📄 social_science

More Green Is Not Always Better: The U-shaped Relationship Between Greenspace and Mental Health in China

This study reveals a U-shaped relationship between greenspace and mental health in China, demonstrating that while moderate green exposure alleviates depression, excessive coverage can undermine psychological well-being through mechanisms like inadequate amenities, expectation-reality gaps, and eroded social cohesion, particularly in areas with high crime rates.

Chun-Chieh Hu, Xifei Ma, Xueqing Zhou2026-08-31
📄 social_science

Is there a graphic accent among Latin-Arabic biscriptual writers?

This study demonstrates that Latin-Arabic biscriptual writers exhibit a distinct "graphic accent" characterized by specific kinematic and spatial adaptations in their handwriting due to cross-system interference, which is perceptible to other biscriptual readers but not to monoscriptual ones.

Céleste Younes-Harb, Jean-Luc Velay, Marieke Longcamp, Gaëlle Alhaddad, Jean-Michel Albaret, Carla Matta-Abizeid, Jérémy (…)2026-08-31
📄 social_science

Acquired Immunity to Malaria: Implications for the Production and Maintenance of Ethnic Difference in Mainland Southeast Asia

This article argues that acquired immunity to malaria, gained through long-term residence in endemic mountain forests by ethnic minority highlanders in mainland Southeast Asia, has been a critical yet overlooked factor in structuring the historical social and cultural divide between these highland groups and lowland state societies.

Jonathan Padwe2026-08-31
📄 social_science

The Importance of Networks in Rapidly Internationalising Firms Owned by Female Immigrant Entrepreneurs

This instrumental case study of 15 highly skilled female immigrant entrepreneurs in the UK challenges the notion of a "double disadvantage" by demonstrating how their transnational networks, combined resources from origin and settlement countries, and strategic flexibility enable rapid internationalization despite operating in manufacturing and knowledge-intensive sectors.

Shiv Chaudhry, David Crick, James M. Crick, Michelle Crick2026-08-31
📄 social_science

Reading Physics Through Tanean Lanjhang: Traditional Settlement Patterns as Cultural Contexts for Science Education

This study utilizes a qualitative ethnographic approach to demonstrate how the traditional Madurese Tanean Lanjhang settlement system serves as an epistemic resource that recontextualizes abstract physics concepts—such as airflow, heat transfer, and thermal balance—into culturally meaningful knowledge, thereby bridging the gap between scientific education and students' lived experiences.

Aminatun Aminatun, Agus Budiyono, El Indahnia Kamariyah, Arin Wildani, Saiful Hadi2026-08-31
📄 social_science

Beyond virtual reconstruction: immersive digital interpretation and public engagement with Silk Road heritage

This study utilizes advanced statistical modeling to demonstrate that immersive virtual reconstructions of Silk Road heritage effectively foster physical site engagement primarily by strengthening place attachment, thereby proposing an evidence-aware design framework that bridges digital interpretation with material heritage through credible reconstruction and spatial continuity.

Yang Zhao, Tianji Wang, Xiuyu Li, Qinchuan Zhan2026-08-31
📄 social_science

The Comings of the Two Rivers: A Unified Framework for Transforming Scientific Evidence into Evidence Use through Storytelling

This paper introduces "The Comings of the Two Rivers," a seven-step storytelling framework that bridges the gap between scientific evidence and real-world action by transforming data into socially embedded narratives through community co-creation and engagement across multiple countries.

Patrick Mbah Okwen, Lisette Nange, Damaris Ntam Maih, Gloria Akah Ndum Okwen, Ernest Alang Wung, Miguel Jumwoh, Leonel A (…)2026-08-30
📄 social_science

Geoeconomic Fragmentation and the Erosion of TRIPS Flexibilities in Technology Access and Distributive Justice in the Global South

This paper argues that the rise of geoeconomic fragmentation and techno-nationalism is eroding TRIPS flexibilities and the policy space of Global South nations to access critical technologies, thereby transforming intellectual property from a development tool into an instrument of technological hierarchy that necessitates a reconstruction of equitable global technology governance.

Hamza Khan, Ahmar Afaq, Maryam Ishrat Beg2026-08-30