3,643 research outputs found
Hamas' political transformation and engagement, 2003-2013
This thesis aims to explore the process of Hamas’ political transformation and engagement between 2003 and 2013 as well as the implications of the transition. In general, conventional scholarship research on Hamas and its transition in politics focuses either on the discussion of its tendency to violence or on its orientation towards moderation. However, both analyses fail to capture the essence of Hamas’ political transition over the ten years under discussion. This thesis argues that Hamas’ transition is interrelated with its perception of resistance. That is to say, Hamas’ transition aimed to keep its resistance work intact.
Hamas believed that because of its Zionist ideology, Israel would continue to occupy and colonize at Palestinians’ expense. Furthermore, past negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel had not helped Palestinians but on the contrary, had intensified the Israeli occupation. Therefore, nothing but resistance would restore Palestinians’ rights and defend them against Israel’s aggression. Ever since its inception in 1987, resistance has been Hamas’ only strategy and its means to end the Israeli occupation. It is worth noting that Hamas sophisticated the concept of resistance into a ‘resistance project’ from 2003 onwards, and then enforced it after taking over Gaza in June 2007; and for Hamas, the elements of resistance are comprehensive. In order to end Israeli occupation, armed struggle is its major tactic but this includes: the necessity of the national unity of Palestinians, the need for substantial support from the Arab and Muslim states and the understanding of the West. This thesis argues that as long as the Israeli occupation is in place, it is inevitable that Hamas’ engagement in politics will be irreversible and its work on resistance will continue, irrespective of the circumstances. However, it might appear in a different form
First-principles calculations of phase transition, elasticity, and thermodynamic properties for TiZr alloy
tructural transformation, pressure dependent elasticity behaviors, phonon,
and thermodynamic properties of the equiatomic TiZr alloy are investigated by
using first-principles density-functional theory. Our calculated lattice
parameters and equation of state for and phases as well as
the phase transition sequence of
are
consistent well with experiments. Elastic constants of and
phases indicate that they are mechanically stable. For cubic phase,
however, it is mechanically unstable at zero pressure and the critical pressure
for its mechanical stability is predicted to equal to 2.19 GPa. We find that
the moduli, elastic sound velocities, and Debye temperature all increase with
pressure for three phases of TiZr alloy. The relatively large values
illustrate that the TiZr alloy is rather ductile and its ductility is more
predominant than that of element Zr, especially in phase. Elastic wave
velocities and Debye temperature have abrupt increase behaviors upon the
transition at around 10 GPa and exhibit
abrupt decrease feature upon the
transition at higher pressure. Through Mulliken population analysis, we
illustrate that the increase of the \emph{d}-band occupancy will stabilize the
cubic phase. Phonon dispersions for three phases of TiZr alloy are
firstly presented and the phase phonons clearly indicate its
dynamically unstable nature under ambient condition. Thermodynamics of Gibbs
free energy, entropy, and heat capacity are obtained by quasiharmonic
approximation and Debye model.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure
Waiting, Banning, and Embracing: An Empirical Analysis of Adapting Policies for Generative AI in Higher Education
Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT have recently gained significant
attention in higher education. This study aims to understand how universities
establish policies regarding the use of AI tools and explore the factors that
influence their decisions. Our study examines ChatGPT policies implemented at
universities around the world, including their existence, content, and issuance
dates. Specifically, we analyzed the top 500 universities according to the 2022
QS World University Rankings. Our findings indicate that there is significant
variation in university policies. Less than one-third of the universities
included in the study had implemented ChatGPT policies. Of the universities
with ChatGPT policies, approximately 67 percent embraced ChatGPT in teaching
and learning, more than twice the number of universities that banned it. The
majority of the universities that ban the use of ChatGPT in assessments allow
individual instructors to deviate from this restrictive policy. Our empirical
analysis identifies several factors that are significantly and positively
correlated with a university's likelihood of having a ChatGPT policy, including
the university's academic reputation score, being in an English-speaking
country, and the general public attitudes toward ChatGPT. In addition, we found
that a university's likelihood of having a ban policy is positively associated
with faculty student ratio, citations, and the English-speaking country dummy,
while negatively associated with the number of peer universities within the
same country that have banned ChatGPT. We discuss the challenges faced by
universities based our empirical findings.Comment: 33 pages with 2 figure
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