This research studies the lived experiences of secondary teachers in managing challenging behaviors exhibited by students within the classroom in Mercedes District, Camarines Norte. Challenging behaviors, encompassing defiance, aggression, and disruptions, pose significant obstacles to the learning environment, impacting both teachers and students. This study is anchored on qualitative research design, specifically utilizing phenomenological inquiry. After a thorough analysis of the responses provided by the participants, the researchers were able to determine three (3) recurring themes of the various challenging behaviors that teachers encounter in the classroom; Struggle to cheer you up (Challenges in communication), Struggle to teach you up (Resistance to instruction and academic engagement) and, Struggle to guide you up (Disruptive and aggressive behaviors). This also discovered the strategies that teachers employ to address and manage said challenging behaviors such as promoting positive reinforcement, observing, listening, establishing a trusting relationship, and identifying, and maintaining a balance of empathy and firmness. The findings ended with a concrete recommendation to establish comprehensive educational support for teachers to help them address and remedy challenging behaviors with the most effective measures that resonate most effectively with students.

We contend that Davidson's theory of meaning, influenced by Tarski's theory of truth, idealizes the conditions in which the processes of interpretation occur within a rational community. This idealization results in a direct assertive (non-problematic) representation of the hypothetical content found in the more obscure or less sensitive to verication aspects of meaning. We argue that those theories fail to unravel the enigmatic philosophical dilemmas linked to the hermetic nature and opacity of non-extensional dimension of meaning. Instead, it solely presents a scenario wherein, all else being equal, we can articulate propositions without the anxiety of reversing their truth to falsehood. Ultimately, they obscure the underlying practical factors that give rise to meaning delimitations, resulting in an irreflective and unquestioning portrayal of our sense-making practices.

AbstractPeople involved in project monitoring and evaluation of complex projects are familiar with what we call the ”time machine” problem: the things we want to measure (drivers, outcomes, intervening factors) may emerge and change unpredictably during a project’s lifespan and so cannot be fully specified until project end: but we need to know about them at baseline so we can design appropriate measurement instruments for tracking change.We demonstrate a novel workflow to help solve this problem which uses an AI-controlled chatbot to interview respondents, and then uses AI to code the transcripts and identify ”causal links” where stakeholders said that one thing influences another.We analyse the resulting causal information for differences across time: tracking evidence for emerging trends on emerging variables.The approach is reproducible, scalable and cost-effective. Further work is needed, especially to address the bias in the language models which drive the AI’s responses.

This study focused on the stories of women planters in the implementation of Taranuman Project in the Third District of Albay. Particularly, this explores and documents the experiences, challenges, and successes of women planters involved. By understanding their stories, this undertaking shed light on the motivations and aspirations of women planters, the barriers they have experienced, and their strategies to achieve success. The researchers used descriptive-qualitative research and made use of indepth interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs). From the collection of the respondents' narratives, three (3) recurring themes emerged on the motivation and aspirations of women planters in Taranuman Project; Taranuman para sa Pagkasararo (Social cohesion, belonging and unity), Taranuman para sa Pangkabuhayan (Economic empowerment), and Taranuman para sa Karapatang Pampulitika (Political rights, engagement and participation). This study also revealed major challenges in its implementation including infertility of the soil, the distant location of the lands to be cultivated for the project, and the insufficiency in the supply of tools and equipment. However, despite the emerging problems, strategies to counter the difficulties were also formulated. Even so, the researchers strongly recommend that implementers should expand the Taranuman Project in all of the district's municipalities, enhance women planters' financial and communication skills through training, maintain close partnerships with agencies for project support, encourage beneficiary communication, and develop comprehensive strategies to overcome ongoing challenges and ease beneficiaries' burdens.

An NguyenSchool of Social Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia;

Despite the existence of various interpretations, Critical Thinking is generally acknowledged as a process utilized to identify and resolve problems, as well as the ability to assess a solution based on evidence. Many authors commonly agree that Critical Thinking is an Educational Objective or even an Art, complete with its own goals, principles, and strategies: itinvolves the skill of formulating coherent and logical judgments through the interpretation, comprehension, application, and synthesis of evidence acquired through observation, reading, and experimentation. However, what truly makes it indispensable for personal development and student education is its contribution to decision-making. Thus, critical thinking is rational and reflective thinking focused on determining what to believe or do. In this sense, it can be distilled down to a set of skills that enable the most objective analysis of the collected information, facilitating its evaluation and interpretation to arrive at clear and reproducible conclusions

IntroductionThis paper traces the development of Capitalism from its earliest beginnings up to the present time, focusing on how scholars have come to view this unique feature of modernity with regard to its perceived impacts on societal development. Hence, the study is both historical and thematic. Capitalism is an economic system marked by private ownership of property and driven by profit motives. It replaced feudalism as an economic system. Capitalism in this sense has existed for more than one thousand years now. It began in the form of trade capitalism (i.e. mercantilism or mercantile capitalism). Venice in Northern Italy was the first truly capitalist centre in Europe as early as 10th Century A.D. Florence was a popular commercial nerve centre in the late 15th Century Italy with prototypical business men like Datini and Medici (Trivellato, 2020).Swetz (1989) tells us that the commercial revolution of Italy at this time (notably the increased trade with the Levant and Far East), is not unconnected with the publication of the Italian arithmetic book,The Treviso Arithmetic in 1478 which is the earliest known dated, printed arithmetic book. Actually the Italian Merchants used the computational algorithms contained in this book to solve some problems of commercial arithmetic such as payment for goods received, currency exchange, and the determination of shares of profit derived through partnership arrangements. Hence, the need for more efficient book-keeping and computation also contributed to the appearance of this pioneer book. Other influences include the introduction of Hindu-Arabic numerals and the proliferation of printed material following the invention of movable type.He describes the rise of mercantile capitalism and the economic beginnings of industrialization in the early Renaissance Venetian Republic. With a new distribution of political power as well as new types of power occasioned by the growth of towns and cities, he says, there came entrepreneurship in trade and manufacture. Commercialism spawned wealth that was reinvested, and modern mercantile capitalism was born, he maintains. As the riches of Venice grew, he observes, the extent of its political powers and expansion also increased such that by 15th Century A.D, the Republic now encompassed two empires with Venice becoming the trade capital of Europe, and one of the richest cities of the then known world (pp. 1-7).The lesson here is clear: capitalism, from its earliest beginnings, has been known for provoking catalysis with regard to any (positive) historical development of modernity propelled by the former’s quest for profit and economic expansion. Hence, the Renaissance Venice took advantage of the favorable political climate, advantageous geographical location along the Adriatic Sea, and the resilient psychological disposition of her citizens for survival, to make the splendor and glamour of modernity a reality for the first time in Europe. Venetians were free from oppression and domination and this freedom in turn gave impetus to their initiative, innovative and adventurous spirit. More still, Venice’s diplomatic skills ensured for her freedom from the fear of any external intimidations. Thus, capitalism becomes not just the change that underlines modernity, but more importantly the explanation for this change.The modern (mercantile) capitalism not only instigated economic and political innovations but also motivated scientific inventions, just like the modern (industrial) capitalism has. Hence, the modern (mercantile) capitalism that flourished up till 16th Century is no less capitalistic in nature than the modern (industrial) capitalism that originated since 16th and 17th Centuries. Both tend to have comparable kind of effects on the people and the society. However, some scholars (notably, Karl Marx) will be reluctant to ascribe the term capitalism to any economic activity before the 16th Century.It was trade that initially opened Europe to the fresh ideas and knowledge which helped free it from feudalism after the fall of the Roman Empire. The travels and adventures of some merchants like Marco Polo, and Fibonacci, brought foreign lands, people, techniques, customs and procedures to the knowledge of Europeans. Hence, the importance of mercantile capitalism was decisive for Europe’s development. Swetz (1989, p. 295) shows that the merchants’ involvement with the collection of data and record keeping impacted heavily on the evolution of modern mathematics; whereas the quest for new markets and greater profits also gave rise to studies in geography and astronomy and led to advances in cartography, navigation and marine architecture. In a similar vein, the cases of steam engine, locomotive, modern computers, internet/electronic banking, genetically modified crops, robotics, generative Artificial Intelligence e.t.c. are all examples of inventions motivated by modern (industrial) capitalist concerns. Nevertheless, the term Modern Capitalism in this work, is specifically used to refer to late modern/contemporary (industrial) capitalism which is shown bellow to have a modern philosophical foundation.

This study aimed to examine the practice of Educational Management Information Systems in Oromia and to identify the major challenges which are hindering its effectiveness. A qualitative case study research design was used to address the aim of the study. Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources through focus group discussions with 8 well-experienced individuals from ICT and EMIS directorate and reviewing the regional education statistics annual abstracts published within the last five years. Thematic data analysis was used to analyze the data obtained from both sources. The findings of this study revealed that the practice of EMIS in the region is characterized by time-consuming, paper-based work and tiresome. Meanwhile, it was found that there are challenges like skill and knowledge gaps among people having different functions in the system, poor organizational structure and absence of EMIS policy and legal framework as well as absence and inadequate availability of hardware, software, internet connectivity and electrical power, especially at schools level and remotest areas of the region. It was concluded that although the system is characterized by poor data quality, it can be considered as effective for it is delivering the required education data and information needed by different stakeholders. It was recommended that most of the challenges can be improved if officials at different levels pay due attention to the issues. It was also recommended that further research needs to be conducted to come up with appropriate interventions for the challenges to strengthen the entire system.

Li Li（Central China Normal University，School of Journalism and Communication，Wuhan）

It is contended that one of the promising directions for brooding over the problem of incommensurability of paradigms, coined by T. Kuhn and P. Feyerabend, can be associated with the trend of advancement of neo-Kantian epistemology, embodied by the writings of Ernst Cassirer. According to Cassirer, the statements fixing connections and relationships between mathematical ideal constructs form a 'neutral language' that can serve as a firm ground for comparing the 'old' and 'new' paradigms. A case study of the genesis and functioning of a neutral mathematical language related to the Maxwellian celebrated synthesis of optics and electromagnetism is provided. It is elicited that its basis is constituted by the mathematical language of continuum mechanics. The main function of the neutral language was to project the consequences of all the unified theories onto the mathematical model, 'rewrite' all known laws in this mathematical language, compare their conclusions with each other to eliminate contradictions and generalize the stuff in a self-consistent system of equations.

Two Years of Perseverance and Beyond: an exploratory reflection on the Covid days in Japan                                                                                                                                                          Seiji Suzuki, Ph.D.                                                                                            Centre for Integrated Research and Education of                                                                                               Natural Hazards, Shizuoka University, JapanAbstract        This study is an attempt to reflect the Covid days in Japan. It began in early 2020 and continues even after the official announcement of its end on May 5, 2023. The trend of the infection in Japan is characteristic in that the number of the infected cases showed a huge rise in 2022, when the majority of the people were vaccinated at least twice. The reason for this is yet known, however, but attitudes towards the disease and the Coronavirus changed as the infected people increased in number. Some people have adopted the idea of the government-recommended ‘New Lifestyle’ for their convenience in their daily life. This seems to have led to a new normal in the conventional customs.Key words: Covid-19, pandemic, New Lifestyle, the idea of AVOID 3Cs, a new normal1. Introduction         On May 5, 2023, the WHO officially announced the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. Covid-19 is no longer taken as a Global Health Emergency of International Concern. People tend to perceive that things have been back to how they were before the pandemic and they seem to behave as if they had not experienced the abyss of the grief brought by the disease. But it is undeniably true that we have seen and heard so many tragedies related to Covid-19, around us and around the world. People were mourning the loss of their loved ones and the new situation had us on lockdown, depriving us of our freedom of discretion. Children, who had been made to stay at home, said that they wanted to see their friends but they had tried patiently to overcome their difficulties [i.e. Anonymous 2020]. Philosophers, social critiques, academics and the like appealed the need of solidarity among us at the time of the difficulties in front of us [i.e. Giordano 2020, Žižek 2020, 2021]. Now we have lived through the days of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the memories of those days seem to have gone somewhere. But a pandemic is a disaster and it surely stamps some kind of traces on us. That is why it is worth reflecting our experiences of the Covid days.        This study attempts an exploratory reflection from an anthropological perspective on the influences of the covid experiences of the Japanese from among countless issues arising during this particular period. For this end, this paper will focus on the characteristics of the changes of the number of the infected cases, and then, the dynamics of attitudes towards the Covid-19 among the Japanese will be considered. After this, consideration will be given to the influence of the ‘New Lifestyle’ the government had recommended the people to adapt in order to cope with the pandemic.        A small-scale questionnaire survey was conducted among 31 people, all of whom gave their consent in a written form to participate as respondents in the study and gave permissions for the author to use their responses as data for discussions in some parts of this study. Of them, 10 people had participated in the author’s study of 2022, which was about their practices of the ‘New Lifestyle’ recommended by the public authority as a means of preventing infection [Suzuki 2022].        The following starts with an overview of the pandemic days in Japan, focusing on changes in the number of infected persons during this time. Then it is going to look at the changes of the attitudes towards the disease and the influences of the ‘New Lifestyle’ as a means for preventing infection. Please note that the terms Covid-19 pandemic days, Covid days or Pandemic days are all used to refer to the same period, i.e. from January 2020, to January 2024 (when the work on this paper was in process). This is because the influence of the Covid-19 still continues even after the WHO’s official announcement of the end of the Covid-19 pandemic on May 5, 2023.2. Trend of the number of infected cases        Soon after the outbreak of Covid-19, the Japanese government categorised its legal status as a Class 2 disease under the Infectious Disease Control Law [MHLW]. It meant that Covid-19 was a serious and catastrophic infection, equivalent to SARS, bird flu (H5N1/N7N9) and diphtheria and the number of infected cases was counted daily until the WHO’s officially announced the end of Covid pandemic on May 5, 2023. After that, the legal status of Covid-19 was downgraded to Class 5, the same class as seasonal influenza for example. The system of counting infected cases was also changed to the Gathering Medical Information System (G-MIS). In this system, about 38,000 officially chosen medical institutions across the country report the number of infected persons they treated regularly, not necessarily on the daily basis. Figure 1 shows this difference.        It is quite obvious that there is a clear trend of the number of infected cases during the whole period from January 2020 to January 2024. During this time, slightly over 37 million people were infected, including those infected multiple times. Of them, the infected cases between January 2020 to December 2021 count little more than 1.7million cases, while the remaining cases, that is, about 35 million cases, representing slightly less than 95 percent of the total number of infections, occurred in 2022 and after.        The death toll also shows a similar trend. According to the official statistics by MHLW, there have been 74,096 deaths recorded from May, 2020 to May 9, 2023, the following day after the end of the Covid pandemic. Of them the first two years saw 17,781 deceased persons, and the rest, that is, 56,315 people died between January, 2022 and May 9, 2023.        What could be of interest to us is firstly that such an explosive increase happened when the full vaccination was almost over and third jab of the Covid-19 vaccination was being administered in Japan. Secondly Japan’s trend of infections in 2022 was not consistent with that of the world. According to WHO, there was a rapid increase in the first few months of 2022 but an overall world trend was somehow downward in the second half of the year [WHO]. The trend in Japan was not completely the other way round, but surely very different from it.        When the new disease caused by the new Coronavirus, later dubbed as Covid-19 was about to break out in early 2020, the Japanese government abruptly called for the temporary closure of all schools from elementary to secondary levels nationwide from March 1 to 20. This decision was made for the purpose of stopping the spread of the new Coronavirus by reducing opportunities for physical contacts between people in the initial stage of contagion.        The major theme parks such as the Tokyo Disney Land, Universal Studio Japan and Tokyo Ueno Zoo decided to temporarily close their facilities to comply with the government request. Similarly, local governments across the country started placing ‘Do Not Use’ warnings to their playground equipment like monkey bars, seesaws, swings and the like. Entering into playgrounds themselves was banned. And it was officially announced that Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games would be postponed by one year to 2021.        Just before the temporary school closure came to end and the new academic year was to start in April, the government declared a state of emergency under the Act on Special Measures for Pandemic Influenza and New Infectious Diseases Preparedness and Response (Act No. 31 of 2012) (Ministry of Justice). This law was enacted to ’strengthen measures against novel coronavirus infectious diseases’ (Ministry of Justice).        Although this particular act entitles the government to develop and implement new measures to deal with pandemic influenza, the law does not give the national or local governments any legally binding powers. It only gives the government authorities, central and local, the right to issue a request or requests so that the people would be expected to follow the official guidelines. They do not have legally binding powers to impose sanctions or penalties on the person(s) or bodies or institutions who do not comply with the request or requests. Nor could they place a measure like lockdown as other countries did. Second, the act for the State of Emergency can be applied either nationwide or to each of prefectural/ municipal areas.        In order to prevent the spread of infection, the government proposed the guidelines, as the official requests, for shorter operation hours from 5am to 8pm, and the avoidance of people gathering for ‘unnecessary’ social occasions after 8pm. Drinking out in a group of people for a social occasion was regarded as one of the unnecessary, unurgent and offensive acts. Such requests were kept maintained until the end of 2021. According to the research on restaurant industry [Inshokuten Research 2021], approximately 90 percent of the restaurants surveyed complied with the government’s request.

Abstract: This study aimed to explore the immediate effects of smartphone-based social media use on table tennis performance variables such as reaction speed, stroke execution accuracy, and focus. A total of 14 young athletes, consisting of 7 males and 7 females (10.86 ± 1.83 years; 2.43 ± 0.65 years of experience in table tennis) participated in a randomized and counterbalanced quasi-experimental study divided into two groups: (a) social media group (SMG) and (b) table-tennis videos group (TTVG). The study assessed four variables: Stroop Test, reaction speed, a specific table tennis test, and focus (Toulouse-Piéron Test). The results indicated significant pre- and post-differences in hits, errors, and total points for both groups (p < .01), with no significant differences between groups in the three field tests. In conclusion, a 30-minute exposure to either game-related videos or social media stimuli in children led to improved scores, hits, and errors in the Stroop Test. These results suggest that acute exposure to virtual stimuli, regardless of type, enhances inhibitory control and attention abilities.Keywords: Table tennis, social media, smartphones, focus, sports performance.

Our study examined Multisystemic Therapy outcomes for youths with and without recorded offenses. Over 10 years, 4103 youths completed MST in Norway, with 5.39% having a recorded offense. Reductions in risk factors were evident for both groups, but the highest effect sizes were found in the group with recorded offenses. Future research should investigate whether MST prevents recidivism in adulthood.

A document by Logan Mestler. Click on the document to view its contents.

The poor management of rivers and rainwater has caused regular floods in the northern districts and drought in the southern districts of Bihar, which has further resulted in unbalanced growth among the different regions of the state in terms of both agricultural and social development. After forming a development-oriented government in 2005, the successful implementation of three consecutive Agricultural Roadmaps (2008 onwards) and two consecutive Saat Nischay schemes (2015 onwards) has tried to establish the regional balance somewhat. However, despite these efforts for agricultural and social transformation, the level of development is not the same across all the districts or regions of the state. Therefore, to understand the root cause of regional imbalance, this study aims to analyse the inter-district disparities in agricultural and social development through the principal component analysis. For this, the secondary data on twelve-twelve indicators of both the dimensions were extracted from the 'Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Department of Planning and Development, Government of Bihar’, and 'State Level Banker’s Committee’ of Bihar for 2021-22. The analysis revealed the presence of a high degree of disparities across regions. Such as, in the case of agricultural development, the districts of the central-east region were in the highly developed category while the districts of the southern region were in the least developed category. Whereas, in the case of social development, the districts of the central region were in the highly developed category while the districts of the southern, and north-eastern regions were in the least developed category. Further, the significant value of Spearman's rho (.645) also describes about the strong positive correlation between agricultural and social development in Bihar. Thus, to ensure regional balance and societal harmony the government should frame the district-specific policies with interlinkages between the agricultural and social development policies.

South Asian countries have witnessed a low-level equilibrium trap due to high population and low per capita income growth. The implementation of the intensive agricultural program in the decade of 1960s has brought some level of economic prosperity, poverty reduction, and food security but has also caused regional disparities in terms of economic, agricultural, and environmental outcomes. The Sustainable Development Goals 10 and 15 jointly advocate the adoption of 'sustainable agricultural practices' to reduce intra and inter-country inequalities. It does not only provide healthy food but also promotes racial equity and environmental justice. Therefore, to measure the level of agri-environmental sustainability among South Asian countries, the secondary data on 11 agri-environmental indicators related to the four dimensions of 'agriculture & and environment' were extracted from the World Bank Database. By using them, the 'Composite Index of Agri-environmental Sustainability' has been calculated with the help of the 'Normalized Inverse Euclidean Distance' method suggested by Sharma (2008) at two-time points i.e. 2010 and 2020. The results indicate that there was the presence of a high level of agri-environmental disparity across the regions. It also reveals that between the years 2010 and 2020, agri-environmental sustainability has decreased in Afghanistan and Maldives and has increased in the remaining six countries. Despite some increase in the index value, the intensity of agri-environmental sustainability was below average in both periods. The significant Spearman's rank correlation rho (.738) also describes that the selected countries have shown relatively low progress in terms of agri-environmental sustainability as their respective ranks are highly correlated between both periods of study. Therefore, the government of South Asian countries should effectively implement sustainable agricultural policies to ensure balanced and inclusive growth in the region.

On the backdrop of the global pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the ensuing energy crisis demanded fast and comprehensive policy responses in all national contexts. Government measures came under political and societal pressure, with a high degree of contestation for their capacity to deliver. Academic literature is reflecting on the nature of decision-making in highly dynamic and convoluted situations pointing out the importance of making citizen's voices noticeable at all levels of knowledge gathering and decision-making. New technologies are especially useful at inquiring citizen's perspectives on the state of the art, policy alternatives, political support, and own behavioral conduct with respect to public decisions or general occurrences. The present article is employing the netnographic methodology to understand public responses to critical energy crisis policies adopted by governments in Norway, Italy, and Romania with respect to households during the most recent energy crisis. With our inductive approach, we aim to understand similarities and differences in public perception and meaningful emerging topics.

This paper aims to provide a perspective on the way scientific evidence collected in times of crises can inform current debates in the literature on energy consumer behaviour, but also the decision-making process. Data such as the one that resulted from our quasi-experimental interventions in Romania during overlapping crises such as the COVID-19 pandemics and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine-affecting energy prices and consumer behaviour. While we acknowledge the well documented challenges of replicating pilot studies based on convenient sampling to full population surveys, we also suggest that the latter are ultimately a feasible and cost-effective measurement of changes in contexts of sudden shocks. Such data collection efforts could become the object of an ongoing multi-stakeholder engagement process leading to better-designed and deployed policies that can deliver much better in both short-term goals (e.g. managing price fluctuations in energy crises) and more medium and long-term scenarios (e.g. just energy transition).