Local Head Research Articles

Argument Structure and Word Order in Saudi Sign Language

This study focuses on the description of argument structure and word order in Saudi Sign language (SSL). The nature of the syntactic level of the grammar of SSL is clarified. Since word order is often considered the most important part of grammar, this study details the various options that are available for the major constituents (Subject, Verb, and Object) in SSL independent of any connection to spoken Arabic syntax. In SSL, like in other languages, the nature of the arguments (Subject, Object) and the kind of verb can impact the word order. To investigate word order in SSL, which is based on Chomsky’s (1995) Minimalist Program (MP), data were collected through derivation of data from narratives (semi-naturalistic-corpus) and an experiment (picture-description task). This research involved a sample of 10 deaf signing participants who are all fluent in SSL. All the participants have lived in Saudi Arabia for at least 10 years. Results indicate that the SSL is as any natural language and from the spoken language in Saudi Arabia. The most common word order in declaratives and the basic constituent order in SSL is SVO. As in virtually all sign languages, Wh-elements in SSL occur at the end of the clause. According to research on the interaction between word order and grammatical use of facial expressions and head locations (nonmanual marking), nonmanual markings have pragmatic purposes and may have syntactic functions.

ДОЛЖНОСТЬ В ОБМЕН НА ГОЛОСА: ВЛИЯНИЕ ПОЛИТИЧЕСКОЙ ЛОЯЛЬНОСТИ НА ПОЛИТИЧЕСКУЮ ВЫЖИВАЕМОСТЬ МУНИЦИПАЛЬНЫХ ГЛАВ В УСЛОВИЯХ КОНКУРСНОЙ МОДЕЛИ ИЗБРАНИЯ

The article explores the research problem associated with the political survival of local heads amidst the conditions of competitive mayoral elections. It probes questions like: Does political loyalty remain a significant factor for retaining a position? How does a mayor's political loyalty influence their political survival within a competitive framework? Employing the principal-agent theory, we examine factors such as electoral loyalty, economic efficiency, and personal characteristics of mayors (such as origin, age, work experience in local self-government executive branch, and electoral experience) as determinants of mayoral political survival. Our study encompasses 208 contests held in the Perm region and Sverdlovsk region from 2015 to 2022. Our regression analysis shows that successful electoral mobilization and high voting results for the "United Russia" party or the incumbent enhance a mayor's chances of retaining their position. However, a mayor's socio-economic success does not significantly impact their political "survival". Moreover, electoral loyalty is not the sole significant determinant of a mayor's "survival". Factors such as the local head's age and origin also play a role in their retention of position. This article broadens the understanding of the political survival of Russian local mayors and underscores the need to explore other explanatory models of mayoral "survival".

Self-Supervised Global–Local Contrastive Learning for Fine-Grained Change Detection in VHR Images

Self-supervised contrastive learning (CL) can learn high-quality feature representations that are beneficial to downstream tasks without labeled data. However, most CL methods are for image-level tasks. For the fine-grained change detection (FCD) tasks, such as change or change trend detection of some specific ground objects, it is usually necessary to perform pixel-level discriminative analysis. Therefore, feature representations learned by image-level CL may have limited effects on FCD. To address this problem, we propose a self-supervised global–local contrastive learning (GLCL) framework, which extends the instance discrimination task to the pixel level. GLCL follows the current mainstream CL paradigm and consists of four parts, including data augmentation to generate different views of the input, an encoder network for feature extraction, a global CL head, and a local CL head to perform image-level and pixel-level instance discrimination tasks, respectively. Through GLCL, features belonging to different perspectives of the same instance will be pulled closer, while features of different instances will be alienated, which can enhance the discriminativeness of feature representations from both global and local perspectives, thereby facilitating downstream FCD tasks. In addition, GLCL makes a targeted structural adaptation to FCD, i.e., the encoder network is undertaken by the common backbone networks of FCD, which can accelerate the deployment on downstream FCD tasks. Experimental results on several real datasets show that compared with other parameter initialization methods, the FCD models pretrained by GLCL can obtain better detection performance.

Evaluation on Infrastructure Improvement Program in Manado City

This research aims to evaluate infrastructure improvement programs, which involve: a) The technical difficulties of implementation include socialization, the competence of field implementers, and percentage of program targets, b) Program characteristics include program clarity and consistency, openness with parties outside the program. Data collection techniques include observation of infrastructure condition, interviewing local community leaders, neighborhood heads, subdistrict facilitators, and technical implementers at the Manado City Urban Village Community Empowerment Agency, and the environmental infrastructure program document stipulated by Mayor Regulation No. 46 of 2011. The results of the study indicate that the evaluation of the infrastructure program in Manado City shows it involves the technical difficulties of implementation include the following consequences. The Environmental infrastructure program has not been effectively socialized to field implementers, in 504 urban village and as a result, communication has not yet been created between technical and field implementers and subdistrict facilitators. The neighborhood heads have not been trained in making proposals and implementing the program. Finally, they are not yet competent as field implementers. The characteristics of the program include: 1) Program clarity and consistency - the program is ideal (utopian) and difficult to measure; 2) Openness with parties outside the program. Technical and field implementers have not opened themselves up to outside parties in both implementation and financial management. Keywords: infrastructure improvement program, Manado, environmental infrastructure. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55463/hkjss.issn.1021-3619.60.5

Determinants of local government public service quality: Evidence from the developing economy

Public service delivery in Indonesia has been mandated to local governments following decentralization (Lewis et al., 2020). Due to public criticism, this research investigates public service quality determinants from local politics, head, and financial factors. Using the purposive sampling method, we collect secondary data from the authorized government institutions during 2016–2019, analyzed with panel data regression. The findings demonstrate that the average achievement of public service quality in Indonesia is at a high level with Java and Bali regions having better average accomplishments than other geographic regions. However, there still exist several local governments with medium and even low public service quality that requires urgent improvement. Further, we find that local government women’s political representation in the legislative board, operational expenditure, and capital expenditure positively affect public service quality while other variables exhibit insignificant effects. Our study provides practical implications to the public for public service quality improvement. Firstly, the public should elect accountable candidates with the best qualifications during local elections. Local government should also improve financial management by allocating adequate expenditure budget for public service delivery. Despite still being limited to using quantitative analysis only that can be improved in future studies by employing a mixed method.

Dysfunctional design of campaign finance regulatory and post-election corruption

This study begins with the condition that almost every election held in Indonesia lacks accountability and transparency in campaign finance report cases. Matched to Mietzner’s (2015) and Briffault’s (2010) reports, there are always problems with the non-functioning of campaign finance arrangements in upholding the principles of transparency and accountability. As a result, the lack of accountability and transparency in implementing campaign finance arrangements often results in conflicts of interest that lead to post-election corruption. This article aims to discover the factors that hinder the functioning of campaign finance regulations that can encourage enforcement transparency and accountability. This research uses normative juridical methods with a comparative law approach. The object of this research is the election campaign funding regulation, especially local elections in Indonesia and focuses on the dysfunctional design of campaign finance regulations on local head elections. We found that the candidates often violate existing campaign finance regulations, with election administrators, law enforcement and the public openly tolerating such violations. Campaign finance regulations continue to develop, but they only prioritize administrative aspects in their implementation. In conclusion, changes needed to optimize fund management are funds obtained from campaigns owned by individuals and then have a reasonable candidate wealth ratio.

지방자치단체 선출직·고위직 부패의 발생원인 분석

The purpose of this study is to analyze the characteristics of corruption and the causes of corruption among elected and high-ranking public officials of local governments, focusing on the audit report. The characteristics of corruption in elected and high-ranking positions in local governments were divided into corruption types and causes of corruption. As for the characteristics of the type of corruption, corruption in which a high-ranking official unfairly changed personnel standards or procedures or appointed a business operator at the direction of a high-ranking official was the most common. As for the characteristics of the causes of corruption, it was found that high-level corruption mainly occurs due to insufficient feasibility reviews in the policy decisionmaking process, insufficient internal control governance, and abuse of discretionary power.
 This study conducted an in-depth analysis on the causes and spread of corruption in cases of insufficient internal control governance in which high-ranking corruption appears most complexly. Lastly, based on the analysis of the audit report, local governments themselves briefly suggested matters requiring institutional improvement to check the policy decision-making of high-ranking officials such as local government heads.

Exploring the Role of Social Capital in Community-Based Tourism in Bum Bum Island, Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia

The application of social capital theory or concept in tourism studies is a growing phenomenon, but the studies related to community-based tourism are still in their infancy in the context of developing countries. This study explores the role of social capital in a community-based tourism project in Bum Bum Island, which is located in the District of Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia. The primary data were collected through in-depth interviews with 19 informants from government, private agencies, local heads, tourist, Non-Government agencies and the local community. The results present evidence on the role of social capital in the development of community-based tourism projects. In addition, this research contributes to the enhancement of the body of knowledge studies related to social capital and community-based tourism. Finally, this paper concludes with some practical implications and suggestions for future research directions.

Advancing Preservice Consultation Training Through University-Community Partnership

ABSTRACT This paper describes consultation training experiences offered through a decades-long partnership between a university school psychology graduate program and a local Head Start center. The collaboration provides a field placement setting where beginning students engage in activities tied to first-year coursework, and an advanced practicum site for doctoral students who oversee first-year students’ classroom-based activities and in turn are jointly supervised by program faculty and the center’s Special Services Manager. Through these experiences, graduate students develop competencies in client-centered, consultee-centered, and systems-level consultation, with opportunities to engage in an array of activities aligned with key updates to the 2020 NASP Professional Standards particularly in Domains Six (Services to Support Safe and Supportive Schools), Seven (Family, School, and Community Collaboration), and Eight (Equitable Practices for Diverse Student Populations). By focusing on the school environment, community collaboration, social justice, and equitable practices, these updated domains highlight the role of ecological and systemic factors in school psychology practice and training. Trainees support the center’s efforts to function as a trauma-informed organization whose members recognize and respond to trauma in a manner that promotes safety, collaboration, empowerment, and other trauma-informed practice principles. They do this by consulting with parents and teachers, contributing to staff professional development on such topics as adverse childhood experiences and caregiver stress management, and facilitating meetings with parents and teachers around issues such as trauma-informed discipline. We discuss how these activities align with the 2020 NASP domains, with particular attention to ecological and systemic perspectives.

Melanomas in children and adolescents: Clinicopathologic features and survival outcomes

Melanoma in the first two decades of life is uncommon and poorly understood. To assess clinicopathologic features and survival of children (≤11 years) and adolescents (12-19years) diagnosed with melanoma. A pooled cohort of 514 patients was analyzed (397 Dutch, 117 Australian; 62 children, 452 adolescents). Pathology reports were re-evaluated to determine melanoma subtypes. Multivariable Cox models were generated for recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). Melanoma subtypes were conventional melanoma (superficial spreading, nodular, desmoplastic, acral lentiginous), spitzoid melanoma, and melanoma associated with a congenital nevus in 428, 78, and 8 patients, respectively. Ten-year RFS was 91.5% (95%CI 82.4-100%) in children and 86.4% (95%CI 82.7-90.3%) in adolescents (p=0.32). Ten-year OS was 100% in children and 92.7% (95%CI 89.8-95.8%) in adolescents (p=0.09). On multivariable analysis possible only for the adolescent cohort due to the small number of children, ulceration status and anatomic site were associated with RFS and OS, whereas age, sex, mitotic index, sentinel node status and melanoma subtype were not. Breslow thickness >4mm was associated with worse RFS. Retrospective study. Survival rates for children and adolescents with melanomas were high. Ulceration, head or neck location and Breslow thickness >4mm predicted worse survival in adolescents.

The Geometry and Charge of the Streamer Bursts Generated by Lightning Rods under the Influence of High Electric Fields

The streamer bursts generated during the initiation and propagation of leaders play an important role in the creation and maintenance of hot discharge channels in air. The most important parameters related to streamer bursts in this respect are the length of the streamer bursts, their lateral extent and the charge associated with them. The lateral extent of the streamer bursts may play a significant role in deciding the path and the tortuosity of the discharge channels of laboratory discharges and lightning. The charges associated with the streamer bursts are needed in understanding the physical processes associated with the streamer-to-leader transition. In this paper, the length, the lateral extension and the charge of the streamer regions generated by grounded conductors when exposed to external electric fields are estimated. This estimation is based on two assumptions: (i) once a streamer is incepted, the streamer head follows the direction of maximum background electric field at the location of the streamer head and (ii) the streamer continues to extend along this direction until the potential drop along the streamer channel matches the potential drop caused by the background electric field between the initial and end points of the streamer channel. The same technique could be used to estimate the streamer bursts generated in laboratory discharges and lightning stepped leaders. It is shown that in estimating the geometry of the streamer region, it is necessary to include the spread of streamers caused by branching. Moreover, the charge associated with the streamer region increases as the frequency of branching increases. The results obtained confirm that the charge in the streamer region can significantly change the potential ahead of the streamer region from the background potential and this has to be taken into account in any study that simulates the initiation and propagation of lightning leaders. Since the streamer bursts of leaders control the direction and speed of the leaders, the technique we have used here could be implemented in lightning leader progression models.

Switched Beam Array Antenna Optimized for Microwave Powering of 3-D Distributed Nodes in Clustered Wireless Sensor Network

The IoT applications like smart warehouse, smart industry, and smart vertical farming will require microwave power transmission (MPT) to the densely deployed low-power sensor nodes in 3-D space. To address this issue, a switched beam array antenna (SBA) is synthesized as an MPT system to power the proposed 3-D clustered wireless sensor network (WSN). The 3-D space is divided into nine clusters; each illuminated individually with RF power using a dedicated patch antenna subarray. The subarrays can be switched ON or OFF based on the energy requirement of the WSN cluster nodes resulting in efficient power transmission. Moreover, the low complexity of switched beam design reduces the cost and processing overhead as compared to the exiting adaptive beamforming systems in a dense WSN scenario. The subarray size and excitation coefficients are optimized with a constraint over the harvested dc power ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$P_{dc}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ) to enhance the 3-D coverage. In addition, the optimal location of the cluster head (CH) is evaluated to minimize the average power consumption of WSN cluster. The subarrays are designed and fabricated with the evaluated excitation coefficients, and <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$P_{dc}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> measurements are carried out validating analytical results.

PENGARUH POTENSI DESA, LOKASI DESA, KREATIFITAS KEPALA DESA DAN PARTISIPASI ANGKATAN KERJA TERHADAP KESEJAHTERAAN MASYARAKAT DESA DI KABUPATEN BULELENG

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of village potential, village location, village head creativity and labor force participation on the welfare of the village community in Buleleng Regency. In this study, the population was all villages in Buleleng Regency, as many as 129 villages. In this study, the sampling technique used was non-probability sampling with purposive sampling. In this research, the analytical technique used is path analysis. Based on the results of the analysis described in the previous chapter, it can be concluded that village potential, village location and creativity of the village head have a positive and significant impact on the level of labor force participation in Buleleng Regency, while Village Potential, Village Location and Creativity of the Village Head have no effect on welfare. village community in Buleleng Regency. The level of labor force participation has a positive and significant impact on the welfare of rural communities in Buleleng Regency.

The nexus between households’ indebtedness and consumption: the role of gender, geographical area and income groups

PurposeThe persistent increase in household indebtedness is an alarming issue that is becoming a major concern for economists and governments in developing nations. Although household consumption is an essential source of economic growth, households’ failure to meet their financial obligations will be one of the causes of economic problems if the increase in consumption is largely financed by household borrowing. Therefore, this study aims to analyse the nexus between households’ indebtedness and consumption and the roles of household characteristics.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a microdata set of the Household Expenditure and Income Survey in 2019, which contained a simple random sampling of 4,730 households.FindingsUsing a simultaneous equations model, our results show a negative nexus between households’ consumption and their indebtedness. We find that household savings and size have an indirect impact on the debt service ratio, while the assets and total debt repayment instalments indirectly influence household consumption. We also identify differences in the relationship between the gender of the household head, rural and urban locations and income groups in consumption and indebtedness.Research limitations/implicationsThe implication of this study is that governments should adopt several programmes to increase the awareness of household financial and debt management, especially for those in the low-income group.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the empirical literature by establishing a microeconomic perspective of consumption and an indebtedness model focusing on the differences in household characteristics in explaining consumption and indebtedness.

Effect of cavity pressure on shock train behavior and panel aeroelasticity in an isolator

The flow characteristics of shock train in the isolator play an important role in the overall performance of the scramjet. Although several studies have concentrated on understanding this phenomenon in rigid isolators, few works have focused on methods to control it. The current study proposes a new concept shock train control strategy based on the aeroelastic effect of the flexible panel. An in-house developed code was used to solve the compressible Navier–Stokes equations and the geometric nonlinear equations of the panel, where the conventional serial staggered algorithm was adopted for the two-way fluid–structure interaction. Then, we numerically investigated the effect of cavity pressure on the dynamic behavior of the panel, location, and structure of the shock train, separation zone, and performance of the isolator. The results show that the dynamic response of the panel subjected to the different cavity pressure can be characterized into three states: static stability state, high-frequency second-order limit cycle flutter state, and multi-frequency periodic flutter state. The panel flutter mainly presents an approximately second-mode pattern for the limit cycle flutter state and a first-order vibration mode for the periodic flutter state. With increasing cavity pressure, the average value of shock-train head location moves downstream significantly, while the general trend of separation zone length on top and bottom walls becomes smaller. The flexible panel with the high-frequency second-order limit cycle flutter state can increase the total pressure recovery coefficient with the smaller side load and outlet flow distortion, reduce the averaged separation length, and make the shock-train head move downstream. This is due to the isentropic compression and expansion waves induced by the vibration and deformation of the flexible panel.

Relationship-based debt financing of Chinese private sector firms: The role of social connections to banks versus political connections

We study whether a firm's social connections to banks can augment its political connections to help it obtain loans. In China, Regulation No. 18 (announced in 2013) prohibits all high-level government officials from being independent directors of firms. As a result, many firms lost their political connections. We find that after firms lose their politically connected independent directors, firms having no social connections to banks experience, on average, a 12% decrease in the bank loan ratio relative to the median ratio; but those whose board chairs or CEOs are socially connected to local bank branch heads experience a 22% increase in the loan ratio relative to the median. However, this positive effect is short lived and thus not a new equilibrium. Overall, our findings support the hypothesis that a firm's social connections to banks can augment its political connections to help it get bank financing.

Effects of Blade Suction Side Modification on Internal Flow Characteristics and Hydraulic Performance in a PIV Experimental Centrifugal Pump

In this paper, the effects of blade trailing edge (TE) profile modification of the suction side on the internal flow and hydraulic performance in a low-specific speed centrifugal pump are investigated through particle image velocimetry (PIV) analysis. Three impellers with different blade trailing edge profiles named original trailing edge (OTE), arc trailing edge 1 (ATE1), and arc trailing edge 2 (ATE2) are designed for PIV experiments. Results show that blade trailing edge modification of the suction side can significantly change the flow pattern, affecting the hydraulic performance of the model pumps. There is a definite counterclockwise backflow vortex near the suction side of OTE at deep-low flow rate, resulting in a decrease in the uniformity of the flow field at the outlet and the hydraulic performance. ATE1 with a reasonable larger blade outlet angle has the best flow field, and the head and efficiency are increased by about 1.2% and 8%, respectively under the same working condition. The hydraulic performance of ATE2 with the blade outlet angle of 59° is better than that of OTE under low flow rate, but it is less than that of OTE under high flow rate due to the streamline deviation generated on the pressure side. Meanwhile, the energy conversion abilities of the modified model pumps are evaluated by slip factor and the deviation degree of the nominalized local Euler head distribution (NLEHD). Since there is no definite counterclockwise backflow vortex at the outlet after modification, the slip factor of ATEs increases and the energy conversion ability is enhanced. Moreover, the jet-wake phenomenon of ATEs is weakened, and the local Euler head (LEH) increases near the outlet, decreasing the deviation degree of the NLEHD to obtain better energy conversion ability.

Deep Learning-Based Segmentation of Head and Neck Organs-at-Risk with Clinical Partially Labeled Data.

Radiotherapy is one of the main treatments for localized head and neck (HN) cancer. To design a personalized treatment with reduced radio-induced toxicity, accurate delineation of organs at risk (OAR) is a crucial step. Manual delineation is time- and labor-consuming, as well as observer-dependent. Deep learning (DL) based segmentation has proven to overcome some of these limitations, but requires large databases of homogeneously contoured image sets for robust training. However, these are not easily obtained from the standard clinical protocols as the OARs delineated may vary depending on the patient's tumor site and specific treatment plan. This results in incomplete or partially labeled data. This paper presents a solution to train a robust DL-based automated segmentation tool exploiting a clinical partially labeled dataset. We propose a two-step workflow for OAR segmentation: first, we developed longitudinal OAR-specific 3D segmentation models for pseudo-contour generation, completing the missing contours for some patients; with all OAR available, we trained a multi-class 3D convolutional neural network (nnU-Net) for final OAR segmentation. Results obtained in 44 independent datasets showed superior performance of the proposed methodology for the segmentation of fifteen OARs, with an average Dice score coefficient and surface Dice similarity coefficient of 80.59% and 88.74%. We demonstrated that the model can be straightforwardly integrated into the clinical workflow for standard and adaptive radiotherapy.

Hamstring muscle architecture assessed sonographically using wide field of view: A reliability study.

To assess the intra-rater reliability of static wide field of view ultrasound to quantify the architectural characteristics of the hamstring muscles. Twenty amateur male athletes were recruited. Their left hamstring muscles were assessed using static wide field of view ultrasound on two separate occasions. Static ultrasound images were acquired by a single sonographer using a 92mm linear transducer. The architectural characteristics (muscle length, fascicle length, pennation angle and muscle thickness) from two distinct locations of the bicep femoris long head and semimembranosus were evaluated. Muscle length and thickness of the bicep femoris short head and semitendinosus muscle were also evaluated. Intraclass correlation coefficient analyses were performed to determine the intra-rater reliability of the performed measurements. Both muscle (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.99; standard error of measurement = 4.3 to 6.6mm) and fascicle (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.92 to 0.98; standard error measurement = 1.1 to 2.4mm) length were measured with excellent intra-rater reliability. Muscle thickness was measured with excellent reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.9 to 0.96; standard error of measurement = 0.91mm to 1.4mm) for all hamstring muscles except for the proximal segments of the bicep femoris short head (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.85; standard error of measurement = 0.84mm) and semitendinosus (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.88; standard error of measurement = 0.82mm), which were measured with good reliability. Pennation angle was measured with good reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.77 to 0.87; standard error of measurement = 1 to 1.6°). The architectural characteristics of the hamstring muscles of male amateur athletes can be reliably quantified using static wide field of view ultrasound.

Differences in sentinel lymph node biopsy utilization in eligible melanoma patients treated with Mohs micrographic surgery or wide local excision: A population-based logistic regression model and survival analysis

Primary melanoma management relies on tumor extirpation and staging sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in eligible patients. This study compares SLNB utilization in patients undergoing wide local excision (WLE) or Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS). American Joint Committee on Cancer seventh edition≥patients with T1b melanoma undergoing WLE or MMS in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program were included. Propensity score matching was performed to compare patients who underwent MMS or WLE. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Fine-Gray cumulative incidence functions were used for overall and melanoma-specific survival. Eight hundred twenty-five MMS cases and 38,760 WLE cases were identified. SLNB was performed in 32.61% of MMS patients and 61.77% of WLE patients with positive rates of 12.5% and 14.82%, respectively. Multiple logistic regression of factors associated with SLNB utilization revealed that WLE, male gender, younger age, extremity location, and nodular and rare melanoma subtypes were significantly associated with increased odds of receiving SLNB whereas head and neck location and lentigo maligna melanoma subtype were significantly less likely to receive SLNB. Potential selection bias from a retrospective data set. Patients receiving WLE for≥T1b melanoma are more likely to receive a SLNB than patients undergoing MMS.