Harnessing artificial intelligence for identifying conflicts of interest in research

This editorial explores the transformative potential of artificial intelligence(AI)in identifying conflicts of interest(COIs)within academic and scientific research.By harnessing advanced data analysis,pattern recognition,and natural language processing techniques,AI offers innovative solutions for enhancing transparency and integrity in research.This editorial discusses how AI can automatically detect COIs,integrate data from various sources,and streamline reporting processes,thereby maintaining the credibility of scientific findings.

Mental Health Consequences among Sudanese Due to the Armed Conflicts and Civil Unrest of 2023: One Year Later

Aim: To investigate depression, anxiety, PTSD, and insomnia levels among Sudanese citizens after a year has passed since the start of Armed Forces conflict in Sudan. Methods: An online survey was distributed. It is composed of five parts, covering the following areas: 1) sociodemographic data;2) depression assessment;3) generalized anxiety disorder assessment;4) post-traumatic stress disorder assessment;and 5) insomnia assessment. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 27 was used for data analysis;frequency and percentage were used to describe the qualitative variables. Spearman’s correlation analysis and Chi-square test were used for correlation and association analysis;a P-value equal to or less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The study included 283 participants, primarily female (76.0%), with a mean age of 35.26 ± 6.96 years. The majority of participants were married (50.5%) and had a university level of education (50.2%). At the start of the war, 70.3% of participants were inside the war zones, and at the time of data collection, 73.5% were outside Sudan. The length of stay in the war zone ranged from 1 to 300 days, with a mean of 48.59 ± 70.284 days. Additionally, 63.3% of participants stated that they did not receive any form of mental health intervention, and the remaining did not provide an answer. There was a high prevalence of moderate-severe depression (50.5%), moderate anxiety (35.3%), PTSD (56.5%), and sub-threshold insomnia (53.4%) among the participants. Correlation analyses revealed associations between demographic factors such as sex, age, marital status, and education and mental health issues. Notably, female participants showed a higher prevalence of PTSD (53.0%) compared to male participants (67.6%). Conclusions: There is a substantial impact of war-related trauma on mental health, revealing a high prevalence of moderate-severe depression, moderate anxiety, PTSD, and sub-threshold insomnia among the participants. This emphasizes the importance of tailored interventions and support systems to address the unique needs of individuals affected by war trauma.

Ethical Decision-Making Framework Based on Incremental ILP Considering Conflicts

Humans are experiencing the inclusion of artificial agents in their lives,such as unmanned vehicles,service robots,voice assistants,and intelligent medical care.If the artificial agents cannot align with social values or make ethical decisions,they may not meet the expectations of humans.Traditionally,an ethical decision-making framework is constructed by rule-based or statistical approaches.In this paper,we propose an ethical decision-making framework based on incremental ILP(Inductive Logic Programming),which can overcome the brittleness of rule-based approaches and little interpretability of statistical approaches.As the current incremental ILP makes it difficult to solve conflicts,we propose a novel ethical decision-making framework considering conflicts in this paper,which adopts our proposed incremental ILP system.The framework consists of two processes:the learning process and the deduction process.The first process records bottom clauses with their score functions and learns rules guided by the entailment and the score function.The second process obtains an ethical decision based on the rules.In an ethical scenario about chatbots for teenagers’mental health,we verify that our framework can learn ethical rules and make ethical decisions.Besides,we extract incremental ILP from the framework and compare it with the state-of-the-art ILP systems based on ASP(Answer Set Programming)focusing on conflict resolution.The results of comparisons show that our proposed system can generate better-quality rules than most other systems.

Characterisation of Human-Wildlife Conflicts around the Kahuzi-Biega National Park, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

The history of mankind contains so many illustrations of well-classified and violent struggles against various animals over crop production in agricultural fields, attacks on human life or competition in order to have access to certain natural resources. The aim of this study is to characterise the human-wildlife conflicts that occur around the KBNP, especially with regard to primates. Surveys were carried out in 260 households selected using the snowball method. The results showed that human-wildlife conflicts around the KBNP are characterised by the destruction of crops in riparian fields by monkeys, chimpanzees and gorillas, the destruction of houses, physical attacks and zoonoses. Despite the conservation and protection measures for wildlife and local populations put in place by the Park’s managers, conflicts between local populations and the Park’s wild animals are still visible. These conflicts lead to the detention of wild animals by local people roaming in the villages and to poaching on the Park’s boundaries. The weakness of the community management policy on the part of the park managers and the resentment of the indigenous peoples towards the restriction of their access to natural resources are the major constraints on the sustainable management of conflicts between the local populations and the wild animals in the KBNP. The strategies for the sustainable resolution of human-wildlife conflicts around the KBNP must be geared towards and integrated into a community conservation approach.

What are the underlying causes and dynamics of land use conflicts in metropolitan junction areas?A case study of the central Chengdu–Chongqing region in China

Land use conflicts(LUCs),as a spatial manifestation of the conflicts in the human-land relationships,have a profound impact on regional sustainable development.For China’s metropolitan junction areas(MJAs),the existence of“administrative district economies”has made the issue of LUCs more prominent.Based on a case study of the central Chengdu–Chongqing region,we conducted an exploratory spatial data analysis of the evolutionary process of regional LUCs.Furthermore,structural equation modeling was utilized to analyze the dynamic mechanism of LUCs in MJAs,with a particular emphasis on exploring the influences of administrative boundary.The results showed that from 2010 to 2020,LUCs in the central Chengdu–Chongqing region continued to worsen,and the spatial process conflict and spatial structure conflict indices increased by more than 30.0%.The intensification of LUCs in the central Chengdu–Chongqing region from 2010 to 2020 was mainly the result of the deterioration of conflicts in evaluation units with low conflict levels.LUCs in China’s metropolitan areas generally presented a circular gradient distribution,weakening from the core to the periphery,but there were some strong isolated conflict zones in the outer regions.LUCs in China’s MJAs were the result of interactions among multiple factors,e.g.,natural environment,socio-economic development,policy and institutional processes,and administrative boundary effects.Administrative boundary affected the flow of socio-economic elements,changing the supply-and-demand competition of stakeholders for land resources,consequently exerting an indirect influence on LUCs.This study advances the theory of the dynamic mechanism of LUCs,and provides theoretical support for the governance of these conflicts in transboundary areas.

African Short Story Writers and Intrapersonal Conflicts: A Critical Perspective on a Selected Short Story

The article examines the concept of intrapersonal conflict,the ravaging wars within oneself,that which is truly deeper than indecisiveness,what is responsible for inner conflict,its origin,the consequences,and how to avoid it.It employs Dul Johnsons’“In the Jaws of Love”in his Why Women Won’t Make It to Heaven.The theory for the investigation is sociological theory which articulates the inevitable relationship between literature and society.The inquiry unearths that an individuals’attempt to satisfy the needs of one’s environment at the expense of sound reasoning,the individual’s inability to find a balance between the individual’s head and heart,and being religious are detrimental to one’s wellbeing.It creates intrapersonal conflict which is indeed destructive.The paper resolves that people should be able to tell themselves the truth,recognise and accept same,even if it comes from one with whom they disagree.It also explicates that people should not depend on religious and secular leader or people to take decisions for them,and that living in fear is devastating among other things.

Joint Management of Shared Resources, Issues and Conflicts of the Nso and Oku Tribes in the Ngongbaa Montane Forest Area, NWR of Cameroon

Wherever people live together in or near homelands that harbour joint natural resources such as forest, water, minerals, oil etc., they must collaborate, co-exist and share these resources irrespective of their genetic, social, cultural, and political peculiarities. This is not always the case when self-interest, ethnic divisions, elitist politics, economic interest and power tussle set in. The Nso and Oku people who reside in the Ngongbaa Forest area constitute an example of joint management of resources where at one period, their relationship over the management of the Oku Mountain Forest was cordial and at another, the relationship became conflictive. This study was designed to study the influence of the KIFP forest management policies on the Nso indigenous forest Management system in Ngongbaa Forest, and its implications. The data collected for the study was secured through the administration of a questionnaire to residents of 10 villages adjacent to the Ngongbaa Forest, and forest users who carried out livelihood activities there between 1963 and 2015. These forest user groups include beekeepers, rat trappers, grazers, mushroom gatherers, ground honey/tree honey harvesters, carvers, etc. The investigation also extended to the traditional leaders of Nso and Oku who are in charge of the land tenure systems. The findings show that the Oku Mountain Forest is jointly owned by the Nso and Oku people. The Nso own the eastern half of the forest known as Ngongbaa Forest while the Oku own the western half, known as the Kilum Forest. The cordial relationship that existed between these people ensured the conservation of the forest. But the conflicts that later set in, especially due to the creation of the Kilum Mountain Forest Project in 1987 later changed to the Kilum Ijim Forest Project (KIFP) in 1992 sidelined the local communities which was contrary to the dispositions of the new Cameroon forest law enacted in 1994. Thus, the indigenous conservation practices became ignored which the local population never digested well. This seriously jeopardized the wellbeing of the forest in general.

Living in a Condominium Regime:Neighborhood Conflicts in Low-Income Housing,Tijuana,Baja California-A Secondary Publication

This paper analyzes neighborhood conflicts arising from the condominium property regime,under which social housing promoted by Mexican government institutions and private developers is acquired.This regime has facilitated access to housing for the salaried population,but it is far from contributing to the attainment of the right to housing.The research takes as case studies housing complexes located in the city of Tijuana,Baja California,Mexico.The analysis included a mixed methodology.Firstly,similar case studies were analyzed;secondly,a review of the Condominium Property Regime Law was carried out in order to understand its implications.In view of the pandemic situation,a virtual survey was applied to the inhabitants of these areas,as well as interviews with presidents of neighborhood committees of these complexes.From the above,it was found that this form of ownership generates conflicts,reflected in the dissatisfaction of the inhabitants with their housing,disagreements and controversies in their organization and coexistence.The inhabitants have to collectively solve the problems they face,related to the maintenance and use of common areas,insecurity,and cleanliness,among others.In addition,there is a lack of support from local authorities.With this,it is concluded that although the inhabitants have a space that solves their housing problem,it does not manage to be a space that adequately guarantees their right to housing.

Conflicts and Countermeasures between Haba Snow Mountain Nature Reserve and Development of Peripheral Communities

Using research approaches such as questionnaire investigation, interview, and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PAR), the relationship between Haba Snow Mountain Nature Reserve and peripheral communities was studied. The results showed that there are lots of conflicts between Haba Snow Mountain Nature Reserve and peripheral communities. On the one hand, conservation of natural environment brings inconvenience to the development of peripheral communities, such as limiting the use of resources, constraining space of development, resulting in economic losses, reducing tourist income, and low compensation. On the other hand, peripheral communities' development threats conservation of the natural environment, for instance, illegal deforestation, illegal mining, over-harvesting, over-grazing and non-ecotourism. Therefore, effective suggestions were given as "scientific planning of functional areas, enhancing economic compensation, devoting more in ecotourism development, and realizing the cooperation of communities".

Loud Protest amidst Silence:Conflicts in Ron Milner's The Ray

This paper makes comments on conflicts in a micro-story of 527 words,The Ray,written by American writer Ron Milner.The story,from a unique perspective of narration,attracts and strikes the reader as a loud protest amidst silence,against human beings' self-destructive abuse of nuclear technology and craziness of arms races during the cold war.The paper,from the historical,cultural,and religious contexts,presents an analysis of the hero's death and of the message the reader can draw from the story.

Cultural Conflicts and Fusion in the Process of Christianity Disseminating in China

This paper focuses on cultural conflicts,mainly conflicts of God oriented and people oriented world view,different view towards human nature- virtue culture and guilt culture,the theology that all are equal before God and hierarchical order tradition,monotheism and polytheism,conflict between the doctrine and the concept of clan,briefly,that between Chinese traditional culture and Christian doctrine in the process of the religion disseminating in China.It also touches upon the beneficial attributes of Chinese culture for the fusion of the two culture patterns.

Studies on the Avoidance of Cultural Conflicts from the Aspect of Relationship between Non-verbal Communication and Culture

Nowadays,communication with foreign people isbecoming closer.While,misunderstandings occur frequently inthis process.The main purpose of this essay is to offer some pro-posals on the problem of misunderstandings and conflicts in inter-cultural communication from the aspect of relationship betweenculture and non-verbal communication.

The Conflicts between Ideals and Reality in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain is a very great American writer.And The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is his masterpiece. This paper makes a simple analysis of the conflicts between ideals and reality in Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The conflicts are embodied in two aspects:racial relationship,belief.

Analysis of opposing left-turn conflicts based on traffic conflict technology

The relationship between the opposing left-turn conflict and the traffic participants was analyzed in this study. Based on the traffic conflict technology, the image data were collected in a real traffic situation. The relationship was investigated under two different conditions. The number of opposing left-turn conflicts was positively correlated with the number of left-turn vehicles while the ratio of left-turn vehicles to opposing vehicles was less than 1, and showed a positive correlation with the number of opposing-through vehicles when the ratio of left-turn vehicles to opposing vehi- cles was more than 1. In other words, the opposing left-turn risk was positively correlated with the number of the minor traffic participants, which had a negative effect on the whole traffic system op- eration.

Conflicts of interest in nutritional sciences: The forgotten bias in meta-analysis

Awareness of conflicts of interest(COI) in medicine began in the 1980 s. More recently, the problem has gained notoriety in nutritional sciences. COI with industry could bias study conclusions in the context of research activities and scientific publications on nutritional sciences. The issue of COI in nutritional sciences deserves more attention and requires careful analyses as biased information can negatively impact the development of dietary guidelines and, ultimately, population health. Decision-making is generally based on available, published evidence, but when the results are ambivalent, it is easier to opt for the status quo and ask for more studies. Readers might wonder if research is subsidized by industry as a counterbalancing strategy based on levels of evidence-only to slow down eminent positions and/or legislation on the food sector? How can this problem be overcome without producing paranoia and Mc Carthyism while trying to be as methodological as possible?

Mitigating People-Park Conflicts on Resource Use through Ecotourism:A Case of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve,Indian Himalaya

Eeotourism aims to deliver the philosophy of sustainable development through environmental conservation as well as socio-economic development. Areas with rich biodiversity and scenic beauty, like the Indian Himalayan region, have been one of the major destination centers for nature lovers from historical time. In view of conserving the rich biodiversity and natural heritage of the Himalayan region 92 protected areas have been set aside, of these Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve （NDBR） is a well known world heritage site. Over a period of time establishing NDBR has invited conficts between the local people and reserve authorities on the management approaches and utilization criteria of the natural resources, especially banning the traditional bio-resource collection rights of local community, expeditions, trekking, and other anthropogenic activities in the core zones. The present study aims to understand and analyze the various people - park conflicts, and also to suggest ways to mitigate such conflicts in view of biodiversity conservation and improvement of economic status of local people by promoting eeotourism. With this view the study further discusses the various aspects of eeotourism, its pros and cons, and the avenues of developing appropriate strategies for promotion of ecotourism in buffer zone areas of NDBR.

The Underlying Motivations and Long-Term Trends of the US Decoupling of China-US Science and Technology Relations

Since 2018,the US government has adopted a range of restrictive measures on China-US science and technology exchange,as it strives for a decoupling strategy against China.This strategy has brought about historic change in China-US science and technology relations.The US government has set out to obstruct the free flow of technology,data,capital,markets,and talents between China and the United States,thereby changing the basic rationale of China-US science and technology cooperation.The US has multiple underlying motivations for implementing this strategy including recognizing the security threats posed by China’s cutting-edge technology development,treating China as a competitor in global science and technology diplomacy,prompting the backflow of the technological industrial chain,and the strengthened industrial competition between the two countries.Decoupling is one of the competition strategies of the United States.It is aimed at ensuring a favorable position for their national innovation systems,particularly in China-US competition.However,the limitations of the decoupling strategy may not allow the US to achieve what it desires.These limitations also provide space for the two countries to ease their competitive relationship.

Influence of driver’s yielding behavior on pedestrian-vehicle conflicts at a two-lane roundabout using fuzzy cellular automata

The roundabouts are widely used in China,some of which have central islands as scenic spots.The crosswalks connecting to the central islands,normally full of pedestrians,have negative impact on roundabout capability and pedestrian safety.Therefore,this study proposes a fuzzy cellular automata(FCA)model to explore the safety and efficiency impacts of pedestrian-vehicle conflicts at a two-lane roundabout.To reason the decision-making process of individual drivers before crosswalks,membership functions in the fuzzy inference system were calibrated with field data conducted in Changsha,China.Using specific indicators of efficiency and safety performance,it was shown that circulating vehicles can move smoothly in low traffic flow,but the roundabout system is prone to the traffic congestion if traffic flow reaches to a certain level.Also,the high yielding rate of drivers has a negative impact on the traffic efficiency but can improve pedestrian safety.Furthermore,a pedestrian restriction measure was deduced for the roundabout crosswalk from the FCA model and national guideline of setting traffic lights.

Conflicts in Anna Karenina

Anna Karenina is a huge classic tragedy which is created by Tolstoy. This paper mainly talks about the conflict in the classic fictional story of Anna Karenina, which involves the conflicts between religious ethics, capitalistic new ideas, bravery and limitation, love for son and love for a lover, plus the variances between rural custom culture and urban culture.

Human-Carnivore Conflicts in Private Conservancy Lands of Elerai and Oltiyiani in Amboseli Area, Kenya

Human-carnivore conflicts represent the most common negative form of interactions between humans and wildlife. Most carnivores involved in such conflicts are: lion, hyena, leopard and cheetah. Three strategies are normally used in Kenya to mitigate such conflicts;consolation for lost livestock and human life to increase tolerance to them, use of predator proof homesteads especially among pastoralists, use flicking lights at night to discourage approach of carnivores near homesteads, and awareness creation among communities on the ecological role of carnivores. This study examined human-carnivore interactions in privately owned conservancies near Amboseli National Park, Kenya. The conservancies were found to have almost similar human and livestock demography. However, homesteads in Elerai had more fence broken parts and relatively higher levels of livestock predation by lion and hyena. The higher the number of each livestock type was, the higher the specific predation to that livestock type was, implying density dependent effects of predation by carnivores on livestock. It seemed that the fence structure and level of maintenance (including carnivore strategies on specializing on specific livestock size and age consistent with optimizing their foraging strategies) influenced predation incidences. However, the presence of adult males and Maasai warriors (morans) in bomas did not seem to be related with the number of livestock killed by carnivores, implying that they didn’t add vigilance as an additional strategy to prevent livestock depredation. It is recommended that attention be paid on maintenance of homestead and livestock fences as well as vigilance to deter predation. We further recommend strategies to prevent livestock predation such as, installation of chain link predator proof fences or carnivore lighting deterrents at night because woody plants fences are ineffective and deteriorate easily with time, and also lead to depletion of plant resources critical to households.