Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Volume and control: the transition from information to power

ABSTRACT How does information become power, who gains and who loses, and what are the implications of this process? As much of the information we produce today is available to very few global companies and governments it is crucial to develop new concepts and modify the existing theories on information and power. Drawing on the political economy of communication, sociology and information science literature, this paper introduces an analytical framework to understand the mechanisms through which information is turned into power and their social and cultural implications. Volume is defined as the informational resources – the amount and diversity of information and the people producing it. Control is described through two competing and complementary mechanisms: popularization (information relevant to most people), and personalization (information relevant to each individual person). The main argument is that the ability to transform information into power requires controlling the interaction between the growing volume of people and information by balancing popularization and personalization mechanisms. This framework is then applied to demonstrate Google’s monopoly of knowledge, its PageRank algorithm, and its inevitable commercial and cultural biases around the world.
Seismic damage scenarios in the municipa lities of Elche and Alicante (Spain ). A first step to the emergency planning

South and South-East of Spain are the regions with a higher seismic hazard in Spain. Therefore, a regional normative, focused on the importance of developing seismic emergency planning in many of the municipalities of the Valencian community, was established in 2011. consequently, all the municipalities in Alicante province have to develop a seismic emergency planning. however, only Elche and Alicante have completed the seismic risk analysis and they have started to prepare their emergency plans which will be finished before the end of 2019. This paper shows the main results of the seismic risk analysis carried out in both municipalities. The seismic hazard update in the region has shown that the main earthquake scenarios, which may hit both cities, correspond to the crevillente and the Bajo Segura faults (also responsible for damaging historical earthquakes). In both cases, the urban areas are on a sedimentary deposit, which can reach hundreds of meters so site effects and possible site-building resonance can be important. Additionally, most of the building stock belongs to periods without seis- mic normative, increasing, therefore, their vulnerability and the obtained damage. The mean damage ratio for a magnitude of 5.5 increases from a 0.8% to a 10.3% at Alicante and Elche, respectively. Besides, if the magnitude increases to a 6.5 then the mean damage ratio increases from a 16.6% to a 60.3%. In conclusion, we recommend that the emergency planning developed for both municipalities has to take into consideration that even the occurrence of a probable earthquake (475 yrs return period) corresponding to a mw 5.5 will affect both cities so the procedures and protocols should be written in close cooperation.
Facing Irregularities in Sport: Whistleblowing and Watchdog Journalism. The Romanian Case

Abstract Mass-media is often called „the guard dog of society” due to its role in alerting the population when an issue is identified and this aspect is feasible also in sports media. This research analyses the media’s roles, responsibilities and its relationship with whistleblowers. The main focus of this presentation is on methods used by journalists in order to identify and research sensitive subjects such as corruption, doping and other cases of harmful irregularities in sport. Based on interviews with journalists from Romania, using a qualitative interpretation of their speech, it will be possible to see behind the façade of the journalist-sources relationship. „How could we increase the rate of investigations and the number of whistleblowers in sport? ” is a central question of this research. The study examines also how to ensure a more critical approach to the task of exploring the influences in Romanian sports and in what manner this case could be framed in the global context. It helps to understand the potential of sports communication and educational journalism to influence in a positive manner the dynamics of reporting everyday issues and eruptive scandals in sport. An inquiring and sceptical media could help more to enhance transparency and encourage other sports stars or sports people to take action.
Multi-level urbanization:An integrative viewpoint of analyzing regional development and its empirical study

Multi-level urbanization provides us a viewpoint or method to analyze the characteristics and mechanisms of regional development and urban-rural development in China in the transitional period.Analysis of multi-level urbanization lays emphasis on disassembling the process of regional urbanization with different spatial levels,in order to indicate the characteristics and mechanisms of the development of urbanization clearly.Taking Zibo city of Shandong province as an example,the paper provides a theoretical framework of the analysis of multi-level urbanization,including urbanization of trans-city and trans-municipality,that of group cities,that of this locality,and that of local communities.With the framework of multi-level urbanization,it is easy to find out the features of the development of Zibo's urbanization in the transitional period.The authors find that the relationship of consanguinity,location and business,the gap of economic development,the effect of scale,the attraction of county seat,and the forces from bottom to top constitute the driving forces of the development of multi-level urbanization in Zibo.Based on the experience of Zibo,the authors put forward the model of the development of multi-level urbanization,and think that with the development of a market economy in China in the transitional period,we should emphasize the pluralistic concept and the multi-levels of the development of urbanization,for it is more and more difficult to generalize the features of regional urbanization with a single model in the newest period.
Differences in Occupants’ Satisfaction and Perceived Productivity in High- and Low-Performance Offices

This paper reports the results from a dataset comprising 9794 post-occupancy evaluation (POE) surveys from 77 Australian open-plan offices. This paper specifically focuses on a sub-set of 20 offices (n = 2133), identified from ranking 10 offices each, with the least (n = 1063) and highest (n = 1070) satisfaction scores, respectively. The satisfaction scores were evaluated on the basis of seven factors (i.e., building/office aesthetics and quality, thermal comfort and indoor air quality, noise distraction and privacy, personal control, connection to outdoor environment, maintenance and visual comfort, and individual space). Using the POE survey data from 20 offices, regression analyses and two-way ANOVA tests were carried out to understand the differences in occupants’ satisfaction and perceived productivity arising from open-plan offices. According to the statistically significant regression analyses results, it was identified that building/office aesthetics and quality (β = 0.55, p < 0.001) and noise distraction and privacy (β = 0.33, p < 0.001) were the two strongest predictors contributing perceived productivity in low-performance offices. Two-way ANOVA test results for the 10 high-performance offices indicate that the perceived productivity was strongly associated with the office’s physical configuration, the employees’ working experience, and the working hours at that office.
Thermo-Mechanical Properties of PLA/Short Flax Fiber Biocomposites

In this work, biocomposites based on poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and short flax fibers (10–40 wt.%) were produced by extrusion and characterized in terms of thermal, mechanical, morphological, and thermo-mechanical properties. Analytical models were adopted to predict the tensile properties (stress at break and elastic modulus) of the composites, and to assess the matrix/fiber interface adhesion. The resulting composites were easily processable by extrusion and injection molding up to 40 wt. % of flax fibers. It was observed that despite any superficial treatment of fibers, the matrix/fiber adhesion was found to be sufficiently strong to ensure an efficient load transfer between the two components obtaining composites with good mechanical properties. The best mechanical performance, in terms of break stress (66 MPa), was obtained with 20 wt. % of flax fibers. The flax fiber acted also as nucleating agent for PLA, leading to an increment of the composite stiffness and, at 40 wt. % of flax fibers, improving the elastic modulus decay near the PLA glass transition temperature.
Smart but Evil? Student-Teachers’ Perception of Educational Researchers’ Epistemic Trustworthiness

In-service and preservice teachers are increasingly required to integrate research results into their classroom practice. However, due to their limited methodological background knowledge, they often cannot evaluate scientific evidence firsthand and instead must trust the sources on which they rely. In two experimental studies, we investigated the amount of this so-called epistemic trustworthiness (dimensions expertise, integrity, and benevolence) that student-teachers ascribe to the authors of texts who present classical research findings (e.g., learning with worked-out examples) that allegedly were written by a practitioner, an expert, or a scientist. Results from the first exploratory study suggest that student-teachers view scientists as “smart but evil,” since they rate them as having substantially more expertise than practitioners, while also being less benevolent and lacking in integrity. Moreover, results from the exploratory study suggest that evaluativistic epistemic beliefs (beliefs about the nature of knowledge) predict epistemic trustworthiness. A preregistered conceptual replication study (Study 2) provided more evidence for the “smart but evil” stereotype. Further directions of research as well as implications for practice are discussed.
Health Care Providers' Intention to Provide Culturally Competent Health Care to Somali Based Upon the Indirect Measures of the Integrated Behavioral Model

HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS’ INTENTION TO PROVIDE CULTURALLY COMPETENT HEALTH CARE TO SOMALI BASED UPON THE INDIRECT MEASURES OF THE INDEGRATED BEHAVIORAL MODEL Amanda Kaye Ciesinski, M.S. Minnesota State University, Mankato, July 2012. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to assess health care providers’ intention to provide culturally competent health care to Somali based upon the constructs of the Integrated Behavioral Model by indirect measures. Using Zoomerang data collection systems, data were collected on a non-random and purposive sample. Every physician, nurse practitioner, and physician assistant in a non-administrative role at a rural primary care clinic located in Minnesota was recruited by email. A sample of thirtyone health care providers was used in this study. The survey was divided into four main scales based on the constructs of the Integrated Behavioral Model. These constructs included intention, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Each main scale, with the exception of intention, was further divided into subscales measuring construct components. The subscales included instrumental attitudes, experiential attitudes, injunctive norms, descriptive norms, motivation to comply with injunctive norms, motivation to comply with descriptive norms, self-efficacy and perceived control. Data analysis showed that overall intention of participants’ to provide Somali with culturally competent health care was high. The constructs of the Integrated Behavioral Model, as each related to intention, showed mixed results. Only the relationship between intention and overall subjective norms was statistically significant. More specific HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS’ INTENTION 4 correlations were identified when each construct was further divided into construct components. Significant positive correlations between behavioral intention and instrumental attitudes, subjective norms, injunctive norms, descriptive norms and selfefficacy were found. Correlational analysis between demographic characteristics and overall intention did not reveal any significant relationships. Further investigation into gender and years of experience using independent samples t-tests did show some significant findings. Female participants responded to survey items pertaining to experiential attitudes and motivation to comply with injunctive norms more favorably than males. Health care workers with 11 years or more experience were found to have lower overall intention, experiential attitudes, instrumental attitudes, and motivation to comply with injunctive norms scores than those with 10 years of experience or less.
A new method of integrating project‐based and work‐integrated learning in postgraduate engineering study

This paper reflects on the introduction of project-based learning (PBL) into a postgraduate engineering management unit, as a form of work-integrated learning (WIL) extending the practice of students and their engagement with industry. The real life and authentic PBL was designed and implemented in extensive consultation with industry practitioners. WIL has often been conceptualized as a process of induction and introduction to workplaces and work practices. However, such models do not easily translate to postgraduate students with existing workplace experiences. The experience of this unit suggests that there is an intersection between PBL and WIL which may provide a pathway for broader student–industry engagement, scaffolding the development of professional networks and practices for students already within an engineering workplace, and allowing students to transform their practice and improve workplace capabilities. This paper presents a case study of the experience of students who have participated in an industry-led and assessed project based learning experience as part of a unit in the Masters of Engineering Management course. Student satisfaction and engagement with the unit was extremely high, with students self-reporting increased levels of confidence and ability to apply theoretical knowledge. It is concluded that through the integration of project-based and WIL it is possible to create authentic learning experiences for postgraduate students which enable transformative practice and capability development.
Becoming the beheld: Iran’s media ecology and the question of superficial imitation

: What exactly is this televisual cultural identity that seems to be emerging among Iran’s more cosmopolitan-minded youth – this culture founded on the emulation of Euro-American pop cultural values; and this culture where what is seen on screen is often taken for face value, and translated accordingly into actual lifestyle choices of the viewing audience? In fact, beyond the media from which these performances are imitated, the phenomenon itself is not altogether new. From the late nineteenth century through to the twenty-first century, terms such as gharbzadegi (‘Occidentiotis’ or ‘Weststruckness’) and “cultural schizophrenia” have encompassed the civilizational discourse with respect to Iran and its purported superficial imitation of the western world. The present paper wishes to expand on these inquiries by applying to them a distinctly media ecological lens. Borrowing from the theories of Marshall McLuhan and Walter Ong, this work summarily investigates the effects that media, including print, photography, and radio have had on the Iranian milieu. This study hopes to introduce a new lens with which to study Iran’s media environment.
The Gutian Invasion in the Middle East as a Possible Anthropogenic Trigger Factor in the Development of the 4.2 ky Event

It is commonly accepted that the current global warming is caused by humans, especially by anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide. It is justifiably considered to be one of the biggest threats for life on the planet and human civilization. However, since millennia humans have been changing the climate locally and globally. Especially after the development of agriculture and animal husbandry people have been progressively increasing the albedo of the planet. The cooling of the climate that took place since the Neolithic Revolution and lasted until the onset of the Industrial Revolution corresponds better with the growth of human population than with any other factor. The current global warming threatens with drought, hunger, migrations and inundation of coastal areas. However, throughout the human history, it was the cooling that was related to drought and hunger. The cooling and drought that occurred about 4.2 thousand years ago (the 4.2 ky event) were the most severe. It resulted in the collapse of all Neolithic civilizations. Its reason is still not explained. This paper presents a hypothesis how people could unwillingly cause change in monsoons’ strength and direction as well as global climate catastrophe that occurred 4.2 thousand years ago.
A Machine Learning Approach for Predicting Defluorination of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) for Their Efficient Treatment and Removal

We present the first application of machine learning on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) for predicting and rationalizing carbon-fluorine (C–F) bond dissociation energies to aid in their efficient treatment and removal. Using a variety of machine learning algorithms (including Random Forest, Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator Regression, and Feed-forward Neural Networks), we were able to obtain extremely accurate predictions for C–F bond dissociation energies (with deviations less than 0.70 kcal/mol) that are within chemical accuracy of the PFAS reference data. In addition, we show that our machine learning approach is extremely efficient (requiring less than 10 minutes to train the data and less than a second to predict the C–F bond dissociation energy of a new compound) and only needs knowledge of the simple chemical connectivity in a PFAS structure to yield reliable results – without recourse to a computationally expensive quantum mechanical calculation or a three-dimensional structure. Finally, we present an unsupervised machine learning algorithm that can automatically classify and rationalize chemical trends in PFAS structures that would otherwise have been difficult to humanly visualize/process manually. Collectively, these studies (1) comprise the first application of machine learning techniques for PFAS structures to predict/rationalize C–F bond dissociation energies and (2) show immense promise for assisting experimentalists in the targeted defluorination of specific bonds in PFAS structures (or other unknown environmental contaminants) of increasing complexity.
Numerical Analysis of Building Envelope with Movable Phase Change Materials for Heating Applications

Latent heat storage materials have been tested by several researchers for decades to be used as passive heating and cooling systems in buildings but their implementation into building components is still stacked as is facing specific technical limitations related to difficulties to be charged both in heating and cooling periods. This paper presents a numerical analysis to evaluate the potential of a disruptive system, which is designed to solve the main drawbacks and to convert phase change materials (PCM) passive heating technology into a competitive solution for the building sector. The novel technology moves PCM layer with respect to the insulation layer inside the building component to maximize solar benefits in winter and be able to actively provide space heating. Design variables such as PCM melting point and control schemes were optimized. The results demonstrated that this technology is not only able to limit heat losses towards outdoors but it can provide space heating from stored solar energy when required. The promising numerical results endorse the possibility to build a future experimental prototype to quantify more in detail the benefits of this system.
Probabilistic Response of a Bladed Disk With Uncertain Geometry

Geometric uncertainties in the blade manufacturing process have important consequences in terms of dynamical properties of bladed disks. In this paper, we address the problem of modeling a full bladed disk composed by blades having uncertain geometry. The geometric imperfection of the blades is represented and analyzed according to a procedure previously presented by the authors, based on the principal component analysis (PCA) and the mesh morphing. The dynamical model of the full disk is constructed following the component mode synthesis (CMS) approach. The blade geometry is represented using a probabilistic model constructed from an experimental dataset. The effect of the geometric uncertainties is assessed using a linear uncertainty propagation approach, leading to a procedure that is fast enough to be embedded into a Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) loop.
Leading Toward Equity in Bilingual Education: Leadership Actions in a Reconceptualization of a Common Literacy Assessment Routine

This article presents a case study that examined leaders’ actions within a Spanish/English two-way immersion program as they guided teachers in a critical analysis of a common literacy assessment routine. The intent of this research was to move toward a more equitable reconceptualization of the literacy assessment routine and ultimately work to disaffirm deficit views of emergent bilingual learners often perpetuated by conventional assessment practices. This examination relied on the framework of transformative leadership and linguistically responsive schooling. Findings reveal the leaders established a critical bilingual stance, enacted bilingual pedagogical spaces, and fostered the development of a bilingual community identity. The authors contend the critically transformative leader is key to the sustainability of equitable practices as they act to support, sustain, and deepen the critical aspect of professional learning communities and influence pedagogical change. Although focused on the ever-expanding field of bilingual education, the outcomes of this work address all leaders who seek to create equity in their diverse school communities and uphold culture and language as assets to learning.
Sustainability Practices Disclosure and Value Relevance: Evidence from Jordan

This study aimed at identifying the level of the sustainability practices disclosure of Jordanian commercial banks listed on the Amman Stock Exchange, as well as explore the value relevance of sustainability practices disclosure and verify its role in shares prices and market returns of Jordanian commercial banks listed on the Amman Stock Exchange. This study proposes to present the diverse instrument's measurement of the variables proposed by the literature. In the Price and Return models, stock prices and stock returns are considered as the dependent variables in order to measure value relevance, while the level of the independent variable is sustainability practices disclosure. Data were collected from the annual reports of the banks included in the study sample during the period from 2008 to 2019. The results indicate that there is a wide gap between Jordanian banks in the level of disclosure of sustainability practices. The results of the valuation analysis revealed that investors positively appreciate the disclosure of the sustainability practices of Jordanian commercial banks listed on the ASE. The results of the analysis revealed that the explanatory power of all models of the study increases significantly when the variable related to the level of disclosure of sustainability practices is included in the model.