Hasil untuk "Social sciences (General)"

خالد سمير محمد حسن

تأتي هذه الدراسة في ظل تصاعد دعوات كثيرة من أجل إصدار قانون جديد لتنظيم الإدارة المحلية في مصر، نظرًا لأن القانون الحالي ( قانون رقم 43 لسنة 1979) لم يعد مواكباً لما جاء بالدستور الجديد ( دستور 2014 ) من صلاحيات جديدة ودعم صريح للامركزية و ترسيخ لديمقراطيتها و تعزيز لصلاحياتها .و تستعرض هذه الدراسة تاريخ الإدارة المحلية في مصر، مع التركيز على انتخابات المجالس المحلية خلال فترة حكم الرئيس الأسبق حسني مبارك ، وهي فترة غنية بالتفاعلات السياسية وشهدت عدة استحقاقات انتخابية محلية وقرارات بشأنها لم تتناولها دراسات سابقة بشكل كافٍ ، وقد استخدمت الدراسة المدخل التاريخي وذلك سعياً لحصر السلبيات والإستفادة منها وكذا الوقوف على مواضع القوة فى تجربة " إدارة المحليات " فى مصر بشكلها الحديث ومفهومها المعاصر عبر قرابة قرن كامل من الزمان ، سعيا للوصول إلى نتائج علمية يمكن أن نستقرأ منها توصيات فاعلة فى حالات مماثلة للدول النامية أو حديثة العهد بالتعددية السياسية والحريات والديمقراطية فى إدارة الأقاليم ..

Martin Åhlén, Suzanna Törnroth, Åsa Wikberg-Nilsson

This article introduces the Design Sensibility Approach—a sensorial and embodied process for making sense of possible futures. The approach is applied through a case study on speculative energy design in the home, conducted and adapted within a participatory workshop held at a regional art hall in Northern Sweden. It unfolds in four phases—Imagine, Make, Explore, and Reflect—across a broader timeline comprising pre-workshop, active workshop, and post-workshop stages. During the workshop, participants were invited to engage with their senses through a series of activities designed to prompt reflection on their own future energy imaginaries, which they materialized using a MakeTools kit. The results reveal three themes: emotional responses elicited from embodied experiences with energy; energy as a lifestyle; and critique of the political landscape surrounding resource extractivism in Northern Sweden. These findings inform the research question: How might the human senses be leveraged to create stronger emotional connections with future domestic energy products and systems? The article concludes by proposing concrete applications of the Design Sensibility Approach at individual, community, and governance levels, highlighting its ethical and inclusive dimensions as areas for future development.

María Inés Táboas-Pais, Pablo García-Marín

Tefera Assefa

Public transport is one of the public utilities offered to the general public directly by the government or through private sector participation. In either scenario, public transport should be subject to government control and stringent regulation in terms of pricing and service nature. The general argument is that the rates charged must be acceptable in the eyes of regulators, providers, and the general public. Using a critical postmodern research methodology and a critical and descriptive research design, this research aimed to critically analyze the factors leading to the spiraling of public transportation rates between Addis Ababa and Woliso. Key informants and passengers were selected using purposeful and snowball sampling procedures. The research revealed that, despite the government’s efforts to impose tariffs and offer subsidies to public transport providers, the government’s policy involvement failed to control public transport price hikes. Some of the obstacles that public transport services encounter in the execution of government pricing policy includes a lack of institutional linkage and coordination between multiple sites of delivery and players. Public transport pricing policy continues to be one of the principal policy concerns and sources of controversy in the case study and Ethiopia generally. Since the fare or price charged to users has been more than government tariff, the government’s public transport tariff has remained hypothetical. This suggests the existence of a critical contest between the government in charge of setting the tariff and overseeing its implementation and the public transport providers in the case study.

Sadia Bagagnan, Sabrina Guérin-Rechdaoui, Vincent Rocher et al.

Microorganisms play an important role in maintaining the proper functioning of river ecosystems and are promising candidates for environmental indicators. They are also highly sensitive to environmental changes. It is necessary to have basic knowledge about them in order to know the ecological status of river ecosystem. To our knowglege, there is very little information on the status of microorganisms in surface water of the Seine River, although the Seine River is one of the rivers that suffers the greatest impact from humain activities in the world due to a weak dilution effect. It is therefore necessary to carry out a microbial analysis to assess the ecological status of the Seine River and to use it as a reference to compare with the future state when, for instance, new disinfection technologies of wastewater are implemented.To this end, the microbial communities of the Seine surface water were analyzed, taking into account the spatial effect, including the tributaries, and from upstream to downstream of the Paris conurbation and the temporal aspect, with a monitoring over 4 seasons. The results showed that the microbiome of the water is highly diverse and involved a variety of functions. The main phyla making up the surface water microbiome were Proteobacteria, Actinobacteriota, Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, while other minor phyla were Deinococcota, Patescibacteria, Gemmatimonadota, Cyanobacteria, Bdellovibrionota, Acidobacteriota, Campilobacterota, Myxococcota, and Desulfobacterota. Overall, the microbial community did not change spatially (with the exception of some minor differences between upstream and downstream), but did vary seasonally. The main factors influencing this microbiome were temperature, nitrate and orthophosphate concentrations. The main predicted functions were related to cell metabolism, in particular carbohydrates, amino acids, lipids, energy, vitamins and cofactors, and cell mobility. The microbial compositions showed a strong balance between microbial groups and were involved in the degradation of recalcitrant compounds.

Yimei Ding, Xue Luan, Jiaqi Hou

Background: Primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) stands as a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by an elusive pathogenesis. The synergy of single-cell RNA sequencing and Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis provides an opportunity to comprehensively unravel the contributory role of monocytes/macrophages in the intricate pathogenesis of pSS. Methods: Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of various types of immune cells were analyzed after annotating single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data. MR analysis of expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) and protein quantitative trait loci (pQTL) was conducted to search for key pathogenic genes and proteins. Cellular localization of pathogenic genes was performed based on scRNA-seq data. Variations in signaling pathways between immune cells were further analyzed. Results: A total of 1434 significant DEGs were identified. Among these, 60 genes exhibited strong relevance to the occurrence of pSS, of which 32 genes differentially expressed in monocytes/macrophages. CTSS was found to be a significant risk protein with a p-value of 0.001 and an odds ratio of 1.384 (1.147–1.669), showing pronounced expression in monocytes/macrophages. Furthermore, monocytes/macrophages displayed heightened expression levels of MXD1, AMPD2, TNFSF10, FTL, UBXN11, CSF3R, and LILRA5. The analysis of intercellular signaling revealed increased signal intensity in both incoming and outgoing signals in monocytes/macrophages. The signaling interactions between monocytes/macrophages, B cells, and T cells exhibited varying degrees of deviation. Conclusions: This study highlights the significant involvement of monocytes/macrophages in the pathogenesis of pSS, as evidenced by MR analysis and scRNA-seq analysis. This suggests monocytes/macrophages as a focal point for pathogenesis research and potential therapeutic targeting in pSS.

Jinlong Zhang, Jie Yan, Shuyue Li et al.

Methamphetamine is a potent and highly addictive neurotoxic psychostimulant that triggers a spectrum of adverse emotional responses during withdrawal. G-protein coupled receptor 55 (GPR55), a novel endocannabinoid receptor, is closely associated with mood regulation. Herein, we developed a murine model of methamphetamine-induced anxiety- and depressive-like behavior during abstinence which showed a decreased GPR55 expression in the hippocampus. Activation of GPR55 mitigated these behavioral symptoms, concomitantly ameliorating impairments in hippocampal neurogenesis and reducing neuroinflammation. These findings underscore the pivotal role of GPR55 in mediating the neuropsychological consequences of methamphetamine withdrawal, potentially via mechanisms involving the modulation of hippocampal neurogenesis and inflammation.

Enrique González-Plaza, David García, Jesús-Ignacio Prieto

Stirling engines are currently of interest due to their adaptability to a wide range of energy sources. Since simple tools are needed to guide the sizing of prototypes in preliminary studies, this paper proposes two groups of simple models to estimate the maximum power in Stirling engines with a kinematic drive mechanism. The models are based on regression or ANN techniques, using data from 34 engines over a wide range of operating conditions. To facilitate the generalisation and interpretation of results, all models are expressed by dimensionless variables. The first group models use three input variables and 23 data points for correlation construction or training purposes, while another 66 data points are used for testing. Models in the second group use eight inputs and 18 data points for correlation construction or training, while another 36 data points are used for testing. The three-input models provide estimations of the maximum brake power with an acceptable accuracy for feasibility studies. Using eight-input models, the predictions of the maximum indicated power are very accurate, while those of the maximum brake power are less accurate, but acceptable for the preliminary design stage. In general, the best results are achieved with ANN models, although they only employ one hidden layer.

Kennedy Diema Konlan, Muriel Mavis Dangah

Introduction: Sexual harassment is a component of gender-based discrimination that indicates unequal power relations and affects students' psychological and physical well-being and academic achievement. This study assessed students’ experiences of sexual harassment at the Offinso College of Education. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study incorporated a whole population sampling of second and third-year female students to respond to a pre-tested questionnaire uploaded on Google Forms. The data were vetted for appropriateness, cleaned in Microsoft Excel, and transferred to IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences for analysis into descriptive statistics and chi-square tests of associations. Results: The study indicated that women (66%) had previously had sex before admission into college and perceived that they were at risk of sexual harassment (43.0%). It was statistically significant that the student's level of education was associated with the experience of being sexually harassed (χ2 = 10.950, p-value <0.00) and the perception that sexual harassment was a problem among students (χ2 = 13.376, p-value <0.01). The nature of the female students' marital relationships was statistically significant (χ2 = 11.209, p-value<0.02) to the perception of sexual harassment as a problem in the college. Conclusion: Female students must have adequate education on the sexual harassment policy of the institution and measures put in place to identify and provide appropriate sanctions to issues of sexual harassment at the college education level.

Katri Lahti, Heidi Backman, Taina Laajasalo et al.

ABSTRACTPotentially traumatizing events are common in adolescence, and these experiences have an impact on psychopathology. Furthermore, these events cumulate for certain individuals. More knowledge about the relationship between well-being and victimization experiences’ amount, type, and timing in adolescents is needed to understand the phenomenon of adolescent victimization. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated in a population-based sample of Finnish adolescents, whether victimization experiences associate with psychosocial well-being. The study sample comprised 5743 adolescents aged 15–16 years who filled in a questionnaire about 12 victimization experiences and psychosocial well-being. General Linear Model regression analyses were used for statistical analysis. A greater number of victimization experiences and recent timing, as well as type of victimization such as cyberbullying, were linked to problems related to psychosocial well-being. It is important to recognize current forms of youth victimization to identify the adolescents at risk for psychosocial distress and investigate on specific types of victimization.

Md. Jisan Mahmud, Ahmed Imtiaz Rais, Md. Rakib Hossain et al.

The current study investigates conjugate mixed convection heat transmission with internal heat generation in a square enclosure driven by a sliding lid and a solid cylinder with a heat-conducting surface at its center. The enclosure has a stationary bottom wall that is kept at a constant hot temperature and a cold upper wall that moves consistently. The solid cylinder rotates both clockwise and counterclockwise at different angular speeds. Two-dimensional steady continuity, momentum, thermal energy equations, and boundary and interface conditions are solved using a commercial CFD tool based on the finite element method. By choosing Reynolds, Grashof, and Richardson numbers, as well as varying the rotating cylinder's speed and direction under three different scenarios incorporating volumetric heat generation, parametric modeling of the mixed convection regime is carried out. The streamline and isotherm plots are used to illustrate qualitative findings. In contrast, the average Nusselt number, normalized Nusselt number, average drag coefficient, and average fluid temperature are used to assess quantitative thermal performance measures. This study reveals that the system's thermal performance is less dependent on the solid cylinder's rotational speed and direction. It successfully depicts the heat transfer enhancement with increasing Reynolds and Grashof numbers. A thorough study of the current facts can lead to the best choice of regulating parameters.

Gabriel Cohn

Resumo O artigo destaca a dificuldade de se definir “fascismo”. Mesmo assim, nota como foram elaboradas concepções genéricas de fascismo, a partir das quais, variados casos podem ser confrontados. Chama igualmente a atenção para a existência de uma dimensão institucional e uma dimensão ideológica no fascismo; a primeira tendo sido enfrentada, a segunda negligenciada. Ao se confrontar o Brasil com “fascismo clássico”, indica que aqui não teríamos a criação de algo novo, mas a explicitação de traços profundamente arraigados de nossa sociedade. Nesse sentido, é sugerido que entre nós, mais do que falar propriamente em fascismo, se poderia apontar para a existência de algo como um “fascismo latente”, sempre capaz de vir à tona e, portanto, especialmente preocupante.

Elliot M. Mncwango

An analysis of the use of demonstratives in isiZulu (izabizwana zokukhomba) has shown that they go beyond the known deictic functions of demonstratives as used in other languages like English. In isiZulu, demonstratives tend to also denote specificity, a function normally performed by the definite article in English. This article, therefore, compares the functions of articles in English to those of demonstratives in isiZulu, with the aim to demonstrate the similarities in terms of use between the two languages. This added function of demonstratives, it is argued, may account for some of the errors in English second language learners’ use of articles, as evidenced by data from written exercises of learners whose first language is isiZulu. The findings suggest that second language learners of English tend to confuse articles because of the differences between the two languages, especially during their (learners’) interlanguage stage. Contribution: The article highlights a significant difference in the use of demonstratives between English and isiZulu due to the added function of specificity in isiZulu demonstrative (isabizwana sokukhomba) which is performed by the definite article in English. It also demonstrates how, without an article system, isiZulu can convey meaning like any language with an article system.

Sandra TEODORESCU, Mădălina TOCAN, Oana CHINDRIȘ-VĂSIOIU

Research and innovation contribute to economic growth and, thus, to better living and working conditions in the European Union. For this reason, research and innovation are an important part of policies by which the European Commission seeks to stimulate employment, growth and investment. Research and innovation provide us with the knowledge and solutions we need for urgent problems, such as epidemics or socio-economic crises, but also for long-term societal challenges, such as transport, climate change or energy. For this reason, this paper attempts to present the current state of research and development in Romania and also to analyze the level of correlation between the activity of research and development and economic performance of Romania.

Salma M Abdalla, MBBS, MPH, Shui Yu, MPH, Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH

Introduction: Income inequality between the richest 20% and the poorest 80% in the United States has been increasing over the past two decades. Emerging evidence indicates widening disparities between the two groups in cardiovascular disease prevalence as well. However, the mechanisms behind this trend remains unclear. This analysis examines whether a similar trend exists in the levels of biomarkers and risk factors of cardiovascular disease in the United States. Methods: We conducted a serial cross-sectional analysis of a nationally representative data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for participants age 20 or older between 1999 and 2018. We calculated trends in age-standardized means of body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and the trend in prevalence of obesity, high SBP, and low HDL by income group. Results: This analysis included 49,764 participants. Age-standardized mean BMI increased every two years by an average of 0.15 kg/m 2 among the richest 20% and by an average of 0.21 kg/m 2 among the poorest 80%. Age-standardized mean SBP decreased every two years by an average of 0.13 mm Hg among the richest 20% and by an average of 0.10 mm Hg among the poorest 80%. Age-standardized mean HDL increased every two years by an average of 0.39 mg/dL among the richest 20% and by an average of 0.19 mg/dL among the poorest 80%. When adjusted for demographic factors and time, the richest 20% had lower mean BMI (OR = −0.67, 95% CI: −0.89, - 0.44), lower mean SBP (OR = −0.72, 95% CI: −1.24, −0.20), and higher mean HDL (OR = 3.04, 95% CI: 2.46, 3.62) compared to the poorest 80% Conclusion: There are increasing disparities in cardiovascular disease biomarkers by income in the US. Between 1999 and 2018, improvement in biomarkers overwhelmingly occurred among the richest 20%

Barney G. Glaser

It may sometimes be said that one of the most difficult parts of doing research is to get started. The making of choices and commitments to a research problem seem less secured and structured when doing descriptive research in quantitative or qualitative research. This occurs because the research problem is chosen beforehand and therefore forces the data, thus the yield may be small or nothing since the problem, in fact, may not be relevant. A “thought up” problem may sound juicy, but the preconception leads nowhere.

Antonio García Espada

En 1941, una investigación policial activada por una misteriosa denuncia contra un grupo de jornaleros salvadoreños evidencia un complejo entramado en la circulación de opinión pública entre clases sociales fuertemente dicotomizadas. La policía no logró formarse una idea clara del delito imputado a los jornaleros, que no obstante fueron obligados a cesar todas sus prácticas. Una lectura acuciosa del expediente evidencia el intento de los jornaleros de apropiarse de prestigiosas técnicas espirituales de la élite salvadoreña. A pesar del desenlace del proceso, la estrategia acabó triunfando y dando forma a una de las expresiones más originales de religiosidad vernácula.

Ana Rita Castañeda-de Liendo, Celia Teresa Ledo-Royo, Jorge Montoya-Rivera

<p class="Resumen">The Bolivarian Education has been in need of projecting alternatives that lead to the continuity of the curriculum and programs for students and families that are in adverse situations caused by the climatic change. Sites or spaces have been opened to care for the preschool population of children in temporary shelter, but it is a new field to be explored by research, with new strategies and programs in the light of the sciences. This material is framed in the humanistic ethical values of solidarity, cooperation and social co-responsibility, for this and the great approach of the problem is to create in the child the values through music as a way to incorporate the integral management of the Risk in the daily culture of families, schools and communities.</p>

Thomas Klikauer

Abstract: Nobel Prize winning economists Akerlof and Shiller’s phishing for phools explains the economics behind mass deception and manipulation in market economies. While “phishing” is commonly known as a form of internet fraught, their book ‘takes a new, broader meaning, i.e. getting people to do things that are in the interest of the phisherman, but not in the interest of the target. A phool is someone who, for whatever reason, is successfully phished. These are emotional phools (feelings override common sense) and information phools (people act on information that is intentionally crafted to mislead them). Divided into “unpaid bills and financial crash”, “phishing in many contexts”, and “general lessons”, the book uses rafts of examples from economics, the media, and advertising to substantiate their claim. While it avoids linking their findings to capitalism, the book contains a few helpful hints when seeking to avoid being “phished as a phool”. In the end, and despite the economic analysis of the two Nobel Prize winners, the more illuminating book on the subject remains Lindstrom’s “Buyology”.

Gârbo Viorica Irina, , et al.

Malpractice insurance of medical staff is probably the oldest professional liability insurance underwritten in the insurance market in Romania. The aim of our research is to theoretically examine in a qualitative inquiry the usefulness of insurance completion by the practitioners from the Romanian health system at both state and private, in order to improve a best practice medical insurance. The medical profession is practiced in Romania under the Code of Medical Ethics 30 March 2012 prepared in code that complies with international standards contained in the Geneva Declaration of 1948, as amended by the World Medical Association and the International Code of Medical Ethics. The forms of medical liability are: disciplinary, administrative, civil and criminal and only the civil liability can be taken into insurance because only it meets the conditions of insurability. Once we explain in general and the insurance liability in particular we show articles of the Romanian Civil Code which establishes the obligation the one that caused an injury to a third person for the repair or indemnify and conditions provided by the Civil Code as an act to be considered liability. Then we refer to situations where the patient may be damaged through the fault of the doctor or the doctor unit operates. The object of malpractice insurance is loss of money that the insured would have to pay a patient whom he caused injury as a result of acts or deeds of negligence committed to, during and in relation to professional activity. Risks taken in the insurance are personal injury, illness or death of the patient and / or moral damages. Regarding the excluded risks we have presented an overview of the more common contracts underwritten by Romanian insurance companies. We show the way of underwriting, the insured sums of the standard insurance and the additional one which subscribes moral damages, to companies in Romania agreed by bodies which organize and supervise the Romanian medical system. The current procedure for determining the guilt of a doctor and his patient complained of the amount of damages is a long and difficult. The procedure for determining the guilt of a doctor reported by his patient and the amount of compensation is a long and arduous one. In conclusions we have shown that along with the reform and reorganization of the Romanian medical system, the civil liability insurance of the medical staff, the way of contracting, the way of establishing the guilt of the applicant and the amount of compensation need to be reformed.