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Subject to various restrictive requirements on project application and completion, funded projects are often affected by funding policies for the selection of research objects. This study explored the impact of scientific research funding policies on the funding and research by comparing the topic distribution of awards and papers. A total of 1,870 awards and 16,491 papers of the National Social Science Foundation of China (NSSFC) in library and information science (LIS) were collected from a Chinese research project database. According to the results, the growth rate of awards on most topics is higher than that of papers, while the growth rate of papers on the relevant topics to users, technology, and metrology is higher than that of awards. It was found out in the study that the topics funded by NSSFC were imbalanced. NSSFC provides much more funding to traditional topics rather than emerging topics. As indicated by the funding provided to the projects on traditional topics for research on a large number of papers on emerging topics, however, the innovation and diversity of academic research have yet to be restricted. This study demonstrated that the effect of funding policies on the research topics in LIS is significant. Topic suggestions and funding structure of NSSFC have more impacts on award topics than on paper topics. The influence of NSSFC-recommended topics on paper topics is declining year by year. Additionally, awards with high funding intensity are more susceptible to topic suggestions.

The article introduces attraction marketing methods employed by Russian monthly popular science magazine Diletant. The authors compared the printed version and the website. The paper magazine attracts the reader mainly by the topic name printed on its cover as a unique creolized text. The further semantics of the front media text includes various aspects of the main topic. Color highlights both topical issue and regular features. The comparative analysis with the online version revealed some significant differences. The website has a muted color scheme and minimal animation; it contains neither video nor audio materials. Like in the printed version, the function of attraction belongs mainly to illustrations and subtitles. Online Diletant is interactive in navigation, tests, and surveys, which are, however, the only form of interactivity: the site does not provide comments, forums, “likes”, etc. Such limited use of attention-seeking tools makes the digital version of Diletant uncompetitive and inferior to its paper issue.

Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) are likely applied by some major trading countries. The NTM policy mostly applies Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) and Technical Barrier to Trade (TBT). Pulp and Paper commodities are some of Indonesia’s potential exports facing NTM barriers by a number of major destinations countries. This study is aimed to evaluate the effects of NTMs upon Indonesian pulp and paper export in the main destinations. NTMs are represented by coverage ratio of SPS and coverage ratio of TBT. The effect of NTMs imposition to pulp and paper between Indonesia and its main trade partners is estimated by using a panel data gravity model that is constructed by disaggregated data on bilateral export trade flow of pulp and paper between Indonesia and its main trade partners for the period from 2005 to 2019. The gravity model is estimated by a fixed effects model, Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood, and Hausman Taylor model. The results indicated that the imposition of SPS and TBT of destination countries presented a positive and significant impact upon the Indonesian export of pulp. However, the imposition of SPS and TBT of destination countries presented a negative and significant impact upon the Indonesian export of paper.

Handmade paper has been around for centuries. In Asia, Europe, and other parts of the world, the means of creating handmade paper depend largely on traditional equipment and other industrial machines. In Ghana, the means of creating handmade paper is through a tedious process of hand beating the bast fiber of the Kyenkyen tree. This resulted in the production of a proto-paper known as the bark cloth. This traditional method has almost become extinct with the influx of imported industrial papers. Therefore the purpose of this study was to seek a solution to this problem through the possible design and fabrication of a paper pulp-making machine daubed the Ada Beater. Thus getting vital tools for making art, print, and papermaking. The paper explored practice-based research methodology to fabricate a papermaking machine known as the Ada Beater. The results showed that the machine can be fabricated and made to produce improved papers of archival quality derived from various plant sources in Ghana. It is recommended that this homegrown know-how should be made available to artists and art teachers for the teaching and use of handmade paper for artistic purposes.

Author(s): Quassim Cassam [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.7372.1, 0000 0000 8809 1613, University of Warwick, , Coventry, UK Watching news coverage of scores of Afghan civilians running alongside an American [...]

Highly cited papers showcase high-quality research and encompass significant themes in the field. This study examined a total of 435 highly cited papers based on Essential Citation Indicators in the Web of Science (WoS) category of sport sciences with a bibliometric method. In particular, the bibliometric indicators of the highly cited papers including publication venues, authors, countries, institutions, and the top cited publications were presented and analyzed in detail. An Abstract corpus was constructed to help identify the most frequently explored topics. VOSviewer was employed to visualize the co-occurrence networks of keywords. The study revealed the trending information of important contributors at the levels of journals, authors, countries, and institutes. The top cited publications can be grouped into three categories: guidelines , recommendations based on systematic reviews , and evaluations . The most frequently explored topics based on the Abstract corpus and the most frequently used keywords from VOSviewer mapping overlap to a great extent. Specifically, topics such as meta-analysis, systematic review, sport-related concussion, sedentary behavior, football, rehabilitation, and osteoarthritis are among the most frequently mentioned. The results provide the most updated publication characteristics and hot topics of highly cited papers in sport sciences and offer insights for academic researchers in future research.

According to its creator Michel Juillard, Dynare is a “pre-processor and a collection of routines” aimed at solving and estimating non-linear rational expectation models. This article focuses on the role of Dynare in the dissemination of dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models in academia and policymaking institutions. The case of Dynare highlights how the dissemination across the profession of theoretical principles and modelling practices cannot be considered independently from (at least) two general issues that involve designing computer tools for macroeconomics: tractability (i.e. the existence of a computer algorithm that can solve a mathematical problem using “reasonable” resources) and portability (i.e. the material ability of circulating and transferring a computer algorithm across models, people, and institutions). In this article, we document how the origins and the development of Dynare over three decades were guided by these two issues.

While the subject of harnessing the diaspora for economic benefits in general has been extensively covered, very little has been done to interrogate the potential of harnessing diaspora for tourism marketing through diaspora-based tourism marketing (DBTM). The potential of harnessing the diaspora as tourism marketers to improve tourism traffic factors to a tourism destination has remained untapped and unpacked by most developing countries. As a result, the significance of DBTM in galvanizing socioeconomic factors to a destination remains untapped in most developing countries, Zimbabwe being a case in particular. In the meantime, evidence from the emerging pockets of research in developed countries illuminate the centrality of DBTM in stimulating tourism travel to a destination among other benefits. Noteworthy is that the significance of DBTM in galvanizing socioeconomic factors to a destination may never be appreciated unless its potential and benefits are clearly understood and unpacked. This conceptual analysis paper explores the potential of harnessing the diaspora for tourism marketing. The conceptual analysis paper also maps out what has been achieved within the diaspora and tourism marketing industry. Specifically, using content analysis, the conceptual analysis paper explores DBTM potential and highlights the knowledge gap concerning DBTM.

In the game of rock-paper-scissors with three players, this paper identifies conditions for a correlated equilibrium that differs from the mixed strategy Nash equilibrium and is evolutionarily stable. For this to occur, the correlation device attaches more probability to three-way ties and solo-winner outcomes than would result from the Nash equilibrium. The correlated equilibrium is evolutionarily stable because any mutant fares worse than a signal-following player when facing two players who follow their own correlated signals. The critical quality of the correlation device is to make this true both for potential mutants who would disobey their signal and instead choose the action which would beat the action signaled to the player, as well as for potential mutants who would deviate to the action that would be beaten by what the device signals to the player. These findings reveal how a strict correlated equilibrium can produce evolutionarily stable strategies for rock-paper-scissors with three players.

The main objective of the proposed approach is to accelerate the transition of the bioeconomy towards a knowledge-based sustainable system, covering key biobased sectors strongly linked to agriculture in Poland, in line with the European Green Deal. The proposed model of a bioeconomy development strategy, with a special focus on agriculture, is based on two pillars: (1) strengthening traditional, relevant (in terms of economic indicators) sectors of the economy and improving their ‘sustainability’ by implementing the proposed transformation pathways; and (2) developing economic activities or ‘niche or novel sectors’ that are prospective accelerators of change in the face of climate challenge, and ensuring their upscaling. This approach forms the basis for policy planning at national and regional level in these European Union (EU) countries, where bioeconomy development strategies have been initiated through dialogue between science, administration and industry stakeholders. The strategic actions we propose are grouped in three areas; (1) Market intervention mainly by introducing sustainability criteria for the national production system; (2) Research, innovation and education that significantly strengthen the relationship between business and science and educational activities in the field of sustainability and climate change, and (3) Governance and policy actions to enforce the relationship between the main sub-sectors of bioeconomy and niche sectors in frame of bio-economy strategy or action plan that will profits by added value of products from bioeconomy sectors and increasing number of newly created jobs.

Required undergraduate diversity courses often expose students to topics and worldviews which may push them out of their comfort zones and prompt dissonance and even resistance. This paper reports on interviews with 68 faculty members across 16 humanities and social science disciplines at five predominantly white institutions in the Southern United States, detailing how they navigated discussion of controversial topics in required diversity courses. Most instructors aimed to expose students to critical social issues yet were concerned that resistance could disturb the learning process. We identified 20 unique strategies for handling controversial topics in class that included proactively establishing community and safety and normalizing conflict, and reactively acknowledging and surfacing multiple perspectives, as well as connecting content to students' lived experiences. Some instructors also reported a lack of controversy or conflict in their classrooms, which they variously attributed to student characteristics or their own disinclination to promote heated discussion - which, we argue, calls into question the breadth and criteria of many institutionally defined diversity course requirements. We conclude the paper with implications for faculty, educational developers, administrators, and institutions.

Having the South American Amazon as our spatial cut, this paper aims to discuss it as a space of physical, environmental and socioeconomic relevance to regional rearticulation, highlighting the issue of transport infrastructure and the importance of Brazil to boost this process in contemporary times. With the end of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) in 2019, several of its councils were paralyzed and discontinued, such as the Infrastructure and Planning Council (Cosiplan), reflecting the abandonment of efforts built since the beginning of the 21st century. In addition, relations between national preferences and the indispensable search for development, and mechanisms of cooperation and regional integration, which are fundamental instruments to meet such demands, were stressed. In turn, a scenario of discredited institutions made room for greater action by multiple public and private, internal and increasingly international and multinational actors who, in a way disconnected from regional arrangements, directed infrastructure investments focusing on their own interests, resulting in expiation of the the socio-environmental vulnerability in the Amazonian territories. We argue that it is necessary to integrate to preserve and develop. Regional governance and institutionality are central pillars for the resumption of a more resilient South American integration process, aimed at protecting and developing the Amazon, in which Brazil has an important driving role to be exercised and a directive leadership to retrieve.

Digital storytelling (DS) is a term that has come to mean different things in different contexts [...]

Soft skills are the elementary management, personal, and interpersonal abilities that are vital for an individual to be efficient at workplace or in their personal life. Each work place requires different set of soft skills. Thus, in addition to scientific/technical skills that are easier to access within a short time frame, several key soft skills are essential for the success of a researcher in today’s international work environment. In this paper, the trainees and trainers of the EU-CardioRNA COST Action CA17129 training school on soft skills present basic and advanced soft skills for early career researchers. Here, we particularly emphasize on the importance of transferable and presentation skills, ethics, literature reading and reviewing, research protocol and grant writing, networking, and career opportunities for researchers. All these skills are vital but are often overlooked by some scholars. We also provide tips to ace in aforementioned skills that are crucial in a day-to-day life of early and late career researchers in academia and industry.

While Slovenia has significant bioeconomy potential, it remains underutilized, facing challenges in primary bioeconomy sectors, their integration along value chains, uptake of industrial innovation, and institutional coordination. This paper aims to support the unlocking of Slovenia's bioeconomy potential, and foster sustainable and integrated development of its value chains. It provides the evidence base of the composition, volumes and current utilization of the available biomass streams from agriculture, forestry and aquatic systems. It discusses the potential uses of these resources and highlights the need for improved logistics and scalability. Additionally, the structure and performance of bioeconomy-related industries in Slovenia are examined, emphasizing the importance of firm consolidation and integration for successful bioeconomy development. It emphasizes the importance of sector-specific transformation pathways, from primary production to expanding hybrid sectors. The exchange between policymakers and stakeholders is encouraged to recognize synergies, accelerate cooperation, and improve economic performance while closing material and energy loops. The document also reviews the supporting environment for bioeconomy development and proposes steps for improved coordination and strategic planning.

Compared to the abundant generic research on technologies and education, few studies focus on the scope of whether the technologies used meet the expectations set forth in international reports and to what extent technology contributes to transforming educational practice. Our objective was to identify and analyze the characteristics of educational practices that are being developed in higher education and to assess the value that technology brings to educational practice. We conducted a systematic review of academic papers published in scientific journals: a corpus of 1,207 articles from six journals included in indexed databases (JCR and SJR), selected using Google Scholar Metrics. According to the various records screened, the study we present is based on 49 articles, published between 2018 and 2019. We conclude that beyond their reproducible, enriching, or transformative nature, most of the articles analyzed address the improvement of students’ performance, engagement, or self-perception, in which they positively value the experience of learning mediated by digital technology, although they do not have an impact on the transformative value.

We utilized cross tabulation statistics, word frequency counts, and content analysis of research output to conduct a bibliometric study, and used CiteSpace software to depict a knowledge map for research on entrepreneurship education in China from 2004 to 2013. The study shows that, in this duration, the study of Chinese entrepreneurship education experienced a progression through three stages, an "exploratory stage of learning from foreign models," a "developmental stage geared toward employment problems," and a "transformative stage promoting cultivation of student abilities," and featured three primary characteristics, "multidisciplinary fusion," "imbalanced regional distribution," and "policy orientation." In the future, popular fields in the study of entrepreneurship education are to be concentrated in the three areas, namely "entrepreneurship education and talent cultivation," "entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial environments," and "entrepreneurship education and innovation education."

Metadiscourse markers and their importance to academic writing are essential research subjects nowadays. The current corpus-based study aims at identifying interactional and interactive metadiscourse markers in terms of frequency and function in the abstract section of published research articles in applied linguistics developed by Algerian, Saudi, and Native researchers. 20 research articles for each group, with a total of 60 articles have been randomly selected and compiled as the research corpus for this study, then analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively using AntConc.3.2.4 relying on Hyland’s classification of metadiscourse markers. As a comparative study, the research considered the abstracts written by natives as a benchmark and attempted to find an answer to the main inquiry related to the frequency of use of metadiscourse devices by Algerian and Saudi researchers in comparison to their Native counterparts. The main research results showed how close were Algerian abstracts to native ones in terms of using endophorics, frame markers, code glosses, hedges, attitude markers, and self-mentions. While Saudi abstracts were close to the benchmark only in two markers that are transitions and engagement markers. The rest of the devices were shown to be far from the native norm in both cases. The findings also revealed that the use of metadiscourse markers is not the only indicator of papers’ publication rate in indexed journals by comparing the corpus analysis results to the source of the articles (journals), to find that even if Algerian researchers publish less in high indexed journals in comparison to Saudis, they are still closer in using markers to the natives as a benchmark.

This article considers how undocumented youth in the UK survive and construct their everyday lives in precarious circumstances. Drawing on multiple in-depth narrative interviews with (n = 7) undocumented youth, I illustrate how these young people focus on the future and engage in purposeful activities as a way of enduring the everyday challenges of living with no papers. I reflect on the relationships, which young people draw on to enable them to endure adversity and rebuild their everyday lives. I conclude that the presence of love and community is critical for young people’s survival, safety and wellbeing, and I suggest how practitioners and researchers might make use of these findings.

Research work carried out in any institution could be meaningfully administered, and the outputs generated rendered more rewarding for its key stakeholders, if a set of critical success factors (CSFs) are outlined ex-ante. When CSFs are neither clearly identified nor practised in a vital sector such as commercial agriculture, difficulties arise with timely monitoring and evaluation, and tallying the achievements with intended Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – particularly the goal of ‘zero hunger’. This article proposes a Key Performance Index (KPI index) that takes into account CSFs that would aid in evaluating the success of research linked with commercial agriculture development. How such an index is used to facilitate monitoring of scarce resource utilisation and internal processes of research institutes, and thereby support evidence-based decision-making to sustain a conducive research culture is explored with a special focus on underutilised performance drivers (e.g., societal development and environmental sustainability) in line with agriculture research.

Mitigation of fungal biodeterioration on paper documents and artworks represents a challenge to conservators worldwide. Numerous lists of fungal species have been identified from paper collections, but are those species responsible for the respective biodeterioration phenomena or just environmental contaminants? The present work was aimed at obtaining an association between specific fungal stains and causative fungal species. 23 stains from three paper documents were sampled. Fungal structures observed in situ with optical and scanning electron microscopy were compared with the identification of isolates by molecular biology tools. Correlation between the observed fungal structures and the identified fungal isolates was achieved, varying from 13% to 64% of the samples within the three studied documents. Grey/black and dark brown stains were associated with Chaetomium globosum, C. murorum, Penicillium chrysogenum, P. commune, Myxotrichum deflexum and Stachybotrys chartarum. Eurotium rubrum was isolated from a foxing stain and Penicillium citrinum was identified on light orange stains.

The political opposition in Democratic Republic of Congo reamins less studied in studies on the dynamics of democratic transition in this country for two reasons. It is about the omission of this component in the constitutionalist process after independance and the long duration of military government come to power by coup or armed insurrection. Consequently, this article proposes to operate three variables to study congolese political opposition. Institutional determinants (related to the party system, methods of voting systems), the legal expression of the opposition and finaly, the nature and charisma of congolese opposition leaders. Anyway, the congolese political opposition has its origins in an intra-party struggle to evolve into an inter-party oppositon in its fight for the conquest of state power. It remains true that on the three democratic experiences relating to the presidential elections, the congolese political, by forming electoral coalitions, managed to beat the ruling party once in the presidential elections. Nevertheless, the strategies of this opposition remain limited in terms of effectiveness because of the nature of the parties that compose it, political transhumance, the ego between its leaders in a political system combining victory in the presidential and legislative elections to govern without alchemy of cohabition. Keywords: opposition, struggle, conquest, power, DR Congo, INTRODUCTION La democratie qui a ete definie jadis par l'ancien president americain comme etant <> (1), a ete vue par les participants au seminaire parlementaire de Libreville comme etant <> [...]

Sustainable agricultural production is essential for an adequate food supply to feed the global population. One facet of efforts in making the agricultural sector more sustainable is the dramatic increase in organic farming (OF). With its current popularity, people across the globe are increasingly interested in the sustainable performance of organic production. However, accurate and timely information is scarce and there is a lacuna of knowledge among organic farmers about Sustainability Assessment (SA). Many promising SA measurement tools have been developed for the organic farming sector. However, improved procedures and a broader common knowledge are still necessary. In response, this paper provides a comprehensive comparison and scientific underpinning of the prominent tools for assessing farm sustainability to provide support for monitoring sustainable development in OF practices. This comparison can contribute to the adoption of suitable SA tools, and, thereby, the achievement of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development goals by 2030.

Caribbean Trade, Integration and Development: Selected Papers and Speeches of Alister Mclntyre. Volume 1: Trade and Integration. Volume 2: Aspects of Human Resources Development and Higher Education. Edited by Andrew [...]

La práctica artística contemporánea tuvo un espacio de reflexión y creación de opinión en las páginas de Papers d’Art. De la mano de un conjunto de voces propias e independientes se visibilizaron formas de producción artística multidisciplinarias, desde la perspectiva divulgadora de una crítica que conectaba dinámicamente los significados artísticos con los sociales y culturales. Conviene resaltar el desplazamiento del significado de la concepción del arte contemporáneo en calidad de pieza clave en la cultura intelectual, incluyendo política, filosofía, ciencia u otros formatos de creación como la música y la literatura. Partiendo del análisis de la conciencia crítica de los diferentes colaboradores y la investigación historiográfica en torno a cuestionamientos estéticos y simbólicos, se despliega una revisión del conjunto de los discursos incluidos en la sección Estudios e Investigación. Palabras clave: Fundació Espais; Papers d’Art; crítica de arte catalana; investigación universitaria sobre arte contemporáneo; perspectiva divulgadora del arte. Papers d’Art. Contents of the Study and Research section Abstract: Contemporary artistic practices were provided with a space for reflection and the creation of opinion in the galleries of the Fundació Espais and in the pages of its art magazine, Papers d’Art. A group of independent voices of multidisciplinary artistic production was made audible thanks to this publication that provided a critique which forged dynamic connections between artistic meaning and social and cultural contexts. This paper highlights a shift in meaning of the conception of contemporary art as a key element in intellectual culture, including politics, philosophy, science and other creative formats such as music and literature. Based on an analysis of the critical awareness of the various contributors to the magazine and on the historiographic study of certain aesthetic and symbolic questions, a review of the articles published in the Studies and Research section is detailed. Keywords: Fundació Espais; Papers d’Art; Catalan art Criticism; University Research on Contemporary art; Popularizing Issues of Art. Artículo recibido: 29/09/2021. Revisado: 08/10/2021. Aceptado: 11/10/2021

Technopoiesis was previously identified as the juvenile phase of expression of a technique that spontaneously evolves towards technopraxis as soon as the perspectives of practical use of the end-products overcome the cosmological resonance of the process itself. This view is re-examined considering the data and analyses exposed in 'Refining technopoiesis: Measures and Measuring Thinking in Ancient China,' in which a coexistence of the technopoiesis and technopraxis approaches of technics is suggested., Author(s): Nissim Amzallag [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.7489.2, 0000 0004 1937 0511, Department of Bible, Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, , Beer Sheba, Israel [...]

The field of epistemic logic developed into an interdisciplinary area focused on explicating epistemic issues in, for example, artificial intelligence, computer security, game theory, economics, multiagent systems and the social sciences. Inspired, in part, by issues in these different ‘application’ areas, in this paper we propose an epistemic logic model for metadata extracted from scientific papers on COVID-19. More in details, we introduce a new predicate ξ – reads ‘extract’ – and a structure S to syntactically and semantically analyse metadata extracted with systems for extracting structured metadata from scientific articles in a born-digital form. These systems will be considered, in the logical model created, as ‘knowledge extraction agents’ (henceforth KEA). In this case KEA taken into consideration are CERMINE and TeamBeam. In an increasingly data-driven world, modelling data or metadata means to help systematise existing information and support the research community in building solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract This study aims to develop the Hanji denim fabric with Hanji combination yarn or with the Hanji paper yarn and core spun yarn in a 1:1 ratio as a weft. For the weft yarn, chemical indigo and natural indigo dyestuffs were used. The study developed four kinds of Hanji paper yarns and eight kinds of Hanji denim fabrics. In addition, the study tested the properties of the developed Hanji paper yarns, Hanji denim fabrics, and existing denim fabrics. In regard to the physical properties of yarns, the Hanji paper yarn showed a lower breaking stress but a relatively high breaking strain, and it remained a stable structure with no surface fluff. The Hanji combination yarn improved the weaving ability and had a stable structure form. In the resulting physical properties of the developed Hanji denim fabrics, they had a low apparent specific gravity, stability in dimensional change in washing and drying, a higher chance of commercialization in colorfastness to washing, medium stretchability, a similar drying velocity, and a fast absorption velocity compared to the existing denim fabrics. The study suggests that the Hanji denim fabrics are the good candidate materials for summer product development, since generally the Hanji denim fabrics have cool characteristics with the excellent absorption velocity, drying velocity, and low specific gravity.

In the current era of information technology Big Data has gained significant importance in almost all the industries throughout the world. Big Data is now renowned for having the capability of effective decision making. Now companies around the globe are using Big Data for market analysis, customer analysis, however, the utilization of Big Data is much higher in the financial sector, yet publications on Big Data and finance are limited because of having significant challenges. Even though utilization of Big Data is highest in the financial sector and its importance cannot be ignored, the studies and analysis are inadequate. Considering the importance of Big Data in the financial sector this paper is an attempt to conduct a comprehensive literature review in the field of Big Data and finance. Thus, the study will contribute to the body of knowledge by providing horizons for empirical research in the field of Big Data and finance.

The tobacco industry has made a gradual move from developed countries to developing countries to expand its market. As part of this trend, tobacco companies in India invest a substantial amount of money in marketing activities. Although the government of India has gradually been increasing restrictions on marketing and sales of tobacco products, the creative and evolving marketing practices of tobacco companies have ensured that such measures have little effect. In this perspective paper, a critical evaluation of marketing practices used by the tobacco industry in India suggests that pro-tobacco marketing is a major hurdle towards bringing effective tobacco control policies and their successful implementation. It is demonstrated that the big tobacco companies in India backed by immense resources have been capable of countering the various legislative provisions for tobacco control in India through creative and manipulative marketing practices.

The development of the young swimmer determines the scientific approch of the training process organization. Thus the design of training programs for young swimmers requires to know the biological age, whose determination remains an invasive method. However, there are easy methods for determining biological age, such as that of Wutscherk (1988), whose formula is based on a few anthropometric parameters. But before the Peak Height Velocity (PVH) the trainers refer rather to the chronological age and do not make a difference between the training programs of the two sexes (Bayli, 2004). High-level sport requires 10 years of preparation, i.e. an average of 3 hours training per day (Bloom, 1985; Bloom et al., 1990; Ericsson, et al., 1993; Ericsson and Charness, 1994, Salmela et al., 1998). Experience has shown that the age of best swimming performances is 22 years for women and 24 years for men, and that they occur in middle distance swimmers on average two years earlier than in sprinters (Allen et al., 2014 ; Buhl et al., 2013 ; Kollarz et al., 2013 ; Wolfrum et al., 2013 ; Knechtle et al., 2016 ; König et al., 2014), by preparing the technical, physical and psychological aspects for 8 to 10 years for women and 8 to 12 years for men, in order to reach the international level, without reducing the aforementioned deadlines. In this article, we wanted to emphasize the importance of growth and maturation in planning and periodizing a swimmer's long-term training process.

Purpose: This study aimed at implementing lean six sigma to evaluate the productivity and manufacturing waste in the production line of a paper company Methodology/Approach: The study is a case study in nature. The method illustrates how lean six sigma (LSS) is used to evaluate the existing production process in a paper production company with focus on productivity and manufacturing waste. The study considered a real-time problem of customer’s dissatisfaction. The gathered data is based on machine functionality (up time, down time and cycle time); materials and labour flow at every process stages of the production line. The optimization of the production process was based on lean tools like value stream mapping, process cycle efficiency, Kaizen, 5S and pareto chart Findings: Based on lean six sigma application, it was discovered that the present production performance was below standard and more manufacturing wastes were generated. The present productivity and manufacturing wastes are reported as low process cycle efficiency (23.4 %), low takt time (4.11 sec), high lead time (43200sec), high number of products not conforming to six sigma values, high down time (32.64 %) and excess labour flow (33). After the implementation of the lean six sigma tools for certain period of time, there are lots of improvements in the production line in terms of all the parameters considered. Research Limitation/ Implications: The study has demonstrated an application of lean six sigma in the case of solving real-time problems of productivity and manufacturing wastes which have a direct implication on customer’s satisfaction. The lesson learned and implications presented can still be further modeled using some lean based software for validity Originality/Value: The study has contributed to the body of knowledge in the field of LSS with focus to process based manufacturing, unlike most literature in the field concentrate more on discrete based manufacturing.

The EU Member States are characterised by long and varied institutional history, with different trajectories in their evolution. There is a complex system of relations between the institutions of the European Union and the authorities of the Member States, which are called as the European Administrative Space. This is a multidimensional concept, and it promotes intensive cooperation between administrative actors, and their activities from each level. The European Administrative Space is the area, in which increasingly integrated administrations jointly exercise power delegated to the EU in a system of shared sovereignty. This article explores the reasons for and the consequences of this development.

This paper aims to report the investigation of the effect of online news items on students’ writing outcome of English as foreign language context. This research used quantitative methods with quasiexperimental research designs with non-equivalent groups’ pretest-posttest design. Two groups which 46 students were the experimental and control groups and both groups were given with some different treatments. Those treatments were given in a balanced and intensive manner without intervention from factors beyond the researcher’s control. The tests were then employed as the instrument to gain data with ANCOVA as design of analysis technique and SPSS as media to compute. The findings showed that online news items have strengthened students’ writing abilities and motivated students to write related problems. The results obtained from this study proven that the P-value (0.016)

In simple dyadic games such as rock, paper, scissors (RPS), people exhibit peculiar sequential dependencies across repeated interactions with a stable opponent. These regularities seem to arise from a mutually adversarial process of trying to outwit their opponent. What underlies this process, and what are its limits? Here, we offer a novel framework for formally describing and quantifying human adversarial reasoning in the rock, paper, scissors game. We first show that this framework enables a precise characterization of the complexity of patterned behaviors that people exhibit themselves, and appear to exploit in others. This combination allows for a quantitative understanding of human opponent modeling abilities. We apply these tools to an experiment in which people played 300 rounds of RPS in stable dyads. We find that although people exhibit very complex move dependencies, they cannot exploit these dependencies in their opponents, indicating a fundamental limitation in people’s capacity for adversarial reasoning. Taken together, the results presented here show how the rock, paper, scissors game allows for precise formalization of human adaptive reasoning abilities.

Industrialisation in its true sense began in India only after her independence in 1947. It has been a long journey since then. Initially, for about four and half decades since 1947, based on the Import-substitution strategy, Indian industry functioned in a highly regulated and protected environment dominated by the public sector. However, a paradigm shift occurred in India’s industrialisation strategy in the early 1990s as a new policy regime aimed at opening up and deregulation of Indian industry was adopted to facilitate the growth of competition. While the Indian industry has been functioning according to this policy regime for the last three decades, new issues have started to emerge. The paper attempts to unravel the cause and consequence of the process of industrialisation that has unfolded in India over the last seven decades and tries to analyse the challenges confronting the Indian industry at present and suggest the policy initiatives that could tackle them.

Street vending has persisted for centuries and pervasive across the globe since it plays a remarkable role in fulfilling customer needs in the context of the informal economy. In the contemporary business context, authorities have not paid sufficient attention towards street vendors. The paper addresses the specific features of street vending in the context of Sri Lanka, various challenges faced by street vendors and possible courses of action for the empowerment of street vendors. Accordingly, location issue with lack of infrastructure, less support from the government, insecurity and unstable conditions, slow growth, lack of financing opportunities and less support from banks were identified as major challenges faced by street vendors in Sri Lanka. Proper location and infrastructure development, assurance of security including a specific insurance scheme and financial assistance are proposed to empower street vendors to enhance their performance.

As a mechanism to ensure quality education and services in the state colleges and universities in the Philippines, ISO certification entails embracing challenges and adopting strategies for the sustainable implementation of quality management systems, policies, and procedures. This descriptive study looked into the strategies employed, the challenges encountered and the changes observed by one state college during ISO certification. A total of 84 college officials, faculty members, and staff were requested to answer a questionnaire. Responses were validated through an interview among selected participants. Results revealed the respondents’ positive perception towards ISO certification; the institution’s employment of consultant, conducting seminars, trainings, internal audits, and management review, and implementation of ISO-aligned policies and procedures as strategies; conduct of orientations, dissemination of information, time management, provision of necessary resources and commitment of top management to address challenges on lack of awareness, resistance to change, conflict in schedule, insufficient knowledge on ISO standards and implementation of policies and procedures; and improvement in the school image, customer satisfaction, communication, and implementation of policies and procedures as observed changes. Hence, the respondents’ perception, strategies, and actions to address the challenges helped the institution acquire and benefit from ISO certification.

The broad question that interests this article is how does one read and compare the negotiations public and private universities are making with the neo-liberal paradigm of knowledge production with reference to their social science curricula. Michael Apple's (1993, "Teachers College Records," 95(2), 222-241; 2001, "Currículo Sem Fronteiras," 1(1), i-xxvi) argument that curriculum is not a 'neutral assemblage of knowledge' but a crafted vision of 'legitimate knowledge' produced by hegemonic powers within society forms the theoretical foundation for this article. To understand the changes within a university's academic practice, this article analyses and compares the undergraduate and postgraduate sociology curricula of two public universities (Delhi University and Ambedkar University), an international university (South Asian University) and one private university (Shiv Nadar University), as well as engages with its practitioners to assess the everyday within these universities. The undergraduate and postgraduate sociology curricula across public and private universities indicate certain convergences in their academic approaches. The universities in question encouraged foreign university collaborations, reframed the course structure to strengthen the university-industry linkages and increased the employability of the students. Interdisciplinary and contemporary papers are offered through new modes of pedagogy. The mode of assessment also focus on writing research papers/dissertations and frequent visits to the field to develop an application-based approach to learning. The neoliberal paradigm of knowledge production affected the convergence of academic practices of public and private universities despite difference in governance structure. This convergence problematises the meaning of 'public' in a liberalised, privatised and globalised society.

The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) issued its Integrated Reporting () framework in 2013 intending to promote integrated thinking in organisational contexts for corporate sustainability. However, arguments are mounted against limitations in these guidelines and their potential to create integrated thinking. Mainly, the maintenance of the financial prominence, neglecting sustainability needs is among the criticisms. Nevertheless, still, the framework contains some guidelines relevant to promote integrated thinking. An organisational change towards integrated thinking requires effective communication of the right message. This paper, benefitting from the Stakeholder Theory and the Stakeholder Agency Theory perspectives, sheds light on the potential of those guidelines to communicate the knowledge of integrated thinking to managers and concludes finding their failures. Utilising a content analysis of relevant guidelines contained in the framework, this paper contributes to the discussion of integrated reporting and integrated thinking for corporate sustainability.

This research studied the strategies that players use in sequential adversarial games. We took the Rock-Paper-Scissors (RPS) game as an example and ran players in two experiments. The first experiment involved two humans, who played the RPS together for 100 times. Importantly, our payoff design in the RPS allowed us to differentiate between participants who used a random strategy from those who used a Nash strategy. We found that participants did not play in agreement with the Nash strategy, but rather, their behavior was closer to random. Moreover, the analyses of the participants’ sequential actions indicated heterogeneous cycle-based behaviors: some participants’ actions were independent of their past outcomes, some followed a well-known win-stay/lose-change strategy, and others exhibited the win-change/lose-stay behavior. To understand the sequential patterns of outcome-dependent actions, we designed probabilistic computer algorithms involving specific change actions (i.e., to downgrade or upgrade according to the immediate past outcome): the Win-Downgrade/Lose-Stay (WDLS) or Win-Stay/Lose-Upgrade (WSLU) strategies. Experiment 2 used these strategies against a human player. Our findings show that participants followed a win-stay strategy against the WDLS algorithm and a lose-change strategy against the WSLU algorithm, while they had difficulty in using an upgrade/downgrade direction, suggesting humans’ limited ability to detect and counter the actions of the algorithm. Taken together, our two experiments showed a large diversity of sequential strategies, where the win-stay/lose-change strategy did not describe the majority of human players’ dynamic behaviors in this adversarial situation.

La regió més oriental d’Ucraïna, el Donbass, viu des de fa vuit anys una sagnant guerra en què Rússia s’ha vist directament involucrada. A més, la regió ha estat objecte de la propaganda russa, que l’ha utilitzat com un dels principals motius per justificar la seva intervenció militar sobre Ucraïna, el febrer de 2022. Tots els bàndols implicats en aquest conflicte argumenten que estan protegint els interessos i els desitjos dels seus habitants. Però aquests interessos i desitjos, a més de ser sovint manipulats, han sofert moltes modificacions i pressions després d’una guerra tan llarga, que entre altres coses ha fet que prop de la meitat dels habitants hagin abandonat la regió, i la resta es vegi sota una pressió militar, política i mediàtica constant. Aquest article intenta ser una anàlisi i una reflexió sobre l’autèntica voluntat dels habitants del Donbass, com també de la manipulació que estan sofrint.

The present work deals with the production of paper materials from onion peels (Allium Cepa) fibers as an alternative potential non-wood fiber. The onion peels were obtained from a local small and medium food industry. The onion peels were cooked 120, 150 and 180 minutes. The peels were grinded and poured in a set of mould and deckle for the formation of a thin sheet of paper. The physical, mechanical, morphological characteristics and water rise capillary values (KLEMM Method) were evaluated to determine its suitability for a paper material. The results show that the increase in cooking time from 120 to 180 minutes resulted in an increase in the tensile index from 32.28N*m/g to 42.13N*m/g and tear index from 9.80mN*m2/g to 14.58mN*m2/g. The bonding strength increased due to higher number of fibers, finer fiber size, and increase in the fiber contact area and fiber distribution. The high porosity area affects the performance of water rise capillary values of the paper sheets. The onion peels fiber gave impressive handsheets characteristics when compared with other sources of non-wood fibers.