ERCIM News No. 144 Special theme: "Advancing Open Science"

 

Dear ERCIM News reader,

ERCIM News 144 is now online [in PDF also]! This issue is dedicated to Advancing Open Science. Open Science is becoming an essential part of the European research landscape, shaping how knowledge, data, software, infrastructures and results are shared, reused and sustained.

The contributions collected in this special theme offer a cross-section insight into the current European effort to make research more open, transparent, collaborative and reusable.

This special theme was coordinated by our guest editors Leonardo Candela (CNR-ISTI) and Roberto Di Cosmo (Inria and University Paris Cité).

Includes: [PJ]

Rethinking Researcher Profiles in the Research Assessment Transition Era: The OpenAIRE Approach. pp.9-10.

P. Manghi, et al., “OpenAIRE Graph Dataset (10.6.0) [Data set]”, OpenAIRE.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17725827

BibTexViz: Visualizing Research Productivity with Open Science Data. pp.10-12.

D. Hicks, et al., “The Leiden Manifesto for research metrics”, Nature 520, 429-431, 2015.
https://doi.org/10.1038/520429a
T. Munzner, “Visualization Analysis and Design”, CRC Press, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1201/b17511
M. Zaumanis, “Research Data Visualization and Scientific Graphics: For Papers, Presentations and Proposals”, Peer Recognized, 2021.

MOEBA-BIO: An Open and Extensible Framework for Evolutionary Biclustering in Biomedicine. pp.17-19.

Co-Creation as Infrastructure for Open Science Data Spaces. pp.24-25.

A Osterheider, et al., “Conceptualization of the Understanding of Participation and Co-Creation in Interdisciplinary Research Groups developing Digital Health Technology: An Exploratory Study: Conceptualization of the Understanding of Participation and Co-Creation”, Mensch und Computer 2023, 534–538, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1145/3603555.3608572

LICORICE: Deploying Privacy-Enhancing Technologies for Europe’s Digital Sovereignty. pp.30-31.

D4Science: An Enabling Infrastructure for Open Science. pp.38-39.

D. Schaap, M. Assante, et al., “Blue-Cloud: Exploring and demonstrating the potential of Open Science for ocean sustainability,” in Proc. 6th Int. Workshop on Metrology for the Sea; Learning to Measure Sea Health Parameters (MetroSea), IEEE, 2022, pp. 198–202, doi:10.1109/MetroSea55331.2022.9950819.

Next Issue - No. 145

Special Theme: E-values: Statistical Testing for the 21st Century

Call for Contributions

Thanks for reading ERCIM News. If you’ve enjoyed this issue, please feel free to forward it to colleagues who may find it interesting and help us reach even more readers by sharing it on LinkedIn.

If you’re considering an even deeper partnership, advertising in ERCIM News not only helps sustain our publication but also puts your message in front of an expert, highly qualified audience.

[ Posted from Marrakech 17th-27th April ] 

Come on Healthcare: catch up will you!

Within philosophy it is recognised that Immanuel Kant provided a means by which the rationalists and empricists can be reconciled. Some background:

In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge"[1] or "the position that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge",[2] often in contrast to other possible sources of knowledge such as faith, tradition, or sensory experience. More formally, rationalism is defined as a methodology or a theory "in which the criterion of truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive".[3]  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationalism

In philosophy, empiricism is an epistemological view which holds that true knowledge or justification comes only or primarily from sensory experience and empirical evidence.[1] It is one of several competing views within epistemology, along with rationalism and skepticism. Empiricists argue that empiricism is a more reliable method of finding the truth than purely using logical reasoning, because humans have cognitive biases and limitations which lead to errors of judgement.[2] Empiricism emphasizes the central role of empirical evidence in the formation of ideas, rather than innate ideas or traditions.[3] Empiricists may argue that traditions (or customs) arise due to relations of previous sensory experiences.[4]

Historically, empiricism was associated with the "blank slate" concept (tabula rasa), according to which the human mind is "blank" at birth and develops its thoughts only through later experience.[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism

If health and social care, must be evidence-based, then as far as Hodges' model is concerned we are then duty-bound to use the most readily available 'evidence' to us, including (while taking liberties?):

• The structure of national health and social care organisations (NHS, DHSS ...)
• Physical infrastructure
• Human Resources Organisation
• Unions and Labour relations
• Texbooks, journal papers, conferences
• Organisational structures from the regional to the local
• Professional bodies and governance of licensing/registration
• Curricula that students follow^
  
• Models, frameworks, teaching and learning tools and methods
• Data, statistics, information and reporting (national, international)
• Research projects ongoing (whatever scale, methods, methodology)
• Accounts from lived experience of patients, carers and public (^and students)
• Policy
• Funding
• Law relating to Health and Social Care
• Public (Mental) Health? Discuss
• Media (Social) Control, Advertising
• . . .
  

Hodges' model: Structure and Content

Using this evidence, we still see the Cartesian divide, the mind-body distinction writ large in health and social care. The continuing impact is evident in theory, practice, (hence) lived experience, policy and managment. Since its creation in the 1980s, Hodges' model mirrors (literally) this philosophical, epistemological and ontological legacy, thereby acknowledging the ancient history of medicine, and 'modern' development of healthcare and nursing. Through this device, Hodges' model can facilitate debate, critique, reflection, and critical thinking; to encourage progress in our thought, motivations, action and subsequent evaluation.

This explains the structure of Hodges' model and predicts the range (contextual signature) of content when the model is applied.

Evidence permitting of course!

See also: BBC The Great Philosophers:

Series 1: 4. Descartes

Series 1: 5. Spinoza and Leibniz

Series 1: 8. Kant

n.b. I video taped this marvellous series when first screened. When studying for my BA(Hons), audio taped, they also provided a great learning resource in the car. The programmes are on BBC 4 (UK) once again, but are readily accessible.

ERCIM News No. 142 Special theme: "Inclusive Digital Futures: Intersectionality, Accessibility, and Responsible Innovation"

Dear ERCIM News reader,

The October 2025 issue of ERCIM News (Number 142) is now online! The special theme of this issue looks at how Computer Science can help build more inclusive and diverse communities. This includes both the digital world and its own research and work environments. The issue features contributions from diverse fields of research and innovation, as well as reports on applied initiatives and policies that promote inclusion and diversity.

This special theme was coordinated by our guest editors Magdalini Chatzaki (FORTH-ICS) and Anna Szlávi (Johannes Kepler University)

Next Issue

No. 143 – January 2025
Special Theme: AI for Science

Call for Contributions

Announcements in this issue

• Dagstuhl Seminars & Workshops – Call for Proposals
• ERCIM Forum “Beyond Compliance” – 4th Edition | 29–31 October 2025 | Registration still open
• 33rd IEEE International Conference on Software Analysis, Evolution, and Reengineering (SANER 2026) | Tracks Call for Papers
• Welcome to the 45th SAFECOMP 2026 | Call for Papers
• 21st International Workshop on Dependable Smart Embedded Cyber-Physical Systems and Systems-of-Systems (DECSoS 2026) | Pre-Announcement
• ERCIM “Alain Bensoussan” Fellowship | Next application deadline: 30 April 2026

    This issue includes:

Introduction to the Special Theme 

• p.8 Inclusive Digital Futures: Intersectionality, Accessibility, and Responsible Innovation

Inclusive Digital Futures – Intersections of Technology, Security, Discrimination, and Bias

• p.10 Securing Open Source for a Trusted and Inclusive Digital Future
• p.11 The Role of AI-Based Age Estimation in Promoting Safer Digital Environments for Children: Ethical and Accessibility Considerations 
• p.13 SafeLine.gr - The First Official Trusted Flagger Organisation under the Digital Services Act (DSA) in Greece

Education & Training, Interventions, Policies, Protocols, and Tools 

• p.27 When Used Outdoors, Augmented Reality Amplifies Situational Disabilities 

Research and Innovation

• p.40 Forecasting Air Pollution at Construction Sites: A New Framework for Environmental and Social Sustainability

Thank for reading ERCIM News. If you’ve enjoyed this issue, please feel free to forward it to colleagues who may find it interesting and help us reach even more by sharing it on LinkedIn.

If you’re considering an even deeper partnership, advertising in ERCIM News not only helps sustain our publication but also puts your message in front of an expert, highly qualified audience.

My source with thanks: 
Peter Kunz
ERCIM
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Chatbot therapists c/o The Sunday Times

It wasn't that long along ago, I tweeted about the prospect of our clinical information systems 'listening' and autotranscribing one-to-one clinical contacts and even formal psychotherapy sessions. How time flies!

Individual

|

      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC  --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 

|

Group

AI therapy chatbots 'Conventional'  Counselling / Psychotherapies Mental health - illness Issue of: 'Titles' I can call myself ... therapist, nurse ...	(New) Evidence-based Workflow: intake, assesses needs, booking into care, offers CBT based on guidelines. Uses a person's details, asks questions to identify the likely problem ... clinical
Empathy: Human - Machine Public safety DEMAND <-> supply Access to Therapy: Untreated? Other AI solutions - Slingshot AI	validation Regulatory approval Limbic AI unvalidated 'solutions' risk of a huge industry setback

My source: Danny Fortson, Chatbot therapists are here. But who's keeping them in line? The Sunday Times, August 17, 2025, p.4.

The online article is behind a paywall, but there is a related podcast (with advertising):

https://shows.acast.com/dannyinthevalley/episodes/the-man-behind-the-nhs-mental-health-bot

See also: 'AI' : 'ethics' : 'expert system, language'

Book: v 'Health and Health Care Inequities'

This final post for HHCI takes in -

Chapter 7: Searching for Socialism
Chapter 8: Mobilizing for Health Equity.

These themes are preceded at the close of chapter 6 with Arnel sharing some personal background, as an immigrant to Canada from a racialized background, who has worked in the health care industry (p.96). COVID also features again, its effects still resonate socio-politically.

It is an unfortunate conjunction - relationship as far as socialism, social justice, the green movement and social cohesion are concerned but Borras provides an invaluable service in linking the Capital-State alliance, which I have capitalised. It seems to be appropriate?

There is 'something' here (I think) in the 'identity' of governments, administrations - I will work through elsewhere.

Having added a note in post iv on expropriation, I see that 'precarity' is also included (p.98).

Chapter 7 gets to grips with 'Welfare Systems in Capitalism'. As before the details are Canadian, but with global reference to other welfare systems - liberal, conservative, and social democratic. If Marxism - Socialism was once feared for its seismic potential, I wondered if chapter 7 points to socialism being in a dormant state? Borras explains welfare state evolution and influences and employs metrics of trade union density, low-wage rates, poverty rates, and infant-mortality rates. On low-wages reference to the US as a capitalist powerhouse that does not provide a favourable environment for most workers, added to my thoughts about nursing globally and the US specifically: despite my parochial vantage point. Five tables aid international comparisons, with inconsistencies in data also highlighted. I couldn't help but feel the need to consider the impact of the wider-determinants of health. Now  undoubtedly, an emerging field. The discussion on infant mortality prompts thoughts of my daughter a mum-to-be amid health news in the UK. Plus, Labour's previous and renewed efforts in Sure Start; and the need stressed through Hodges' model to focus on ALL the literacies, including health.  

It sounds a contradiction but HHCI frequently had me thinking 'BIG picture' and detail. Reading 'US Empire' (p.110) made me wonder what descriptor might have been applied if written in June 2025? Social democracies are called to account. As a community nurse I am ready to support someone in making a change. But they must want and be the agent of that change. I can't support the individual in their drinking to excess - in the case of alcohol misuse/dependency. Social democracies and capitalism can operate as a conspiratorial dyad, limiting social and welfare progression. The lessons here are invaluable (pp.110-113). 

More could be made of the specific political impacts of technology. But clearly that would be another book. For example, no excuse, but BIG-TECH were clearly determined to start[-up] as they intended to go. They had a 'cleanroom' - clean-slate as far as unionisation was concerned. Governments permitted the same - paving the way, enabling and across continents. Ironic, the touchy-feely "We Care" with 'amazing offices', work cafés, dog areas, cycle paths, gardens, breakout spaces, and views. "Now, it is almost a religion: 'Give me a company until it is seven ...'. 

As socialism tries to overcome the past, and its associations; a political movement is needed. Somehow 'new socialism' sounds dated. There a call for openness in new ideas and ways to realise socialism. Over the past two decades work has changed, zero-hour contracts, part-time contracts, the rise of employment agencies and self-employed workers. It appears 'complex adaptive systems' can explain and help solve many problems, extending to human organisation and government. Yes. 'It is crucial to understand people's situations and value their experiences.' But how? And, how to 'encourage open conversations and learn from each other.' (p.114)? Neither 'citizen', or 'assemblies' are in the index, as with gambling and advertising. I may have missed one, or more in the text. You have a sense of a need for international organisation. Especially, with AI - artificial intelligence also in the wings.

The results of Erik Olin Wright's analysis of anti-capitalist movements does not sound convincing to me (pp.114-116), but then I'm a nurse. Perhaps economics itself needs to be looked at (again)? Is it an ongoing project - radical economics - that is? How does a new socio-political order 'account' for the existing distribution wealth? The paths toward health equity 1-6, make more sense. The political realism demonstrated, gives me reason to continue here. 

A brief section on electoral politics, brought me to short-termism. I have reached out to SIMPOL about this book and will share with the author.

[ Update 20/08/25: I've put the author Arnel in touch John Bunzl at SIMPOL. Short-termism remains an acute problems in our politics and policy. I've always worked clinically, so despite union and professional body membership, policy is something that has been done to my colleagues and I. There did seem some coherence with the National Service Frameworks. That may be illusory as they focussed on long-term conditions, but there was more:

Boardman J, Parsonage M. Government policy and the National Service Framework for Mental Health: modelling and costing services in England. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment. 2009;15(3):230-240. doi:10.1192/apt.bp.106.003095

They also had the attention of 'service user / carer specific organisations' -
https://mstrust.org.uk/a-z/national-service-frameworks-nsf

Last week, outside a large bookshop in Hay-on-Wye there were cabinets with books for sale at £1. With £5 worth under my arm, I was ready to go in to pay, and spotted 'Walk Don't Run' an absolute gem which I will post about soon. It links to the first post about Arnel's text and evidence. ].

Chapter 8: Mobilizing for Health Equity. Social justice: It seems the more it is spoken of (shouted even); the further it is to being delivered. We used to talk about minority and disenfranchised groups needing a 'voice'. Now social media amplifies the voice, that gets lost in the cacophony and chaos of information disorder. The 'essence of socialism' needs to quickly get to grips with capitalism as the need for 'labour' changes - is changing. We must listen to literature too: 'Some animals are more equal than others'. Class awareness and the role of unions is discussed. Education is critical. Perhaps we need more Philosophy in Pubs? People learn more effectively when they discover things, and arrive at conclusions for themselves. Use of guided discovery and Socratic dialogue have proved their worth repeatedly. This is why formative education is so important. Young people should be able to reflect and think critically. Within the education system the development of character and values too. That way: 'Workers must become political activists.' (p.126).

As a former health care worker there's a page (+) on engaging nurses in the fight for health equity. It is good to see I am probably right to assume the majority of nurses not 'politically active'. Hopefully, nurses and other formal carers reflect the local community and demographics. Although COVID revealed blatent structural realities. 

Individual

|

      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC  --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 

|

Group

LIFE CHANCES MY POTENTIAL MENTAL HEALTH	PHYSICAL RESOURCES PHYSICAL HEALTH
SOCIETY SOCIAL RESOURCES COMMUNITY	HEALTH ACTIVISM ADVOCACY POLICY CHANGE

On page 108 is '2SLGBTQIA+' below is a video that helps:

There are 'minimum demands' - Canada-centric of course. A look beyond policy change limitations and a short review of the need to establish a genuine socialist political party. This begs the question of how 'genuine' would be recognised. There may be a case study emerging in UK politics over the next four years? The bones are here in HHCI- no doubt about that.  More is needed, so it's encouraging there is no 'manifesto' in the index either.

Many thanks to Fernwood Publishing for my pb copy.

Arnel M. Borras. (2025) Health and Health Care Inequities - A Critical Political Economy Perspective. Fernwood Publishing.

See also - reference to Hodges' model:

Iris Lohja, Yves Demazeau, Christine Verdier. A multi-agent system approach to dynamic ridesharing for older people: State-of-the-art work and preliminary design. 18èmes Rencontres des Jeunes Chercheurs en Intelligence Artificielle, RJCIA’20, Jun 2020, Angers, France. pp.52-59. ⟨hal-02897446⟩

Book: iii 'Health and Health Care Inequities'

This book, or similar should be read by 3rd year student nurses and other healthcare learners. I wondered if, for students, a brief glossary might be useful. But key terms are explained and clearly, with typologies numbered and expanded when needed. There seems an aversion in nursing academia to avoid the acutely 'political'. Even though of course in psychiatry, the need for considersation of human rights, consent, capacity, law, personal and public safety, risk is inevitable. Should we only learn of the politics of our role on a post-registration/license course of learning? As mentioned in post i, Borras duly notes the asymmetric impact COVID. The disproportinate deaths of frontline healthcare workers from ethnic minority groups (UK). A sign of the impact, is reflected in COVID recurring through the text.

The device of using axes, e.g. Class-Gender-Health (p.11) rightly draws in commentary on nutrition, pay gaps - heterosexual white men, terms of employment, and design and occupational health for woman. Gender politics is also reflected in the text. The relational dimensions of this discussion also stands out. The Class-Race-Health axis (had me return to the question of parity, but beyond the mental - physical divide. 

These axes employed by Borras seemingly traverse a path and are extensible (across pages). Briefly, in Hodges' model the domains and axes act as stepping stones: 

We can ‘walk’ the model:

Humanistic INTERPERSONAL Individual SCIENCES Mechanistic: adding - Humanistic SOCIOLOGY Group POLITICAL Mechanistic 

A global perspective is matained, even though the focus is Canadian health, government, policy and policy. The press have often highlighted the global nature of the housing crisis. Canada is not immune; as discussed in chapter 2. For what is in many nations a 'housing disaster', Borras covers the history too. Reflecting on: 

'Around the world, neoliberal programs have resulted in over a billion people living in slums (Davis 2017, 23). In wealthier countries, there was rampant privatization of social housing units.' p.25. 

- you feel like a nodding dog toy. Where is the leadership, the strategy and integrity to provide housing for all? Arnel also stresses the link between mental health status and housing. The SDGs place emphasis on security (yes, at the level of what is happening in Ukraine, Gaza, South Sudan...), then housing follows. And with climate refugees to follow ...! I have seen gentrification, and listened to an account in 2007 as Manchester started to experience high-rise growth. I used to try to walk to community visits with students when possible. Observational skills come in many forms, safety still depends upon them. With no place to call home, safety and security is a stark issue for people. A foundation for health, wellbeing and ironically productivity. The rise of foodbanks is also damning. 

Gambling is not indexed, but there appears a denial in the UK government, with other nations 'folding' to the influence of lobbying and corporate influence reducing or removing restrictions in gambling and crucially: advertising. What's the denial you say? Yes, well governments seem to be in denial that there are vulnerable groups in their respective populations. It is laudable that they bestow upon the citizenry the freedom of choice, but that can spell trouble.

If Canada - Ontario has its housing scandal:

'Housing insecurity and homelessness occur because the state and its goencies support real estate and banking corporations that continuously increase housing prices. This setup is a huge problem because these enti- ties focus on generating profit and capital accumulation. The Greenbelt Scandal in Ontario revealed how the government made decisions that served the interests of big companies instead of the public (McGrath 2023; Office of the Auditor General of Ontario 2023). This scandal is an example of neoliberalism and a corrupt style of governance (Moscrop 2023). We need to stop using neoliberal strategies and focus on socialized housing.' p.27.

So does the UK: Grenfell Tower Inquiry No doubt, other nations have their tragic examples. It seems 'international Standards', quality, integrity can never be taken for quality. They too are precarious, vulnerable. Borras's work in chapter 2 on housing security, and differenciation of core housing need is laudable, informative and welcome. Re-reading Arnel's point: 'There is no doubt that housing insecurity affects health'. p.28. His book as a whole makes the point that of course more evidence will always be needed. In healthcare for decades the basics of public health have been identified, studied, established, placed in models and frameworks. Yet we find we are found wanting (UK - Awaab's Law) dragged back to the first steps; and despite the urgent issues we now face.

"Universal health care" is not exactly new:

The Canadian Association of Social Workers. (1961). The Social Worker, Volume 29, Numbers 1 to 2. 29(1to2), 1to78. The Canadian Association of Social Workers. The Social Worker - Le travailleur social. Canadian Association of Social Workers. https://jstor.org/stable/community.39672572.

Borras is correct to write of 'The Continuing Private War against Universal Health Care' (p.36). Looking at NGRAM it appears the private sector has been winning in recent decades. Working previously as a community mental health nurse for older adults, chapter 3 explores Canada's health care systems. Table 3.1 compares the ownership of long-term care homes in figures. The discussion deals with the quality of care and variation. Policy intentions, plans, research and what follows in practice is also debated. Is there any comfort  in learning that Canada is not alone in being skilled at kicking-can-down-the-road. To be fair many developed nations face the same demographic cliff (whichever way you it!), just one of the urgent issues noted above. The contribution of informal carers is also highlighted.

Here in the UK the commissioner - provider split and models of care at the finance level are a maze: amazing in their bureaucracy. Borras does a marvellous job, in providing enough detail without weighing the narrative flow, and losing the reader. The close of chapter 3 offers hope that Hodges' model will continue to be found:

'Therefore, shifting away from neoliberalism toward a new societal system where health care is seen as a fundamental human need and a universal right, not a profit-driven commodity, is crucial. This alternative system requires a new societal framework built on solidarity, fairness, and humanity, prioritizing health over financial and personal gain.' p.50.

See also: Post i : Post ii : Post iv : Post v (to follow)

Arnel M. Borras. (2025) Health and Health Care Inequities - A Critical Political Economy Perspective. Fernwood Publishing.

In addition:

Messing, K., & de Grosbois, S. (2001). Women Workers Confront One-Eyed Science: Building Alliances to Improve Women’s Occupational Health. Women & Health, 33(1–2), 125–141. https://doi.org/10.1300/J013v33n01_08  (Borras - pp.11-12).

https://nhsrho.org/news/tender-maternal-and-neonatal-image-library/

Previously: "Invisible Women" on International Women's Day

The 'animal' in Hodges' model ii

The two pairs of eyes in Hodges' model are provided through the model's two axes

HORIZONTALLY: the humanistic and mechanistic.

VERTICALLY: the individual and the group.

Hodges' model: Axes & Domains
Structure AND Content :: Fight OR Flight

Before delving into this though, let's revisit the model as a template.

Structure aside, Hodges' model acts as a conceptual blank sheet. Overall, the model is also an aide-mémoire. It can prompt us to 'where' we've been, where we need to go in our data gathering, assessment, planning, interventions, evaluations: personal history, family, work and leisure. In an interview how does the patient, client, carer, student ... negotiate the domains of Hodges' model? The model can guide us in what is said, what is omitted - for whatever reason, what is significant within all this; AI-assisted or not.

These two 'horizontal' eyes prompt us to attend to safety, your own, the patient / client and other people in the vicinity. In terms of responding to 'fight', obviously this does not mean you are looking for a fight, but of course you have to be able to defend yourself. Metaphorically, Hodges' model can represent the sword and shield. We are in a fight for justice to secure health services for individuals, families, and the population.

On the side - vision for flight, what is humanistic and mechanistic.

Then, in the vertical axis, there is vision for fighting, for the individual, and the group - population.

In this interplay of person and collective, I'm reminded of Odysseus and the shout "Nobody did it!" (with other sources). It never ceases to amaze, the frequency of this conclusion throughout local, national and global politics?

The individual nightmare of Cyclops; and collective nightmare of the Panopticon.

In mental health nursing you quickly learn about the anatomy^, physiology and psychology of anxiety. Not necessarily simultaneously, but the jig-saw is there to be completed, at least as far as you can as a 1st year student - whatever your health discipline. The pieces that matter (literal keys to action) are provided by the patient, client, carer. ...

In a way it is too late when people are referred to mental health services. Too late for prevention, but given the incoherence between:

• health systems (as usually found & founded)
• government policy -
• state of nutrition - food
• advertising of foods, beverages
• life style choices
• education - health literacy
• individual
• family
• community
• national (curricula)
• NHS? National Health Illness/Disease Service

- this isn't a surprise.

Whatever an individual's sensory capacities and abilities we need to do better. With tools to facilitate situational awareness, and realise an individual's and community's potential to learn and prosper.

^Anatomy? How many of us take for granted our limbs are 'there': ready to react?

Previously: The 'animal' in Hodges' model i

Original source - prompt:
Doniger, Wendy. The Rise and Fall of Warhorses. The New York Review of Books. April 10, 2025. Volume LXXII, Number 6. pp.17-19.

Call for Papers “THE CULTURAL EXPLOSION OF AI: ...

Navigating the Intersection of Artificial Intelligence, Society, and Culture”

Artificial intelligence has burst into the cultural space with the speed of an explosion. As with any powerful explosion, its initial impact is a spectacular blinding flash, followed by a shock wave with real effects. Perhaps we are still at the very beginning, but often the intensity of the blinding flash is proportional to the real effect that follows, both in terms of sweeping away existing forms and as long-term cultural “radiation”.

According to Lotman, a cultural explosion is a period of transformation when rapid and large-scale changes occur in cultural systems, leading to a significant increase in the creation of new information. It is estimated that artificial intelligence produces as much cultural text in one year as humanity has produced throughout its millennia-long history until the advent of the digital age. More interestingly, this new textual production is entering its most productive phase with the invention of Transformer architecture, which is almost a literal algorithmic realization of Lotman's concept of translation — the main mechanism of semiotic metabolism in the Semiosphere.

Training Large Language Models (LLMs), which is the foundation of AI, suspiciously resembles the way Umberto Eco models culture in the structure of a rhizome, which computer scientists call a "neural network." His encyclopedic model is based precisely on what LLMs extract from huge arrays of existing text—the statistic constancy of sign usage. In a polemic with textual immanentists, Eco postulates as part of the reader's encyclopedic competence the ability to inferentially reproduce the possible contexts of sign usage that make up the text. For many, the “magic” of artificial intelligence in its current form lies in its understanding of our questions to it, achieved with the Attention Mechanism, which, as a principle of cooperation between author and reader, is quite literally described in "The Role of the Reader" (1994).

The hardest to find were a fruitful correspondences between generative semiotics and generative media like Chat GPT, as paradoxical as that may sound, but surely there are such correspondences, and they are likely to be discovered in the future. In any case, as a theory of meaning generation on the one hand and an endless machine for creating meaningful texts on the other, the cultural explosion of AI will not leave this breed of semioticians unemployed.

We welcome contributions on the following key topics, but not limited to them:

- Semiotic models of AI generated cultural content
- Semiotic analysis of AI texts generation
- Semiotic theory of generative media
- Socio-cultural consequences of AI's advent
- Transdisciplinary collaboration between semiotics and informatics
- AI in creative practices in the arts
- AI in creative practices in marketing and advertising
- AI in research and education
- Cultural-economic implications of AI
- AI in pop culture
- AI in videogames and XR

Send here your proposal for papers (200-300 words): DigitASC AT nbu.bg

Deadline for the abstracts : 31 January 2025;

Deadline for full papers: 15 June 2025;

Deadline for the final revised papers: 31 August 2025;

Publication: December 2025

Digital Age in Semiotics & Communication, a journal from the Southeast European Center for Semiotic Studies at the New Bulgarian University and founded by Prof. Kristian Bankov, explores the new forms of knowledge, social and linguistic interaction, and cultural phenomena generated by the advent of the Internet and information technologies.

A topic is chosen for each issue by the editorial board, but the topics will be always related to the issues of the digital environment. The working language of the journal is English. It uses double-blind review, meaning that both the reviewer’s and the author’s identities are concealed from each other throughout the review process.

Link to the archive of the first six issues: https://ojs.nbu.bg/index.php/DASC/issue/archive

For more information and submission of papers: DigitASC AT nbu.bg

My source:
--

Departamento de Filosofia, Comunicação e Informação
Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra
3004-530 Coimbra, Portugal

E-mail: iestudosfilosoficos AT gmail.com
Sítio Web: http://www.uc.pt/fluc/ief
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@uidief
Academia: https://coimbra.academia.edu/ief

NOT 'Nanny State': Protection & assurance of the quality of nutrition

The Government needs a plan to fix our broken food system and turn the tide on the public health emergency

24 October 2024

The House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee demands that the Government should develop a comprehensive, integrated long-term new strategy to fix our food system, underpinned by a new legislative framework. This is the key conclusion of the Committee’s report, ‘Recipe for health: a plan to fix our broken food system’.

Chair's comments

Baroness Walmsley, Chair of the Food, Diet and Obesity Committee, said:

“Food should be a pleasure and contribute to our health and wellbeing, but it is making too many people ill. Something must be going wrong if almost two in five children are leaving primary school with overweight or obesity and so many people are finding it hard to feed healthy food to their families. That is why we took a root and branch look at the food system and analysed what had gone wrong over the past few decades.

“Over the last 30 years successive governments have failed to reduce obesity rates, despite hundreds of policy initiatives. This failure is largely due to policies that focused on personal choice and responsibility out of misguided fears of the ‘nanny state’. Both the Government and the food industry must take responsibility for what has gone wrong and take urgent steps to put it right.

“We hope, given the recent comments from the Prime Minister, Lord Darzi and the Secretary of State for Health, that there is now an appetite to shift towards prevention of ill health. We urge the Government to look favourably on our plan to fix our broken food system and accept that not only is it cost-effective, but that it would lead to a lot less human misery.”

[My emphasis] 

About time! Real action please.

DO NOT DILUTE TO TASTE!

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

Personal responsibility Educational determinants Health literacy My choices Role model Internal - Extrinsic motivation The life chances I am afforded impact my 'health career'.	Environmental/Physical determinants  Ultra Processed Foods Smoking Food & Nutrition Impacts of Obesity Child development Nutritional value of foods
Social determinants public (mental) health information Family economics Social values Sustainable Living	Political determinants 'Nanny State' (political rhetoric) Lobbying - (Food) Industry Business ethics Food poverty Advertising regulation Cost to Government, NHS, Society Security

Spiritual determinants: Values of society, governments, citizens, business . . .

Previously:

Jones P, Wirnitzer K. Hodges’ model: the Sustainable Development Goals and public health – universal health coverage demands a universal framework. BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health 2022;5: https://nutrition.bmj.com/content/5/2/358

'nutrition' on W2tQ

https://x.com/search?q=%40h2cm%20%27nanny%20state%27&src=typed_query&f=live

Gambling?

Book: [iii] 'The Systems View of Life - A Unifying Vision'

The Systems View of Life -
A Unifying Vision

Part 2 addresses the title - the rise of systems thinking.

The part - whole distinction is not only the root of the reductionism - holism and analysis - synthesis debates, but you feel clever knowing what mereology means ;-). This book is jargon free, even while being detailed and technical when necessary. Terms are defined when needed.

You see (possibly?) the power of advertising given the prominence of vitality in marketing. Meanwhile, vitalism a key to life seems to be an unknown, ever present but in the shadows, until our attention is drawn to it (health: life-death). Capra and Luisi explore mechanism and vitalism, and in turn organismic biology. Whether dealing with science, economics, biology..., I like the way the authors draw in the initial thinkers, the pioneers: whose lives, work and influence often spanned the 19th and 20th centuries. 

The proof of my opening statement in post (i) can be found on page 66:

'Systems thinking is "contextual," which is the opposite of analytical thinking. Analysis means taking something apart in order to understand it; systems thinking means putting it into the context of a larger whole.' p.66.

Ever user(s)-determined (context-based), Hodges' model can readily identify, relate, incorporate the - linear, non-linear, serial, parallel, simple, complex, poor, rich, narrow, broad, static, dynamic, person, service and so on. Also on page 66, Ehrenfrels (1859-1932) is an example, the first to use the term gestalt to denote an 'irreducible perceptual pattern'. There are many potentials within Hodges' model, one of which is that of gestalt. Yes, in healthcare we need to see the whole. We need to see the person, but also see the person in their social, political and spiritual contexts ('determinants)'. Now the global context is critical.

Chapter 4 charts the new physics atomic phenomena, mysticism, uncertainty, probability, causality, space, time, energy, and E=mc². As per the book's subtitle, the search for a unifying theory in physics is noted, and ongoing. Box 4.1 briefly outlines the characteristics of systems thinking; including parts-whole, from objects to relationships and measuring to mapping. Within box 4.1, figure 4.1 reminds me of a Voronoi tessellation.^ From chapter 5 can I claim that Hodges' model is tektological - contributing to the science of structures? One day perhaps this Russian contribution to systems thinking can be looked at anew? Chapter 5 continues to reveal classical systems theories, general systems, cybernetics, feedback - in social systems too, and homeostasis - self-regulation. It's less than a page spanning 92-93,  but 'information theory' is duly noted, closing with cybernetics in the brain, and the emergence of self-organization. Shannon showed that even when there is noise in a communication channel, signals can be transmitted (coding). Is this why training and competence in interpersonal skills and self-awareness are so important, to help health professionals to attend, actively listen, and observe?*

An old T-shirt 'Art Matrix'

Chapter 6 on complexity theory, inevitably describes mathematical ideas providing equations. Unsurprisingly chapter 6 has figures galore. When I unpack the boxes and crates, I must sit down with The Beauty of Fractals ... (p.124!) and check the graphic capabilities of the latest software and hardware. The 'The Systems View of Life' definitely stimulates further enquiry. The baker transformation anyone (Box 6.2, p.107)? Exploration of non-linear dynamics, and abstract spaces also helpful in studies of relations and maths. This completes part II.

Many thanks again to CUP for the pb copy, much easier on the eyes. While this copy is new, I do make extensive use of secondhand books.

Fritjof Capra and Pier Luigi Luisi (2014) The Systems View of Life - A Unifying Vision. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

https://www.cambridge.org/gb/universitypress/subjects/life-sciences/genomics-bioinformatics-and-systems-biology/systems-view-life-unifying-vision?format=HB&isbn=9781107011366

^See: https://blogs.helsinki.fi/fcai-sig-lsc/files/2022/04/Peter-Gardenfors.pdf and 'conceptual spaces'

*Jones, P. (1996) Humans, Information, and Science, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 24(3),591-598.

Jones, P. (1996) An overarching theory of health communication? Health Informatics Journal,2,1,28-34.

Records Management Journal - Editor Opportunity

 All

After nine years in post, I am stepping away as a Co-Editor of the Records Management Journal. My colleague Sarah Demb has also recently completed her term. A double issue on recordkeeping and the law is about to land and we have a strong series of articles for next year. We are therefore advertising the opportunity for someone to take forward this important Journal which contributes in research and practice, and does publish content globally. The role of Editor provides a first hand opportunity to lead and network in this field, positioning special themed issues and ground breaking research. The work is supported by its strong Editorial Board.

The full advertisement is at:

https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/rmj/records-management-journal-rmj-searching-a-new-editor-chief-or-co-editors

I am very happy to answer any further enquiries.

Kind regards

Elizabeth

Dr Elizabeth Lomas, FRSA, FIRMS, FHEA, FRHisS

Associate Professor in Information Governance

G43, Foster Court

Department of Information Studies

University College London

Gower Street

London WC1E 6BT U.K.

Email: e.lomas AT ucl.ac.uk

My source: RECORDS-MANAGEMENT-UK list.

HIFA Discussion: Alcohol Use Disorders (37) Do people understand the harms of alcohol? (9) How can they be better informed? (5)

Further to the post on 1st February 2024:

HIFA discussion on Alcohol Use Disorders, 5 Feb - 17 Mar 2024

- I have f/w some reflections (edited here). You may have your own experiences, skills, knowledge to contribute?

<>

As a teenager you were very aware of peer pressure (as a social expectation) to drink. Is it an acquired taste?

The media played a key role - advertising "Tetley Bitter-men", "Double Diamond - works wonders", Babycham, Advocaat, Martini Rosso .. and many of the popular TV series we consumed (pardon the pun).

Getting in the pub AND served was a right of passage - and a rather 'tame' one for a white, male.

In the family the harms and risks of alcohol were explained. 

Sometimes they were demonstrated at parties, weddings, the aunt, uncle - relative who was notorious for having too much.

Studying literature at school did have a role to play - although less directly.

Although on reflection when there were school assemblies I wonder if 'drink' (Church of England) was mentioned?
Interesting perhaps - the change in daily school routine.

I remember at a birthday party for a fellow class pupil at a social club, the birthday boy was sick all over the table - yes - had been drinking.

Tempered my attitude early on - c.15.

As a nursing asst. and student nurse you realised the other - dark - side. The key being the contradiction that alcohol represents:

• Drink to relax, socialise, be friendly, enjoy yourself;
• Impact of your health, risk of addiction, violence, (brewer's droop was an early lesson - tho not practically);
• IF YOU develop a drink problem then you're on your own and so is your family (there are of course agencies in developed nations - but the funding disparity - as in, gambling, tobacco?).

In a 'local' - public house - pub it was known in 1970s for some regulars (invariably men) to down c.12 (more?) pints in a night - even after drinking hours: they were heavy goods vehicle drivers.

---------
I may have posted before - how in 1987-88 I completed a study of alcohol (intervention) teams, Preston, Salford, Blackburn here in NW England. The consultant psychiatrist made a key point about the (much debated even then) use of economic levers to help reduce alcohol consumption.

Scotland have just updated their intervention:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/feb/08/scotland-raises-minimum-alcohol-prices-by-almost-one-third

As a student nurse - I was already aware of some of the inorganic molecules that have been found in space: the original primordial soup!

The chemical names still remind me of a chemical plant, such as the former ICI plant at Widnes / Runcorn, Cheshire, England, e.g.:

https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/heavy-industry-panorama-night-panoramic-view-chemical-plant-refinery-blue-sky-illumination-some-freight-85481422.jpg

This in-turn takes me to the miracle that is the liver - the biological chemical plant - with a potential powerful message in how 'alcohol' is broken down:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6527027/

Sometimes insight into this can work wonders in terms of motivation for change - the facts - not trying to scare (waste of time)...?

Which brings me to the obvious 'contradiction' in caring for people with a primary / secondary problem with alcohol.

Having a liver function test.

If it's OK that *means* I can carry on!!

I have over the years developed what imho I consider to be potentially therapeutic relationships with patients affected by alcohol.

I say potentially as I, with supervision, have had to withdraw input and discharge them. Even if the client can't 'draw the line', you cannot support the patient in their damaging alcohol consumption and related behaviours. The offer of further support was offered, with signposts should there be a change of  mind.

Alcohol, tobacco - vapes, the 'mental pollution' that can be passed as legitimate 'advertising', fake news ... still calls for a generic model, a universal conceptual framework for personal and global health - across literacies and forms of informatics:

'alcohol'
https://hodges-model.blogspot.com/search?q=alcohol

Just to close I saw an item (I will try to find...) on the preponderance of 'smoking' in films 1940s - present day.

Still a problem now.

Of course: advocacy for health requires constant vigilance.

Two abstracts for 2024 inc. Philosophy at Play Conference

This month, in addition to an abstract for:

MYTH, RITUAL AND PRACTICE FOR THE AGE OF ECOLOGICAL CATASTROPHE

https://hodges-model.blogspot.com/2023/09/myth-ritual-env-religion.html

- there is an invitation to submit a paper abstract for:

The sixth Philosophy at Play Conference will be hosted by the Faculty of Education at the Complutense University in Madrid on June 3-5, 2024

No one likes to waste time^, but whether or not these abstracts are accepted, the thought and effort will extend my thinking and application of Hodges' model. Beyond initial thoughts below, I need to check on the key issues in the philosophy of play:

INDIVIDUAL

|

     INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

GROUP

play therapy (distraction ...) being outdoors: psychological impact of green symbolic play mental games - play intellectual skill, creativity imagination in play individual play child - verbalisation cognitive and character development - morality, personal ethics 'illness' norms - anhedonic addictive quality of gaming role of advertising play theology - utopia

play senses, kinaesthetics, embodiment accessibility information at play: uncertainty, bluff, prediction - movement, strategy functional play - toys/objects activities - performance space: arena, field, theatre games / sport - physical contest gaming as work / effort / energy gaming as tech/software simulation gaming 'in' Virtual Reality (tech's role in disrupting (idealised?) play? Games/Gaming as rules/process quantitative research - evidence

social inclusion/exclusion sociology of play (and in arts) socialisation language: "= playing field" role play :: fancy dress socio-cultural dimensions - history traditional play/games social behaviour, status, participation turn-taking, stigma (cheating) sports etiqette, 'fair play' team games (team building - work) Serres - Myth, History Harlequin - mischief

politics of play studies: oppression, marginalisation, erasure, vulnerable groups, exploitation* 'export' of games hegenomy, hierarchies software colonialism (Africa)** debates: guns in play, weapons, 'shoot em up' FROM: child's-play TO: gamesmanship whose rules, control of space? governance & politics of play economies of play 'A nation at play' media - controls - consumerism, advertising gambling THEOLOGY

*An example - previously:

Loot boxes: GET YOURS TODAY!

^Since posting: I realise that 'neutrality' in play (studies) and the call here appears an important concept. Clinically, Hodges' model can literally reflect unconditional positive regard, as a template the model provides a 'blank slate'; as long as we are being authentic and not 'playing games'.

In terms of this conference, can Hodges' model act as a referee - by providing a neutral space? It would appear so, but this is quickly challenged - if not illusory.

That neutrality is lost in the blink of an eye - shattered even, by a twist, a step of a foot. A shift from the nexus, center of the model - the neutrality is comprised. All of a sudden the observer is forced to play. Or at least there is an invitation to contextualize; psychologically, physically, socially, politically or spiritually.

A game to play in itself?

**c/o Bytes for All mailing list:

"Software colonialism is killing Africa" - Neville Roy Singham  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsKcQsfCDg8

BBC - Software Development in Africa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeDSLX8KFE0

studium and punctum c/o Rose (2012)

'Care' as a Photograph - duality . . .

Visual Methodologies

"It is as if the Photograph always carries its referent with itself, both affected by the same amorous or funereal immobility, at the very heart of the moving world; they are glued together, limb by limb, like the condemned man and the corpse in certain tortures." [Barthes 1982: 5-6] p.121.

 "The referent is there in photographic images in ways it is not in other sorts of visual imagery, Barthes argues. And a result, he suggests that photographs can be interpreted in two ways. First, there is a level of the studium, which is a culturally informed reading of the image, one that interprets the signs of the photographs. But he says that some photographs produce a different response, which is a second kind of reading, by containing what he called a punctum. A punctum is unintentional and ungeneralisable; it is a sensitive point in an image which pricks, bruises, disturbs a particular viewer out of their usual viewing habits. And he went so far as to suggest that 'while the studium is ultimately always coded, the punctum is not [Barthes 1982: 51]. That is, there are points in some photographs that escape signifiers and shock the viewer with their 'intractable reality' [Barthes 1982: 119]. And while shock is something that most adverts aim to achieve, it is the case that recent advertising is relying more and more, not only on the transfer of meaning between signs, but on the evocation of a feeling or a mood attached to a brand that is difficult to analyse using semiological terminology." p.122.

On twitter* @h2cm over the years I've noted a certain stance, an aversion even, to generalist approaches in nursing (as suggested apparently by Hodges' model). The simplicity of Hodges' model in its template (basic) form belies how the model can address both generalist and specialist practice and theory. Bluntly: choose your domain; slice, dice and drill as you wish. 

Rose's reference to Barthes, in-particular studium and punctum stands out. We can equate the former with the situation as found, the clues provided in the referral details, the initial cues, data and information gleaned upon assessment. What might be expected, so to speak, including assumptions. 

But the punctum, may be described - interpreted in person-centred (yet professionally balanced) terms. Especially in assessment, planning, intervention and evaluation. The punctum signifies salience: what is important to this person. If the academic emphasis is upon ‘reflection in action’, ‘reflection on action’, ‘single loop learning’ and ‘double loop learning’ (Schön, 1987), can the punctum represent empathy, rapport, the sustenance of dignity and respect, an individual's sense-making? 

Our photograph, taken through Hodges' model is comprised of four frames. The photograph is  compound, and with several exposures it can be animated.^ When played, it reveals a hint, a fraction, an interval in an individual's (potential) health career. A light upon the several-fold determinants of health and their influence and impact upon life chances experienced and exercised to date - and to follow (climate change). 
 

Rose, G. (2012). Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to Researching with Visual Materials (3rd ed.). London: Sage. PB. [Now in 5th edition.] Image - Amazon.

Schön , D. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco, CA: Jossy Bass. 

*Yes, I know.

^The Producer - Director depends on your Spiritual stance.

Rose (2012) now with student nurses [on placement from Chester University].