Academic literature on the topic 'Action brought'

In action theory, emotional actions are standardly treated as exceptions—cases where the “normal” springs of action are not functioning properly. My aim here is to argue that this is not so. We have plenty of evidence—beautifully brought together in the present special issue—that emotions play a crucial and often constitutive role in all the important phases of action preparation and initiation. Most of our actions are less stupid than, say, Zidane’s head-butt (a paradigmatic emotional action), but all of our actions have emotional components. Actions can be more or less emotional, but they are never completely nonemotional.

This paper investigates how talk and practical action are coordinated during one type of activity involving professional communication: the service-­assessment sequence in hair salons. During this activity, a practical inspection of the haircut must be coupled with sequentially produced verbal acts. Our analysis of four examples reveals that there is no fixed relationship between the organization of talk and practical action. Instead, people manipulate this relationship on a moment-by-moment basis, often coordinating the two into a single, integral package, or relying on one stream of action to achieve progress in the other. These findings imply that some multimodal activities that are brought into alignment may have their own, separate and independent procedural logic and sequencing patterns and that these can be brought into play to create or deal with constraints in each other.

This Article examines Congress’s decades-long attempt to ensure that securities class action lawsuits of national importance are litigated in federal courts. The intent is limiting strike suits. Congress attempted to curtail strike suits through the enactment of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (“PSLRA”). The PSLRA required heightened pleading requirements to ensure the validity of federal securities class actions. Instead of solving the dilemma, plaintiffs circumvented the PSLRA by bringing fraud cases as state law claims. To combat the circumvention of the PSLRA, Congress enacted the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act (“SLUSA”). SLUSA federally preempted state law claims based on alleged misrepresentations, untrue statements, or omissions of material facts, requiring them to be brought in federal court. However, SLUSA did not address the concurrent jurisdiction provision of the Securities Act of 1933. This created an anomaly whereby many federal claims under the 1933 Act were brought in state courts, while state fraud claims were required to be brought in federal court. Congress could have addressed this enigma when it enacted the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”). Instead, CAFA, which reformed class actions generally, exempted most securities class actions from its rules. In 2018, the Supreme Court decided Cyan v. Beaver County and allowed 1933 Act claims covered by SLUSA to continue to be brought in state courts. The Court was silent on non-covered securities. This Article recommends how Congress can accomplish its goal of forcing important securities class actions into federal courts.

Since the last 100 years, physicians from many countries have been taking collective action. However, the media, civic groups, and the government have denounced them as inhuman and unethical. This study comprehensively analyzed the background and results of physicians’ collective actions that occurred in countries around the world, and reviewed the issues surrounding them. Among 314 cases in 70 countries discussed in the literature, 180 cases in 65 countries were analyzed. Of these 180 cases, 111 (61.7%) were successful, indicating that collective action has brought favorable results to physicians. Furthermore, 177 out of 301 requirements brought favorable results (58.8%). The main reason for collective actions was ‘improvement of working conditions’, which includes improving the medical and the reimbursement systems, adjusting working hours and wages, increasing manpower, supporting medical research, and improving other working environment and conditions. This study is significant because it provides statistical data on the causes and results of collective actions taken by physicians in countries around the world.

There is little information available concerning whether, and to what extent, migraine-prophylactic agents interfere with the symptoms of migraine attacks. The present study is a placebo-controlled, double-blind study concerning metoprolol in classic migraine. The data refer to the symptoms of single migraine attacks. During metoprolol treatment more attacks were characterized as mild ( p = 0.002), and mean global rating (an integrated estimate of headache intensity and of other discomfort) was lower (4.2 versus 5.2, p = 0.003). The mean headache intensity per attack (1.97 versus 2.15) and the mean duration (5.5 versus 6.8 h) were not significantly different. Consumption of analgesics per attack was lower during metoprolol treatment (0.6 versus 1.1; p = 0.02). Attacks with associated symptoms accompanying the headache were fewer during metoprolol treatment ( p = 0.014). Total visual and non-visual aura symptoms occurred with similar frequency, but scintillations and paraesthesia were more frequent during metoprolol treatment, whereas speech disturbances were less frequent. In spite of lower consumption of analgesics, the symptoms appeared milder during metoprolol than during placebo. The pattern of changes indicates that metoprolol exerts its action via the sympathetic nervous system; peripheral vasoconstriction is hardly the underlying mechanism of action.

If God brings about an event in the universe, does it have a preceding cause? For example, if the universe began with the Big Bang and if God brought it about, did the Big Bang then have a preceding cause? The standard answer is: yes, it was caused by a divine willing. I propose an alternative view: God’s actions, unlike human actions, are not initiated by willings, undertakings, or volitions, but God brings about the intended event directly. Presenting a solution to the dilemma of free will I explain what ‘bringing about directly’ means and show that the question of what an action begins with is distinct from the question whether it is a basic action.

AbstractI criticize Block's examples of P-consciousness and A-consciousness for being flawed and the notion of A-consciousness for not being a notion of consciousness at all. I argue that an empirically important distinction can be made between behavior that is supported by an underlying conscious experience and behavior that is brought about by nonconscious action-control mechanisms. This distinction is different from that made by Block.

THIS article challenges the commonly expressed view that shareholders wishing to bring a derivative action on behalf of the company must have “clean hands” ie that there must be nothing in the shareholders behaviourwhich renders it unjust to allow the derivative action to proceed. While minority shareholders’ misbehaviour might well have consequences for themselves, such as requiring the repayment of dividends known to have been paid unlawfully, those actions ought, in the normal course of events, to be irrelevant for the purpose of deciding whether to allow a derivative action to proceed. This article suggests some circumstances in which a minority shareholder’s situation or actions may affect the decision to allow a derivative action brought by that particular shareholder to proceed, but these do not spring from the clean hands doctrine, but rather from the particular factual circumstances of the case or from an entirely proper desire on the court’s part to use the derivative action only where it is necessary to achieve justice for the company

There have been recent contributions to the world city literature and the new economic geography literature that have focused on city connectivity and practicebased research, through concepts such as city actor-networks, relational geographies and project-led enquiries. As this literature is developing, this thesis aims to analyse and contribute to it by providing an empirical focus in two main themes that have so far been marginalised in these literatures – the city of Sydney, and the cultural industries. An alternative conceptualisation of world cities, namely ‘new urbanism’, which employs Actor-Network Theory, will be utilised in this thesis to ask the question, what are the actants of Sydney’s cultural industries (specifically the film and TV production industry), and how are they enrolled to create the spacing and timing of Sydney’s actor-networks? By answering this question, this thesis will contribute to the knowledge in three ways: theoretically, by adding weight to the alternative concepts of new urbanism and relational economic geographies; empirically, by studying two themes that have been hitherto underdeveloped in the existing literature; and methodologically, through new developing empirical agendas that cover the quantification of Sydney’s world city network and ANT-inspired ethnographic, ‘project-based’ enquiry.

This thesis explores solo performance in New Zealand. That solo performance has been widely used in New Zealand's relatively brief theatre history is usually ascribed to the economy, manoeuvrability and adaptability of the form - common reasons for the popularity of solo performance elsewhere as well. But this thesis considers solo performance as a kind of theatre that has been suited to New Zealand in a distinctive way. In particular, I argue that solo performance has emerged on the margins of mainstream theatre in New Zealand as a means of actively engaging with a sense of isolation that typifies the post-colonial New Zealand experience. The ability of the solo performance to move between remote rural settlements and urban centres has connected these New Zealand communities in a way that is unusual for theatre in New Zealand. Furthermore, a solo performer speaking directly to an audience about the experience of living in New Zealand allows for an intimate interaction with a traditionally stoic and laconic masculine society. In this thesis, I make a case for three solo performances where it is possible to see, in the representation of a search for what it means to be a New Zealander, a theatrical contribution to nation-building: The End of the Golden Weather (1959), Coaltown Blues (1984) and Michael James Manaia (1991). However, in a subsequent chapter, I look at solo performances in New Zealand that might better be understood within global movements such as feminism and multiculturalism. I argue that this shift has depleted the power that the form once held to comment upon New Zealand identity and to assist in the search for national identity. I conclude the thesis by considering how ongoing theatre practice may be informed by the experience of solo performance in New Zealand.

Private enforcement follow-on actions may discourage cartel members from applying to leniency. To prevent the undermining of this public enforcement tool, it is necessary to find a proper articulation between damages actions and leniency programmes. This paper investigates, in light of the Damages Directive on actions for damages for infringements of competition law, what can be expected from the new framework for the disclosure of evidence and, particularly, from the application of Article’s 6(4) proportionality test to decide the disclosure of leniency documets. It starts off by analysing the state of the art before 2015 and continues to assess the novelties in disclosure of evidence brought by the Directive. It will evaluate the changes on access to leniency material under Portuguese Law, by examining the current Portuguese competition law and the Portuguese Private Damages Act, and the effect it can have in this Member State’s legal system. This paper further examines the principles which should be considered by national judges when striking the proportionality test, comparing European fundamental rights with the principles found in rulings from the Court of Justice of the European Union. This contribution will result in a suggestion of some criteria to be considered by national civil courts when determining third party access to leniency documents.

<p>The fifty years of experience of construction of cable-stayed bridges since their establishment as a new category among the classical types have brought an immense progress, ranging from design and conception to materials, analysis, construction, observation and retrofitting. The growing construction of cable-stayed bridges has also triggered researchers’ and designers’ attention to the problem of cable vibrations. Intensive research has been developed all over the world during the last two decades as a consequence of the numerous cases of cable vibrations exhibited by all types of cable-stayed bridges.<p>Despite the increased knowledge of the various vibration phenomena, most of the outcomes and research results have been published in journals and conference proceedings and scarce information is currently provided by the existing recommendations and codes. <p>The present book provides a comprehensive survey on the governing phenomena of cable vibration, both associated with direct action of wind and rain: buffeting, vortex-shedding, wake effects, rain-wind vibration; and resulting from the indirect excitation through anchorage oscillation: external and parametric excitation. Methodologies for assessment of the effects of those phenomena are presented and illustrated by practical examples. Control of cable vibrations is then discussed and state-of-art results on the design of passive control devices are presented. <p>The book is complemented with a series of case reports reflecting the practical approach shared by experienced designers and consultants: Yves Bournand (VSL International), Chris Geurts (TNO), Carl Hansvold (Johs. Holt), Allan Larsen (Cowi) and Randall Poston (WDP & Associates).

Recently, public policies of urban regeneration have intensified and multiplied. They are being promoted with the aim to start social and economic dynamics within the local context which is subject to intervention. From the empirical analysis, we realise that such activities are mainly implemented by three subjects or by mixed coalitions (public institutions, actors of the third sector and companies). Within them, each player is moved by a multiplicity of interests and goals that go beyond their own nature – public interest, market and mutualism – and tend to redefine themselves, thus becoming hybrid forms of production of value (social, economic, cultural). By studying a number Italian and Catalan cases, this essay deals with the theory that, under specific conditions and configurations, a collaborative direction – of organization, production and design – would give life to successful procedures, even without the identification of a one-best-way. The collaboration is not simply a choice of operation, but a real production method which mobilises social resources to create hybrid solutions – between state, market and society – to complex issues that could not be faced solely with the use of the rationale of action of one among the three actors. In this framework, the systems of relations and interactions between players and shared capital become an essential condition for the success of every initiative of urban redevelopment, or failure thereof. Such initiatives are brought to life by the strategic role of individuals who foster connections as well as the dissemination of non-redundant information between social networks, and collective and individual actors which would otherwise be separated and barely able to communicate and collaborate with each other. In addition to the functions carried out by knowledge brokers, that have been extensively described in organisational studies and economic sociology, the aforementioned figures act as real social enzymes, that is to say, they handle the available information and function as catalysts of social processes of production of knowledge. Moreover, they increase the reaction speed, working on mechanisms which control the spontaneity.

This chapter discusses articles in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) that provide for actions that are brought directly before the Court. Under Articles 258 and 259 TFEU (ex Articles 226 and 227 EC), respectively, the European Commission and Member States may bring enforcement proceedings against a Member State in breach of Treaty obligations. Article 260 TFEU (ex Article 228 EC) requires compliance with the Court’s judgment. Article 263 TFEU (ex Article 230 EC) concerns judicial review of EU acts. The outcome of a successful action is annulment. Article 265 TFEU (ex Article 232 EC) provides for actions against the EU institutions for failure to act.

In this chapter the author provides a retrospective glance on the material reviewed thus far, and suggests a deeper history of the debates about the nature of divine action among both theologians and philosophers is needed. The author demonstrates the complexity of the debates and the assumptions brought to the table, particularly those assumptions tacit in philosophical queries into the justification of religious belief. He suggests the contours of this particular debate colored the debate on divine action. Following I. M. Crombie, the author argues that theology proper can inform how one thinks about divine actions. Moreover, he argues that theologians and their proposals ought to be considered in the ongoing debate about divine action on their own terms, rather than to be thought secondary to explicitly analytic philosophical arguments and terms for debate.

AbstractCOVID-19 brought the ‘unthinkable’ to our doorstep. The pandemic caused a series of global, and interconnected, health, economic, social, institutional and political crises that are unprecedented in living memory. Political leaders struggled to contain the virus and persuade anxious, weary citizens to behave this or that way in order to overcome a giant collective action problem. This chapter is a primer for the detailed examination of political and policy responses to this impossible challenge. It describes pivotal governance challenges and the constraints operating on the crisis response.

AbstractThe findings from literature in the previous chapters have been brought together in a conceptual framework (see Sect. 10.1007/978-3-030-67130-3_3#Sec13) and an analytical framework for Transformative Social-Ecological Innovation (Sect. 5.1). It’s main purpose is to study the dynamic interplay between actors and institutional structures influencing and inducing institutional change. This chapter furthermore provides a further operationalization of the TSEI analytical framework for analysing shifts in power dynamics (Sect. 5.2), by investigating a series or cluster of closely related action situations and mapping how power dynamics change. An example of TSEI-framework application is provided in Sect. 6.6. Finally, Sect. 5.3 provides a framework for analysing different levels of collective learning, which is considered as one of the key variables for studying the outputs of TSEI. Finally, this chapter highlights some important insights on collaborative action research and related methods (Sect. 5.4).

In January 1846, Wesley Harlan, now nineteen, visits Monrovia, sixty miles northwest of his home. As he walks around the capital, he recalls his arrival in Liberia ten years earlier. Now he’s come to Monrovia to attend a church conference and to witness the legislature in action. Following his visit, Wesley writes to James Moore, a former neighbor in Kentucky. Wesley provides valuable information about the colony and an extensive overview of the major settlements. James Moore later forwards Wesley’s letters to the American Colonization Society, which publishes them in their periodical, The African Repository.

This chapter considers the law relating to strikes and other industrial action. It deals with the historical development of common law and statute in this field to illuminate the current law. The tortious and criminal liabilities flowing from industrial action are considered and the crucial immunity for tortious liability provided by the ‘golden formula’ including the exceptions to this immunity and the preconditions of complying with rules on balloting and notice of industrial action. Picketing is considered in relation to the many legal liabilities and the statutory immunity for some peaceful picketing. The granting of injunctions to stop industrial action is examined. The impact focuses on the effect of industrial action on the individuals employees is considered in relation to their contractual rights and liabilities and the law of unfair dismissal. The relevance of the European Convention on Human Rights is considered as are the changes which will be brought in by the Trade Union Act 2016.

Rule 42 UPCARoP relates to standing to be sued in revocation actions. According to Rule 42, a revocation action must be directed against the patent proprietor. In terms of its meaning, Rule 42 corresponds to Art 47(5) UPCA which stipulates for an action brought by the licensee that the validity of a patent cannot be contested where the patent proprietor does not take part in the proceedings (first clause) and which for the Counterclaim for revocation requires as a mandatory provision the involvement of the patent proprietor. Art 47(6) UPCA merely defines the group of persons entitled to bring an action for an isolated revocation action and makes general reference to the Rules of Procedure without expressly naming the patent proprietor as a necessary defendant.

Robert Lang has brought functionality to origami, the art of paper folding, by developing an extensive series of “action origami” figures. As the name suggests, these figures can perform actions and produce an output motion with the help of manual actuation, unlike traditional origami. For instance, different figures can bite, row, and fly. The goal of this research study is to adapt a few of these action origami figures put forth by Robert Lang to create ‘active’ action origami; these systems, instead of relying on manual actuation for motion, will rely on electro-mechanical actuation. This electro-mechanical actuation will be achieved through the judicious use of an electroactive polymer known as P (VDF-TrFE-CTFE) terpolymer. The terpolymer’s in-plane motion in response to an electric field is converted into bending using a unimorph configuration. This bending motion is exploited to actuate three so-called “action origami” structures: the flapping butterfly, the catapult, and the barking dog. Based on knowledge of the kinematics of the origami structures, multilayered terpolymer actuator is placed strategically on the origami figures with an aim to maximize the resulting actuation motion. In order to understand the behavior, capabilities, and limitations of the terpolymer as an active material, both qualitative and quantitative data are collected from the actuation of these three different action origami structures as a function of number of terpolymer layers, applied electric field and frequency of the applied field. The goal is to find the suitable shapes and crease patterns of the structures as well as the configurations with the terpolymer film to maximize the actuation. These three structures are tested and results show that PVDF-terpolymer is an effective actuator with ability to deform a substrate to a desired shape in the presence of an electric field: the butterfly was able to flap, the mouth of the dog was able to “bark,” and the catapult was able to launch a small ball of paper. Through experimentation, it was determined what parameters affect actuation and furthermore what values of those parameters will maximize the actuation.

Abstract In this work, a new parallel feedforward compensator for the feedback loop of a linear nonminimum-phase system is introduced. Then, analytical statistical arguments between the existing developed methods and the innovated method are brought. The compelling arguments suggest the parallel feedforward compensation with derivative (PFCD) method is a strong method even though at its first survey it seems to be optimistic and not pragmatic. While most of the existing methods offer an optimal integral of squared errors (ISE) for the closed-loop response of the nominal plant, the PFCD offers a finite ISE; in reality, typically, the nominal plant is not of main concern in the controller design and the performance in the presence of mismatch model, noise, and disturbance has priority. In this work, there are several arguments brought to bold the importance of the innovated PFCD design. Also, there is a closed-loop design example to show the PFCD effectiveness in action.

We present RLCard, a Python platform for reinforcement learning research and development in card games. RLCard supports various card environments and several baseline algorithms with unified easy-to-use interfaces, aiming at bridging reinforcement learning and imperfect information games. The platform provides flexible configurations of state representation, action encoding, and reward design. RLCard also supports visualizations for algorithm debugging. In this demo, we showcase two representative environments and their visualization results. We conclude this demo with challenges and research opportunities brought by RLCard. A video is available on YouTube.

At 14:46 on March 11, 2011, massive tsunami waves triggered by the 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku brought destructive damage to Pacific coastal areas. Considering that about 90% of the deaths were related to tsunami wave drowning, it is important to move to heights as quickly as possible to survive tsunami waves. Spatial characteristics, such as the number of evacuation sites, the locations of evacuation sites, the slopes of evacuation routes, and city block morphologies, will constitute factors that greatly affect evacuation behavior. In this study, we consulted disaster victims to understand what kind of evacuation behaviors they exhibited and analyzed those evacuation behaviors based on the regional distribution of evacuation sites as seen from city streets. The obtained results showed that the positional relationships between city blocks and evacuation sites are influential in determining means of evacuation and behavior patterns at the time of evacuation. Accordingly, it was found that an appropriate distribution of evacuation sites in city blocks is required for future coastal areas.

This paper explores the rapidly changing world of higher education and the need for different ways to identify learner outcomes and evaluate student learning. In recent years, higher education has experienced significant demographic shifts in student populations. These shifts were the result of numerous variables including the increasing cost of higher education, the demand from business and industry to get people into high-demand occupations faster, and the decreasing number of individuals choosing post-secondary education immediately following high school. The year 2020 brought unprecedented challenges to the world with the pandemic caused by the coronavirus known as COVID-19. The pandemic accelerated the change that was already taking place in higher education. From how education was delivered to where it was delivered, higher education was forced to rapidly change a centuries-old model. This paper explores a tier one research university’s response to the changes in higher education by employing a proven process of mapping learning outcomes, assessing both new and prior learning using innovative technology, issuing microcredentials, and working with policymakers and employers to meet workforce demands. Keywords: Higher education1; Microcredentials2; Learning outcomes3 Mapping4; Assessment5.

Engineering is a profession that suffers from rapid obsolescence because of constantly new market needs. Therefore, the engineering education curriculum must be adapted to accommodate change and to prepare as well as possible new engineers. To achieve this, Project-Based Learning (PBL) as an active learning methodology, assumes greater importance. PBL has been implemented for a decade (since 2004/05) in the first semester of the first and fourth year of the Master Degree in Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM) at University of Minho, Portugal, by a team of IEM teachers. This paper describes this last decade of teaching, learning and researching in a PBL environment in this degree. PBL engages students in their own learning. In IEM program, PBL also engaged teachers in improving their teaching methods by questioning continuously these. Throughout ten years, the coordination team of IEM program faced many challenges and brought significant contributions to discussion, researching on how PBL process in IEM could be improved and studying different PBL models for different students’ needs. By following this path, this paper disseminates the practices researched in PBL process of IEM program and the benefits founded by applying this learning methodology through an analysis of the results of this research published in international conferences, journals and books (more than 70 publications). In light of the results achieved, as well as feedback from researchers and students, the authors believe that PBL is one of the best practices for student learning and teacher engagement.

Abstract Subsurface pumps and production tubulars are one of the important means for the production of crude oil from the subsurface to the surface installation in mature oil and gas fields. The health of downhole pumps and tubulars is severely endangered by the electrochemical deterioration, which will be discussed in the context of the working environment. The extent of damage caused to sucker rods traversing down to the pump for Rod Pump wells is discussed. A self-improved corrosion management process is brought out by briefly discussing inspection, monitoring, and mitigation methods. The corrosion decision tree is critical in analyzing corrosion failure and a unique method for risk assessment. Qualitative and Quantitative Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF) analysis were executed for rod pumped wells. An action plan was prepared to mitigate corrosion and/or friction-related failures. Yearly workover trend of workovers reduced as a result of action plan executed. Oil and gas companies use a certain percentage of their operational expenditure to protect against corrosion on average. Material failure, performance improvement, cost, and safety are critical for corrosion control. Inspection and monitoring techniques are not sufficient enough to estimate future performance. By assimilating inspection, monitoring, mitigation, and prediction techniques, an extensive corrosion-management program can be developed. Remedial actions taken subsequently can then be followed strictly to counterwork against the effects of corrosion barriers. Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF) can be significantly improved by following this methodology as discussed in the action plan. Go-gauging and inhibitor wash for tubular, is the recommended method for operators in extracting subsurface oil from a corrosive environment. Corrosion decisions tree assesses the risk involved in corrosion, and corrosion management is an arrangement of barricades to impede material failure. MTBF analysis can be beneficial to the operators to understand the reason behind the failure of subsurface pumps and/or downhole production tubing.

Abstract In today’s fast growing world, the economy — especially the field of technology and production — are developing very rapidly. Engineering design that would predict the results of this rapid development and equip the society with tools to control them, faces a big challenge. Rapidly developing technology brings many benefits to humanity and makes life easier, friendlier and more comfortable. This has been the case for thousands of years as new branches of engineering were born and came to serve society. One might say that engineers have the privilege of creating a bloodless and peaceful revolution resulting in easier and happier lives for people. At the same time, such fast developing technology creates traps and dangers, and may cause harm. The inventions of Alfred Nobel, Samuel Colt and Eliphalet Remington, for example, or nuclear research have all brought significant technological progress to nations and societies but have also brought harms and disasters affecting both societies and individuals. The role of engineering design is to predict these harmful actions and plan to neutralize or eliminate them, or even change them from harmful into friendly. Such actions follow the way recommended by BTIPS (Brief Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) procedures [1], especially those using the Prediction module [2], [3]. When developing Prevention Engineering a system approach should be observed and hierarchy of systems established and defined. All systems should be designed in such a way that prevents harm to humans and the natural world. Recommendations for introducing Prevention Engineering as a branch of engineering practice, and as an educational and research discipline, should be created as soon as possible, and directions for introducing courses in Prevention Engineering design and practice should also be developed [4]. For example, personal protective equipment for individuals and groups as designed by ME and MEM engineering students in their courses might be considered as Prevention Engineering developments [5]. Defining and formulating Prevention Engineering as a new branch of engineering is necessity in our times. In every step of our lives we face the challenge of preventing harms and destruction that can be done by the contemporary surrounding world. The goal of Prevention Engineering [PE] is to make the world safe. Prevention and safety are connected, prevention is an action, while safety is the condition or state that we are trying to achieve. Preventative actions can be based on the recommendations of BTIPS - Brief Theory of Inventing Problem Solving - and may use BTIPS’s approach [4], [5]. The reasons for the development of PE have already been described [6]. Each of these should be pointed out and preventative measures should be found. Adding these preventative measures to the contemporary engineering research, practice and education, and especially reflecting them in the engineering curriculum would be useful now and will also be necessary in the future [7], [8].

Design engineering is different from other more artistic forms of designing because on one hand it is more constrained by the engineering sciences, economics and other factors, but on the other hand it has more possibilities for abstract modeling in the conceptual phases. Creativity is essential, but in many cases not sufficient to explore the many possible candidate solutions. A more systematic and methodical approach can help to overcome many of the problems that arise during conceptualizing in design engineering. Use of appropriate methods to enhance the search for solutions can expand the solution field. A systematic approach based on engineering design science has been shown to enhance understanding, good record-keeping, and traceability for the design process. Several grounded theories are reviewed and brought into mutual context, they refer to memory and thinking operations, expertise, human action modes, and competencies. The discussion reveals a need for specific instructions for a methodical and systematic engineering design procedure, when the design problem is seen as non-routine, and expertise is lacking.

Abstract In an effort to understand the failing mechanism of power to ground (Vdd-GND) shorts found on FPGA devices by standard ATE methods at Final Test; the recently discovered ESDFOS (Electro Static Discharge from Outside to Surface)[1] mechanism was revealed as the perpetrator. This ESDFOS was first brought to the attention of the authors when it was seen in the May 2005 issue of the EDFA magazine [2].The physical signatures of ESDFOS such as cracked SiN passivation, Al metal filament spiking, SiO2 dielectric break down can often be related to other failing mechanisms and it can therefore be difficult to irrefutably associate those physical signature to ESDFOS and to make a strong case for action. In this paper standard front side FIB cross sections combined with a novel backside technique were used to establish that the failing devices underwent an ESDFOS event prior to the epoxy encapsulation process. Using the failure analysis results alterations were made to the assembly process which have reduced the occurrence of Vdd-GND shorts.

Since long before the Covid-19 pandemic emerged in 2020, civic space has been changing all over the globe, generally becoming more restricted and hazardous. The pandemic brought the suspension of many fundamental freedoms in the name of the public good, providing cover for a deepening of authoritarian tendencies but also spurring widespread civic activism on issues suddenly all the more important, ranging from emergency relief to economic impacts. Research partners in the Action for Empowerment and Accountability (A4EA)'s Navigating Civic Space in a Time of Covid project have explored these dynamics through real-time research embedded in civil society in Mozambique, Nigeria, and Pakistan, grounded in a close review of global trends.

The experiences and marginalisation of international organisation employees with caring responsibilities has a direct negative impact on the type of security and justice being built in conflict-affected environments. This is in large part because international organisations fail to respond to the needs of those with caring responsibilities, which leads to their early departure from the field, and negatively affects their work while in post. In this toolkit we describe this problem, the exacerbating factors, and challenges to overcoming it. We offer a theory of change demonstrating how caring for carers can both improve the working conditions of employees of international organisations as well as the effectiveness, inclusivity and responsiveness of peace and justice interventions. This is important because it raises awareness among employers in the sector of the severity of the problem and its consequences. We also offer a guide for employers for how to take the caring responsibilities of their employees into account when developing human resource policies and practices, designing working conditions and planning interventions. Finally, we underscore the importance of conducting research on the gendered impacts of the marginalisation of employees with caring responsibilities, not least because of the breadth and depth of resultant individual, organisational and sectoral harms. In this regard, we also draw attention to the way in which gender stereotypes and gender biases not only inform and undermine peacebuilding efforts, but also permeate research in this field. Our toolkit is aimed at international organisation employees, employers and human resources personnel, as well as students and scholars of peacebuilding and international development. We see these communities of knowledge and action as overlapping, with insights to be brought to bear as well as challenges to be overcome in this area. The content of the toolkit is equally relevant across these knowledge communities as well as between different specialisms and disciplines. Peacebuilding and development draw in experts from economics, politics, anthropology, sociology and law, to name but a few. The authors of this toolkit have come together from gender studies, political science, and development studies to develop a theory of change informed by interdisciplinary insights. We hope, therefore, that this toolkit will be useful to an inclusive and interdisciplinary set of knowledge communities. Our core argument - that caring for carers benefits the individual, the sectors, and the intended beneficiaries of interventions - is relevant for students, researchers, policy makers and practitioners alike.

This report is based on the discussion that emerged from a convening of a panel of 22 experts in artificial intelligence (AI) and in learning. It introduces three layers that can frame the meaning of AI for educators. First, AI can be seen as “computational intelligence” and capability can be brought to bear on educational challenges as an additional resource to an educator’s abilities and strengths. Second, AI brings specific, exciting new capabilities to computing, including sensing, recognizing patterns, representing knowledge, making and acting on plans, and supporting naturalistic interactions with people. Third, AI can be used as a toolkit to enable us to imagine, study, and discuss futures for learning that don’t exist today. Experts voiced the opinion that the most impactful uses of AI in education have not yet been invented. The report enumerates important strengths and weaknesses of AI, as well as the respective opportunities and barriers to applying AI to learning. Through discussions among experts about these layers, we observed new design concepts for using AI in learning. The panel also made seven recommendations for future research priorities.

The empirical accounts of the costs and benefits of quasi-parity codetermined supervisory boards, a very special German institution, have long been inconclusive. A valid economic analysis of a particular legal regulation must take the legal specificities seriously, otherwise it will be easily lost in economic fictions of functional equivalence. At its core the corporate actor “supervisory board” has no a priori objective function to be maximised – the corner stone of the theory of the firm – but its objective function will only be brought about a posteriori – should negotiations result in an agreement (E. Fraenkel). With this understanding,the paper presents six recent quasi-experimental studies on the economic (dis) advantageousness of the German codetermination laws that try to follow the rules of causal inference despite the lack of random variation. By and large they refute the hold-up model of codetermination by showing positive or nonnegative effects even on shareholder wealth – and a far-reaching improvement of the well-being of the core workforce. In conclusion, indications are offered that the shareholder primacy movement has only weakened, but not dissolved the “Deutschland AG”.

This brief is based on a paper prepared for the WHO/UNFPA/Population Council Technical Consultation on Married Adolescents, held in Geneva, Switzerland, December 9–12, 2003. The consultation brought together experts from the United Nations, donors, and nongovernmental agencies to consider the evidence regarding married adolescent girls’ reproductive health, vulnerability to HIV infection, social and economic disadvantage, and rights. The relationships to major policy initiatives—including safe motherhood, HIV, adolescent sexual and reproductive health, and reproductive rights—were explored, and emerging findings from the still relatively rare programs that are directed at this population were discussed. Despite the program attention and funding that have been devoted to adolescents, early marriage and married adolescents have fallen largely outside of the field’s concern. Comprising the majority of sexually active adolescent girls in developing countries, this large and vulnerable subpopulation has received neither program and policy consideration in the adolescent sexual and reproductive health field, nor special attention from reproductive health and development programs for adult women. While adolescent girls, irrespective of marital status, are vulnerable in many settings and deserve program, policy, and resource support, the purpose of this brief is to describe the distinctive and often disadvantaged situations of married girls and to propose possible future policy and program options.

1.1 Macroeconomic summary Economic recovery has consistently outperformed the technical staff’s expectations following a steep decline in activity in the second quarter of 2020. At the same time, total and core inflation rates have fallen and remain at low levels, suggesting that a significant element of the reactivation of Colombia’s economy has been related to recovery in potential GDP. This would support the technical staff’s diagnosis of weak aggregate demand and ample excess capacity. The most recently available data on 2020 growth suggests a contraction in economic activity of 6.8%, lower than estimates from January’s Monetary Policy Report (-7.2%). High-frequency indicators suggest that economic performance was significantly more dynamic than expected in January, despite mobility restrictions and quarantine measures. This has also come amid declines in total and core inflation, the latter of which was below January projections if controlling for certain relative price changes. This suggests that the unexpected strength of recent growth contains elements of demand, and that excess capacity, while significant, could be lower than previously estimated. Nevertheless, uncertainty over the measurement of excess capacity continues to be unusually high and marked both by variations in the way different economic sectors and spending components have been affected by the pandemic, and by uneven price behavior. The size of excess capacity, and in particular the evolution of the pandemic in forthcoming quarters, constitute substantial risks to the macroeconomic forecast presented in this report. Despite the unexpected strength of the recovery, the technical staff continues to project ample excess capacity that is expected to remain on the forecast horizon, alongside core inflation that will likely remain below the target. Domestic demand remains below 2019 levels amid unusually significant uncertainty over the size of excess capacity in the economy. High national unemployment (14.6% for February 2021) reflects a loose labor market, while observed total and core inflation continue to be below 2%. Inflationary pressures from the exchange rate are expected to continue to be low, with relatively little pass-through on inflation. This would be compatible with a negative output gap. Excess productive capacity and the expectation of core inflation below the 3% target on the forecast horizon provide a basis for an expansive monetary policy posture. The technical staff’s assessment of certain shocks and their expected effects on the economy, as well as the presence of several sources of uncertainty and related assumptions about their potential macroeconomic impacts, remain a feature of this report. The coronavirus pandemic, in particular, continues to affect the public health environment, and the reopening of Colombia’s economy remains incomplete. The technical staff’s assessment is that the COVID-19 shock has affected both aggregate demand and supply, but that the impact on demand has been deeper and more persistent. Given this persistence, the central forecast accounts for a gradual tightening of the output gap in the absence of new waves of contagion, and as vaccination campaigns progress. The central forecast continues to include an expected increase of total and core inflation rates in the second quarter of 2021, alongside the lapse of the temporary price relief measures put in place in 2020. Additional COVID-19 outbreaks (of uncertain duration and intensity) represent a significant risk factor that could affect these projections. Additionally, the forecast continues to include an upward trend in sovereign risk premiums, reflected by higher levels of public debt that in the wake of the pandemic are likely to persist on the forecast horizon, even in the context of a fiscal adjustment. At the same time, the projection accounts for the shortterm effects on private domestic demand from a fiscal adjustment along the lines of the one currently being proposed by the national government. This would be compatible with a gradual recovery of private domestic demand in 2022. The size and characteristics of the fiscal adjustment that is ultimately implemented, as well as the corresponding market response, represent another source of forecast uncertainty. Newly available information offers evidence of the potential for significant changes to the macroeconomic scenario, though without altering the general diagnosis described above. The most recent data on inflation, growth, fiscal policy, and international financial conditions suggests a more dynamic economy than previously expected. However, a third wave of the pandemic has delayed the re-opening of Colombia’s economy and brought with it a deceleration in economic activity. Detailed descriptions of these considerations and subsequent changes to the macroeconomic forecast are presented below. The expected annual decline in GDP (-0.3%) in the first quarter of 2021 appears to have been less pronounced than projected in January (-4.8%). Partial closures in January to address a second wave of COVID-19 appear to have had a less significant negative impact on the economy than previously estimated. This is reflected in figures related to mobility, energy demand, industry and retail sales, foreign trade, commercial transactions from selected banks, and the national statistics agency’s (DANE) economic tracking indicator (ISE). Output is now expected to have declined annually in the first quarter by 0.3%. Private consumption likely continued to recover, registering levels somewhat above those from the previous year, while public consumption likely increased significantly. While a recovery in investment in both housing and in other buildings and structures is expected, overall investment levels in this case likely continued to be low, and gross fixed capital formation is expected to continue to show significant annual declines. Imports likely recovered to again outpace exports, though both are expected to register significant annual declines. Economic activity that outpaced projections, an increase in oil prices and other export products, and an expected increase in public spending this year account for the upward revision to the 2021 growth forecast (from 4.6% with a range between 2% and 6% in January, to 6.0% with a range between 3% and 7% in April). As a result, the output gap is expected to be smaller and to tighten more rapidly than projected in the previous report, though it is still expected to remain in negative territory on the forecast horizon. Wide forecast intervals reflect the fact that the future evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic remains a significant source of uncertainty on these projections. The delay in the recovery of economic activity as a result of the resurgence of COVID-19 in the first quarter appears to have been less significant than projected in the January report. The central forecast scenario expects this improved performance to continue in 2021 alongside increased consumer and business confidence. Low real interest rates and an active credit supply would also support this dynamic, and the overall conditions would be expected to spur a recovery in consumption and investment. Increased growth in public spending and public works based on the national government’s spending plan (Plan Financiero del Gobierno) are other factors to consider. Additionally, an expected recovery in global demand and higher projected prices for oil and coffee would further contribute to improved external revenues and would favor investment, in particular in the oil sector. Given the above, the technical staff’s 2021 growth forecast has been revised upward from 4.6% in January (range from 2% to 6%) to 6.0% in April (range from 3% to 7%). These projections account for the potential for the third wave of COVID-19 to have a larger and more persistent effect on the economy than the previous wave, while also supposing that there will not be any additional significant waves of the pandemic and that mobility restrictions will be relaxed as a result. Economic growth in 2022 is expected to be 3%, with a range between 1% and 5%. This figure would be lower than projected in the January report (3.6% with a range between 2% and 6%), due to a higher base of comparison given the upward revision to expected GDP in 2021. This forecast also takes into account the likely effects on private demand of a fiscal adjustment of the size currently being proposed by the national government, and which would come into effect in 2022. Excess in productive capacity is now expected to be lower than estimated in January but continues to be significant and affected by high levels of uncertainty, as reflected in the wide forecast intervals. The possibility of new waves of the virus (of uncertain intensity and duration) represents a significant downward risk to projected GDP growth, and is signaled by the lower limits of the ranges provided in this report. Inflation (1.51%) and inflation excluding food and regulated items (0.94%) declined in March compared to December, continuing below the 3% target. The decline in inflation in this period was below projections, explained in large part by unanticipated increases in the costs of certain foods (3.92%) and regulated items (1.52%). An increase in international food and shipping prices, increased foreign demand for beef, and specific upward pressures on perishable food supplies appear to explain a lower-than-expected deceleration in the consumer price index (CPI) for foods. An unexpected increase in regulated items prices came amid unanticipated increases in international fuel prices, on some utilities rates, and for regulated education prices. The decline in annual inflation excluding food and regulated items between December and March was in line with projections from January, though this included downward pressure from a significant reduction in telecommunications rates due to the imminent entry of a new operator. When controlling for the effects of this relative price change, inflation excluding food and regulated items exceeds levels forecast in the previous report. Within this indicator of core inflation, the CPI for goods (1.05%) accelerated due to a reversion of the effects of the VAT-free day in November, which was largely accounted for in February, and possibly by the transmission of a recent depreciation of the peso on domestic prices for certain items (electric and household appliances). For their part, services prices decelerated and showed the lowest rate of annual growth (0.89%) among the large consumer baskets in the CPI. Within the services basket, the annual change in rental prices continued to decline, while those services that continue to experience the most significant restrictions on returning to normal operations (tourism, cinemas, nightlife, etc.) continued to register significant price declines. As previously mentioned, telephone rates also fell significantly due to increased competition in the market. Total inflation is expected to continue to be affected by ample excesses in productive capacity for the remainder of 2021 and 2022, though less so than projected in January. As a result, convergence to the inflation target is now expected to be somewhat faster than estimated in the previous report, assuming the absence of significant additional outbreaks of COVID-19. The technical staff’s year-end inflation projections for 2021 and 2022 have increased, suggesting figures around 3% due largely to variation in food and regulated items prices. The projection for inflation excluding food and regulated items also increased, but remains below 3%. Price relief measures on indirect taxes implemented in 2020 are expected to lapse in the second quarter of 2021, generating a one-off effect on prices and temporarily affecting inflation excluding food and regulated items. However, indexation to low levels of past inflation, weak demand, and ample excess productive capacity are expected to keep core inflation below the target, near 2.3% at the end of 2021 (previously 2.1%). The reversion in 2021 of the effects of some price relief measures on utility rates from 2020 should lead to an increase in the CPI for regulated items in the second half of this year. Annual price changes are now expected to be higher than estimated in the January report due to an increased expected path for fuel prices and unanticipated increases in regulated education prices. The projection for the CPI for foods has increased compared to the previous report, taking into account certain factors that were not anticipated in January (a less favorable agricultural cycle, increased pressure from international prices, and transport costs). Given the above, year-end annual inflation for 2021 and 2022 is now expected to be 3% and 2.8%, respectively, which would be above projections from January (2.3% and 2,7%). For its part, expected inflation based on analyst surveys suggests year-end inflation in 2021 and 2022 of 2.8% and 3.1%, respectively. There remains significant uncertainty surrounding the inflation forecasts included in this report due to several factors: 1) the evolution of the pandemic; 2) the difficulty in evaluating the size and persistence of excess productive capacity; 3) the timing and manner in which price relief measures will lapse; and 4) the future behavior of food prices. Projected 2021 growth in foreign demand (4.4% to 5.2%) and the supposed average oil price (USD 53 to USD 61 per Brent benchmark barrel) were both revised upward. An increase in long-term international interest rates has been reflected in a depreciation of the peso and could result in relatively tighter external financial conditions for emerging market economies, including Colombia. Average growth among Colombia’s trade partners was greater than expected in the fourth quarter of 2020. This, together with a sizable fiscal stimulus approved in the United States and the onset of a massive global vaccination campaign, largely explains the projected increase in foreign demand growth in 2021. The resilience of the goods market in the face of global crisis and an expected normalization in international trade are additional factors. These considerations and the expected continuation of a gradual reduction of mobility restrictions abroad suggest that Colombia’s trade partners could grow on average by 5.2% in 2021 and around 3.4% in 2022. The improved prospects for global economic growth have led to an increase in current and expected oil prices. Production interruptions due to a heavy winter, reduced inventories, and increased supply restrictions instituted by producing countries have also contributed to the increase. Meanwhile, market forecasts and recent Federal Reserve pronouncements suggest that the benchmark interest rate in the U.S. will remain stable for the next two years. Nevertheless, a significant increase in public spending in the country has fostered expectations for greater growth and inflation, as well as increased uncertainty over the moment in which a normalization of monetary policy might begin. This has been reflected in an increase in long-term interest rates. In this context, emerging market economies in the region, including Colombia, have registered increases in sovereign risk premiums and long-term domestic interest rates, and a depreciation of local currencies against the dollar. Recent outbreaks of COVID-19 in several of these economies; limits on vaccine supply and the slow pace of immunization campaigns in some countries; a significant increase in public debt; and tensions between the United States and China, among other factors, all add to a high level of uncertainty surrounding interest rate spreads, external financing conditions, and the future performance of risk premiums. The impact that this environment could have on the exchange rate and on domestic financing conditions represent risks to the macroeconomic and monetary policy forecasts. Domestic financial conditions continue to favor recovery in economic activity. The transmission of reductions to the policy interest rate on credit rates has been significant. The banking portfolio continues to recover amid circumstances that have affected both the supply and demand for loans, and in which some credit risks have materialized. Preferential and ordinary commercial interest rates have fallen to a similar degree as the benchmark interest rate. As is generally the case, this transmission has come at a slower pace for consumer credit rates, and has been further delayed in the case of mortgage rates. Commercial credit levels stabilized above pre-pandemic levels in March, following an increase resulting from significant liquidity requirements for businesses in the second quarter of 2020. The consumer credit portfolio continued to recover and has now surpassed February 2020 levels, though overall growth in the portfolio remains low. At the same time, portfolio projections and default indicators have increased, and credit establishment earnings have come down. Despite this, credit disbursements continue to recover and solvency indicators remain well above regulatory minimums. 1.2 Monetary policy decision In its meetings in March and April the BDBR left the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1.75%.