bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Natural Killer Cells in SARS-CoV-2-Vaccinated Subjects with Increased Effector Cytotoxic CD56dim Cells and Memory-Like CD57+NKG2C+CD56dim Cells
Authors: Gentili Valentina , Bortolotti Daria , Morandi Luca , Rizzo Sabrina , Schiuma Giovanna , Beltrami Silvia , Casciano Fabio , Papi Alberto , Contoli Marco , Zauli Giorgio , Rizzo Roberta
Published: July 2023

Background: The infection and negative effects of the SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus) virus are mitigated by vaccines. It is unknown whether vaccination has worked by eliciting robust protective innate immune responses with high affinity. Methods: Twenty healthy volunteers received three doses of Comirnaty (Pfizer Australia Pty Ltd.) and were evaluated 9 months after the second vaccination and 1 month after the booster dose. The exclusion criteria were the presence of adverse effects following the vaccination, a history of smoking, and heterologous immunization. The inclusion criteria were the absence of prior Coronavirus Disease (COVID)-19 history, the absence of adverse effects, and the absence of comorbidities. Specific phenotype and levels of CD107a and granzyme production by blood NK (natural killer) cells were analyzed after exposure to SARS-CoV-2 spike antigen (Wuhan, Alpha B.1.1.7, Delta B.1.617.2, and Omicron B1.1.529 variants), and related with anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody production. Results: The booster dose caused early NK CD56dim subset activation and memory-like phenotype. Conclusions: We report the relevance of the innate immune response, especially NK cells, to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines to guarantee efficient protection against the infection following a booster dose.
Bilangan Kromatik Lokasi pada Graf Hasil Amalgamasi Sisi dari Graf Bintang dan Graf Lengkap
Authors: Hartiansyah Fiqih , Darmaji Darmaji
Published: July 2023

The locating coloring of graph extends the vertex coloring dan partition dimension of graph. The minimum number of locating coloring of graph G is called the locating chromatic number of graph G. In this paper will discuss the locating chromatic number of edge amalgamation graph of star graph with order m+1 and complete graph with order n. The method used to obtain the locating chromatic number of graph is to determine the upper dan lower bound. The results obtained are that the locating chromatic number of edge amalgamation graph of star graph with order m+1 and complete graph with order n is  for  and .
Implementasi Matriks Dalam Kriptografi Hill Cipher Dalam Mengamankan Pesan Rahasia
Authors: Wasil Moh.
Published: July 2023

salah satu jenis algoritma yang bisa diimplementasikan penggunaannya dalam menjaga keamanan data (pesan) adalah algoritma Hill Cipher. algoritma ini menggunakan matriks persegi yang invertible sebagai kunci serta aritmatika modulo untuk melakukan enkripsi dan dekripsi. enkripsi merupakan proses mengubah informasi yang bisa difahami  menjadi informasi yang sulit difahami. sedangkan dekripsi adalah kebalikannya. Dengan menggunakan algoritma hill cipher data tersebut sangat sulit diketahui maknanya. Untuk mengirim data, maka pengirim harus menyertakan aturan untuk mengkonversi data tersebut serta matriks kunci yang bisa digunakan untuk mengolahnya, sehingga data tersebut bisa difahami oleh penerima. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa keamanan data tersebut sangat  sangat bergantung pada tingkat kesulitan operasi matriks yang digunakan. Dalam penelitian ini menggunakan matriks persegi sebagai kuncinya dengan modulo 30 (karena menggunakan 30 karakter yang berbeda), dengan konversi setiap karakter ditunjukkan oleh tabel 3.1. Semua karakter yang ada pada plaintext dan ciphertext dikonversi menjadi angka-angka. Sehingga berdasarkan uraian di atas maka tujuan penelitian ini secara umum adalah: untuk menjaga keamanan suatu data dengan menggunakan metode hill cipher.
Diverse experiences by active travel for carbon neutrality: Longitudinal study reveals a persistent discrepancy across residential contexts
Authors: Samuelsson Karl , Brandt S Anders , Barthel Stephan , Linder Noah , Lim Nancy Joy , Giusti Matteo
Published: July 2023

To inform spatial planning promoting low-carbon travel and well-being, we investigate the potential for experiential diversity by active travel across different residential contexts. We use spatiotemporal tracking and experience data from the Gävle city-region, Sweden, generated by 165 participants over the course of 15 months. Findings reveal a discrepancy between typical travel distances to locations of positive experiences (1.5–5 km) and the distances at which active travel dominates (up to 1.5 km). This discrepancy largely persists across urban, suburban, and peripheral contexts, with urban dwellers travelling further for nature experiences, whereas peripheral dwellers travel further for urbanicity experiences. These results illustrate the importance of spatial scale for promoting diverse positive experiences by active travel, regardless of residential context. Planning strategies include enhancing environmental diversity close to people’s homes and providing infrastructure that promotes switching from motorised to active travel for trips of a few kilometres.
Toddlers’ Affective Responses to Sociomoral Scenes Insights From Physiological Measures
Authors: Tan Enda , Hamlin Kiley
Published: July 2023

A growing literature suggests preverbal infants are sensitive to sociomoral scenes and prefer prosocial over antisocial agents. It remains unclear, however, whether and how emotional processes are implicated in infants’ responses to prosocial/antisocial actions. Although a recent study found infants and toddlers showed more positive facial expressions after viewing helping (vs. hindering) events, these findings were based on naïve coder ratings of facial activity; further, effect sizes were small. The current studies examined 18- and 24-month-old toddlers’ real-time reactivity to helping and hindering interactions using three physiological measures of emotion-related processes. At 18 months, activity in facial musculature involved in smiling/frowning was explored via facial electromyography (EMG). At 24 months, stress (sweat) was explored via electrodermal activity (EDA). At both ages, arousal was explored via pupillometry. Behaviorally, infants showed no preferences for the helper over the hinderer across age groups. EMG analyses revealed that 18-month-old infants showed higher corrugator activity (more frowning) during hindering (vs. helping) actions, followed by lower corrugator activity (less frowning) after hindering (vs. helping) actions finished. These findings suggest that antisocial actions elicited negativity, perhaps followed by brief disengagement. EDA analyses revealed no significant event-related differences. Pupillometry analyses revealed that both 18- and 24-month-olds’ pupils were smaller after viewing hindering (vs. helping), replicating recent evidence with 5-month-olds and suggesting that toddlers, too, show less arousal following hindering than following helping. Together, these results provide new evidence with respect to whether and how arousal/affective processes are involved when infants process sociomoral scenarios.
The Influence of the degree of matter aggregation in the universe on the expansion of the universe
Authors: WANG XINGHONG
Published: July 2023

It needs to be pointed out that, even if dark energy does exist, if the matter making up the universe is sufficiently aggregate, the universe will still contract.
Navigating the Nexus of Bioethics and Geopolitics: Implications for Global Health Security and Scientific Collaboration
Authors: Mickael Michel Edwar
Published: July 2023

Bioethics plays a pivotal role in guiding ethical decision-making within the realm of medical research and healthcare. However, the influence of geopolitics on bioethical considerations, particularly regarding gain-of-function research on viruses, remains an underexplored area. This study delves into the uncharted territory of how international political interests can intersect with bioethical principles, potentially shaping collaborative medical endeavors and global health policies related to gain-of-function studies. Through a hypothetical scenario involving a hypothetical Virus GGG, a collaborative effort between unspecified countries, we examine the implications of such cooperation on global health governance, with a specific focus on gain-of-function research. Ethical dilemmas surrounding responsible virus research, potential risks and benefits, equitable distribution of findings, and biosafety measures are explored. This analysis underscores the importance of transparent and responsible practices in gain-of-function research amidst geopolitical tensions. By striking a balance between national interests and international solidarity, we advocate for robust bioethical frameworks to navigate such collaborations for the collective well-being of humanity and to mitigate potential risks associated with gain-of-function research.
The uncertain future of mountaintop-removal-mined landscapes 1: How mining changes erosion processes and variables
Authors: Shobe Charles , Bower Samuel , Maxwell Aaron , Glade Rachel , Samassi Nacere
Published: July 2023

Surface mining may be humanity's most tangible impact on Earth's surface and will become more prevalent as the energy transition progresses. Prediction of post-mining landscape change can help mitigate environmental damage, but requires understanding how mining changes geomorphic processes and variables. Here we investigate surface mining's complex influence on surface processes in a case study of mountaintop removal/valley fill (MTR/VF) coal mining in the Appalachian Coalfields, USA. The future of MTR/VF landscapes is unclear because mining's effects on geomorphic processes are poorly understood. We use geospatial analysis---leveraging the existence of pre- and post-MTR/VF elevation models---and synthesis of literature to ask how MTR/VF alters topography, hydrology, and land-surface erodibility and how these changes could be incorporated into numerical models of post-MTR/VF landscape evolution. MTR/VF reduces slope and area--slope product, and rearranges drainage divides. Creation of closed depressions alters flow routing and casts doubt on the utility of models that assume steady flow. MTR/VF creates two contrasting hydrologic domains, one in which overland flow is generated efficiently due to a lack of infiltration capacity, and one in which waste rock deposits act as extensive subsurface reservoirs. This dichotomy creates localized hotspots of overland flow and erosion. Loss of forest cover probably reduces cohesion in near-surface soils for at least the timescale of vegetation recovery, while waste rock fills and mine soils also likely experience reduced erosion resistance. Our analysis suggests three necessary ingredients for numerical modeling of post-MTR/VF landscape change: 1) accurate routing and accumulation of unsteady overland flow and accompanying sediment across low-gradient, depression-rich, engineered landscapes, 2) separation of the landscape into cut, filled, and unmined regions, and 3) incorporation of vegetation recovery trajectories. Improved modeling of post-mining landscapes will mitigate environmental degradation from past mining and reduce the impacts of future mining that supports the energy transition.
Estimating the silica content and loss-on-ignition in the North American Soil Geochemical Landscapes datasets: a recursive inversion approach
Authors: de Caritat Patrice , Grunsky Eric , Smith David
Published: July 2023

A novel method of estimating the silica (SiO2) and loss-on-ignition (LOI) concentrations for the North American Soil Geochemical Landscapes (NASGL) project datasets is proposed. Combining the precision of the geochemical determinations with the completeness of the mineralogical NASGL data, we suggest a ‘reverse normative’ or inversion approach to calculate first the minimum SiO2, water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in weight percent (wt%) in these samples. These can be used in a first step to compute minimum and maximum estimates for SiO2. In a recursive step, a ‘consensus’ SiO2 is then established as the average between the two aforementioned estimates, trimmed as necessary to yield a total composition (major oxides converted from reported Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, S, and Ti elemental concentrations + ‘consensus’ SiO2 + reported trace element concentrations converted to wt% + ‘normative’ H2O + ‘normative’ CO2) of no more than 100 wt%. Any remaining compositional gap between 100 wt% and this sum is considered ‘other’ LOI and likely includes H2O and CO2 from the reported ‘amorphous’ phase (of unknown geochemical or mineralogical composition) as well as other volatile components present in soil. We validate the technique against a separate dataset from Australia where geochemical (including all major oxides) and mineralogical data exist on the same samples. The correlation between predicted and observed SiO2 is linear, strong (R2 = 0.91) and homoscedastic. We also compare the estimated NASGL SiO2 concentrations with another publicly available continental-scale survey over the conterminous USA, the ‘Shacklette and Boerngen’ dataset. This comparison shows the new data to be a reasonable representation of SiO2 values measured on the ground over the same study area. We recommend the approach of combining geochemical and mineralogical information to estimate missing SiO2 and LOI by the recursive inversion approach in datasets elsewhere, with the caveat to validate results.
Technology-Facilitated Sexualized Violence: Report on Intersectional Environmental Scan
Authors: champion Amanda , Oswald Flora , Pedersen Cory
Published: July 2023

https://bccampus.ca/projects/intersectional-sexualized-violence-project/
Abstract task sequence initiation deficit dissociates anxiety disorders from obsessive-compulsive disorder and healthy controls
Authors: Doyle Hannah , Boisseau Christina L. , Garnaat Sarah L. , Rasmussen Steven A. , Desrochers Theresa M.
Published: July 2023

In everyday life, humans carry out sequences of tasks. These tasks may be disrupted in those with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Symptoms like compulsions can be considered sequential and often cause repetitions of tasks that disrupt daily living (e.g., checking the stove while cooking). Motor sequences have been used to study behavioral deficits in OCD. However, not all sequences are motor sequences. Some are more “abstract” in that they are composed of a series of tasks (e.g., chopping and stirring) rather than being dependent on individual actions or stimuli. These abstract task sequences require cognitive control mechanisms for their execution. Though theory has proposed deficits in these sequences in OCD as well, they have not been directly investigated. We tested the hypotheses that OCD participants exhibit deficits in the control mechanisms specific to abstract task sequences and more general flexible behavior (measured with task switching within the sequences), relative to health controls (HCs) and clinical controls (participants with anxiety disorders, ANX). One hundred twelve participants completed abstract task sequences consisting of simple categorization tasks. Surprisingly, participants with OCD did not perform worse than HCs or ANX. However, ANX participants showed impairments specific to sequential control that did not extend to more general flexible control. Thus, we showed a novel behavioral dissociation between OCD and ANX specific to abstract task sequential control. These results also implicate deficits in specific frontal sequential control neural circuitry in ANX and not in OCD, where implicit sequential deficits may more closely align with striatal circuits.
The role of minority language bilingualism in spotting agreement attraction errors
Authors: Masullo Camilla , Casado Alba , Leivada Evelina
Published: July 2023

Bilingual adaptations remain a subject of ongoing debate, with varying results reported across cognitive domains. A possible way to disentangle the apparent inconsistency of results is to focus on the domain of language processing, which is what the bilingual experience boils down to. This study delves into the role of the bilingual experience on the processing of agreement mismatches. Given the underrepresentation of minority bilingual speakers of non-standard varieties, we advance a unique comparative perspective that includes monolinguals, standard language bilinguals, and different groups of minority language bilinguals, taking advantage of the rich linguistic diversity of the Italian peninsula. This comparative approach can reveal the impact of various sociolinguistic aspects of the bilingual experience across different bilingual trajectories. We developed an auditory acceptability judgement task in Italian, featuring Subject-Verb agreement mismatches. Participants evaluated the stimuli on a 5-point Likert scale and reaction times were recorded. The results do not reveal significant differences between the speakers of standard languages: Italian monolinguals and Italian-Spanish bilinguals. Instead, significant differences are found between monolinguals and the two groups of minority language bidialectals, as well as between the bidialectal groups themselves: Italian-Pavese bidialectals were faster than both Italian-Agrigentino bidialectals and Italian monolinguals, while Italian-Agrigentino bidialectals were less accurate than both Italian-Pavese bidialectals and Italian monolinguals. This intricate picture is explained through variables associated with second language use and language switching. Our findings suggest that if bilingualism is viewed as a yes/no phenotype, it is unavoidable that the bilingual experience will remain a mystery linked to intensely debated results. If, however, one accepts that bilingual adaptations are shaped by the environmental ecology of each trajectory, variation across bilingual processing outcomes is unsurprising. Overall, we argue that specific sociolinguistic factors behind each bilingual experience can reveal where bilingual adaptations on language and cognition stem from.
Phonetic Accommodation in Non-native Directed Speech Supports L2 Word Learning and Pronunciation.
Authors: Piazza Giorgio , Kalashnikova Marina , Martin Clara
Published: July 2023

This study assessed whether Non-native Directed Speech (NNDS) facilitates second language (L2) learning, specifically L2 word learning and production. Spanish participants (N=50) learned novel English words, presented either in NNDS or Native-Directed Speech (NDS), in two tasks: Recognition and Production. Recognition involved matching novel objects to their labels produced in NNDS or NDS. Production required participants to pronounce these objects’ labels. The novel words contained English vowel contrasts, which approximated Spanish vowel categories more (/ɪ-i/) or less (/æ-ɛ/). Participants assigned to the NNDS group recognized novel words faster and learned and pronounced the /ɪ-i/ contrast words better compared to participants in the NDS group. Participants’ ability to discriminate the target vowel contrasts was also assessed before and after the tasks, with no improvement detected in the two groups. These findings support the didactic assumption of NNDS, indicating the relevance of the phonetic adaptations in this register for successful L2 acquisition.
Intolerance of uncertainty predicts indecisiveness and safety behavior in real-life decision making: Results from an experience sampling study
Authors: Appel Helmut , Krasko Julia , Luhmann Maike , Gerlach Alexander L.
Published: July 2023

In decision making, intolerance of uncertainty (IU) may be linked to safety behavior, which could ironically maintain IU and, thus, foster indecisiveness. In a smartphone-based experience sampling study, 247 participants described their real-life decisions six times per day and rated (a) their situational indecisiveness, (b) decision characteristics, (c) situational IU, and (d) problematic safety behaviors. Participants higher in dispositional IU reported more indecisiveness and engaged in more problematic safety behavior across measurements. The same relationships were observed with situational IU at the level of individual measurements. Engaging in more problematic safety behaviors during the first days predicted indecisiveness on the last day, mediated by IU. The results demonstrate the real-life relevance of the relationship between IU, indecisiveness, and safety behavior.
Negative affective traits and the discrepancy between perceived and logged smartphone behavior: A response surface analysis
Authors: James Richard J. E. , Bonn Samantha , Russell Mia , Hitcham Lucy
Published: July 2023

A burgeoning literature has linked the use of new technologies to an increasing burden of mental health problems. However, one important methodological concern with this association has been the confounding effect that poor mental health can have on self-reported estimates of technology use. Because the existing literature has focused on self-reported use to measure technology use, this bias may lead to inappropriate inferences being made about the impact of technology on its users. To examine this further, Response Surface Analysis was applied to data from 511 smartphone users to disentangle the effects of logged and self-reported smartphone use on depression, in a conceptual replication of Sewall and Parry (2021). This analysis is then extended to include negative urgency, a facet of impulsiveness associated with increased risky decision-making when experiencing strong negative emotions. The results broadly replicate those of Sewall and Parry (2021), by finding a rising ridge asymmetric congruence effect, driven by higher depression scores amongst respondents who overestimate their smartphone usage. Depression scores were higher when smartphone estimates were congruent and high, and among people who overestimated their actual use. Effects of negative urgency were weaker than depression and inconsistent. These findings add further support to the hypothesis that measurement bias confounds the association between smartphone use and mental health.
You’re not welcome! Violence and support for a grazing ban policy in Kaduna, Nigeria.
Authors: Tuki Daniel
Published: July 2023

This study examined the effect of victimization – i.e., the concrete experience of violence – on support for a policy banning the opening grazing of livestock in the state of Kaduna in Northern Nigeria. This policy, which aims to reduce the incidence of conflicts between nomadic herders and sedentary farmers, has been implemented to various degrees in some states across Nigeria. Kaduna is a suitable case study for investigating this relationship because despite having the third highest incidence of farmer-herder conflicts among Nigeria’s 36 states, the state government has not implemented a grazing ban policy there. The regression results showed that the effect of victimization on support for a grazing ban policy depends on who is perpetrating the violence. General victimization (i.e., irrespective of the perpetrator) had no statistically significant effect on support for a grazing ban policy, but victimization by herders did have a significant positive effect. The positive effect was particularly strong among Christians. 78 percent of the respondents who had been victimized by herders were Christians.
Democratising the forces of re/production. AI planning as sensing apparatus for a degrowth economy
Authors: Schaupp Simon
Published: July 2023

This article contributes to the discussion on the role of technology for degrowth by exploring the Marxian concept of productive forces. It argues against a techno-deterministic understanding of the concept present in both the opposing camps of eco-modernism and degrowth. Instead, it suggests an interpretation of productive forces as the totality of what human beings are able to do. This definition focusses on positive and negative potentials instead of the current technological state of the art. This emphasis of potentials makes the concept of productive forces more suitable for an ecological politics than the term technology, which is rooted in what currently is. Furthermore, the emphasis on potentials makes it possible to systematically identify the political and not merely technical nature of the productive forces. Such a perspective allows for a more precise critique of environmentally destructive technologies that does not fall into the trap of technological fetishism, i.e. turning technology itself into the subject behind the catastrophe. Building on ecological and feminist Marxism, environmental destruction can instead be attributed to the separation between the spheres of production and reproduction. Technological tools suitable for a socio-ecological transition must therefore be able to transcend this separation, becoming forces of re/production. Such a possibility will be evaluated here with regard to technologies of digital planning. These can, the article argues, become a sensing-apparatus and thereby reconnect production to its social and ecological basis. This addresses an important gap in the degrowth literature. Thus, Durand et al. (2023) note that almost all concepts of degrowth imply some kind of economic planning but do not spell out the concrete ways in which this would be realised. This gap is so important because it is the very notion of a planned transition that distinguishes degrowth from recession (degrowth by design instead of degrowth by disaster). Therefore, the question of feasibility of degrowth is also and maybe even primarily a question of the feasibility of democratic economic planning. This article aims to provide some basic consideration of this feasibility by reviewing approaches of digital democratic planning and participatory integrative planning. Thereby, it also hopes to contribute to easing the tensions between techno-optimistic and techno-pessimistic camps in the debate on the ecological crisis.
Undead Past: What Drives Support for the Secessionist Goal of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Nigeria? (Version 2)
Authors: Tuki Daniel
Published: July 2023

This study examined the effect of ethnic marginalization and socioeconomic condition on support for secession among members of the Igbo ethnic group who mainly reside in Nigeria’s Eastern Region. Perceived ethnic marginalization at the group level was found to positively correlate with support for secession. Socioeconomic condition was measured at the individual, household, and communal levels. The individual and household measures had no effect on support for secession, but the communal measure did. However, the results contravened the prediction of the horizontal inequalities (HIs) theory: improvements in socioeconomic condition at the communal level rather increased the likelihood of supporting secession. The analysis also showed that compared to non-Igbos, members of the Igbo ethnic group were 11 percent more likely to choose the “strongly agree” response category when asked whether the Eastern Region should be allowed to secede from Nigeria.
From extractivism to community resilience: the promise and perils of Sardinia’s energy transition
Authors: Fronteddu Antonio
Published: July 2023

The pursuit of global carbon neutrality makes the energy transition process no longer procrastinable. The switch towards renewable-based energy systems is paving the way for new forms of energy governance that prioritise the role of commons by demarketising access to energy. However, governments’ strategies worldwide seem to prioritise innovation in the raw materials (sun, wind, etc.) rather than in governance – favouring the continued extraction of energy from resource-rich regions. This work will analyse the case of Sardinia as an example where these two phenomena intersect contradictorily, by comparing the bottom-up nature of energy communities (ECs) vis-á-vis the top-down nature of public-private initiatives, alongside their policymaking trajectories. The key insights that will stem from this thesis elucidate a continuum with prior top-down policies of economic extractivism operated by the Italian government in Sardinia. Such top-down policies are conceptualised thanks to core and energy periphery theories and can explain the current mainstream regime of energy transition. Alternative strategies to pursue policy are conceptualised thanks to the energy democracy theory. Such theory envisions an active citizen engagement alongside the sustainable consumption of renewable energy and resources within the realm of energy communities. Therefore, the thesis will conclude that although large-scale top-down policies are being operated in the island, with special reference to the energy transition, energy communities can forge bottom-up alternative examples of policymaking, enabling an energy transition that can cross-tackle long-standing problems of Sardinian society, such as a stagnant economy, depopulation, self-determination, issues of land, landscapes, and pollution.
Cyberloafing, Workplace Incivility and Employee Productivity: An Empirical Study in Rural Municipalities of Kaski District
Authors: Tiwari Badri , Niraula Damodar
Published: July 2023

In today’s digitalized workplace, workplace incivility and cyberloafing have become major concerns for many corporate and government organizations all over the world.  The objective of this study was to determine the effects of cyberloafing and workplace rudeness on workers. The study took a quantitative approach, administered a set of survey questionnaire, and collected response from 135 employees from three rural municipalities in Kaski district.  Different descriptive and inferential statistical analysis tools were applied to draw the conclusion. Results showed that the cyber loafing and employee productivity had a weak significant positive relationship (0.320) whereas work incivility and employee productivity had a negative co-relationship (-0.304). Similarly, the regression result reveled a significant low magnitude of impact of cyberloafing and workplace incivility (0.443 and -0.445 coefficient respectively) on employee productivity. This research underlines the necessity for local governments to put policies in place that discourages uncivil behavior at workplace and prevent employees from the tendency of cyberloafing, as doing so can help to increase worker productivity.
Service Quality and Students' Satisfaction of Management Campuses of Kathmandu Valley
Authors: Shah Gyani Malla
Published: July 2023

Service quality is a campus strategic tool for increasing student satisfaction. This study was conducted to examine the service quality of management campus from student's perspectives and to assess the relationship and impact of reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangible dimensions on satisfaction. A total of 314 management students from bachelor (BBS) and master level (MBS) of management program of five constituent campuses of Tribhuvan University inside Kathmandu Valley were taken through using simple random sampling method. Based on SERVEQUAL gap model developed by the Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988a), a set of 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was administered to collect data. Result of the result found a poor service quality or negative mean gap in reliability, responsiveness, assurance and tangible dimensions. A strong significant negative impact of mean expectation of responsive dimension was found on service quality gap. On the other hand, mean perception of tangible dimension had strong positive impact on service quality gap. Result of the study emphasizes on the improvement of quality dimensions of management campuses so as to satisfy students and get strategic advantage in this competitive marketplace.
Loss and Recovery of ‘Substance’ in Greco-Roman Rhetoric
Authors: Bhusal Purna Chandra
Published: July 2023

This article attempts to delineate the Greco-Roman history of rhetoric in light of the concept of ‘substance’. It examines how Greco-Roman Rhetoric, while traveling from Plato to Aristotle to Cicero to Quintilian, encounters debates and dialogues regarding the issues of essence, meaning, and purpose of rhetoric. Therefore, this article does a qualitative textual analysis of five texts: Phaedrusorgias by Plato (2002, 1864), On Rhetoric by Aristotle (n.d.), Oratory and Orators by Cicero (1875), and Institutio Oratoria by Quintilian (2013). In order to unravel the journey of Greco-Roman rhetorical substance, these texts have been analysed and interpreted from three different points of view: substance in rhetoric/oratory, substance in the language of rhetoric/oratory, and substance in rhetoricians/rhetor/orator. The article concludes that in the history of Greco-Roman rhetoric, Plato nullifies substance, Aristotle adds substance, Cicero amplifies substance, and Quintilian multiplies substance. The article not only tracks the history of Greco-Roman rhetoric from the perspective of substance but also opens new avenues for further research.
Factors Driving Stock Prices of Nepalese Insurers
Authors: Karki Dipendra
Published: July 2023

The effect of firm-specific and macroeconomic factors on the price-earnings ratio of Nepalese insurance companies is analyzed in this study using pooled cross-sectional data. The study covers a period of eight years (2007/08 to 2014/15) and uses secondary data from 13 insurance companies with a total of 104 observations. The findings suggest that firm size, money supply, and gross domestic product have a positive correlation with stock prices, while inflation has a negative correlation. Furthermore, size, gross domestic product, and money supply have a positive impact on the price-earnings ratio, whereas dividends per share, book value per share, return on equity, and inflation have a negative impact. The study's results have important implications for insurance companies in Nepal, particularly in making investment decisions and formulating pricing strategies. The research's analytical techniques and strategies can be applied to different facets of the Nepalese stock market.
Impact of workplace ostracism on knowledge withholding behavior: Does job contract matter?
Authors: Bhattarai Ganesh
Published: July 2023

Considering the lack of home ground generated theory and empirical evidence regarding the knowledge-withholding, workplace ostracism, and job contract. The current study was carried out to measure the impact of perceived workplace ostracism on knowledge-withholding behavior and the moderating role of job contracts in the relationship between workplace ostracism and knowledge-withholding behavior. Perceptual and cross-sectional data were collected from the employees working in the Nepalese co-operative industry. Among the surveyed employees, 329 responses were analyzed using SPSS. Positivist research philosophy and deductive reasoning approach were used to reach a conclusion from the quantitative data. This study revealed that workplace ostracism positively affects knowledge-withholding behavior. Job contracts moderated the relationship between workplace ostracism and knowledge-withholding behavior. Permanent employees' knowledge-withholding behavior was positively impacted by workplace ostracism. Temporary employees' knowledge-withholding behavior was not affected due to workplace ostracism. A number of implications and directions for future research are suggested.
Managerial perception on the application of the balanced scorecard evaluation approach
Authors: Shrestha Prakash
Published: July 2023

This study aims to examine the managerial perception of the application of the balanced scorecard (BSC) evaluation approach. It considers the main four perspectives of the BSC evaluation approach including the financial, the  customer, the  internal processes, and the  learning and growth perspective. This study is primarily descriptive in nature. The questionnaire was delivered to nine commercial bank managers, including three state-owned banks, three joint-venture banks, and three private banks. A total of 180 questionnaires were distributed to them, and 129 (71.67%) were returned and used. The results reveal that Nepalese bank managers have a perception of a better financial position. They use the financial perspective as an important aspect of the BSC evaluation approach when measuring bank performance. In terms of customer perspective, the results show that banks have better customer connections. It also suggests that Nepalese bank managers believe that using customer viewpoints is critical to the performance of their institutions. In practice, both the internal process and the learning and growth perspective appear to be fair. As a result, Nepalese commercial banks succeed in each of the four aspects of the BSC evaluation approach.
Nexus between stock market capitalization and its Drivers: An ARDL model analysis
Authors: Gurung Rajesh
Published: July 2023

This paper aims to examine the nexus between the stock market capitalization and it drivers in Nepalese context using the Auto- regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach using the secondary date from 1988/89 to 2018/19. The stock market capitalization is has used as  dependent  variable  and  macro-economic, company  specific, stock market size, government policy, and political factors have been used as independent variables. It has reported the descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, data  stationary, ARDL bound test of long-run relationship. The long-run relationships amongst the variables have been confirmed with the ARDL short-run dynamics and Error Correction Mechanism approaches. The results indicated that gross domestic product and interest rate are important macro-economic variables to explain the stock market capitalization, whereas the return on equity in the case of firm-specific variables. Moreover, both the government policy and political factors have found to influence the stock market capitalization in the context of Nepalese capital market. The findings suggest for a promotion of economic growth with low and stable interest rates, improve company’s return on equity, and implement supportive government policies with political stability to support the overall stability and growth of the country's stock market capitalization.
Foreign Labor Migration: Causes and Educational Impact
Authors: Upadhyaya Ashok Bhakta
Published: July 2023

Foreign labour migration has been a common source of discourse along with socio-economic consequences on the place of local, federal, state, region and the world. It has brought impacts on different aspects of life including education. So, this study examines the causes of foreign labour migration and its educational impact on the households of Chhewetar, Gorkha. The study followed the quantitative method and survey design. The participants were selected by using systematic random sampling procedures. The questionnaire was used as the tool for data collection. The data were analyzed and interpreted by using descriptive statistics. The findings indicate that lack of employment, the poverty of the family and the wish of improving the economic status of a household were the major factors causing foreign employment. However, foreign employment has a positive impact on the educational status of the households because it improved the schooling of their children and enhances literacy levels. The income from foreign employment supported them in educating the children in urban areas, purchasing educational materials and paying tuition fees. The study concludes that foreign employment has been a boon in improving the educational status of foreign-employment migrant children.
Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights Among Married Women
Authors: Dhakal Hari Krishna
Published: July 2023

Sexual and reproductive rights are aspects of human rights. Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) incorporate the rights of all people, regardless of age, gender and other characteristics, to make choices regarding their sexuality and reproduction. This article has been conducted with the prime objective to examine the decision-making on the use of contraception and the prevalence of sexual violence in Bhojpur Municipality-5 Bhojpur District. This study is based on qualitative, quantitative and mixed research designs. To conduct research, 64 married women of reproductive age are selected as a sample by using the purposive sampling method. In the same way, this article is based on primary and secondary data. Observation and interviews as tools for primary data collection and books, articles, and journals related to sexual violence and sexual rights are used as tools for secondary data collection. Descriptive statistics are used for analysing the data. The study concludes that the sexual and reproductive rights of women are violated by their husbands regarding sex. Likewise, the family prefers sons as a result women are harassed. Women are sexually harassed in society too.
Effect of Motivation on Employee Performance: A Case Study of Nepal Electricity Authority
Authors: Shrestha Rohit Kumar
Published: July 2023

The objective of the study is to assess the relationship between Employee Motivation and Employee Performance (EP). In this study, the researcher adopted a descriptive research design. The primary data was collected from the managerial and operating level employees at the head office of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) through a structured questionnaire using Five Point Likert Scale. The study used a quantitative research design and applied stratified and judgmental sampling techniques combinedly. The total number of populations from NEA was 566. The sample size of the study was 181 employees. However, 300 questionnaires were distributed considering the pandemic of COVID-19 and sampling error. Reliability tests were computed in this study. Reliability was ascertained by calculating Cronbach’s Alpha from the pilot study. Data were analyzed based on descriptive and inferential statistics. Means and standard deviation and correlation and regression analysis were used for data analysis. The model summary indicates that the model has not sufficient power to fit the given data set in the multiple linear regression model. ANOVA indicates the statistical and significant prediction of the outcome variable in the regression model. Since the p-value is less than the significance level, there is a statistically significant relationship between motivation and EP. The regression coefficient indicates that there is a positive and moderate relationship between them. It can be concluded that motivation moderately enhances EP. Promotion pays, and recognition is the main motivation factors for employees at NEA. The study will be useful for policymakers such as in governmental, state-owned enterprises, and even the private sector. Further research can be conducted on other public and private sectors. Employee commitment, training, job satisfaction, etc., can be other dimensions to explore the effect of employee motivation.
PRECIPITAÇÕES MÁXIMAS MENSAIS EM SANTA MARIA, RS
Authors: Liska Gilberto Rodrigues Liska , Teixeira Otávio Magno , Mires Priscila de Azevedo
Published: July 2023

Existem regiões no estado do Rio Grande do Sul onde ocorrência de chuva é suficiente para as funções agrícolas e manutenção social, porém em outras localidades esta ocorrência não é tão satisfatória a ponto de o fornecimento d’água ser suficiente para as necessidades básicas da população. Nesse sentido, estimar com certa precisão as variações meteorológicas é de grande importância, uma vez que viabiliza um planejamento mais preciso nestas regiões. O objetivo desse trabalho foi analisar a ocorrência de precipitações pluviais máximas na cidade de Santa Maria – RS por meio das distribuições Generalizada de Valores Extremos, Gumbel e Pearson tipo III e estimar a quantidade de chuva para períodos de retorno de 2, 5, 10, 15, 30, 50 e 100 anos. Os resultados do teste de Kolmogorov Kolmogorov-Smirnov e os Histogramas com as funções densidades de probabilidades ajustadas indicam que as três distribuições de probabilidade se ajustaram aos dados e, entre as distribuições Gumbel e GVE, o teste de razão de verossimilhanças apontou que a distribuição Gumbel é mais adequada. Contudo o erro percentual absoluto médio revelou que a distribuição Pearson III forneceu níveis de retorno estimados mais precisos em alguns meses.
Palavras-chave: Teoria de valores extremos; probabilidade de ocorrência; Distribuição Generalizada de Valores Extremos (GEV); Distribuição Gumbel; Distribuição de Pearson Tipo III; climatologia.
 
Maximum monthly rainfall in Santa Maria, RS
 
ABSTRACT: There are regions in the state of Rio Grande do Sul where rainfall is sufficient for agricultural functions and social maintenance, but in other locations this occurrence is not so satisfactory that water supply is sufficient for the basic needs of the population. In this sense, knowing how to accurately estimate weather variations is of great importance. Statistical modeling of extreme levels is associated with probability distributions, belonging to a class of distributions in a branch of statistics called Extreme Value Theory (EVT). The objective of this work was to analyze the occurrence of maximum rainfall in the city of Santa Maria - RS through the Generalized Extreme Values, Gumbel and Pearson type III distributions and to estimate the amount of rainfall for return periods of 2, 5, 10, 15, 30, 50 and 100 years. The results of the KS test and Histogram plots indicate that the three probability distributions fit the data and, between the Gumbel and GEV distributions, the likelihood ratio test indicated that the Gumbel distribution is more appropriate. However, the mean absolute percentage error revealed that the Pearson III distribution provided more accurate estimated return levels for some months.
Keywords: Extreme value theory; probability of occurrence; Generalized Distribution of Extreme Values (GEV); Gumbel Distribution; Pearson Distribution Type III; climatology.