Middle Category Research Articles

Household living conditions and food insecurity in Nigeria: a longitudinal study during COVID-19 pandemic

ObjectiveThis study set out to investigate the risk of household food insecurity in Nigeria during the novel COVID-19 pandemic using a harmonised dataset of Nigeria’s prepandemic face-to-face survey and two...

Distribution and habitat requirements of the Bahama Warbler Setophaga flavescens on Grand Bahama in 2018

Summary The Bahama Warbler Setophaga flavescens is restricted to Grand Bahama and Abaco in the Bahamas Islands, where in recent decades its pine forest habitat has been seriously affected by hurricanes. To assess its conservation status and determine its habitat requirements, we conducted point transects with playback and simultaneously took measurements at 464 locations in pine forest across Grand Bahama from April to June 2018. Warbler presence was predicted by taller Thatch Palms Thrinax radiata and some fire disturbance, and its absence by a higher number of needleless pines. A comparison of these habitat predictors between the combined regions where warblers were detected (Lucayan Estates and East End) vs. where they were not (West End and Freeport) also revealed that Bahama Warblers showed a marked preference for taller Thatch Palms (>140 cm) and habitat plots within the middle fire disturbance category. These findings suggest that the species is adapted to a climax pine forest habitat maintained under a standard fire regime. Our research was intended to provide a first baseline study of the warbler’s distribution and ecology on Grand Bahama, but the distribution may have radically changed following Hurricane Dorian’s devastation of the island in 2019, and the species may now only survive on Abaco. Nevertheless, ecological insights from Grand Bahama seem likely to help conservation management on Abaco, but both islands now need to be surveyed.

Online Learning Among Primary and Middle School Children in Rural Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India- A Story of Inequitable Distribution

Introduction: The Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted education and has resulted in a lot of educational losses which is bound to be more exaggerated in the rural areas. The present study was done to assess the availability of prerequisites for online learning among a rural population. The study also looks at the school dropout rates due to the COVID-19 pandemic in a rural population in Tamil Nadu, India. Aim: To estimate the access to digital devises and school dropout rates in a rural population, to find the hassles faced due to online learning and to identify the risk factors for dropping out of school. Materials and Methods: The present community based crosssectional study was conducted in the rural field practice areas of Karpagavinaya Medical College (KVMC) situated in Chinna Kolambakkam beyond Chengalpet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India and data collection was done between June 2021 and August 2021, using a semi-structured proforma. Data was collected from 256 children between the ages of 6-14 years residing in a rural area in Tamil Nadu, to learn about their transition in education during the pandemic and to identify the factors determining dropping out of school. Associations between school dropouts and socio-demographic factors were found using Chi-square test. Results: Out of total study participants, 131 (51.2%) belonged to primary school and the rest belonged to the middle school category and there were 138 (53.9%) boys and 118 (46.1%) girls. Of all the study participants, 39 (15.2%) had dropped out of school. Dropouts had a statistically significant association with lower socio-economic status (p-value=0.00000007), lower educational status of the father (p-value=0.043), male gender (p-value=0.037) and belonging to a private school (p-value=0.045). Only 25 (9.7%) owned the gadget, they were using to attend online classes. Conclusion: The current study has revealed high school dropout rates (15.2%) than rural primary and middle school children with inadequate access to digital devises.

Effectiveness and Usefulness of Weather Based AgroAdvisory services among farmers of Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh, India

Agricultural production depends upon many factors, of which weather is the major factor. Farmers do prevent crop failure and obtain high yields with greater financial returns if they are aware of real-time weather parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, and rainfall. Farmers might manage agricultural activities, from crop selection to post-harvest handling, by having the proper weather information at the right time. This helps them reduce crop losses. District AgroMeteorological Unit (DAMU) under the scheme named GKMS (Gramin Krishi Mausam Seva) was set up at KVK, Darsi, Prakasam district. Bilingual AAS bulletins were prepared and disseminated to farmers. An Ex-post-facto research design was adopted for the present study. To study the effectiveness and usefulness of weather-based agro advisory services a random survey was done among 60 farmers of the Darsi block. Results revealed that farmers were in the range of young age to middle age category, most of them had secondary education and rely on television and newspaper for weather data. Results also revealed that 45.00 per cent responded as messages were moderately accurate, 50.00 per cent responded as messages were useful. The majority of farmers (60.00) checked the weather forecast before spraying insecticides and pesticides. Awareness should be created among farmers to use the weather forecast to select crops suitable for weather conditions.

Cross-Sectoral Coordination Towards a Child-Friendly City in Indonesia: A Critical Study of Tanjungpinang City

Child-friendly city policies exist to accelerate the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The fulfillment of children’s rights and the protection of children from all forms of violence and discrimination is a highly complex issue and has a wide scope. For that, the government needs to involve actors outside of the public sector. Child-friendly city policies in the collaborative governance of Indonesia involve Penta-helix elements among government, civil society, academics, the business sector, and mass media. This study aims to analyze the coordination between public and non-public sector organizations in achieving cross-sectoral collaboration goals. This study conducts a critical review of relevant literature and utilizes Tanjungpinang City which received the Middle category child-friendly city award, as a case study. According to the findings of this study, tiered coordination was carried out in support of child-friendly city policies. The key factors of cross-sectoral coordination consist of cooperation, commitment, common goals, and the absence of sectoral egos.

가로주택정비사업의 사업주체별 선호도 분석

The purpose of the study was to contribute to the rapid progress of the urban block housing improvement project from the preparation stage to the implementation stage in districts where the project is seeing progress, by supporting residents to make balanced decision while choosing between the union-led method and the public-med method in the project planning. The research was conducted through literature review, Focus Group Interviews, and survey of public and private sector. The evaluation index consists of 4 items for the main Category and 17 items for the middle Category. The data were analyzed using AHP and FUZZY-AHP to empirically analyze the relative importance of business factors and the preference between the union-led and the public-led method. The analysis showed that ratio of preference was 100 percent for public-led method in terms of the main Category. Among 17 items classified as middle Category, 14 items, or 82 percent, had higher preference weight for public-led method, while 3 items, or 18 percent, had more preference weight in union-led method. Based on the analysis, a total of eight alternatives were suggested to make improvement in factors that each of the union-led method and the public-led method gained low preference.

A clean audit and service delivery comparative study of two municipalities in Mpumalanga province in South Africa

In recent years, most South African (SA) municipalities still need to produce clean audits. In 2018 and 2019, most municipalities in SA needed better-quality financial statements and performance reports. Misrepresentation of financial statements in audit reports is linked to inadequate governance, misappropriation of public funds and poor public service delivery. It is upon this background that this study aimed to: (i) assess perceptions of municipality middle management employees on factors affecting auditing, (ii) evaluate the differences in perceptions among municipality middle management employees on factors affecting auditing, (iii) measure the effect of factors affecting auditing on overall clean audit and (iv) establish the effect of clean audit on service delivery at two municipalities in Mpumalanga province. Using a structured questionnaire, a quantitative descriptive approach methodology was employed to collect data from a minimum sample of 294 employees in the middle management category working within the accounting and finance department at two municipalities in Mpumalanga province, SA. SPSS v28 was used to conduct descriptive and multivariate analyses, including mean, analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation, and regression analysis. Results indicated that employees from the clean audit municipality had positive perceptions of factors affecting clean audit, while employees from the municipality with an unclean audit had negative perceptions. It was also concluded that factors affecting auditing had a statistically significant positive effect on clean audits. The findings in this study led to significant implications for theory and practice.

Academic Self-Management Tendencies Based on Family Socioeconomic Status

Students must have Academic Self-Management skills to develop factors to achieve academic achievement. Family socioeconomic status factors influence academic Self-Management. This study aims to determine the tendency of Academic Self-Management of Class XI Students of SMA PGRI 1 Bandung Academic Year 2017/2018 based on the socioeconomic status of the family. The research approach uses a quantitative approach and a descriptive method. The sample used was SMA PGRI 1 Bandung, with 173 students. The data collection technique uses a questionnaire on the Academic Self-Management scale, which reveals aspects of motivation, learning methods, use of time, physical and social environment, and performance of 50 items with instrument reliability of 0.98. The results showed that students were in the middle category, and there was no significant difference in the level of Academic Self-Management for students from high, middle, or low socioeconomic status categories. Research recommendations are addressed to guidance and counselling teachers and future researchers. Academic Self-Management of class XI SMA PGRI 1 Bandung in the Academic Year 2017/2018 based on family socioeconomic status in the upper, middle, and lower categories is included in the moderate category.

Analysis of mathematical critical thinking ability of junior high school students in solving circle problem

: This research aims to describe students' mathematical critical thinking ability in solving circle problems according to indicators of critical thinking ability. The subjects of this study were class IX students of SMP Negeri 2 Pangkalan Kerinci consisting of twenty-one students based on low, medium, and high academic abilities. The instruments used in this study were question sheets to measure critical thinking skills which consist of four circle material questions with each indicator containing one question, and interview guidelines to find out the reasons for not achieving critical thinking skills indicators. The data analysis technique starts from collecting data on students' KBKM test results, student work results are grouped according to the achievement of each indicator, and the achievement of each indicator is analyzed to find out the causes of the non-achievement of these indicators. The results showed that students' critical thinking skills were low with an achievement percentage of 48%. Students with high abilities have been able to interpret problems and make analyzes but there are still students who are wrong in student calculations, students in the middle category have been able to interpret problems and analyze but for inference and evaluation have not been complete, students in the low category have not been able to interpret problems as well as analysis and evaluation to conclude a math problem.

AN ANALYSIS ON THE FOURTH SEMESTER STUDENTS’ ABILITY IN USING PRONOUN AT THE ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF STKIP INSAN MADANI AIRMOLEK

The method used to conduct this research was the descriptive qualitative method. The sample of the research was the fourth-semester students of the English Education Department which consisted of 24 students. The aim of this research is to know their ability in using pronouns. To collect the data, a written form of the test was used and it was divided into two categories (multiple choice and essay). The students were then asked to do the test of pronouns of a subject, object, adjective possessive, possessive and reflexive. The design of the test was based on the relevant literature review and the authors’ observation when the teaching and learning process about pronouns took place. After the analysis of the data, the average score obtained from the student's test was 6.4 which belonged to the fair good category. The result of the test showed 23 students (96%) whose abilities were in the middle category, 1 student (4%) whose ability was in the low category, and 0 students (0%) whose ability was in the high category. Even though the results make the authors surprised, the findings of the research can give some points of view for a lecturer to prepare the lesson materials better, apply various teaching techniques to get the student's attention and interest during the teaching-learning process and use various teaching aids to support the success of his teaching so that the students could have better understanding and competence in English.Keywords: Ability, Pronoun

Association of Vitamin K Status with Arterial Calcification and Stiffness in Chronic Kidney Disease: The Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort

BackgroundArterial calcification and stiffness are common in people with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Higher vitamin K status has been associated with less arterial calcification and stiffness in CKD in cross-sectional studies. ObjectivesTo determine the association of vitamin K status with coronary artery calcium (CAC) and arterial stiffness [pulse wave velocity (PWV)] at baseline and over 2–4 follow-up years in adults with mild-to-moderate CKD. MethodsParticipants (n = 2722) were drawn from the well-characterized Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort. Two vitamin K status biomarkers, plasma phylloquinone and plasma dephospho-uncarboxylated matrix gla protein [(dp)ucMGP], were measured at baseline. CAC and PWV were measured at baseline and over 2–4 y of follow-up. Differences across vitamin K status categories in CAC prevalence, incidence, and progression (defined as ≥100 Agatston units/y increase) and PWV at baseline and over follow-up were evaluated using multivariable-adjusted generalized linear models. ResultsCAC prevalence, incidence, and progression did not differ across plasma phylloquinone categories. Moreover, CAC prevalence and incidence did not differ according to plasma (dp)ucMGP concentration. Compared with participants with the highest (dp)ucMGP (≥450 pmol/L), those in the middle category (300–449 pmol/L) had a 49% lower rate of CAC progression (incidence rate ratio: 0.51; 95% CI: 0.33, 0.78). However, CAC progression did not differ between those with the lowest (<300 pmol/L) and those with the highest plasma (dp)ucMGP concentration (incidence rate ratio: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.56, 1.19). Neither vitamin K status biomarker was associated with PWV at baseline or longitudinally. ConclusionsVitamin K status was not consistently associated with CAC or PWV in adults with mild-to-moderate CKD.

UNDERSTANDING CRITERIA FOR DEFINING SMALL AND MIDDLE POWERS

International Relations (IR) scholars generally categorize states into three groups of powers: small, middle, or great. The lack of clear criteria for determining the power status of states, however, often creates debate about how to appropriately categorize a particular country. This article focuses on gathering and organizing the major definitions of small and middle powers by various scholars. Moreover, the article places these definitions into different clear and usable categories. Therefore, we illustrate the appropriate range of the small and middle size power categories. This, in turn, will provide clearer guidelines for states that aim to move from one category to another.

ANALISIS KEMAMPUAN PEMECAHAN MASALAH MATEMATIS MATERI LINGKARAN PADA PESERTA DIDIK KELAS VIII

The purpose of the study was to find out the description of the mathematical problem solving abilities of VIII-C class PENIDA Katapang Junior High School students in circle material. The research uses a qualitative approach with a descriptive method. Data collection techniques using documents, tests and in-depth interviews. The research subjects were six people consisting of students in the upper, middle and lower categories. The research subjects were determined by purposive sampling technique by using documents study. To find out the problem solving ability of students using test questions that have been validated. In-depth interviews were conducted to find out the low problem solving abilities of student and their causes. The results show that the problem-solving abilities of students were included in the weak category at each level, namely: (1) for the upper category, it was sufficient; (2) for the medium category including less; and (3) for the lower category including very less. So that the overall student problem solving ability is at a low level.

PENCEGAHAN PERILAKU HUSTLE CULTURE PADA KARYAWAN DI PT. PERTAMINA PATRA NIAGA REGIONAL SULAWESI MELALUI PSIKOEDUKASI NON-PELATIHAN

Hustle culture is a culture that makes individuals adopt workaholism or workaholism behavior. Through the Professional Work Lecture program, Students of the Faculty of Psychology, Makassar State University carry out community service at PT. Pertamina Patra Niaga Regional Sulawesi. The purpose of this service is to prevent hustle culture behavior among employees. The method used is non-training psychoeducation with the help of banners and posters. The method used in data collection is a survey that is distributed via Google form and analyzed descriptively. Based on the survey conducted, it was found that the average employee is in the middle category who experiences the characteristics of hustle culture with a percentage of 72.3%. After employees are given psychoeducation there are 90% of employees at PT. Pertamina Patra Niaga Regional Sulawesi which is committed to reducing hustle culture behavior.

Abstract B001: Inverse relationship between tissue fusobacterium nucleatum amount and CD274 (PD-L1) expression of colorectal carcinoma

Abstract Background: The CD274 (programmed cell death ligand 1, PD-L1)/PDCD1 (programmed cell death 1, PD-1) immune checkpoint axis is known to regulate the antitumor immune response. Evidence suggests that Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum) promotes colorectal carcinogenesis through its suppressive effect on antitumor immunity. We hypothesized that tumor CD274 overexpression and intratumor abundance of F. nucleatum might tend to be mutually exclusive immune evasion mechanisms in colorectal cancer. Methods: We assessed tumor CD274 expression by immunohistochemistry and F. nucleatum DNA within tumor tissue by quantitative polymerase chain reaction in 812 cases among 4,465 incident colorectal cancer cases that had occurred in the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. To adjust for potential confounders and selection bias due to tissue data availability, inverse probability weighting was integrated into multivariable ordinal logistic regression analyses to examine the association of tumor CD274 expression with the amount of intratumor F. nucleatum. Results: Tumor CD274 expression was negative in 93 (11%), low in 231 (28%), intermediate in 210 (26%), and high in 278 (34%) of 812 cases. F. nucleatum DNA was detected in tumor tissue in 109 (13%) cases of 812 cases. Tumor CD274 expression level was inversely associated with the amount of F. nucleatum in colorectal cancer tissue. For one category increase in three ordinal F. nucleatum categories (negative, low, and high), multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (with 95% confidence intervals) of the low, middle, and high CD274 expression categories (vs. negative) were 0.78 (0.41-1.51), 0.64 (0.32-1.28), and 0.50 (0.25–0.99), respectively (Ptrend=0.032). Conclusions: We found that CD274 expression was inversely associated with the amount of F. nucleatum in colorectal cancer tissue. Our findings suggest that a colorectal tumor tends to have either of the immune evasion mechanisms, i.e., PDCD1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint activation and intratumor abundance of F. nucleatum. Citation Format: Tomotaka Ugai, Takashi Shimizu, Hidetaka Kawamura, Yasutoshi Takashima, Juha P. Väyrynen, Seyed Mostafa Mousavi Kahaki, Kazuo Okadome, Yohei Masugi, Annacarolina da Silva, Xuehong Zhang, Andrew T. Chan, Molin Wang, Jeffrey A. Meyerhardt, Jonathan A. Nowak, Mingyang Song, Marios Giannakis, Shuji Ogino. Inverse relationship between tissue fusobacterium nucleatum amount and CD274 (PD-L1) expression of colorectal carcinoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Colorectal Cancer; 2022 Oct 1-4; Portland, OR. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(23 Suppl_1):Abstract nr B001.

FGI를 활용한 민간공원 특례사업 평가항목 선정 연구

This study aims to select evaluation items that can be used in planning park creation to evaluate the proposal to solve the environmental and social problems in promoting private-initiated park development projects. To this end, evaluation items that can consider various aspects of the development project were selected, and the indicators’ validity and appropriateness were carried out through an expert Focus Group Interview (FGI). Firstly, an expert FGI was performed for six major categories and 50 evaluation items derived from literature reviews and brainstorming. As a result, five major and 27 middle category items were selected. Based on the derived major and middle classification items, 95 detailed items were selected. Secondly, 55 sub-items were derived through a suitability questionnaire. As a result of the suitability survey, the average scores of the subcategories for the major categories of natural environment, function of parks, and use of land were relatively high. The average scores for environmental index items such as ecology/vegetation, topography and slope, landscape, park service, wildlife, wide-area ecosystem, and park items were high in the middle classification. The average score of indicators in the natural environment was relatively high, and the average score in the function of parks also soared. In the environmental impact assessment, the occurrence of plan change issues, including the reappraisal of the location, led to unclear detailed evaluation factors for the faithfulness of the plan and the appropriateness of the plan direction. This study is significant in that it is a study on the selection of evaluation items that can minimize the problem of plan alteration and achieve objective evaluation when promoting development projects. This study could be used to forward development projects in the future and evaluate long-term unexecuted urban parks.

Lower Middle Market Investments in Private Equity

Private equity firms are responsible for some of the largest, generally exclusive investment strategies for pension funds, endowments and foundations, family offices, and other institutional investors. In order to generate returns known for being significantly higher than public investments, private equity general partners use a variety of strategies. However, such returns don’t come easily. This article will concisely overview and evaluate lower middle market investments ($25-100M) in private equity, and the management’s process. The research consists of an internship with a leading firm in the lower middle market investment category for private equity as well as independent research. Different strategies of private equity firms will be covered, but it is important to note that each strategy covered remains relative, and depends on the process followed by each individual firm.

A comfort analysis of AR glasses on physical load during long-term wearing

The present study investigated the effect of the physical load of augmented reality (AR) glasses on subjective assessments for an extended duration of a video viewing task. Ninety-six subjects were recruited for this test and were divided by spectacle use, sex, age, and body mass index (BMI). Four glasses frame weights were assessed. To investigate their effectiveness, a novel prototype adopting three design interventions, (1) adjustable frame width, (2) ergonomic temples, and (3) fixed centre of gravity, was designed with regard to subjective discomfort ratings (nose, ear, and overall). Subjective discomfort in all regions was significantly increased with increasing physical load on the nose. In addition, non-spectacle users, women, older users, and participants in the middle BMI category reported higher discomfort than other groups. This finding could have important implications for the ergonomic design of AR glasses and could help to identify design considerations relevant to the emerging wearable display industry. Practitioner summary: This research aims to explore the influence of the physical load of augmented reality (AR) glasses. It found that discomfort was increased with added nose load. Non-spectacle users, women, older users, and participants in the middle BMI category were more sensitive to discomfort. The results have important implications for glasses-type wearables’ design.

Teachers’ Perceptions of The Importance of Parenting Programs in Schools

Purpose – This study aims to describe teachers’ perceptions on the importance of parenting programs in Play Groups or Kindergarten schools in Kamal District, Bangkalan.Design/methods/approach – The descriptive quantitative method is used. The sampling technique used is purposive sampling with the total population being all teachers at Play Group or Kindergarten schools in Kamal District, Bangkalan. The number of research samples are 35 teachers. The collecting data used is a questionnaire.Findings – The results of this study show that teachers’ perceptions on the importance of parenting programs in Play Groups or Kindergarten schools in Kamal District, Bangkalan, have the highest score in the important middle category by 48%.Research implications/limitations – This study has limitation on one independent variable, namely the teacher’s perception variable about the importance of parenting programs in schools. Practical implications – This study shows that the teachers still do not fully have a critical perception on parenting programs, and teachers have less interest in holding parenting programs in schools even though they have knowledge about parenting programs and know the benefits.Originality/value – This study hoped the teacher could move and accommodate parents to hold a parenting program in schools with teachers who have a good perception on the programs.Paper type Research paper

Socio-economic categorization of households: a new methodological approach in quantitative research

The position of individuals in the social hierarchy is recognized as being multidimensional, i.e. defined by various socio-economic factors, both individual (for example: level of education, situation vis-à-vis the job, occupation) that characterize the household (for example: household income). This article presents a description of different forms of categorization and presents a new methodology in quantitative household categorization research based on the calculation of a socio-economic status index for each household. This varies from 0 to 1 and depending on the level of its socio-economic status index, a household may belong to one of the following four (4) socio-economic categories: low socio-economic category (index[0, 0.25[), lower middle socio-economic category (index [0.25, 0.50[), upper middle socio-economic category (index [0.50, 0.75[) and high socio-economic category (index [0.75, 1]).