Social Sciences

Abstract: Background/Objectives: Misophonia is characterized by disproportionate emotional and physiological responses to specific "trigger" sounds, often accompanied by self-reported difficulty maintaining focus. Here, we sought to provide objective evidence of such cognitive disruptions by combining behavioral measures of auditory working memory with electroencephalographic (EEG) indices of neural processing. Methods: Fifty-five participants (23 Misophonic, 32 control) completed a pitch-matching WM task under three distractor conditions: individualized trigger sounds, neutral sounds, and silence. EEG was analyzed using a time-frequency approach to assess alpha (8-12 Hz) oscillatory activity during working memory retention at the source level with Independent Component Analyses (ICA). Results: Behaviorally, Misophonic participants exhibited reduced overall working memory performance compared to controls, with no difference between neutral and trigger conditions, suggesting a general deficit in distractor inhibition. EEG results showed lower alpha power across all conditions in the misophonia group, consistent with diminished inhibitory control rather than trigger-specific effects. This lower Alpha appeared to occur for sources in parietal and somatomotor areas. Group differences were apparent in alpha suppression around trigger onset times and alpha enhancements occurring later in retention intervals. Conclusions: Results are consistent with claims made in the literature that Misophonics show impaired attentional control and motor regulation. Implications for Misophonia theoretical models and directions for future research are discussed.

Abstract: The increasing integration of digital technology into higher education has created new opportunities for English learning while raising questions about students’ readiness to use technology meaningfully. This study explored Indonesian university students’ digital readiness and engagement in technology supported English learning and examined the factors shaping their experiences. A qualitative case study design was employed with undergraduate students who had direct experience using digital technologies in English courses. Data were collected through semi structured interviews, non-participant classroom observations, and relevant learning documents and were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The findings showed that digital readiness extended beyond access to devices and included confidence, previous digital experience, independence, and the ability to use technology purposefully for academic learning. Students demonstrated stronger engagement when digital activities involved interaction, collaboration, communication, problem solving, and English language production, whereas activities focused mainly on receiving materials or submitting assignments generated less active participation. The findings further indicated that lecturer support, task design, perceived usefulness, accessibility, and previous digital experience shaped both readiness and engagement. The study concluded that digital readiness and engagement were closely connected but were also influenced by the learning environment. These findings highlight the need for Indonesian universities and English lecturers to move beyond providing digital tools and develop learning conditions that strengthen students’ digital confidence, independence, and meaningful participation in English learning.

Abstract: Mixed-use redevelopment of obsolete urban land is widely prescribed across Europe, yet delivery frequently stalls under fragmented planning systems. This paper investigates the governance mechanism, rather than the design quality, that distinguishes successful delivery from stall. Four mixed-use districts built on former rail and port land in Barcelona, London, Hamburg and Paris are compared against a stalled contrast case in Madrid, drawing on transaction cost economics, institutional collective action theory and network-governance theory to argue that a single-purpose delivery vehicle resolves coordination problems that a fragmented, multi-actor planning process cannot. This claim is tested using a twenty-three-indicator multi-criteria rubric, within which a four-part governance sub-index captures timeline certainty, use flexibility, structured collaboration and legal security. Every delivered district is governed through a dedicated vehicle that holds land and accountability together, applies planning rules with bounded flexibility, and reinvests land-value uplift in the public realm. On the governance sub-index, the four delivered cases score between 7.0 and 8.6 out of 10, compared with 2.25 for the stalled case; governance-related indicators, though only a quarter of the full rubric, account for nearly half (47.9%) of the total performance gap between delivery and stall, a result that holds across 125 sensitivity tests on the model’s weighting. Governance design, not market context, is concluded to be the decisive variable in mixed-use delivery, translated here into a transferable specification for public administrators; the concern that such vehicles can concentrate value is also addressed, with a delivery vehicle judged necessary for successful delivery but not, on its own, sufficient to ensure a fair distribution of its benefits.

Abstract: This study explored how game based learning platforms influenced Indonesian EFL learners’ motivation in technology supported English learning. A qualitative case study design was employed to examine students’ experiences, perceptions, and responses to gamified English learning activities. Data were collected from purposively selected undergraduate EFL learners through semi structured interviews, classroom observations, and relevant learning documents. The data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis to identify recurring patterns related to students’ motivational experiences. The findings showed that game based learning increased students’ motivation by making English activities more enjoyable, interactive, challenging, and engaging. Students reported stronger willingness to participate when activities provided clear goals, immediate feedback, opportunities for collaboration, and visible evidence of progress. However, the motivational effects varied according to students’ English proficiency, confidence, previous digital experience, and perceptions of competition and rewards. The findings also indicated that lecturer support and task design played an important role in determining whether game based activities produced meaningful engagement. Activities that were closely connected to English learning objectives encouraged stronger participation, whereas excessive competition, repetitive tasks, or an emphasis on game mechanics could reduce motivation. The study concluded that gamification was most effective when game based technology was integrated with purposeful language learning and appropriate pedagogical support. The findings contribute to EFL research by providing a contextual understanding of how Indonesian university students experienced gamified learning and offer practical implications for lecturers seeking to design more motivating and learner centred English instruction.

Abstract: This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study examined pre-service science teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching science in diverse Indian classrooms. Quantitative data from 150 pre-service teachers using the SESSTD measured three dimensions: culturally responsive science teaching and inclusivity (CRSTI), instructional strategies and engagement (ISE), and teacher preparation and professional development (TPPD). Fifteen participants were purposively selected for a focus group discussion. Results showed moderately high self-efficacy across all subscales, with CRSTI marginally highest. Multiple regression indicated ISE significantly predicted CRSTI, whereas TPPD did not. Qualitative findings identified mastery experience as the most cited source of confidence; inconsistent or absent mentor feedback, linguistic diversity, and tension between teacher-education pedagogy and field practice emerged as challenges. The findings suggest general instructional and culturally responsive confidence are closely linked, while training/mentorship confidence is comparatively distinct. Implications concern mastery-oriented, practice-embedded teacher preparation for diverse science classrooms.

Abstract: Family-based treatment (FBT) is widely regarded as the leading evidence-based treatment for adolescents with anorexia nervosa and has demonstrated benefits, particularly in supporting weight restoration. FBT is organised around five central tenets: an agnostic view of illness causation, a non-authoritarian therapeutic stance, parental empowerment, externalisation of the eating disorder and a pragmatic focus on symptom reduction. However, evidence of group-level efficacy does not establish that treatment is appropriate, accessible or psychologically safe for every young person and family. This lived-experience-informed critical analysis brings treatment research into conversation with qualitative evidence, recovery-oriented scholarship and emerging understandings of treatment-related harm. It examines how the five tenets distribute authority, credibility and responsibility and how their enactment may shape psychological safety and recovery. Agnosticism may become incuriosity about the functions and contexts of eating-disorder behaviours; non-authoritarianism may redistribute rather than reduce clinical authority; parental empowerment may displace the young person’s voice; externalisation may support separation from the eating disorder for some while invalidating the testimony of others; and pragmatism may privilege physical restoration without adequately addressing psychological and relational needs. These tensions may be particularly consequential for young people whose presentations include neurodivergence, trauma, chronic illness or other intersecting needs. Rather than rejecting FBT, we propose five corresponding shifts: from agnosticism to explorative curiosity, from non-authoritarianism to meaningful patient choice, from parental empowerment to shared empowerment, from externalisation to individualised differentiation, and from pragmatism to person-centred responsiveness. These shifts may preserve the urgency of nutritional care while strengthening collaboration, dignity and psychological safety.

Abstract: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly transforming education through personalized learning, intelligent tutoring, automated assessment, learning analytics, teacher support, and generative AI applications. However, the benefits of AI are not distributed equally, particularly in developing countries where digital infrastructure, teacher readiness, affordability, data governance, language diversity, and institutional capacity remain significant challenges. This study critically examines the opportunities, challenges, and future implications of AI in education, with particular attention to developing-country contexts and Bangladesh. A PRISMA-informed Systematic Critical Literature Review (SCLR) was conducted using peer-reviewed research, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and authoritative institutional reports published primarily between 2018 and 2026. The review synthesizes evidence concerning personalized learning, teacher augmentation, generative AI, assessment, academic integrity, AI literacy, digital inequality, privacy, bias, and contextual adaptation. Bangladesh-specific evidence is incorporated to examine the country's readiness and the practical requirements for responsible AI adoption in education. The review indicates that AI can improve personalization, student engagement, feedback, learning efficiency, teacher productivity, and access to educational support. Recent experimental evidence also suggests that generative AI can produce positive learning effects when integrated with appropriate instructional design. Nevertheless, these benefits depend heavily on teacher involvement, infrastructure, institutional governance, and responsible implementation. Risks include misinformation, academic dishonesty, algorithmic bias, privacy violations, overreliance on automated systems, unequal access, and the marginalization of local languages and cultures. Based on the synthesis, this study proposes the Socio-Technical AI Integration Framework (STAIF), consisting of seven interconnected pillars: infrastructure-first deployment, teacher-in-the-loop implementation, local-language and cultural adaptation, offline-first accessibility, equity safeguards, responsible data governance, and continuous monitoring and evaluation. The framework provides a practical pathway for developing countries such as Bangladesh to move from fragmented AI experimentation toward equitable, sustainable, and human-centred AI integration in education.

Abstract: This paper argues that the central purpose of education should be the formation of good people—or, more precisely, ethically competent persons. Good people are not merely compliant, pleasant, or academically successful; they are ethically competent agents who reduce unnecessary harm, increase the flourishing of others, and take responsibility for their impact. The paper's principal theoretical contribution is the Integrated Model of Ethical Competence, which synthesizes character, competence, and practical wisdom into a unified framework for understanding how education can cultivate responsible action and human flourishing. The paper first identifies the essential characteristics of good people and situates this framework within major moral traditions—Aristotelian virtue ethics, Kantian deontology, utilitarianism, care ethics, Confucian ethics, and critical theory—justifying the proposed synthesis through an overlapping consensus grounded in human dignity, fairness, and care. It then defends the claim that good people are necessary, though not sufficient, conditions for societal trust, institutional integrity, democratic stability, economic fairness, and ecological responsibility, drawing on empirical research from social capital theory, moral development, positive psychology, and civic education. It further argues that good people are central to human flourishing because virtue is not merely a means to well-being but partly constitutive of it. Finally, the paper develops the Integrated Model of Ethical Competence and proposes how education can cultivate ethically competent persons through explicit ethics curriculum, dialogic pedagogy, just school culture, formative assessment, teacher formation, and institutional policies that value character alongside competence. The paper concludes that education for goodness is not indoctrination but a condition for individual flourishing and collective survival. Limitations of the argument are acknowledged, including measurement challenges, cultural disagreements, and the need for further empirical research on causal pathways.

Abstract: Social media influencers have become increasingly important in shaping consumer behavior in digital tourism environments, and their growing role has transformed how travelers search for information, evaluate destinations, and make international travel decisions. Nevertheless, the sequential roles of Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and trust in Social Media Influencers remain insufficiently explored within a unified theoretical framework. To address this gap, this study aims to examine the effects of social media influencer characteristics on international travel decisions by investigating the mediating roles of Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and trust in Social Media Influencers within the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S-O-R) framework. To examine the proposed model, a quantitative research design was adopted using an online questionnaire administered to 739 participants from Generations Y and Z. The proposed model and hypotheses were tested using covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) with IBM SPSS and AMOS. The findings indicate that influencer characteristics significantly influenced FOMO, trust in Social Media Influencers, and international travel decisions. The results also confirmed the mediating roles of FOMO and trust in Social Media Influencers, as well as their sequential mediating effect in explaining how influencer characteristics shape international travel decisions.

Abstract: Artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini are increasingly embedded in the way travelers search for destinations, develop itineraries, compare travel options, and make booking and activity-related decisions. As AI-based travel assistance becomes more accessible, understanding how travelers perceive and repeatedly use these technologies has become important for both tourism researchers and the travel industry. This study examined AI usage behavior, perceived value, and continuance intention among Korean travelers using a descriptive-correlational research design. A structured online questionnaire was administered to 401 respondents with prior overseas travel experience. The survey measured respondents’ use of AI across major stages of international trip planning, including destination search, itinerary development, accommodation search, transportation search, and activity recommendations, as well as their perceptions of AI’s usefulness, convenience, personalization, time-saving benefits, and trustworthiness. The results show that respondents generally “agree” that they use AI across the major stages of trip planning and perceive AI as a convenient and useful tool for obtaining and organizing travel information. Respondents also reported favorable perceptions of AI in terms of saving time, providing personalized recommendations, improving convenience, and offering trustworthy information. AI usage behavior and perceived value differed significantly according to age, occupation, travel frequency, and frequency of AI use, whereas no statistically significant difference was observed by gender. Correlation analysis further revealed that perceived value was the strongest correlate of continuance intention (ρ = 0.740, p < .001), followed by AI usage behavior (ρ = 0.679, p < .001). These findings indicate that travelers who perceive AI as useful, convenient, personalized, and trustworthy are more likely to continue incorporating AI into their future travel planning activities. The findings highlight the importance of improving AI-based personalization, usability, and information credibility to encourage sustained adoption and strengthen AI-supported travel experiences in the tourism industry.

Abstract: Pacific Island countries are frequently positioned as recipients of development assistance or locations of strategic competition. Such representations obscure how regional institutions articulate the purposes that external cooperation should serve. This article examines how Pacific diplomatic texts define legitimate partnership and how those definitions appear in selected Chinese and United States cooperation documents. A qualitative documentary analysis compares seven official texts published between 2017 and 2025, distinguishing regional agenda articulation, textual accommodation by partners, and implementation outcomes. The analysis identifies three connected practices: prioritizing climate security, constructing an oceanic regional subject, and specifying obligations through regional strategies and maritime claims. References to Pacific priorities in joint declarations indicate selective textual accommodation, while the continued presence of external strategic objectives demonstrates its limits. Neither rhetorical convergence nor endorsement establishes that Pacific actors controlled negotiations or secured implementation. The article contributes an evidence-sensitive account of discursive agency in sustainability diplomacy: authority can be exercised through the criteria used to evaluate partnerships, even where material inequalities persist. It also identifies the conditions under which recognition could become accountable cooperation, including traceable links between declared priorities, decision procedures, and implementation evidence.

Abstract: Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is transforming how scholarly references are discovered, synthesised, and incorporated into research. Yet a reference can exist, be bibliographically accurate, and appear relevant while remaining inadequately examined as evidence for the claim it supports. Existing approaches address reference verification, contextual support, AI disclosure, provenance, and human accountability, but give less explicit attention to whether the evidentiary pathway connecting an individual citation to a scholarly claim remains reconstructable. This conceptual article defines citation auditability as the degree to which the provenance, verification, evidentiary use, and human responsibility associated with a scholarly citation can be reconstructed and independently assessed. The framework comprises four interrelated dimensions: citation provenance, verification, evidentiary traceability, and human accountability. A 2 × 2 matrix further distinguishes citation auditability from citation correctness, demonstrating that a citation may be correct yet poorly auditable, or incorrect yet auditable. The article argues that citation integrity in AI-assisted scholarship should extend beyond verifying bibliographic objects toward ensuring that the evidentiary pathway from source to evidence to claim remains reconstructable and attributable to responsible human judgment. The article also considers the limits of this framework, including the risk that auditability claims may themselves be difficult to verify independently.

Abstract:

Background/Objectives: Negative workplace gossip could affect nurses’ mental health and professional life. The aim of this study was to examine the association between negative workplace gossip, mental health and professional life among nurses. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Greece during May 2026. We used valid scales to measure our study variables; Perceived Negative Workplace Gossip Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-4, Quiet Quitting Scale, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-3, Organizational-Based Self-Esteem Scale, Single-Item Job Satisfaction measure, Single-Item Burnout measure, and Turnover Intention Scale. Results: We found a significant positive association between negative workplace gossip and both anxiety (p = 0.009), and depression symptoms (p < 0.001). Moreover, multivariable linear regression analysis identified a positive association between negative workplace gossip and three dimensions of quiet quitting; (1) detachment (p < 0.001), (2) lack of initiative (p < 0.001), and (3) lack of motivation (p < 0.001). Also, we found a positive association between negative workplace gossip and job burnout (p < 0.001). Multivariable linear regression analysis showed a negative association between negative workplace gossip and work engagement (p < 0.001), organizational-based self-esteem (p < 0.001), and job satisfaction (p < 0.001). Additionally, multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that higher level of negative workplace gossip was associated with an increased probability of turnover intention (p-value < 0.001). Conclusions: Our findings support the association between negative workplace gossip, anxiety, depression, quiet quitting, work engagement, organizational-based self-esteem, job satisfaction, job burnout, and turnover intention. Healthcare organizations, policymakers, and supervisors should place particular emphasis on addressing negative workplace gossip by implementing targeted interventions aimed at reducing its prevalence.

Abstract: Executive functions and socio-emotional competencies play an important role in emerging literacy and numeracy. Hence, it is important to consider how functioning in the cognitive domain co-occurs with socio-emotional functioning and how these two domains of early childhood development are associated with emerging literacy and numeracy. At the same time, there are few cross-national person-centred studies that address how individual differences in executive functions co-occur with individual differences in socio-emotional competencies. Drawing on the data of 18,875 children (mean age = 5.52 years; 49.30% female) who participated in the International Early Learning and Child Well-being Study 2025, the current study examines latent profiles of executive and socio-emotional competencies in early childhood and their associa-tion with emerging numeracy and literacy. Latent profile analyses yielded five distinct profiles of early childhood executive functions and socio-emotional competencies. The first profile was characterised by globally low functioning (12.9%). The second profile comprised children with comparatively low social-behavioural functioning (24%), whereas the third reflected broadly average, balanced functioning (28.5%). The fourth included children with pronounced executive functioning and emotional strengths but comparatively weaker social and behavioural functioning (20.4%). The fifth profile comprised children who exhibited profound social and behavioural strengths (14.3%). Significant cross-jurisdictional differences were found in profile membership. These differences may reflect broader contextual, cultural, or educational conditions, alt-hough the mechanisms underlying them require further investigation. Significant dif-ferences in emerging literacy and numeracy were also found across profiles, with the children in the fourth profile exhibiting the best numeracy and literacy competencies. The findings suggest that executive and socio-emotional strengths do not necessarily align in early childhood, and that their distinct configurations are associated with dif-ferences in emerging literacy and numeracy.

Abstract: The Revised Multicultural Ideology Scale (MCI-r) has been validated in five Western contexts, each retaining the same four subscales and setting aside Essentialistic Boundaries and Extent of Differences. We report its first administration outside Europe and North America, in 1,200 nationally distributed South Korean adults, and no established structure achieved acceptable fit as specified. The four-factor solution preferred in every prior study was inadmissible in two of three subsamples under robust maximum likelihood and in the full sample under an alternative estimator, because Cultural Maintenance and Social Interaction were not separable (disattenuated r = 1.03; latent r = .896 with method variance modelled). Misfit was organised by item wording direction rather than content. A single orthogonal factor loading the eight negatively worded items raised fit from CFI = .563 to .901 and absorbed 31.6% of their variance; a random intercept representing a general tendency to agree fitted better still on every index, locating the effect in acquiescence rather than in negative wording as such. The only subscales to form an acceptable model were the two containing no negatively worded items, which are also the two set aside in every prior validation — though that advantage is confounded with wording composition and is not interpretable substantively. Mixed-worded subscales cannot be assumed to function equivalently outside the contexts in which they were developed.

Abstract: Autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) agents are increasingly transacting with one another and with digital services without direct human mediation, and dollar-pegged stablecoins have emerged as the dominant settlement medium for this machine-to-machine (M2M) commerce. Industry data indicate that agent-initiated stablecoin settlements grew from a negligible base to tens of millions of dollars across hundreds of millions of micro-transactions within roughly a year, with a single stablecoin issuer accounting for the overwhelming majority of settled value. This concentration, combined with the sub-second, high-frequency, low-value nature of agent payments, raises under-examined questions about transaction failure, liquidity adequacy, and settlement risk that existing payment-systems literature — built largely around human-initiated, lower-frequency transactions — does not directly address. This study develops and empirically tests a structural model in which liquidity adequacy, settlement latency/throughput constraints, issuer credibility and reserve transparency, and protocol interoperability jointly predict transaction failure likelihood, which in turn predicts settlement risk exposure and, ultimately, organizational intention to adopt stablecoin-based agent payment infrastructure; regulatory clarity is modeled as a moderator of the interoperability–failure relationship. Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS on survey data from 385 professionals across blockchain engineering, AI agent development, fintech risk/compliance, and treasury functions, the measurement model demonstrates strong reliability and convergent/discriminant validity (all composite reliabilities > 0.90; all AVE > 0.66; HTMT < 0.65), and the structural model explains 40.3% of variance in transaction failure likelihood and 36.2% in settlement risk exposure. All four exogenous predictors significantly influence transaction failure likelihood, transaction failure likelihood significantly predicts settlement risk exposure (β = 0.501, p < .001), and regulatory clarity significantly moderates the interoperability–failure relationship. Bootstrapped mediation confirms that transaction failure likelihood partially mediates the effect of protocol interoperability on settlement risk (indirect effect = −0.172, 95% CI [−0.221, −0.124]). The paper contributes a domain-specific construct set and validated instrument for agentic-payment risk, offers evidence-based guidance for stablecoin issuers, protocol designers, and enterprises deploying autonomous agents, and outlines a concrete pathway — including a fully documented replication dataset — for extending this model with primary field data.

Abstract: Organisations are increasingly expected to address both climate change mitigation and adaptation; however, these agendas are often developed through separate governance, planning, and management processes, creating barriers to integrated climate action. While existing frameworks provide valuable guidance on climate governance, risk management, adaptation planning, and disclosure, they offer limited support for translating climate ambitions into coordinated organisational implementation. This study develops a transferable Organisational Climate Capability Framework for integrating climate mitigation, adaptation, climate-risk management, governance, and implementation within existing organisational systems. The framework was developed through an integrative review of climate resilient development, climate governance, adaptation planning, co-production, and organisational capability literature and refined through iterative application within a government organisation. The framework identifies six interconnected implementation mechanisms: governance integration, stakeholder co-development, risk-informed planning, integrated prioritisation, institutional embedding, and implementation readiness. These mechanisms contribute to the development of organisational climate capability, conceptualised as the capacity to coordinate, sustain, learn from, and adapt climate action over time. The study proposes that organisational climate capability mediates the relationship between integrated climate governance and climate-resilient development outcomes. The paper contributes a practical framework and climate capability maturity model to support organisational assessment, capability development, and continuous improvement, providing an organisational pathway for operationalising climate-resilient development and supporting sustainable development objectives.

Abstract: Background: College mental health screening relies almost exclusively on self-report questionnaires, which are vulnerable to recall bias, impression management, and administrative burden. Digital phenotyping, the measurement of behavior through human-computer interaction, offers complementary, passively collected signals, yet few systems integrate it with validated screening scales in a privacy-conscious way. Because the required sensors, the computer mouse and the webcam, are already standard on screening workstations, objective behavioral measurement can be added without any new peripherals such as EEG headsets or wristbands, at near-zero hardware cost. We present PsyTrace, a privacy-aware, local-first platform that integrates a multi-scale self-report battery with unobtrusive behavioral sensing to support counseling-center screening workflows. Methods: PsyTrace is implemented as a Tauri 2 (Rust + WebView) desktop application with a Next.js 14 / TypeScript user interface. Assessment methodology comprises built-in validated scales (PHQ-9, GAD-7, C-SSRS, PSS-10, PSQI, SIAS-6, ASLEC) plus locally uploaded custom scales, a four-tier risk taxonomy with per-scale adjustable thresholds. Behavioral sensing captures mouse trajectories throughout the questionnaire (14 kinematic features, 5 heuristic signals), and a camera feed at 320*240. Results: The full screening workflow, informed consent, silent sensing, four-tier risk classification, per-scale risk dashboards, exploratory correlation analytics, and privacy-aware report export, is demonstrated end-to-end. Engineering verification includes successful type-checking, a production build, and 26 DOM-level smoke tests. Conclusions: PsyTrace demonstrates a feasible engineering foundation for multimodal, privacy-preserving college mental health screening. Running on ubiquitous hardware with no additional peripherals, it is also a low-cost, easily promotable screening infrastructure. It is a research prototype, not a diagnostic device: calibration of heuristic thresholds and clinical validation with longitudinal cohorts are required next steps. The software is fully open source, and the complete source code is available on GitHub (github.com/GuoXiang9399/PsyPlat).

Abstract: The objective of the right turn on red (RTOR) regulation for cyclists is to legalise the behaviour of many cyclists at junctions. This study investigates how cyclists' behaviour changes over time when the RTOR sign is installed. A pre-post observation with a video camera system was used at two junctions. The first junction was observed continuously over a period of eight months. The second junction, however, was observed in two separate series after the RTOR sign was installed. To assess changes in behaviour, the cyclists were categorised into two main groups: those who complied with the regulations and those who violated the rules. Depending on the behaviour group, it took the cyclists up to six weeks to change their behaviour. After this period, their behaviour stabilised and no further changes were observed with most cyclists being non-compliant with the RTOR regulation. Although the RTOR regulation reduced the use of the pavement by cyclists, the number of cyclists who violate the RTOR regulation is high. It is likely that the regulation was ignored or misinterpreted, despite it being clearly stated on the sign. Therefore, critical interactions with cross traffic are likely to occur, as the cross traffic is unaware of cyclists entering the junction at red.

Abstract: The South African local government has witnessed several service delivery protests by dissatisfied community members who have raised concerns about poor public service in various municipalities across the country. The Constitution of South Africa Section 152 (1)(a)(b) provides that “The objects of local government are to provide democratic and accountable government for local communities; to ensure the provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner’’. South African municipalities have failed to uphold this constitutional mandate, a failure attributable to capacity constraints within the local government sector. This sphere's most prominent capacity issues are a lack of skills, skill mismatches, and poor recruitment and retention strategies. The finance, infrastructure planning, and management departments are the most affected by the skills shortage, resulting in poor public service delivery in the sphere. The purpose of this paper is to examine the causes of capacity in the sphere and to propose strategies that municipalities can use to improve capacity for service delivery and to ensure sustainable public service delivery. The desktop approach was used to review recent literature on the phenomenon in question.