bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Knowledge and Utilization of Family Planning Services among Women of Reproductive Age in Ilishan Community Health Center, Ogun State
Authors: J. O. Maitanmi , J. A. Osayande , B. T. Maitanmi , O. Akingbade , M. I. Okwuikpo , T. A. Leslie
Published: April 2021

Nearly one in ten women of reproductive age worldwide has an unmet need for family planning. Although contraceptive usage has increased globally, sub-Saharan Africa has recorded the lowest usage of contraceptives worldwide, with Nigeria, the country with the highest population in Africa still recording a low prevalence of contraceptive usage. This descriptive survey assessed the knowledge and utilization of family planning services among 85 women attending a comprehensive health centre in Ogun State. Data analysis was done with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 and hypotheses were tested using chi-square. Findings revealed the level of knowledge on family planning was above average as 55.8% demonstrated good knowledge; however, utilization of family planning services was below average as 55.8% showed inadequate utilization. While significant association was found between the utilization of family planning and the number of children per household, (χ2=8. 649, p = 0.034), no significant association was found between knowledge of the respondents and their utilization of family planning services (χ2=0.828, p = 0.730), and also between knowledge of the respondents and their educational level (χ2=4.303, p = 0.116). Although the level of knowledge in this study was above average, there is still room for improvement even as the knowledge did not translate into adequate utilization of family planning services. This calls for more advocacy and interventions to combat this trend. This will hopefully improve contraceptive prevalence while aligning Nigeria with the Sustainable Development Goal of providing universal access to reproductive health services by 2030.
United Nations Mission Contribution Towards Conflict Resolution in Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, 1991-2019
Authors: O. J. Kaka , S. M. Sarki , B. L. Solomon
Published: April 2021

This study looks into the UN Mission and Conflict Resolution in the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic from 1991 to 2019. Since 1975, when Spain granted the region to Morocco and Mauritania, Western Sahara has been in a state of political turmoil. The analysis used a descriptive and historical research style. A total of fifteen military personnel who have served or are currently serving in MINURSO, as well as two related civilians, were interviewed via Skype, Whatsapp, Messenger, and face-to-face interviews, with additional information obtained from journals and published books. The philosophy embraced and deemed important for this analysis was the Paris-proposed Liberal Peace. For the analysis, two research questions and objectives were established. The data was analysed using a descriptive and contextual approach. According to the findings, the unresolved disagreements over the status of Western Sahara include, among other things, the weak performance of the UN mission mandate, regional dominance squabbles between Algeria and Morocco, and finally, the combined super powers' self-interest and struggle for supremacy, which makes the resolution of the Western Sahara conflict difficult. The study suggests, among other things, that the UN move forward with the Settlement Plan's transitional and referendum phases. Major powers should once again avoid prioritizing their self-interests to the detriment of the general welfare of the local population impacted by the Western Sahara conflict.
Markovian Analysis of Covid-19 Dynamics
Authors: Ibrahim-Tiamiyu S. , Oni O. V. , Adeleke E. O.
Published: April 2021

Covid-19 is an emergency and viral infection with its outbreak being termed as one of the great epidemics in the 21st century causing so many deaths, which made WHO declare it as a pandemic emergency. This virus is new and comes with its characteristics of which randomness and uncertainty are among its common features. In this paper, we developed a model for carrying out an analysis of COVID-19 dynamics using Markov-chain theory methodology. Here, we employed the use of conditional probability distribution as embedded in the Markov property of our chain to construct the transition probabilities that were used in determining the probability distributions of COVID-19 patients as well as predicting its future spread dynamics. We provide a step-by-step approach to obtaining probability distributions of infected and recovered individuals, of infected and recovering and of a recovered patient being getting infected again. This study reveals that irrespective of the initial state of health of an individual, we will always have probabilities P_RI/〖(P〗_IR+P_RI) of an individual being infected and P_RI/〖(P〗_IR+P_RI) of an individual recovering from this disease. Also, with increasing ‘n’, we have an equilibrium that does not depend on the initial conditions, the implication of which is that at some point in time, the situation stabilizes and the distribution X_(n+1) is the same as that of X_n. We envision that the output of this model will assist those in the health system and related fields to plan for the potential impact of the pandemic and its peak.
Identifying Emotions and Thoughts Related to Speaking Anxiety: Laying the Groundwork for Designing CBT-based Support Materials for Anxious Learners
Authors: Curry Neil , Maher Kate , Peeters Ward
Published: April 2021

Students describing feelings of anxiety and a lack of confidence for speaking in a foreign language can be a common phenomenon in the context of Japanese higher education. We believe that cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques can be used to help such learners overcome these feelings. A scenario-based questionnaire, adapted from Gkonou and Oxford’s MYE (2016), was designed in order to examine a number of speaking situations which were thought to induce anxiety, the emotions students associate with these situations and why they feel them, whether there are any situational factors influencing their perceptions, and what coping strategies they may or may not use. Using data collected from 85 first-year English-language majors, we found that ‘You want to say something in English in class, but you don’t’ was the most negatively rated scenario. This was reported as a frequent occurrence and was also a scenario where they lacked coping strategies to deal with their negative emotions. The data also show that there are notable, significant correlations between how frequently students experience any of the given scenarios and how they rate their emotions, with the more frequently a scenario is experienced, the more negatively it is evaluated. This data will be utilised to design CBT-based activities to reduce anxiety in the foreign language classroom.
CLIL Challenges: Secondary School CLIL Teachers’ Voices and Experienced Agency in Three European Contexts
Authors: Skinnari Kristiina
Published: April 2021

This qualitative interview study focuses on CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) teacher agency in three European contexts, Austria, Finland and Andalusia, Spain. The aim of the study is to understand how individual CLIL teachers experience their agency when encountering challenges in their work and to demonstrate the multifaceted quality of their agency. The study employs the Listening Guide method (Gilligan, 2015) to listen to the voices of three secondary school subject teachers from three diverse contexts. The analysis shows that CLIL challenges both empowered and disempowered the teachers depending on how meaningful they found their work and what their possibilities to act were in their specific contexts. Some of the teachers’ CLIL experiences were similar, for instance, struggling alone with lack of support. However, these challenges did not affect the teachers’ agency in a straightforward way. In spite of the seemingly comparable challenges, the teachers described their unique experiences and ways to cope with the demands of their work in different ways. For example, using two languages or making their own materials was for some invigorating and for others problematic. In addition, during the interviews individual teachers also reported about their experiences in various ways, explaining, elaborating and balancing their thoughts with varying expressions of agency. Particularly significant for the teachers’ experiences of agency appeared to be the beginning of their CLIL career, however, their initial experiences of agency did not endure. The study shows that CLIL teacher agency is multivoiced, dynamic and often vulnerable.
Skammens retorik i indvandringsdebatten
Authors: E. Kjeldsen Jens
Published: April 2021

The rhetoric of shame has become predominant in the public sphere. This is especially the case in immigration debates. Here citizens express shame over the way their nation treats immigrants and refugees, or argue that others ought to be ashamed of themselves because of their treatment of foreigners. This article study the rhetorical use of shame and the reactions and counter argumentation to such appeals. I examine one month’s press coverage of the immigration debate in Denmark. Based on this I establish four forms of rhetorical shame and three forms of rhetorical reactions to the demand for shame. The four forms are: felt individual shame, ascribed individual shame, felt collective shame, and ascribed collective shame. The three forms of rhetorical reactions are: referring to established facts, counter attack on opponents tone and style, and populist accusation of elitism. My analysis suggests that the rhetorical use of shame in public debate is neither effective nor a beneficial to a good deliberative debate. My study also suggests that the use of shame as a rhetorical performative language game, may – over time – contribute to a rhetorical working through that influences our attitudes and acts in a beneficial way
Den populistiske retoriks potentiale. En undersøgelse af Donald Trumps valgkampagne 2016
Authors: Inger Reiter Gry
Published: April 2021

Populist movements experience success, while established parties and institutions such as human rights, free trade deals, the EU and NATO are framed as enemies of the people. But what exactly is populism and what constitutes populist rhetoric? Through an extensive reading of Donald Trump’s electoral campaign this article advances an understanding of populism as a rhetorical phenomenon and develops a theoretical model for analyzing populist rhetoric
The Effect of Good Corporate Governance and Sustainability Report on Company Performance
Authors: aidi Jun , iono Nurd , Rifai Ahmad , Bawano Icuk Rangga
Published: April 2021

This study examines the effect of good corporate governance and sustainability report on company performance. Good corporate governance is dependent on the size of the board of directors, the proportion of independent commissioners, the size of the audit committee, institutional ownership, management ownership. Sustainability report is facilitated by economic, environmental and social aspect as well as disclosure index. While Company performance is generated by Return on Assets (ROA). This research was conducted on companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange between 2014-2018. The purposive sampling technique was used. Hypothesis testing was done by linear regression analysis. The results of testing the first variable showed that institutional ownership affects ROA and has a negative relationship direction. While the size of the board of directors, the proportion of independent directors, the size of the audit committee, and management ownership have no effect on ROA. However, the result of the second variable showed that the disclosure of economic aspects affects ROA and has a positive relationship direction. While disclosure of environmental and social aspects does not affect ROA.
La Subcontratación laboral, alcances y trascendencia legal en Nicaragua
Authors: Osejo Luis Manuel
Published: April 2021

La tercerización de la fuerza laboral es una actividad cada vez más creciente en nuestro país, sin que en el orden jurídico nacional se cuente con una legislación amplia como se requiere para regular este tipo de trabajo, existiendo únicamente normas contradictorias en cuanto a la determinación de las responsabilidades del contratita principal, de manera que es el trabajador que presta el servicio, quien se coloca en una posición de desventaja y desprotección, por lo que se pone al descubierto la necesidad de su regulación. En el presente trabajo se presenta un análisis general basado en criterios doctrinarios, sobre la aplicación de esta figura, la valoración de los criterios jurisprudenciales sentados en el país, para finalmente proponer la forma en que debería regularse para garantizar una efectiva tutela de derechos.
Advancing the application of remote sensing for forest information needs in Canada: Lessons learned from a national collaboration of university, industrial and government stakeholders
Authors: Coops Nicholas C. , Achim Alexis , Arp Paul , Bater Christopher W. , Caspersen John P. , Côté Jean-François , Dech Jeffery P. , Dick Adam R. , van Ewijk Karin , Fournier Richard , Goodbody Tristan R. H. , Hennigar Chris R. , Leboeuf Antoine , van Lier Olivier R. , Luther Joan E. , MacLean David A. , McCartney Grant , Pelletier Gaetan , Prieur Jean-Francois , Tompalski Piotr , Treitz Paul M. , White Joanne C. , Woods Murray E.
Published: April 2021

The Canadian forest sector requires detailed information regarding the amount and characteristics of the forest resource. To address these needs, inventory systems that spatially quantify timber and other forest related ecosystem services are required, that are accurate, comprehensive and timely. The Assessment of Wood properties using Remote Sensing (AWARE) was a five-year project involving collaboration between seven Canadian universities, and seven forest companies with support provided by provincial and federal forestry agencies and other non-for-profit forestry focused organisations. AWARE provided methods and tools to enhance the characterization of forests at national, landscape and individual tree scales. The project supported 24 post-doctoral fellows, PhD and MSc students that examined the roles that advanced three-dimensional remote sensing technologies can play in the development of accurate forest inventory systems across Canada. In this review we examine the AWARE research project, review research highlights, key outcomes, future research needs, and provide an assessment of successes and challenges the project faced over its five-year lifetime.
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure in the Treatment of COVID-19 Patients with Respiratory Failure. A Report of Six Cases with Excellent Outcome
Authors: Velissaris Dimitrios , Aretha Diamanto , Tsiotsios Konstantinos , Gogos Charalambos , Karamouzos Vasileios
Published: April 2021

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is currently considered a significant threat to global health and global economy. This new rapidly spreading virus causes enormous stress to healthcare systems as large number of patients present with respiratory failure, needing intubation and mechanical ventilation. While the industry is racing to meet the rising demand for ventilators, all the alternative respiratory support modalities are employed to save lives in hospitals around the globe. We hereby report 6 patients who were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 and treated with continuous positive airway pressure in a negative pressure isolated room in a tertiary center in western Greece. The rapid progression of mild flu-like symptoms to respiratory failure in all patients was controlled with the use of continuous positive airway pressure making this strategy a reasonable alternative to respiratory failure due to SARS-CoV-2 as it may avert intubation and mechanical ventilation.
Najważniejsze problemy poprawy projektowania elementów
i obiektów budowlanych
Authors: Runkiewicz Leonard , Sieczkowski Jan
Published: April 2021

W artykule przedstawiono szacunkowe zestawienia wyników analiz zagrożeń, awarii i katastrof, jakie wystąpiły na terenie Polski w latach 1962–2019. Wyniki zestawiono w zależności od charakteru obiektów, rodzaju uszkodzeń lub zniszczeń oraz rodzaju materiałów. Wskazano również najbardziej powszechne błędy projektowe wpływające na zagrożenia, awarie i katastrofy oraz wymieniono elementy, których powinna dotyczyć poprawa projektowania. Wnioski z analiz powinny stanowić podstawy do innowacyjnych rozwiązań w pracach badawczo-wdrożeniowych.
Ocena zdolności rewitalizacyjnej wybranego obiektu zabytkowego
na przykładzie dworu w Klicach
Authors: Salamonowicz Michał , Miklińska Julia , Balcerkiewicz Daria
Published: April 2021

Celem artykułu jest przybliżenie zagadnień związanych z rewitalizacją i renowacją obiektów zabytkowych poprzez pokazanie procesu oceny zdolności rewitalizacyjnej oraz renowacyjnej zabytkowego dworu w Klicach na Mazowszu Północnym. W artykule zostały omówione podstawowe definicje związane z całym procesem – technicznym, a także społeczno-kulturowym. W dalszej części przedstawiono wyniki badań oraz propozycje funkcji wybranego budynku zabytkowego.
Zasady
wprowadzania do obrotu
i udostępniania wyrobów budowlanych
na rynku europejskim oraz krajowym
Authors: Staniszewska-Chlebowska Edyta , Fleszar Agnieszka , Geryło Robert , Szer Jacek
Published: April 2021

W artykule wskazano aktualnie obowiązujące w Polsce i Unii Europejskiej wymagania ustawowe dotyczące wprowadzania do obrotu oraz udostępniania na rynku europejskim, a także krajowym wyrobów budowlanych. Przedstawiono zasady funkcjonowania systemu europejskiego i krajowego. W przypadku systemu krajowego opisano ostatnią nowelizację ustawy o wyrobach budowlanych wraz z grupami wyrobów budowlanych podlegających obowiązkowi oznakowania znakiem budowlanym. Opisano zasady wydawania krajowych oraz europejskich ocen technicznych.
Ewolucja postrzegania pojęcia bezpieczeństwo
Authors: KOZIOŁ, PhD Jerzy
Published: April 2021

Ostatnie dziesięciolecia historii świata charakteryzowane przez większość badaczy
przedstawiane są jako epoka głębokich i szybkich zmian. Przy tym w wypowiedziach
tych dostrzega się cechy rodzącej się nowej epoki, rozwój filozoficznych
i koncepcyjnych podstaw nowego świata odbywa się równolegle z gwałtownie
zachodzącymi zmianami naukowego paradygmatu. W tych warunkach jedyną niezawodną
podstawą do zrozumienia nowych czasów staje się dostrzeżenie ewolucji
podstawy teoretycznej. Zakłada to możliwość i nawet konieczność wprowadzenia
zmian w fundamencie budowanego świata, który okazuje się „katastrofalnie kruchy
i zmienny”. Artykuł przedstawia wyniki analizy społeczno-filozoficznej ewolucji
pojęcia bezpieczeństwo. Współczesna teoria bezpieczeństwa, chociaż uświadamia
sobie swój przedmiot, lecz jest teorią dopiero się formującą. Stąd wydaje się zasadne
zdefiniowanie jej metodologicznych założeń, zrozumienie bezpieczeństwa
jako ewoluującego procesu. Dla stwarzania teorii bezpieczeństwa jako jednolitego
systemu trzeba zdefiniować jego społeczno-kulturowe założenia jako uniwersalnego
systemu, stworzonego przez cywilizację. W artykule przedstawiono filozoficzne
myśli rozpatrujące pojęcie bezpieczeństwa na przestrzeni wieków w antycznej
i współczesnej tradycji teoretycznej.
Jednoślady i inne urządzenia transportu osobistego (UTO) a bezpieczeństwo ludzi. Cz. II – prawne aspekty bezpieczeństwa niechronionych uczestników ruchu
Authors: Frańczak Dorota , Ziobro Jan
Published: April 2021

Poruszanie się przy pomocy różnych urządzeń transportu osobistego staje się coraz
popularniejsze, zwłaszcza w dużych aglomeracjach miejskich. Obecnie obowiązujące
przepisy prawa zawierają pewne obowiązki skierowane do różnych grup
uczestników ruchu drogowego, których ustanowienie podyktowane zostało względami
bezpieczeństwa. Jednakże w polskim systemie prawnym brakuje norm określających
status UTO oraz zasad dotyczących przemieszczania się takimi środkami
transportu. Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie istniejących regulacji prawnych
dotyczących bezpieczeństwa niechronionych uczestników ruchu oraz propozycji
nowych rozwiązań w tym zakresie zmierzających do jego poprawy. Temat został
podjęty, ponieważ obserwuje się stale rosnącą liczbę wypadków z udziałem UTO
oraz innych uczestników ruchu, co stanowi istotny problem bezpieczeństwa ruchu
drogowego, w szczególności bezpieczeństwa pieszych. Analiza obowiązujących
i proponowanych regulacji prawnych to metoda badawcza, która pozwoli osiągnąć
zakładany cel.
General Concept of Re-Framing Urban Resilience
Authors: Gromek Paweł
Published: April 2021

Urban resilience has a significant influence on human safety and security around the
world. As the vast majority of the 21st century population lives in a hazard-networked
reality, urban resilience remains under pressure of multiple factors which force
a need to re-frame it. The research objective is to outline a general concept for
re-framing of urban resilience with respect to gaps to be found in theory and practice
of urban resilience. The methodology bases on a wide-designed literature review
of international base of scientific papers. Theoretical and practical descriptions of
the urban resilience problem allow to identify serious gaps that need to be taken
into account. They can be transformed into requirements and ideas for new frames
of urban resilience. The new framework stems from the state-of-art and, additionally,
allows for the identified gaps. For those reasons, it is worthwhile to consider
those frames in future investigations and in research dedicated to resilience, urban
resilience, disaster risk reduction, disaster management and crisis management.
Uma abordagem para redução do custo do Teste de Mutação utilizando Redes Neurais
Authors: Nogueira Lucas Lagôa , Delamaro Márcio Eduardo
Published: April 2021

Durante o processo de criação de um software, é essencial conduzir atividades com o objetivo de revelar a existência de possíveis defeitos. Nesse contexto, as atividades de Teste de Software permitem o fornecimento de evidências da confiabilidade do software. Para tanto, o Teste de Software possui várias técnicas que podem ser aplicadas com suas diferentes características. Uma das técnicas existentes é o Teste Baseado em Defeitos em que o principal critério dessa técnica é o Teste de Mutação. O Teste de Mutação ocorre por meio da criação de programas mutantes se baseando no programa original, realizando alterações sintáticas no programa com objetivo de alterar a semântica. Se um caso de teste detectar o mutante do programa original, ele possui maior probabilidade de revelar defeitos. Porém, o Teste de Mutação possui algumas limitações, tais como a geração de mutantes equivalentes, a geração de mutantes redundantes e também a grande geração de mutantes. Recentemente, técnicas de Aprendizado de Máquina têm sido aplicadas para auxiliar o Teste de Software e também o Teste de Mutação. Este trabalho de mestrado tem como principal objetivo de projetar uma abordagem de redução desse custo do teste de mutação. Dessa maneira, pretende-se utilizar técnicas de Aprendizado de Máquina e Redes Neurais para desenvolver a abordagem. Tal abordagem permitirá uma melhora na eficiência da aplicação do critério permitindo uma redução da geração de mutantes.
Um Método para Geração de Modelo de Sistemas-de-Sistemas de Informação a partir da Análise de Modelos de Processos de Negócio
Authors: Oliveira Lucas Da Silva , De Vasconcelos Aline Pires Vieira , Dos Santos Rodrigo Pereira
Published: April 2021

As organizações buscam atingir metas pela execução de processos de negócio apoiados pelos sistemas de informação. Porém, muitas vezes os profissionais têm dificuldade em executar alguns processos de negócio pela falta de comunicação efetiva entre os sistemas, o que afeta as tarefas dos stakeholders. Recentemente, este arranjo de sistemas tem sido investigado como Sistema-de-Sistemas de Informação (SoIS), uma classe de Sistemas-de-Sistemas (SoS) focada em negócios. Entender processos de negócio se torna crítico para assegurar a interoperabilidade entre os sistemas. Esta pesquisa visa desenvolver uma abordagem baseada em SoIS para detectar necessidades de interoperabilidade entre os sistemas de uma organização, ou de diferentes organizações, a partir da análise de processos de negócio de suas unidades.
A Context-based Recommendation Model for Design Thinking Techniques Selection in Software Development
Authors: Parizi Rafael , Marczak Sabrina
Published: April 2021

Design Thinking (DT) has been chosen as an approach to support problem-solving by many software development companies. However, there are divergences between the professionals of these companies concerning which techniques are performed, which steps are followed, and the way to implement this approach, as it proposes itself, to be divergent to generate numerous alternatives and, also, convergent, to find a solution. As a practical way to apply DT in software development, a collection of techniques are implemented during different working spaces provided by the DT models. Therefore, selecting the appropriate techniques within the set of the available ones is challenging. Aiming to present a solution for helping software development professionals in how to select the appropriate techniques for DT activities, we propose the development of a theoretical context-based recommendation model for selecting DT techniques for software development. Thus, we aim to develop a recommender and collaborative system of DT techniques and to validate it through industry-based empirical studies. We have already characterized the DT techniques that professionals are using and how they select them, and the benefits and challenges of using DT. These results were used to inform the proposal and the validation of a first version of the DT techniques recommendation tool, which presents the tool first round of core features.
ScenarIoT: Support for Scenario Specification of Internet of Things-based Software Systems
Authors: Da Silva Valéria Martins , Travassos Guilherme H.
Published: April 2021

As well as any paradigm shift, the Internet of Things (IoT) brings up challenges related to several areas of research, including Software Engineering at different stages of development. This work proposes the ScenarIoT approach aiming to support the specification of scenarios when developing software systems on the IoT background. This approach is grounded on Interaction Arrangements - designed by applying an evidence-based approach – which represents recurrent flows of interaction between abstract elements of the IoT domain. These results presented can contribute to the progress of research on IoT from the lens of the Software Engineering research field.
Implementação de um Cluster Embarcado usando a Plataforma Raspberry Pi
Authors: Lima Felipe Dos Anjos , Dias Wanderson  Roger Azevedo , Moreno Edward  David
Published: April 2021

Este artigo apresenta os resultados obtidos nas simulações que mensuraram o desempenho computacional e o consumo energético de um cluster embarcado de baixo custo implementado com a plataforma Raspberry Pi. Nas simulações, foram utilizado os algoritmos matemáticos de multiplicação de matrizes e produto escalar, além dos benchmarks HPL e HPCC, onde foi possível constatar um aumento considerável de desempenho obtido com o uso cluster, quando comparado com soluções sequenciais. Também pode-se concluir que o aumento no poder de processamento do cluster com a biblioteca OpenMPI ocasionou um consumo de 5,7% a mais energia durante o seu processamento.
Avaliação do Paralelismo em Python para Otimizar uma Abordagem de Identificação de Máscaras Faciais utilizando Redes Neurais Artificiais
Authors: Steinbruch Natan , Santos Vinícius , Villela Nicholas , Camargo Gabriel  Renato , Xavier Andre , Brandão Diego
Published: April 2021

A pandemia de Covid-19 tem exigido grandes esforços de toda a comunidade científica. Inúmeras iniciativas de pesquisas sobre novas vacinas e possíveis tratamentos têm sido desenvolvidas. No entanto, o controle da pandemia tem sido mais efetivo por meio do comprometimento de toda a população em obedecer os protocolos sanitários, como o isolamento social e principalmente pelo uso das máscaras faciais. Tais atitudes são simples, mas diariamente são exibidos casos de aglomerações e de pessoas que se recusam a utilizar as máscaras, dificultando o controle da doença. Este artigo apresenta uma abordagem por meio de Redes Neurais Artificiais (RNA) para identificação de pessoas que não estão utilizando as máscaras faciais. A linguagem Python é utilizada para implementar a RNA, sendo avaliado o paralelismo proveniente da biblioteca NumPy. Os resultados obtidos demonstram que apesar de o paralelismo empregado ser pontual, ele impacta positivamente no tempo de execução da abordagem desenvolvida.
Gerenciamento Hierárquico de Falhas para Aplicações MPI
Authors: Moraes Lucas Baptista de , Passos Fernanda Gonçalves de Oliveira
Published: April 2021

Um grande desafio para cenários de larga escala são as falhas, uma vez que a biblioteca de troca de mensagens MPI não possui, nativamente, um suporte de tolerância a falhas. Por isso, é necessário o uso de bibliotecas com tal suporte, como a ULFM. Neste trabalho, é proposto um protótipo simplificado de um sistema gerenciador de aplicações MPI, chamado EasyGrid SGA, com uma nova implementação do mecanismo de sua tolerância a falhas. Resultados preliminares mostram sua eficácia na detecção e reparo de falhas e suas baixas sobrecargas no tempo de execução da aplicação.
Redes de bits como alternativa às redes neurais em problemas de aprendizado por reforço
Authors: Machado Nickolas R. , Machado Pedro C. F. , Zamith Juliana M. N. S. , Braida Filipe , Alvim Leandro , Ferreira Raul S.
Published: April 2021

Redes neurais artificiais (RNAs) são amplamente utilizadas, como por exemplo, em jogos digitais através de agentes inteligentes que replicam o comportamento humano. Contudo, o custo computacional de treinamento delas costuma ser alto, exigindo a escolha entre maior processamento ou menor qualidade. Desta forma, este trabalho propõe o uso de redes de bits (RBs) como uma alternativa capaz de maximizar o processamento enquanto minimiza o consumo de memória. Comparados às RNAs de precisão simples, os primeiros resultados mostram um speedup de até 91 vezes utilizando 32 vezes menos memória.
Data-Flow Analysis Heuristic for Vulnerability Detection on Configurable Systems
Authors: Andrade Gleyberson , Cirilo Elder , Durelli Vinicius , Cafeo Bruno , Adachi Eiji
Published: April 2021

Configurable software systems offer a variety of benefits such as supporting easy configuration of custom behaviours for distinctive needs. However, it is known that the presence of configuration options in source code complicates maintenance tasks and requires additional effort from developers when adding or editing code statements. They need to consider multiple configurations when executing tests or performing static analysis to detect vulnerabilities. Therefore, vulnerabilities have been widely reported in configurable software systems. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of vulnerability detection depends on how the multiple configurations (i.e., samples sets) are selected. In this paper, we tackle the challenge of generating more adequate system configuration samples by taking into account the intrinsic characteristics of security vulnerabilities. We propose a new sampling heuristic based on data-flow analysis for recommending the subset of configurations that should be analyzed individually. Our results show that we can achieve high vulnerability-detection effectiveness with a small sample size.
Contextual Similarity Among Identifier Names: An Empirical Study
Authors: Gresta Remo , Cirilo Elder
Published: April 2021

Identifiers are one of the most important sources of domain information in software development. Therefore, it is recognized that the proper use of names directly impacts the code's comprehensibility, maintainability, and quality. Our goal in this work is to expand the current knowledge about names by considering not only their quality but also their contextual similarity. To achieve that, we extracted names of four large scale open-source projects written in Java. Then, we computed the semantic similarity between classes and their attributes/variables using Fasttext, an word embedding algorithm. As a result, we could observe that source code, in general, preserve an acceptable level of contextual similarity, developers avoid to use names out of the default dictionary (e.g., domain), and files with more changes and maintained by distinct contributors tend to have better a contextual similarity.
Vom Geben und Nehmen in einer Designagentur. Gefühle als betriebliche Währung in der Kreativökonomie
Authors: Manske Alexandra
Published: April 2021

Dieser Artikel untersucht die Ökonomie von Emotionen als ›Gabentausch‹. Ziel ist, ein empirisch grundiertes Deutungsangebot zur affektiv-sozialen Wirklichkeit von Arbeitsverhältnissen in der Kreativökonomie zu präsentieren. Methodische Basis ist eine Fallstudie einer kleinteilig organisierten Agentur für strategisches Design. Die Frage ist, inwieweit sich darin der Lohn für Arbeit nicht allein in Geld, sondern auch in Gefühlen bemisst. Die These lautet, dass die soziale Ordnung der untersuchten Agentur vom Glauben an die ›gute‹ Agentur und von als authentisch emotionalisierten Gefühlen getragen wird, die von den Beschäftigten zugleich mitunter als erzwungen erlebt werden.
Religious Gift-Giving Turned Upside Down. On Monks and Punks in Myanmar
Authors: Hirsch Carolin
Published: April 2021

In Myanmar, a mainly Buddhist country, gift-giving practices are part of the everyday life. An established practice is dāna, where laypeople support those living a monastic life. Turning this established practice on its head is used as a tool of socio-political protest by a group of punks, who run the local chapter of Food Not Bombs in Yangon. The punks’' protest is contextualized through the local nexus of religion and politics, within which dāna practices occupy a central role.
Corporate Volunteering – Gabe, Geschenk oder Tausch? Gabeverständnisse und die Folgen für Corporate Volunteering
Authors: Hollstein Bettina
Published: April 2021

Corporate Volunteering - Zeitspende von verantwortlichen Corporate Citizens oder Pervertierung des Ehrenamts? Der Beitrag zeigt auf, wie unterschiedliche Perspektiven auf Corporate Volunteering als Tausch, altruistisches Geschenk oder als ritueller Gabentausch das Verständnis von ehrenamtlichem Engagement von Unternehmen verändern. Auf dieser Grundlage wird ein differenzierterer Blick auf die Rolle des Corporate Volunteerings als Teil von CSR-Strategien von Unternehmen in modernen Gesellschaften möglich.
The Effect of Regular Aerobic Exercise Training and Pumpkin Seed Extract on the Heart and Aorta Apoptosis Biomarkers in Arsenic-Intoxicated Rats
Authors: Badkoubeh-Hezaveh Mehdi , Abedi Bahram , Rahmati-Ahmadabad Saleh
Published: April 2021

Background: Arsenic as a widely inadvertently-used metal can trigger oxidative stress, leading to heart diseases. Objectives: In this regard, this study aimed to evaluate the simultaneous effect of regular aerobic exercise and pumpkin seed extract on the heart and aorta endothelial cells' apoptosis in rats poisoned with arsenic. Methods: To this end, 56 male Wistar rats were divided into seven groups: (1) TC (toxic control), (2) AE (aerobic exercise training), (3) TAP1 (toxic aerobic exercise training + 300 mg/kg/day pumpkin seed extract consumption), (4) TAP2 (toxic aerobic exercise training + 600 mg/kg/day pumpkin seed extract consumption), (5) TP1 (300 mg/kg/day toxic pumpkin seed extract consumption), (6) TP2 (600 mg/kg/day toxic pumpkin seed extract consumption), and (7) HC (healthy control). All the groups (with the exception of HC) were exposed to 25 ppm arsenic per day for 16 weeks. Then aerobic exercise training program or pumpkin seed extract, or both, were administered to rats depending on the groups for eight weeks. Twenty-four hours after the last intervention session, the rats were killed, and their tissues were collected. Statistical analyses were performed, and P < 0.05 was set as the significance level. Results: The results showed that pumpkin seed extract lowered BCL2-associated X protein (Bax) and caspase-3 levels and increased B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl2) significantly only at a dose of 600 mg/kg; however, no change was observed when only aerobic exercise training was performed. The groups who received both interventions had more significant changes in the heart and aorta tissues for all factors. Conclusions: It was concluded that the concurrent administration of aerobic exercise training and pumpkin seed extract could decrease apoptosis more significantly in both tissues in arsenic-intoxicated rats, compared to each individual intervention
The Effect of Internationalising the Student Community on Graduate Students' Global Citizenship:
Authors: Ayebare Justine
Published: April 2021

This article examines the effect of internationalising the student community on graduate students’ demonstrated commitment to global citizenship at a university in Uganda. It arose from a sequential explanatory survey study. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from a sample of 180 graduate students, with the former analysed employing descriptive and inferential statistics, while the latter were analysed using thematic content analysis. The quantitative results revealed that an internationalised studentcommunity has a statistically significant positive effect on graduate students’ demonstrated global competence, but not on their demonstrated commitment to social responsibility. The qualitative findings produced similar results. They revealed that the presence of international students on campus coupled with graduate students’ participation in international activities such as conferences and inter-cultural activities promoted their commitment to global citizenship. These findings are in line with those of previous studies. We thus recommend that universities in Uganda and other developing countries in the Global South further internationalise their graduate student community as a strategy to promote their commitment to global citizenship.

Key words: internationalisation, global citizenship, globalisation, higher education, student community
Federal agency return on investment in foreign patenting
Authors: Leech David P , Scott John T
Published: April 2021

This report documents the U.S. federal agencies use of foreign patents, in addition to U.S. patents, to protect the intellectual property for inventions created in their laboratories. The report describes the extent of U.S. and foreign patents in the patent portfolios of the U.S. federal agencies, and it describes the process of licensing of the agencies patented inventions. A dynamic panel data model is estimated for each agency s invention-license revenues as a function of the history of its applications and granted patents. The evidence supports the view that an agency that obtains U.S. patents for its inventions but does not obtain foreign patent protection may reduce the value of licenses to use the technologies. Value for the licensee may be reduced because the corporations that license the agency s technologies may face international competition from firms that copy those technologies and compete with lower costs because they do not incur full development costs or pay royalties for licensing the technologies. The report estimates the agencies benefits, in terms of licensing revenues, and costs for obtaining foreign-patent protection for their U.S.-patented inventions. The report provides detailed case studies of the licensing and commercialization of two federal-agency technologies.
Interpreting the Traditional Jewellery of Bedouin in Oman through Contemporary Jewellery Practice
Authors:   , Al-Ismaili Amal
Published: April 2021

Although traditional Omani jewellery is considered to be one of the invaluable crafts in the cultural heritage of the Sultanate, contemporary jewellery has been overlooked. Omani traditional jewellery has maintained the same designs for centuries. The market for this jewellery has decreased significantly. Previous studies dealt with traditional Omani jewellery only as objects. The women’s role in the production of traditional Omani jewellery has not been investigated before. The leather parts of Omani traditional jewellery are generally overlooked in previous studies. The aim of this research is to understand the subjective values associated with Omani traditional jewellery, based on the knowledge acquired from oral interviews with Bedouin women who are both makers and wearers of this jewellery. The study then seeks to interpret this traditional Bedouin jewellery through contemporary jewellery practice. The methodology employed in this study is practice-based research that builds on knowledge developed through fieldwork. The study involved both ethnographic and auto-ethnographic research. Fieldwork undertaken in Oman explored the role of women in the production of traditional Omani jewellery and identified 14 subjective values in traditional Bedouin jewellery. The fieldwork revealed a previously unexplored area of the use of eco-leather in traditional Omani jewellery. The interaction with the Bedouin women enabled the recording of traditional craft processing techniques and production of sample material. The fieldwork supported the development of a co-creation group with women craft practitioners for the production of new forms of jewellery drawing on Omani cultural traditions and materials. The fieldwork led to the formation of a co-creation group of craft practitioners. This, in turn, led to experiments using traditional techniques with novel materials facilitating the production of new forms of jewellery which draw on Omani cultural traditions and techniques. The insights gained from this research led to the development of a body of contemporary jewellery under the following themes- Jewellery and materials, Jewellery and mixed cultures; Jewellery and social practice, Jewellery and recycling and sustainability, and Jewellery and technology.
Abjection Made Manifest: The Grotesque Televisual Construction of the Contemporary British Underclass
Authors:   , Cope Louise Mary
Published: April 2021

This thesis investigates how the process of abjection is manifest in the grotesque visual imagery used to depict a configuration of the contemporary underclass: the ‘benefits scrounger’. Both the theoretical foundation and the analysis undertaken in thisresearch are based upon the psychoanalytical notion of the abject, as conceived by Kristeva (1982), and the grotesque as a representational mode, as theorised by Bakhtin (1984), considered as mutually constitutive categoriesthat intersect at the evocation of disgust. It is argued that ‘poverty porn’ programmes perpetuate abject-grotesque imagery and rely on an aesthetics of disgust to construct a figure of the contemporary British poor which coincides with neoliberal ideology, as well as being consistent with historical contempt for the poor. The overarching research philosophy of this thesis is social constructionism: the aim being to detail how the notion of the ‘underclass’ has been socially constructed and mediated; along with exploring the potency of this construction and its implications on the public consensus on benefits claimants. Also considered are the ways in which the participants in poverty porn texts construct the Self in relation to the stigma attached to being a benefits claimant, or a ‘benefits scrounger’. In contemporary Britain, there has been a return to the notion of a feckless and dangerous underclass, who are blamed for a plethora of social issues such as economic decline, draining NHS resources, and rioting. These narratives, combined with neoliberal governmentality, shift the blame of such issues from structural to individual. Thus, constructing a homogenous group such as the ‘underclass’ as abject – outside the boundaries of ‘normal’ society – is necessary to this process: depicting them as a contemporary grotesque leaves them devoid of public sympathy. This research draws upon qualitative and interpretive methods centred on a critical hermeneutics, which when combined with social constructionism lays the analytical foundations for a framing analysis of televisual texts. The textual analysis of twelve poverty porn texts, all broadcast on Channel 5 between 2014-2017, focuses on two predominant representational categories: the Abject Maternal and Grotesque Embodiment. This thesis presents an explorative and original abject-grotesque framework which is utilised to analyse the visual, ideological, discursive and narrative elements of poverty porn. Thus, the overall intention of this research is to promote a greater understanding of poverty porn: investigating how it has been instrumental in constructing the abject-grotesque figure of the benefits scrounger; and how this contributes to deepening social inequalities. The scope of this research is to provide an analytical framework for which future representations of the poor can be interpreted against.
Diseño: la multidirección de la formación y la profesión
Authors: Massaguer Lluc
Published: April 2021

En un contexto –social, económico y también académico– en continua transformación, el ámbito del diseño y la comunicación no ha quedado al margen de un gran movimiento de cimientos. Los límites entre disciplinas y entre los roles, tanto en el ámbito académico como en el profesional, se están desvaneciendo cada vez más. No obstante, no es una novedad que haya surgido desde la pandemia de la COVID-19, sino que esta ha acelerado los cambios. La tendencia ya apuntaba maneras años atrás.
Perturbation series for Jacobi matrices and the quantum Rabi model
Authors: Charif Mirna , Zielinski Lech
Published: April 2021

We investigate eigenvalue perturbations for a class of infinite tridiagonal matrices which define unbounded self-adjoint operators with discrete spectrum. In particular we obtain explicit estimates for the convergence radius of the perturbation series and error estimates for the Quantum Rabi Model including the resonance case. We also give expressions for coefficients near resonance in order to evaluate the quality of the rotating wave approximation due to Jaynes and Cummings.
Robust and distributed neural representation of action values
Authors: Shin Eun Ju , Jang Yunsil , Kim Soyoun , Kim Hoseok , Cai Xinying , Lee Hyunjung , Sul Jung Hoon , Lee Sung-Hyun , Chung Yeonseung , Lee Daeyeol , Jung Min Whan
Published: April 2021

Studies in rats, monkeys, and humans have found action-value signals in multiple regions of the brain. These findings suggest that action-value signals encoded in these brain structures bias choices toward higher expected rewards. However, previous estimates of action-value signals might have been inflated by serial correlations in neural activity and also by activity related to other decision variables. Here, we applied several statistical tests based on permutation and surrogate data to analyze neural activity recorded from the striatum, frontal cortex, and hippocampus. The results show that previously identified action-value signals in these brain areas cannot be entirely accounted for by concurrent serial correlations in neural activity and action value. We also found that neural activity related to action value is intermixed with signals related to other decision variables. Our findings provide strong evidence for broadly distributed neural signals related to action value throughout the brain.