Search results for: press freedom

Authors: Mary Konadu

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The rectal route for drug administration is becoming attractive to drug formulators because it can avoid hepatic first-pass effects, decrease gastrointestinal side effects and avoid undesirable effects of meals on drug absorption. Suppositories have been recognized as an alternative to the oral route in situations such as when the patient is comatose, unable to swallow, or when the drug produces nausea or vomiting. Effective drug delivery with appropriate pharmaceutical excipient is key in the production of clinically useful preparations. The high cost of available excipients coupled with other disadvantages have led to the exploration of potential excipients from natural sources. Allanblackia floribunda butter, a naturally occurring lipid, is used for medicinal, culinary, and cosmetic purposes. Different extraction methods (solvent (hexane) extraction, traditional/hot water extraction, and cold/screw press extraction) were employed to extract the oil. The different extracts of A. floribunda oil were analyzed for their physicochemical properties and mineral content. The oil was used as a base to formulate Paracetamol and Diclofenac suppositories. Quality control test were carried out on the formulated suppositories. The %age oil yield for hexane extract, hot water extract, and cold press extract were 50.40 ±0.00, 37.36±0.00, and 20.48±0.00, respectively. The acid value, saponification value, iodine value and free fatty acid were 1.159 ± 0.065, 208.51 ± 8.450, 49.877 ± 0.690 and 0.583 ± 0.032 respectively for hexane extract; 3.480 ± 0.055, 204.672±2.863, 49.04 ± 0.76 and 1.747 ± 0.028 respectively for hot water/traditional extract; 4.43 ± 0.055, 192.05±1.56, 49.96 ± 0.29 and 2.23 ± 0.03 respectively for cold press extract. Calcium, sodium, magnesium, potassium, and iron were minerals found to be present in the A. floribunda butter extracts. The uniformity of weight, hardness, disintegration time, and uniformity of content were found to be within the acceptable range. The melting point ranges for all the suppositories were found to be satisfactory. The cumulative drug release (%) of the suppositories at 45 minutes was 90.19±0.00 (Hot water extract), 93.75±0.00 (Cold Pres Extract), and 98.16±0.00 (Hexane Extract) for Paracetamol suppositories. Diclofenac sodium suppositories had a cumulative %age release of 81.60±0.00 (Hot water Extract), 95.33±0.00 (Cold Press Extract), and 99.20±0.00 (Hexane Extract). The physicochemical parameters obtained from this study shows that Allanblackia floribunda seed oil is edible and can be used as a suppository base. The suppository formulation was successful, and the quality control tests conformed to Pharmacopoeia standard.

Keywords: allanblackia foribunda, paracetamol, diclofenac, suppositories

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Authors: Paula-Catalina Meirosu

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The economic migration (intra-EU) is a topic of debate in the public space in both countries of origin and countries of destination. Since the 1990s, after the collapse of communist regimes and then the accession of some former communist countries to the EU, the migratory flows of migrants (including Romanian migrants) to EU countries has been increased constantly. Italy is one of the main countries of destination among Romanians since at the moment Italy hosts more than one million Romanian migrants. Based on an interdisciplinary analytical framework focused on the theories in the field of transnationalism, media and migration studies and critical media analysis, this paper investigates the media construction of intra-EU economic migration in the Italian press from two main perspectives. The first point of view is the media representation of Romanian migrants in the Italian press in a specific context: the EU elections in 2014. The second one explores the way in which Romanian journalists use the media in the destinations countries (such as Italy) as a source to address the issue of migration. In this context, the paper focuses on online articles related to the Romanian migrants’ representation in the media before and during the EU elections in two newspapers (La Repubblica from Italy and Adevarul from Romania), published during January-May 2014. The methodology is based on a social-constructivist approach, predominantly discursive and includes elements of critical discourse analysis (CDA) to identify the patterns of Romanian migrants in the Italian press as well as strategies for building categories, identities, and roles of migrants. The aim of such an approach is to find out the dynamic of the media discourse on migration from a destination country in the light of a European electoral context (EU elections) and based on the results, to propose scenarios for the elections to be held this year.

Keywords: migration, media discourse, Romanian migrants, transnationalism

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Authors: Bjornar Kjellstadli, Shaher A. I. Shalfawi

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The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of strength training Cluster set-method compared to traditional set-method 30 m sprinting time and maximum strength in squats and bench-press. Thirteen Physical Education students, 7 males and 6 females between the age of 19-28 years old were recruited. The students were random divided in three groups. Traditional set group (TSG) consist of 2 males and 2 females aged (±SD) (22.3 ± 1.5 years), body mass (79.2 ± 15.4 kg) and height (177.5 ± 11.3 cm). Cluster set group (CSG) consist of 3 males and 2 females aged (22.4 ± 3.29 years), body mass (81.0 ± 24.0 kg) and height (179.2 ± 11.8 cm) and a control group (CG) consist of 2 males and 2 females aged (21.5 ± 2.4 years), body mass (82.1 ± 17.4 kg) and height (175.5 ± 6.7 cm). The intervention consisted of performing squat and bench press at 70% of 1RM (twice a week) for 8 weeks using 10 repetition and 4 sets. Two types of strength-training methods were used , cluster set (CS) where the participants (CSG) performed 2 reps 5 times with a 10 s recovery in between reps and 50 s recovery between sets, and traditional set (TS) where the participants (TSG) performed 10 reps each set with 90 s recovery in between sets. The pre-tests and post-tests conducted were 1 RM in both squats and bench press, and 10 and 30 m sprint time. The 1RM test were performed with Eleiko XF barbell (20 kg), Eleiko weight plates, rack and bench from Hammerstrength. The speed test was measured with the Brower speed trap II testing system (Brower Timing Systems, Utah, USA). The participants received an individualized training program based on the pre-test of the 1RM. In addition, a mid-term test of 1RM was carried out to adjust training intensity. Each training session were supervised by the researchers. Beast sensors (Milano, Italy) were also used to monitor and quantify the training load for the participants. All groups had a statistical significant improvement in bench press 1RM (TSG 1RM from 56.3 ± 28.9 to 66 ± 28.5 kg; CSG 1RM from 69.8 ± 33.5 to 77.2 ± 34.1 kg and CG 1RM from 67.8 ± 26.6 to 72.2 ± 29.1 kg), whereas only the TSG (1RM from 84.3 ± 26.8 to 114.3 ± 26.5 kg) and CSG (1RM from 100.4 ± 33.9 to 129 ± 35.1 kg) had a statistical significant improvement in Squats 1RM (P < 0.05). However, a between groups examination reveals that there were no marked differences in 1RM squat performance between TSG and CSG (P > 0.05) and both groups had a marked improvements compared to the CG (P < 0.05). On the other hand, no differences between groups were observed in Bench press 1RM. The within groups results indicate that none of the groups had any marked improvement in the distances from 0-10 m and 10-30 m except the CSG which had a notable improvement in the distance from 10-30 m (-0.07 s; P < 0.05). Furthermore, no differences in sprinting abilities were observed between groups. The results from this investigation indicate that traditional set strength training at 70% of 1RM gave close results compared to Cluster set strength training at the same intensity. However, the results indicate that the cluster set had an effect on flying time (10-30 m) indicating that the velocity at which those repetitions were performed could be the explanation factor of this this improvement.

Keywords: physical performance, 1RM, pushing velocity, velocity based training

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Authors: Osman Acar

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Sun tracking systems are the systems following the sun ray by a right angle or by predetermined certain angle. In this study, we used theoretical trajectory of sun for latitude of central Anatolia in Turkey. A two degree of freedom spherical mechanism was designed to have a large workspace able to follow the sun's theoretical motion by the right angle during the whole year. An inverse kinematic analysis was generated to find the positions of mechanism links for the predicted trajectory. Force and torque analysis were shown for the first day of the year.

Keywords: sun tracking, theoretical sun trajectory, spherical mechanism, inverse kinematic analysis

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Authors: Soheil Arash Moghadam, Abdol R. Kashani Nia, Ali Akrami Zade

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Considering numerous applications of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles in various industries, there has been plenty of researches and studies on the motion control of such vehicles. One of the useful aspects for studying is the guidance of these vehicles. In this paper, while presenting motion equations with six degrees of freedom for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, Proportional Navigation Guidance Law and the first order sliding mode control for TAIPAN AUV was used to address its guidance for the purpose of collision with a moving target.

Keywords: Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), degree of freedom (DOF), hydrodynamic, line of sight(LOS), proportional navigation guidance(PNG), sliding mode control(SMC)

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Authors: Erinda Male

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Participation of a lawyer in any criminal proceedings on behalf of an accused person or a victim is essential to a fair trial. Legal representation is particularly crucial in proceedings before international tribunals, especially in the International Criminal Court. The paper thus focuses on the importance of the legal representation of victims and defendants before the ICC, as well as on the role of the legal representative in the proceedings before the court and the principle of freedom of choice of legal representatives. Also, the paper presents a short overview of the significance of legal representatives for victims and the necessity to protect their primary role in the ICC system, and ensure that it is coherent and respectful of victims’ rights. Victim participation is an important part of the ICC Statute and it is designed to help ensure that those most affected by the crimes are able to engage with the Court. Proper and quality legal representation ensures meaningful participation of victims at stages of the proceedings before ICC. Finally, the paper acknowledges the role of legal representatives during the pre-trial, trial and post-trial phase, the different modalities in selecting the legal representatives as well as balancing victims’ participation with the right of the accused to a fair trial.

Keywords: fair trial, freedom of choice principle, international criminal court, legal representatives, victims

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Authors: Maeng-Hwan Hyun, Dae-Man Do, Young-Bok Choi

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Around the world, there are frequent incidents of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, and snowstorms, as well as man made disasters such as fires, arsons, and acts of terror. These diverse and unpredictable adversities have resulted in a number of fatalities and injuries. If disaster occurrence can be assessed quickly and information such as the exact location of the disaster and evacuation routes can be provided, victims can promptly move to safe locations, minimizing losses. This paper proposes a behavior analysis method based on a nine degrees-of-freedom (9-DOF) sensor that is effective for the emergency rescue evacuation support system (ERESS), which is being researched with an objective of providing evacuation support during disasters. Based on experiments performed using the acceleration sensor and the gyroscope sensor in the 9-DOF sensor, data are analyzed for human behavior regarding stationary position, walking, running, and during emergency situation to suggest guidelines for system judgment. Using the results of the experiments performed to determine disaster occurrence, it was confirmed that the proposed method quickly determines whether a disaster has occurred.

Keywords: behavior analysis, nine degrees of freedom sensor, emergency rescue, disaster

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Authors: Ana Luísa Mouro

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When the financial crisis exploded in 2008 in the United States, unleashed by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, and contaminated the economies of the European periphery, Germany appeared as the anchor of the stability of all European institutions and countries in difficulty. The solutions provided by the German government have triggered a deep political debate about the key position Germany has conquered at the heart of Europe - a new “German question” has been created. Some say Germany has achieved by peaceful means what was not able to get through military conquest - the domination of Europe – and many fear Germany’s economic power. This debate about the new role of Germany in Europe has received special attention in the European media and Portugal has not been the exception. The present study has been based on the survey, selection and critical analysis of news reporting, opinion articles, interviews and editorials, published in the weekly Expresso and in the daily Público, between 2008 and 2015 (year of the 25th anniversary of Germany’s unification). The findings of this study will show the paradox of German power and its relevance for Europe’s future.

Keywords: Euro crises, German Europe, intercultural hermeneutics, Portuguese quality press

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Authors: Erik Kuravsky

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One of the problems with a post-structuralist account of agency is that it appears to reject the freedom of an acting subject, thus seeming to deny the very phenomenon of agency. However, this is only a problem if we think that human beings can be agents exclusively in terms of being subjects, that is, if we think agency subjectively. Indeed, we tend to understand traditional theories of human freedom (e.g., Plato’s or Kant’s) in terms of a peculiar ability of the subject. The paper suggests to de-subjectivize agency with the help of Heidegger’s later thought. To do it, ir argues that classical theories of agency may indeed be interpreted as subject-oriented (sometimes even by their authors), but do not have to be read as such. Namely, the claim is that what makes agency what it is, what is essential in agency, is not its belonginess to a subject, but its ontological configuration. We may say that agency “happens,” and that there is a very specific ontological characteristics to this happening. The argument of the paper is that we can find these characteristic in the classical accounts of agency and that these characteristics are sufficient to distinguish human freedom from other natural phenomena. In particular, it offers to think agency not as one of human characteristics, but as an ontological event in which human beings take part. Namely, agency is a (non-human) characteristic of the different modes in which the experienceable existence of beings is determined by Being. To be an agent then is to participate in such ontological determination. What enables this participation is the ways human beings non-thematically understand the ontological difference. For example, for Plato, one acts freely only if one is led by an idea of the good, while for Kant the imperative for free action is categorial. The agency of an agent is thus dependent on the differentiation between ideas/categories and beings met in experience – one is “free” from contingent sensibility in terms of what is different from it ontologically. In this light, modern dependence on subjectivity is evident in the fact that the ontological difference is thought as belonging to one’s thinking, consciousness etc. That is, it is taken subjectively. A non-subjective account of agency, on the other hand, requires thinking this difference as belonging to Being itself, and thinking human beings as a medium within which occurs the non-human force of ontological differentiation.

Keywords: Heidegger, freedom, agency, poststructuralism

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Authors: Belal Neazi

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'Larger Houses Consume More Resources’ – both in construction and during operation. The most important aspect of smaller homes is that it uses less electricity and fuel for construction and maintenance. Here, an urban interpretation of the contemporary minimal existence movement is explained. In an attempt to restrict urban decay and to encourage inner-city renewal, the Tiny House principles are interpreted as alternative ways of dwelling in urban neighbourhoods. These tiny houses are usually pretty different from each other in interior planning, but almost similar in size. The disadvantage of large homes came up when people were asked to vacate as they were not able to pay the massive amount of mortgages. This made them reconsider their housing situation and discover the ideas of minimalism and the general rising inclination in environmental awareness that serve as the basis for the tiny house movement. One of the largest benefits of inhabiting a tiny house is the decrease in carbon footprint. Also, to increase social behaviour and freedom. It’s better for the environmental concern, financial concerns, and desire for more time and freedom. Examples of the tiny house village which are sustaining homeless population and the use of different reclaimed materials for the construction of these tiny houses are explained in the paper. It is proposed in the paper, that these houses will reflect the diversity while proposing an alternative model for the rehabilitation of decaying row-homes and the renewal of fading communities. The core objective is to design small or micro spaces for the economically backward people of the place and increase their social behaviour and freedom. Also, it’s better for the environmental concern, financial concerns, and desire for more time and freedom.

Keywords: city renewal, environmental concern, micro-living, tiny house

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Authors: Iman Shabanzadeh

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The purpose of this research is to understand the lived experience of private sector entrepreneurs in facing the sources of freedom and unfreedom and benefiting from opportunities and basic capabilities in the process of realizing entrepreneurial ability in order to get closer to the macro situation of the narrative of human development in Iranian society. Therefore, the main question of the present research is to figure out what sources of freedom and social opportunities and unfreedom entrepreneurs in Iran's society benefit from the process of transforming their potential entrepreneurial abilities into entrepreneurial and business enterprises. In terms of methodology, the current research method will be thematic analysis in the form of semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs active in small and medium-sized enterprises in Tehran, whose process of establishing and expanding their entrepreneurial activity has been in the last two decades. By examining the possibilities and refusals of advancing these people in the three stages of 'Idea creation and desire for entrepreneurship’, ‘Starting and creating a business’, and finally, ‘Continuing and expanding the business’, the findings of the research show the impact of five main resources for people to realize their potential talents, from the stage of creating an idea to expanding their business. These sources include' family institution,’ ‘education institution,’ ‘social norms and beliefs,’ ‘government and market,’ and ‘personality components of the entrepreneur.’ Finally, the findings are reported in three levels of basic themes (fifteen items), organizing themes (five items), and comprehensive themes (one item) and in the form of a theme network.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, human development, capability, sources of freedom

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Authors: Alireza Barari, Saeed Shirali, Ahmad Abdi

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Introduction: Exercise has contradictory effects on the immune system. Glutamine supplementation may increase the resistance of the immune system in athletes. The Glutamine is one of the most recognized immune nutrients that as a fuel source, substrate in the synthesis of nucleotides and amino acids and is also known to be part of the antioxidant defense. Several studies have shown that improving glutamine levels in plasma and tissues can have beneficial effects on the function of immune cells such as lymphocytes and neutrophils. This study aimed to investigate the effects of resistance training and training combined with glutamine supplementation to improve the levels of cortisol and immunoglobulin in untrained young men. The research shows that physical training can increase the cytokines in the athlete’s body of course; glutamine can counteract the negative effects of resistance training on immune function and stability of the mast cell membrane. Materials and methods: This semi-experimental study was conducted on 30 male non-athletes. They were randomly divided into three groups: control (no exercise), resistance training, resistance training and glutamine supplementation, respectively. Resistance training for 4 weeks and glutamine supplementation in 0.3 gr/kg/day after practice was applied. The resistance-training program consisted of eight exercises (leg press, lat pull, chest press, squat, seatedrow, abdominal crunch, shoulder press, biceps curl and triceps press down) four times per week. Participants performed 3 sets of 10 repetitions at 60–75% 1-RM. Anthropometry indexes (weight, body mass index, and body fat percentage), oxygen uptake (VO2max) Maximal, cortisol levels of immunoglobulins (IgA, IgG, IgM) were evaluated Pre- and post-test. Results: Results showed four week resistance training with and without glutamine cause significant increase in body weight, BMI and significantly decreased (P < 0/001) in BF. Vo2max also increased in both groups of exercise (P < 0/05) and exercise with glutamine (P < 0/001), such as in both groups significant reduction in IgG (P < 0/05) was observed. But no significant difference observed in levels of cortisol, IgA, IgM in any of the groups. No significant change observed in either parameter in the control group. No significant difference observed between the groups. Discussion: The alterations in the hormonal and immunological parameters can be used in order to assess the effect overload on the body, whether acute or chronically. The plasmatic concentration of glutamine has been associated to the functionality of the immunological system in individuals sub-mitted to intense physical training. resistance training has destructive effects on the immune system and glutamine supplementation cannot neutralize the damaging effects of power exercise on the immune system.

Keywords: glutamine, resistance traning, immuglobulins, cortisol

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Authors: Said Boularouk, Didier Josselin, Eitan Altman

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In this paper, we present a vocal ontology of OpenStreetMap data for the apprehension of space by visually impaired people. Indeed, the platform based on produsage gives a freedom to data producers to choose the descriptors of geocoded locations. Unfortunately, this freedom, called also folksonomy leads to complicate subsequent searches of data. We try to solve this issue in a simple but usable method to extract data from OSM databases in order to send them to visually impaired people using Text To Speech technology. We focus on how to help people suffering from visual disability to plan their itinerary, to comprehend a map by querying computer and getting information about surrounding environment in a mono-modal human-computer dialogue.

Keywords: TTS, ontology, open street map, visually impaired

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Authors: Bruna G. M. Araújo, Pedro M. M. Q. Cruz

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In this letter, we review the literature of the major concepts that govern Gaussian quantum information. As we work with quantum information and computation with continuous variables, Gaussian states are needed to better describe these systems. Analyzing a single ion locked in a Paul trap we use the interaction picture to obtain a toolbox of Gaussian operations with the ion-laser interaction Hamiltionian. This is achieved exciting the ion through the combination of two lasers of distinct frequencies corresponding to different sidebands of the external degrees of freedom. First we study the case of a trap with 1 mode and then the case with 2 modes. In this way, we achieve different continuous variables gates just by changing the external degrees of freedom of the trap and combining the Hamiltonians of blue and red sidebands.

Keywords: Paul trap, ion-laser interaction, Gaussian operations

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Authors: Tjipta Lesmana

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Terrorist attacks quickly penetrated Indonesia following the downfall of Soeharto regime in May 1998. Reform era was officially proclaimed. Indonesia turned to 'heaven state' from 'authoritarian state'. For the first time since 1966, the country experienced a full-scale freedom of expression, including freedom of the press, and heavy acknowledgement of human rights practice. Some religious extremists previously run away to neighbor countries to escape from security apparatus secretly backed home. Quickly they consolidated the power to continue their long aspiration and dream to establish 'Shariah Indonesia', Indonesia based on Khilafah ideology. Bali bombings I which shocked world community occurred on 12 October 2002 in the famous tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali, killing 202 people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, and people from more than 20 other nationalities). In the capital, Jakarta, successive bombings were blasted in Marriott hotel, Australian Embassy, residence of the Philippine Ambassador and stock exchange office. A 'drunken Indonesia' is far from ready to combat nationwide sudden and massive terrorist attacks. Police Detachment 88 (Densus 88) Indonesian counter-terrorism squad, was quickly formed following 2002 Bali Bombing. Anti-terrorism Provisional Act was immediately erected, as well, due to urgent need to fight terrorism. Some Bali bombings criminals were deadly executed after sentenced by the court. But a series of terrorist suicide attacks and another Bali bombings (the second one) in Bali, again, shocked world community. Terrorism network is undoubtedly spreading nationwide. Suspicion is high that they had close connection with Al Qaeda’s groups. Even 'Afghanistan alumni' and 'Syria alumni' returned to Indonesia to back up the local mujahidins in their fights to topple Indonesia constitutional government and set up Islamic state (Khilafah). Supported by massive aids from friendly nations, especially Australia and United States, Indonesia launched large scale operations to crush terrorism consisted of various radical groups such as JAD, JAS, and JAADI. Huge energy, money, and souls were dedicated. Terrorism is, however, persistently entrenched. High ranking officials from Detachment 88 squad and military intelligence believe that terrorism is still one the most deadly enemy of Indonesia.

Keywords: counter-radicalization, de-radicalization, Khalifah, Union State, Al Qaedah, ISIS

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Authors: Samita Sondhi, Sachin Kumar, Chirag Chopra

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The increase in population has resulted in an excessive feedstock production, which has in return lead to the accumulation of a large amount of waste from different resources as crop residues, industrial waste and solid municipal waste. This situation has raised the problem of waste disposal in present days. A parallel problem of depletion of natural fossil fuel resources has led to the formation of alternative sources of energy from the waste of different industries to concurrently resolve the two issues. The biogas is a carbon neutral fuel which has applications in transportation, heating and power generation. India is a nation that has an agriculture-based economy and agro-residues are a significant source of organic waste. Taking into account, the second largest agro-based industry that is sugarcane industry producing a high quantity of sugar and sugarcane waste byproducts such as Bagasse, Press Mud, Vinasse and Wastewater. Currently, there are not such efficient disposal methods adopted at large scales. According to manageability objectives, anaerobic digestion can be considered as a method to treat organic wastes. Press mud is lignocellulosic biomass and cannot be accumulated for Mono digestion because of its complexity. Prior investigations indicated that it has a potential for production of biogas. But because of its biological and elemental complexity, Mono-digestion was not successful. Due to the imbalance in the C/N ratio and presence of wax in it can be utilized with any other fibrous material hence will be digested properly under suitable conditions. In the first batch of Mono-digestion of Pressmud biogas production was low. Now, co-digestion of Pressmud with Bagasse which has desired C/N ratio will be performed to optimize the ratio for maximum biogas from Press mud. In addition, with respect to supportability, the main considerations are the monetary estimation of item result and ecological concerns. The work is designed in such a way that the waste from the sugar industry will be digested for maximum biogas generation and digestive after digestion will be characterized for its use as a bio-fertilizer for soil conditioning. Due to effectiveness demonstrated by studied setups of Mono-digestion and Co-digestion, this approach can be considered as a viable alternative for lignocellulosic waste disposal and in agricultural applications. Biogas produced from the Pressmud either can be used for Powerhouses or transportation. In addition, the work initiated towards the development of waste disposal for energy production will demonstrate balanced economy sustainability of the process development.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, carbon neutral fuel, press mud, lignocellulosic biomass

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Authors: Alireza Abbasi Moshaii, Shaghayegh Nasiri, Mehdi Tale Masouleh

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The main purpose of this study is static analysis of two three-degree of freedom parallel mechanisms: 3-RCC and 3-RRS. Geometry of these mechanisms is expressed and static equilibrium equations are derived for the whole chains. For these mechanisms due to the equal number of equations and unknowns, the solution is as same as 3-RCC mechanism. Mathematical software is used to solve the equations. In order to prove the results obtained from solving the equations of mechanisms, their CAD model has been simulated and their static is analysed in ADAMS software. Due to symmetrical geometry of the mechanisms, the force and external torque acting on the end-effecter have been considered asymmetric to prove the generality of the solution method. Finally, the results of both softwares, for both mechanisms are extracted and compared as graphs. The good achieved comparison between the results indicates the accuracy of the analysis.

Keywords: robotic, static analysis, 3-RCC, 3-RRS

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Authors: Odewumi Olatunde, Adegun Sunday

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Linguistic diversity is seen to complicate attempts to build a stable and cohesive political community. Hence, the challenge of integration is enormous in a multi-ethno-lingual country like Nigeria. In the same vein, justification for minority language rights claims in relation to broader political theories of justice, freedom and democracy cannot be ignored. It is in the light of the fore-going that this paper explores Nigeria’s experiments at language policy and planning(LPP) and the long drawn agitations for self-determination and linguistic freedom by the minority ethnic groups in the polity which has been exacerbated by the National Policy on Education language provisions. The paper succinctly reviews Nigeria’s LPP efforts and its attendant theater of conflicts; explores international attempts at evolving normative principles of freedom and equality for language policy and finally evaluates the position of the Nigerian LPP in the light of evolving international conventions. On this premise, it is concluded that giving a conscientious and honest implementation of the Nigerian language provisions as assessed from their face validity, the nation’s efforts could be exonerated from running afoul of any known civilized values and best practices. It is, therefore, recommended that an effectual and consistent commitment to implementation driven by a renewed political will is what is required for the nation to succeed in this direction.

Keywords: integration, rights, challenge, conventions, policy

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Authors: Dimitrios Akrivos, Alexandros K. Antoniou

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This paper looks at the crucial role of the British news media in the construction of extreme pornography as a social problem, suggesting that this paved the way for the subsequent criminalization of such material through the introduction of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. Focusing on the high-profile case of Graham Coutts, it examines the British national press’ reaction to Jane Longhurst’s murder through a qualitative content analysis of 251 relevant news articles. Specifically, the paper documents the key arguments expressed in the corresponding claims-making process. It considers the different ways in which the consequent ‘trial by media’ presented this exceptional case as the ‘tip of the iceberg’ and eventually translated into policy. The analysis sheds light on the attempts to ‘piggyback’ the issue of extreme pornography on child sexual abuse images as well as the textual and visual mechanisms used to establish an ‘us versus them’ dichotomy in the pertinent media discourse. Finally, the paper assesses the severity of the actual risk posed by extreme pornography, concluding that its criminalization should not merely be dismissed as the outcome of an institutionalized media panic.

Keywords: criminalization, extreme pornography, social problem, trial by media

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Authors: Dino Carpentras, Alejandro Dinkelberg, Michael Quayle

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Opinion dynamics models use an agent-based modeling approach to model people’s opinions. Model's properties are usually explored by testing the two 'degrees of freedom': the interaction rule and the network topology. The latter defines the connection, and thus the possible interaction, among agents. The interaction rule, instead, determines how agents select each other and update their own opinion. Here we show the existence of the third degree of freedom. This can be used for turning one model into each other or to change the model’s output up to 100% of its initial value. Opinion dynamics models represent the evolution of real-world opinions parsimoniously. Thus, it is fundamental to know how real-world opinion (e.g., supporting a candidate) could be turned into a number. Specifically, we want to know if, by choosing a different opinion-to-number transformation, the model’s dynamics would be preserved. This transformation is typically not addressed in opinion dynamics literature. However, it has already been studied in psychometrics, a branch of psychology. In this field, real-world opinions are converted into numbers using abstract objects called 'scales.' These scales can be converted one into the other, in the same way as we convert meters to feet. Thus, in our work, we analyze how this scale transformation may affect opinion dynamics models. We perform our analysis both using mathematical modeling and validating it via agent-based simulations. To distinguish between scale transformation and measurement error, we first analyze the case of perfect scales (i.e., no error or noise). Here we show that a scale transformation may change the model’s dynamics up to a qualitative level. Meaning that a researcher may reach a totally different conclusion, even using the same dataset just by slightly changing the way data are pre-processed. Indeed, we quantify that this effect may alter the model’s output by 100%. By using two models from the standard literature, we show that a scale transformation can transform one model into the other. This transformation is exact, and it holds for every result. Lastly, we also test the case of using real-world data (i.e., finite precision). We perform this test using a 7-points Likert scale, showing how even a small scale change may result in different predictions or a number of opinion clusters. Because of this, we think that scale transformation should be considered as a third-degree of freedom for opinion dynamics. Indeed, its properties have a strong impact both on theoretical models and for their application to real-world data.

Keywords: degrees of freedom, empirical validation, opinion scale, opinion dynamics

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Authors: Søren Birkvad

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This paper traces the development of sexual cinematic freedom in the wake of an epoch-making event in Danish cultural history. As the first in the world, the Danes abolished all censorship for adults in 1969, making the tiny nation of Denmark the world’s largest exporter of pornography for several years. Drawing on the insights of social and cultural history and the focus point of the National Cinema direction of Cinema Studies, this study focuses on Danish film pornography in the 1960s and 1970s in its own right (e.g., its peculiar mix of sex, popular comedy and certain ‘feminist’ agendas). More importantly, however, it covers a broader pattern, namely the culturally deep-rooted tradition of freedom of speech and sexual liberalism in Denmark. Thus, the key concept of frisind (“free mind”) in Danish cultural history took on an increasingly partisan application in the 1960s and 1970s. It became a designation for all-is-permitted hippie excess but was also embraced by dissenting movements on the left, such as feminism, which questioned whether a free mind necessarily meant free love. In all of this, Danish cinema from the 1960s and 1970s offers a remarkable source of historical insight, simultaneously reminding us of a number of acute issues of contemporary society. These issues include gendered ideas of sexuality and freedom then and now and the equivalent clash of cultures between a liberal commercial industry and the accelerating political demands of the “sexual revolution.” Finally, these issues include certain tensions between, on the one hand, a purely materialistic idea of sexual freedom – incarnated by anything from pornography to many of the taboo-breaking youth films and avant-garde films in the wake of the 1968-rebellion – and, on the other hand, growing opposition to this anti-spiritual perception of human sexuality (represented by for instance the ‘closet conservatism’ of Danish art film star Lars von Trier of nowadays). All in all, this presentation offers a reflection on ideas of sexuality and gender rooted in a unique historical moment in cinematic history.

Keywords: Danish film history, cultural history, film pornography, history of sexuality, national cinema, sexual liberalism

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Authors: Ana Luisa Mouro, Ana Maria Ramalheira

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The Reunification of Germany, in 1990, was not received with great enthusiasm by other European countries. On the contrary, the union of the two German states was accompanied by great concern towards its possible political and economic consequences. The Europeans had not forgotten Germany’s responsibility in the outbreak of the Second World War, and many feared that this new nation would again long for a hegemonic role. During the following years, however, the notion of a threatening Germany faded away, giving place to a description of Germany as an economic giant but a political dwarf. Twenty years after the Reunification, with the outbreak of the financial crisis, Germany conquered a key and powerful position at the heart of Europe and Germanophobia started to gain ground again. The present study has been based on the survey, selection and critical analysis of news reporting, opinion articles, interviews and editorials, published in the weekly Expresso and the daily Público, during two historical moments: the Reunification of Germany in 1990 and the European Crisis, between 2008 and 2015. The findings of this study will show that Germany’s growing influence over the current European economic and political scene woke up old 'demons' that had been 'sleeping' since 1990.

Keywords: media and cultural studies, Euro crisis, German Unification, Germanophobia, Portuguese quality press

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Authors: Yu-Chen Wei, Dan-Leng Wang

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This study examines whether the reputation from media press affect the financial performance and market abnormal returns around the announcement of corporate social responsibility (CSR) award in the Taiwan Stock Market. The differences between this study and prior literatures are that the media reputation of media coverage and net optimism are constructed by using content analyses. The empirical results show the corporation which won CSR awards could promote financial performance next year. The media coverage and net optimism related to CSR winner are higher than the non-CSR companies prior and after the CSR award is announced, and the differences are significant, but the difference would decrease when the day was closing to announcement. We propose that non-CSR companies may try to manipulate media press to increase the coverage and positive image received by investors compared to the CSR winners. The cumulative real returns and abnormal returns of CSR winners did not significantly higher than the non-CSR samples however the leading returns of CSR winners would higher after the award announcement two months. The comparisons of performances between CSR and non-CSR companies could be the consideration of portfolio management for mutual funds and investors.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, financial performance, abnormal returns, media, reputation management

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Authors: A.D. García-Soto, Miguel Jaimes, J.G. Valdés-Vázquez, A. Hernández-Martínez

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The seismic reliability of two-degree-of-freedom (2DOF) systems with and without supplemental damping are computed. The used records are scaled from realistic records using standard incremental dynamic Analysis (IDA). The total normalized shear base is computed for both cases using different scaling factors, and it is considered as the demand. The seismic reliability is computed using codified design to stipulate the capacity and, after some assumptions, applying the first-order reliability method (FORM). The 2DOF considered can be thought as structures with non-linear behavior, with and without seismic protection, subjected to earthquake activity in Mexico City. It is found that the reliability of 2DOF structures retrofitted with supplemental damper at its first story is generally higher than the reliability of 2DOF structures without supplemental damping.

Keywords: 2DOF structures, IDA, FORM, seismic reliability

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Authors: Hossein Kabir, Mojtaba Sadeghi

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Finding the linear and nonlinear responses of a typical single-degree-of-freedom system (SDOF) is always being regarded as a time-consuming process. This study attempts to provide modifications in the renowned Newmark method in order to make it more time efficient than it used to be and make it more accurate by modifying the system in its own non-linear state. The efficacy of the presented method is demonstrated by assigning three base excitations such as Tabas 1978, El Centro 1940, and MEXICO CITY/SCT 1985 earthquakes to a SDOF system, that is, SDOF, to compute the strength reduction factor, yield pseudo acceleration, and ductility factor.

Keywords: single-degree-of-freedom system (SDOF), linear acceleration method, nonlinear excited system, equivalent displacement method, equivalent energy method

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Authors: Sahila Chopra, Hemdeep, Arshdeep Kaur, Raj K. Gupta

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In recent times, we noticed an interesting and important role of non-coplanar degree-of-freedom (Φ = 00) in heavy ion reactions. Using the dynamical cluster-decay model (DCM) with Φ degree-of-freedom included, we have studied three compound systems 246Bk∗, 164Yb∗ and 105Ag∗. Here, within the DCM with pocket formula for nuclear proximity potential, we look for the effects of including compact, non-coplanar configurations (Φc = 00) on the non-compound nucleus (nCN) contribution in total fusion cross section σfus. For 246Bk∗, formed in 11B+235U and 14N+232Th reaction channels, the DCM with coplanar nuclei (Φc = 00) shows an nCN contribution for 11B+235U channel, but none for 14N+232Th channel, which on including Φ gives both reaction channels as pure compound nucleus decays. In the case of 164Yb∗, formed in 64Ni+100Mo, the small nCN effects for Φ=00 are reduced to almost zero for Φ = 00. Interestingly, however, 105Ag∗ for Φ = 00 shows a small nCN contribution, which gets strongly enhanced for Φ = 00, such that the characteristic property of PCN presents a change of behaviour, like that of a strongly fissioning superheavy element to a weakly fissioning nucleus; note that 105Ag∗ is a weakly fissioning nucleus and Psurv behaves like one for a weakly fissioning nucleus for both Φ = 00 and Φ = 00. Apparently, Φ is presenting itself like a good degree-of-freedom in the DCM.

Keywords: dynamical cluster-decay model, fusion cross sections, non-compound nucleus effects, non-coplanarity

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Authors: Beatriz Salamanca

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In his public lecture ‘On the American Indians’ given at the University of Salamanca in 1538-39, Francisco de Vitoria presented an unsettling defense of freedom of movement, arguing that the Spanish had the right to travel and dwell in the New World, since it was considered part of the law of nations [ius gentium] that men enjoyed free mutual intercourse anywhere they went. The principle of freedom of movement brought hopeful expectations, promising to bring mankind together and strengthen the ties of fraternity. However, it led to polemical situations when those whose mobility was in question represented a harmful threat or was for some reason undesired. In this context, Vitoria’s argument has been seen on multiple occasions as a justification of the expansion of the Spanish empire. In order to examine the meaning of Vitoria’s defense of free mobility, a more detailed look at Vitoria’s text is required, together with the study of some of his earliest works, among them, his commentaries on Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae, where he presented relevant insights on the idea of the law of nations. In addition, it is necessary to place Vitoria’s work in the context of the intellectual tradition he belonged to and the responses he obtained from some of his contemporaries who were concerned with similar issues. The claim of this research is that the Spanish right to travel advocated by Vitoria was not intended to be interpreted in absolute terms, for it had to serve the purpose of bringing peace and unity among men, and could not contradict natural law. In addition, Vitoria explicitly observed that the right to travel was only valid if the Spaniards caused no harm, a condition that has been underestimated by his critics. Therefore, Vitoria’s legacy is of enormous value as it initiated a long lasting discussion regarding the question of the grounds under which human mobility could be restricted. Again, under Vitoria’s argument it was clear that this freedom was not absolute, but the controversial nature of his defense of Spanish mobility demonstrates how difficult it was and still is to address the issue of the circulation of peoples across frontiers, and shows the significance of this discussion in today’s globalized world, where the rights and wrongs of notions like immigration, international trade or foreign intervention still lack sufficient consensus. This inquiry about Vitoria’s defense of the principle of freedom of movement is being placed here against the background of the history of political thought, political theory, international law, and international relations, following the methodological framework of contextual history of the ‘Cambridge School’.

Keywords: Francisco de Vitoria, freedom of movement, law of nations, ius gentium, Spanish empire

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Authors: Dino Carpentras, Alejandro Dinkelberg, Michael Quayle

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Within agent-based modeling, opinion dynamics is the field that focuses on modeling people's opinions. In this prolific field, most of the literature is dedicated to the exploration of the two 'degrees of freedom' and how they impact the model’s properties (e.g., the average final opinion, the number of final clusters, etc.). These degrees of freedom are (1) the interaction rule, which determines how agents update their own opinion, and (2) the network topology, which defines the possible interaction among agents. In this work, we show that the third degree of freedom exists. This can be used to change a model's output up to 100% of its initial value or to transform two models (both from the literature) into each other. Since opinion dynamics models are representations of the real world, it is fundamental to understand how people’s opinions can be measured. Even for abstract models (i.e., not intended for the fitting of real-world data), it is important to understand if the way of numerically representing opinions is unique; and, if this is not the case, how the model dynamics would change by using different representations. The process of measuring opinions is non-trivial as it requires transforming real-world opinion (e.g., supporting most of the liberal ideals) to a number. Such a process is usually not discussed in opinion dynamics literature, but it has been intensively studied in a subfield of psychology called psychometrics. In psychometrics, opinion scales can be converted into each other, similarly to how meters can be converted to feet. Indeed, psychometrics routinely uses both linear and non-linear transformations of opinion scales. Here, we analyze how this transformation affects opinion dynamics models. We analyze this effect by using mathematical modeling and then validating our analysis with agent-based simulations. Firstly, we study the case of perfect scales. In this way, we show that scale transformations affect the model’s dynamics up to a qualitative level. This means that if two researchers use the same opinion dynamics model and even the same dataset, they could make totally different predictions just because they followed different renormalization processes. A similar situation appears if two different scales are used to measure opinions even on the same population. This effect may be as strong as providing an uncertainty of 100% on the simulation’s output (i.e., all results are possible). Still, by using perfect scales, we show that scales transformations can be used to perfectly transform one model to another. We test this using two models from the standard literature. Finally, we test the effect of scale transformation in the case of finite precision using a 7-points Likert scale. In this way, we show how a relatively small-scale transformation introduces both changes at the qualitative level (i.e., the most shared opinion at the end of the simulation) and in the number of opinion clusters. Thus, scale transformation appears to be a third degree of freedom of opinion dynamics models. This result deeply impacts both theoretical research on models' properties and on the application of models on real-world data.

Keywords: degrees of freedom, empirical validation, opinion scale, opinion dynamics

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Authors: Shivani Verma, Amit Agrawal, Pankaj Kumar Meena, Ashish B. Deoghare

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Over the decade robotics has been a major area of interest among the researchers and scientists in reducing human efforts. The need for robots to replace human work in different dangerous fields such as underground mining, nuclear power station and war against terrorist attack has gained huge attention. Most of the robot design is based on human structure popularly known as humanoid robots. However, the problems encountered in humanoid robots includes low speed of movement, misbalancing in structure, poor load carrying capacity, etc. The simplification and adaptation of the fundamental design principles seen in animals have led to the creation of bio-inspired robots. But the major challenges observed in naturally inspired robot include complexity in structure, several degrees of freedom and energy storage problem. The present work focuses on design and fabrication of a bionic quadruped walking robot which is based on different joint of quadruped mammals like a dog, cheetah, etc. The design focuses on the structure of the robot body which consists of four legs having three degrees of freedom per leg and the electronics system involved in it. The robot is built using readily available plastics and metals. The proposed robot is simple in construction and is able to move through uneven terrain, detect and locate obstacles and take images while carrying additional loads which may include hardware and sensors. The robot will find possible application in the artificial intelligence sector.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, bionic, quadruped robot, degree of freedom

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Authors: Rafael Tedrus Bento

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The analysis of proportionality as a test is raised as a basic foundation for the achievement of Fundamental Rights. We used legal dogmatics and empirical analysis to seek the expected results, from the reading of the RV Oakes trial by the Supreme Court of Canada. In cases involving freedom of expression, two tests are used to resolve disputes. The first examines whether, in fact, the case can be characterized as a violation of freedom of expression; the second assesses whether this violation can be justified by the reasonable limit clause. This test was defined in the RV Oakes trial by the Supreme Court of Canada, concluding with the Oakes Test, used worldwide as a proportionality test. Resulting is a proportionality between the effects of the limiting measure and the objective - the more serious the harmful effects of a measure, the more important the objective must be.

Keywords: Oakes, proportionality, fundamental rights, Supreme Court of Canada

Procedia PDF Downloads 120