The analysis of network robustness tackles the problem of studying how a complex network behaves under adverse scenarios, such as failures or attacks. In particular, the analysis of interdependent networks’ robustness focuses on the specific case of the robustness of interacting networks and their emerging behaviors. This survey systematically reviews literature of frameworks that analyze the robustness of interdependent networks published between 2005 and 2017. This review shows that there exists a broad range of interdependent network models, robustness metrics, and (...) studies that can be used to understand the behaviour of different systems under failure or attack. Regarding models, we found that there is a focus on systems where a node in one layer interacts with exactly one node at another layer. In studies, we observed a focus on the network percolation. While among the metrics, we observed a focus on measures that count network elements. Finally, for the networks used to test the frameworks, we found that the focus was on synthetic models, rather than analysis of real network systems. This review suggests opportunities in network research, such as the study of robustness on interdependent networks with multiple interactions and/or spatially embedded networks, and the use of interdependent network models in realistic network scenarios. (shrink)

Publication date: 25 October 2017 Source: Author: Ivana Slavoljub Domazet, Darko Milivoj Marjanović The main aim of this work is to determine, on the basis of empirical research, whether and to what extent foreign direct investment has impact on the overall economic development of selected countries in the Western Balkans. Analyses made for the purpose of this paper were performed on the basis of available secondary data possessed by the World Bank for the period of 2000-2012. The research methodology (...) involved the use of the techniques of linear regression and correlation analysis. The first task was to determine whether there is an impact of foreign direct investment on the overall economic development of these countries. Where such influence occurred, it was necessary to define its level in comparison to the influence of other variables. The results of the analysis in this paper suggest that inflow of foreign direct investment does not affect to a significant extent the economic development of selected countries in the Western Balkans. (shrink)

In this article, our aim is to examine the difference between the corporate social responsibility (CSR) practice of the multinational companies (MNCs) and of the domestic companies operating in Serbia, as well as the influence of internal self-regulations such as statements of corporate values and codes of conduct, and external self-regulations such as the implementation of the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards on CSR practice. The CSR practice is observed in five CSR areas: employee relations, customer relations, environmental practice, (...) community and social involvement, and transparency in business activity. The findings indicate that the CSR practice of the MNCs is significantly different in comparison to domestic companies only in the area of employee relations. Furthermore, the overall results suggest that internal self-regulations have more influence on CSR practice than the implementation of generic management system standards. However, the existence of transparent corporate values, codes of conduct and implemented management systems according to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards does not prove to be strong predictors of CSR performance. (shrink)

Corporate social responsibility research has burgeoned in the past several decades. Despite significant advances, our review of the literature reveals a problematic gap: We know little about how culture, practices, and interactions shape CSR. On further investigation, we discover that limited research utilizes ethnography to understand CSR, which may provide some explanation for this gap. Thus, the purpose of this article is to illustrate the utility of ethnography for advancing business and society research via a multistage framework that demonstrates how (...) three different types of ethnography may be applied to the exploration of CSR. We specifically focus on the alignment between stages in the research process, or methodological fit, as a key criterion of high-quality research. In doing so, we provide researchers embracing different worldviews a tool they may utilize to conduct and evaluate ethnographies in business and society research. (shrink)

In this paper, we examine whether it is possible to improve democracy by encouraging ordinary citizens to participate in political decision-making and if participation in deliberative institutions can make citizens more competent decision-makers. By using qualitative data, we analyze the discussion from the Belgrade citizens? assembly focused on the topic of expanding the pedestrian zone in the city center. The CA was organized in Serbia for the first time, as part of a research project aimed at promoting and advancing innovative (...) democratic practices in the Western Balkans. The goal was to encourage the involvement of citizens in discussions of public interest. Our hypothesis was that, through the process of participation and deliberation in CA, ordinary citizens can make reasonable and informed choices, increase their knowledge of the issue discussed, and become more motivated to participate in political decision-making on the local level. Our qualitative content analysis suggests that deliberation had a positive impact on participants? knowledge of the chosen topic of the assembly. It also shows that citizens used exhaustive explanations rather than brief statements, could differentiate the good arguments from the bad, and more often appealed to general rather than private interests. Participants in the assembly reported a significant increase in interest in political decision-making that affects their lives, as well as a sense of being informed about politics. Finally, we wanted to draw attention to the challenges and open questions that remain, namely those that concern the impact of a deliberative body on political decision-making in the real world. (shrink)

In the last decades of the 20th century we have seen media theories and cognitive sciences grow, mature and reach their pinnacles by analysing, each from their own disciplinary perspective, two of the same core phenomena: that of media as the environment, transmitter and creator of stimuli, and that of embodied human mind as the stimuli receiver, interpreter, experiencer, and also how both are affected by each other. Even though treating a range of very similar problems and coming to similar (...) conclusions, this still has not brought these two disciplines closer together or resulted in their interdisciplinary approach. They did coalesce in regards to traditional media such as film, but more points of connection are needed for untangling interactive and immersive media environments and their effects on human cognition, action, and perception. With the rise of VR and VR-like systems, especially as they start to evolve into the Metaverse as their main platform of interconnectivity, the tissue of the body becomes almost physically intertwined with that of the virtual surrounding it inhabits through immersion. Simultaneously, the interest in these disciplines arises anew, and especially the need to use their concepts in an interdisciplinary way. This paper?s main interest is to bring these disciplines together in problematising the position of a physical body and its sensory-motor capabilities and their development within synthetic surroundings as Metaverse and anticipate potential downsides of Metaverse?s uncontrolled growth. We will do so also by looking into Metaverse as an artificial-life-like phenomenon, following artificial-life rules and evolving a completely new?corporeality?, a body which is completely adapted to virtual spaces. We call this body the Dry Body, an entity sharing cognitive resources with the physical body it is not a physical part of, but has to extend to. (shrink)

This paper attempts to philosophically articulate empirical evidence on the positive effects of illness within the wider context of a discussion of the positive aspects of vulnerability. The conventional understanding holds that to be vulnerable is to be open to harms and wrongs; it is to be fragile, defenseless, and of compromised autonomy. In this paper, we challenge the assumption that vulnerability consists of nothing but powerlessness and dependence on others. This paper attempts to: outline the theoretical conceptualisation of the (...) positive aspects of coping with illness, while simultaneously showing how these findings provide empirical support for some classical philosophical ideas; influence a change in the manners in which the ill are usually perceived and point to the importance of modernising the prevalent biomedical conception of illness with the subjective dimension of health. Biomedical understanding of illness focuses on the vulnerable experience of the sufferer, suggesting the importance of philosophical additions. (shrink)

Ernst Lubitsch, the great author of Hollywood comedy and pioneer of such genres as the sophisticated romantic comedy, the musical, and the screwball comedy, is a relatively overlooked figure in mainstream film theory. In this collection, renowned world thinkers and philosophers position Lubitsch as the premium director of subversive cinema, reflecting on his attitude toward love and politics which correspond to contemporary issues.Followers of the Hegelian, Marxist, Freudian, Lacanian, and Deleuzian traditions discuss thephilosophical, political, and ethical dimensions of Lubitsch's late (...) Hollywood work. They focus on love as stealing, the ethics of style, and comedy in times of austerity in the director's masterpiece, _Trouble in Paradise_ ; answer the question of why comedy is always polygamous; discuss links between masochism, melancholia, and ideology in _Ninotchka_; celebrate the ethical gesture of comedy in _To Be or Not to Be_ ; and promote the revolutionary comic spirit of Lubitsch's last directorial effort, _Cluny Brown_. These essays' witty, subversive, and provocative approaches highlight Lubitsch's unique understanding of love, sex, comedy, and politics and idiosyncratic conception of totalitarian"nightmares" and capitalistic "paradise," countering the non-dialectic and politically correct discourse of mainstream and independent cinema today. (shrink)

Las fuentes de la tradición indirecta de las Vidas (βίοι) de Alejandro se distinguen entre las más creíbles, enmarcadas en los límites de la historiografía y de la biografía imperiales, y aquellas de invención, más cercanas a la novela de viajes y la paradoxografía. Este trabajo propone ir más allá de esa categorización genérica para pensar la dualidad historia / ficción como material coexistente en las diferentes versiones en torno a la fundación de Alejandría según tres autores griegos de la (...) época imperial: Anábasis de Alejandro Magno de Arriano, Vida de Alejandro de Plutarco, Vida y Hazañas de Alejandro de Macedonia del Pseudo Calístenes. The sources of the indirect tradition of Alexander's Lives (βίοι) are distinguished among those more credible, framed within the limits of imperial historiography and biography, and those of invention, closer to the travel novels and paradoxography. This paper attempts to go beyond these genre categories to understand the duality history / fiction as material coexisting in the different versions about the founding of Alexandria by three Greek authors of the imperial period: Anabasis of Alexander the Great by Arrian, Life of Alexander by Plutarch and The life and exploits of Alexander the Great by Pseudo- Callisthenes. (shrink)

The theory of social representations must be understood in terms of its proper epistemology so that it can accomplish its full potential in social sciences. This is often difficult to achieve because researchers comprehend it in terms of concepts that are part of static and individualistic Newtonian epistemology rather than in terms of dynamic and relational Einsteinian epistemology. This article considers three signposts that Moscovici identifies and analyses in the theory of relativity, namely the relation between epistemology and science, theory (...) and method, and the argument against the explanation of effects by their causes. The following question is posed: are these signposts also characteristic of the theory of social representations? This question is examined focusing on interactional epistemology, theory and method and the diversity of natural thinking and communication. Moscovici's Psychoanalysis shows that natural thinking appears in a plurality of modes according to the situation in which it takes place and according to social groups towards which it is directed. Natural thinking is controversial and communication-centred. Different professionals, groups and lay people use different kinds of speaking and different communicative genres when they try to resolve “the same” problem. The article suggests that bringing together dialogicality, dialogical linguistics and the theory of social representations may open up new possibilities for theoretical developments in social psychology. (shrink)

Purpose – This paper aims to focus on the modern development of bionics and linking new technologies with the human nervous system or other biological systems that cause changes of the human biological structure. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a discursive evaluation of technological progress and new systems where computers and machines integrate, making a single matrix entity – the cyborg. Here fundamental questions arise, such as what it means to be human and what is and what should be a (...) human being? Findings – The paper argues for the value of twenty-first century human enhancement techniques and other emerging technologies that promised to “help” humans become “more than human”, trying to create human beings with greatly enhanced abilities, to improve human mental and physical characteristics and capacities. Modern man is gradually disappearing as a natural being and increasingly turning into an artificial creature “cyborg” that leads into the question, what will ultimately remain human in a human body? Originality/value – The paper contributes to the existing debates about further development of cyborgisation and examines boundaries that will strictly divide man from a cyborg in the near future. In order to protect man from the omnipotence of technology and its unethical application is necessary to establish cyborgoethics that would determine the implementation of an artificial boundary in the natural body. (shrink)

ABSTRACT In 1588 Tycho Brahe proposed a new cosmological system keeping a motionless Earth at the centre of the world. In the first half of the following century the reception of Tycho’s model within the Society of Jesus was characterized by a strong resistance at the beginning, followed by a long and winding path, and then a good fortune, whereas heliocentric models were increasingly investigated in European observatories. In 1651 a Jesuit astronomer, Giovan Battista Riccioli, published the Almagestum novum, an (...) encyclopaedic synthesis of astronomical knowledge where the Earth’s motions or rest were extensively discussed in order to prove the Earth's immobility. However, through the period 1650–1687 the Almagestum novum did not entirely fulfil its aims, rather seeming like the dying swan’s song of Tychonic or semi-Tychonic models. Contemporary scholars appreciated the encyclopaedic effort by Riccioli, but many were critical of his proofs. Even influential Jesuit astronomers showed a remarkable interest in the Copernican model, accepting geocentric models only on the basis of Holy Scripture’s authority. This conduct and the tacitly allowed circulation in Catholic Europe of openly Copernican books, indicate that Catholic science tolerated heliocentric theory, when presented as a computational device rather than a representation of reality, more frequently than we usually think. (shrink)

Is it time for politics and political theory to face the challenge of artificial intelligence? It seems to be the case that political theory constantly lags behind technological developments. With rapid developments in the field of AI, a common estimate is that technological singularity will probably happen in the next 50 to 200 years. Even regardless of the time frame, the very possibility of superhumanly smart AIs poses serious political questions and calls for some serious political decisions. Luckily, some scenarios (...) are already provided by science fiction. The most common trope is that of a hostile AI taking over and destroying/enslaving humanity. Yet there is another path—AI takes over and makes itself a ruler, but rules in the genuine best interest of humanity. Such a turn of events, as described in Neal Asher’s Polity novels, may be an improvement compared to present political arrangements. It will, however, probably rob us of politics as such. (shrink)

O presente artigo tem por objetivo descrever a representação simbólica da Pomba-gira Cigana de um terreiro de Umbanda na cidade de Maracás. As relações que os ciganos estabeleceram nos sertões da Bahia influenciaram o imaginário de sua população, contribuindo na construção de ritos incorporados pela religiosidade de matriz africana naquela cidade. Além disso, gerou correspondências simbólicas com mitos de origem africana, como os de Oxum, Iansã e Exu. Isso ajudou a compor o arquétipo peculiar desta Pomba-gira, na casa de Pai (...) Zé Pezão. O referido texto discute essas relações simbólicas, tomando como base a entidade espiritual e o seu caráter erótico, desordeiro, brincalhão, mas, acima de tudo, sagrado. Por meio dessa pesquisa etnográfica, obtivemos registros, transcrições de entrevistas, de rituais, de festas, de cantigas e sambas de caboclos. Os resultados desse estudo apresenta a relação da entidade com os seguintes símbolos: cabelo, dinheiro, amor, paixão, sexo e subversão. (shrink)

Background: Horizontal violence, defined in the literature as ‘interpersonal conflict between two nurses at the same hierarchical levels in organizations’, often associated with bullying, affects the well-being of nurses, care recipients and the professional image of nursing and the organization due to increased turnover. One in every three newly graduated nurses is a victim of horizontal violence, although they do not always know how to define it. Aim: To investigate the direct and indirect experiences of horizontal violence in newly graduated (...) nurses as well as to shed light on the phenomenon, on its awareness and recognition. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological study was conducted between September and October 2018 with newly graduated nurses, with a work experience ranging between 6 months and 3 years. The interviews were conducted face-to-face, consisting of a first open general question, followed by semi-structured questions. Ethical considerations: The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and the protocol was approved by the Institution Review Board. Results: From the analysis of the interviews of the 21 participants, four main themes were identified: the ‘enemies’, that is those who exercised violence, the ‘weapons’ used by them to exercise violence, the ‘effects’ and the types of ‘armor’ identified to protect themselves. Discussion: Horizontal violence is rarely recognized by newly graduated nurses, even though our sample had directly or indirectly experienced horizontal violence. Tackling the phenomenon starting from the undergraduate degree courses, focusing on effective support and more protection by the organization leaders were the silent requests that emerged from this study. Conclusion: Preventing horizontal violence is important for nurses’ professional and private well-being, for professional conduct and for the quality of care provided to patients. (shrink)

Many adults hold mistaken beliefs concerning the behavior of mechanical motion and reflections. In the field of psychology this has been investigated in the areas of naïve physics and naïve optics. The interesting question regards where these false beliefs come from. Particularly thought-provoking is the case of errors which are at odds not only with known physical/optical concepts, but also with what people would actually perceive. Some errors are in fact consistent with what people see in ecological conditions while others (...) apparently are not. This has led to the former being referred to as perceptual errors and the latter as conceptual errors. We propose that many of these ‘conceptual errors’ are generalizations of what can be actually perceived under some conditions that are then incorrectly applied under others. In this sense, they can be thought of as a second way in which perception shapes naïve beliefs. (shrink)

Plagiarism is one of the most severe academic integrity issues. This study examined students’ knowledge of and attitudes towards plagiarism, tested their ability to recognize plagiarism, and explored the association of study levels and attendance in courses dealing with referencing rules and plagiarism with students’ attitudes and knowledge. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted at the University of Split, comprising the students of all schools and study levels. Overall, results indicate the students were not very familiar with referencing rules and (...) did not perform well on either theoretical questions or practical examples. However, they demonstrated positive attitudes towards plagiarism avoidance as well as towards compliance with academic integrity with respect to the correct use of research publications. Students’ self-reported attendance in courses dealing with referencing rules and plagiarism avoidance was not associated with their knowledge of and attitudes toward plagiarism. These findings are important for a general understanding of students’ attitudes, and the relation of practical and theoretical knowledge of plagiarism. Furthermore, the academic community addresses plagiarism not only as an ethical and regulatory violation but also as a direct consequence of a lack of knowledge, and of academic illiteracy. Study programs should be adjusted and long-term policies developed at all academic levels to promote a positive climate among students towards responsible academic writing. (shrink)

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between three temperament dimensions: strength of excitation, strength of inhibition and mobility measured by Pavlov’s Temperament Survey, and amplitudes and latencies of evoked brain potentials measured by a visual oddball paradigm in two blocks. The participants were female psychology students with mean age of 20. Significant positive correlations were determined between amplitudes of N1-P2-N2-P3 components and strength of excitation and mobility in the first and second block, mostly on parietal electrodes, (...) as well as significant negative correlations of amplitudes of N1-P2-N2-P3 components and strength of inhibition. Considering measurement limitations important future study directions have been given. (shrink)

Phenomenological evidence has been characterized as fulfillment of a meaning intention, comprehension that tends to assimilate evidence to fulfilled consciousness, without making justice to the essential and mutual implication of emptiness and fullness that constitutes it out of its horizontic-intentional kind. The horizon, typically configured, offers the field of possible fulfillment; that is why it can be said that evidence takes place in a consciousness of possibility, namely, a modal one, though in an originary material and not doxic or positional (...) sense,because it is the first one that is incumbent upon relationships of fulfillment. Modality that essentially characterizes evidence does not reveal itself then in the possible modalization as positional modification of a unitary content, but in its “outlined” material configuration of fullness and emptiness that gives somethingas something referring to other possibilities as moments of its own validity. (shrink)

Frente a las más recientes interpretaciones del Timeo platónico, que procuran reducir el papel de la necesidad o anánke hasta volverlo casi irrelevante en la economía de la génesis del universo, defenderé aquí el carácter decisivo de su presencia en la composición del mundo, su relativa autonomía re..

Este trabajo se propone estudiar las características de los paralogismos de composición y división (Retórica II 24.II, 1401a), de la consecuencia (Retórica II 24.VI, 1401b20-30) y de la causa aparente (Retórica II 24.VII, 1401b30-34), de modo de analizar si Eurípides los utiliza en el agón de Andrómaca de los versos 577 a 746 This paper intends to study the characteristics of paralogisms due to composition and division (Rhetoric II 24.II, 1401a), due to consequent (Rhetoric II 24.VI, 1401b20-30), and due to (...) false cause (Rhetoric II 24.VII, 1401b30-34), in order to analyze if Euripides uses them in the agon in Andromache (577-746). (shrink)

The importance of employee social media policies is recognized in today’s increasingly connected organizations. Yet these policies are adopted at varying rates in different sectors and geographical regions. In the present study, an institutional approach was employed to investigate the predictors of the adoption of employee social media policies by organizations. Six predictors were examined, namely, organizational size, industry, and the national culture dimensions of power distance, individualism, masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance. Results of a logistic regression analysis of 558 online (...) survey responses from human resource professionals worldwide showed that all six predictors were associated with the adoption of employee social media policies. These findings have implications for multinational companies, as well as for policy makers in the legal, human resources, information technologies, and public relations departments who are the primary parties involved in establishing employee social media policies. Study limitations are presented and future research avenues are suggested. (shrink)

Protection motivation theory is a theoretical framework informative for understanding behavioral intentions and choices during exceptional and uncommon circumstances, such as a pandemic of respiratory infectious disease. PMT postulates both the threat appraisal and the coping appraisal as predictors of health behaviors. Recent advances in the field of behavioral immune system research suggest that humans are equipped with a set of psychological adaptations enabling them to detect the disease-threat and activate behavioral avoidance of pathogens. The present study, set within PMT (...) framework and informed by the BIS research, aimed to explain and predict voluntary adherence to COVID-19 guidelines by perceived personal risk and vulnerability to disease as threat appraisal variables, and trust in science as the response efficacy element of coping appraisal. Gender, age, belief in the second wave, perceived personal risk, germ aversion, and trust in science were all found to be significant positive predictors of the intent to adhere to non-pharmacological COVID-19 recommendations, with the belief in the second wave, germ aversion, and trust in science being the most important ones. On the other hand, only the belief in the second wave and trust in science were significant positive predictors of the intent to adhere to pharmacological COVID-19 recommendations. Interventions aimed at enhancing preventative measures adherence should take into account that the psychological mechanisms underlying adherence to these two types of recommendations are not identical. (shrink)