Intervention Of Authorities Research Articles

Exploring the Effects of the Information Asymmetry on the Card-Debt Crisis

The article aimed to explore the effects of the information asymmetry on the card-debt crisis in Taiwan’s credit card market. The card-debt crisis of the credit cards broke out in Taiwan in 2005. To improve this situation, the financial authorities were forced to intervene in the market. The article employed the documents analysis and collected the related literature and statistical data to construct the information asymmetry model and the proposed hypotheses of the adverse selections and the moral hazards. The results concluded that the card-debt crisis did stem from the information asymmetry, and was alleviated by the intervention of the financial authorities.

Police arrest-related death: about four cases and review of the literature.

Unexpected deaths may occur in individuals during a police arrest. These individuals usually have had both physical and emotional exertion, associated or not with agitation and restraint by police. Further investigations in these cases often show an impregnation with drugs. Autopsy findings may raise medico-legal problems in these cases.We report four cases of deaths during police arrest in which multiple factors contributed to the death. In the first two cases, there was a combination of emotional and physical stress due to police pursuit and, the presence of mechanical asphyxia. We noticed the presence of cannabis and amphetamine; however, we couldn't relate the death to a drug intoxication. In the third case, the deceased lost consciousness when he was arrested by the police with no link to the intervention of law enforcement authorities. Death in this case was due to sepsis complicating endocarditis. The fourth case reports a rare cause of asphyxia that can occur in a police arrest related to a drug package. Death was due to upper airway obstruction in this case.The forensic pathologist should take into consideration every factor when explaining these deaths. Thorough autopsy and investigations are critical to understand the cause and circumstances of death.

Local authority intervention in private renting: from compliance to hardline enforcement

AbstractDrawing on data from two empirical projects concerned with local authority enforcement of standards in the private rented sector, this article argues that there are signs of greater use of formal enforcement approaches, and that these approaches are increasingly ‘hardline’. This finding runs counter to the existing scholarship on regulatory enforcement, which emphasizes securing compliance over formal enforcement. Securing compliance is also integral to the regulatory guidance in this sphere of activity. Further, in the context of cuts to local authority funding and greater local authority demand for private rented stock to meet household needs, the shift to hardline approaches requires explanation. Drawing on Keith Hawkins’ and Peter Manning's theory of legal decision making, which emphasizes consideration of the surround, the field, and the frame, the authors explain how changes to the field, in particular, have encouraged this shift.

The Concept of ‘Inventiveness of Machines’: How Ready is Patent Law to Afford the Creative Inventiveness of Artificial Intelligence?

Making science fiction a reality, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a transformative drive in almost every aspect of human life today. With the advancements of modern technology, AI has acquired the ability to think like humans and create inventions that are economically worthwhile. The concept of ‘inventiveness of machines’ has become a focal point in the field of intellectual property law at present. It has compelled the world to reconsider the parameters of patent law in terms of protecting AI inventors and inventions of AI. Simultaneously, the procurement of patents for inventions of AI has posed challenges not only in the legal field but also in ethical and moral aspects. As AI is gradually becoming an undeniable part of human life, every nation will have to adopt the developments of AI technology into their legal systems sooner or later. Taking the prevailing definitions of ‘inventor’ into account, this research mainly discusses whether machine inventors and human inventors be given equal protection of law or whether there should be different dimensions of protection. This paper also discusses the moral and ethical dilemma of granting legal recognition for AI inventors while examining the capability of existing legal framework including Sri Lanka in accommodating the inventiveness of machines. This research was carried out using mixed method approach. Literature review, qualitative and empirical research methodologies and comparative analysis were incorporated to strengthen the study. The paper concludes by highlighting the need of legislative intervention of competent authorities to reconsider the legal parameters to accommodate the possible challenges waiting to be imposed by inventiveness of machine in future. This paper also introduces the concept of ‘collaborative inventiveness of humans and AI’ and suggests recommendations to amend existing laws in a manner that they afford the technological advancements of modern times.

The intervention of local public authorities and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Romania: a subnational analysis.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a strong territorial dimension, with a highly asymmetric impact among Romanian counties, depending on pre-existing vulnerabilities, regions' economic structure, exposure to global value chains, specialization, and overall ability to shift a large share of employees to remote working. The aim of this paper is to assess the role of Romanian local authorities during this unprecedented global medical emergency by capturing the changes of public spending at the local level between 2010 and 2021 and amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and to identify clusters of Romanian counties that shared similar characteristics in this period, using a panel data quantitative model and hierarchical cluster analysis. Our empirical analysis shows that between 2010-2021, the impact of social assistance expenditures was higher than public investment (capital spending and EU funds) on the GDP per capita at county level. Additionally, based on various macroeconomic and structural indicators (health, labour market performance, economic development, entrepreneurship, and both local public revenues and several types of expenditures), we determined seven clusters of counties. The research contributes to the discussion regarding the increase of economic resilience but also to the evidence-based public policies implementation at local level.

Barriers to routine screening for intimate partner violence during pregnancy in Nigeria

BackgroundThe benefits of routine screening for intimate partner violence (IPV) among pregnant women include early identification, prompt management, referral of IPV victims, and creating awareness about IPV. Despite these benefits, the practice of routine screening of IPV remains limited in midwifery settings in low-income countries. The purpose of this study is to identify and describe midwives’ perspectives of the barriers in conducting routine screening of IPV for pregnant women in northern Nigeria. MethodsA case study qualitative descriptive design was used to collect data from ten midwives in the antenatal clinic of a tertiary hospital. Non-participant observation and individual face-to-face semi-structured interviews were used as data collection methods. Thematic data analysis was carried out using Yin's five stage analytical cycle. FindingsThree themes, with related subthemes, emerged from the data: (i) The theme of “Internal” barriers to IPV screening has four subthemes; midwives' personal discomfort in asking IPV- related questions, perceived mistrust of midwives by pregnant women, midwives' own perceptions of IPV as a personal matter, and midwives’ lack of skills to screen for IPV. (ii) “External” barriers to IPV screening subsumes three subthemes: antenatal card related barriers, workload related barriers, and protocol barriers. (iii) “Structural” barriers to IPV screening have two subthemes: lack of space for privacy and lack of resources for managing pregnant women who have experienced IPV. ConclusionKnowing the barriers to midwives’ screening practices is important because it may help in the development of contextually relevant and acceptable screening guidelines for midwives in Nigeria. Education and training of midwives will eliminate the internal barriers while the external barriers will need the intervention of hospital authorities and government to eliminate their effects on screening.

A Study of Teacher Intervention in Guiding Kindergarten Middle School Role Play

Games contribute to the development of children and reflect the level of development of children[ 1]. In kindergarten game activities, role play is popular among children, and it plays a significant role in the healthy development of children. During the process of participating in role-playing, young children's bodies and minds are fully developed and perfected. Middle class children are in a special transitional period, unlike small class children who do not have much understanding of roles, nor are they mature enough like large class children. Therefore, middle class children need more guidance from teachers. This paper observes and records the intervention and guidance of teachers in the role play of the middle class in Kindergarten A. Through analyzing the identity, methods, time, and attitude of teachers'intervention and guidance, it is found that there are four aspects of teachers'intervention and guidance in the role play: the teacher is mainly a director, and he or she provides authoritative intervention and guidance; the teacher's intervention is inappropriate; the teacher's attitude is not positive; and the time of teacher's intervention is unreasonable. In response to these issues, it is proposed that teachers should pay attention to games and provide guidance at the right time; Teachers should choose appropriate methods for guidance; Teachers should transform. from “directors” to “players”; Respect children's willingness to play and give full play to their freedom.

Heterogeneity in the nominal exchange rate response to oil price shocks in oil-exporting countries: a new episode of the ‘fear of floating’?

ABSTRACT In this paper, we propose that the heterogeneity in the nominal exchange rate response to oil price shocks in oil-exporting countries with flexible regimes is influenced by monetary authority interventions. Thus, we identify three structural oil price shocks, and we estimate pooled OLS regressions for a panel of 27 oil-exporting economies. The results show that economies with higher international reserve accumulation experience lower exchange rate appreciation during oil-specific demand shocks.

Quantification of uncontrolled oil pollution of the East Jiu

In the current global context, where drinking water sources are constantly diminishing, surface water pollution has become an environmental problem that requires rapid action to conserve drinking water sources and protect aquatic biodiversity. Water pollution has many causes and can be caused by nitrates, detergents, pesticides, heavy metals, petroleum products and many other harmful substances that come from different sources. In this paper we analyzed the pollution of surface waters, respectively of the water course - Jiul de Est, with petroleum products, considering that in its immediate vicinity there are several points of sale and storage of motor fuels, but also pollution with petroleum products that come from cars that transit the roads in the vicinity of East Jiu.In order to be able to quantify the degree of oil pollution of the Eastern Jiu, water samples were taken in order to analyze them with the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer determination method. The purpose of the work is to determine whether the degree of oil pollution of the Eastern Jiu is an environmental problem that requires the intervention of the competent authorities in order to reduce the effects that this type of pollution can have.

Reforma kalendarza w Cerkwi prawosławnej w Polsce w latach 1923-1925

The decision to reform the calendar in the Orthodox Church was made by Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory VII. The new style was to be introduced on March 10, 1924. The patriarch's resolution was met with mixed feelings, opening a period of stormy synodal discussions in local Orthodox Churches. In Poland, the calendar issue turned into a political problem due to the intervention of government authorities in the internal life of the Church. The Orthodox population treated the above decision as a violation of religious freedoms. The lack of reception of the synodal act of April 12, 1924 regarding the adoption of a new style by Orthodox believers in Poland forced the Holy Synod to change its position on this matter. At the meeting of August 16, 1924, the Orthodox episcopate decided to repeal the previous resolution on the mandatory use of the new style wherever the faithful required it. The issue of the reform of the Church calendar has proven that when making such decisions, the Polish government and the Church hierarchy must take into account the position of the faithful. As a result, the Orthodox Church remained in the old style throughout the country, with the exception of the capital city of Warsaw.

"New Regionalism" and Its Implementation in Ukrainian Legislation: The Terminology and the Political Implications

This paper investigates the terminology associated with "New regionalism" and its integration into Ukrainian legislation, analyzing its political and administrative implications. "New regionalism" is a contemporary administrative-territorial reform, with a focus on the principle of subsidiarity, which minimizes central authority intervention in local affairs. While not explicitly present in its regulations, certain subsidiarity elements are part of Ukrainian law. The study explores the adoption and implementation of "New regionalism" principles and terminology within the country's legal discourse. The second aim of the study was to examine how "New regionalism" could potentially influence the political dynamics and administrative structures, particularly in the context of decentralization efforts. By employing systematic and comparative methodologies alongside principles of dialectical analysis, the study offers insights into the evolving landscape of Ukrainian political and administrative terminology alongside its structures, which might play a crucial role in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

Ekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk) During NEP Years: Organization of City Government System

The article discusses the activities of various levels of government structures (city council, gubernatorial, district and regional executive and party bodies) in managing EkaterinburgSverdlovsk during the NEP years. It is established that during this period, the central government was faced with a choice between centralism or decentralization in local governance and the delineation of powers between councils and different levels of regional government. It is noted that in practice, a multilevel system of city management was formed, which had both positive and negative aspects. It is shown that on the one hand, in conditions of weak city authority and a shortage of city budget, the intervention of regional authorities in urban issues and financial injections from their side allowed for the successful resolution of acute urban economic issues. On the other hand, such a system of power significantly limited the authority of the city council, pushing it to other government structures. As a result, the author concludes that the city council was not a full-fledged, independent administrative unit, and its competence in managing the city was significantly limited. This situation is explained by the fact that the main decisions regarding the directions of city development were made by regional authorities, which did not always positively affect the effectiveness of urban management.

International Law Protection in Cyberspace Against Ransomware and Experience of Vietnam

Abstract Amongst various cyberattacks, ransomware adversely affects the business operation as the malware locks the computer or data, and menaces to keep it locked unless a ransom is transferred. In a young tech market like Vietnam, cyberattacks, including ransomware, cause serious concerns for State and non-State actors. They can take place anywhere since cyberspace has no physical border to hold them back. This raises a query about the application of international law in cyberspace, especially when the ransomware hits non-State actors. In such cases, the sovereignty principle, having a significant relation with the jurisdiction, underpins the intervention of national authorities and regulation of ransomware. Vietnam’s government has intensified their efforts to stop the cyberattacks by cooperating with other countries and establishing a legal framework based on the international law principle.

Spatio-temporal surveillance and early detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern: a retrospective analysis.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been characterized by the repeated emergence of genetically distinct virus variants of increased transmissibility and immune evasion compared to pre-existing lineages. In many countries, their containment required the intervention of public health authorities and the imposition of control measures. While the primary role of testing is to identify infection, target treatment, and limit spread (through isolation and contact tracing), a secondary benefit is in terms of surveillance and the early detection of new variants. Here we study the spatial invasion and early spread of the Alpha, Delta and Omicron (BA.1 and BA.2) variants in England from September 2020 to February 2022 using the random neighbourhood covering (RaNCover) method. This is a statistical technique for the detection of aberrations in spatial point processes, which we tailored here to community PCR (polymerase-chain-reaction) test data where the TaqPath kit provides a proxy measure of the switch between variants. Retrospectively, RaNCover detected the earliest signals associated with the four novel variants that led to large infection waves in England. With suitable data our method therefore has the potential to rapidly detect outbreaks of future SARS-CoV-2 variants, thus helping to inform targeted public health interventions.

Interoperability and Targeted Attacks on Terrorist Organizations Using Intelligent Tools from Network Science

The early intervention of law enforcement authorities to prevent an impending terrorist attack is of utmost importance to ensuring economic, financial, and social stability. From our previously published research, the key individuals who play a vital role in terrorist organizations can be timely revealed. The problem now is to identify which attack strategy (node removal) is the most damaging to terrorist networks, making them fragmented and therefore, unable to operate under real-world conditions. We examine several attack strategies on 4 real terrorist networks. Each node removal strategy is based on: (i) randomness (random node removal), (ii) high strength centrality, (iii) high betweenness centrality, (iv) high clustering coefficient centrality, (v) high recalculated strength centrality, (vi) high recalculated betweenness centrality, (vii) high recalculated clustering coefficient centrality. The damage of each attack strategy is evaluated in terms of Interoperability, which is defined based on the size of the giant component. We also examine a greedy algorithm, which removes the node corresponding to the maximal decrease of Interoperability at each step. Our analysis revealed that removing nodes based on high recalculated betweenness centrality is the most harmful. In this way, the Interoperability of the communication network drops dramatically, even if only two nodes are removed. This valuable insight can help law enforcement authorities in developing more effective intervention strategies for the early prevention of impending terrorist attacks. Results were obtained based on real data on social ties between terrorists (physical face-to-face social interactions).

School Authority Supports and Teacher’s Continuous Intention to Use Virtual Learning Platforms: A Multi-Group Analysis

The transformation of schools toward educational excellence involves the intervention of school authorities. In line with the Pelan Pembangunan Pendidikan Malaysia (PPPM) 2013-2025, the Frog VLE platforms were implemented in Malaysia as a mega-investment to connect over 10,000 elementary and secondary schools, covering over 5 million students, 500 000 teachers, and 4.5 million parents nationwide.Despite this development, usage of this platform is still quite low. In this regard, a multi-group analysis was conducted to evaluate the school authority's support in determining teachers' continued intention to use VLE platforms in primary schools. A mix of methods was used for this study. In the northern area of peninsular Malaysia, 96,748 teachers are overseeing a total of 7,418 schools. Consequently, more than 384 teachers should be included in the sample size for this study (Krejcie& Morgan, 1970) and (Salkind, 2010). For data collection, simple random sampling was applied. Based on the determined sample size, 85 schools were carefully chosen using the random calculator. From every school, ten teachers were picked as respondents. This generated 850 of the sample (85*10 = 850). Seven hundred nineteen were returned or about 84.0% response rate out of 850 distributed questionnaires. Analysis was carriedout through PLS-SEM measurement and structural analyses as well as the Multi-Group Analysis (PLS-MGA). The results showed high school authority support at mean = 3.82 and standard deviation = 0.29. The findings also found a significant correlation between the support of school leaders and the willingness of Islamic education teachers at r = 0.37. Hence, it is recommended that school leaders increase the encouragement level through motivation, monitoring and activating the Islamic Education teachers to use Frog VLE frequently so that this application will be consistent and expanded.

Church union: the quandaries over acceptance of the Union of Brest (1595–96)

ABSTRACT The Union of Brest of 1595–96 brought many of the hierarchs, clergy, and faithful of the Orthodox Kyiv Metropolitanate into the Catholic Church. Yet from the first, large segments of the church in the Ukrainian and Belarusian lands of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth rejected the Union. This paper poses the question of why there was resistance to the Union by presenting counterfactual premises of what the chances for the Union would have been 30 years earlier and 30 years later. It suggests that care must be taken in understanding terminology on religious issues within the context of the period and in taking into account varying usages by clergy and laity. It maintains that increasing attention to Catholicism and Orthodoxy as confessions transformed the environment in which attempts to carry out the Union occurred. Before the Khmel′nyts′kyi Uprising of 1648, many of the participants of the discussions on the Union sought to maintain the unity of all Ruthenians through compromise. After the violent uprising, the formation of the Cossack Hetmanate, and the decline of tolerance in the Commonwealth, attempts at union took place in an atmosphere of heightened confessional allegiance and the more forceful intervention of political authorities in religious affairs.

Mobilising Against Insecurity, Engaging in Local Civic Life: The Collective Action of Chinese and South-East Asian Inhabitants in a Paris Suburb

Based on a social action research, this article discusses the collective action taken by inhabitants of Chinese and South-East Asian origin in a north-eastern suburb of Paris: targeted by violent attacks, these residents occupied the public space at the base of their residences and demanded the intervention of public authorities. In recounting the different steps of the mobilisation, this article demonstrates how an ethnocentric dynamic was created around security issues and how an ethno-spatial minority was formed within the neighbourhood and the city. It also shows in what conditions this ethno-security action transforms itself into an associative and citizen commitment within the neighbourhood and the city and modifies the perceptions of the actors, their capacity for action and their relations with the neighbourhood and with politics. At the intersection of several fields of research, including the sociology of migration, urban sociology and political sociology, the article shows how ordinary inhabitants of Chinese and South-East Asian origin participate in their neighbourhood's local civic life.

Collective action improves elite-driven governance in rural development within China

Rural areas are at the forefront of achieving sustainable development goals, and elite actors tend to be the most influential local decision-makers in rural development. Nevertheless, improving the effectiveness of governance by elites and avoiding or redressing “elite capture” remain key challenges for sustainable rural development globally. This research integrates a large-scale quantitative dataset consisting of 604 villages in seven counties of Jiangsu province in China with qualitative data from eight villages in three out of the seven counties to examine whether and how collective action mediates the correlation between rural elites and rural development. Our quantitative analysis using multiple regression and path analysis indicates that collective action is a mediator, but it is more influential in linking governing elites than in linking economic elites with rural development. Our case studies with interviews further illuminate that collective action fuels rural development by improving resource reallocation and resource-use efficiency with the participation of both elites and non-elites. Innovative collective action designs that leverage a reputation effect to foster reciprocity norms promote the participation of elites while discouraging elite capture. Additionally, this research contributes to longstanding debates in commons governance about the role of authority interventions: we find evidence justifying the benefits of authority in catalyzing and sustaining collective action while also corroborating the critical role of democratization in improving rural governance by elites.

Aerial Social Spaces and State Power

This article suggests that aerial networks can be usefully conceptualized as broad “aerial social spaces” that can (and often do) extend, produce, and reproduce state power. They are not easily created: their creation and maintenance require large resources both on land and in the air. The same aerial network can be embodied in multiple aerial social spaces that produce and reproduce state power in different ways. This article highlights two such pathways: the first through cultural and the second through logistical impact. In support it presents two case studies based on the expansion of civil aviation in the developing world in the 1940s and 1950s: the International Civil Aviation Authority's interventions in the Middle East and US involvement in Saudi Arabian aviation.