Edward Azar’s Protracted Social Conflict Theory and Drivers of Self-Determination: the Case of Nigeria

Soon after attaining independence on October 1, 1960, the newly created nation-state – Nigeria had to wrestle with post-independent political realities. These combined with the legacies of colonial rule, and the prevalence of ethno-religious politics, led the country into civil war in 1967. Since 1960, Nigeria has experimented with different forms of government and achieved some degree of economic growth but is still plagued by the agitation of self-determination in the form of secessionist campaigns, be it the Biafra or the Oduduwa and Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). To place the discussion in perspective, the paper reviews the existing literature on the subject and also discusses Edward Azar’s protracted social conflict (PSC) theory as the theoretical base. Upon laying the theoretical foundation, the paper situates and evaluates the agitation for self-determination in Nigeria in the light of PSC. Lastly, the paper concludes that instead of seeking self-determination or territorial disintegration, the polity of Nigeria should historically revert to the practice of congenial and connected regionalism.

Etiologie a evoluční teorie mužské homosexuality

Regarding the fact that gay men leave less offspring than straight men, it is appropriate to raise a question by which means is male homosexuality maintained in a population and what could eventually be its evolutionary role. The aim of this paper is to summarize theories that try to explain male homosexuality within the framework of evolution. Furthermore, it aims to critically evaluate the results of empirical research that support particular theories or give evidence against them. In the first part, the paper provides a review of knowledge about the genetic and immunological origins of male homosexuality which consequently serves as a theoretical base for the main part of the paper that pursues the five most influential evolutionary theories of male homosexuality.

Piscivorous Bird Deterrent Device Based on a Direct Digital Synthesis of Acoustic Signals

This paper addresses the development of an acoustic deterrent device for the protection of fishponds and other objects against the unwanted presence of birds. The objective of the paper is not only providing of a deep analysis of available technologies for waveform synthesis and generation, but also building a theoretical base for the design and implementation of acoustic bird deterrent solutions. The paper addresses the synthesis of bird songs and calls using technologies for music, speech, and other types of acoustic signal processing. The second part of the paper is devoted to the unique algorithms and implementation details of the intelligent acoustic deterrence device prototype. The practical applicability of algorithms for bird call record conversion into synthesizer sequences has been analysed and possible issues are highlighted. The effectiveness and ease of practical implementation of the given method in the hardware are briefly discussed.

Applying Blockchain Technology to Security-Related Aspects of Electronic Healthcare Record Infrastructure

The centralised architecture employed by electronic health records (EHRs) may constitute a single point of failure. From the perspective of availability, an alternative cloud-based EHR infrastructure is effective and efficient. However, this increased availability has created challenges related to the security and privacy of patients’ medical records. The sensitive nature of EHRs attracts the attention of cyber-criminals. There has been a rise in the number of data breaches related to EHRs. The infrastructure used by EHRs does not assure the privacy and security of patients’ medical records. Features of blockchain platforms, such as decentralisation, immutability, auditability, and transparency, may provide a viable means of augmenting or improving services related to the security of EHRs. This study presents a series of experimental data flow configurations to test the application of blockchain technology to aspects of EHRs. The insights gained from these experiments are founded on a theoretical base to provide recommendations for applying blockchain technology to services related to the security of EHR infrastructure. These recommendations may be employed by developers when redesigning existing EHR systems or deploying new EHR systems.

Stakeholder-Based Methods to Develop a Toolkit to Promote Engagement in Assisted Living Safety

This presentation provides and overview of a mixed-methods stakeholder engaged study to develop a toolkit to encourage resident and family engagement in the safety of assisted living (AL). This study uses stakeholder-based data and stakeholder engaged processes to adapt existing tools and strategies from other settings to encourage resident and family engagement in the safety of AL. We will improve resident safety in AL by developing an evidence-based tool to implement these engagement tools/strategies in AL. The presentation will outline the theoretical base, the approach for this study, including efforts to recruit and retain stakeholders throughout the study, and stakeholder engaged process to develop the toolkit. The presentation will include challenges and strategies to encourage participation of AL staff, residents, and family caregivers in the study. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of implications for future design and research efforts aiming to impact AL care, policy, and research implementation.

THE UPDATED STRUCTURE OF THE INNOVATIVE POTENTIAL OF THE REGION

The article analyzes the main problems hin-dering Russia's transition to an innovative economy. The fundamental indicators of in-novative development are highlighted, the main of which is the innovative potential of the region. The analysis of the existing struc-tures of the innovative potential of the region is carried out by considering each structural component identified by various domestic authors over the past twenty years. The need to create an updated structure of the innovative potential of the region is due to the high variability of the theoretical base of the object under study, which has a negative impact on the development of methods for its assessment. Based on current global economic and innovative trends, an updated structure has been finalized, which includes strategically necessary components that fully reflect the versatility and multicomponence of this indicator.

Question of Authenticity of Steel Sheet Roof Cover on Traditional Housing Units in Urban Environment

Elaborating on the theory of analytical philosophy and conservation doctrine, and a case study of a selected sample, the paper discusses the authenticity of the secondary roof cover of steel sheets on traditional Bosnian houses built for housing or economic purposes. Although such steel sheet replica of a shingle or šimla wooden cover is registered and defined as authentic in rural areas, its authenticity in urban traditional areas, where it can also be found, although not as often, has not been doctrinally examined. Comparative analysis of results of theoretical base and statistical data obtained from the selected sample determines the context where it is possible and recommendable to treat the steel sheet roof cover as authentic when carrying out restoration and reconstruction.

DESCRIPTION OF THE NOVOSIBIRSK’S REGIONAL VOCABULARY BASED ON V.V. MORKOVKIN’S LEXICOGRAPHIC CONCEPTION

В статье рассматривается проблема формирования, отбора, фиксации, изучения и лексикографической интерпретации регионально ограниченной лексики различных регионов России на примере языковой ситуации в г. Новосибирске. В статье обсуждаются проблемы создания региолектных словарей в целом, предлагается пошаговая процедура формирования словника и обоснования лингвистической ценности обсуждаемых словарей, а также рассматриваются лексикографические процедуры, использованные при создании региолектного словаря (на примере «Словаря региональной лексики и неофициальных топонимов г. Новосибирска»). Теоретической базой лексикографической деятельности авторов являются антропоцентрические принципы лексикографической концепции В.В. Морковкина. The problem of formation, selection, fixation, study and lexicographic interpretation of regionally limited vocabulary of various regions of Russia on the example of the language situation in Novosibirsk are considered in this article. The problems of creating regiolect dictionaries in general are discussed, the step-by-step procedure of forming a dictionary is suggested, the linguistic value of this type of dictionaries is justified, and also the lexicographic procedures used in creating a regiolect dictionary are examined (using the example of the Dictionary of Novosibirsk’s Regional Vocabulary and Unofficial Toponyms). The theoretical base of the authors’ lexicographic activity is based on the anthropocentric principles of V. V. Morkovkin's lexicographic concept.

A Theory of Subnational Government Capital Market Information

Chapter 2 develops the theoretical base for why and how information resolution is expected to relate to subnational government capital market borrowing by reviewing and extending the corporate finance literature. Based on theories of information, it argues that although countries must have a certain level of maturity along economic, financial and market, political, and legal institutions before successfully managing a well-functioning capital market, the crowning factor behind an efficient subnational government credit market, beyond the fundamental dimensions of institutional maturity, is credit contractibility in the system and tools of information certification and monitoring available to subnational governments. This chapter details how information problems manifest in credit contractibility, reviews how information relates to capital finance, and applies theories of capital markets to subnational government borrowing, debt size, and debt composition. It discusses how information resolution institutions and credit quality can enhance subnational government capital markets and proposes testable hypotheses.

Modeling ways of developing students' creativity as the main path to their professional development

One of the important tasks of the modern system of psychology higher education is not only the development of the student’s professional potential, but also the comprehensive development of his personality. This is due to the fact that the unilateral development of professional skills and the rich theoretical base that a psychology student masters throughout the entire course of study can become practically unrealized in the future work process. The purpose of the article is to systematize the process of increasing the creativity of psychology students with the help of mechanisms and elements of the functional model of IDEF0. Using the IDEF0 functional model, we have clearly demonstrated all the functional levels and structural elements of the process of enhancing the creativity of psychology students.