Contraction Characteristics Research Articles

ХУДОЖЕСТВЕННАЯ ИНТЕЛЛИГЕНЦИЯ КАК СУБЪЕКТ ОБЩЕСТВЕННОГО ДОГОВОРА В ПЕРИОД КУЛЬТУРНОЙ РЕВОЛЮЦИИ В СССР (1930-Е ГГ.)

The article considers features of the social contract between the artistic intelligentsia and the Soviet political elite during the cultural revolution in the USSR. In that period the social contract was still paternalistic in nature, but being based not only on violence, but also on consent, on the general idea of implementing the social and cultural revolution and on benefits of various kinds that the creators could get from the new government. Since the late 20s, the management by the sphere of culture and art began to be centralized and the state became the main subject of cultural policy. Strict ideological control over the cultural process was carried out as well as the persecution of aesthetic dissent. At the same time, loyal cultural figures are rewarded through government orders and by being given high social status, high salaries, granting rights to publications, personal exhibitions and business trips abroad, awards and prizes, solutions for household and family concerns, etc. The principle of “socialist realism” was declared as the dominant creative principle. The Soviet party and state leadership enjoyed exceptional opportunities to influence the formation and change of the public consciousness of the Soviet people through cultural production.

The For-Profit Side of Public U: University Contracts with Online Program Managers

Online enrollments in public universities have soared, in part because of universities’ increasing reliance on for-profit online program managers (OPMs) for everything from instructional design to student recruitment. However, scholarship has indicated that OPMs may play a role in producing predatory forms of inclusion in higher education for marginalized students. To identify mechanisms through which this might occur, the authors conduct a mixed-methods analysis of 161 contracts between OPMs and two- and four-year public universities, an original database of third-party financing structure, and university webpages. The analysis identifies several contract features—targeting, extraction, opacity, and captivity—that may help concentrate marginalized students in extractive or exploitative online programs at public universities. The authors also show that OPMs funded by private equity or venture capital are most likely to include contract features that incentivize aggressive revenue production and promote the recruitment of marginalized students in online, but not in-person, programs.

Framework for Effective Smart Contracting

Smart contracts are event-driven computer programs used to automatically execute all or parts of the agreements between two or more entities, pursuant to their specifications. The self-executing and self-enforcing attributes of smart contracts present numerous potential benefits, such as cost efficiency, accuracy, and reliability, as well as the potential to support several sustainable development goals. Smart contracts can be very efficient in many sectors, with important automation, procurement, financial, and other supply chain management features. For this study, a systematic literature review was performed, with a view to assessing, synthesizing, and critique the current state of legal and security aspects of smart contracts. The analysis of publications and reports gathered allowed the identification and mapping of the most relevant aspects and revealed numerous issues and vulnerabilities associated with the use of this technology. This paper provides the following contributions: the study and organization of a large corpus of relevant publications; the review of smart contract definitions, from several perspectives; an outline of smart contract characteristics; a framework for effective smart contracting, addressing legal and security issues and proposing several improvements.

Features of Interaction in Online Counseling from the Standpoint of Transactional Analysis

This paper is based on the speech at the MIR-TA (International Institute of Development Transactional Analysis, IIDTA) Student Conference in 2023. The article considers the phenomenon of virtual communication in the modality of Transactional Analysis, describes the features of virtual communication, both among specialists of helping professions and free internet users. Based on Eric Berne’s theory of satisfying hunger (thirst) for structure, recognition and stimulus, the author analyzes virtual ways to satisfy these motivators. The article describes in detail each of the six ways of structuring time in virtual space, as well as the process of interaction among internet users, and how virtual interaction affects real contacts. The author also speaks about the features of an administrative contract for online counseling in working with a client. Also, virtual communication is considered as a tool for creating a favorable atmosphere for personal development and therefore a way to satisfy the client’s stimulus hunger is proposed, and practical recommendations are given. The author suggests taking a more conscious look at virtual communication and using it as a tool for personal development in a rapidly changing reality.

Огляд досліджень в напрямку міоелектричного методу керування біонічним протезом

Myoelectric control of bionic prostheses is an important field of research in the field of rehabilitation. Intuitive and intelligent myoelectric control can restore upper limb function. However, much research now focuses on the development of various myoelectrical and biotechnical control methods, limiting research to the complex daily tasks of prosthetic manipulation, such as grasping and releasing. The article examines the latest advances in the research areas of bionic prosthesis management. In particular, attention is paid to the methods of determining movement intentions, classification of discrete movements, estimation of continuous movements, single-channel control, feedback control and combined control. Motor neurons group input signals from the central nervous system that affect muscles and form motor units. The electromyography (EMG) signal, which is obtained by recording motor neuron action potentials, reflects muscle activity. This signal, oscillating within ±5000 μV with a frequency of 6 to 500 Hz, reflects the characteristics of muscle contraction. Depending on the location of the sensors, EMG signals are divided into intramuscular and surface electromyography. Intramuscular electromyography provides an accurate study of muscle activation, but requires the implantation of sensors, which can lead to physical problems. EMG, which captures a signal from the surface of the skin, is easier to use and is widely used in experiments with myoelectric prostheses.

Contractible Plasmonic Nanospheres Array with Dynamically Tailorable Gap Size for Molecule Trapping and Sensitive SERS Detection

AbstractSurface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a powerful analysis technique, and the SERS sensitivity is strongly dependent on metallic nanogaps with a greatly enhanced local electromagnetic field (i.e., hot spots). Once the analytes are located in the hot spot region, their Raman signals are enormously amplified. However, delivering analytes into such tiny hot spots remains a great challenge, particularly for molecules with small Raman scattering cross‐sections and no metal affinity. Here, by employing the isotropic contraction characteristics of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) when heated, a molecule trapping and SERS sensing strategy is demonstrated based on a large‐area ordered gold‐coated polystyrene nanospheres (PS@Au NSs) array with well‐controlled gap size assembled on PVC sheet. Compared with the traditional contraction‐adsorption mode, the developed adsorption‐contraction mode enables efficient delivery of analytes with or without metal affinity into the hot spots between the PS@Au NSs, leading to a significantly improved SERS performance with a large SERS enhancement factor of ≈3.57 × 107. The contractible SERS substrate exhibits a high sensitivity of 10−12 m for rhodamine 6G (R6G), 10−10 m for thiram, and 5 × 10−6 m for 2,3,4‐trichlorobiphenyl, as well as good signal reproducibility with relative standard deviations of 2.81% and 4.25% for R6G and thiram, respectively.

Compliance by employers with the Labor Code of Ukraine: On the issue of dismissal for improper performance of work

The relevance of the study of the legal regulation of dismissal of employees for improper performance of labour duties is due to the fundamental changes and reforms in labour legislation which require a more detailed study of the social and legal aspects of labour relations. The purpose of this study is to get acquainted with the procedure for dismissing employees, especially in the form of disciplinary proceedings for improper performance of duties. The study used a theoretical methodological approach, the method of legal hermeneutics, a formal legal, methodological approach, the method of deduction, the method of induction. In the course of the study, the characteristic aspects of labour relations in general, the specific features of the employment contract, and the procedures for dismissal for violation of relevant labour obligations in the framework of disciplinary proceedings were analysed. Modern judicial practice was considered, which provides an opportunity to analyse theoretical provisions in their reflection in the real practice of law enforcement in Ukraine to describe this particular procedure for dismissing an employee more thoroughly. The results of the study also identified certain problems in this area that may interfere with its effective functioning. These problems are related to the contradictory interpretation of legal norms regulating the procedure for dismissing an employee for improper performance of official duties. Therefore, to resolve this conflict of laws issue, the practice of the Supreme Court was considered, and the current legislation was analysed, which helps to provide explanations on all the features of the procedure for dismissing an employee legally. The study provides practical guidance for Ukrainian employers on how to properly dismiss employees for non-performance, ensuring compliance with the law, clear criteria for decision-making and the necessary documentation

Dynamic Bonus Pools

ABSTRACT We study the properties of long-term bonus pools (BPs) with rollover provision in a multiperiod moral hazard setting, where the principal uses subjective information to privately assess the agent’s performance and the agent is protected by limited liability (LL). To provide incentives, the principal funds a multiperiod BP with a fixed payment that may be distributed over time to the agent and a third party. We find that the optimal long-term BP contract features performance targets that are contingent on past performance. Specifically, high subjective performance implies an easy target, and low subjective performance implies a difficult target. To implement the long-term BP contract, the principal provides nondichotomous performance reports. The study contributes to the literature that discusses the mechanisms that make subjective performance information useful for incentive contracting. JEL Classifications: D82; M52; M54.

Are rural firms left behind? Firm location and perceived job attractiveness of high-skilled workers

Abstract We conduct a discrete choice experiment to investigate how the location of a firm in a rural or urban region affects the perceived job attractiveness for university students and graduates and, therewith, contributes to the rural–urban divide. We characterize the attractiveness of a location based on several dimensions (social life, public infrastructure and connectivity) and vary job design and contractual characteristics of the job. We find that job offers from companies in rural areas are generally considered less attractive, regardless of the attractiveness of the region. The negative perception is particularly pronounced among persons of urban origin and singles. In contrast, for individuals with partners and kids this preference is less pronounced. High-skilled individuals who originate from rural areas have no specific regional preference at all.

A New Smart Contract Anomaly Detection Method by Fusing Opcode and Source Code Features for Blockchain Services

Digital assets involved in smart contracts are on the rise. Security vulnerabilities in smart contracts have resulted in significant losses for the blockchain community. Existing smart contract vulnerability detection techniques have been typically single-purposed and focused only on the source code or opcode of contracts. This paper presents a new smart contract vulnerability detection method, which extracts features from different levels of smart contracts to train machine learning models for effective detection of vulnerabilities. Specifically, we propose to extract 2-gram features from the opcodes of smart contracts and token features from the source code using a pre-trained CodeBERT model, thereby capturing the semantic information of smart contracts at different levels. The 2-gram and token features are separately aggregated and then fused and input into machine-learning models to mine the vulnerability features of contracts. Over 10,266 smart contracts are used to verify the proposed method. Widespread reentrancy, timestamp dependence, and transaction-ordering dependence vulnerabilities are considered. Experiments show the fused features can help significantly improve smart contract vulnerability detection compared to the single-level features. The detection accuracy is as high as 98%, 98% and 94% for the three vulnerabilities, respectively. The average detection time is 0.99 second per contract, indicating the proposed method is suitable for automatic batch detection of vulnerabilities in smart contracts.

Blockchain Based Wireless Sensor Networks for Detecting Nodes

Abstract The versatility of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) and other unique qualities inspired by real-time collaboration between the sensor nodes make them widely used for a range of applications in monitoring and surveillance. As solutions for malicious node identification involve a single, centralized decision-making process, security in WSNs is becoming more and more important. Errors are difficult to prevent with this paradigm, and repeatability and traceability are problems. Therefore, the detecting ability and integrity of the developed detection method cannot be guaranteed by malicious node identification technology in ordinary WSNs. This article provides insights into this innovative idea as well as a thorough investigation of the use of blockchain technology to WSNs (Blockchain-Based WSN), including a full analysis of a blockchain-based method for identifying rogue nodes. The Blockchain-Based WSN architecture, business-specific applications, and use are all included in this study. The Blockchain-Based WSN architecture model for tracking malicious nodes and the smart contract features of malicious node detection is both included in the explanation of harmful node identification based on Blockchain-Based WSN in this paper. The second part of this study investigates the use of blockchain technology to the management of WSN data, which necessitates online information aggregation and may also require auditing, event logging, and storage for information analysis and offline query processing. The traditional WSN data management approaches are discussed first in this study, followed by the blockchain-based WSN data management choices. The benefaction of blockchain to WSN security management is also included in this survey. Before discussing blockchain-based WSN security management solutions, such as those that provide access control, protect data integrity, ensure anonymity, and prolong the life of WSN nodes, it first looks at the security vulnerabilities of centralized WSN models.

산업재해 예방을 위한 근로자 의무와 역할의 개선방안 연구

Workers play an important role in recognizing and preventing risks at work sites. However, the current Occupational Safety and Health Act does not provide rights and obligations commensurate with the worker's role as an industrial accident prevention agent. The study analyzed the regulations on workers' industrial accident prevention roles and obligations in major countries and presented the following implications to improve workers' duties and roles as subjects of industrial accident prevention.
 First, the obligations of workers are specified: ① the duty to pay attention to the safety and health of others affected by their work performance (duty of care), ② the duty to work in accordance with training and instructions on safe work provided by the employer (obligation to comply), ③ reflects the obligation to report immediately upon discovery of an imminent risk of industrial accident (reporting obligation), ④ obligation to cooperate to identify the risks of the workplace and to select appropriate measures(duty of cooperation). Second, by limiting the scope of workers' obligations, it prevents comprehensive obligations from being imposed or the employer's obligations from being passed on to the employees. Third, there should be punishment provisions for workers' violation of their obligations, but punishment should be given for intentional and obvious violations, and the worker's violation of the law should not be interpreted as a reason to defend the employer's violation of the law. Fourth, judicial liability, such as disciplinary action and compensation for damages resulting from a violation of an employee's obligations, is limited to an appropriate scope considering the characteristics of the employment contract. Fifth, give workers the right to improve safety and health (right to participate, right to suggest, right to request improvement, right to report, etc.) and promote active activities.
 I‘m expecting that by using the research results, future workers' participation in workplace safety and health improvement and industrial accident prevention activities will be promoted, and self-discipline based on the responsibility of industrial accident prevention subjects will be quickly established.

Didactic transposition in music education: Exploring didactical suitability in three Navarrese schools

Didactic transposition occurs when scholarly knowledge is transformed into knowledge to be taught in order to reach didactical suitability. In this study, we explore didactic transposition implemented in music lessons from the perspective of didactical suitability. Utilising Design-Based Research, the current study collected qualitative and quantitative data from three urban schools in the Chartered Community of Navarre, Spain. Findings reveal that didactic transposition depends on the teacher’s beliefs because, while one-to-one teaching and academicism are preferred by educators who prioritise music theory, collective teaching and creativity are promoted by teachers who favour holistic development. In conclusion, didactic transposition enables the aspiration to didactical suitability, explaining the characteristics of didactic contracts. Lastly, some pedagogical implications are provided.

The association between human blood clot analogue computed tomography imaging, composition, contraction, and mechanical characteristics

Background Clot composition, contraction, and mechanical properties are likely determinants of endovascular thrombectomy success. A pre-interventional estimation of these properties is hypothesized to aid in selecting the most suitable treatment for different types of thrombi. Here we determined the association between the aforementioned properties and computed tomography (CT) characteristics using human blood clot analogues. Methods Clot analogues were prepared from the blood of 4 healthy human donors with 5 red blood cell (RBC) volume suspensions: 0%, 20%, 40%, 60% and 80% RBCs. Contraction was measured as the weight of the contracted clots as a percentage of the original suspension. The clots were imaged using CT with and without contrast to quantify clot density and density increase. Unconfined compression was performed to determine the high strain compressive stiffness. The RBC content was analysed using H&E staining. Results The 5 RBC suspensions formed only two groups of clots, fibrin-rich (0% RBCs) and RBC-rich (>90% RBCs), as determined by histology. The density of the fibrin-rich clots was significantly lower (31-38HU) compared to the RBC-rich clots (72-89HU), and the density increase of the fibrin-rich clots was significantly higher (82-127HU) compared to the RBC-rich clots (3-17HU). The compressive stiffness of the fibrin-rich clots was higher (178–1624 kPa) than the stiffness of the RBC-rich clots (6–526 kPa). Additionally, the degree of clot contraction was higher for the fibrin-rich clots (89–96%) compared to the RBC-rich clots (11–77%). Conclusions CT imaging clearly reflects clot RBC content and seems to be related to the clot contraction and stiffness. CT imaging might be a useful tool in predicting the thrombus characteristics. However, future studies should confirm these findings by analysing clots with intermediate RBC and platelet content.

Local Identity Based on Villagers’ Vision of Life and Village Dynamics—Evidence from 40 Villages in Yunnan Province, China

Improving local identity is the key to rural sustainable development. Facing the issue of rural hollowing and aging, rural human settlement requires targeted enhancement in conjunction with the living willingness and local identity of villagers. Firstly, this study summarizes the dynamic evolution characteristics of rural human settlement development and population contraction in Yunnan Province from 2001 to 2021, based on the “Production-Living-Ecological” theory. Secondly, the paper selects detailed survey data from 40 administrative villages in Yunnan Province in 2015, analyzes the characteristics of villagers’ living visions in typical villages through questionnaire data, and constructs a comprehensive local identity index model based on multilevel living-visions to quantify the degree of villagers’ identification with rural human settlement construction. Thirdly, the paper analyzes the correlation between the local identity index and the comprehensive human settlement evaluation and analyzes the factors of rural human settlement development that affect the local identity in depth. The results reveal that: (1) rural construction in Yunnan Province cannot adapt to the changing needs of villagers, and the development of rural human settlement is accompanied by a trend of relative shrinkage of the rural population. (2) The local identity index of villagers is weakly correlated with the development of rural human settlements. (3) The rural human settlement factors that influence rural local identity include a dual cohesion–centrifugal trend. The findings suggest that rural development depends on the primary and secondary relationship between cohesion and centrifugal trends, providing a reference for the coupling of rural construction and local identity and promoting the return of rural population to achieve sustainable development.

Implementasi Karakteristik Akad Murabahah pada Produk Pembiayaan KBB (Kendaraan Bermotor Barokah) di BMT UGT Nusantara Capem Socah

The development of Islamic banking has made many Islamic banks appear, including conventional banks, to participate in opening Islamic banking services, so that the use of murabahah contracts is increasingly used. However, the reality on the ground is that many people do not understand the implementation of murabahah contracts, so that many people still think that the practices of Islamic banks and Islamic financial institutions are not much different from those of conventional banks. BMT UGT Nusantara Capem Socah provides a variety of financing products that use murabahah contracts, one of which is KBB (Barokah Motorized Vehicles), where the characteristics of the implementation of this financing BMT provides goods that customers want which are obtained from dealers directly by BMT, then sold to customers by informing the price acquisition plus profits according to the agreement between the BMT and the customer. This research uses a qualitative approach to the type of descriptive research. Data collection techniques through interviews, documentation and literature studies. The results of the study show that the implementation of the characteristics of a murabaha contract in KBB financing at BMT UGT Nusantara Capem Socah is in line with the principle of a Murabahah contract which makes BMT a supplier of goods which is used as the object of a murabaha contract that sells goods with legal ownership status, then sells them to customers at the cost price. plus profits according to the agreement of both parties and in its application using the first type, namely the consistent type of muamalah fiqh.

Presidential Address 2023: The Beauty of Uncertainty: The Rise of Insurance Contracts and Markets in Medieval Europe

Abstract Maritime insurance developed in medieval Europe is the ancestor of all forms of insurance that appeared subsequently. We address the question of why modern insurance was first invented in medieval Europe, and neither earlier nor elsewhere. Drawing from insights from the literature on uncertainty aversion, we show that medieval merchants had to bear more frequently natural risks (they traveled longer distances) and new human risks with unknown probabilities (they faced unpredictable attacks by corsairs due to increased political fragmentation and commercial competition in Europe). The increased demand for protection in medieval seaborne trade met the supply of protection by a small group of wealthy merchants with a broad information network who could pool risks and profit from selling protection through a novel business device: the insurance contract. A new market—the market for insurance—was then born. Next, analyzing more than 7,000 insurance contracts redacted by notaries and about 100 court proceedings housed in the archives of Barcelona, Florence, Genoa, Palermo, Prato, and Venice, we study the main features of medieval trade, the type of risks faced by merchants, and the characteristics of insurance contracts and markets from 1340 to 1500.The empirical analysis delivers two main findings. First, risks related to human activities (e.g., attacks by corsairs) seem to have had a relatively greater impact on insurance premia compared to natural risks (proxied by seasonal risks). Second, distance mattered but the route seems to have had a greater impact on insurance premia. Specific routes (e.g., in the Tyrrhenian and the western Mediterranean) were more plagued by human risks, which were harder to avoid for the majority of merchants who did not have a broad information network compared to the few wealthy merchants, who became the key players in selling insurance in the early stages of the development of insurance markets.

Farmers’ preference for organic rice contract farming scheme: a discrete choice experiment in Indonesia

Contract farming schemes (CFSs) are essential for providing solutions for farmers due to their guaranteed prices, markets, and availability of inputs. However, numerous farmers quit and leave the contract because the schemes offered are less likely to consider the farmers’ preferences. The formulation of a contract scheme based on farmers’ preferences could provide the potential for better sustainability of cooperation, yet the information regarding food commodities in Indonesia is limited. This study aimed to analyze farmers’ preferences for organic rice CFS. In this study, while the findings of the analysis of CFS-adopters are expected to provide management implications for keeping them in the contract, the preferences of non-adopters are anticipated to provide information regarding the key characteristics of contracts for enticing new farmers. This study included 277 farmers and used the discrete choice experiment (DCE) with the following attributes: payment schedule, input loan, technical assistance, and expected price. The results of the study revealed that CFS-adopters attach great importance to the price attribute, while non-adopters were more concerned with the input loan attribute from the company. Estimation of random parameter logit (RPL) main effect with interaction indicated that there were various relationships between farmer characteristics and the level of attributes. This research is expected to provide managerial implications for companies in preparing organic rice CFS offered to farmers in Indonesia and to provide policy recommendations related to sustainable agriculture.

Effects of Contractual Characteristics on Franchisees’ Compliance and Opportunism in Franchise Relationships

Effects of Contractual Characteristics on Franchisees’ Compliance and Opportunism in Franchise Relationships

Encourage Fathers’ Use of Paternal Leave in Vietnam: the Labor Contract Characteristics and Fathers’ Behavior

Vietnam reformed the maternity regime in 2014, in which male employees currently paying social insurance premiums whose wives give birth to children are entitled to a maternity leave of from 5 to 14 working days. This is widely regarded as a landmark reform that has shifted the Vietnam maternity regime toward a model that is more supportive of the compatibility of work and family life. In this paper, we show that fathers' leave-taking was only about 5,2% of total male employees currently paying social insurance premiums whose wives give birth, even when fathers are on leave period, they spend very little time with their children; despite drastic changes in gender norms in Vietnam, as well as short periods of leave, may have long-lasting effects on fathers’ involvement in newborn care and housework. We also find that groups of fathers, who are cadres and civil servants, as well as those with permanent working contracts profited more strongly from changing their behavior, while self-employment and temporary work lower fathers’ chances of taking leave. Finally, we make some compelling proposals to increase the number of fathers taking parental leave.