Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal

The Effectiveness of Using Alternative E-Learning Using Case Method in Physics Learning in Dealing with Changes in Learning Modes During a Pandemic

Derlina, Satria Mihardi, Alkhafi M. Siregar, Abd Hakim S. — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Digital-based learning or better known as e-learning is increasingly being used by various agencies, one of which is in educational institutions. If the infrastructure is adequate, it is possible that e-learning can become a resource-efficient learning method. In addition, the application of e-learning can also build self-confidence and self-reliance in society. With the recent outbreak of COVID-19, implementing digital-based learning or e-learning is very useful for protecting students from the spread of the COVID-19 virus. E-Learning provides lots of sites that teachers and students can easily access, ranging from free to paid ones. The sites provided can be chosen by the teacher according to the needs needed in learning. Each site provides a variety of features that can be used by teachers to make learning spaces more innovative and attractive. The features provided make it easier for teachers to develop their creativity so that they can make students more interested in learning even though learning is carried out online or there are no face-to-face activities between teachers and students but learning activities can still run well and learning objectives can be achieved. The study design was a one-group pre-test and post-test design that was grounded in the experimental quantitative research tradition. This research was conducted using Gain Analysis which was based on the results of student responses before and after using Alternative E-Learning in Physics learning activities. This response was taken from distributing a questionnaire to 50 students using Alternative E-Learning. The questionnaire provided consisted of 20 questions. The method for taking answers from the questionnaire uses a Linkert scale with a value scale of 1 to 5 with the criteria 1 = (Highly Incompatible), 2 = (Unsuitable), 3 = (Quite Appropriate), 4 = (Suitable), and 5 = (Highly Appropriate). The results were obtained from distributing questionnaires before and after the use of Alternative E-Learning in Physics learning. Normalized gain or N-gain or gain analysis is usually used to determine whether there is an increase in students' critical thinking skills after being given a pretest and posttest questions, it also aims to determine the effectiveness of using a particular method or treatment in research. In general, the use of E-Learning is what is expected in achieving the learning objectives themselves. It's just that there are still some deficiencies or limitations in its use. The N-gain score obtained indicates that the use of alternative e-learning is in the Enough Effective category. This shows that the use of Alternative E-Learning has provided more value in its application, but it's just not been able to make a big enough change.

Henri Bertin’s Collection of Chinese Artifacts: Sino-French Cultural Exchange in the18th Century

Chao-ying Lee — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Does Governance in MENA Countries Attract Migrants' Remittances?

Khaled Elorabi, Suryati Ishak, Norashidah Mohamed Nor, Saifuzzaman Ibrahim — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Over the past years, international remittance of migrants to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has increased dramatically and become more resilient external financing sources than other capital flows, such as FDI, portfolio investment, and foreign aid. Nevertheless, the magnitude of remittances flowing into that region is less than expected. The research, hence, attempts to analyze the impact of governance on the volume of remittances in receiving economies in MENA from 1996 until 2020 by using the pooled mean group, mean group, and dynamic fixed effect methods. The results show that poor governance in MENA stimulates migrants to remit more to support and assist their relatives with their deplorable living conditions. Consequently, policymakers in the MENA region must strive to identify the underlying causes of weak governance and provide applicable solutions, as migrants' remittances cannot entirely eradicate the damage caused by the poor quality of governance. They also should provide an attractive environment for international remittances by applying policies pushing migrants to remit more, such as accelerating administrative procedures for business and increasing the interest rate on foreign currency deposits.

A Critical Analysis of Monolingual and Bilingual Pupils’ Ability to Predict Outcome and Comprehend Sentences in a Reading Comprehension

Janet S. Monday, Inibehe E. Ekanem — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This study was carried out to analyze the monolingual and bilingual pupils’ ability to predict outcome and comprehend sentences in a reading comprehension passage. The research design adopted for the study was Quasi-experimental design. The study was conducted in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. The population of the study comprised all 5,074 primary schools. The sample size that was used for the study consisted of 127, drawn from primary 3 pupils from 4 private primary schools in Uyo Senatorial District. The main instrument used for data collection in the study was titled “Performance of Monolingual and Bilingual Pupils” (PMBP). To ensure face and content validity of the instrument, the PMBP was given to the researcher’s supervisor and four experts (two in the Department of Early Childhood Education and two in English Department, all in the University of Uyo). In order to ensure the reliability of the research instrument, the PMBP was trial-tested on 30 private primary school children who were not part of the study, but the respondents have similar characteristics with those in the study area. The research questions 1-2 were answered using mean and standard deviation statistics, while the null hypotheses 1-2 were analyzed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Decisions on the 2 null hypotheses were taken at .05 level of significance. The study concluded that monolingual and bilingual pupils do not differ significantly in their ability to predict outcome and comprehend sentences in reading comprehension passage. One of the recommendations made was that government, through effective monitoring, should ensure that all private schools teach the vernacular as a subject to their pupils as stipulated in the National Policy on Education for effective implementation.

Effect of Company Income Tax on Corporate Performance of Listed Manufacturing Firms in Nigeria

Sunday Adeyemi Ojelabi — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Conundrum of the Nigerian economy is traceable to its manufacturing sector which is expected to stimulate the value-added economy and serve as a catalyst for sustainable economic transformation. Regrettably, Nigeria's manufacturing sector has been neglected without a clear policy direction with attendant annihilation of the sector from the growth process. Nigeria today is facing series of challenges when it comes to optimizing tax revenue for economic and social growth. Ex-post facto research design was adopted for this study. The population of this study covered all the 44 registered manufacturing firms dealing with consumable foods in Nigeria, purposive sampling technique was adopted to select only five listed manufacturing firms. The study found that CIT has a positive and significant effect on profit after tax (PAT) in Nigeria listed manufacturing firms that is, if there is a unit increase in Company income tax (CIT), profit after tax (PAT) will increase with over a unit. The study also found that, CIT has a positive and significant effect on Returns on Equity (ROE) while Change in Shareholders Fund (CSF) has a negative and significant effect on ROE. Based on the findings, the study concluded that, company income tax significantly affects the profit after tax, performance of the firms and earnings of shareholders. Company income tax significantly affects the profit after tax, performance of the firms and earnings of shareholders. The study therefore recommended that, fiscal policy adopted in Nigeria should consider the circumstances surrounding the activities of companies located in the country and the special role they play in the pursuit of economic growth of the nation. Also, government should ensure that revenue generated from corporate tax especially company income tax (CIT) should be utilized in the development of the general economy so as to improve the standard of living of her citizenry and increase her Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

A Comparison of Internationalization Indicators of Evaluation for Higher Education among the Three Quality Assurance Agencies in Taiwan

Ru-Jer Wang, Yang-Chih Wang — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In line with the internationalization of higher education, the quality assurance and evaluation of higher education is a global phenomenon. It is critical to examine whether internationalization is considered one of the crucial indicators in evaluating higher education. The research aims to examine the internationalization indicators and compare them in the three Quality Assurance Agencies in Taiwan. The methods of documentary analysis and comparative analysis were employed in the study. Based on the results, it can be concluded: in terms of internationalization as an indicator for higher education evaluation, of the three QA agencies in Taiwan, the TWAEA and the IEET take it into account; in contrast, the HEEACT has it as part of its purposes. Because international competence is essential in a globalized employment market, the university is responsible for internationalizing its students. Although a diversity of evaluation indicators is expected in Taiwan, some indicators are considered universal, including internationalization.

4th Industrial Revolution: The Beginning of Imagination Age

Nazmul Hossain — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

We are in the everchanging global arena. In the modern global world every sphere including, economy, education, eco-system, social, financial, commercial, industrial as well as political sectors are being changes rapidly, mainly due to technological advertisement, and adaption of changing pattern of technology. Technology has taken the toll in industrial and commercial sector which changing all areas from operation, management, manufacturing, processing to delivery activities. The dramatic changes in this area is called 4^th industrial revolution or Industry 4.0 which created revolutionary economic changes and created huge impacts both in developed and developing countries due to globalization of economic affairs and global market economy.

The objective of the study is to assess the global trends toward Industry 4.0, its impacts on global economy, and recommendation how developing and list developed countries can keep up pace with the global trend with minimum resources (Physical capital & Human capital).

The study is mainly based on secondary sources of data including scholarly journals, articles, books, research materials, news of media outlets and other relevant sources pertaining to the subject.

The finding of the study will contribute to understand the Industry 4.0, its framework and function, its challenges and opportunities, and way for developing and list developed countries to come to Industry 4.0 platform.

A Critical Analysis of Chieftainship Democracy in Botswana

Chimbindi Takawira — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This paper seeks to provide a critical study and understanding of the concept of Chieftainship (bogosi) as it relates to the embracement of democracy in Botswana. It shows how bogosi has maintained its strategic position, administrative power and influence amongst attempts by the colonial and postcolonial states to undermine it. It maintains that bogosi has been able to adjust to changing socio-economic and political landscapes in Botswana. While the institution's powers have been slowly weakened by the government since independence. Chiefs and traditional institutions have used their legitimacy to strengthen their pliability. One can claim that chieftainship has been overtaken by events, it’s outdated, the reality is that the institution in Botswana has become central to government and cannot be cast-off. It is a traditional institution that plays a vital role in Botswana's socio-political and economic system. The blending of the traditional Kgotla system and the modern democracy gives a dichotomy of dualism of tribal- government on the one hand and a western styled central government on the other yet well connected and balanced for bringing development to Batswana. This paper is not empirically grounded, and its content is a result of desktop and content analysis of literature from articles of authors that talked about Botswana chieftainship system. The paper hopes to trigger and provoke further deliberations and empirical studies on the contribution of Kgotla political system to transformation of democracy in Botswana.

A Semiotico-Pragmatic Analysis of President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo’s Address on Ghanaian Economy

Peace Chinwendu Israel — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This study analyzed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo first official address on the Ghanaian economic crisis. It is qualitative study and explicit content analytical method was employed. Applying concepts from semiotic model and pragmatic act, the study revealed different semiotic elements and practs through which the presidents effectively communicated to his audience on government’s plans and initiatives towards ameliorating the escalating inflation and the resultant economic hardship Ghanaians were experiencing. The findings revealed that semiotic elements such as the coat of arm, the president’s outfit, the national flag, the microphone and the outfit of the sign-language interpreter effectively acts as a signifier and immensely contributed to meaning. Again, the findings showed that the president employed several practs in his address such as informing (47.06%), tasking (13.37%), cautioning (7.45%), sympathizing and recounting (3.16%), promising (16.01%); pleading/praying, reporting, and instructing (2.11%) each, saluting (9.06%), suggesting and urging (1.05%) each. The paper therefore concludes that through shared situational knowledge, reference and inference, Ghanaians were able to understand what the president wishes to communicate.

Cohesiveness in Expository Writing by Saudi EFL Students

Al Amri Hani — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This research aimed to examine cohesive connectivity in expository writing by language and translation students at the University of Tabuk in Saudi Arabia. Halliday and Hasan’s (1976) list of cohesive devices was used to examine the cohesion of expository texts of language and translation students. The study examined the cohesive devices’ quality and their contribution to the quality of writing. This mixed-mode research included 34 participants. 30 undergraduates participated in the expository writing assignment and 4 EFL teachers participated in the semi-structured interview. Students were selected purposively. Expository written texts were the instrument used to collect data in this study. Results showed that students encountered cohesion and coherence problems in achieving written texts’ unity, particularly in assigning their concepts and implementing appropriate cohesive signals, punctuation, and spelling issues. Expository texts were examined for cohesion additives, adversatives, and causal and temporal devices. Results of the study showed that the existence and unnecessary occurrence of lexical items cause non-cohesive writing and influence its texts’ quality, meaning, structure, and unity. The researcher recommends as related to the results of the study that cohesion devices be incorporated into the teaching of writing.

Analysis of Problems Related to the Elderly Living Alone and Development of an IT Based Support System

MIYAKO TAKAGI — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

最近の日本では、65 歳以上の高齢者の一人暮らしが増加傾向にあります。一人暮らし高齢者の悩みとしては、体調の急変による孤独死や、人との接触不足による認知症の進行などがあります。これらの課題を解決するため、ITを活用した独居高齢者支援システムを開発しました。このシステムは、一人暮らしの高齢者の急激な体調変化を検知し、アバターとの日常会話を通じて孤独感を和らげ、認知症の進行を遅らせることができるかもしれません。

The The Russian Movie T-34: a duel between soldiers and their tanks.

José Maurício Álvarez — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The aim of this essay is to exploratory analyze the Russian film Russian War T. 34, by Alexey Sidorov, as a symbolic duel between two individuals, a Nazi German and the other one Soviet, employing their tanks, their backgrounds, their industrial cultures, and ideologies. The Dominant Explain Comes from the Curzio Malaparte reports that, at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa of 1941, advocated Nazi defeat. We use the works of Steve Zaloga to analyze the use of tanks as a combat machines. John Erickson, Brandon Schechter's reading, explains the victory of the Red Army and the USSR, mobilizing industrial, human, and cultural means employing, according to Lewin, the memory of the Russian victory over Napoleon in 1812. Our Findings indicate that the consolidation of an accelerated industrial mindset produced a new ethics where Tank Crews were soldiers and mechanically inspired and, like an elite, along with industrial technique, employed tricks as a tactic weapon, according to Michel de Certeau. Narrating the dynamic plastic of the battle between tanks, Sidorov's film holds the viewer's attention by employing the narrative aesthetics of silent cinema and visualizing his scenes dispensing with the reading of Russian subtitles. The film puts the tank, the top product of the 1930s and 40s celebrated industrial development, as a complex war tool whose employment requires exceptional individuals endowed with cunning and technique of fighting, simultaneously soldiers and mechanical.

Developing Work Practices and Sustainable Talent Management of Autonomous Agile Teams

Muhamad Khalil Omar, Ainie Hairianie Aluwi — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The purpose of this research is to examine the practice behind sustainable agile work practices. In the wake of Covid-19, organizations need to understand the importance of agile development processes to be able to continue doing business. This study looks at a process made popular by software engineering development in the context of post covid organization. This study takes consideration into existing social-psychology research from a human resource perspective. Namely, this study will examine group socialization and how much new members of the organization contribute to the group, particularly in sustaining organization goals.

Cultural Barriers to Equality: Eco-Discursive Frames Against the Woman’s Search for Self in Lola’s The Lock On My Lips

Seino Evangeline Agwa Fomukong — Sat, 21 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In the North West Region of Cameroon especially, the traditional law on land ownership supplants that of the constitution of Cameroon which gives equal rights to men and women. Consequently, a married woman does not own land as per the customary law in most of the rural areas of this part of the country. In The Lock on My Lips, the news of a woman having a land certificate ignites conflict in Kibaaka, a rural community that is predominantly agrarian. The women led by Mrs Ghamogha resist this tradition against Ability and other men who try to preserve this aspect of the culture. Perpetua Lola presents a cultural arena that acts in defining the eco-linguistic choices made in the text. This study examines the exploration of the ideology of social power through the effect of the ecological context on language and its role in a gender biased context. The paper uses the survey research design, identifying and describing the lexico-semantic patterns and the discourse forms of the text representing plants, animals and diseases with the socially constructed sacrilege of a woman owning a piece of land. Ruth Wodak’s Discourse-Historical approach is used in conjunction with Teun van Dijk’s Socio-Cognitive approach, to examine how women are referred to linguistically through referential, predication, argumentation, framing and intensification discursive strategies. The study concludes that discourse constitutes society and culture, with some ideologies behind it portraying unequal power relations which Lola fights against in the text.

Differential Impact of the Perception of Ethical Climates upon Job Satisfaction Among Different Types of Employees

Glenn Zimmerman — Sat, 21 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The main objective of this current research study is to examine if there are any differences between cis male and cis female employees, between managers and non-managers/subordinate employees, and between full and part-time workers in terms of their perceptions of organizational ethical climate and their self-reported job satisfaction. The research collected data from 140 participants. The research study found a statistically significant predictive effect regarding perception of workplace ethical climates scores upon the self-reported job satisfaction scores across all participants regardless of gender, employment status (full-time and part-time employees), and employment level (managers/supervisors and non-managers/subordinate employees). Another key research finding is that the self-reported job satisfaction scores predicted by the variance in the perception of workplace ethical climates scores among the managers/supervisors are over double the predictive value as compared to non-managers/subordinate employees.

The Influence of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) on Students’ Innovative Behaviour: The Mediating Role of Creative-Self-Efficacy

Muhamad Khalil Omar — Sat, 21 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The pandemic of Covid-19 that has attacked the world since December 2019 brought a reformation to the landscape of the higher-education institutional system in Malaysia. The Ministry of Higher Education has introduced Open and Distance Learning (ODL) on March 2020 as a new learning platform. ODL is a technology-based approach to supersede physical classrooms to enable continuity of learning during the Covid-19 pandemic era. ODL is a teaching and learning technique that fully employs the utilisation of the internet to enable the success of learning activities. ODL enable students to interact with lecturers and classmates, attend online classes, and access an abundance of knowledge and information available on the internet. Further, the application of the internet and technologies will promote students’ capacity to be more resourceful, knowledgeable, creative and innovative in the subject learned. The use of the ODL methods will enhance students’ innovative behaviour through the generation and implementation of ideas in students’ learning tasks. However, the ability of the students to learn from the internet and produce innovative behaviour is depending on their self-believability to be creative. Research on the effectiveness and outcome of ODL approach on students’ innovative behaviour has yet to be established and requires further attention. This research is intended to investigate the influence of learning from ODL approach on students’ innovative behaviour. Therefore, this research will also investigate the mediating effects of creative self-efficacy in the relationship between learning from ODL and innovative behaviour. This research is quantitative research, where data will be collected using questionnaires. The research data will be analysed using SPSS. The scope of this study is students of UiTM Cawangan Selangor who are now undergoing ODL classes. This research will be able to contribute to the body of knowledge and ignite light on the outcome of the ODL on students’ innovative behaviour.

Bringing Relationships out of the Shadows: Relationship Building as a Foundational Social Resource and Mediator of Context

T.J. Hoogsteen — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Leithwood (2017) outlines personal leadership resources (PLR) and Leithwood et al. (2019) claimed these resources can account for a great deal of variation in school leadership practice. In addition, these leadership resources are recognized in several documents related to leadership standards. Although other leadership resources exist, Leithwood (2017) and Leithwood et al. (2019) claim that the PLRs in these documents are included because there is significant evidence to warrant their inclusion. This article, however, provides evidence that the list of personal leadership resources required for successful leadership is incomplete, and neglects to recognize the importance of the ability to build relationships. Moreover, this article attempts to further the argument forwarded by Hoogsteen (2020) that personal leadership resources mediate context and leadership practice, and this is accomplished only through the construction and maintenance of productive relationships with school staff, district personnel, and the community at large.

Guilty by Anticipation: Distortions on the Presumption of Innocence in First Appearance Hearings

Jaime Luiz Cunha de Souza, José Vicente Braga da Silva — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This article addresses the dynamics of first appearance hearings and analyzes how the various actors involved in the process influence judges’ decisions. The analysis focuses on the distortion of the presumption of innocence principle based on racial factors, education levels, the criminal record of the arrested person and the type of offense that led to the arrest. Researchers collected data through in-person observations of 63 hearings that took place in the Criminal Court[1] of the city of Belém-Pará-Brazil, from January and March 2020. Results show that the presumption of innocence has little weight in first appearance hearings and factors related to race, education level, criminal background and involvement with drugs often cause the accused to be held in pre-trial detention before being judged and receiving a formal punishment.

Needs-based assessment of twice-exceptional gifted students: The S&W-Heuristic

Agnes Burger-Veltmeijer, prof. dr. Alexander Minnaert — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Misdiagnoses and missed diagnoses of gifted students with co-occurring learning-, developmental and behavioural disorders are often mentioned in literature and practice. Consequently, these Twice-Exceptional (2E) students often fall between two stools regarding appropriate psycho-educational interventions. This article offers a research and practice informed assessment procedure, namely the Strengths and Weaknesses Heuristic (S&W-Heuristic), that can help to tackle such problems in case giftedness or any 2E is suspected. This S&W-Heuristic was developed via the method of design research. Initially the S&W-Heuristic was developed to assess students with (suspicion of) the co-occurrence of intellectual giftedness (IG) and autism in a needs-based way, though, subsequently to assess (potential) 2E-students in general. The systematicity of the S&W-Heuristic may help psychologists and special remedial educationalists to reveal hitherto camouflaged strengths or weaknesses in underachieving smart students and to understand their ambivalent psycho-educational needs. Being the product of design research, this article also offers a prelude to new theoretical perspectives regarding the concepts IG and 2E. By shifting from a ‘classification-based’ to a dynamic ‘dimensional-based’ definition of 2E, camouflaged talent will be recognised more effectively and will get more opportunity to flourish. Accordingly, it is proposed to consider IG and 2E as constructs on a continuum.

The Role of Innovation Capability in the relationship between Entrepreneurial Leadership and Innovation Performance in the SMEs Service industry

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV) and the dynamic capabilities view (DCV), this study aimed to investigate the mediating role of innovation capability (IC) on the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership (EL) and innovation performance (IP). Survey data were collected from 321 middle-level employees in the SME service industry. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to assess the proposed relationships. The empirical analysis revealed that entrepreneurial leadership impacted innovation performance directly and indirectly through the mediating role of innovation capability. The current research contributes to both RBV and DCV by proposing and empirically testing how entrepreneurial leaders affect innovation performance. The results from this research suggest that service SME managers can play a crucial role in promoting their firms' innovation capabilities, which, in turn, influences the firms' innovation performance. This study emphasizes EL's innovation effectiveness and the triggering process of innovation capability and provides various solutions for firms to demonstrate leadership and innovation practices in responding to uncertain environments.

An Investigation of Factors that Contribute to Qualified External Audit Reports at The University of Zambia

Vincent Kanyamuna — Sat, 21 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This research sought to investigate factors that contribute to qualified external audit reports at the University of Zambia (UNZA). The researchers used survey questionnaires through the Survey Monkey software and the interview schedules to collect data. There were 50 questionnaires distributed and 50 were received, giving a response rate of 100%. The researchers used UNZA Management, Accounting and Auditing staff as respondents. A descriptive study approach was used. Consequently, there are a lot of factors that lead to qualified external audit reports at UNZA. These include lack of supporting documents for expenses, lack of bank confirmations, differences between the bank reconciliations and the trial balance. Other factors are low level of professional competence and negative attitude towards work, inadequate accounting staff and lack of motivation among the subordinates. As a remedy, the research proposed recommendations which could be used to mitigate the qualified external audit reports at the Institution. These include adopting ICT systems and an accounting package that would be able to produce all the necessary accounting and financial reports, to improve on vouching, filing and record keeping for both financial and non-financial records. Other recommendations are continuous training and mentoring of both accounting and non-accounting staff, management to improve staff welfare by ensuring adequate staffing levels as well as introducing incentives to keep staff motivated.

The South Korea Halloween Crush in CNN News: A NetMiner Analysis

Namkil Kang — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The ultimate goal of this paper is to analyze 40 pieces of CNN news broadcasted from 20^th 10 2022 to 17^th 12 2022 regarding the South Korea Halloween crush. It must be stressed that one word has the highest frequency (443 tokens) and the highest proportion (0.394) in 40 pieces of CNN news. When it comes to the word cloud of 40 pieces of CNN news, the word person is the biggest in size, which in turn suggests that it is the most significant one. With respect to topics occurred in the CNN news, it is noteworthy that topic 2 was the most occurred one, followed by topic 7, topic 6, and topic 1. It must be emphasized, on the other hand, that the probability for the word Seoul to be the first keyword is the highest (0.136). More importantly, it should be pointed out that the word person was the most occurred one in 40 pieces of CNN news, followed by the word crowd, the word Seoul, the word police, the word Itaewon, and the word crush, in that order. As for the links among the relevant keywords occurred in 40 pieces of CNN news, the keywords accident, call, official, response, report, and government are directly linked to the word emergency. These links seem to show that people in danger requested for rescue.

The Effect of Intellectual Capital on the Financial Performance of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria.

Clifford Obiyo OFURUM, Etonye Oyintonefie, Siminalayi Fubara, Ngozi Azuike — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This study evaluates the relationship between intellectual capital and Nigerian deposit money banks' financial performance. Specifically, it aims to establish nexus between two proxies of intellectual capital, structural and human capital, and two facets of financial performance, return on assets and earnings per share. All the deposit money banks registered in the Nigerian stock exchange constitute the study population; however, only eight banks that published the required data between 2012 and 2020 were sampled. The study adopted Pulic's (2004) method of measuring intellectual capital and Hamdan's (2018) and Ozkan et al. (2016) model specifications. The model and collected data were analysed using simple regression analysis. The research revealed a significant relationship between structural capital and return on asset (ROA). It also found a significant association between human capital and earnings per share (EPS). Based on the result, we recommend that Nigerian bank managers and policymakers integrate intellectual capital into their decision-making process and pay more attention to this alternative source of capital to enhance their financial performance. Also, the management of banks should provide a conducive work environment, improve the welfare packages of their staff and ensure an excellent in-house training program.

Substance Abuse and its Implications in 21st Century

Namra Humza — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Drug misuse poses a risk to the person as well as to society. Human resource (HR) executives and other professionals play a crucial role in adopting recommendations for policies and procedures related to drug and substance misuse in the workplace since concerns linked to alcohol and substance addiction are on the rise in the workplace. High health insurance claims, diseases, work-related injuries, reduced productivity, bad morale, and absenteeism are organizational losses. These losses do not account for the expense of managing workplace alcohol and drug addiction problems or the unquantifiable misery of the affected families and other workers. Therefore, this research focuses on how drug usage affects Pakistani youth and suggests ways to deal with this widespread problem as soon as possible.

Decentralization, Governance and Provision of Public Goods and Services in Togo

Kossi AYENAGBO — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The objective of this work is to analyse the impact of decentralisation on the quality of public services in Togo since 2019. After an exploratory analysis, data from the Afrobarometer survey (Round 8) were subjected to an econometric analysis with endogenous dichotomous variables. Overall, the results show that decentralisation and the level of corruption have a positive and significant impact on the quality of public service provision in Togo. The results also reveal that the accountability of local officials elected and the level of corruption have a positive and significant impact on the efficient provision of public services. These results also show that decentralisation contributes significantly to improving the quality of public services. Policy makers need to take adequate initiatives to make the transfer of competences to local governments more effective and sustainable in order to foster more inclusive development.

Investigating Subjective Well-being. A Quantitative Study on Special Education Teachers’ Life Satisfaction.

Annalisa Ianniello — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Teachers are the architects of society [1]. A teacher who is satisfied with her life plays a vital role in the elevation of equal and inclusive societies. This study aims to determine the life satisfaction perceptions of special education teachers in Italy. The study was conducted with a sample of 394 teachers from Campania, belonging to all school levels. (Preschool, Primary, Lower Secondary and Upper Secondary school). In this study the descriptive survey model was used. To collect the data, the Satisfaction with Life Scale developed by Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin (1985) [2], administered in the already validated Italian version [3], was used. The data were analysed with the SPSS program following the scoring indications of the instrument. The results show that most of the interviewees fall into the brackets expressing satisfaction (from very satisfied to averagely satisfied), while only 37 teachers (equal to 9% of the total) were below the average bracket.

The Impact of Using “Revoring Exercise" to Learn Breaststroke for Female Students

R. M. S. Fadwa, Ziyad, S. A., Riadh, K., Sabri, G. C., Imen, A. — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This study aims to determine the effects of an educational program using "revoring exercise" on female students at Palestine Technical University/Ramallah Khadouri's branch learning to swim breaststroke. An experimental strategy was used. The sample contained (20) female students chosen intentionally, divided into two groups, one experimental and the other control, each with (10) students. The population was made up of (28) female third- and fourth-year physical education college students. The final breaststroke performance evaluation form and the teaching program based on the Revoring Exercise were employed as research materials.The instructional program was implemented over the course of (8) weeks and consisted of (3) teaching units, each lasting (90) minutes. Data analysis was performed using SPSS. The experimental group members' skill performance in breaststroke swimming improved as a result of the educational program employing revoring exercise, which produced learning abilities in breaststroke skills, according to the results. Based on the findings, the researchers advise using reviewing exercises to teach students how to move while studying other forms of swimming for other sports during practical lessons in physical education colleges.

My understanding of the origin, prevention and treatment of new pneumonia virus disease

Sun Chunwu — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

the incidence rate of the world epidemic is many, long and wide. There are at least five reasons. In 1931, the American doctor drbaxbr cooperated with his colleagues to produce the world's first bottle of commercial infusion products in the transformed old garage. In the Second World War, it was widely used in the rescue and treatment of dehydration, excessive bleeding, fever and wound infection. For example, within 30 hours of infusion, the patient's fever will be reduced immediately, the infected wound will be treated with western medicine, especially for bacteria. At that time, the side effects of chronic diseases, viruses and long-term infusion could not be found in a short time.

Firstly, it discusses the origin and prevention of the new pneumonia virus disease, so as to establish effective national epidemic prevention and recapture the economic losses in the epidemic situation.

Consciousness and the mind-brain-body-world relationship: towards a transdisciplinary and transcultural approach.

Enrico Facco — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The aim of this paper is to overview the main epistemological implications of the scientific approach to consciousness and the mind-brain relationship, undergone a lively debate in the past decades by strict materialist monist and dualist stances. Their limits, as well as the limits of reductionism and the shortcomings of classical Western thought, suggest the need for a broader perspective. Actually, a transdisciplinary approach helps overcoming the limits and incompleteness of single axiomatic disciplines. Likewise, a transcultural, metaphilosophical approach allows to understand key concepts and meanings common to different philosophies and cultures and properly face them beyond the multiplicity and ostensible oddity of forms. This approach seems to be appropriate in the study of consciousness and subjective phenomena, where the first-person perspective and the meaning of the experience are the condition sine qua non for their comprehension.

Reproductive Health Knowledge and Care Seeking Behavior of Bangladeshi School Going Adolescent Girls: A Qualitative Study in A Demajani Village Area of Bogura District

Sarawat Rashid — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The cultural context in Bangladesh generally discourages adolescent from giving opinions, speaking up or questioning adults. So their needs and vulnerabilities are often unaddressed and adolescent friendly services still unfamiliar concepts. In such cultural context, adolescent girls’ reproductive knowledge and healthcare seeking behaviour is important. Improper and delay in seeking care may also result in increased risk in the community. Understanding the pattern of healthcare-seeking behaviour could help public health practitioners and policy makers to improve the healthcare system and health promotion strategies. The objectives of the study were to unveil the adolescents’ girl knowledge on reproductive health. To elicit the types of care adolescent girl sought when they get ill and to identify determinates of the adolescent girl for seeking care. Focused group discussion and in-depth interview was conducted with adolescent unmarried school going girls at Demajani village under Bogura District on January 2023. The study followed by the health belief model. Respondents were going through the mental and physical changes as they were in adolescent stage. They leant about the reproductive health from their female family members. They share their physical problems with the peer group and tried to solve it by home remedies and then to the qualified doctor. Choice of treatment was dependent on their perceived susceptibility and severity. Respondents were depended on parent as they unmarried. Their family was motivated by the communities. Therefore their treatment seeking actives sometimes ignored the availability, affordability and accessibility of the health services.

Open Letter to the Pontiff and Vatican Cardinals on Pervasively Corrupt Earth, Planetary, and Astrophysical Science

J. Marvin Herndon — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Five hundred years ago the Roman Catholic Church wrongly opposed science. In my fifty years as a scientist, I have observed the Catholic Church reaching out to science, wholly unaware of widespread corruption and cartel-like behavior under guise of science, which leads, I allege, to the Vatican aiding and abetting activities that are not only anti-Christian, but which pose grave risks to human and environmental health.

Intervention at Appropriate Timing to Increase Steps Based on FBM

Tomoya Yuasa — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

ユーザーがとるステップを増やすために、この論文では、Fogg Behavior Model (FBM) に基づいた方法を提案しています。この方法は、それらに介入する最適なタイミングを推定します。運動は人々の健康を維持するために不可欠です。しかし、座りがちな活動に費やされる時間は、近年増加しています。人々の健康が危険にさらされています。FBM は、人は意欲と能力が高いと行動を起こしやすいと説明しています。また、ステップを増やすトリガーを提供するメッセージは、モチベーションと能力によって異なります。提案手法は、アクティビティトラッカーを介して曜日ごとの歩数データを取得します。データは、ユーザーの歩数が着実に増加している時間を特定するために処理されます。これらは、能力の高い時期と見なされます。ユーザーのモチベーションは、機械学習モデルから取得されます。モデルは、過去に収集されたユーザーのアクティビティトラッカーによる身体活動データと、ユーザーの運動に対する動機に関するアンケートから構築されます。高能率期に利用者のモチベーションに応じた介入を行う．提案した方法を実験で調べた。結果は、提案された方法がステップを大幅に改善することを示しました。

The RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COPING, TRAUMA, JOB DEMAND, JOB RESOURCES, AND BURNOUT FOR SOCIAL WORKERS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Amanda Savage — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

One of the primary concerns of not-for-profit organizations is the exceptionally high turnover rates due to employee burnout. During widespread health crises such as the novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), the demand for the general public to access not-for-profit services usually surges. In such cases, social workers must work around the clock under strict guidelines with no breaks to assist those who are experiencing various crises in their lives. The purpose of this quantitative multiple linear regression study was to investigate how social workers’ job demand and job resources during a pandemic, specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic, impacted their burnout experience working in not-for-profit organizations. The resulting data indicated a significant, negative linear relationship between COVID-19 coping ratings and burnout. As individuals increased their coping strategies, the average level of burnout decreased. Likewise, as individuals reported higher levels of self-efficacy and job autonomy, the average level of burnout dropped. There was also a positive linear relationship between COVID-19 trauma ratings and burnout. As individuals reported higher trauma, the average level of burnout also increased. Similarly, as individuals reported negative workload and negative client contact, the average level of burnout also increased.

The Common Good: Collaborative Corporate Citizenship

Josephine Lang — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I propose a model of emergent collaborative corporate citizenship (CCC) in which organizations jointly develop dynamic capabilities to address social and environmental concerns through collaborative sense-making and collaborative actions. Using a complexity science framework, I describe how the system conditions of organizational diversity and an economy of interdependence enhance the capability for organizing around responses to social and environmental imperatives. Inter-organizational collective actions magnify and intensify how organizations modify their strategies to incorporate social and environmental considerations. As organizations collaboratively modify their sense-making mechanisms, amend their decision criteria, and adapt their operational routines to incorporate social and environmental responsiveness, the larger business system is thereby changed.

The Gendered Face of Ageism in the Workplace

Jasmin Tahmaseb McConatha, V. K. Kumar, Jaqueline Magnarelli, Georgina Hanna — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This qualitative study explores perceived age discrimination in the workplace. Increasing age diversity in the workplace has led to an associated increase in ageism. While a large percentage of older workers report being subjected to discriminatory treatment in the workplace, ageism also appears to be gendered. Older female workers are being victimized at a greater rate than their male counterparts. The intersection of age, gender, and other forms of discrimination results in increased stress, threatens the well-being of workers of all ages, and creates a toxic workplace climate. Analysis of 244 participants’ responses to open-ended items indicated that ageism is prevalent in the workplace and threatens work and life satisfaction. In this study, both male and female participants were negatively affected by ageism in the workplace, although the female participants reported experiencing workplace discrimination more frequently. Qualitative analysis identified several important themes relating to ageism; these included threats to feelings of competence; self-doubt and helplessness; being subjected to momism; feeling isolated and lonely; and gradual disengagement from the workplace. The results are discussed in relation to workplace inclusivity and individual, organizational, and societal consequences of age discrimination.

A Psychocultural Model of Transcultural Communication

MOHAMMED SHAFIULLAH — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Analysis of the dynamic interplay of philosophical, social and psychological processes informs us about the underlying mechanisms of transcultural communication. The current paper proposes a novel psycho-cultural model based on an understanding of the interplay of cultural and psychological processes in communication between cultures. Analysis of the dynamic interplay of philosophical, social and psychological processes informs us about the underlying mechanisms of transcultural communication.

The Impact of Distance Learning on Academic and Emotional Aspects of Primary School Children

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

To reduce the COVID-19 spread, people have been forced to reduce social interactions and this strategy has also been applied to the school world. Italian schools were closed from February to early June 2020 (and, also, thereafter), and distance learning (DL) was adopted to maintain the teaching process. Concerns about consequences for students' learning and affective wellbeing have been risen. In the hypothesis that DL may have influenced students’ learning, we conducted, starting from November 2020 a screening for learning, reading, writing, and calculating skills in children from grade 1^st to 3^rd grade, to detect any differences between their performance and normative data. Moreover, a survey was carried out on adults (parents and teachers) close to the children involved in the research, to verify whether the experience of the lockdown may have caused emotional and behavioral changes through a questionnaire addressed to parents and teachers. From the analysis of the results, a general lack of performance in the writing tests emerged, with lower performances in children attending second and third-grade classes. Moreover, a consistent prevalence of children’ malaise was observed by adults close to them during the second pandemic wave, with behavioral manifestations seen by the 69.5% of teachers and by the 54.1% of parents.