Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Who, What, and Why of Performance-based Legitimacy

ABSTRACT This concluding article summarizes the main arguments and contributions of the special issue on virtuous circles of governance in areas of limited statehood. Furthermore, the article points out directions for future research. I argue that in order to understand virtuous circles of governance adequately we need to pay more attention to power dynamics between governance actors and citizens, including conflict and coercion. We also need to broaden our empirical basis to substantiate claims on the virtuous circle argument and research additional cases and regions, particularly over time. This also includes the development of precise measurements for different degrees of legitimacy of both state and non-state actors. Lastly, we need to elaborate on the conceptual differences between trustworthy government and legitimate government and the diverse sources for both beyond effective performance.
Extractivism, Neoliberalism, and the Environment: Revisiting the Syrian Conflict from an Ecological Justice Perspective

ABSTRACT The ongoing Syrian conflict has triggered one of the worst humanitarian emergencies and the largest refugee crisis of the post-World War II era. What are the political-ecological factors leading to the emergence and spread of this conflict? To what extent have ecological injustices played a triggering or accelerating role in the Syrian conflict? The main argument of this article is that one of the most important causes of the Syrian tragedy relates to the outbreak of a political-ecological crisis whose origins are to be found in the long-term consequences of Syria's (a) oil-centered extractivist model of development adopted since the 1970s and its legacy reflected in the government's failure to generate adequate livelihood; (b) neo-liberal restructuring that has widened inequalities and bankrupted the agriculture since 2000; and (c) environmentally blind policies that have neglected the severity of droughts, encouraged water-intensive crops and the over-exploitation of water resources, and failed to address the modernization of the irrigation infrastructure. The environmental aspects of this crisis also concern inter-state and political-cultural conflicts as they apply to the control of Syria's water resources by Turkey and the so-called Islamic State.
AB-10-C037: Effects of noise from building mechanical systems on elementary school student achievement

This project seeks to determine what relationship, if any, exists between background noise levels in elementary classrooms due to the building mechanical systems and student performance on achievement tests. Previous research in classroom acoustics has clearly identified that lower background noise levels result in higher speech intelligibility which is crucial for the learning process; however, there is a lack of data correlating lower noise levels to improved student achievement scores. For this study, background noise level measurements were made in 14 elementary schools in a public school system in Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA. The measurements were made in unoccupied classrooms with the central building mechanical systems activated. Second and fourth-grade classrooms were included in the study, which typically contain 7 to 8 and 9 to 10 year-old students, respectively. The unoccupied noise levels measured in the analyzed classrooms range from 36 – 50 dBA, none of which meets the background noise level recommendation of 35 dBA or less specified for classrooms in ANSI S12.602002(R2009). These measured background noise levels have been correlated to reading comprehension and math standardized achievement test scores from students in the surveyed classrooms. Poverty rates were used as a control variable for the correlation analyses to factor out some of the socio-economic differences among the students. ANOVA and regression analyses were also performed to determine if learning for the younger and older students was impacted similarly by mechanical system noise and what background noise level should be attained in classrooms to meet state learning achievement goals. The results from this study show that, for the elementary school system tested, lower student reading comprehension scores were significantly related to higher background noise levels from building mechanical systems.
Understanding User's Sustained Participation in Social Research Network sites

Recently, a new form of social network site focusing on researchers has emerged and attracted worldwide users. In addition to basic functionalities of SNSs, social research network sites (SRNS) combine multiple research-specific tools, such as knowledge management tools, citation management, and paper recommendation engines, supporting researchers to collaboratively structure, coordinate and conduct their work online. However, scholars are not interested in social networking as an end in itself, they networks to enhance productivity. The turnover rate of users remains a great challenge for the viability of SRNS. Therefore, exploring the determinants that impact members’ continued participation behavior in SRNS is critical to both scholars and practitioners. From the perspective of group commitment, we attempt to address the following two questions. First, what factors would cultivate different forms of commitment of members to a virtual group. Second, how would these different forms of commitment impact members’ continuance intention in SRNS. Based on the target-behavior commitment model, we proposed the preliminary model for understanding continued knowledge sharing (from contributing and seeking perspectives) in SRNS. The expected contribution of this study is discussed.
Employee learning motives, perceived learning opportunities and employability activities

Purpose This paper aims to examine whether employability activities are driven by employee learning motives and their perception of learning opportunities. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using a closed questionnaire survey from three different profit organizations (N = 405). Hypotheses were tested through hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Findings Hierarchical regressions showed that the learning motive “personal development” had a positive relationship with “perceived learning opportunities” and “employability activities,” as hypothesized. “Perceived learning opportunities” did not mediate the relationship between the learning motive “personal development” and “employability activities. ” No relationships were found among the learning motives “social pressure,” “perceived learning opportunities” and “employability activities”. Originality Value This study is among the first to investigate the motives that employees must engage in individual learning paths. It attempts to predict their self-reported employability activities based on these motives and on the learning opportunities that employees perceive.
Returning to Class: A Phenomenology of Former High School Dropouts' Pursuit of Higher Learning

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of former high school dropouts who have completed their high school credential through an adult education program and are enrolled in a postsecondary program of study at a technical college, community college, or four-year university in a state located in the southern United States. The two guiding theories of this study were the theory of multiple intelligences as it related to learning and student engagement, and transformative learning theory as it related to the participants’ changed perspective regarding their own learning. The research questions of the study were: (a) how do former high school dropouts describe the experience of reengaging with learning; (b) how do participants describe the experience of becoming disengaged from learning in a K-12 educational setting to becoming reengaged with learning in a postsecondary setting; (c) what experiences do participants describe that led them to pursue postsecondary education; (d) and what experiences do participants describe as leading them to successful reengagement with learning? The primary source of data consisted of semi-structured, open-ended interviews conducted with individuals and focus groups. After data analysis, which utilized Moustakas’ (1994) approach to transcendental phenomenology, emerging themes developed. Those themes were: (a) the learner, describing the learning characteristics of the participants, (b) the system, recognizing key features of K-12 and postsecondary educational systems, (c) the perspective, highlighting the participants’ changed meaning perspectives, (d) the path, emphasizing the participants’ plans to continue their academic pursuits despite dropping out from high school, and (e) the lagniappe, outlining two bonus themes unassociated with the previous four themes.
Effective Resolution of Ethical Dilemmas in Social Enterprise Organizations: A Moral Philosophy and Public Management Approach

Public service ethics can provide social enterprise organizations (SEOs) with a means of complementing business ethics. Many public service ethics scholars recognize that internal and external ethics sources combine to create stronger ethical guidelines for public servants. This study argues that the classical deontological and teleological debate can provide a useful understanding of ethics as well. Combining the internal/external spectrum with the deontological/teleological spectrum of ethical sources to create four categories for understanding sources of ethical resolutions, this study uses ethnomethodology to find that SEO managers expend fewer resources resolving ethical dilemmas when they reference ethical sources from multiple categories. The study finds that SEO managers who have access to multiple sources of ethics develop more confidence in potential resolutions, and are thus able to dedicate more resources to achieving mission-oriented outcomes.
Survey on the Prevalence of Allergic Rhinitis and its Effect on the Quality of High School Students’ Life

Introduction: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a common airway disease. In order to study the prevalence of AR in high school students in Kerman, the Score for Allergic Rhinitis (SFAR) was used and the quality of life in the students affected by rhinitis was evaluated using the SF-36 questionnaire. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional, analytical, descriptive study, based on the SFAR scale. Quality of life in students with AR was evaluated using the SF-36 questionnaire. Results: From 1511 students who completed the SFAR questionnaire, 291 (52.6%, girls; 47.4%, boys) had AR. Domestic dust was the most common cause of the disease. The most common symptoms of AR were rhinorrhea (76.6%), epiphora (76.3%), nasal congestion (64.3%), and itching (54.3%). According to the ARYA scale, (Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma), 41.9% of students had moderate-to-severe rhinitis and 58.1% had mild rhinitis. A total of 43.1% of patients with moderate-to-severe rhinitis had a persistent condition and 56.9% had an intermediate condition. Results of the SF-36 questionnaire among students with AR showed a significant difference in physical functioning and bodily pain in comparison with healthy students. Conclusion: The results of this study show that the prevalence of AR among Kerman high school students is 19.3%. Because of the effect of this disease on the life quality of high school students in terms of both physical functioning and bodily pain, efforts should be made to reduce allergen levels as far as possible.
Transitive 2-representations of finitary 2-categories

In this article, we define and study the class of simple transitive $2$-representations of finitary $2$-categories. We prove a weak version of the classical Jordan-H{\"o}lder Theorem where the weak composition subquotients are given by simple transitive $2$-representations. For a large class of finitary $2$-categories we prove that simple transitive $2$-representations are exhausted by cell $2$-representations. Finally, we show that this large class contains finitary quotients of $2$-Kac-Moody algebras.
Transesophageal Endoscopic Ultrasound with Fine Needle Aspiration in the Preoperative Staging of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

Purpose: Surgical resection as part of a multimodality approach in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) has a high morbidity and mortality. Because mediastinal lymph node (MLN) metastases are a negative prognostic factor, preoperative staging is of paramount importance. Transesophageal endoscopic ultrasound with real-time guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) enables accurate MLN staging in lung cancer. Experimental Design: The feasibility and yield of EUS-FNA in MLN staging were prospectively analyzed in patients with presumed early-stage MPM considered for multimodality therapy. MLN reference pathology was defined by either pathologic staging or the formal demonstration of malignant cells by either EUS-FNA or mediastinoscopy. Results: Thirty-two consecutive patients (81% males; median age, 61 years) with proven MPM underwent EUS-FNA. In 11 (34%) patients, a negative EUS-FNA or mediastinoscopy was not confirmed by surgical MLN dissection because of clinical deterioration or disease progression. In 21 (66%) patients, a formal pathology of the MLN was obtained and staging with EUS-FNA was positive in 4 (19%). Mediastinoscopy did not result in a greater yield of MLN metastasis as compared with EUS-FNA. Thoracotomy with complete lymph node dissection was done in 17 (81%). The overall prevalence of MLN metastasis was 24%, and the sensitivity of EUS-FNA was 80% (95% confidence interval, 28-99%) with a specificity of 100% (95% confidence interval, 79-100%). One patient had esophageal perforation related to EUS-FNA. Conclusions: EUS-FNA is feasible and sensitive for MLN staging in patients with MPM who are candidate for multimodality treatment. These data warrant further evaluation.
Stochastic Acceleration and Nonthermal Radiation in Clusters of Galaxies

We calculate the distribution of electrons in clusters of galaxies, which results from thermalization processes in the presence of stochastic acceleration due to plasma waves. We show that the electron distribution can deviate from a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution because of the effect of the stochastic energy gain, provided that waves can be sustained against damping. The bremsstrahlung emission of the nonthermal tail of electrons can result in a flux of hard X-rays that is compatible with the ones recently detected in some clusters of galaxies.
Pengaruh Orientasi Kewirausahaan dan Inovasi Produk terhadap Kinerja UKM Kota Makassar

Dari hasil penelitian yang dilakukan dapat disimpulkan bahwa terdapat pengaruh antara orientasi kewirausahaan dan inovasi produk (Uji secara simultan) terhadap kinerja ukm kota makassar, terdapat pengaruh orientasi kewirausahaan (Uji secara parsial) terhadap kinerja ukm kota makassar, dan terdapat pengaruh inovasi produk (Uji secara parsial) terhadap kinerja ukm kota makassar. Kesimpulan dari hasil penelitian ini yaitu Peningkatan kinerja ukm kota Makassar tidak terlepas dari kemampuan pengusaha dalam memahami orientasi kewirausahaan (Need for achievement, internal locus of control, self reliance, extroversion) dan inovasi produk (Perluasan lini produk, produk tiruan/imitasi, produk baru). Dengan tingginya orientasi kewirausahaan dan inovasi produk yang dimiliki maka akan lebih mudah meningkatkan kinerja ukm.
Assessing Child Welfare Agency Practices and Attitudes that Affect Father Engagement

ABSTRACT The importance of fathers' involvement in their children's lives is irrefutable. Supportive, warm, and positive involvement of fathers leads to children being well-adjusted. Indeed, involved fathers positively influence their children's cognitive ability, social behavior, psychological well-being, and educational achievement. For children in foster care, when fathers are involved they have significantly shorter stays in foster care than those whose fathers are not involved. For parents to demonstrate fitness to parent they must show the successful completion of goals specified in a case plan that promotes safety and permanence of their child. This cross-sectional study investigated how fathers' perception of social workers' attitude and practice skills was associated with fathers' understanding and confidence with regard to completing the case plan goals. A purposive sample of 56 child welfare-involved fathers completed the Child Welfare Father Involvement Questionnaire. The findings indicated that the more positive fathers perceived social workers' attitude and skills, the greater their understanding about the case plan goals and greater confidence to complete case plan goals. The results were statistically significant. These results have implications for child welfare training to build the social worker-client relationship in a compassionate manner while maintaining a rigorous assessment and monitoring of fathers' parenting capabilities.
Semi-classical limits of Schrödinger-Poisson systems via Wigner transforms

We deal with classical and “semiclassical limits” , i.e. vanishing Planck constant ~ ' → 0, eventually combined with a homogenization limit of a crystal lattice, of a class of "weakly nonlinear" NLS. The Schrödinger-Poisson (S-P) system for the wave functions {ψ j(t, x)} is transformed to the WignerPoisson (W-P) equation for a “phase space function” f (t, x, ξ), the Wigner function. The weak limit of f (t, x, ξ), as tends to 0, is called the “Wigner measure” f(t, x, ξ) (also called "semiclassical measure" by P. Gérard). The mathematically rigorous classical limit from S-P to the Vlasov-Poisson (V-P) system has been solved first in 1993 by P.L. Lions and T. Paul in [21] and, independently, by P.A. Markowich and N.J. Mauser in [23]. There the case of the so called “completely mixed state”, i.e. j = 1, 2, . ,∞, was considered where strong additional assumptions can be posed on the initial data. For the so called “pure state” case where only one (or a finite number) of wave functions {ψ j(t, x)} is considered, recently P. Zhang, Y. Zheng and N.J. Mauser [33] have given the limit from S-P to V-P in one space dimension for a very weak class of measure valued solutions of V-P that are not unique. For the setting in a crystal, as it occurs in semiconductor modeling, we consider Schrödinger equations with an additional periodic potential. This allows for the use of the concept of “energy bands”, Bloch decomposition of L2 etc. On the level of the Wigner transform the Wigner function f (t, x, ξ) is replaced by the “Wigner series” f (t, x, k), where the “kinetic variable” k lives on the torus (“Brioullin zone”) instead of the whole space. Recently P. Bechouche, N.J. Mauser and F. Poupaud [7] have given the rigorous “semiclassical” limit from S-P in a crystal to the “semiclassical equations”, i.e. the “semiconductor V-P system”, with the assumption of the initial data to be concentrated in isolated bands. Support by the Austrian START project "Nonlinear Schrödinger and quantum Boltzmann equations" is acknowledged. MSC 2000 : 35L65, 35Q55, 81Q05, 81Q20.
Structure Context Clues for Chinese Text Detection

In this paper, we focus on Chinese text detection in a natural scene image. Different from the existing methods which usually rely on complicated features or heavy learning models, our method introduces simple structure features and context groups which are very effective for Chinese text detection. Specifically, we firstly extract connected components by using the Maximally Stable Extremal Region algorithm (MSER) in multiple channels of color space and the candidate regions are generated by combining the extraction results. Secondly, we design some simple structure features which are special for Chinese characters to filter non-text candidate regions. Some detached parts of a character are merged to form a whole character in this stage. Finally, we propose the structure context clues. Making use of the context difference between text and non-text, we further to filter the non-text regions by a context-based group filter and a Supported Vector Machine (SVM) classifier trained with Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG) features. Furthermore, we build our Chinese Character Street View (CCSV) dataset, on which our approach is implemented. And the experimental results demonstrate the availability of our method.
Relationship between Gratitude and Problematic Online Game Use among Left-behind Children:The Mediating Role of School Belonging

Objective:To explore the relationship between gratitude,school belonging,and problematic online game use in left-behind children.Methods:A total of 835 left-behind children were tested with gratitude questionnaire,school belonging questionnaire,and problematic online game use questionnaire.Results:1Gratitude was significantly and negatively correlated with problematic online game use;2School belonging mediated the relationship between gratitude and problematic online game use.Conclusion:These findings suggest that gratitude is an important protective factor of left-behind children’s problematic online game use,and school belonging is an important mediator in this relationship.
Usable Security: Why Do We Need It? How Do We Get It?

Security experts frequently refer to people as “the weakest link in the chain” of system security. Famed hacker Kevin Mitnick revealed that he hardly ever cracked a password, because it “was easier to dupe people into revealing it” by employing a range of social engineering techniques. Often, such failures are attributed to users’ carelessness and ignorance. However, more enlightened researchers have pointed out that current security tools are simply too complex for many users, and they have made efforts to improve user interfaces to security tools. In this chapter, we aim to broaden the current perspective, focusing on the usability of security tools (or products) and the process of designing secure systems for the real-world context (the panorama) in which they have to operate. Here we demonstrate how current human factors knowledge and user-centered design principles can help security designers produce security solutions that are effective in practice.
Evidence of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) relevant substances in polymeric food-contact articles sold on the European market

In order to confirm the possibility that recycled fractions from the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) stream were illegally entering the European market in black polymeric food-contact articles (FCAs), bromine quantification, brominated flame retardant (BFR) identification combined with WEEE-relevant elemental analysis and polymer impurity analysis were performed. From the 10 selected FCAs, seven samples contained a bromine level ranging from 57 to 5975 mg kg−1, which is lower than expected to achieve flame retardancy. The BFRs that were present were tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), decabromodiphenylether (decaBDE), decabromodiphenylethane (DBDPE) and 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)ethane (BTBPE). Typical elements used in electronic equipment and present in WEEE were detected either at trace level or at elevated concentrations. In all cases when bromine was detected at higher concentrations, concurrently antimony was also detected, which confirms the synergetic use of antimony in combination with BFRs. This study describes also the measurement of rare earth elements where combinations of cerium, dysprosium, lanthanum, neodymium, praseodymium and yttrium were detected in four of the seven BFR-positive samples. Additionally, polymer purity was investigated where in all cases foreign polymer fractions were detected. Despite the fact that this study was carried out on a very small amount of samples, there is a significant likelihood that WEEE has been used for the production of FCAs. Graphical Abstract