3 research outputs found
Insights into informal practices of sport leadership in the middle east: the impact of positive and negative wasta
This study aims to explore and understand the impact of one of the informal culture forces on leadership corruption in sport settings. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 individuals. Board members, presidents, and secretaries general were asked via phone interviews to describe the term wasta, using evidence from non-profit sectors in the Arab Middle East. The results show that when wasta is considered from a positive perspective, it is perceived as a means to solve problems or avoid bureaucracy, whereas it is perceived as corrupt behavior when it is considered from a negative perspective. Practical implications of the findings are discussed, together with limitations and ideas for future research
Insights into informal practices of sport leadership in the middle east: the impact of positive and negative wasta
SPIRITS: Uncovering Unusual Infrared Transients with Spitzer
We present an ongoing, five-year systematic search for extragalactic infrared transients, dubbed SPIRITS—SPitzer InfraRed Intensive Transients Survey. In the first year, using Spitzer/IRAC, we searched 190 nearby galaxies with cadence baselines of one month and six months. We discovered over 1958 variables and 43 transients. Here, we describe the survey design and highlight 14 unusual infrared transients with no optical counterparts to deep limits, which we refer to as SPRITEs (eSPecially Red Intermediate-luminosity Transient Events). SPRITEs are in the infrared luminosity gap between novae and supernovae, with [4.5] absolute magnitudes between −11 and −14
(Vega-mag) and [3.6]–[4.5] colors between 0.3 mag and 1.6 mag. The photometric evolution of SPRITEs is diverse, ranging from 7 mag yr−1. SPRITEs occur in star-forming galaxies. We present an in depth study of one of them, SPIRITS 14ajc in Messier 83, which shows shock-excited molecular hydrogen emission. This shock may have been triggered by the dynamic decay of a non-hierarchical system of massive stars that led to either the formation of a binary or a protostellar merger.The SPIRITS team acknowledges generous support
from the NASA Spitzer grants for SPIRITS. M.M.K. thanks the
National Science Foundation for a PIRE Grant No. 1545949
for the GROWTH project. J.J. acknowledges the National
Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant
No. DGE-1144469. P.A.W. and S.M. are grateful to the South
African National Research Foundation (NRF) for a research
grant. R.D.G. and the MLOF group were supported, in part, by
the United States Air Force. H.E.B. acknowledges support by
NASA through grant GO-13935 from the Space Telescope
Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of
Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA
contract NAS5-26555