Public Problem Research Articles

BidCorpus: A multifaceted learning dataset for public procurement.

Digital transformation has significantly impacted public procurement, improving operational efficiency, transparency, and competition. This transformation has allowed the automation of data analysis and oversight in public administration. Public procurement involves various stages and generates a multitude of documents. However, experts manually analyze these unstructured textual documents, which are time-consuming and inefficient. To address this issue, we introduce BidCorpus, a novel and comprehensive dataset consisting of thousands of documents related to public procurement, specifically bidding notices from Brazilian public websites. The dataset was labeled using weak supervision techniques, manual labeling, and BERT-based language models. Models trained with these annotated data showed promising results, with metrics greater than 80 % in various experiments. The models could also tolerate intentional changes made to bidding notices to evade fraud detection. All the resources from this work are publicly available, including the documents, pre-processing scripts, and training and evaluation of the models. We expect the dataset and its labels to be of great value to researchers working on public procurement problems.

Evidence from China’s gender equality legislation: is responsive law reform always feasible?

ABSTRACT This article examines whether responsive law reforms can promote gender equality in authoritarian regimes, focusing on the challenges faced in advancing gender equality. Existing gender equality laws primarily strengthen women’s rights through private law but fail to clearly define governmental responsibilities. The authorities seek to enhance regulatory legitimacy through laws while relying on official cultural norms to support cultural legitimacy. However, the lack of coherence between regulatory and cultural legitimacy results in selective adherence to cultural norms rather than legal ones, hindering the implementation of gender equality. Therefore, responsive law reforms can improve women’s rights and interests in the private law sphere, but such reforms also tend to privatize public issues and require individuals to solve public problems through private gaming. The article further demonstrates that gender equality should aim at substantive equality, which requires the State to clarify governmental responsibilities and leverage cultural legitimacy to uphold this principle. Otherwise, it may result in the marginalization of vulnerable groups and the erosion of social trust, ultimately undermining public confidence in legitimacy. The article contributes by exploring the selective logic of authoritarianism in responding to public demands and its long-term effects, offering a complementary perspective on rule of law under authoritarian regimes.

Structuring wicked problems in science communication

AbstractPublic policy scholars increasingly deal with wicked problems and how diverse actors structure these problems in policy processes. However, the role of actors at the interface of science and society such as science communicators in structuring wicked problems remains widely unclear. This paper analyzes how science communicators translate wicked problems in their science communication activities focusing on two research questions: How do science communicators understand the problem territories they are dealing with in terms of their wickedness? And to what degree do science communicators aim to tame or communicate wickedness to the public? To answer these two questions, 20 science communication projects implemented within the German Science Year 2022 “Participate” were analyzed. Data were collected through 20 online interviews with science communicators, including both open and closed questions. Results reveal that the wickedness of public policy problems only partly translates into science communication practice: Science communicators understand problems rather broadly, crystallizing in a rather medium degree of wickedness. At the same time, science communicators tend to tame wicked problems by addressing specific facets of problems rather than translating the overall wickedness they perceive. Results add to research about the role of different actors in structuring wicked public policy problems and the role of intermediary actors in these processes, in particular.

Non-Invasive Point-of-Care Detection of Methamphetamine and Cocaine via Aptamer-Based Lateral Flow Test.

Drug abuse is a major public problem in the workplace, traffic, and forensic issues, which requires a standardized test device to monitor on-site drug use. For field testing, the most important requirements are portability, sensitivity, non-invasiveness, and quick results. Motivated by this problem, a point of care (POC) test based on lateral flow assay (LFA) was developed for the detection of cocaine (COC) and methamphetamine (MET) in saliva which has been selected as the matrix for this study due to its rapid and non-invasive collection process. In the design strategy of an LFA test, the use of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with strong optical properties has been combined with the advantages of selecting aptamers under in vitro conditions, making it a highly specific and stable recognition probe for the detection of small molecules in saliva. The developed aptamer-based LFA in a competitive format, was able to detect COC and MET in synthetic saliva at concentrations as low as 5.0 ng/mL. After analytical performance studies, the test system also detected COC and MET in real patient samples, which was verified by chromatographic methods.

Public Problems And Private Landowners: Lessons From New York Citys Groundbreaking Climate Mobilization Act

Public Problems And Private Landowners: Lessons From New York Citys Groundbreaking Climate Mobilization Act

Sharing Information and Threshold Ambiguity in Public Bads Prevention

Public bads prevention problems, such as climate change, require people to cooperate above a certain threshold, which is ambiguous and varies in many situations. In that case, people conjecture and share some information about the threshold. However, little is known about how sharing such information affects people to cooperate. We experimentally examine how people’s cooperative choices are influenced by ambiguity and sharing information about the conjectures in public bads prevention, hypothesizing that sharing the information does not necessarily contribute to cooperation. We conduct the laboratory experiments with 400 subjects under five treatments, each of which differs in ambiguity as well as in presence or absence of sharing the information. We find that (i) the percentages of cooperative choices are nonmonotonic, decreasing and then increasing over ambiguity levels and (ii) sharing the information tends to uniformly discourage cooperation, and the negative impact becomes prominent as the ambiguity levels rise. The result demonstrates an adverse effect between sharing information and threshold ambiguity on cooperation, being in sharp contrast with the literature. Overall, this study suggests that how or what information is shared among people should be carefully reconsidered for resolving any public bads problem involving threshold ambiguity, as everybody is able to easily publicize their conjectures during an era of digital democracy. Additionally, providing unified public information or fostering agreement could help improve cooperation and enhance collective efforts in public bads prevention.

Zinc ions-modified trypsin nanoparticles as fluorescent probe for rapid detection of tetracyclines antibiotics

Tetracyclines (TCs) are one of the most common antibiotics against bacterial infection, and the misuse of TCs has become a public problem affecting human health. Herein, we reported trypsin nanoparticles (Try NPs) with fluorescence emission peak at 445 nm and further modified Try NPs with Zn2+ ion to prepare Try NPs-Zn2+ complex. More importantly, Try NPs-Zn2+ displayed significant fluorescence response to multiple TCs including tetracycline, oxytetracycline, and chlorotetracycline at 525 nm in 30 s with 360 nm excitation wavelength, which can be used for rapid detection of TCs antibiotics.

НКО в институциональной системе гражданского общества и государства

The article analyzes the role and place of the non-profit sector in the institutional system of civil society. It is emphasized that currently the number, size and authority of non-profit organizations are growing all over the world. In recent years, the qualitative development of dialogue between the state and non-profit organizations has contributed to a significant transformation of public institutions, which today not only respond to challenges in various spheres of society, but also become initiators of social change Thanks to state support, the scale and number of socially significant projects increase annually, the professionalization of non-profit organizations grows, and they begin to work more purposefully, in partnership with the state, to solve the most complex public problems. The level of development of non-profit organizations has become one of the important “indicators” of the development of civil society as a whole, characterizing the degree of manifestation of initiatives of its ordinary members and their participation in the implementation of social policy.

Sentiment Analysis of UINSU Students' Comfort Towards Trans Metro Deli Services at Taman Budaya Bus Stop Using the Naive Bayes Method

The large number of bus passengers at the Taman Budaya bus stop is one of the public transportation problems. Finding that the Metro Deli Bus Organizer is still operating. They are considered capable of meeting the requirements for choosing a mode of transportation. The purpose of this study is to determine the passenger transportation factors on the Trans Metro Deli Bus. The Trans Metro Deli Bus Passenger Transportation Factor is the purpose of this study. Data Collection Techniques Using Questionnaires Student comfort factors when using the Trans Metro Deli bus service. This study's methodology starts with problem identification and moves on to problem-solving techniques and assessment procedures. Respondents were given a questionnaire to fill out to collect data. The author of this study used Google Forms. The author of this study solved the problem using the Naïve Bayes algorithm. The Naïve Bayes algorithm model produces results with an accuracy of up to 71.43%, which is quite good. The accuracy results of 71.43% and approaching 100% show how accurate the sentiment analysis is using the Naïve Bayes classification. The accuracy results of 71.43% and approaching 100% show how accurate the sentiment analysis is using the Naïve Bayes classification. 'The bus took a long time to arrive' and 'didn't get a seat' were the most common negative reviews, indicating that some students felt uncomfortable. The Naïve Bayes results of the study showed that people who reviewed the Trans Metro Deli Bus expressed more positive opinions, with the highest score of 71.43%.

Spatiotemporal Variation of Land Surface Temperature and Urban Heat Islands in Dhaka City: A Geospatial Approach

Rapid urban population growth and widespread urbanization are common occurrences in the modern world. They cause several negative repercussions among which Urban Heat Island (UHI) is the most widely recorded occurrence. The population of Dhaka city has increased by 12.64 million from 2011 to 2021 and the temperature by 0.57ᵒ C in the recent decade. Therefore, the city is facing increased public health-related problems associated with high temperatures, outbreaks of diseases, and scarcity of safe drinking water. Considering these matters, this study explores the spatiotemporal changes in Land Surface Temperature (LST) over the last twenty years and the present condition of heat islands. The city was found 3.9 °C warmer than the surrounding rural areas in 2022. The results also show recurring fluctuations in temperature together with a positive change in temperature during the study period. A year of high temperatures follows a gradual decrease in temperatures in the next two years, and a year of low temperatures follows several gradual increases in temperature. It is expected from the result that the upcoming two years (2023 and 2024) will be warmer than the last three years. The findings may provide insight into how LST and UHI fluctuate and aid in developing strategies to lessen their negative consequences. The Dhaka University Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Vol. 13(1), 2024, P 1-19

Can Empowered Citizens Save Democracy?

This forum offers critical perspectives on Craig Calhoun, Dilip Gaonkar and Charles Taylor’s Degenerations of Democracy. In her contribution, Ilaria Cozzaglio, raises questions on the standpoint from which a critical perspective on our current democratic crisis is most effectively formulated. Taking an internalist perspective from the citizens’ perspectives on democracy’s contemporary crisis, as the book does, is essential for understanding our current condition, but it also raises new questions on how best to challenge the status quo while respecting citizens’ demands. Jayson Harsin explores what happens when we place some of the most recent media and communications technologies and practices at the center of our analysis. He asks how an examination of the fundamentally asymmetrical resources at the disposal of governments and particularly private media operations may be shaping democracy’s degeneration more than the book suggests. Stephen W. Sawyer builds on the book’s historical dimensions to question the emancipatory possibilities of a renewed republicanism, as opposed to reinforcing democracy as a mode of social organization and a multi-scalar approach to solving public problems, referencing the EU as an example. Craig Calhoun and Charles Taylor respond by clarifying their position and suggesting ways that their analyses may be extended to both respond to and build on these comments. They conclude with a cautious and critical optimism, rooted in a hard-fought commitment to hope.

Co-design in policymaking: from an emerging to an embedded practice

Over the past decade, a range of efforts have been made to incorporate practices drawn from industrial and participatory design into elements of the public policymaking process. Our interest lies in the field of co-design in policymaking. This emerging field has seen considerable emphasis placed on informing policy development with knowledge and insights from those living with specific problems and existing policy settings. Following the extant literature, we define co-design in policymaking as a participatory and design-oriented process which creatively and actively engages a diverse pool of participants to define and address a public problem. Evidence to date suggests co-design in policymaking can be especially useful in broadening participation in policy development, encouraging creative speculation about how policy choices might shape future outcomes, and prototyping policy approaches to assess their feasibility and desirability. But evidence continues to emerge regarding the barriers in many public sector settings that preclude co-design practice from greater engagement with – and influence upon – long-established, tightly-held processes of policy development. Through critical assessment of existing literature, we summarise the current state of co-design in policymaking. We then suggest promising ways policy practitioners and researchers could contribute to making co-design an embedded practice in policymaking, well-used and well-recognised for the unique contributions it can make to policy development.

Association between secondhand smoke and liver injury among US non-smoking adults: Mediation analysis of body mass index in the NHANES.

Liver injury is a primary factor in the pathogenesis of most liver diseases, which can lead to liver failure. Secondhand smoke (SHS) is a serious public problem. This research explored the correlation between SHS and the indicators of liver injury. This cross-sectional study was based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2016. The relationship between SHS and indicators of liver injury was explored by the weighted linear regression model and smooth curve fitting. The weighted threshold saturation effect model tested the relationship and inflection point between them. Mediation analyses were used to explore whether body mass index (BMI) mediates the correlation between SHS and liver injury indicators. Our cross-sectional study included 3811 non-smoking participants (aged 20-80 years). The full covariate adjustment model (β= -0.05; 95% CI: -0.08 - -0.02) showed a significant and negative correlation between log cotinine and albumin (ALB). Compared to the unexposed group, the ALB, and total protein (TP) were decreased by 0.16 g/dL, 0.26 g/dL in the heavy exposure group [ALB: -0.16 (-0.26 - -0.05), TP: -0.26 (-0.38 - -0.13)], respectively. Smoothed curve fitting revealed a nonlinear relationship between log cotinine and fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4 score), with the inflection point of log cotinine at -1.72. When log cotinine was < -1.72, the log cotinine significantly and positively correlated with the FIB-4 score (β=0.27; 95% CI: 0.06-0.49). BMI partially mediated the effect of SHS exposure on ALB or TP. SHS has harmful effects on the liver in never-smoking adults. BMI partially mediated the effect of SHS exposure on ALB or TP. More prospective and basic research in the future is necessary to focus on validating our results.

The Role of Public Relations at SMKN 3 Depok in Preparing Graduates Ready to Work in the World of Industry

This research aims to find out about the role of school public relations in preparing students to enter the industrial world. Of course, the role of Vocational High Schools cannot be underestimated, there is no longer the position of Vocational Schools as reserve schools which are the second choice, if you cannot enter the desired high school. This research uses descriptive qualitative methods with a constructivism paradigm. This research collects data through interviews, observation and documentation and data analysis by reducing data, presenting data and drawing conclusions. Talking about the role of public relations means discussing an industry or institution that communicates with the public or society. Two-way communication is established with the public to provide support for management functions and objectives by increasing the development of cooperation and fulfilling common interests. So the role of public relations will be seen as an Expert Preciber (management expert or advisor). Public relations practitioners are considered as experts who can provide solutions to the public relations problems of an organization and management. Communication Facilitator means that public relations practitioners act as intermediaries, liaisons, translators and mediators, and ensure the realization of two-way communication between the organization and its public, Problem Solving Process Facilitator means that public relations is involved in solving organizational problems even though its role is still in the communication corridor.

Unraveling Cordia myxa’s anti-malarial potential: integrative insights from network pharmacology, molecular modeling, and machine learning

Malaria is a potentially fatal infective illness caused due to parasites that belong to the Plasmodium genus, which are transferred to humans with the help of the stings of affected female Anopheles mosquitoes, and it persists as a serious public wellness problem worldwide. Cordia myxa is a medicinal plant that possesses various medicinal characteristics like antimicrobial, anti-inflammation, antioxidant, and antidiabetic activities, which makes it an important natural resource for the therapy of different maladies in traditional medicine. In this investigation, a certain network pharmacology method has been utilized to identify the potent active components, possible targets as well as signaling pathways present in C. myxa in relation to malaria therapy. The active compounds were submitted to molecular docking approaches to validate their successful activity against the potential targets. The study concluded that three constituents named cosmosiin, stigmastanol, robinetin, and quercetin were highly active and could regulate the expression of Interleukin 6 (IL6) and Cysteine-aspartic acid protease 3 (CASP3), which may act as a potential therapeutic target for malaria treatment. These analyses are validated by molecular dynamics simulation which reflects on the overall structural stability of the intermolecular conformation and interactions. These results can also be witnessed in simulation-based trajectories binding free energies, which concluded the significant role of electrostatic and van der Waals energies in total intermolecular interactions. Finally, we utilized machine learning to predict the anti-malarial activity of C. myxa compounds, comparing them with approved drugs. Using the Chemprop model and MAIP predictions, we assessed ten compounds, revealing their potential as lead anti-malarial agents. This study establishes a groundwork for comprehending the function of the anti-malaria action of C. myxa.

Assetisation as a means to solve public problems: the research excellence framework and competitive future-making

ABSTRACT In this paper, we engage with the Research Excellence Framework (REF) – the UK government’s national policy tool for competitive allocation of scarce research funding. Success on the terms of the REF provides guaranteed income for UK Universities for a 6- or 7-year period – and as a result, we suggest that the REF operates as an asset-like structure. We utilise 3 examples to build a comparative analysis of ways in which the REF is becoming organised in asset-like ways, the mechanisms involved in monetising future REF income in the present and the consequences that follow from this activity. In making projections that bring future income into the present, we suggest much is at stake. We will use the paper to argue that as a result of these practices assetization is now becoming a key means of steering University governance.

A Multi‐Objective Optimization Method for Shelter Site Selection Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning

ABSTRACTUrban emergency shelters are a special type of public service facility, and their planning and construction are directly related to the safety of urban residents' lives and property, as well as to the sustainable development of the city. Existing research on the site selection of shelters is not ideal when dealing with large‐scale scenarios and fails to accurately reflect the actual situation. To address this issue, this study proposes an emergency shelter site selection model based on deep reinforcement learning, IAM‐PPO. This model constructs the site selection problem as a Markov Decision Process and uses deep learning to extract information from the site selection scenario. It finds the final solution for shelter locations through continuous exploration and learning. To improve the training efficiency of the model, the action masking process is innovatively applied to the model. The research results and ablation experiments using Shanghai as a case study prove that, owing to the diversity of shelter service ranges and action masking mechanism, the model proposed in this study can provide efficient and accurate shelter location services. Moreover, the customizability of this model provides meaningful reference value for other public facility location problems.

Commitment to Place as Motivation for Citizen-Based Watershed Collaboration: BIMBY Effect

A growing literature in citizen-based collaboration extols the many virtues of collaboration to address complex public problems. Little attention has been paid, however, to the underlying motivation for citizen participation. Drawn from three case studies of citizen-based environmental collaborations, this paper examines the motivations of citizens to engage in collaboration. The research suggests that a longstanding commitment to “place” is an important driver for collaboration. The findings of this paper can assist citizen-based environmental collaborative groups to identify ways to more effectively engage citizens in local collaborative efforts.

Investigating the Effects of the Quadruple Helix on Civic Society Engagement in Smart City Innovation

This paper is focused on the Quadruple Helix (QH) impacts on civic engagement in urban innovations. The main research question addressed is whether there is evidence available in the public domain that use of quadruple helix has increased the involvement of members of civil society in decision-making in smart cities initiatives (SCIs). Due to its rising popularity as a practical innovation model, QH – where government, industry, academia and civil society collaborate to collectively address public problems - has received growing attention in smart cities research and policy making. But despite this, the actual effects of involving the fourth helix – members of civil society – remains an under-researched area. It has yet to be demonstrated what, in practice, SCIs operating under the banner of QH have accomplished, especially for improving the engagement of civil society (CS) members in decision-making about smart city (SC) innovations. A broadly based systematic review of the literature on QH in SCIs has been conducted to discover whether those featuring QH report that successful engagement of members of civil society has affected innovation outcomes. Results suggests that despite its heavy promotion, neither the practical significance of involving the fourth helix in decision-making in SCIs, nor the ‘benefits’ delivered from doing so, are currently unpacked in the literature. This is only partly due to the dearth of published evidence about these issues. The lack of reported effects of the quadruple helix on civic engagement in smart city initiatives is compounded by the inadequate research design adopted for such initiatives, especially by the insufficient attention given to reporting on their implementation or to evaluations of what they have achieved in practice.

Acacetin, a Natural Flavone with Potential in Improving Liver Disease Based on Its Anti-Inflammation, Anti-Cancer, Anti-Infection and Other Effects.

Liver disease is a global public problem, and the cost of its therapy is a large financial burden to governments. It is well known that drug therapy plays a critical role in the treatment of liver disease. However, present drugs are far from meeting clinical needs. Lots of efforts have been made to find novel agents to treat liver disease in the past several decades. Acacetin is a dihydroxy and monomethoxy flavone, named 5,7-dihydroxy-4'-methoxyflavone, which can be found in diverse plants. It has been reported that acacetin exhibits multiple pharmacological activities, including anti-cancer, anti-inflammation, anti-virus, anti-obesity, and anti-oxidation. These studies indicate the therapeutic potential of acacetin in liver disease. This review discussed the comprehensive information on the pathogenesis of liver disease (cirrhosis, viral hepatitis, drug-induced liver injury, and hepatocellular carcinoma), then introduced the biological source, structural features, and pharmacological properties of acacetin, and the possible application in preventing liver disease along with the pharmacokinetic and toxicity of acacetin, and future research directions. We systemically summarized the latest research progress on the potential therapeutic effect of acacetin on liver disease and existing problems. Based on the present published information, the natural flavone acacetin is an anticipated candidate agent for the treatment of liver disease.