Locking down vIolence: The covid-19 pandemic’s impact on non-state actor violence

Lockdown measures, widely used to stop the spread of disease in crises, we argue, are likely to reduce non-state actor violence, especially in urban and non-base areas. These measures deplete actors’ resources, reduce the number of high-value civilian targets, and make it logistically more difficult to conduct attacks. Using the example of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and taking advantage of the exogenous nature of COVID-19 lockdowns, we find that curfews and travel bans significantly reduce violence, especially in populated and non-base areas. These effects are most likely due to short-term changes in ISIS’s targets and logistics rather than its resources. These findings provide important insights into the security aspects of public health crises and offer novel findings into the general effectiveness of two common counterinsurgency tools

Extending Scratch: New pathways into programming

We present the Scratch extension system, a toolkit that enables anyone to extend the vocabulary of the visual Scratch programming language through custom programming blocks written in JavaScript. The extension system is designed to (i) enable innovating on the Scratch programming language itself, in addition to innovating with it through projects, and (ii) enable the creation of new interest-driven pathways into Scratch programming. In this paper, we describe some of the prior work done in this space, our design and implementation, open questions and challenges, and some preliminary outcomes.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (grant number 1002713)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (grant number 1027848)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (grant number 1417952

Democratizing the programming of virtual-physical interactions

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2014.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Page 90 blank.Includes bibliographical references (pages 87-89).This thesis describes a new framework that enables a wider range of people to extend and customize programming environments to support more personalized explorations, especially in the physical world. While the vocabulary of the Scratch programming language (http://scratch.mit.edu) can be extended to access hardware devices and web services through Scratch Extensions, creating an extension is not trivial and requires a significant level of technical expertise. This occasionally means having less personalized, more abstract language for those extensions. I describe and analyze the design of Personalized Extensions, an extension mechanism that allows the users of Scratch to personalize abstract Scratch extensions, and consequently help other users to have more meaningful learning experiences in the worlds which Scratch extensions allow them to access. I conclude by reflecting on some case studies where personalized extensions were used, and how they affected the learning experience of the users.by Abdulrahman Y. idlbi.S.M

How employers in regional Sweden can attract and retain Gen Z : The case study of Jönköpings län

Background: Gen Z is the next generation to enter the workforce and it has become more complex to attract and retain employees. The recent trend in the job market, in which most prospective employees are from Gen Z, makes it important to investigate the demands, expectations, values, and preferences of this prospective workforce. Every generation has different workplace preferences; thus, it is important for employers to understand the differences to be able to attract them. Therefore, an enterprise must develop effective employer branding to accomplish this aim. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to find out what companies in Regional Sweden can do to attract and retain highly educated employees from Gen Z. Method: The research study was conducted using the qualitative method. The primary data was collected through ten interviews with master students and were conducted in a semi-structured manner along with secondary data. Conclusion: The results show that companies in regional Sweden can use four methods together to attract and retain highly educated employees from Gen Z. Their employer branding should promote that they value diversity, equality, and inclusiveness. They should implement hybrid working unless it harms the company's operation. Mentoring them at work by delegating responsibilities and developing their skills. Most importantly to gradually develop them within the firm and inform them about possible managerial positions

How employers in regional Sweden can attract and retain Gen Z : The case study of Jönköpings län

Background: Gen Z is the next generation to enter the workforce and it has become more complex to attract and retain employees. The recent trend in the job market, in which most prospective employees are from Gen Z, makes it important to investigate the demands, expectations, values, and preferences of this prospective workforce. Every generation has different workplace preferences; thus, it is important for employers to understand the differences to be able to attract them. Therefore, an enterprise must develop effective employer branding to accomplish this aim. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to find out what companies in Regional Sweden can do to attract and retain highly educated employees from Gen Z. Method: The research study was conducted using the qualitative method. The primary data was collected through ten interviews with master students and were conducted in a semi-structured manner along with secondary data. Conclusion: The results show that companies in regional Sweden can use four methods together to attract and retain highly educated employees from Gen Z. Their employer branding should promote that they value diversity, equality, and inclusiveness. They should implement hybrid working unless it harms the company's operation. Mentoring them at work by delegating responsibilities and developing their skills. Most importantly to gradually develop them within the firm and inform them about possible managerial positions

Multi-Track Programming Competitions with Scratch (2016)

High school programming competitions often follow the traditional model of collegiate competitions, exemplified by the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC). This tradition has been reinforced by the nature of Advanced Placement Computer Science (AP CS A), for which ICPC-style problems are considered an excellent practice regimen. As more and more students in high school computer science courses approach the field from broader starting points, such as Exploring Computer Science (ECS), or the new AP CS Principles course, an analogous structure for high school outreach events becomes of greater importance. This paper describes our work on developing a Scratch-based alternative competition for high school students, that can be run in parallel with a traditional morning of ICPC-style problems

Comparison of Power Hardware-in-the-Loop Approaches for the Testing of Smart Grid Controls

The fundamental changes in the energy sector, due to the rise of renewable energy resources and the possibilities of the digitalisation process, result in the demand for new methodologies for testing Smart Grid concepts and control strategies. Using the Power Hardware-in-the-Loop (PHIL) methodology is one of the key elements for such evaluations. PHIL and other in-the-loop concepts cannot be considered as plug’n’play and, for a wider adoption, the obstacles have to be reduced. This paper presents the comparison of two different setups for the evaluation of components and systems focused on undisturbed operational conditions. The first setup is a conventional PHIL setup and the second is a simplified setup based on a quasi-dynamic PHIL (QDPHIL) approach which involves fast and continuously steady state load flow calculations. A case study which analyses a simple superimposed voltage control algorithm gives an example for the actual usage of the quasi-dynamic setup. Furthermore, this article also provides a comparison and discussion of the achieved results with the two setups and it concludes with an outlook about further research