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Copyright of Universitas, Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas is the property of Universidad Politecnica Salesiana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Journal of New Economics & Social Sciences (IJONESS) is the property of International Institute of Innovation Science-Education-Development in Warsaw and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article analyses aspects of representation and legitimacy of Caffee Oromia (the legislative council of the Oromia National Regional State) within Ethiopia's electoral authoritarian political landscape. The article sheds light on the interplay between the Caffee, elected representatives and constituencies in Ethiopia's 'democratisation' experiment within the post-1991 federal system. The empirical data for this research were collected from five zones in Oromia, namely East and West Guji, Borana, West Wallaga and Oromia Special zone surrounding Finfinne between February 2019 and June 2020 through qualitative research methodology. Leaders of indigenous institution (Gadaa system), community members, elders, members of the Caffee and local government authorities were interviewed. Ten Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and 30 key informant interviews were conducted with purposively selected informants. The research findings show that there is a big rift between the elected representatives and their constituencies in terms of representation, accountability and communication whereby party loyalty overrides representatives' accountability to the constitution, constituencies and conscience. Thus, Ethiopia exemplifies electoral authoritarianism both at national and sub-national levels, whereby election is used as a strategy of power consolidation of the ruling party rather than as a democratic exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Constitution of the Republic of Albania sets down that the members of parliament must number 140, elected from multi-nominal electoral districts corresponding to the administrative division of the country and according to a proportional regional formula. In general, as elsewhere, the constitution does not reference the ratio between the number of members and the size of the population. However, members are representatives of the people and, as such, there is a direct relationship between the size of the population and the number of members of the representative body. This article starts from the idea that 25 years after the constitution's approval, it is time to reconsider the number of its members. The population is changing because of emigration and birth rates, and while emigrants are still part of electoral lists, the state has not given them the proper tools to exercise the right to vote. On the other hand, the proportional formula has created a lack of contact and confidence between representatives and the population. For this reason, the question addressed here is whether it is time to have fewer political representatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article points to the kinematic parameters of the block start in the position "Set" and in the "First step after the shot" between female representatives of the Slovak Republic in athletics. The tested subjects were 22 finalists of the SR Championship for adults, juniors, and teenagers. Nonparametric procedures were selected based on the assessment of the normality of the distribution of the files. We use descriptive statistics to present the parameters. The relationships between the kinematic variables and the first step speed are assessed by Spearman's correlation coefficient "rs". The non-parametric algorithm CHAID - Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detector and Trees was used for the construction of decision trees. This technique can be used to predict, classify and detect interactions between variables. We present the regression parameters for the models. The results were processed in MS Excel and IBM SPSS Modeler. Our findings and conclusions are formulated on the basis of objective and logical evaluation of the obtained results. Using the tree method, kinematic indicators were selected that showed high closeness to the first step speed. The slope of the back block (angle 1), the height of the pelvis (length 5) and the distance of the first block to the starting line (length 1) entered the regression model of women at the attention command to the first step speed. The first step speed after the shot was determined by the distance of the first step from the first block (length 4) and the angle in the knee joint of the front leg (angle 10). The obtained results are closely related to the specificity of the deliberate selection of sets of sprinters, to which their current performance or block start technical level. Since these are representatives of the Slovak Republic, the obtained results can be used as a guideline for the technical improvement of the block start of other athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Sports Creativity is the property of Journal of Sports Creativity and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This introduction outlines how the authors of the present special issue share not an eloquence-centred but a more encompassing, interactive, embodied and experience-oriented interpretation of political performance as their heuristic prism. Through this lens, they analyze vocal expectations and deviations in political debates that took place in a few different national and imperial contexts of the long nineteenth century. Their approach reveals what parliamentarians, state-officials and/or journalists perceived as (un)-acceptable speech modes and, more broadly, as 'proper' audible and visible political representative practices of the time. Here, we introduce the theoretical and methodological framework employed by the contributors to explore speech as just one but integral part of political performance, and its audience as a multi-layered community, (in)efficiently reimagined, represented and embodied by those in power. Because the timeframes of these analyses mostly predate the focal point that has commonly been central to European histories of political discourse on representation, the authors have challenged themselves to consider important (dis)-continuities and dichotomies in European political culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political representation is often understood as a static entity; thus, its mutable dimensions have been neglected. In addition, when considering liberal post-revolutionary politics in the nineteenth century, scholars have given most of their attention to the accounts of this period forwarded by liberal elites, thereby taking the voices of those represented for granted. As such, these analysing deputies are disconnected from their electors outside the election processes. This article analyses political representation as a process and considers the voices of representatives and those represented. From a conceptual perspective, it examines notions and terms used by Spanish deputies and electors in the mid-nineteenth century to refer to one another. The enactment of these concepts is placed at the core of their meaning. That is, their meaning changes according to the speaker, the receiver and the context. In conclusion, the author finds that, when electors were mobilized on behalf of their requests, and thus insisted on apt representation, deputies – regardless of their political ideology – acknowledged their right to seek accountability. Therefore, accountability was recognized. When those explicit claims were not raised, accountability was undermined by the deputies, who tended to be disconnected from the voters and prioritized being accountable to their peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. The article is devoted to the analysis of the Orenburg steppe concept and its representatives into English. The aim of the study is to analyze the possible ways of translation of the representatives of this concept. Materials and methods. To achieve the goal, the following methods and analysis techniques were used: method of continuous sampling, descriptive method, the method of linguoculturological analysis, comparative method. Works of fiction about the Orenburg region and their translations into English, as well as data from bilingual and explanatory dictionaries were used for the purpose of the study. Results. The analysis of the Orenburg steppe concept and its representatives revealed certain ethno-specific and cultural features in the mental worldview of native English speakers. Most of the components of the concept “Orenburg Steppe” have a similar denotative meaning, while the connotative meaning is either absent or different. This is due to the lack of these realities in the English language. Having analyzed the materials of literary texts about the Orenburg region and its translations, it should be noted that the representatives of the Orenburg steppe concept are a verbalization of the inner state of the author and his attitude to the steppe. Each statement forms a cognitive picture of the author’s world of the work. Practical implications. The results of the study can be used in theory and practice of translation, as well as in region-oriented translation studies.

Intergenerational justice is an inherent component of nuclear waste management. By looking at challenges of intergenerational justice at various stages of the repository siting process, the following thesis is discussed: Current generations can anticipate notions of intergenerational justice by applying high procedural standards to enable equitable distribution between generations and thus adequately recognize the needs of future generations. Applying high standards in this context means a constantly critical, reflexive, and open process, without bias or selfishness. This requires representative bodies such as the German Council of the Young Generation (‘Rat der jungen Generation’) that act as a bridge to future generations.

Copyright of Journal for Technology in Theory & Practice / Zeitschrift für Technikfolgenabschätzung in Theorie und Praxis (TATuP) is the property of Oekom Verlag GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Comparative Politics is the property of Journal of Comparative Politics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Reciprocity is a (proto)social mechanism that involves (im)politeness as a balance of positive and negative actions among individuals: doing something good to someone is expected to be reciprocated in kind (cf. Culpeper & Tantucci 2021). The same applies for negatively charged behaviour (Culpeper & Tantucci 2021). The present study advances the theory of reciprocity both empirically and theoretically, as it extends the model to contexts of information transmission, i.e. cases where some news is being communicated from one interlocutor to another. What we found is that the way people react to 'being informed of something' remarkably involves (im)politeness and is mediated by two maxims of epistemic reciprocity: Engagement E (be interested) maxim and Knowledge exchange K e maxim (be interesting in return). Our case study is centred on Chinese telephone conversations among family members and shows that the costs and benefits realised by an information giver are matched by the information receiver when a propositional contribution to the current flow of information is produced in return. Conversely, when responses occur via bare backchanneling or absence of informative contribution to the on-going interaction, then reciprocity is not properly maintained, and perceptions of impoliteness are more likely to arise. Despite the context-dependent nature of our data, we will further argue that this finding has cross-cultural significance. Our methods triangulate between Likert-scale judgments, large scale corpus-based analysis and multivariate conditional inference tree modelling (Levshina 2015; Tantucci 2021). • The way people react to 'being informed of something' involves (im)politeness. • Information receivers are expected to reciprocate the costs and benefits of information givers. • Epistemic reciprocity is based on the general Principle of (im)politeness reciprocity. • Epistemic reciprocity involves the Engagement E (be interested) maxim and the K e (be interesting in return) maxim. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gene expression refers to the process in which the gene information is used in the functional gene product synthesis. They basically encode the proteins which in turn dictate the functionality of the cell. The first step in gene expression study involves the clustering usage. This is due to the reason that biological networks are very complex and the genes volume increases the comprehending challenges along with the data interpretation which itself inhibit vagueness, noise and imprecision. For a biological system to function, the essential cellular molecules must interact with its surrounding including RNA, DNA, metabolites and proteins. Clustering methods will help to expose the structures and the patterns in the original data for taking further decisions. The traditional clustering techniques involve hierarchical, model based, partitioning, density based, grid based and soft clustering methods. Though many of these methods provide a reliable output in clustering, they fail to incorporate huge data of gene expressions. Also, there are statistical issues along with choosing the right method and the choice of dissimilarity matrix when dealing with gene expression data. We propose to use a modified clustering algorithm using representatives (M-CURE) in this work which is more robust to outliers as compared to K-means clustering and also able to find clusters with size variances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the work is to analyze neo-baroque features in modern Ukrainian art. The research methodology is based on the principles of logic, abstractness and scientificity. The general theoretical research methods are used in the work: synthesis, induction, analysis, deduction. Particular attention is paid to the use of special art methods, including formalstylistic, structural analysis and semantic approach. With the help of the historical method it was possible to trace the longevity of neo-baroque traditions. As a result of using the comparative method, neo-baroque samples of Ukrainian art were analyzed and compared. Scientific novelty. The article comprehensively analyzes the development of neo-baroque as a separate style in modern Ukrainian art studios, but the main vector is made for the analysis of modern Ukrainian painting. Conclusions. Neo-Baroque from the XIX century, proposed several new principles, that contradicted the principles of the „official” classicism. In particular, neo-baroque culture led to the rejection of a single, systematic, simple model and formed a view of the world as a fragmentary plurality. Ukrainian neo-baroque became a natural stage in the national tradition, which turned to its origins and formed complex relationships with other art forms. Therefore, the significance of this style is significant given the further development of contemporary art. Among contemporary artists who turn to the Baroque traditions, such figures as V. Ryabchenko, K. Reunov, A. Savadov, O. Tistol, S. Panych. and others are important. Some neo-baroque features are contained in the works of M. Storozhenko, Y. Lutskevich, D. Yablonsky, etc. The development of the neo-baroque has become so popular in contemporary art that even Ukrainian designers are actively incorporating Baroque principles into their works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is devoted to the identification and research of the basic concepts and their representatives, reproduced in the educational discourse of the Federal Republic of Germany in the practice of learning German as a foreign language. The educational discourse is a system of value-semantic communication of the subjects of the educational process (I.S. Artyukhova). This system is mobile, exists in educational environments of different levels, includes participants of the discourse, educational aims, values and content. The analysis presented in the article is based on the material of the German-language textbook for foreigners of the elementary level «Berliner Platz 1 NEU», used in many universities, language centers and linguistic clubs of Germany and Russia. The relevance of this research is determined by the need to study the verbalization of the linguistic and cultural policy of modern Germany, aimed at the active influx of foreigners, their socio-culturally and linguistically assimilation in the host country, which is reflected in the modern German-language educational discourse. The aim of the research is to identify and describe the basic concepts presented in the educational discourse of Germany on the material of the textbook «Berliner Platz 1 NEU» as a typical textbook of the German language of the elementary level, as well as the linguistic analysis of the lexical elements representing these concepts, therefore, the conceptual analysis of educational discourse is chosen as the main research method. The theoretical basis of the research was the scientific works by N. D. Arutyunova, V. I. Karasik, V. Z. Demyankov, E. S. Kubryakova, E. A. Selivanova and other scientists in the field of discourse analysis and cognitive linguistics. As the result of the research, the basic concepts that form the cognitive base in the minds of foreigners learning German language are identified, the representatives of these concepts that mark the educational discourse of Germany as a whole are analyzed and systematized. This research is interdisciplinary and is applicable for discursive and cognitive research of various educational discourses in linguistics and related humanities.

The role of consultation in the success of the organization of a state. It is a source of the beauty of a democratic state. Consultation has an important place in every stable state. Allah Almighty has commanded his last Holy Prophet ﷺ for consultation in the Holy Quran, with his companions like other Prophets. The Holy Prophet ﷺ always ran his important affairs of state after laking opinions with his companions. He cleared the importance by his sayings and act. All modern democratic States should gain practical guidance from the Prophet Seerah. Giving importance to the opinion of the people’s representatives and making decisions in the light of their opinions reduces the gap between the government and the people and this is vital for an organized state.

Considering the indispensable role pragmatic knowledge plays in not only comprehending L2 materials, but also in making and maintaining proper communication, and the fact that Iranian EFL learners are primarily exposed to the target language through textbooks, this research intended to discern how frequently and appropriately Politeness Markers (PMs), Speech Acts (SAs), and Language Functions (LFs) are being incorporated in newly-published Iranian high school English textbooks: Prospect and Vision Series. Furthermore, the study set out to investigate the possible relations between the level of the textbooks and the frequency of pragmatic components being included. To this end, 172 conversations of the aforementioned textbooks were thoroughly analyzed to determine the frequency of the PMs based on House and Kasper (1981) taxonomy, the frequency of SAs based on Searle's (1979) paradigm, and the frequency of LFs according to Halliday’s (1978) framework. Findings revealed that Committers were the most frequently-used PMs, Representatives and Directives were the most commonly-used SAs, and Informatives enjoyed the highest frequency among LFs. The results also indicated that these pragmatic components were not equally distributed throughout the conversations and no significant relationship existed between level of the textbooks and frequency of the pragmatic elements. In addition to the consciousness-raising dimension of the study, material developers might be able to appropriately represent and include pragmatic information into their materials. Moreover, teachers might also be able to amend and modify their adopted approaches to foreign language teaching and adjust them to accommodate potential learner styles and their preferences.

Comparative analysis of the specifics of representation of the concept of LERNEN as a cognitive dominant of the educational discourse in the modern German language textbooks of elementary level for foreigners was carried out. The aim of this research is to identify lexical elements marking the educational discourse of Germany and verbalizing the concept of LERNEN in the textbooks. In line with this aim, the following tasks were set: to reveal and categorize lexical elements representing the concept of LERNEN in all structural components of the selected textbooks; to quantify the revealed representatives and show their relations graphically; to perform both qualitative and comparative analysis of the representatives of the thematic groups of each textbook separately and in comparison with each other. The main method used during the research was conceptual analysis of the educational discourse on the basis of the textbooks of elementary level. The obtained results demonstrate that the representatives of the concept of LERNEN can be divided into 13 thematic groups. Their quantitative ratio was established on the basis of the textbooks. The thematic groups with a predominant number of representatives were determined. All lexical elements representing the concept of LERNEN were qualitatively investigated and their positions in the educational discourse were established. We found the ways of representing the concept of LERNEN as a large and crucial cognitive dominant and marking it with the help of the studied representatives associated with not only the modern educational discourse in the field of foreign languages learning, but also with the educational policy of Germany in general, which is highly relevant because of the high attraction and active influx of foreign students, tourists, and migrants to Germany. The results obtained are of great importance for further research of the cognitive basis of modern German language textbooks.

The paper discusses the probate and the procedure of liquidation of debts, and the usurpation of peasant settlements of deceased Bakir-beg Tuzlic. The process of liquidation of debts was conducted before the District Sharia Court in Tuzla. Bakir-beg Tuzlic was the last descendant of the captain and bey family Tuzlic, who as a landowner played a significant role in the economic and political life of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Austro-Hungarian rule. This is a time with many temptations for the entire population of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and especially for Bosniaks, who did not accept the fact that they fell under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. For this reason, a number of other problems arose. Bosniak landowners were particularly dissatisfied with their status, although they were politically privileged to some extent by the Austro-Hungarian authorities. The biggest problem, however, was the constant attack on their estates by the peasants, who sought the opportunity to occupy peasants and bay’s lands, to which the bey's landowners opposed. Nevertheless, the process of buying and usurping the lands took place throughout the Austro-Hungarian administration, which greatly weakened the bey's class economically. The attempt to economically stabilize the beys required taking loans that were unfavorable from the aspect of high interest rates, which additionally brought this class into an unenviable economic and political position. Such was the case with Bakir-beg Tuzlic, one of the largest landowners in Bosnia and Herzegovina and a representative of Bosniaks in political life during that period. Such a situation was especially visible, after his death in 1910, and the conduct of the procedure of liquidation of debts and redemption of the cift (land) of the deceased Bakir-beg Tuzlic. The stated debts and the decline of the property of Bakir-beg Tuzlic are a confirmation of the economic weakening and unsustainability of the landowner, bey class in the Austro-Hungarian period. After the death of Bakir-beg Tuzlic, his property and lands were decimated, which brought his heirs to an unenviable economic position and status.

Civil participation is the main component of effective governance. The topicality of this paper lies in civil participation in decision-making defined by the principles of “new public governance” of the 21st century. This study aims to analyze the impact of civil participation in decision-making on waste management at the municipal level. In this work, the following aspects were considered: theoretical assumptions of civil participation; civil participation in the activities of institutions responsible for environmental protection; issues regarding the development of opportunities of citizens’ involvement in municipal waste management. The article is devoted to the theoretical assumptions about civil participation, theoretical model of analysis, and activity of institutions. To develop a theoretical model of analysis, a classification of civil participation was carried out. Among the methods used, one can mention the questionnaire. The analysis was focused on a legal basis for the activity of institutions; the actual activity of institutions and survey of representatives of the national environmental authorities in Lithuania. The results showed that currently there is no mechanism in Lithuania to ensure civil participation in municipal waste management. Civil participation is still formal and limited. Overall, citizens are informed about the decisions made, but they do not participate actively in decision-making. The analysis of civil participation capacity in waste management leads to the conclusion that Lithuania has no single mechanism to ensure civil participation in waste management. To enhance civil participation in decision-making on waste management, it is suggested to set up a council where the representatives of civil population are delegated.

For half a century, the analysis of the size of national assemblies was dominated by the famous cube-root relation with the population. However, a revisitation of that historical work with a physicist’s approach reveals basic conceptual problems that fatally undermine its conclusions. Furthermore, the assembly size evaluation exceeds the accuracy of all power equations, which cannot be reliably used for political analysis.

Background: To explore the influences of pharmaceutical companies on prescription practices and to find out types of incentives of pharmaceutical companies on medical doctors in private and public hospitals in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan Methods: A qualitative exploratory study was conducted in 06 months May-Oct: 2017 in Islamabad (Capital City of Pakistan). Data were collected from doctors and pharmaceuticals representatives through snowballing sampling techniques through open ended questionnaire in which In-depth interviews were taken. In depth interviews were recorded, transcribed and coded. Qualitative sub-component was included to triangulate the data, sub themes and themes were generated. Results: Respondent's prescription is a basically document in which we suggest minimum effective medication therapy to the patient, that is also cost effective and give maximum treatment to the patient. Few of the respondents are also agreeing on the point that most of the times patient itself influences to prescribe the particular product. Patient itself influences to prescribe the particular product that is redundant in its treatment regimen. Other respondents stated that prescription is varying from patient to patient and our priority is to give the medicine to the patient which shows good efficacy. Conclusion: Most doctors were maintaining protocol of prescription and using brand name of medicine. Pharmacists were visiting them on regular basis conditionally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hebron University Research Journal (Humanities) is the property of Hebron University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

While organizations strive for ethical conduct, the activity of negotiating offers strong temptations to employ unethical tactics and secure benefits for one's own party. In four experiments, we examined the role of constituency communication in terms of their attitudes towards (un)ethical and competitive conduct on negotiators' willingness and actual use of unethical tactics. We find that the mere presence of a constituency already increased representatives' willingness to engage in unethical behavior (Experiment 1). More specifically, a constituency communicating liberal (vs. strict) attitudes toward unethical conduct helps negotiators to justify transgressions and morally disengage from their behavior, resulting in an increased use of unethical negotiation tactics (Experiment 2–3). Moreover, constituents' endorsement of competitive strategies sufficed to increase moral disengagement and unethical behavior of representative negotiators in a similar fashion (Experiment 4ab). Our results caution organizational practice against advocating explicit unethical and even competitive tactics by constituents: it eases negotiators' moral dilemma towards unethical conduct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subject matter of the paper is an analysis of the semantic relations between sentence negation, performative negation, and declarations in reference to utterances which speech acts theory gives the label of representatives. Apart from linguistic-semantic analyses, empirical studies have been conducted on the manner in which sentence negation and performative negation are processed. The results of Study I demonstrate that the semantic relation between sentence negation and performative negation changes depend on the type of comment (positive vs. negative), and contextual factors (type of expectations towards events being commented on). As it turned out, when the situational context suggests a negative comment by the sender, participants offer similar interpretations of utterances with sentence negation and performative negation. In Study II the participants assessed the likelihood of the occurrence of the facts spoken of by a sender who uses sentence negation or performative negation. In a context suggesting positive utterances by the sender, a clear difference emerged between sentence negation and performative negation. This difference was not present in respect of negative expectations. The results achieved confirm the assumptions of the model of conversational inference regarding the influence of context on interpretation of a message. The recorded results indicate the semantic relations between declarations, sentence negation, and performative negation, which change depending on the affective significance of the message and contextual factors.

This study investigated the effect of group representatives on contribution behaviour in response to group members' requests in repeated public goods games. Data came from 135 students in 15 groups enrolled in the experiment, grouped in the following treatments: no group representatives (NR, NRG) and group representatives (R1, R2). We also tested initial requests wherein the group members' initial requests (i.e. NRG, R2) mediated the positive relationship between individual-level contribution preferences and group contributions. We used a fixed-effects GLS regression and IV regression to analyse the effect of group representatives and group members' requests. The results indicated the following: (a) rotating group representative/group members' requests was related to group contributions at the session (within-members) and group (between-group) levels; (b) the reactions to members' requests positively predicted group contributions; (c) subjects in the no group representatives treatment formed their requests by relying more on previous group contributions than subjects in the group representatives treatment, who relied more on the previous group members' requests; and (d) the initial requests explained long-term contribution levels, which resulted in variations in group contributions observed between the NRG and R2 treatments. Our findings highlight the role of rotating group representatives in stimulating cooperation among members, while group members' requests impel individuals to make contribution decisions at the group level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of consultation in the success of organization of a state. It is a source of beauty of a democratic state. Consultation has an importance place in every stable state. Allah Almighty has commanded his last Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم for consultation in the Holy Quran, with his companions like other Prophets. The Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم always ran his important affairs of state after laking opinions with his companions. He cleared the importance by his sayings and act. All modern democratic States should gain practical guidance from the Prophet Seerah. Giving importance to the opinion of the people’s representatives and making decisions in the light of their opinions reduces the gap between the government and the people and this is vital for a organized state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Merchants in late medieval Antwerp worked with a number of different representatives: They appointed proxies to trade on their behalf, to collect debts in their name or to represent them in court. If a merchant wanted to authorize another person to act on his behalf, he went to a notary who issued a letter of procuration. The article discusses the role of Roman law in these procurations. It contrasts the procurations issued by the notaries with other models for procurations found in a form book for notaries in Antwerp. The analysis comes to the conclusion that the basic idea of installing a proxy did not rely on Roman law. However, knowledge of Roman law was crucial if someone wanted to be represented in a Roman law court. Furthermore, concepts derived from Roman law were applied when complicated problems or phenomena had to be shortened to a few words. In sum, the practice of including phrases and concepts of Roman law wherever they proved useful can be regarded as a part of the lex mercatoria, the customary law of merchants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-dimensional (3D) salient point detection is a fundamental problem in computer graphics and computer vision. We propose a new method using the Laplace–Beltrami eigenfunctions for detecting the salient points of 3D models. We compute the extrema of the low-frequency Laplace–Beltrami eigenfunctions and remove the redundancy of the extrema. Merging the extrema of the eigenfunctions, we keep the extrema appearing simultaneously on no less than a certain number of eigenfunctions as the candidate salient points. Clustering these extrema, we consider the representatives of the clusters as the final salient points. Our experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is effective for 3D salient point detection. Besides that, some experiments are also conducted to verify that the proposed method is insensitive to small boundary noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the presence of women has been increasing in several parliaments around the world, we still do not know much about the consequences that their presence has for policy representation. Relying on a rich comparative dataset on prospective MPs' policy preferences in 12 countries and 87 political parties collected between 2006 and 2012 within the Comparative Candidates Survey, this article aims to understand how political parties interplay with prospective MPs' sex to affect the latter's policy preferences. Our results show that the descriptive representation of women makes a difference for policy representation, (i) mainly (though not only) when issues that particularly affect women are at stake and (ii) only concerning issues around which political parties do not yet have settled positions (i.e. uncrystallized issues). There are therefore empirical grounds to support an imposed representation of minority groups to deal with issues that are new on the political agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study is to investigate three authors quoted by Scribonius Largus in his Compositiones: first, Apuleius Celsus, praeceptor of Scribonius and (Vettius) Valens; second, Paccius Antiochus, the author, among other compound medicines, of the renowned Antidotos hiera; third, Philonides Catinensis, of whom Paccius was auditor. An outlook survey on Apuleius Celsus, starting from a working hypothesis by Ioannes Rhodius, which was later neglected by this great academic, supplies new and sometimes surprising insights and contributes to an unpredictable proposal of identity. The three authors represent studies and activities between the end of the first century B.C. and the first century A.D., in the sphere of medicine in republican and imperial Sicily. With the help of passages in the writings of authors drawn on by Galen, aspects and characteristics of the three authors are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In our study, we have presented the main theories regarding political representation, as they are expressed in the French doctrine, and also in the Anglo-Saxon doctrine, and the way these theories have underlay the perceiving of politics. In our analysis, we have focused on the most representative ideas expressed by authors like Sieyes, Rousseau, Hobbes and Locke and have presented the way in which these authors contributed to the theoretical substantiation of this theory. The theories regarding the political representation have evolved during the time, as society also did, adapting permanently to the interests or the represented, and being influenced by the role of the representatives, creating what today is called representative democracy.

The aim of this study is the formation of clusters in terms of autonomy with the identification of their representatives and the formation of the main indicators (options) of development. The article singles out five homogeneous groups in terms of development of autonomy of the higher education system, and analyzes their main characteristics. To study the specific features of each group, representative countries are identified for each of them, including the higher education systems of Norway, Italy, Finland, Poland and France. Based on the analysis of the representatives, the dominants in the development of each autonomy dimension are defined. A comparative analysis of the autonomy of the system of higher education of the representative countries was carried out, which showed that autonomy of the higher education system is a multidimensional phenomenon, and one cannot say that only autonomy can provide advantages in the competitive struggle in the market of educational services.

Hendrik Swellengrebel, Cape-born Utrecht gentleman, farmer and administrator and visitor at the Cape (1776-1777), functioned as informal informant, mediator and critic of both the Cape Patriot Movement (1778 onwards) and the VOC officials, at the Cape and in Amsterdam, using his extensive network of correspondents, both at the Cape and in the Dutch Republic. In essence, he agreed with the Patriots' complaints about the lack of personal rights and freedom of trade, but he also tried to convince the Representatives of the Patriots Movement (1779) to give up the counter-productive personal invectives against high Company officials. Simultanously Swellengrebel tried to restrain the reactions of the Company administrators. The top officials of the Company were conservatives, afraid of any burgher rights, and too busy with politics in the Dutch Republic and international relations (War with England in 1780-1784). Therefore decisions on the Patriot Requests and even moderate changes were delayed (and therefore creating more burgher actions). Even Swellengrebel's offer to be nominated as Governor and then to reorganise the Cape was opposed, and declined by the Opperbewindhebber Stadholder William V himself. This article describes decades of discussion and policies around the Cape and the Cape Patriots, behind the scenes of the VOC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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We present an extension of FDR, the model checker for the process algebra CSP, that exploits symmetry to reduce the size of the state space searched. We define what it means for a process to be symmetric with respect to a group of permutations on the transition labels. We factor the state space of the search by symmetry equivalence, mapping each state to a representative of its equivalence class, thereby considering all symmetric states together. We prove a powerful syntactic result, identifying conditions under which a process will be symmetric in a particular type. We show how to implement such a search using the powerful technique of supercombinators used in the implementation of FDR: we identify conditions on a supercombinator for it to be symmetric and explain how to apply a permutation to a state. Finally, we present a novel efficient technique for calculating representatives of equivalence classes, which normally finds unique representatives; our experiments suggest that this technique typically works faster than other techniques and in particular scales better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]