Evolutionary Approaches to Health Issues and Behaviors Across the Life Course

Author(s):  
Daniel J. Kruger ◽  
Jessica S. Kruger

Health-related research is broad, diverse, and fragmented theoretically, methodologically, and across disciplines. The understanding and improvement of human health would be accelerated by establishing a universal and deep framework integrating varied undertakings. This framework is evolutionary theory, the most powerful explanatory system in the life sciences and the only framework that can unify knowledge in otherwise disparate fields of human research. Darwinian medicine has already made considerable progress in the practical understanding of human physiology and other areas informing medical care. Within evolutionary theory, life history theory in particular holds the promise of promoting understanding of variation in behavioral patterns related to health and why they vary consistent with environmental conditions. This chapter describes the current state of research exemplifying an evolutionary approach to health-related psychology and behavior and outlines directions for future research and intervention efforts.

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie N. Jackson

The last 15 years has seen a tremendous growth in research on structural priming among second language (L2) speakers. Structural priming is the phenomenon whereby speakers are more likely to repeat a structure they have recently heard or produced. Research on L2 structural priming speaks to key issues regarding the underlying linguistic and cognitive mechanisms that support L2 acquisition and use, and the extent to which lexical and grammatical information are shared across an L2 speaker’s languages. As the number of researchers investigating L2 priming and its implications for L2 learning continues to grow, it is important to assess the current state of research in this area and establish directions for continued inquiry. The goal of the current review is to provide an overview of recent research on within-language L2 structural priming, with an eye towards the open questions that remain.


2021 ◽  
pp. 3-11
Author(s):  
Suddhasvatta Das ◽  
Kevin Gary

AbstractDue to the fast-paced nature of the software industry and the success of small agile projects, researchers and practitioners are interested in scaling agile processes to larger projects. Agile software development (ASD) has been growing in popularity for over two decades. With the success of small-scale agile transformation, organizations started to focus on scaling agile. There is a scarcity of literature in this field making it harder to find plausible evidence to identify the science behind large scale agile transformation. The objective of this paper is to present a better understanding of the current state of research in the field of scaled agile transformation and explore research gaps. This tertiary study identifies seven relevant peer reviewed studies and reports research findings and future research avenues.


2013 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 43-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Schmidt ◽  
Sebastian F. Kaltwasser ◽  
Carsten T. Wotjak

PTSD can develop in the aftermath of traumatic incidents like combat, sexual abuse, or life threatening accidents. Unfortunately, there are still no biomarkers for this debilitating anxiety disorder in clinical use. Anyhow, there are numerous studies describing potential PTSD biomarkers, some of which might progress to the point of practical use in the future. Here, we outline and comment on some of the most prominent findings on potential imaging, psychological, endocrine, and molecular PTSD biomarkers and classify them into risk, disease, and therapy markers. Since for most of these potential PTSD markers a causal role in PTSD has been demonstrated or at least postulated, this review also gives an overview on the current state of research on PTSD pathobiology.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 529-546
Author(s):  
Christofer Laurell ◽  
Sten Soderman

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of articles on sport published in leading business studies journals within marketing, organisational studies and strategy.Design/methodology/approachBased on a review of 38 identified articles within the subfields of marketing, strategy and organisation studies published between 2000 and 2015, the articles’ topical, theoretical and methodological orientation within the studied subfields were analysed followed by a cross-subfield analysis.FindingsThe authors identify considerable differences in topical, theoretical and methodological orientation among the studied subfields’ associated articles. Overall, the authors also find that articles across all subfields tend to be focussed on contributing to mature theory, even though the subfield of marketing in particular exhibits contributions to nascent theory in contrast to organisation studies and strategy.Originality/valueThis paper contributes by illustrating the current state of research that is devoted or related to the phenomenon of sport within three subfields in business studies. Furthermore, the authors discuss the role played by leading business studies journalsvis-à-vissport sector-specific journals and offer avenues for future research.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 745-763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhijun Wang ◽  
Xiaojuan Wang ◽  
Weiqin Zuo ◽  
Xiaotong Ma ◽  
Ning Li

The capacity of coal to adsorb methane is greatly affected by temperature and, in recent years, temperature-dependent adsorption has been studied by many researchers. Even so, comprehensive conclusions have not been reached and conflicting experimental results are common. This paper reviews the current state of research regarding the temperature-dependent adsorption of methane in coal and catalogs the conclusions from experiments conducted on that subject by 28 researchers, as published between 1995 and 2017. Probability theory and statistics are used to show that the conclusion generally accepted by most researchers is that the amount of methane adsorbed by coal decreases with increasing temperature. It is highly likely that the Langmuir volume decreases as the temperature rises, and it is also probable that the Langmuir pressure increases at higher temperatures. Equations are presented that express the relationships between methane adsorption, Langmuir volume, Langmuir pressure, and temperature. Future research should be directed toward determining the relationship between Langmuir pressure and temperature. The results of the study presented herein provide a theoretical basis for predicting the gas content in coal seams and improving the efficiency of coalbed methane development.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Kathrin Hinze ◽  
Franziska Sump

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to systematise the current state of research on the association between companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement and financial analysts’ company assessment. Additionally, it aims to identify fruitful directions for future research that contribute to a further exploration of the link between CSR and financial analysts.Design/methodology/approachThis study reviews and synthesises existing research on CSR and financial analysts. Based on the research question, “What is the relationship between CSR engagement and financial analysts’ metrics?,” the authors conduct a systematic literature review. The authors search three major databases and use an extensive search term to ensure exhaustive coverage of the field. The paper then systemises the current state of research and identifies knowledge gaps and potential directions for future research.FindingsThe review of existing research shows that several studies confirm a positive link between CSR performance and analyst coverage, suggesting that external monitoring through analysts incentivises companies to enhance their CSR engagement. Further, results indicate that a company’s involvement in “sin” industries is linked to lower analyst coverage. Besides, a higher level of CSR disclosure is positively associated with analyst forecast accuracy, thus indicating that the provision of CSR-related information is linked to an enhanced information environment. High levels of CSR performance are associated with more positive recommendations from analysts. However, recent surveys and interview studies on analysts’ perceptions of CSR fail to uniformly support an increasing interest in CSR.Research limitations/implicationsFor a better understanding of the link between CSR engagement and financial analysts, two fruitful directions for future research are observed. First, future research designs should clearly differentiate between CSR disclosure and CSR performance and take account of interdependencies between them. Second, studies should address behavioural insights into how analysts process information and the influence of individual analyst characteristics on the link between CSR engagement and an analyst’s assessment of a company.Originality/valueThis study is the first to review the literature on the relationship between CSR and financial analysts. The association between CSR and financial analysts is particularly interesting given the pivotal role financial analysts play as information intermediaries in financial markets. This study delivers an in-depth understanding of existing studies and their theoretical underpinnings. Based on the existing literature, this paper develops innovative directions for future research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 795-848
Author(s):  
Alina Köchling ◽  
Marius Claus Wehner

AbstractAlgorithmic decision-making is becoming increasingly common as a new source of advice in HR recruitment and HR development. While firms implement algorithmic decision-making to save costs as well as increase efficiency and objectivity, algorithmic decision-making might also lead to the unfair treatment of certain groups of people, implicit discrimination, and perceived unfairness. Current knowledge about the threats of unfairness and (implicit) discrimination by algorithmic decision-making is mostly unexplored in the human resource management context. Our goal is to clarify the current state of research related to HR recruitment and HR development, identify research gaps, and provide crucial future research directions. Based on a systematic review of 36 journal articles from 2014 to 2020, we present some applications of algorithmic decision-making and evaluate the possible pitfalls in these two essential HR functions. In doing this, we inform researchers and practitioners, offer important theoretical and practical implications, and suggest fruitful avenues for future research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. e001987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Bunn ◽  
Chisomo Kalinga ◽  
Otiyela Mtema ◽  
Sharifa Abdulla ◽  
Angel Dillip ◽  
...  

IntroductionArts-based approaches to health promotion have been used widely across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), particularly in public health responses to HIV/AIDS. Such approaches draw on deep-rooted historical traditions of indigenous groups in combination with imported traditions which emerged from colonial engagement. To date, no review has sought to map the locations, health issues, art forms and methods documented by researchers using arts-based approaches in SSA.MethodsUsing scoping review methodology, 11 databases spanning biomedicine, arts and humanities and social sciences were searched. Researchers screened search results for papers using predefined criteria. Papers included in the review were read and summarised using a standardised proforma. Descriptive statistics were produced to characterise the location of the studies, art forms used or discussed, and the health issues addressed, and to determine how best to summarise the literature identified.ResultsSearches identified a total of 59 794 records, which reduced to 119 after screening. We identified literature representing 30 (62.5%) of the 48 countries in the SSA region. The papers covered 16 health issues. The majority (84.9%) focused on HIV/AIDS-related work, with Ebola (5.0%) and malaria (3.3%) also receiving attention. Most studies used a single art form (79.0%), but a significant number deployed multiple forms (21.0%). Theatre-based approaches were most common (43.7%), followed by music and song (22.6%), visual arts (other) (9.2%), storytelling (7.6%) and film (5.0%).ConclusionsArts-based approaches have been widely deployed in health promotion in SSA, particularly in response to HIV/AIDS. Historically and as evidenced by this review, arts-based approaches have provided a platform to facilitate enquiry, achieved significant reach and in some instances supported demonstrable health-related change. Challenges relating to content, power relations and evaluation have been reported. Future research should focus on broadening application to other conditions, such as non-communicable diseases, and on addressing challenges raised in research to date.


2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 306-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer P. Lundine ◽  
Rebecca J. McCauley

PurposeWith the adoption of the Common Core State Standards, expository texts gain prominence at all grade levels and for all disciplines. Although the linguistic and cognitive complexities of exposition pose challenges for all children, they may create additional challenges for children and adolescents with language difficulties. Therefore, this tutorial provides background information for clinicians regarding the structure, development, and specific difficulties associated with exposition across the 4 modalities of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. This background is intended to help direct the attention of researchers and clinicians to needed advances in knowledge and skill if the profession is to adequately support the population of children and adolescents who struggle with language.MethodThis tutorial is based on an extensive narrative review of articles identified using a systematic search process. Cited research studies are discussed qualitatively, but intervention studies are also characterized in terms of the strength of their research designs. This method is undertaken to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the current state of research on these topics.ConclusionsFuture research needs are proposed to promote discussion among researchers and to prepare clinicians for the kinds of evidence they should be demanding as a basis for their practice.


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