bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Indonesian pre-service teachers’ mindfulness, social emotional competence, and academic achievement
Authors: Hermana Pudja , Zuraida Zuraida , Suganda Lingga Agustina
Published: December 2021

Pre-service teachers must be able to fulfill the standards of having teachers’ competencies and more than adequate knowledge to teach the future generations. In relation to this, mindfulness, social emotional competence, and academic ability become crucial reasons they need in perceiving the quality to become professional teachers. The respondents of this study were 68 students who were English as a Foreign Language (EFL) pre-service teachers ranging from the age of 19-22 from the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education at one of the university in South Sumatra, Indonesia. The aims of this study were to find out the relationship among these pre-service teachers’ mindfulness, social emotional competence and academic achievement. The instruments of this study were the five-facet mindfulness and social emotional competence questionnaires. The documentation of their GPA which were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Test. The results of this study showed that pre-service teachers had high level of mindfulness and social emotional competence. It also highlighted that there were significant weak correlation between their five facet mindfulness and academic achievement, and their five facet mindfulness and social emotional competence toward academic achievement. Specifically, the non-judging dimension from the five-facet mindfulness and self-management from social emotional competence also correlated significantly to academic achievements. In conclusion, the pre-service teachers’ mindfulness, social emotional competence, and academic achievement had beneficial relationship one another.
Productive teacher job satisfaction: Disentangling organizational climate, facility management, and organizational citizenship behavior
Authors: Soparidah Soparidah , Madhakomala R. , Hanafi Ivan
Published: December 2021

Productive teachers are teachers who teach vocational subjects. A productive teacher has complex characteristics and professional requirements so that job satisfaction must be considered. The research objective was to analyze the direct effect of organizational climate, management of facilities and infrastructure, organizational citizenship behavior on the job satisfaction of productive teachers. The research employed a quantitative approach with a survey method. The research sample was conducted at 46 private vocational high schools with a total of 270 productive teachers in East Jakarta, Indonesia. Data was analyze using path analysis. The results showed that there is no direct influence of organizational climate on job satisfaction of productive teachers; there is no direct effect of facility and infrastructure management on job satisfaction of productive teachers; there is a direct influence of organizational citizenship behavior on job satisfaction of productive teachers.
Student alienation and perceived organizational culture: A correlational study
Authors: Trivedi Rajvi , Prakasha G. S.
Published: December 2021

It is generally expected that the students are supposed to gain an engaging and enriching experience throughout their journey of higher education. The educational institutions have to take up the responsibility to ensure that students are engaged meaningfully and are in a state of well-being. However, in the present scenario, students at colleges and universities have started to feel alienated from the campus life. Research shows that alienation levels are rising among the youth. Factors like stress, coping mechanism, restrictive parental behavior, peer pressure, academic performance, and organizational culture have an impact on alienation among the students. This study attempts to understand the relationship between student alienation and organizational culture in an educational institution. The study employed a descriptive correlational design and collected data from 600 under graduate students studying in a university. The study used student alienation scale and organizational culture assessment instrument to collect the survey data. Study revealed that there is a negative correlation between student alienation and organizational culture. There were 30% variation in student alienation is explained by different types of organizational culture. Clan culture reduces student alienation compared to hierarchy culture. The researchers urge for further research to identify ideal organizational cultures that can promote student engagement and student well-being.
Cloud computing adoption among state universities and colleges in the Philippines: Issues and challenges
Authors: Alimboyong Catherine R. , Bucjan Mardie E.
Published: December 2021

The emergence of cloud computing (CC) adoption in higher education institutions (HEIs) is considered widespread today. Its growth comes with tremendous benefits and potential risks as well. This paper endeavors to investigate some issues and challenges that influence the adoption of cloud computing among state universities and colleges (SUCs) in the Philippines. A qualitative design was used in the study as it employed multiple case studies approach. Based on the results, this paper establishes two strong factors such as slow internet connection and lack of understanding or awareness of cloud computing. The findings revealed the impact of cloud computing to SUCs is found beneficial to the educational system amidst the global pandemic. Professors can easily upload lessons and teaching materials while students can easily access the materials online, though the challenge lies in the connectivity of internet in the country. Administrators can easily collaborate with the entire academic community and even to its stakeholder’s potential for collaboration even if not in face to face. It is a perfect avenue to be productive and efficient which allows all processes be made possible to all members of the entire academic community, may it be students, professors, staff and even other stakeholders.
Teachers’ perception and experience on outcomes-based education implementation in Isabela State University
Authors: Tungpalan Krichelle A. , Antalan Mila F.
Published: December 2021

The existing typology established by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the introduction of outcomes-based education (OBE) has created numerous demands and challenges for higher education in the Philippines. Hence, this study analyzed the scope of expertise and experience of Isabela State University-College of Computing Studies, Information and Communication Technology faculty members in the 2nd semester of study year 2018-2019 to identify OBE implementation. In this study, a mixed-method approach was used for data and information collection. Weighted mean was used to interpret the extent of knowledge and actual practice of the faculty members and on the qualitative part, data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results of this study indicate a great deal of expertise and experience on the implementation of OBE among the faculty members of the College of Computing and Information Communication Technology at Isabela State University Cauayan Campus. The faculty members are well versed in the application and practice of OBE and will continue to contribute to the realization of the goals of OBE by practice.
Learning retention in mathematics over consecutive weeks: Impact of motivated forgetting
Authors: Valderama Julius , Oligo Jubert
Published: December 2021

Retention is the ability to retain information in the mind, either in short-term or long-term memory. Memory in the long-term is more ideal. Thus, this has become a challenge for educators on how to transfer ideas in short-term memory to long-term memory. To concretize the effect of time on mathematics learning retention, a randomized pre-test post-test x groups design, using matched subjects was used in the study. Seven matched groups of students were identified, and took the pre-test as the basis of the initial amount of learning, after which a group of students was assigned to take the post-test every week for seven weeks. The post-tests results were the basis of the amount of retained learning of the students. The study found out that: i) The amount of retained learning among the students diminished following a negative exponential curve; ii) The amount of retained learning was comparably equal with the initial amount of learning up to the second week; iii) The amount of retained learning became incomparable with the initial amount of learning after the third week; and iv) The concepts in the knowledge level had a great chance to be remembered while the concept with analysis level was prone to motivated forgetting.
Students’ use behavior towards e-learning tools during COVID-19 pandemics: Case study of higher educational institutions of Thailand
Authors: Muangmee Chaiyawit , Kot Sebastian , Meekaewkunchorn Nusanee , Kassakorn Nuttapon , Tiranawatananun Somyos , Khalid Bilal
Published: December 2021

The research purpose was to conduct an empirical investigation into students’ use behavior of e-learning tools during the COVID-19 pandemic, a case study of higher educational institutions in Thailand. The study applied the UTAUT2 theoretical model. Primary data was collected using a structured questionnaire from a total of 1,493 students across institutions of higher learning in Thailand. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was conducted using AMOS. The findings indicated that student’s behavioral intention to use e-learning tools is positively and significantly influenced by performance expectancy (β=0.22, p<0.05); effort expectancy (β=0.14, p<0.05); social influence (β=0.20, p<0.05); facilitating condition (β=0.50, p<0.05); hedonic motivation (β=0.35, p<0.05); learning value (β=0.51, p<0.05); and social distance (β=0.46, p<0.05). Similarly, behavioral intention by the students to use e-learning tools have a positive and significant effect on actual use of e-learning tools (β=0.82, p<0.05). Learning value and social distance had the largest positive effects on the student’s behavioral intention to use e-learning tools. It is important for the higher education institutions in Thailand to consider them. They are major factors driving students towards adopting e-learning tools during disruptions as witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic period.
The insertion of anti-corruption education into Islamic education learning based on neuroscience
Authors: Suyadi Suyadi , Nuryana Zalik , Asmorojati Anom Wahyu
Published: December 2021

This research aimed to analyze the insertion of anti-corruption education in Islamic education. In the context of anti-corruption education, especially students in tertiary institutions, corrupt practices are manifested in the form of corrupt behavior, such as plagiarism, cheating, truancy, and hitchhiking in group assignments, even though they do not contribute. Anti-corruption education in Islamic education has so far used a dogmatic approach, not using an approach that has a transformative impact, especially neuroscience. In this case, Universitas Ahmad Dahlan, with lecturers who have special competence as anti-corruption trainers, has carried out anti-corruption education in various scientific fields, including Islamic education. This phenomenological type of qualitative research involved 52 students and six lecturers in the master study program of Islamic education. The results showed that anti-corruption education was carried out through insertion into all relevant subjects, especially the neuroscience of Islamic education. The lecturer investigates students' corrupt behavior in anticipation of future corruption crimes. The investigation results show that the most corrupt behavior of students is plagiarism, taking names in group assignments, and leaving absences with friends. The insertion of anti-corruption education with a neuroscience approach is applied in building integrity awareness that corrupt behavior is contrary to how the brain works and even has the potential to destroy reason.
Factors affecting students’ choice of educational administration major: Why do students join the program?
Authors: Wardaya Didik , Prasojo Lantip Diat , Sugiyono Sugiyono
Published: December 2021

The study examined factors affecting Behavioral Intention (BI) regarding students’ choice of educational administration as their major. Samples were taken from Indonesian students. The process was begun with the adaptation of survey instruments from previous studies validated through content validity. In testing the normality, Skewness and Kurtosis values were computed. Reliability assessment was applied through Cronbach’s alpha. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were both conducted for the constructs. In examining the relationship, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis using AMOS 23.0 was applied to 257 responses. The findings informed that two relationships were significant while the other two are insignificant. Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC) and Attitude (AT) significantly predicted BI, while Subjective Norm (SN) and Facilitating Condition (FC) did not significantly predict BI. The current study can expand an in-depth contribution and reference for further researchers as a basis of the empirical evidence in relation to the validated survey questionnaire. Access to the questionnaire may contribute to educational stakeholders establishing policies to improve students’ interests in studying in an educational administration study program.
Perception of teaching performance in the virtual learning environment
Authors: Morales-Romero Guillermo , Trinidad-Loli Nicéforo , Caycho-Salas Beatriz , Paucar-Manrique Yanet , León-Velarde César , Gamarra-Mendoza Sofia , Alvarado-Bravo Nestor , Torrez-Quiroz Almintor , Aliaga-Valdez Carlos , Aldana-Trejo Florcita
Published: December 2021

This article aims to analyze the perception of the students of the professional school of business administration about the teaching performance in the virtual learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. When developing the research, it was determined that there is a good teaching performance, according to the perception of the students. However, it was identified that the factors of domain of the topic and class session management, present a better perception in this context of virtual learning; while the didactic strategies factor is the one that presents a not so favorable perception. In addition, through a comparative analysis, it was determined that the didactic strategies and planning factors have suffered a negative variation with respect to the perception per teacher, when moving from face-to-face to virtual learning, since, of the total of 17 specialty teachers, seven of them one negative variation. These results are validated by the linear regression test, where an R2 value of 0.965 is calculated, with respect to the didactic strategies factor. It means that this factor influences 96.5% on the perception of students with the global factor and an R2 value of 0.921 for the planning factor, which indicates an influence of 92.1%.
Research trend on TPACK through bibliometric analysis (2015-2019)
Authors: Suprapto Nadi , Sukarmin Sukarmin , Puspitawati Rinie Pratiwi , Erman Erman , Savitri Dian , Ku Chih-Hsiung , Mubarok Husni
Published: December 2021

This paper aims to analyze the scientific trend of research on Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) through bibliometric study and explore how the contribution of Indonesian researchers in the Scopus database from 2015 to 2019. The sample was composed of 2075 documents in total. The results revealed that scientific publication on TPACK has been increasing. United States contributed the most documents on TPACK as well as Singapore’s institutions dominated in this area. Meanwhile, Indonesia put its two representative’s institutions: Universitas Sebelas Maret and Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, among the big ten institutions in the world. All Indonesian documents produced by teacher-producing universities and public universities. United States and Taiwan have also contributed to the most productive authors of TPACK. Then, the visualization of research trend on TPACK resulted in four major clusters: i) TPACK as a system; ii) TPACK in relating to its scale; iii) TPACK in connecting with quantitative parameters; and iv) TPACK under beliefs, intention, and technology acceptance. The research findings could aid related researchers to recognize the trend of TPACK research and recommend directions for further research.
Exome Sequencing Highlights a Potential Role for Concealed Cardiomyopathies in Youthful Sudden Cardiac Death
Authors: Neves Raquel , Tester David J. , Simpson Michael A. , Behr Elijah R. , Ackerman Michael J. , Giudicessi John R.
Published: December 2021

Background:

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and sudden unexplained death (SUD) are feared sequelae of many genetic heart diseases. In rare circumstances, pathogenic variants in cardiomyopathy-susceptibility genes may result in electrical instability leading to SCA/SUD before any structural manifestations of underlying cardiomyopathy are evident.

Methods:

Collectively, 38 unexplained SCA survivors (21 males; mean age at SCA 26.4±13.1 years), 68 autopsy-inconclusive SUD cases (46 males; mean age at death 20.4±9.0 years) without disease-causative variants in the channelopathy genes, and 973 ostensibly healthy controls were included. Following exome sequencing, ultrarare (minor allele frequency ≤0.00005 in any ethnic group within Genome Aggregation Database [gnomAD, N=141 456 individuals]) nonsynonymous variants identified in 24 Clinical Genome Resource adjudicated definitive/strong evidence cardiomyopathy-susceptibility genes were analyzed. Eligible variants were adjudicated as pathogenic, likely pathogenic, or variant of uncertain significance in accordance with current American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics guidelines.

Results:

Overall, 7 out of 38 (18.4%) SCA survivors and 14 out of 68 (20.5%) autopsy-inconclusive, channelopathic-negative SUD cases had at least one pathogenic/likely pathogenic or a variant of uncertain significance nonsynonymous variant within a strong evidence, cardiomyopathy-susceptibility gene. Following American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics criterion variant adjudication, a pathogenic or likely pathogenic variant was identified in 3 out of 38 (7.9%;
P
=0.05) SCA survivors and 8 out of 68 (11.8%;
P
=0.0002) autopsy-inconclusive SUD cases compared to 20 out of 973 (2.1%) European controls. Interestingly, the yield of pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants was significantly greater in autopsy-inconclusive SUD cases with documented interstitial fibrosis (4/11, 36%) compared with only 4 out of 57 (7%,
P
<0.02) SUD cases without ventricular fibrosis.

Conclusions:

Our data further supports the inclusion of strong evidence cardiomyopathy-susceptibility genes on the genetic testing panels used to evaluate unexplained SCA survivors and autopsy-inconclusive/negative SUD decedents. However, to avoid diagnostic miscues, the careful interpretation of genetic test results in patients without overt phenotypes is vital.
Provocation Testing and Therapeutic Response in a Newly Described Channelopathy: RyR2 Calcium Release Deficiency Syndrome
Authors: Ormerod Julian O.M. , Ormondroyd Elizabeth , Li Yanhui , Taylor John , Wei Jinhong , Guo Wenting , Wang Ruiwu , Sarton Caroline N.S. , McGuire Karen , Dreau Helene M.P. , Taylor Jenny C. , Ginks Matthew R. , Rajappan Kim , Chen S.R. Wayne , Watkins Hugh
Published: December 2021

Background:

A novel familial arrhythmia syndrome, cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2) calcium release deficiency syndrome (CRDS), has recently been described. We evaluated a large and well characterized family to assess provocation testing, risk factor stratification and response to therapy in CRDS.

Methods:

We present a family with multiple unheralded sudden cardiac deaths and aborted cardiac arrests, primarily in children and young adults, with no clear phenotype on standard clinical testing.

Results:

Genetic analysis, including whole genome sequencing, firmly established that a missense mutation in
RYR2
, Ala4142Thr, was the underlying cause of disease in the family. Functional study of the variant in a cell model showed RyR2 loss-of-function, indicating that the family was affected by CRDS. EPS (Electrophysiological Study) was undertaken in 9 subjects known to carry the mutation, including a survivor of aborted sudden cardiac death, and the effects of flecainide alone and in combination with metoprolol were tested. There was a clear gradation in inducibility of nonsustained and sustained ventricular arrhythmia between subjects at EPS, with the survivor of aborted sudden cardiac death being the most inducible subject. Administration of flecainide substantially reduced arrhythmia inducibility in this subject and abolished arrhythmia in all others. Finally, the effects of additional metoprolol were tested; it increased inducibility in 4/9 subjects.

Conclusions:

The Ala4142Thr mutation of
RYR2
causes the novel heritable arrhythmia syndrome CRDS, which is characterized by familial sudden death in the absence of prior symptoms or a recognizable phenotype on ambulatory monitoring or exercise stress testing. We increase the experience of a specific EPS protocol in human subjects and show that it is helpful in establishing the clinical status of gene carriers, with potential utility for risk stratification. Our data provide evidence that flecainide is protective in human subjects with CRDS, consistent with the effect previously shown in a mouse model.
Weisfeiler-Leman in the Bamboo: Novel AMR Graph Metrics and a Benchmark for AMR Graph Similarity
Authors: Opitz Juri , Daza Angel , Frank Anette
Published: December 2021

Several metrics have been proposed for assessing the similarity of (abstract) meaning representations (AMRs), but little is known about how they relate to human similarity ratings. Moreover, the current metrics have complementary strengths and weaknesses: Some emphasize speed, while others make the alignment of graph structures explicit, at the price of a costly alignment step.

In this work we propose new Weisfeiler-Leman AMR similarity metrics that unify the strengths of previous metrics, while mitigating their weaknesses. Specifically, our new metrics are able to match contextualized substructures and induce n:m alignments between their nodes. Furthermore, we introduce a Benchmark for AMR Metrics based on Overt Objectives (Bamboo), the first benchmark to support empirical assessment of graph-based MR similarity metrics. Bamboo maximizes the interpretability of results by defining multiple overt objectives that range from sentence similarity objectives to stress tests that probe a metric’s robustness against meaning-altering and meaning- preserving graph transformations. We show the benefits of Bamboo by profiling previous metrics and our own metrics. Results indicate that our novel metrics may serve as a strong baseline for future work.
Planning with Learned Entity Prompts for Abstractive Summarization
Authors: Narayan Shashi , Zhao Yao , Maynez Joshua , Simões Gonçalo , Nikolaev Vitaly , McDonald Ryan
Published: December 2021

We introduce a simple but flexible mechanism to learn an intermediate plan to ground the generation of abstractive summaries. Specifically, we prepend (or prompt) target summaries with entity chains—ordered sequences of entities mentioned in the summary. Transformer-based sequence-to-sequence models are then trained to generate the entity chain and then continue generating the summary conditioned on the entity chain and the input. We experimented with both pretraining and finetuning with this content planning objective. When evaluated on CNN/DailyMail, XSum, SAMSum, and BillSum, we demonstrate empirically that the grounded generation with the planning objective improves entity specificity and planning in summaries for all datasets, and achieves state-of-the-art performance on XSum and SAMSum in terms of rouge. Moreover, we demonstrate empirically that planning with entity chains provides a mechanism to control hallucinations in abstractive summaries. By prompting the decoder with a modified content plan that drops hallucinated entities, we outperform state-of-the-art approaches for faithfulness when evaluated automatically and by humans.
Between-Class Earnings Inequality in 30 European Countries
Authors: Goedemé Tim , Paskov Marii , Weisstanner David , Nolan Brian
Published: December 2021

This article studies earnings inequality between social classes across 30 European countries. Class inequality in earnings is found across the board although there are some exceptions. However, the degree of class inequality varies strongly across countries being larger in Western and Southern European countries and smaller in Eastern and Northern European countries. Furthermore, we find that differences in class composition in terms of observed characteristics associated with earnings account for a substantial proportion of these between-class differences. Differences between classes in the returns to education and other characteristics play less of a role. In all these respects there is a sizeable cross-national variation. This points to important differences between countries in how earnings are structured by social class.
Between Foreigners, Strangers and Jews: The Changing Perception of Parisian Jews on the Eve of the 1306 Expulsion
Authors: Dermer Nureet
Published: December 2021

An unpublished document from late thirteenth-century Paris contains evidence of a Jewish-Christian public confrontation, on the one hand, and of Jewish-Christian economic criminal collaboration on the other. Using methods of micro-history, this article traces the story of Merot the Jew and his father-in-law, Benoait of St. Denis, who were caught attempting to smuggle merchandise by way of the River Seine. Their story is told in a verdict handed down by the parloir de Paris, the municipal judicial authority in charge of economic infractions. The parloir decreed the complete confiscation of Merot and Benoait’s merchandise on the grounds that “they were foreigners.” Taking this terminology as a point of departure, this paper tackles broader socio-economic aspects of belonging and foreignness among medieval Parisian Jews, and asks: in what ways were Jews considered “foreigners” in late thirteenth-century Paris? What were the implications of such a designation, and how did these perceptions change in the years leading up to the expulsion of 1306?
The Archae System Revisited: The Records of Indebtedness to Medieval Jews
Authors: Irwin Dean A.
Published: December 2021

This article examines on document acknowledging debt to Maruna, a Jewish woman, to John of Kent that was deposited in a chest in Canterbury in 1264. Using this document, the article examines what can be learned about the archae system in thirteenth-century England from the perspective of the documents which were produced there. A series of chests (Lat. pl. archae) were established across England following the introduction of the Articles of the Jewry (1194), which regulated the production, use, and storage of the records generated by Jewish moneylending activities in medieval England. Additionally, the Articles of the Jewry required that more general business transactions, such as the sale and purchase of property, also be recorded at the archae. This paper considers not only the legal and administrative structures which governed the production of such records but also how these systems manifested themselves within the documents which produced at the archae. Finally, it will consider the role that ritual and gender had to play in such transactions and the documents which recorded them.
Pawned Horses: Risk and Liability in Fourteenth Century German Small-Credit Market
Authors: Doron Aviya
Published: December 2021

Many Jewish-Christian credit transactions relied on pawns as collateral, which presumably eliminated the risk in the case of debtors’ default. However, keeping and maintaining certain pawns involved particular risks that further complicated these transactions. This paper focuses on live pawns, specifically horses, where the safekeeping of the animal involved far greater difficulties and risks than with other valuable objects that were pawned with Jews. By tracing how legal norms and practices addressed some of the unique risks attached to receiving horses as pawns, this article will outline the expectations both Jews and Christians had when engaging in credit transaction secured by horses. Relying on responsa literature, urban legislation, and court cases from the late thirteenth to mid-fourteenth centuries, this analysis will discuss some of the complications relating to liability over live pawns, with the goal of demonstrating how a specific type of pawn, and its unique risks and benefits, reflects previous assumptions and expectations regarding risk and trust.
The Sentence is Only the Beginning: Hiccups in the Cross-Border Execution of Judgments in the Euregion Meuse-Rhine
Authors: Keiler Johannes , Klip André
Published: December 2021

The cross-border execution of judgments remains difficult in practice for European Member States. This article seeks to analyze why this may be the case with regard to four different modalities of sentences: (1) prison sentences and other measures involving deprivation of liberty, (2) conditional sentences and alternative measures, (3) financial penalties and (4) confiscation orders. Based on a comparative analysis, this article investigates the problems at stake regarding the cross-border execution of judgements in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands and identifies possible causes and explanations for these. The analysis shows that impediments to cooperation may inter alia stem from differences in national law and diverging national sentencing practices and cultures and may furthermore be related to a lack of possibilities for cooperation in the preliminary phase of a transfer. Moreover, some obstacles to cooperation may be country-specific and self-made, due to specific choices and approaches of national criminal justice systems.
The Tangled Path From Identifying Financial Assets to Cross-Border Confiscation. Deficiencies in EU Asset Recovery Policy
Authors: Ochnio Ariadna Helena
Published: December 2021

The article discusses the shortcomings of EU policy regarding cross-border asset recovery. The identified problem is a disjointed approach to the overlapping objectives of criminal proceedings: gathering evidence and securing assets for future confiscation. In the current EU legal framework, the process of recovery of assets, understood as a sequence of functionally related activities, lacks the continuity necessary to be effective. EU cross-border cooperation instruments in criminal matters do not meet the needs of this process, as they relate to separate investigative measures. Problems in this field have been indirectly reflected in the practice of Eurojust and the ejn. The article proposes a change in the perception of the initial phase of the asset recovery process, where the objectives of identifying and locating financial assets are combined with their provisional securing. This takes place under one mechanism of cross-border cooperation (an eio), prior to issuing a regular freeze or seizure order.
Speaking for Ourselves: The Ghanaian Encounter with European Missionaries – Sixteenth–Twenty-first Centuries
Authors: Eshun Daniel Justice
Published: December 2021

This paper (re)examines European missionary encounters with Ghanaians from the sixteenth – twenty-first centuries from Ghanaian perspectives. The paper makes three main arguments: first, European missionary endeavours were quite peripheral to ongoing indigenous religious activities and daily life, with the movement of Christianity from the periphery to the center of Ghanaian society a more recent phenomenon with political implications and concerns. Secondly, missionary and colonial decisions were often made in response to indigenous activities, not vice versa. And thirdly, this methodological approach of hearing African and European voices in dialogue serves as a much-needed corrective to favouring European perspectives within African mission history. Taken together, this provides fresh insights into questions of how/why Christianity went from the periphery under European missionary leadership to Ghana’s primary religion post-independence, offering differently nuanced understandings to concepts of mission while giving dignity and respect to the local context, people, and institutions.
An Overview of the State of Electoral Democracy in Africa
Authors: Fombad Charles Manga
Published: December 2021

Most recent accounts paint a bleak and gloomy picture of the state of global democracy. This is particularly so in Africa where the optimism of a democratic revival in the 1990s is rapidly giving way to narratives of doom and gloom. Using survey data compiled by well-established regional and global international organisations, this paper assesses the state of electoral democracy in Africa, reviews the challenges that have been encountered, and considers the prospects for the future. The trend in the evolution of electoral democracy on the continent in the last three decades points to an authoritarian mobilisation and resurgence. Although elections have become the norm, these elections are increasingly being used to disguise all forms of undemocratic governance. The major lesson to be drawn from the study is that there is no African country where democracy and constitutionalism can be thought of as firmly consolidated and secure. The number of countries which are declining due to failed or flawed electoral processes, or which show signs of stagnation, far exceed those that have improved to one degree or another. Current developments are not random ad hoc efforts to undermine the credibility of elections and democracy but rather, rational and well-calculated responses by ruling African elites who seek to perpetuate their rule. What this points to is the need to rethink strategies for promoting genuinely competitive elections, democracy, and constitutionalism.
The Socialization of Human Rights and the African Human Rights Action Plan: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities
Authors: Odumosu-Ayanu Ibironke T. , Okafor Obiora C. , Bawa Sylvia
Published: December 2021

This article critically analyzes human rights socialization in Africa through the lens of the draft African Human Rights Action Plan (AHRAP). It argues that the AHRAP presents a framework for human rights socialization, and it speaks to human rights socialization in distinctive ways. The article demonstrates that the AHRAP relies on African and international influences and seeks to propagate norms inspired by these influences. It analyzes three key issues from the AHRAP and discusses how those issues shape understanding of continental human rights socialization in Africa. These issues are the multiple roles and positions of the African Union, the identity of actors to whom socialization processes apply or ought to apply, and the nature of norms which are the focus of socialization efforts. The article’s analysis of these issues along with the AHRAP’s reliance on African and other influences reveal a path for human rights socialization in Africa that is both challenging and promising.
The Role of Proximity in Developing an Inter-Regional Innovation System
Authors: Lalrindiki Mandy , O’Gorman Bill
Published: December 2021

While most innovation collaboration projects consist of partners who are located at close proximity, recent literature has explored the development of innovation collaboration in the context of non-spatial proximity. Using a longitudinal mixed methods design, this article explores the inter-regional collaboration of triple helix partners from four non-contiguous European regions (Bucharest-Ilfov, Romania; Central Hungary, Hungary; Castilla-La Mancha, Spain; and South East, Ireland) which worked together to develop an inter-regional innovation system. The results from the study identified three non-spatial forms of proximity (social, cognitive and organisational) that were key determinants for developing the successful inter- regional innovation collaboration studied in this research. Based on the findings derived from this research, an inter-regional innovation system framework was developed to facilitate collaboration between stakeholders based in non-contiguous regions without them having to depend on geographical proximity. The major contributions of this research to theory and practice are the development of a novel framework for inter-regional innovation systems (iRIS) which can be applied by stakeholders in regions that want to collaborate from a distance. Furthermore, the research suggests that the substitution mechanism of geographical proximity consists of not just one non-spatial form, but it consists of the three non-spatial forms identified in this research.
Creating Gaps in Understanding: How Gen Z Disrupts Gender Norms on TikTok
Authors: Wynne Ellen , Wright William , Alvermann Donna
Published: December 2021

Since its inception, social media has been an important method of constructing and performing identity, including gender identity. Identity work on social media is perhaps especially relevant to Gen Z (those born after 1996; Parker & Igielnik, 2020), who are the first generation with access to it in early childhood. In this article, we explore how Gen Z constructs and performs gender identity and other facets of intersectional identity on popular video platform TikTok by analyzing selected content from three TikTokers through the lenses of performativity, intersectionality, and automediality.
“Here Comes a Thought”: Steven Universe as Social Emotional Curriculum
Authors: Muñoz Joaquin , Chang Nou-Chee
Published: December 2021

The emphasis on social emotional learning as a focus in schools has led to the development of new materials for curriculum in classrooms for teaching social emotional content and competencies. This paper conceptualizes the use of narrative television and animation, specifically, the cartoons Steven Universe and Steven Universe Future as powerful pedagogical tools for engaging social emotional learning in classrooms. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the efficacy of these cartoons as tools for classroom use given their emphasis on inclusivity, diversity, and their popularity with young people today. Utilizing the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning Competencies as a framework, the paper highlights selected episodes of the shows, and demonstrates ways the shows can be used to teach these competencies. As teachers continue to encounter ever-diversifying student populations, the use of media such as Steven Universe can help support inclusive classroom environments that engage the emotional lives and experiences of young people today.
Regional Differences in the Ratio of Observed and Expected In-hospital Mortality for Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients in China: The Improving Care for Cardiovascular Disease in China-Acute Coronary Syndrome Project Analysis
Authors: Yong Jing Wen , Xing Yue Yan , Zhou Meng Ge , Yang Na , Hao Yong Chen , Liu Jing , Liu Jun , Zhao Dong , Zhou Yu Jie , Wang Zhi Jian ,   CCC-ACS Investigators
Published: December 2021

Previous studies reported regional variations in in-hospital acute coronary syndrome (ACS) mortality, but the reasons for that were not clearly defined. We explored whether differences in patient characteristics could explain regional variation. The Improving Care for Cardiovascular Disease in China (CCC)-ACS project is an ongoing national registry and quality improvement project, involving 150 tertiary hospitals from 30 provinces across China. We applied a prediction model that included patient-specific variables to calculate the expected in-hospital mortality. For each province, we reported the observed, expected in-hospital mortality and the risk-adjusted ratio which is based on the observed divided by the expected mortality. From 2014 to 2018, 79 585 ACS patients were enrolled. The average in-hospital mortality was 1.8%. There was a wide variation in the in-hospital mortality among different provinces (0.2-3.9%). Patient characteristics explained part of this variation because of differences in the expected in-hospital mortality (0.7-2.8%). There was a substantial variation in the risk-adjusted ratio among provinces (0.2-3.5), which suggests that the variations in the mortality cannot be completely explained by the differences in patient characteristics. In conclusion, we observed a wide regional variation in mortality for ACS, part of which could be explained by the difference in patient characteristics.
On the Threshold: Liminality in the Stories of the Concubine of Gibeah and Ruth
Authors: Avnery Orit
Published: December 2021

This article proposes an intertextual-synchronic reading of the book of Ruth and the story of the concubine of Gibeah in Judges 19. Although previous scholars have compared these two stories, they have ignored the theme of liminality, which is critical to their proper understanding. After highlighting the literary similarities between these two stories, I discuss these stories’ different manifestations of liminality—identic, temporal, and spatial. This highlights the shared central question of both stories: How can the female protagonist, a stranger to her surroundings, cross the threshold to a secure space—home? Can she traverse the precarious night and see the light of day? I illustrate how the stories act as foils to each other by representing opposite portrayals of societal behavior and final outcomes for the female protagonist. I conclude by showing how this new reading lets us better see the moral message of each story.
Baduanjin Exercise for Adults Aged 65 Years and Older: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Studies
Authors: Jones Cindy , Qi Meiling , Xie Zihui , Moyle Wendy , Weeks Benjamin , Li Ping
Published: December 2021

This study performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the health effects of Baduanjin exercise on adults aged 65 years and older. Chinese and English databases were electronically searched using search terms related to the PICO model from inception through June 2021. The study quality assessment and meta-analysis were conducted using the PEDro scale and RevMan 5.4 software. Eleven included Chinese studies, published between 2015 and 2021, recruited participants from the mainland of China. The aggregated results showed significant benefits of Baduanjin on physical function, walking ability, balance, and anxiety. A long-term Baduanjin intervention could also improve quality of life and reduce falls and pain. Baduanjin appears to have the potential to improve the health of older adults, but conclusions are limited due to the lack of rigorous and robust studies within and outside of mainland China. Larger, well-designed RCTs are needed to confirm these findings.
Black and Latino Adolescents’ Self-Regulation: Placing College Preparedness in Context
Authors: Li-Grining Christine Pajunar , Roy Amanda L. , Koh Jinyoung , Boyer Amanda , Radulescu Maria , Naqi Zahra
Published: December 2021

Students from minoritized backgrounds, who disproportionately face higher poverty rates, are more likely to encounter risk factors, which tend to undermine individuals’ broader well-being by compromising self-regulatory processes. Yet, sociocultural theory highlights the presence of minoritized families’ cultural wealth. Consistent with a focus on assets, it is notable that college enrollment rates have increased among Black and Latino students in the U.S. Using a mixed methods approach, the current study integrated asset and risk frameworks, in order to advance knowledge on the context of minoritized teens’ college preparedness, defined here as making decisions and taking action steps toward college. Participants included low-income, predominantly Black and Latino families with adolescents ( n = 344). First, drawing from the voices of families, we examined responses to open-ended questions about aspirations, supports, and challenges. Salient themes included social-emotional and social-cultural factors. Indicators of cumulative contextual risk and cumulative individual risk were based on the qualitative data. Second, we tested whether the linkage from cumulative risk indices to teens’ college preparedness occurred via various dimensions of self-regulation (i.e., lower impulsivity, more cognitive control, and better organization skills), net of background characteristics. Adolescents’ organization skills were a significant mediator. Possible next steps for research are discussed.
Stopping rules for phase I clinical trials with dose expansion cohorts
Authors: Devlin Sean M , Iasonos Alexia , O’Quigley John
Published: December 2021

Many clinical trials incorporate stopping rules to terminate early if the clinical question under study can be answered with a high degree of confidence. While common in later-stage trials, these rules are rarely implemented in dose escalation studies, due in part to the relatively smaller sample size of these designs. However, even with a small sample size, this paper shows that easily implementable stopping rules can terminate dose-escalation early with minimal loss to the accuracy of maximum tolerated dose estimation. These stopping rules are developed when the goal is to identify one or two dose levels, as the maximum tolerated dose and co-maximum tolerated dose. In oncology, this latter goal is frequently considered when the study includes dose-expansion cohorts, which are used to further estimate and compare the safety and efficacy of one or two dose levels. As study protocols do not typically halt accrual between escalation and expansion, early termination is of clinical importance as it either allows for additional patients to be treated as part of the dose expansion cohort to obtain more precise estimates of the study endpoints or allows for an overall reduction in the total sample size.
Police Use of Force Escalation and De-escalation: The Use of Systematic Social Observation With Video Footage
Authors: Terrill William , Zimmerman Laura
Published: December 2021

As police agencies continue to incorporate body-worn cameras, it becomes increasingly important for researchers and practitioners to explore how to best use these data to better understand patterns of suspect and police behavior. Thus, drawing on a joint project between the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers and Arizona State University, we expand on prior research demonstrating how social systematic observation (SSO) can be used with video footage to methodically detail the evolving nature of police-suspect encounters. We then illustrate how the data could be evaluated within the framework of escalation and de-escalation using an expanded version of the Resistance Force Comparative Scale (RFCS) first developed and employed in 2001. Finally, we assess the merits and challenges of using video footage to account for suspect and police behaviors in relation to escalation and de-escalation.