Genuine Representation Research Articles

Perspectives of Sexual and Gender Minority Youth on Anti-Vaping Messages in Social Media.

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth have higher rates of nicotine vaping than other youth in the United States. While social media can be effective in reaching youth and discouraging vaping, informed cultural tailoring is necessary to ensure effective messaging to SGM youth. This study aimed to understand SGM youth perspectives on anti-vaping social media messages and tailoring approaches. In-depth, qualitative videoconference interviews were conducted from February to July 2022 with 34 SGM youth recruited in the United States via social media ads. The interview guide addressed participants' beliefs about vaping, the context of vaping, perspectives on tailoring messages, and responses to examples of social media anti-vaping messages. Coding and thematic analysis followed a team-based approach. SGM youth perspectives fell into four categories - representation and diversity, facts and evidence, empowering messages, and source credibility. Participants stressed the importance of accurate, genuine representation of SGM youth in messages, but also noted that more overt representation may be seen as tokenizing. Participants recommended partnering with known LGBTQ+ influencers who can promote or share anti-vaping messages on social media platforms. They also recommended using culturally tailored language, including statistics specific to SGM youth, and invoking themes of empowerment to improve the relevance, reach, and effectiveness of anti-vaping campaigns. Findings can inform future efforts to develop anti-vaping messages for SGM youth with effective reach through social media. Nuanced perspectives on SGM representation in messages suggest a careful approach to tailoring. Concerns around inauthenticity may be minimized by ensuring SGM youth are included in message development and dissemination. This study describes the importance of being attentive to the tailoring preferences among the current generation of sexual and gender minority youth. Findings will inform social media-based messaging strategies that discourage nicotine vaping tailored for SGM youth in health campaign material design and evaluation, ensuring that tailored messages are designed in ways that avoid unintended consequences. The study also describes methods for effectively engaging SGM youth in research to improve the relevance of health education materials for this population and increase reach, which in turn can lead to reduction in vaping practices among SGM youth.

Scientific epistemology beliefs and acceptance of Traditional Chinese Medicine: A multigroup analysis based on the UTAUT model in Southern China

PurposeThis study for the first time delves into the intricate relationship between scientific literacy and the acceptance of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) by employing a multigroup path analysis based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. We adopted Scientific Epistemology Belief (SEB) as an indicator for measuring scientific literacy due to its comprehensive reflection of individuals' understanding of scientific knowledge and knowing. In assessing TCM acceptance, we focused on Chinese parents' receptivity towards pediatric TCM, as it offers a more genuine representation of actual inclinations. MethodsA convenience sample of 1016 Chinese parents in Southern China was assessed using online Likert-scale questionnaires on SEB and UTAUT determinants (including performance expectancy, social influence, risk awareness, and facilitating conditions). A K-means cluster analysis was employed to discern distinct SEB profiles, followed by a multigroup path analysis to ascertain UTAUT model variations across these profiles. ResultsFive SEB profiles were identified, namely, intermediate, absolutistic, multiplistic, sophisticated, and evidence-based. Evidence-based believers manifested the highest pediatric TCM acceptance, albeit with elements of blind faith, while multiplistic skeptics, prone to questioning everything, displayed the least acceptance. The absolutistic, intermediate, and sophisticated demonstrated moderate TCM acceptance levels, with the intermediate profile outscoring both absolutistic and sophisticated. These findings highlight that individuals with high scientific literacy do not blindly endorse TCM, nor do those with limited scientific understanding fully appreciate TCM's merits. ConclusionSEB significantly moderates TCM acceptance factors in the UTAUT model, indicating that extremes in scientific knowledge spectrum result in less balanced TCM perspectives. Our findings pave the way for novel insights into harmonizing modern and traditional medical practices.

Advancing equity in cross-cultural psychology: embracing diverse epistemologies and fostering collaborative practices.

Psychology, and cross-cultural psychology (CCP) in particular, plays a pivotal role in understanding the intricate relationship between culture and human behavior. This paper sheds light on the challenges of inequity and marginalization, especially concerning scholarship from the Global South, which have roots in historical colonial practices. It highlights how intellectual extractivism and the predominance of Western research methodologies often overlook the contributions of Global South scholars and indigenous ways of knowing. Such imbalances risk narrowing the scope of psychological inquiry, privileging American and European perspectives, and undermining the richness of global human experiences. This paper calls for a shift toward more equitable collaborations and the recognition of diverse epistemologies. By advocating for genuine representation in research and valuing local knowledge, it proposes pathways for a more inclusive and authentic exploration of human behavior across cultures.

Plastic pollution as waste colonialism in Aotearoa (New Zealand)

The international discourse around waste colonialism has highlighted the often imbalanced power dynamics evident in the transboundary movement of waste. While plastic pollution as a form of waste colonialism has been explored in some overseas contexts, its impact and resonance in Aotearoa (New Zealand) remains poorly understood. This study addresses this gap through interviews with several specialists in the fields of plastic pollution, zero waste, circular economic development, and Indigenous sovereignty. Taking a full life-cycle approach to understanding plastic pollution, this study explores the interconnections between plastics, power, and people to better understand how Aotearoa could holistically respond to the plastic pollution crisis. The study found that colonial governmental and economic systems have enabled a widespread disconnection between plastic consumption and its socio-ecological consequences. Plastic pollution as waste colonialism also perpetuates significant inequities for Aotearoa’s most disenfranchised communities, including Māori, Pasifika, and low-income households. This demonstrates the need for genuine representation of these communities in all relevant decision-making contexts and holistic, systemic transformation to address plastic pollution as waste colonialism.

Reconstruction of multiplex networks via graph embeddings.

Multiplex networks are collections of networks with identical nodes but distinct layers of edges. They are genuine representations of a large variety of real systems whose elements interact in multiple fashions or flavors. However, multiplex networks are not always simple to observe in the real world; often, only partial information on the layer structure of the networks is available, whereas the remaining information is in the form of aggregated, single-layer networks. Recent works have proposed solutions to the problem of reconstructing the hidden multiplexity of single-layer networks using tools proper for network science. Here, we develop a machine-learning framework that takes advantage of graph embeddings, i.e., representations of networks in geometric space. We validate the framework in systematic experiments aimed at the reconstruction of synthetic and real-world multiplex networks, providing evidence that our proposed framework not only accomplishes its intended task, but often outperforms existing reconstruction techniques.

A Critical Assessment on Calculating Vibrational Spectra in Nanostructured Materials.

Vibrational spectroscopy is an omnipresent spectroscopic technique to characterize functional nanostructured materials such as zeolites, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), and metal-halide perovskites (MHPs). The resulting experimental spectra are usually complex, with both low-frequency framework modes and high-frequency functional group vibrations. Therefore, theoretically calculated spectra are often an essential element to elucidate the vibrational fingerprint. In principle, there are two possible approaches to calculate vibrational spectra: (i) a static approach that approximates the potential energy surface (PES) as a set of independent harmonic oscillators and (ii) a dynamic approach that explicitly samples the PES around equilibrium by integrating Newton's equations of motions. The dynamic approach considers anharmonic and temperature effects and provides a more genuine representation of materials at true operating conditions; however, such simulations come at a substantially increased computational cost. This is certainly true when forces and energy evaluations are performed at the quantum mechanical level. Molecular dynamics (MD) techniques have become more established within the field of computational chemistry. Yet, for the prediction of infrared (IR) and Raman spectra of nanostructured materials, their usage has been less explored and remain restricted to some isolated successes. Therefore, it is currently not a priori clear which methodology should be used to accurately predict vibrational spectra for a given system. A comprehensive comparative study between various theoretical methods and experimental spectra for a broad set of nanostructured materials is so far lacking. To fill this gap, we herein present a concise overview on which methodology is suited to accurately predict vibrational spectra for a broad range of nanostructured materials and formulate a series of theoretical guidelines to this purpose. To this end, four different case studies are considered, each treating a particular material aspect, namely breathing in flexible MOFs, characterization of defects in the rigid MOF UiO-66, anharmonic vibrations in the metal-halide perovskite CsPbBr3, and guest adsorption on the pores of the zeolite H-SSZ-13. For all four materials, in their guest- and defect-free state and at sufficiently low temperatures, both the static and dynamic approach yield qualitatively similar spectra in agreement with experimental results. When the temperature is increased, the harmonic approximation starts to fail for CsPbBr3 due to the presence of anharmonic phonon modes. Also, the spectroscopic fingerprints of defects and guest species are insufficiently well predicted by a simple harmonic model. Both phenomena flatten the potential energy surface (PES), which facilitates the transitions between metastable states, necessitating dynamic sampling. On the basis of the four case studies treated in this Review, we can propose the following theoretical guidelines to simulate accurate vibrational spectra of functional solid-state materials: (i) For nanostructured crystalline framework materials at low temperature, insights into the lattice dynamics can be obtained using a static approach relying on a few points on the PES and an independent set of harmonic oscillators. (ii) When the material is evaluated at higher temperatures or when additional complexity enters the system, e.g., strong anharmonicity, defects, or guest species, the harmonic regime breaks down and dynamic sampling is required for a correct prediction of the phonon spectrum. These guidelines and their illustrations for prototype material classes can help experimental and theoretical researchers to enhance the knowledge obtained from a lattice dynamics study.

Evaluation of successive Iraqi governments after 2003


 
 
 
 Initiating the evaluation of the performance and achievements of any government in a country facing numerous internal crises, inconsistencies in its foreign policies, and a complex political system, such as post-2003 Iraq, presents a challenging task. The Iraqi political system that emerged after 2003 saw significant developments, defining its institutions within a specific framework blending parliamentary, federal, and decentralized elements since 2005. However, it witnessed a trajectory of disappointments for the Iraqi people due to the adoption of patronage and deals in managing the political process, illustrating the weakness in the performance of specific governments, notably those under the State of Law Coalition formed by the Islamic Dawa Party and other coexisting political forces. Successive governments, led by former Prime Ministers Ibrahim al-Jaafari (2005-2006), Nouri al-Maliki (2006-2010), Haider al-Abadi, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, and Mustafa al-Kadhimi, grappled with an inability to fulfill their promised agendas, culminating in crises as each administration concluded, compounding the existing challenges. This reality contradicts the true objectives of the political process in Iraq, aiming to achieve genuine representation of the Iraqi people and form governments that genuinely reflect and serve them.
 
 
 

Listening and learning: a qualitative study of Scottish care home staff experiences of managing COVID-19 between March 2020-August 2022

BackgroundThe serious outcomes of outbreaks of COVID-19 in care homes have been described internationally. The experiences of professionals working through outbreaks has received less attention, missing opportunities to acknowledge and learn lessons. Our aim was to explore the experiences of care home staff in Scotland of managing COVID-19 within their homes to help inform understanding and future practice.MethodsFrom April to August 2022, 34 individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with care home staff working in homes which experienced an outbreak(s) of COVID-19. Reflexive thematic methods were used to analyse verbatim deidentified transcripts.FindingsThere was no singular experience of COVID-19 outbreaks within care homes. We identified four broad groupings of homes with outbreaks (significant outbreaks, managed outbreaks, outbreaks in remote/rural homes & outbreaks in homes supporting younger adults), with overlaps in timing and severity and variation in the support received and impact. The national response to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in fundamental change to care home relationships. Staff responded by adaptation in uncertainty. However, they were challenged by emerging inequalities influencing residents’ care. There were tensions between staff experience and evolving external approaches to regulation and oversight. All this change resulted in psychological impacts on staff. However, there was also widespread evidence of compassionate leadership and teamwork in their responses. Effective sources of support were underpinned by respectful relationships and continuity, tailored to individual contexts.ConclusionsThe lived experiences of care home staff during the COVID-19 pandemic provide valuable insights applicable beyond the pandemic context. This includes: recognition of the specialism, complexity and diversity of care home practice; the value afforded by embedding genuine representation and involvement in planning, policy-making and research; the need for individualising to people in their contexts and the value of fostering respectful relationships across professional groups to support residents.

Rules for building and designing a linguistic survey

The linguistic survey have been particularly well-considered by researchers in the field of social linguistics, for being a working field tool enabling the researcher in many fields, such as dialects, atastics and language survey projects to monitor and investigate the sociolsani reality of any region. The survey paper is no less than determining the appropriate sample of the study for research and investigation. In terms of stability of extrapolation, it is very important to focus on the formulation and design of the survey, the knowledge of samples and their quality and the conditions of the good sample that ensure a genuine representation of society away from bias, and a further accurate estimates resulting in more efficient research findings.
 This paper is intended to address the rules of the construction and design of the linguistic survey and to present its relevance, function, types, characteristics, components, sources and stages of preparation, in order to reach a systematic guide for the construction and utilization of the linguistic survey and the development of field-based researchers' capabilities and techniques of interview and investigation.

Local Coefficients and Gamma Factors for Principal Series of Covering Groups

We consider an n n -fold Brylinski–Deligne cover of a reductive group over a p p -adic field. Since the space of Whittaker functionals of an irreducible genuine representation of such a cover is not one-dimensional, one can consider a local coefficients matrix arising from an intertwining operator, which is the natural analogue of the local coefficients in the linear case. In this paper, we concentrate on genuine principal series representations and establish some fundamental properties of such a local coefficients matrix, including the investigation of its arithmetic invariants. As a consequence, we prove a form of the Casselman–Shalika formula which could be viewed as a natural analogue for linear algebraic groups. We also investigate in some depth the behaviour of the local coefficients matrix with respect to the restriction of genuine principal series from covers of G L 2 GL_2 to S L 2 SL_2 . In particular, some further relations are unveiled between local coefficients matrices and gamma factors or metaplectic-gamma factors.

Lope de Vega. Fuenteovejuna (1612)

Lope de Vega. <i>Fuenteovejuna</i> (1612)

A multi-task approach for contrastive learning of handwritten signature feature representations

In spite of recent advances in computer vision, the classic problem of offline handwritten signature verification still remains challenging. The signature verification task has a high intra-class variability because a given user often shows high variability between its samples. Besides, signature verification is harder in the presence of skilled forgeries. Recently, in order to tackle these challenges, the research community has investigated deep learning methods for learning feature representations of handwritten signatures. When mapping signatures to a feature space, it is desired to obtain dense clusters of signature’s representations, in order to deal with intra-class variability. Besides, not only dense clusters are required but also a larger separation between different user’s clusters in the feature space. Finally, it is also desired to move away feature representations of skilled forgeries in relation to the respective dense cluster of genuine representations. This last property is hard to achieve in the real-world scenario because skilled forgeries are not readily available during training. In this work, we hypothesize that such properties can be achieved by means of a multi-task framework for learning handwritten signature feature representations based on deep contrastive learning. The proposed framework is composed of two objective-specific tasks. The first task aims to map signature examples of the same user closer within the feature space, while separating the feature representations of signatures of different users. The second task aims to adjust the skilled forgeries representations by adopting contrastive losses with the ability to perform hard negative mining. Hard negatives are examples from different classes with some degree of similarity that can be applied for training. We evaluated models obtained with the proposed framework in terms of the equal error rate on GPDSsynthetic, CEDAR and MCYT-75 datasets in writer-dependent and writer-independent verification approaches. Using synthetic and real signature datasets, Friedman tests with Bonferroni–Dunn post hoc tests were performed to compare the proposed multi-task contrastive models against the popular SigNet model as a baseline. Experiments demonstrated an statistically significant improvement in signature verification with a multi-task contrastive model based on the Triplet loss. Implementation of the method is available for download at https://github.com/tallesbrito/contrastive_sigver.

Misprinted Representations in Stoicism

Abstract This paper deals with the Stoic concept of misprinted representation (φαντασία παρατυπωτική), which has received little attention compared to other concepts of Stoic epistemology and philosophy of mind. I aim at showing that a better understanding of this concept is important for grasping some elements of the Stoic account of mental representations that have been ignored or misunderstood in modern Stoic scholarship. First, by clarifying the status of the misprinted representation as a genuine representation, we can understand what it means (and does not mean) to say, from the Stoic point of view, that the intentional object of a representation is the external object that caused it. Second, by understanding this issue, we obtain some resources to deal with the ambiguity of the preposition ἀπό in the definition of cognitive representation. Thus, the concept of misprinted representation proves to be important for appropriately understanding the Stoic concepts of representation and cognitive representation.

Southeast Asian Visual Culture In The Animated Film “Raya And The Last Dragon”

In the year of 2020 “Raya and The Last Dragon” was launched and became part of the Disney Princess animated series. This animated film is rumored to be Disney's first film created based on Southeast Asian visual culture. This study aims to analyze the visual culture of Southeast Asia portrayed in the animated film Raya and The Last Dragon.&#x0D; The research is carried out with qualitative approach, through documentation of previous studies, especially those related to visual culture in Disney Princess animation, as well as direct observation of the film studied. Animated films are a reflection of the thoughts, feelings, and desires of the creators through visual media in the form of signs or semiotics. Therefore, the film Raya and The Last Dragon is analyzed using the semiotic analysis method. These data is strengthened by interviews with cultural experts. The results of this study indicate that Raya and The Last Dragon displays visual signs in the form of settings, costumes, and tools that are a fusion Southeast Asian culture are observable in characterizations, character visualization, to visualization of promotional media of “Raya and the Last Dragon”. However, the visualization is not a genuine representation, and does not properly reflect the visual culture of Southeast Asia.

Is natural variability really natural? The case of Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation investigated by a neural network model

Is Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation a genuine representation of natural variability in the climate system? Or perhaps is it strongly forced by external drivers? In this paper, a data-driven attribution investigation has been performed for the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) behaviour in the past via a machine learning technique, NN modelling. We clearly see a forced nature of AMO in the last 150 years, with a strong contribution of the forcing coming from anthropogenic sulphates, which induces its typical oscillating behaviour. The following original application of our model to future predictions of the AMO behaviour shows that it shall probably lose its oscillating characteristic features. The only way to recover them is to consider an unrealistic increase in anthropogenic sulphates in the future under a strong mitigation scenario, and possibly a low-power solar regime. Due to the established influence of AMO on climate and meteorological phenomena in several regions of the world, our results can be important to better understand the past and envisage several future scenarios.

R-group and Whittaker space of some genuine representations, II

R-group and Whittaker space of some genuine representations, II

Multiplicity one theorems for the generalized doubling method (with an appendix by Avraham Aizenbud and Dmitry Gourevitch)

We prove the local multiplicity at most one theorem underlying the definition and theory of local $\gamma$-, $\epsilon$- and $L$-factors, defined by virtue of the generalized doubling method, over any local field of characteristic 0. We also present two applications: one to the existence of local factors for genuine representations of covering groups, the other to the global unfolding argument of the doubling integral.

A dual proposal of minimal conditions for intentionality

Naturalist theories of representation have been attacked on the grounds of being too liberal on the minimal conditions for intentionality: they treat several states that are not representational as genuine representations. Behind this attack lies the problem of demarcation: what are the minimal conditions for intentionality that a state should satisfy to be genuinely representational? What are the limits of intentionality? This paper develops a dual proposal to solve this problem. First, I defend the explanatory role criterion in order to assess proposals of minimal conditions for intentionality. I start by proposing the success pattern condition: a state represents a given external feature provided that there is a success pattern present in the behavioural output, and the system uses this state as a proxy for the presence of this external feature. However, this condition is not sufficient for minimal intentionality—there are both intentional and non-intentional success patterns. Another minimal condition is, hence, required to draw this distinction. I propose the constancy mechanism condition: a state is representational provided that the system employs a constancy mechanism in its production. The success pattern and constancy mechanism conditions jointly constitute the dual proposal for minimal intentionality. I argue that this proposal is explanatorily justified and, so, properly demarcates the limits of intentionality.

A Brief Analysis on the Impact of Minority Parsi Community Issues by Rohinton Mistry’s Novels

Literature has always represented society in one form or another because writers are the sensitive souls of the society who are affected by the slightest possible change in their surroundings. This paper deals with Indian literature especially focuses on Indian diasporic writer Rohinton Mistry who represents the realistic picture of the most sustained explorations of post – independence Indian society through his chronicles of individual and community lives. Mistry’s fiction covers many themes, from politics to parsi community life and economic inequality to national ‘events’ such as wars, rigorously examining the impact of historical forces and social events on ‘small’ lives. As his novels depicts the social, cultural and political life in India. Most of his concerns are devoted towards the preservation of the parsi community which is marginalized sections of the society which include the economically and socially downtrodden, old and decrepit, women, etc. His concerns for the socially downtrodden and socially marginalized have found genuine representation in his works. Rohinton Mistry rеflects the reality of India’s post colonial greedy politics of corruption, oppression, exploitation, violence, strong opposition to social and class differences have extended the spectrum of contemporary reality through his novels.

Why humility is vital to effective humanitarian aid leadership: a review of the literature.

Organisational scientists are paying increasing attention to humility, following a larger trend in scholarship highlighting the relational and interdependent nature of leadership and business. A growing body of evidence identifies humility as vital to effective organisational leadership, facilitating positive organisational outcomes, such as lower voluntary turnover and greater follower job satisfaction. To date, research on the subject has focused on certain specific organisational contexts, including businesses, hospitals, and schools. This paper reviews the existing literature and explores why humility may be an especially important leader trait in international humanitarian aid organisations and relief work-a context that is not only uniquely challenging, but also one that would seemingly stand to benefit keenly from the quality. It argues that humility is essential for effective leadership because it is normative of good character, it is predictive of positive outcomes, and it corresponds to a genuine representation of the nature of humanitarian aid.