent property of the household as an agent. It includes detailed first-order strategies along with more reflective second-order strategies which reconcile goals in the education, migration, household work, and marriage domains. The paper is, thus, interdisciplinary and contributes to sociology, while pluralistically drawing upon other disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits the concept of state autonomy in the context of globalization. Earlier literature either considered state autonomy from the social forces in broad institutional and cultural terms or from the dominant classes in a restrictive sense. However, in either case the focus remained on domestic/national society, not the global society. The discussion of relative autonomy of the state began among the Marxists in the 1970s and then graduated into the mainstream social sciences in the 1980s and 1990s. In the upshot, the notions of developmental state and the embedded autonomy have significantly added to our knowledge of the role of the state. This paper broadens the idea of embedded autonomy by locating the sources of embeddedness in both local as well global institutions and norms. The paper uses the Singapore case to illustrate some of the possibilities and limitations of the reconfigured role of the state in the face of globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalization has influenced the conduct of scientific research in a number of expected and unexpected ways. At the same time the emergence of specific scientific fields has also influenced the texture and trajectory of globalization. In this paper the relationship between globalization and genomics is analyzed. Much like the globalization of traditional manufacturing, genomics research represents a phase of global bio-capitalism. With specific reference to Singapore, the possible social, economic and political effects of the rapid global circulation of scientists, knowledge, capital and DNA are examined in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper re-visits the narratives of select 'Islamists' from South and Southeast Asia to explore what their narratives offer for a discussion on Islamist intellectual space. Departing from resilient biases in scholarship that de-privilege expressions of the 'Ummah in the East', I focus on a realm of Islamist self-understandings that reveal a consciousness of being important interlocutors of Islam. These Islamists blatantly exercised their intellectual authority through deriding a larger Ummah that had become divorced from a 'true Islam' that they were aware of. is paper highlights facets of Islamist contact that occurred between these regions through Islamist Third Worldist discourses. I also emphasize South and Southeast Asian Islamist reconstructions of Islam into a system and/or polity through returning to, and reconstructing 'orthodox' texts, Prophethood and earlier Islamic periods. is study bears implications for the study of regions often reduced to 'peripheries' in discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes and analyses the Hadrami migration to and adaptations in Hyderabad, India. The various adaptive niches exploited by the Hadramis in Hyderabad before the merger with India in 1948 are outlined, particularly the ones relating to the military field. Hadrami officers and soldiers were a typical features of the Nizam's army. But this was to change with the Indian take-over in 1948. The second part of the paper outlines these changes as they relate to Hyderabad in general and to the new adaptive strategies adopted by the Hadramis in particular. The new evolving adaptations during the 1950s was based on petty trade and represented a downward turn in the fortunes of the Hadramis. During this period the Hadrami identity was fading and they tended to disappear among the other Muslims in the city. In the 1970s, however, labour migration to the Gulf helped improve the economic status of the Hadrami families, and it lead to a strengtheneing of the diasporic organisations that could facilitate the migration and which also strengthened the Hadrami diasporic identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, boundary cubic rooted planar maps are investigated and exact enumerative formulae are given. First, an enumerative formula for boundary cubic inner-forest maps with the size (number of edges) as a parameter is derived. For the special case of boundary cubic inner-tree maps, a simple formula with two parameters is presented. Further, according to the duality, a corresponding result for outer-planar maps is obtained. Finally, some results for boundary cubic planar maps and general planar maps are obtained. Furthermore, two known Tutte''s formulae are easily deduced in the paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Synthesizing existing work from diverse disciplines, this paper introduces a culture-gene coevolutionary approach to human behavior and psychology, and applies it to the evolution of cooperation. After a general discussion of cooperation in humans, this paper summarizes Dual Inheritance Theory and shows how cultural transmission can be brought under the Darwinian umbrella in order to analyze how culture and genes coevolve and jointly influence human behavior and psychology. We then present a generally applicable mathematical characterization of the problem of cooperation. From a Dual Inheritance perspective, we review and discuss work on kinship, reciprocity, reputation, social norms, and ethnicity, and their application to solving the problem of cooperation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The preoccupation with power in mainstream Western social theory can be challenged from a number of perspectives. In this paper, I consider some alternative ways of conceptualizing ways-of-being in society that are implicit in a number of Asian traditions of thought and, in particular, in Buddhism and Gandhian ideas. In this paper, I challenge the necessity for a power-based approach to social relations. I suggest both that the models of society emerging from Foucault and other major Western theorists are examples of culturally bound local knowledge that have significant negative influences on the conception of alternative social possibilities, and that the resources for such alternatives lie not only in Western forms of utopian thinking but in existing Asian traditions — the full sociological implications of which have not yet been explored or worked out in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reviews how the concept of sustainable development has played out in industrialized countries since 1987. It examines the theory and practice of sustainable development in the context of three criticisms (it is vague, attracts hypocrites and fosters delusions), and argues for an approach to sustainability that is integrative, is action-oriented, goes beyond technical fixes, incorporates a recognition of the social construction of sustainable development, and engages local communities in new ways. The paper concludes with a description of an approach to sustainability that attempts to incorporate these characteristics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The objective of this paper is to map the sociological context in which the cultural economy of technology of Singapore exists. Taking a socio-historical perspective, this paper argues that the development of Singapore as a technological 'intelligent island' must take centre stage in relation to the sociological analysis of modern Singapore's political, economic, and socio-cultural structure. This involves a critique of theories of the information society and empirical research on East Asian developmental states. The aim is to chart the development of technology in Singapore, from its founding as a colonial port-city to its current status as an 'intelligent island', and to situate this development in its social context. In addressing the issue of the global expansion of localized technological knowledge hubs, I argue that while these technological 'hubs' are increasingly linked in complex political, economic and social networks, one must also account for the developmental trajectory of each particular 'hub' and to explain the socio-cultural complex of societies, which promote themselves as such. This paper intends to demonstrate how this construction of a technological nation state is neither a context-free project nor one that is free of complex historical antagonisms and contradictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social networks provide a powerful reflection of the structure and dynamics of the modern society. One of the promising areas for using the results of social networks content analysis is to reveal the hidden patterns of the social processes development and factors that determine the changing moods in different social groups. In this paper, we propose an approach to measure social tension in certain regions of Russia based on the analysis of users’ posts in the social network Vkontakte (VK). We developed a program that obtains posts reflecting negative attitudes of VK users on popular social issues such as level of unemployment, corruption crimes, and inflation. We used this program to collect statistics about the number of such posts in certain periods and to analyze common information about users who post them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing realization of knowledge as critical driver of economic growth and development is, no doubt, driving nations into harnessing the benefits of a knowledge economy. Yet, there is the paucity of empirical studies to help unpack the link between knowledge, health and wealth in the context of an emerging economy, for example, Nigeria. This paper examines the sociology of individual knowledge and creativity as a key production value and panacea for economic growth and global repositioning. Importantly, it examines whether the Nigerian economy is knowledge patent ready, and what kind of social arrangement would enhance or impede knowledge generation and its diffusion. Using the interpretive paradigm, through the inductive analysis of some knowledge-based economies, the study draws on the Burrell and Morgan's typology of sociological paradigms to develop a KBE (Knowledge-Based Economy) framework. The findings from the study reveal that there is a disequilibrium in the supply and demand for skilled and proficient manpower in Nigerian, especially in the trades sector. There is a need to strengthen the Nigerian patent law to give protection and incentive for idea generation, diffusion, and commercialization. Similarly, there is a need for secondary institutions and infrastructure that would provide a breeding ground for practical skill development for start-ups and university-industry collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of mobile devices and their use for Internet access, for georeferentiation and services consumption had a huge increase. Today, these devices ability to establish cooperation networks and to interact intelligently and cooperatively with the surrounding environment has growing importance. In this paper, we propose a system, based on a model which uses the social paradigms in mobile ubiquitous interactions, capable to effectively connect and integrate these devices in order to improve the accessibility in the cities. The model is inspired in concepts from the theory of organizations and sociology, as the notions of “social role”, “ownership” and “responsibility”, to be incorporated in each device. We present an example for applying the model in the context of accessibility in smart cities for the pedestrian traffic light automatic management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper provides an extensive review of studies carried out in lean production environments in the last 20 years. It aims to identify the effects of lean production (negative or positive) on occupational health and related risk factors. Thirty-six studies of lean effects were accepted from the literature search and sorted by sector and type of outcome. Lean production was found to have a negative effect on health and risk factors; the most negative outcomes being found in the earliest studies in the automotive industry. However, examples of mixed and positive effects were also found in the literature. The strongest correlations of lean production with stress were found for characteristics found in Just-In-Time production that related to reduced cycle time and reduction of resources. Increased musculoskeletal risk symptoms were related to increases of work pace and lack of recovery time also found in Just-In-Time systems. An interaction model is developed to propose a pathway from lean production characteristics to musculoskeletal and psychosocial risk factors and also positive outcomes. An examination is also made of the changing focus of studies investigating the consequences of lean production over a 20-year period. Theories about the effects of lean production have evolved from a conceptualization that it is an inherently harmful management system, to a view that it can have mixed effects depending on the management style of the organization and the specific way it is implemented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In recent years there has been a great deal of academic and practitioner interest in the role of ‘benefits realisation management’ [BRM] approaches, as a means of proactively leveraging value from IT investments. This growing body of work owes a very considerable, but as yet unacknowledged, debt to the work of Ken Eason, and other early socio-technical theorists. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to demonstrate, using the literature, how many of the principles, practices and techniques of BRM have evolved either directly or indirectly from socio-technical approaches to systems design. In so doing, this article makes a further important contribution to the literature by explicitly identifying the underlying principles and key practices of benefits realisation management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Dealing with complex electronic documentation is an integral part of much contemporary professional work. In this paper, we address the design of electronic records for social care professionals in the UK. Recent reforms in UK child welfare have followed a top-down, managerial approach emphasizing conformance to standard processes. The vicissitudes of a major national IT project, the Integrated Children's System, show the limitations of this approach, in particular the detrimental effect it has had on professional autonomy. Following in the foot-steps of Ken Eason, we argue that socio-technical design, by focussing on innovative applications of technology to support users (rather than the interests of the bureaucracy) offers a more promising alternative. A user-centred design exercise is presented to illustrate this approach in action. A novel interface was developed for handling the heterogeneous bundle of documents which make up the social care record, helping social workers make better sense of case-files. The prototype draws on the metaphor of the dining-room table as a way of overcoming the limitations of the computer display. We conclude that socio-technical thinking engenders a shift in mind-set, opening up a radically different design space compared to current design orthodoxy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper explores the possibilities of consumer transitions to sustainability-oriented values. We draw from sociological and psychological literature to develop a conceptual framework that reflexively links an individual''s values and self-concept to their behaviors. We inductively explore the consideration, and in some cases development, of sustainability-oriented values in a small number of narrative accounts of peoples’ encounter with a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle during a multi-week trial. Because a plug-in hybrid vehicle substitutes electricity for gasoline, it is a technology that potentially symbolizes sustainability-oriented values. We classify participating households according to Schwartz''s 10 motivation types, where households associate sustainability with different motivations, namely benevolence, universalism or self-direction. We categorize households into three groups: those that demonstrate no interests in sustainability-oriented values, those that demonstrate interest in developing such values during their plug-in hybrid vehicle demonstration experience, and those that were already committed to sustainability-oriented values and behaviors. We observe that households open to change are more likely to develop sustainability-oriented values if: (i) their self-concept is open to change (liminal), either as a temporary transitional state or sustained as a value, (ii) they associate sustainability with broader motivational values that are already central to their self-concept, in this case benevolence, universalism or self-direction, and (iii) they experience positive social support for new, sustainability-oriented values within their social networks. Our exploratory findings imply that sustainability-oriented values can be developed in households who did not previously express them. Value change opens new possibilities for sustainable consumer behavior, practices, and policy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper shows that the positional bias underscored by is an experimental artifact. Quoted authors highlighted the importance of positional concerns by finding that people prefer to earn a fewer absolute amount of income but to earn a higher income than others. Why do people prefer to earn more than others? The proposed explanation is that people have a preference for status. This conclusion might be wrong due to their particular design. We conjecture that subjects, by indicating to prefer a state of the world in which they earn more than others, in reality signal a preference for equality. We replicated the same design as in and added a new option so as to disentangle positional concerns from egalitarian ones. We observe that most subjects express egalitarian preferences rather than positional ones. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Lack of attention to scale selection may limit the utility of multidisciplinary assessments and studies. This paper integrates research on scale from several disciplines to identify commonalities. Boundary objects – flexible enough to appeal and apply to different interest groups, and yet robust enough to maintain core concepts – offer a medium to connect findings from different disciplines. We propose a boundary object on scale — a 3-dimensional framework, whose axes are reality-, model- and data-scale. This framework can be applied to facilitate an improved transdisciplinary understanding of scale and more conscious scale selection that promotes the credibility, salience and legitimacy of decision support systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Clouds are rapidly becoming an important platform for scientific applications. In the Cloud environment with uncountable numeric nodes, resource is inevitably unreliable, which has a great effect on task execution and scheduling. In this paper, inspired by Bayesian cognitive model and referring to the trust relationship models of sociology, we first propose a novel Bayesian method based cognitive trust model, and then we proposed a trust dynamic level scheduling algorithm named Cloud-DLS by integrating the existing DLS algorithm. Moreover, a benchmark is structured to span a range of Cloud computing characteristics for evaluation of the proposed method. Theoretical analysis and simulations prove that the Cloud-DLS algorithm can efficiently meet the requirement of Cloud computing workloads in trust, sacrificing fewer time costs, and assuring the execution of tasks in a security way. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Many researchers in economics as well as sociology have stressed the important role of business networks for cooperation, trust, and performance. This claim is based on solid theoretical arguments as well as empirical findings. However, neither theory nor the selective empirical results support the view that networks are always beneficial for economic transactions. This paper begins with an observation that for the purchase of IT products, network embeddedness leads to even more problems for the customer. In order to explain this effect, possible reasons for this phenomenon are discussed using theory as well as empirics. The most promising explanation for this special case is the effect of uncertainty and incomplete information ex post. In order to reduce this uncertainty, the buyer forms beliefs on the basis of the opinions existing in a shared network or group. However, if the network members have the same problem of uncertainty, suppliers have an incentive to reduce their performance because such behavior will not be detected and sanctioned. An analysis of the customer''s tolerance to a supplier''s behavior in business transactions yields support for this argument. Even if problems in a transaction are kept constant, customers give suppliers more reputational credit if they share a common network. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents a sociology of knowledge approach to describe disciplines in the field of design. We show how the approach casts the nature of knowledge in design disciplines as based upon socially agreed criteria for what constitutes the realization of legitimate knowledge. Interviews with designers and analyses of professional and pedagogic discourse about design are used to illustrate how the approach reveals the differences in what kind of design knowledge is valued, cultivated, and emphasised within a discipline. By placing a sociological lens on knowledge in design, we aim to suggest a language by which what counts as design knowledge can be explicitly expressed. A common, shared language to describe the differences opens a mechanism to discuss what can count as knowledge, rather than to retreat into corners and only agree to disagree that there are different knowledges in design. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Economic theory that assumes personal income maximization predicts that a wife will under invest in her husband''s human capital. However, casual observation of real life marriages and experimental evidences show that outcomes are more efficient than the theoretical prediction. This paper argues that the gap between the theoretical prediction and experimental evidences is due to inappropriate assumptions in the theory. That is, the bias in the theoretical prediction is caused by the neglect of the non-material factors that play crucial roles in marriage and the neglect of the fact that individuals may behave altruistically in marital decisions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explain why low-wage workers with identical qualifications to higher-wage workers are more exposed to unemployment. Each worker is considered to belong to a social group (defined according to his/her gender, age, and nationality). We assume that workers experience both productive interdependencies and social interactions within the firm. Also inter- and intra-group interactions determine worker productivity, and frictions on the labor market limit the hiring of the most productive workers. Consequently, externalities acting both within the firm and in the labor market can lead to a higher rate of unemployment for low-wage workers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper explores potential new directions for a sociology linked more to Asian social theory and to new forms of knowledge emerging from ecology and the new social movements than to its older foundations in Western philosophy and conceptions of society. It suggests that there is a route beyond the trajectory of modernist and postmodernist social thinking and it calls into question the anthropocentric, Cartesian and dualistic assumptions of most conventional sociology. It does so by exploring the possible relationships between sociology and the existential issues thrown up by Asian philosophical and religious traditions, and in particular Buddhism, and the in many ways parallel arguments of Deep Ecology. In doing so it calls into question the adequacy of current sociology as a vehicle for addressing fundamental existential questions and in particular the issues of social suffering, the emerging ecological crisis and the alternative conceptions of society generated by many of the new social movements, and suggests ways in which this inadequacy might potentially be resolved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between various political mechanisms and the variation in unemployment compensation programs (i.e., compulsory, voluntary, and assistance programs). I argue that the choice of a specific unemployment compensation program over others depends on the level of franchise extension. Using a multinomial logit analysis of 13 European countries from 1880 to 1945, I find that among other political mechanisms, franchise extension had the greatest impact on the likelihood of instituting unemployment compensation, controlling socio-economic factors. Greater enfranchisement is associated with a higher probability of choosing a compulsory program, but not a voluntary one. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: There is substantial evidence in the psychology and sociology literature that social relationships promote happiness for the individual. Yet the size of their impacts remains largely unknown. This paper explores the use of shadow pricing method to estimate the monetary values of the satisfaction with life gained by an increase in the frequency of interaction with friends, relatives, and neighbours. Using the British Household Panel Survey, I find that an increase in the level of social involvements is worth up to an extra £85,000 a year in terms of life satisfaction. Actual changes in income, on the other hand, buy very little happiness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Several norm equalities and inequalities for operator matrices are proved in this paper. These results, which depend on the structure of circulant and skew circulant operator matrices, include pinching type inequalities for weakly unitarily invariant norms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Measuring sustainable well-being is an important task in determining whether people''s lives are improving or becoming worse over time. A new index, the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), has been developed in order to measure sustainable well-being. The GPI is comprised of a large number of individual cost and benefit items that account for various social, environmental and economic impacts associated with a growing economy. Various policy implications flow from the result of applying this new well-being metric. This paper briefly reviews an application of the GPI to the state of Victoria, Australia for the period 1986–2003, before discussing the policy implications of this application. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In recent years, representation of indigenous communities and their relation to resources has been highly contested. Rather than offering critique to the representation of indigenous communities, this paper examines Jumma and indigenous identity formation among the hill peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, their historical contingency and dynamics. I show that groups' identities are products of agencies emerging from a particular pattern of struggle between the group and other political forces of their given circumstance, and are informed by their particular history, place and practices. I also show that claims over resources based on indigenous identity is a recent positioning in comparison to claims based on Jumma identity. Difference and convergence between Jumma and indigenous identities are contingent upon specific historical contexts and groups' relation with the state and its legal provision, and ideological settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In China, agricultural residues (particularly from rice) are widely used for energy and other applications, albeit on a localized scale and often at poor rates of efficiency. If some portion of this biomass were to be reallocated and transported to central biomass energy facilities, an initial component of the design process would be to gain an understanding of the spatial distribution of biomass production. In this paper, we present a method that utilizes China-wide data sets of net primary production (NPP) from the moderate-resolution imaging spectrometer (MODIS) and detailed land cover maps produced from Landsat-enhanced thematic mapper plus (ETM+) data to calculate the spatial distribution of rice straw for the period 2000–2004. Through a comparison with census statistics, we show that remote measures of rice straw can reasonably predict census results at the provincial scale. Remote sensing results have the added benefits of being a quick and inexpensive solution for providing spatially detailed information. Therefore, these data can be used for applications such as the spatial optimization of energy production infrastructure. In an error analysis including climate and land use variables, we found that data on sown rice area is the largest source of error. Therefore, the most important improvement to this method would be more accurate and more frequently updated maps of agricultural land use. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The so called “Pierce–Birkhoff Conjecture” asserts that a continuous function on piecewise polynomial on a finite number of pieces may be written as finitely many Sup and Inf of polynomials. Up to now a positive answer is known for . In this paper we show that for such an Inf–Sup description may be obtained outside an arbitrarily small neighborhood of a finite fixed set of points depending only on . [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper aims to delineate and evaluate the various intellectual trends and visions as espoused by some prominent intellectual figures in Malay Studies by highlighting their ideas on Malay Studies and some of its problems and challenges. Four primary concerns in contemporary Malay studies are highlighted. These are (a) linguistic-language affection; (b) ethnographic and documentation pursuit ; (c) the clamour for a wider Malay world studies and (d) the interest in the search of indigenous theories in the Malay literary studies. The academic interest in these four domains however saw the neglect in confronting the grip of orientalist discourse which, still persists, nor to problematise the uncritical nationalistic discourse within Malay studies which are characterized by feudal romanticism and ahistorical cultural aggrandizement. Therefore, the creation of an alternative discourse, that challenges both orientalist scholarship and nationalistic Malay studies is crucial in order to ensure that it make vital contribution to the progress and development of Malay society. is certainly requires a creative incorporation of social sciences that are both sensitive and emphatic to the particular nuances, yet with a strong universalistic outlook in comprehending the dynamics of Malay society to avoid the pitfall of an ossified and imitative intellectual discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the e-discourse surrounding the dream of a Dutch scientist, Dr X, to create a human genetic databank in Bandung, Indonesia. Not only did Dr X hope to fulfil his dream of placing Indonesia on the genetic world map, he also aspired to set up the largest biomedical research centre in Indonesia, using blood samples gathered from various laboratories, medical centres and the jungle. His most important project was to study genes for familial syndromes, such as cancers and forms of mental retardation, some of which are considered to be specific for certain ethnic groups in Indonesia. Much has been written on the targets of the Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP), but the incentives for and motives of geneticists to set up biobanks are little understood. Many works have 'framed' scientists as imperialists, Orientalists, racists and positivists or hailed them as explorers of humanity, pioneers of science and saviours of mankind. By analyzing Dr X's e-letters to fellow scientists, academics and politicians, I claim that the validity of such theories depends on whether they sufficiently take into account the institutional embedding. An institutional approach to biobanking should incorporate an assessment of socioeconomic inequalities, both on an international and national level, public healthcare needs, research regulation, and differences in academic cultures from a comparative perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a long time, the Saudi regime had ignored the existence of any Al Qaeda branch on Saudi soil and therefore; any potential attacks by such groups in the kingdom were unthinkable. However, the Riyadh attacks were a turning point for Saudi authorities. This paper seeks to understand why Al Qaeda is attacking the Saudi government and secondly, how the Saudi government has countered both the violence and the ideology of Al Qaeda in the Kingdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Public relations is often studied from a managerial, instrumental perspective or a psychological, behavioral perspective. To understand the role of public relations in building trust or mistrust and to develop – or destroy – a license to operate, it needs also to be studied as a social phenomenon. This special issue of Public Relations Review will attempt to broaden the theoretical scope of public relations studies by applying the works of a string of prominent social theorists – Jürgen Habermas, Niklas Luhmann, Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, Erving Goffman, Max Weber, and Anthony Giddens. What can be culled from using the perspectives of these scholars? None of them studied public relations as such, and hence it must be asked: can public relations fit into their theoretical frameworks, and if so, how? The papers in this special issue discuss these questions, after giving short overviews of the theorists’ key concepts and contributions. This introduction locates the purpose of the special issue within a broader research agenda in public relations. It is argued for a pluralistic approach to the field. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]