Original Goal Research Articles

Tracing the refinement of policy tools for disability rights: a content analysis of how the granting process of state-funded personal assistance in Sweden is aligned with the LSS Act

Purpose According to the Swedish Act concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments (The LSS Act), personal assistance (PA) aims to enhance good living conditions for people with disability. The Act is operationalised by a policy tool, an instruction developed and refined by the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (SSIA) to grant PA. The study explores how this instruction is aligned with the LSS rationale and goals. Material and method Qualitative content analysis was applied on the material i.e., a government bill preceding the LSS Act and the policy tool, i.e., the SSIA instruction, versions 1994 and 2019. Results The result shows that the instruction has deviated from the LSS Act over time, by decreasing users’ access to community life, a shift towards health care activities, lack of support for the PA user, increased control and service-granting criteria. Conclusion This paper emphasises that the selection of policy tools goes beyond mere pragmatism, as they are subject to refinement procedures that have significant impacts over time. The deviations observed in fulfilling the objectives of the LSS Act highlights the importance of ongoing adjustments to policy tools to align with the original policy goals in order to promote disability rights.

Direct Replication in Experimental Communication Science: A Conceptual and Practical Exploration

<span>Replication is generally considered a keystone of the scientific enterprise. Unfortunately, in communication science, there is a lack of clarity on what a replication actually entails, and to what extent replicators may deviate from original studies. In order to support researchers in conducting, evaluating, and justifying the setup of replications of communication science experiments, we provide a taxonomy of replication types. We argue that researchers almost always need to adapt some elements of an original communication study to meaningfully replicate it. The extent to which deviations—ranging from mere updates to deliberate deviations and additions—are permissible, however, depends on the motivation behind conducting a replication study. We distinguish three basic motivations: verification of an original study’s findings, testing the generalizability of an original study (which we further differentiate into the generalizability of study outcomes vs. theoretical claims), and extending an original study beyond the original goals. We argue that these motivations dictate what types of deviations are permissible and thereby determine the type of replication (i.e., direct, modified, and conceptual). We end with concrete recommendations for replicators: to specify the motivation to conduct a replication study and clearly label and justify any deviations from the original study for all study elements. </span>

Yurok–wildlife relationship through the context of Traditional Ecological Knowledge

AbstractVarious aspects of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) continue to be integrated in the wildlife conservation and management discourse; however, there may be challenges in cross‐cultural understanding of the complex social‐ecological systems that make up the fabric of TEK. In a 2‐phased approach, we implemented research to better understand an Indigenous perspective of human–wildlife relationship. In phase 1, we conducted 16 semi‐structured interviews with Yurok and Yurok‐affiliated people about the relationship of Yurok people with wildlife and Yurok community hunting values. In phase 2, we conducted a secondary analysis of a subset of 10 interviews from phase 1. Permissions were obtained from the Yurok Tribe, under the project's previously established Institutional Review Board process, to access archived interview data for subsequent research relevant to the original research goals. We identified the following themes: Yurok conceptualizations of wildlife, cultural understanding of animals as people, animal harvesting protocols, cultural guidelines that maintain wildlife populations, and consequences for not following cultural guidelines as related to hunting. We explored how the terms wildlife and wildlife management are difficult to interpret within the context of Yurok TEK, as wildlife, in the same meaning as Western wildlife management, does not exist in the Yurok cultural paradigm. A fundamental, multifaceted aspect of the Yurok–wildlife relationship through a TEK context is the concept of animals as people, which we discuss in relation to Yurok spirituality. As Indigenous Knowledge continues to be recognized in scientific discourse, there may be opportunities to reconceptualize, Indigenize, and shift approaches to research, wildlife and wildlife habitat management, and conservation. Results of our study may support Yurok Tribe wildlife managers, Western‐trained biologists, and others in their considerations of Indigenous Knowledge in wildlife management and conservation.

The Effect of Surge on Extreme Wave Impacts and an Insight into Clustering

_ The original goal of the present research is to investigate the influence of surge on green water and slamming. Long-running experiments with forward velocity and irregular waves were repeated with and without surge. Surge is found to increase the probability of green water events, but the impact pressures on deck and the probability of a green water event reaching the deck box decreases when the ship is free to surge. Green water and slamming events turned out to not occur independently as both event types cluster for large probabilities of occurrence. Clusters are caused by large pitch motions. Larger pressures on deck are found for clustered events. Keywords green water; slamming; surge; clustering; probability

Results of IMPACT 2, a randomized study evaluating molecular profiling and targeted agents in metastatic cancer at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

3153 Background: To address the limitations of exploratory studies, we conducted IMPACT2. The primary endpoint was to compare the progression-free survival (PFS) between patients treated with matched targeted therapies (MTT) selected on the basis of tumor molecular alterations and those whose treatment was not selected on the basis of alteration analysis (non-targeted therapy, NTT). Methods: Patients with metastatic cancer and targetable alterations were randomized between the 2 arms when eligibility criteria were met (Part A, 5/2014-4/2017; sponsor, Foundation Medicine). In Part B (3/2019-9/2023; sponsor, Tempus), patients who declined randomization selected the treatment arm ( NCT02152254 ). PFS/OS analysis (Kaplan Meier, Cox model; reference group, comparison, NTT). All cases were presented at weekly Molecular Tumor Board meetings; initial plan, to randomize 300 of 1,362 enrolled patients. Results: Overall, 829 patients (Parts A, 391; B, 438); were enrolled (med. age 59.5 yrs, range 18-84; men 50%; med. No. of prior therapies 3, range 0-17; most common cancers: gastrointestinal 34%, head/neck 13.5%, gynecologic 10%, sarcoma 9.53%; most common genomic alterations RAS 38%, PI3K 31%, FGFR 28%). In Part A, 69 were randomized (MTT, n=35; NTT, n=34); Part B (MTT, n=11, NTT=13; Selected arm: n=16: MTT, n=13; NTT, n=3). Results are shown (Table). MTT group: median PFS by therapy type: FDA approved/off-label, 4.7 months (95% CI, 2.93, 7.1); investigational, 2.6 months (95% CI, 2.27,4.87), combined FDA approved/investigational, 1.7 months (1.7, NR) (p=0.22). Conclusions: Considering the challenges to randomize patients (doi: 10.1038/s41698-022-00317-0), and that the study was underpowered for its original goal, no differences in response, PFS (primary endpoint), or OS was noted between the 2 arms, possibly because of the advanced stage disease and the complexity of tumor biology that cannot be addressed by randomization. Clinical trial information: NCT02152254 . [Table: see text]

The impact of government policies and regulations on the subjective well-being of farmers in two rural mountain areas of Italy

AbstractThe sustainable development of rural areas involves guaranteeing the quality of life and well-being of people who live in those areas. Existing studies on farmer health and well-being have revealed high levels of stress and low well-being, with government regulations emerging as a key stressor. This ethnographic study takes smallholder farmers in two rural mountain areas of Italy, one in the central Alps and one in the northwest Apennines, as its focus. It asks how and why the current policy and regulatory context of agriculture affects farmer well-being. Interviews and participant observation were conducted with 104 farmers. Three common scenarios emerged that negatively affect farmer well-being. First, policies and regulations designed for lowland areas do not always make sense when applied in the mountains. Second, when subsidies are put into effect at the local level, the reality of their implementation can veer away from the original goals of the funding program and have unintended effects on farmer well-being, agricultural practices, and the environment. Finally, when regulations are implemented on farms in rural mountain areas, the primacy of a techno-scientific knowledge system over other, local and place-based knowledge systems is exposed. These three scenarios affect well-being by eliciting feelings of stress, frustration, and disillusionment; by reducing farmer control over their work; and by fostering the perception that farming is not valued by society. They also create conditions of inequality and insecurity. The ways in which government policies and regulations play out on mountain farms can erode trust in government institutions, lead to an us versus them mentality, and contribute to the further abandonment of agriculture and rural areas.

The History of the National Academy of Recreational Therapists: 2011–2021

The profession of recreational therapy first established professional membership organizations in the 1940s and 1950s. The most recent national professional membership organization was developed in 1984, when the American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA) was formed. The National Academy of Recreational Therapists (NART) was established in 2011 as an honor society to recognize the most accomplished practitioners and educators in recreational therapy and to provide a clearinghouse for the exchange of ideas that would ultimately lead to the advancement of the recreational therapy profession. Efforts to establish NART began in 2009 when David Austin and Ray West drafted a conceptualization of the academy and its operations, as well as proposed a set of by-laws. A steering committee was subsequently established to review and approve by-laws for NART and to establish the Founding Fellows of NART. The central purpose of the Academy was the advancement of recreational therapy by recognition, education, research, scholarly activity, advocacy, and the provision of advice to decision makers. Since its inception NART has established and funded a Future Scholars Fund to support outstanding graduate students considering pursuing a terminal degree, as well as the Marcia Carter Scholarly Manuscript Award for the best annual publication in the Therapeutic Recreation Journal. Over its first 10 years, NART made revisions to its bylaws to refine criteria and categories for Fellows, and by 2021 there were 77 elected Fellows. The invited paper summarizes the first 10 years and considers a number of original goals that remain to be realized to support and advance this honor society.

The Paradox of Diasporic Peacebuilding Amidst Violence: Providing Reparations to Colombians Abroad

ABSTRACT: This article uses the case of Colombian migrants in the United States (U.S.) who are registered with the Colombian Unit for Victims to illustrate the tension that emerges when a home country commits to reparations for nationals in exile when violence in their home country has not ceased. Bridging studies on transitional justice, diasporas, and displacement, we show the disconnect between the Colombian state's original goal to assist with return as the primary form of reparation and displaced Colombians' goals for stability, particularly legal status, abroad. Through interviews with Colombian officials and U.S.-based migrants, our findings show the unique dynamics of transnational reparations and the specific issue facing migrants from war-torn countries when their country of origin engages in transitional justice interventions.

Optimal bipartite graph matching-based goal selection for policy-based hindsight learning

The sparse reward problem stands as a significant challenge in the field of reinforcement learning. Hindsight Experience Replay (HER) addresses this by goal relabeling, allowing the agent to learn from unsuccessful experiences. Some studies combine policy gradient methods with HER, resulting in policy-based hindsight learning algorithms. However, Policy-based hindsight learning involves the use of importance sampling, where the distribution of hindsight goals and the distribution of desired goals contribute to the computation of importance weights. When there is a significant difference between the two distributions, importance weights may become skewed, thereby impacting the evaluation of the policy and leading to suboptimal policies. To address this, we propose modeling the goal selection as an optimization problem for distribution matching. After we augment the original desired goals using Kernel Density Estimation (KDE), we further convert the optimization problem for distribution matching into a bipartite graph matching problem that minimizes the sum of weights. Our optimal bipartite graph matching-based hindsight goal selection method can select hindsight goals that are the most closely aligned with the original goals. Experimental results show that algorithms combined with the optimal bipartite graph matching-based hindsight goal selection outperform the original algorithms. Visualizations also demonstrate the superiority of our method in selecting hindsight goals.

Between the king and the emperor: the epistles of the popes to the bishops of Arles during the Three Chapters Controversy

The discussion surrounding the posthumous condemnation of Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrus and Iva of Edessa occupies an important place in the church history of the VI century. The attempt at reconciliation with the Monophysites, undertaken by Justinian, not only failed to achieve its original goal, but also led to a new schism. To support his initiative, the emperor turned to the Roman bishops, which put them in a difficult situation: on the one hand, Justinian demanded from the popes support for the condemnation of the Three Chapters, on the other – the churches of the western provinces reacted to this initiative with condemnation and distrust, seeing in it the undermining of the authority of the Roman Church and the entire institution of ecumenical councils. One of the episcopal sees closely associated with Rome was Arles (Arelate), an important ecclesiastical center of Gaul. An analysis of the papal epistles to the bishops of Arles, as well as to the Frankish kings, allows us to conclude that the Gallic clergy were rather poorly aware of the essence of the contradictions that developed around the condemnation of the Three Chapters: the popes repeatedly sent messages confirming their adherence to the canons, but without touching on the very essence of the differences. Such a streamlined position also testifies to the difficult position of the Roman see, which was forced to take into account the position of both Justinian and the Western churches. To convey their point of view to the Gallic clergy, the popes used the bishops of Arles, who had serious regional influence, which Vigilius and Pelagius further strengthened by granting them the status of papal vicars. The appointment and activities of the vicar were actively discussed with the secular authorities – the Byzantine ruling couple, as well as the Frankish kings – which also indicates the weakness of the papal positions during this period

Supply Chain Management in Agriculture Using Blockchain Technology

Block chains, now firmly established, are a digital system that combines data management, incentive systems, cryptography, and networking to enable the execution, recording, and verification of transactions between parties. Even while the original goal of block chain technology was to facilitate new forms of digital currency that would enable easier and more secure payment methods, they have enormous promise as a new foundation for all kinds of transactions. Agribusiness stands to gain a lot from this technology by leveraging it as a platform to conduct "smart contracts" for transactions, especially for high-value goods. Before we go any further, it is important to distinguish between distributed ledgers and block chain technologies and private digital currencies. Given the distributed and global character of digital currencies such as Bitcoin, it is improbable that central banks will be able to adequately oversee the underlying protocols. Monetary authorities are primarily concerned with understanding the "on-ramps" and "off-ramps" that comprise the links to the traditional payments system, rather than being able to monitor and manage the money itself. In contrast to the digital currency component of the block chain, the distributed ledger aspect holds great potential for application in trade and agriculture funding, especially in scenarios where multiple partners are involved and a dependable central authority is lacking

Integrating Drone Imagery and AI for Improved Construction Site Management through Building Information Modeling

In the rapidly advancing field of construction, digital site management and Building Information Modeling (BIM) are pivotal. This study explores the integration of drone imagery into the digital construction site management process, aiming to create BIM models with enhanced object recognition capabilities. Initially, the research sought to achieve photorealistic rendering of point cloud models (PCMs) using blur/sharpen filters and generative adversarial network (GAN) models. However, these techniques did not fully meet the desired outcomes for photorealistic rendering. The research then shifted to investigating additional methods, such as fine-tuning object recognition algorithms with real-world datasets, to improve object recognition accuracy. The study’s findings present a nuanced understanding of the limitations and potential pathways for achieving photorealistic rendering in PCM, underscoring the complexity of the task and laying the groundwork for future innovations in this area. Although the study faced challenges in attaining the original goal of photorealistic rendering for object detection, it contributes valuable insights that may inform future research and technological development in digital construction site management.

Numerical optimization of Neumann eigenvalues of domains in the sphere

This paper deals with the numerical optimization of the first three eigenvalues of the Laplace-Beltrami operator of domains in the Euclidean sphere of R3 with Neumann boundary conditions. We address two approaches: the first one is a generalization of the initial problem leading to a density method and the other one is a shape optimization procedure using the level-set method. The original goal of those methods was to investigate the conjecture according to which the geodesic ball was optimal for the first non-trivial eigenvalue under certain conditions. These computations provide strong insight into the optimal shapes of those eigenvalue problems and show a rich variety of geometries regarding the proportion of the surface area of the sphere occupied by the domain. In the last part, the same algorithms are used to carry out the same investigations on a torus.

Rural and regional development in the age of digital platforms: platformization of the Japanese Furusato Nozei Hometown Tax Donation System

ABSTRACT We explore the Japanese regional development system, Furusato Nozei, which has been transformed radically after the entrance of private sector digital platforms. Drawing on the literature on platformization and social mission platforms, we perform thematic analysis of interview data collected from the representatives of private sector digital platforms operating in the system. Our findings show that the market dynamics that drive platformization of the Furusato Nozei system increased cross-sectoral interactions and resource distribution between urban taxpayers, rural municipalities, and local small and medium-sized enterprises. However, economic incentives also obscure the system’s original goal of rural and regional development. The results illustrate governance challenges related to public value creation in a platformized system. The conclusions show the importance of governing a delicate balance between creating economic incentives and maintaining shared social goals, while an ideological anchor such as the idea of hometown fosters the stability of the platformized system.

Back to Jerusalem: The Chinese-Christian Road to Globalization and Self-fulfillment

The Chinese Christian Back to Jerusalem (BTJ) movement has attracted significant attention in the past two decades. With an original goal of sending out 100,000 Chinese missionaries to destinations throughout Asia, the movement appears to express the vitality and dynamism of reform-era Chinese Christianity. In this article I examine the movement’s development and its close correspondence to Chinese state geopolitical ambitions to reshape twenty-first-century globalization through the One Belt One Road Initiative. I discuss the movement, development, and impact following the recent tightening of religious policy in China and the COVID-19 pandemic. While the BTJ may be seen as a Christian expression of the PRC’s self-confidence and nationalism it is also reflective of reform-era individuality, often including deep criticism of contemporary Chinese society.

Optimization design of shearer drum height adjusting mechanism based on particle swarm optimization algorithm

The underground working environment of the shearer is complex and the working conditions are relatively poor. It is necessary to continuously adjust the height of the rocker arm during the operation, improve the operation efficiency, and improve the ability of the shearer to adapt to the more complex coal seam working environment. In order to optimize the structure of the shearer adjustment mechanism, the strength and strength of the adjustment mechanism are improved by increasing the size and angle of the adjustment mechanism and reducing the size and angle. Therefore, an optimized particle group design method is proposed to optimize the drum adjustment mechanism of the shearer. Seven parameters such as large lever, small lever and maximum swing angle are selected as design variables. Under the condition of limiting mining height and rocker length, an optimization model with rolling angle and cylinder stress as objective functions is established. The working characteristics of each part of the coal machine height adjustment mechanism are analyzed. The particle swarm optimization algorithm is used to optimize the key parameters, and the optimization results are verified to ensure their accuracy. The optimization results are compared with the original parameters. The results show that compared with the pre-optimization, the cylinder stroke is shortened by 17.9%, the cylinder length is shortened by 8.94%, the rolling angle is reduced by 2.83%, the cylinder tension is reduced by 12.1%, and the rocker bending moment is increased by 6.83 %, which meets the original design goal. Therefore, the research provides a reference for the optimal design of the coal machine height adjustment system.

“I got knocked down”: factors impacting a novice teacher’s decision making

PurposeThis study explores how one novice teacher navigated his first-year teaching sixth-grade social studies.Design/methodology/approachOne-sixth grade novice teacher was observed during his unit on the Islamic Empire. The teacher was interviewed before the unit began to understand his approach to combating Islamophobia and interviewed again after the unit so he could reflect on the unit and discuss if he believed he had accomplished his original goal. Classroom artifacts (handouts, slide decks, etc.) were collected.FindingsThe findings highlight the various forces that impacted the decisions the teacher made in the classroom. Lack of support from administration and various colleagues left the teacher feeling overwhelmed and unable to accomplish his goals. While the teacher started the unit with a clear purpose for teaching against Islamophobia, he ultimately taught a unit where students memorized discrete pieces of information.Originality/valueThis study adds to previous research on the need for providing administrative support for novice teachers to be able to teach in ambitious ways by highlighting the numerous shortcomings.

Systemic Silencing Mechanisms in Autism/Autistic Advocacy in Ontario, Canada

This article reveals how systemic ableism operates within grassroots organizations in Ontario, formulating a normative standard for being an autistic person. In‐depth interviews were conducted with 50 participants in the years 2021 and 2022, triangulated with document analysis from 2018 and 2022. The study participants consisted of autistic adults, parents, disability advocates, organizers of grassroots organizations, social workers, policy insiders, and academics. The findings show that most autistic adults are pressured to choose sides, either to join autism advocacy that is parent‐led or expert‐led or to become self‐advocates in autistic advocacy. This article offers an original finding that the value policy of pro/anti‐ABA of two grassroots organizations in the field of autism/autistic advocacy contributes to identity politics. Ableism operates through Pierre Bourdieu’s symbolic power, excluding autistic adults who do not fit into these two main categories of advocacy. Social oppression becomes multi‐directional as identity politics takes the stage and diverts from the original goals of social inclusion in advocacy. The concept of a grey area is introduced in theory building, to trouble the essentialist categories of autism/autistic advocacy and invite readers to commit to disability solidarity by moving beyond the dichotomy of sameness and difference.

Using Control Barrier Functions to Incorporate Observability: Application to Range-Based Target Tracking

Abstract In many nonlinear systems, the observability of the system is dependent on its state and control input. Thus, incorporating observability into a control scheme can enhance an observer's ability to recover accurate estimates of unmeasured states, minimize estimation error, and ultimately, allow the original control objective to be achieved. The accommodation of observability, however, may conflict with the original control goal at times. In this paper, we propose the use of control barrier functions (CBFs) to enforce observability and thereby facilitate the convergence of the state estimate to the true state while accommodating the original control objectives. Motivated by practical applications for autonomous robots operating in global positioning system-denied environments, we focus on the problem of target tracking for a unicycle model when only the distance to the target is measured. The proposed approach is compared in simulation with a model predictive control (MPC) approach that treats an observability-related metric as part of the cost function, where several different options for the observability metric are explored. It is found that the CBF-based approach achieves control and estimation performance that is comparable to that of the MPC approach, but with significantly less computational complexity. These findings are further experimentally verified in range-based target tracking with a swimming robotic fish.

Entrepreneurial universities and the third mission paradigm shift from economic performance to impact entrepreneurship: Germany’s EXIST program and ESG orientation

AbstractThe proliferation and intensity of modern grand challenges, and the current broad public awareness of them, has resulted in a demand for entrepreneurship with an eye toward environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters, not just profits and economic gain. When it comes to economic applications, this realigned focus on impact-oriented entrepreneurship has significantly altered the way in which entrepreneurial universities address their third mission of service to society. The overall paradigm shift toward an ESG orientation drives these entrepreneurial universities to structure their efforts in technology transfer and creating academic spinoffs to produce startups which heavily employ impact entrepreneurship and ESG principles. This paper finds that governments can assist with this transition by creating funding programs, or updating existing funding programs, which favor the selection of impact entrepreneurship focused spinoffs that make use of ideas and knowledge from the university sphere. The EXIST program from the German government serves as a prime example of just such a financial mechanism that has evolved across multiple decades to more heavily incentivize academic spinoffs that place ESG at the core of what they do, in addition to the original goals of producing economic and technological development and increasing local, regional and national competitiveness. These findings bear implications for government and university leaders in regard to technology transfer policy and academic spinoffs at entrepreneurial universities.