General Explanation Research Articles

Rationalising industrial action: how Ugandan public school teachers and public university lecturers explain their engagement in industrial action

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to shed light on the rising waves of workplace militancy in the public sector and to provide insights into the perceptions that frame justification for industrial action among Ugandan public sector employees.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth interviews and documentary analysis, analysed qualitatively, as well as a review of theoretical and empirical literature.FindingsPublic school teachers and public university lecturers in Uganda who frequently engage in industrial action mainly rationalise their engagement by the absence, or the ineffectiveness of alternative conflict resolution mechanisms. The findings also show that industrial action, even in resource-constrained settings like Uganda, is stimulated more by the desire to achieve equity rather than by the basic desire to improve working conditions. It is also notable that new, often unstructured, forms of workplace militancy continue to emerge in the public sector, and waves of industrial action are shifting from the industrial to the public sector.Practical implicationsWhereas industrial action is a protected labour right, the findings of this research strongly suggest that public employees do not necessarily enjoy their right to engage, but only reluctantly take industrial action as a “last resort”. The findings will, therefore, help public managers and policymakers to appreciate their responsibility in reducing the compulsion for industrial action among public employees.Originality/valueThis paper provides a general explanation for industrial action from the perspective of the people involved, rather than explaining the causality of specific strike actions. At a time when industrial action is generally declining in the developed industrialised states, this paper sheds light on the rise in collective action in developing countries and especially in the public sector.

Be careful with ecological associations.

Ecological studies are observational studies commonly used in public health research. The main characteristic of this study design is that the statistical analysis is based on pooled (i.e., aggregated) rather than on individual data. Thus, patient-level information such as age, gender, income and disease condition are not considered as individual characteristics but as mean values or frequencies, calculated at country or community level. Ecological studies can be used to compare the aggregated prevalence and incidence data of a given condition across different geographical areas, to assess time-related trends of the frequency of a pre-defined disease/condition, to identify factors explaining changes in health indicators over time in specific populations, to discriminate genetic from environmental causes of geographical variation in disease, or to investigate the relationship between a population-level exposure and a specific disease or condition. The major pitfall in ecological studies is the ecological fallacy, a bias which occurs when conclusions about individuals are erroneously deduced from results about the group to which those individuals belong. In this paper, by using a series of examples, we provide a general explanation of the ecological studies and provide some useful elements to recognize or suspect ecological fallacy in this type of studies.

Cyclicality in non-state violence: theory and evidence

ABSTRACT What explains recurrent fluctuations in violence within militant groups? Temporal swings in the number of attacks perpetrated are common, but lack a general explanation. I provide evidence of cycles in attacks, and provide a theory of why organizational levels of violence vary serially. First, due to the contradictions of non-state violence, there exist, simultaneously, upward and downward pressures on its use. By “contradictions,” I mean that violence is both beneficial and detrimental to an organization. It can secure public support and government concessions, but can also tarnish a group’s reputation and invite retaliatory violence. Second, since the relative strength of each type of pressure (upward or downward) varies inversely with how much it is accommodated, organizations face disincentives to pause at high or low levels of violence. Groups that shift tactics to accommodate one pressure find they have activated another. For example, a group that curtails violent attacks to avoid government repression finds it lacks media attention. These pressures incentivize a reprise in violence, causing the up-and-down pattern to repeat. Finally, the cyclical pattern is reinforced by endogenous interactions between militants’ political environments and their decision-making processes. I provide suggestive support for the arguments by examining the Basque group ETA.

Is Aesthetic Evolution Possible in Birds? —Conceptual Considerations

The adaptive mate choice theory is believed to provide a general explanation of sexual selection. Females are thought to choose males based on direct benefits or because they have perceivably good genes based on visual indicators of male quality, involving adaptive qualities acted on by natural selection in the current environment. However, a recent hypothesis, called “Beauty Happens” has been proposed based on Darwin's “Really Dangerous Idea,” an idea that has been criticised, to explain sexual selection in animals, including human beings. Accordingly, it has garnered widespread attention and evoked controversial debate. Here, I review the Beauty Happens hypothesis and clarify the arguments that focus on the sexual autonomy and aesthetic perception of females. I found that, in the case of sexually dimorphic birds, unambiguous evidence is absent in support of the adaptive mate choice theory. Although the Beauty Happens hypothesis is logically feasible, aesthetic perception could possibly evolve and develop on the basis of sexual autonomy and resource-independence in females. Therefore, aesthetic radiation among females may lead to beauty radiation in males, and female mate choice as a selection process may act independently of natural selection, favouring good-to-pass-on genes rather than good genes. However, the Beauty Happens hypothesis seems to be more applicable when explaining the behaviour of sexually dimorphic birds than other animal taxa. I suggest that the mechanisms of female mate choice and intrasexual competition in males may lead to biological evolution, depending on the degree of autonomy of females in different animal species.

RadTranslate: An Artificial Intelligence-Powered Intervention for Urgent Imaging to Enhance Care Equity for Patients With Limited English Proficiency During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

PurposeDisproportionally high rates of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been noted among communities with limited English proficiency, resulting in an unmet need for improved multilingual care and interpreter services. To enhance multilingual care, the authors created a freely available web application, RadTranslate, that provides multilingual radiology examination instructions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation of this intervention in radiology.MethodsThe device-agnostic web application leverages artificial intelligence text-to-speech technology to provide standardized, human-like spoken examination instructions in the patient’s preferred language. Standardized phrases were collected from a consensus group consisting of technologists, radiologists, and ancillary staff members. RadTranslate was piloted in Spanish for chest radiography performed at a COVID-19 triage outpatient center that served a predominantly Spanish-speaking Latino community. Implementation included a tablet displaying the application in the chest radiography room. Imaging appointment duration was measured and compared between pre- and postimplementation groups.ResultsIn the 63-day test period after launch, there were 1,267 application uses, with technologists voluntarily switching exclusively to RadTranslate for Spanish-speaking patients. The most used phrases were a general explanation of the examination (30% of total), followed by instructions to disrobe and remove any jewelry (12%). There was no significant difference in imaging appointment duration (11 ± 7 and 12 ± 3 min for standard of care versus RadTranslate, respectively), but variability was significantly lower when RadTranslate was used (P = .003).ConclusionsArtificial intelligence–aided multilingual audio instructions were successfully integrated into imaging workflows, reducing strain on medical interpreters and variance in throughput and resulting in more reliable average examination length.

Interlimb Coordination: A New Order Parameter and a Marker of Fatigue During Quasi-Isometric Exercise?

Although exercise-induced fatigue has been mostly studied from a reductionist and component-dominant approach, some authors have started to test the general predictions of theories of self-organized change during exercises performed until exhaustion. However, little is known about the effects of fatigue on interlimb coordination in quasi-isometric actions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of exercise-induced fatigue on upper interlimb coordination during a quasi-isometric exercise performed until exhaustion. In order to do this, we hypothesized an order parameter that governs the interlimb coordination as an interlimb correlation measure. In line with general predictions of theory of phase transitions, we expected that the locally averaged values of the order parameter will increase as the fatigue driven system approaches the point of spontaneous task disengagement. Seven participants performed a quasi-isometric task holding an Olympic bar maintaining an initial elbow flexion of 90 degrees until fatigue induced spontaneous task disengagement. The variability of the elbow angle was recorded through electrogoniometry and the obtained time series were divided into three segments for further analysis. Running correlation function (RCF) and adopted bivariate phase rectified signal averaging (BPRSA) were applied to the corresponding initial (30%) and last (30%) segments of the time series. The results of both analyses showed that the interlimb correlation increased between the initial and the final segments of the performed task. Hence, the hypothesis of the research was supported by evidence. The enhancement of the correlation in the last part means a less flexible coordination among limbs. Our results also show that the high magnitude correlation (%RCF > 0.8) and the %Range (END-BEG) may prove to be useful markers to detect the effects of effort accumulation on interlimb coordination. These results may provide information about the loss of adaptability during exercises performed until exhaustion. Finally, we briefly discuss the hypothesis of the inhibitory percolation process being the general explanation of the spontaneous task disengagement phenomenon.

Thoughts on the Use of <i>“le”</i> in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages: Problems and Suggestions

Within the context of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (hereafter TCSOL), the teaching of “le” is a key and thought-provoking grammatical point. Holding the view that the general explanations, often used in textbooks, are not easy for students to comprehend, after studying the relevant literature and drawing examples from specific textbooks, we make some suggestions regarding the teaching of “le”. The innovation of this article is the proposal of a unified approach to the interpretation of “le” within the theory of “realization”, the avoidance of the concepts of “complete” and “change”, of “le1 + le2 = le3” and of the idea that “le2” indicates the “tone”. Simultaneously, we propose the increase of the subjective communicative uses of “le”, the distinction between the meanings of sentence patterns and word meanings, and the unification of related terms.

Random response of a simple system with stochastic uncertainty and noise in parameters

The paper is concerned with the analysis of the simultaneous effect of a random perturbation and white noise in the coefficient of the system on its response. The excitation of the system of the 1st order is described by the sum of a deterministic signal and additive white noise, which is partly correlated with a parametric noise. The random perturbation in the parameter is considered statistics in a set of realizations. It reveals that the probability density of these perturbations must be limited in the phase space, otherwise the system would lose the stochastic stability in probability, either immediately or after a certain time. The width of the permissible zone depends on the intensity of the parametric noise, the extent of correlation with the additive excitation noise, and the type of probability density. The general explanation is demonstrated on cases of normal, uniform, and truncated normal probability densities.

Wraths of Fire

The way people understand and encounter illnesses include influences from human cognition as well as from their cultural surroundings. A conception of illness termed “the wraths of fire” (tulen vihat in Finnish) was a general explanation for severe skin burns in early modern Finland and Karelia, and it included ideas about personified fire and its magically contagious essence. However, the academic conversation on this notion has mostly concentrated on the socio-cultural influences behind it. In this article, I argue that the intuitive level of human cognition (e.g., Kahneman and Frederick 2005; Evans and Frankish 2009) has formed the basic guidelines for this conception of illness. The research materials consist of approximately six hundred archive units of narrated memories on healing events and healing instructions. As the materials are not based on empirical observations by the author, the article also introduces certain methodological questions important for connecting the cognitive perspective with historical materials, such as questions on the reliability of the descriptions of past events.

Implementation of the good faith principle in civil legislation: issues of recodification

The article is devoted to one important problem of recoding of the civil legislation in Ukraine – the process of further implementationof the Good Faith principle in Civil Code.It was generally accepted that the important step towards the modernization of the governing civil law is the re-codification oflegislation in force. It is for this purpose that Concept of modernization of the Civil Code of Ukraine (Recodification) was publishedby the end of 2020.The overall analysis of the Concept of modernization points to one important conclusion. The document involves it’s probablythe recodification of settled law and does not alter the main principles set out in Civil Code, although every change in legislation in anyparticular case requires a general explanation. It is unclear whether that process involves recodification or progressive development(post codification), but what was clear is that the system upgrade of civil legislation need to be done.In this paper a comprehensive analysis of the reception of Roman good faith principle in the modem civil legislation of Ukraineis performed. In the Roman Jurisprudence this natural law principle has got the name bona fides. In this research paper is determinedthat bona fide principle is an effective means counteraction to abuse of subjective civil rights.The meaning of good faith, though always based on honesty, may vary depending on the specific historical context in which itis used. As in Roman times well as nowthere two universal criterion of good faith: fair price and common sense. For example, a personbuys in good faith when he or she holds an honest belief in his or her right or title to the property and has no knowledge or reason toknow of any defect in the title.In the modern doctrine of private law good faith is defined generally as honesty in fact and the observance of reasonable commercialstandards of fair dealing.The process of reception of the good faith principle in the modern civil law is investigated separately. One can draw conclusionthat further development of civil legislation of Ukraine should be based on the classic concept of good faith (bona fides).With a view to enforcing this Concept of modernization, it is proposed to amend the following articles of the Civil Code ofUkraine: art. 3, 8, 12, 13, 229–233, 509. In these articles the principle of good faith is implemented.The main conclusion is that there is no need to detail this principle with due to the numerous casual norms.

Temperature-Dependent Field Emission and Breakdown Measurements Using a Pulsed High-Voltage Cryosystem

Field emission and vacuum breakdown limit performance in many classes of electronic devices, including rf systems in particle accelerators. Although there are general explanations of both processes, a large correction factor is systematically needed to explain observations, and experimental evidence to establish the breakdown mechanism is limited. This study elucidates both issues, using a high-voltage electrode system that can operate down to cryogenic temperatures. Measurements of temperature-dependent field emission and breakdown with this system reveal remarkable effects that yield insight into both processes, which in turn will enable further development of high-field technology.

O Papel do Controller na Perspectiva da Estratégia como Prática: um Ensaio Teórico

Objective: This theoretical essay aims to explore how the controller participates in the strategy formation process, in the perspective of strategy as a practice.Method: We developed a theoretical essay based on the main issues related to the role of the controller in organizations and a general explanation of the theoretical model of strategy as a practice proposed by Jarzabkowski and Spee (2009).Originality/Relevance: We propose a new approach for management accounting studies by bringing together two fields of knowledge – accountability and strategy – under a constructivist perspective, exploring the role of the controller as a business partner and a strategy practitioner. We argue controllers act as middle managers in the implementation of organizational strategies, playing a fundamental role in strategy translation, communication and on its operational issues.Results: From the intersection between the two themes, three general propositions were developed, combining elements of strategy as practice (practice, praxis and practitioners) and the role of the controller, which serve as a basis for the advance of future research. This is a seminal step into future avenues of research and theoretical or empirical studies about the microperspective of management accounting.Theoretical/Methodological contributions: This theoretical essay analyzes the controller role in the micro-organizational perspective of the strategy as practice, addressing future research possibilities that unite the two lines of knowledge.

USE OF VISUALIZATION TOOLS IN THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS

An article integrates data on visualization tools used in the educational process of highschool students, particularly in the field of medicine. The role of visualization in theformation of professional competencies of students is also shown in the paper.Objective – analysis of scientific papers that describe the possible visualization toolsin the educational process during the explanation of new material, generalization,systematization and testing of knowledge and prove their role as the acquisition ofknowledge, skills and abilities of students.Conclusions. There is a significant choice of teaching methods and tools in the arsenalof a high school teacher now, that considerably facilitates the perception of educationalmaterial by the students and contributes to its better acquisition. One of such effectivemethods is visualization by means of multimedia presentations, videos and interactivetechnologies. This approach will contribute to the better formation of the students’professional competencies, ability to analyze and think critically.

Decadal O3 variability at the Mt. Cimone WMO/GAW global station (2,165 m a.s.l., Italy) and comparison with two high-mountain “reference” sites in Europe

Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a greenhouse gas as well as a harmful air pollutant with adverse effects on human health and vegetation: The observation and attribution of its long-term variability are key activities to monitor the effectiveness of pollution reduction protocols. In this work, we present the analysis of multi-annual near-surface O3 (1996–2016) at the Mt. Cimone (CMN, Italian northern Apennines) WMO/GAW global station and the comparison with two “reference” high-mountain sites in Europe: Jungfraujoch (JFJ, Swiss Alps) and Mt. Zugspitze (ZUG/ZSF, German Alps). Negative O3 trends were observed at CMN over the period 1996–2016 (from –0.19 to –0.22 ppb yr–1), with the strongest tendencies as being observed for the warm months (May–September: –0.32 ppb yr–1 during daytime). The magnitude of the calculated O3 trends at CMN are 2 times higher than those calculated for ZUG/ZSF and 3–4 times higher than for JFJ. With respect to JFJ and ZUG/ZSF, higher O3 values were observed at CMN during 2004–2008, while good agreement is found for the remaining periods. We used Lagrangian simulations by the FLEXPART particle dispersion model and near-surface O3 data over different European regions, for investigating the possibility that the appearance of the O3 anomalies at CMN could be related to variability in the atmospheric transport or in near-surface O3 over specific source regions. Even if it was not possible to achieve a general robust explanation for the occurrence of the high O3 values at CMN during 2004–2008, the variability of (1) regional and long-range atmospheric transport at CMN and (2) European near-surface O3 could motivate the observed anomalies in specific seasons and years. Interestingly, we found a long-term variability in air mass transport at JFJ with enhanced (decreased) contributions from Western European (intercontinental regions).

The Role of the Controller in the Perspective of Strategy as Practice: A theoretical essay

Objective: This theoretical essay aims to explore how the controller participates in the strategy formation process, in the perspective of strategy as a practice. Method: We developed a theoretical essay based on the main issues related to the role of the controller in organizations and a general explanation of the theoretical model of strategy as a practice proposed by Jarzabkowski and Spee (2009). Originality/Relevance: We propose a new approach for management accounting studies by bringing together two fields of knowledge – accountability and strategy – under a constructivist perspective, exploring the role of the controller as a business partner and a strategy practitioner. We argue controllers act as middle managers in the implementation of organizational strategies, playing a fundamental role in strategy translation, communication and on its operational issues. Results: From the intersection between the two themes, three general propositions were developed, combining elements of strategy as practice (practice, praxis and practitioners) and the role of the controller, which serve as a basis for the advance of future research. This is a seminal step into future avenues of research and theoretical or empirical studies about the microperspective of management accounting. Theoretical/Methodological contributions: This theoretical essay analyzes the controller role in the micro-organizational perspective of the strategy as practice, addressing future research possibilities that unite the two lines of knowledge.

Back to the Basics of Mate Choice: The Evolutionary Importance of Darwin’s Sense of Beauty

There is a simple and general explanation for the evolution of mate choice that does not rely on benefits to be gained from favoring some potential mates over others, nor on ornament-preference genetic correlations (but that can help establish such benefits and correlations). Mate choice necessarily arises from competition to engage the powerful but discriminating reward mechanisms that regulate sexual interactions. Progress in understanding the evolution of mate choice will come from analyzing the subjective nature of the cognitive-emotional mechanisms that regulate its expression. A key mechanism may be the sense of beauty—the feeling whose function it is to reward attention to, and engagement with, attractive objects. Any animal whose behavior and decision-making are regulated by mechanisms of emotion and feeling may possess the sense of beauty. Competition to be perceived as beautiful engages brain-generated, top-down influences on perception and subjective experience, adding manifold ways to improve ornament attractiveness. In this paper, I discuss the evolutionary consequences of mate choice involving the sense of beauty and how to test for it.

Describing squeezed-light experiments without squeezed-light states

Coherent states are normally used to describe the state of a laser field in experiments that generate and detect squeezed states of light. Nevertheless, since the laser field absolute phase is unknown, its quantum state can be described by a statistical mixture of coherent states with random phases, which is equivalent to a statistical mixture of Fock states. Here we describe single-mode squeezed vacuum experiments using this mixed quantum state for the laser field. Representing the laser state in the Fock basis, we predict the usual experimental results without using the squeezing concept in the analysis and concluding that no squeezed state is generated in the experiments. We provide a general physical explanation for the noise reduction in the experiments in terms of a better definition of the relative phase between the signal and local oscillator fields. This explanation is valid in any description of the laser field (in terms of coherent or Fock states), thus providing a deeper understanding of the phenomenon.

CFIUS issues final regulations on national security review of foreign investments in the United States under FIRRMA: broader reach, mandatory filings, and limited exceptions

Purpose The article examines the sweeping changes to the review process undertaken by Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) as a result of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA). The Article specifically reviews the long-awaited final sets of regulations, effective as of February 13, 2020, and analyzes their impact on the CFIUS process, as well as considers the implications of FIRRMA for parties to foreign acquisition, control, and investment transactions. Design/methodology/approach The Article begins with an overview of the CFIUS framework and a general explanation of FIRRMA. It then moves to an analysis of FIRRMA and the resulting changes to the prior CFIUS regime. The Article concludes with general considerations and provides recommendations for parties who may find themselves analyzing the potential applicability of CFIUS to foreign acquisition and investment transactions. Findings FIRRMA resulted in significant changes to the existing CFIUS regulatory framework. Practical implications Parties should learn the CFIUS changes as a result of FIRRMA, including the new mandatory filing requirements as well as implications for non-controlling investment transactions. Parties should include CFIUS analysis and planning in the earliest stages of deal planning and due diligence. Originality/value The article provides an in-depth review of the changes to CFIUS resulting from FIRRMA. The changes to the existing CFIUS landscape have resulted in new mandatory filing requirements and expanded jurisdiction over non-controlling investment and real estate transactions, which are discussed in the article.

IMPACT OF MERAPI SAND MINING IN KLATEN CENTRAL JAVA

In the general explanation of Law No. 4 of 2009 on Mineral and Coal Mining it isoutlined that the Basic Law 1945 Article 33 paragraph (3) affirms the earth, water, andnatural wealth contained therein is controlled by the state and used for the greatprosperity of the people. In this study, the authors examined how environmentaldamage impacts the merapi sand mining in Klaten. The research method used in thisstudy is empirical legal research, where in empirical research emphasizes more on thesymptoms and consequences that occur based on the field, or in another sense thisstudy uses observation methods as primary data to see how the law in action goes.From the results of the research obtained that the impact of merapi sand mining in thecentral java klaten is the first impact on the damage of agricultural land, plantation landthat certainly threatens the availability of land for future generations of farmers thatwill certainly have an impact on food availability, secondly damaging evacuation routesand thirdly disrupting water content, ecology, landslide prone.

PROBLEMS OF CRIMINAL LAW ASSESSMENT OF THE ABUSE OF CONSUMER RIGHTS

The legislation and practice of its application are based on the priority of protecting the rights of the consumer, which is known to everyone: "The client is always right". Assigning the weak side status to the consumer (buyer) has the opposite effect. The buyer gets a significantly larger amount of rights. Unscrupulous consumers began to derive property benefits from this situation, abusing the preferences granted to them: they are increasingly declaring purchased goods to be of poor quality, refusing to settle disputes with retailers and manufacturers peacefully, and suing them. The phenomenon is called "consumer extremism". Consumer extremism is not only a civil law phenomenon (a type of abuse of rights), it also has signs of criminal fraud. It is necessary to make additions to the current resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation so that general explanations can be fully applicable to cases of consumer extremism.