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The article focuses on the practice of jus primae noctis during the feudal age. Jus Primae Noctis (Right of the first Night) was a subject of much interest and considerable controversy in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Scholars debated whether it was a custom, a right, or even a myth. Recent evidence would emphasize the so-called right was simply the abffity of the powerful to subject the less powerful to their will. Rape might be a better term to apply since husbands and families had to resort to subterfuge to thwart the desires of the powerful.

The process of jury selection typically requires opposing counsel to reduce a pool of prospective jurors to the prescribed jury size by alternately excusing or striking individuals from service. These decisions, called peremptory strikes, are executed without the need of revealing any underlying rationale. However, recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings have held that attorneys may not exercise their peremptory strikes to systematically exclude prospective jurors on the basis of race or gender. The first step in establishing a charge of such improper bias re- quires the challenging party to show evidence that his or her opponent's strikes are inconsistent with random consideration of these protected characteristics. Since court procedure dictates that there is some alternating between Prosecution and Defense in the striking process, choices for each side impact those of the other, and a simple comparison of the jury pool with the peremptory strikes is insufficient for establishing any inference of bias. For these situations, we present a methodology for assessing the neutrality of juror strikes, based on the Poisson binomial distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article criticises U.S. foreign policy in the new world order as militaristic and unilateral and presents recommendations for change. Within days of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, Secretary of State James Baker told Congress that the developing crisis was a defining moment in the post-Cold war era. But President Bush has never explained why the invasion--and not, say, Nelson Mandela's release from prison--was the first test of the new world order. The Bush administration's new world order looks very much like the old world order: an international coalition largely defined by the United States but including the United Nations, functioning like a committee to approve U.S. strategies after the fact. If the United States had been fully committed to international law and the Covenant of Human Rights it would not have armed and supported those who, like Manuel Noriega and Saddam Hussein, repress and torture. Democracy abroad is a noble goal for U.S. foreign policy, and that goal can only be served by a consistent, principled foreign policy.

The purpose of this article is to revive academic discussion about the potential of Islamic norms to affect State policy with regard to weapons of mass destruction. A number of religious norms govern just warfare (jus in bello). Yet, the extension of such norms to weapons of mass destruction, let alone their effect on State policy, has been under-researched not only by Western scholars but also by Islamist ethicists. This case study sets out to discuss different contextual aspects of the role played by religion in Iranian decision-making in relation to chemical weapons during the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988). Iran constitutes asui generiscase when it comes to evaluating the power of religious norms to affect policy. This is due to religion’s major role in the society’s cultural and constitutional structure. Iraq started using chemical weapons (‘CW’) against Iran in 1982 and continued to do so through the war. Iran did not respond in kind, initially. Religious norms played a role in Iran’s restraint, but their compliance pull was not absolute. A number of internal factors resulted in the religious prohibitions as well as a number of grand jurists (marāji’-i taqlīd) being sidelined, which paved the way for some CW use and development by Iran. External factors also played a part when the restraint exercised by religious norms was weakened. During the war, the international community remained mostly passive. This type of prioritising of other considerations over concerns of humanity sent a clear message to the Iranian decision-makers. The religious/moral argument was set aside. There are clear lessons for non-proliferation policy to be learned from the Iranian case. The religious argument can play a role in restraining State policy. However, it does not operate in a vacuum. It also needs the unconditional support of external actors engaged in non-proliferation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Polities appeal to the principle of distributive justice when justifying the right to inclusion and exclusion they claim for themselves with respect to immigrants: to each their own place. This paper attempts, in a first stage, to explain the nature of the link between distributive justice and an alleged right to inclusion and exclusion, as manifested in the political use of indexicals such as 'we', 'here', and 'now'. Drawing on an analysis of the European Union, it subsequently shows why the use of political indexicals, when officials exercise the EU's putative jus includendi et excludendi, is only possible by invoking the utterance of a first 'we-here-now' that has no referent. The relation between distributive justice and an alleged right to inclusion and exclusion—a polity as a nomos, as I will call it—is rendered both possible and continuously undermined by an anomos—the invocation of a polity and a world that are not and cannot be in empirical space and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of autonomous weapons is becoming one of the most significant threats to humanity in today's society. One of the major issues confronting the use of autonomous weapons is that of command responsibility. This paper aims to look into the rules governing the operation of Autonomous Weapon System (AWS) on the battlefield in particular with regard to the command responsibility under international humanitarian law. The study also elaborates on the controversy that arose among worldwide societies regarding the weapon's development and deployment. The study is normative-empirical research, and the research is based on legal principles and facts. It employed a descriptive-analytical method. The study reveals that the use of AWS in armed conflict is not explicitly governed by international humanitarian law. The use of AWS could potentially jeopardize several general principles of international humanitarian law, including proportionality, distinction, military necessity, and limitation. If the use of AWS results in war crimes, the commander can be held liable. However, whether the notion of command responsibility can be applied to AWS weapons classified as "Human-out-of-the-Loop Weapons" is currently being contested. This is due to the weapon system's ability to pick and shoot the targets without the need for human input or interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1999 Kosovo, Serbia conflict was seen as atypical in its objective and in its one-sidedness. These qualities and the increasingly simulacral nature of modern warfare—war as entertainment — deserve attention, but represent no fundamental change. However, grudging international acceptance of NATO's humanitarian intervention may represent a change in the jus ad bellum. Three sections consider (1) Jean Baudrillard's Eurocentric, Orientalist attempts to address similar issues; (2) the ostensible objective of the war and the resulting effect on international law; and (3) the asymmetry of the war. The conclusion contains observations about the future of the jus ad bellum.

Objective: To compare the anaesthesia methods in percutaneous nephrolithotomy in terms of safety and effectiveness in elderly men. Methods: Elderly male patients who had undergone percutaneous nephrolithotomy were screened retrospectively and divided into 2 groups: percutaneous nephrolithotomy under combined spino-epidural anaesthesia (Group CSEA, n = 70) and percutaneous nephrolithotomy under general anaesthesia (Group GA, n = 114). Preoperative, perioperative and postoperative outcome measures were examined. Results: Between the two groups, there was no statistically significant difference in terms of stone burden, stone location, presence of the previous operation in the same kidney, presence of staghorn stones, mean American Society of Anesthesiologists scores and presence of abnormal kidney (p > 0.05). The mean duration time in the operation room and post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) was statistically shorter in the Group CSEA (p < 0.01). There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of Clavien Grade 1 and above complications (p > 0.05). Stone-free rates and success rates were similar in both groups (p = 0.133 and p = 0.273, respectively). Conclusion: The type of anaesthesia does not affect the success rate and complication rate of percutaneous nephrolithotomy in elderly male patients. Patients who underwent percutaneous nephrolithotomy under CSEA needed less analgesic injection during the postoperative period. CSEA can shorten the time a patient spends in the operating room and PACU, which provides more effective use of operation room working hours. Combined spino-epidural anaesthesia (CSEA) can be safely administered in elderly men during PNL operation without affecting surgical success. CSEA patients less occupy the operating rooms. CSEA patients' postoperative period is more comfortable because of the less painful period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the Zimbabwe special temporary residence permits to demonstrate how these permits have, over the past 13 years, been used to limit Zimbabwean migrants from accessing permanent residency and South African citizenship. For instance, we illustrate in this article how the Zimbabwe special temporary residence permits effectively marked Zimbabweans as perpetual outsiders with no rights to reside indefinitely in South Africa, even though some Zimbabwean migrants have been living in the country on an ongoing basis for the past two decades. The Zimbabwe special temporary residence permits keep Zimbabwean migrants in a 'temporary migration status' as 'guest workers' who are expected to eventually 'go back home'. We further argue that although the Zimbabwe special temporary residence permits are not racist tools per se, they are exclusionary tools that embody analogous, exclusionary and othering logic as the twentieth-century migrant labour system that the White South African government used to banish all Blacks from the category of citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the importance of persuasion knowledge (PK) for understanding how individuals cope with persuasion, there is little research addressing how PK can be developed and sustained. We explore dispositional PK (consumers' confidence in their knowledge about marketer agents' persuasion tactics) and coping skills (i.e., critical thinking about media: skepticism, understanding bias, scrutinizing source) among families in Jamaica after an intervention and at a delay. We randomly assigned 62 mother–adolescent pairs to an intervention (two workshops) or control group: all participants completed questionnaires four times (baseline, after Workshop 1, after Workshop 2, 10 to 11 weeks after Workshop 2). Workshop 1 provided information related to PK, and then families completed "subvertising" homework. Subvertising allows audiences to critically evaluate media content and to construct subversive narratives, often through parody. In Workshop 2, families discussed and presented their subvertisements. Results of the multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) revealed time × condition interaction effects for skepticism (mothers), bias (adolescents), and source (adolescents), offering support for the efficacy of the intervention. In addition, adolescents and mothers in the intervention group increased their PK after the intervention with mothers' PK sustained over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Girl-child education in the African context continues to be an important subject matter that needs to be studied. While efforts to address the challenges have been made over the years, this study aims to provide a deeper understanding of the unique demographic, economic, and sociocultural factors that impact girl-child education, which could subsequently affect future policies in Ghana to improve gender parity in education. The study aims to explore the sociocultural and economic elements that impact girl child education in the Ashaiman municipality, where studies have revealed an increasing disparity in gender and unequal representation of females in education and socioeconomic endeavors. This present study employed a quantitative descriptive survey approach with questionnaires as the primary data-gathering tool. A total sample of 165 household heads constituted the main respondents. The Binary Logistics Regression method was utilized for the data analysis using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 20.0). The various deductions from the study confirm some demographic, economic, and sociocultural factors such as household size, culture, early marriage, the income level of the household, and migration were the key factors that influenced the girl child education in the Ashaiman municipality. The findings of this study have empirical and policy contributions to shape future research and policies on girl child education specifically in Ghana which is also relevant to the empowerment of females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Which harms and benefits should be viewed as relevant when considering whether to launch cyber-measures? In this article, we consider this question, which matters because it is central to determining whether cyber-measures should be launched. Several just war theorists hold a version of what we call the 'Restrictive View', according to which there are restrictions on the sorts of harms and benefits that should be included in proportionality assessments about the justifiability of going to war (whether cyber or kinetic). We discuss two such views – the Just Cause Restrictive View and Rights-based Restrictive View – and find both wanting. By contrast, we defend what we call the 'Permissive View'. This holds that all potential goods and bads should be included in proportionality decisions about cyber-measures, even those that appear to be trivial, and where the various harms and benefits are given different weights, according to their agent-relative and agent-neutral features. We argue further that accepting the Permissive View has broader implications for the ethical frameworks governing cyberwar, both in terms of whether cyberattack provide just cause for coercive responses, including kinetic warfare and cyber-responses, and whether cyber-measures should be governed by just war theory or a new theory for cyber-operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study delves into the intricate relationship between sustainable development, International Environmental Law, and capitalist power dynamics. By applying Evgeny Pashukanis' commodity theory as a theoretical framework, the paper seeks to critically examine the interplay between class, production, and sustainable development within the realm of International Environmental Law. Drawing on the historical roots of International Law in European imperialism, the paper exposes the instrumental role played by International Law in justifying the plundering of new lands and the imposition of universal values and norms. It argues that International Law becomes a legal justification for capitalist states to continue their economic expansion while concealing underlying class struggles behind principles such as equal sovereignty and self-determination. Moreover, the study shed light on the emergence of sustainable development as a necessary adaptation to cope with the unsustainable use of natural resources. It reveals how International Environmental Law serves the expansion of global capitalism by maintaining the exchanges between the natural world and capital through policies and regulations. The fetishism over sustainable development, disguised as a conservancy and environmental protection, becomes a tool for capital survival within the natural world's limits, perpetuating developed countries' colonial ventures and further subordinating developing nations. It exposes the contradictions and tensions in pursuing economic growth and environmental preservation. It calls for a more equitable and inclusive approach that recognizes diverse perspectives and dismantles the legal structures perpetuating power imbalances. Ultimately, this research stimulates academic discourse and offers new insights into the complex intersections of class, production, and sustainable development within International Environmental Law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to identify the core values in natural law as a shared value system, based on natural law theories and issues confronting the world today. It identifies the doctrines that influence major natural law thinking and then proposes a minimum content for constitutionalism based on such natural law shared values. The purpose is to identify with clarity over-riding principles of natural justice in solving practical problems. The methodology adopted is doctrinal, conceptual, and analytical. The findings detail common values for humanity and mandate revisions of modern constitutions considering the conclusions reached based on natural law dictums. This article is the first of its kind to link natural law with constitutionalism while explicating the ends of natural law considering experience and observation. It is also proposed in this research that if governments fail to meet the social contract with the people on the core values, then international dispute resolution forums and human rights advocates should play their part in enforcing these common core values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities can be understood as work-like environments for students, with similar risks and expectations regarding psychosocial environment. Limited research has examined this study environment from a Demand-Control-Support perspective with regard to sexual harassment. Understanding this environment is key to designing protective measures. This study aimed to examine the association between individual and psychosocial study environment characteristics and exposure to sexual harassment among students at Lund University, Sweden. This cross-sectional study utilised data from an online survey conducted among students. Questions on background characteristics, exposure to sexual harassment while at university and psychosocial study environment as measured by a Demand-Control-Support-instrument were used. Bivariate, and multivariable logistic regressions were used, together with Population Attributable Fractions (PAF), and synergy indexes (SI). High demands and low control were independently associated with higher odds of being exposed to sexual harassment among both females and males (OR 1.41, OR 1.26 and OR 1.55, OR1.34, respectively). When adjusting for background characteristics, high study strain (combination of high demands and low control) was associated with exposure to sexual harassment among both female and male respondents (aOR 1.67 and 1.98 respectively) and could account for PAF of 14% and 15% of study environment sexual harassment for females and males, respectively. Low lecturer support was associated with higher odds for sexual harassment among females (aOR 1.19) but not males. Little evidence was found for a buffering effect of student support on high strain and sexual harassment (SI 0.7). Working to reduce situations of high strain study environments could be an effective strategy for reducing sexual harassment in university settings. Improving support from lecturers could also modify this relationship, but more research is required to identify causal pathways underlying this result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relation of law and art is conventionally understood through a disciplinary divide that presents art as an instrument of legal practice and scholarship or, alternatively, presents law as potential context for artistic engagement. Moving beyond disciplinary definitions, in this article we explore how art and law, as modes of ordering and action in the world, often overlap in their respective desires to engage existing material orders. Whereas law's claim of producing order appears self-evident, we try to highlight, through a concept of legislative arts, the often-overlooked similar function of artistic practices. At the heart of what we refer to as legislative arts are practices that aim to challenge law's claim of authority in ordering social life through tactical combinations of elements of art and law. In examining a set of examples that include the Tamms Year Ten campaign to close a super-max prison in the United States, the work of Forensic Architecture and practices of passport forgery, we aim to highlight the possibility of manifesting social orders beyond an exclusive reliance upon state laws. Pointing to the potentials of such legislative arts practices, this article suggests that the material ordering quality of artistic and legal practices can, and perhaps should, be weaponized for challenging and remaking the world of unjust state laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fungi, being natural decomposers, are the most potent, ubiquitous and versatile sources of industrial enzymes. About 60% of market share of industrial enzymes is sourced from filamentous fungi and yeasts. Mycozymes (myco-fungus; zymes-enzymes) are playing a pivotal role in several industrial applications and a number of potential applications are in the offing. The field of mycozyme production, while maintaining the old traditional methods, has also witnessed a sea change due to advents in recombinant DNA technology, optimisation protocols, fermentation technology and systems biology. Consolidated bioprocessing of abundant lignocellulosic biomass and complex polysaccharides is being explored at an unprecedented pace and a number of mycozymes of diverse fungal origins are being explored using suitable platforms. The present review attempts to revisit the current status of various mycozymes, screening and production strategies and applications thereof. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Antimicrobial resistance is a growing worldwide problem and is considered to be one of the biggest threats to global health by the World Health Organization. Insights into the determinants of antibiotic prescribing may be gained by comparing the antibiotic usage patterns of Australia and Sweden. Publicly available data on dispensed use of antibiotics in Australia and Sweden between 2006 and 2018. Medicine use was measured using defined daily dose per 1,000 inhabitants per day (DDD/1000/day) and the number of dispensed prescriptions per 1000 inhabitants (prescriptions/1000). The use of antibiotics increased over the study period in Australia by 1.8% and decreased in Sweden by 26.3%. Use was consistently higher in Australia, double that of Sweden in 2018. Penicillin with extended spectrum was the most used class of antibiotics in Australia followed by penicillin with beta lactamase inhibitors. In Sweden, the most used class was beta lactamase-sensitive penicillin and the least used class was penicillin with beta lactamase inhibitors. Antibiotic use in Australia is higher than in Sweden, with a higher proportion of broad-spectrum penicillin, including combinations with beta lactamase inhibitors, and cephalosporins. Factors that may contribute to these differences in antibiotic use include differences in guidelines, the duration of national antimicrobial stewardship programs, and differences in funding mechanisms. Australia has had a consistently higher dispensed use of antibiotics compared to Sweden from 2006 to 2018; and up to twice the use in 2018 •A higher proportion of dispensed antibiotics in Australia were broad-spectrum penicillin, including combinations with beta lactamase inhibitors, and cefalosporins. •The most commonly used class of antibiotics in Australia is penicillin with extended spectrum, compared to beta lactamase sensitive penicillin in Sweden. •Use of macrolides, sulphonamides and trimethoprim, cephalosporins, penicillin with beta lactamase inhibitors and penicillin with extended spectrum was consistently higher in Australia, whereas in Sweden use of fluoroquinolones, lincosamides, beta lactamase-resistant penicillin and beta lactamase sensitive penicillin was higher. •The observed differences could be explained by antibiotic choice recommended in guidelines, prevalence of point-of-care testing, models of primary care funding, the presence and duration of national antimicrobial stewardship programmes, and cultural differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, low power consumption and portable devices have been developed that will be connected and used everywhere. However, this explosion will bring critical challenges to electricity consumption. In this work, copper and zinc electrodes are embedded in prickly pear plant as an electricity generation has been analysed and evaluated. Many experimental setups have been performed to determine the optimum method to collect the maximum amount of energy from the living plant. They study the influence of distance between electrodes, influence of the electrode's size, influence of the electrode's depth, effect of the couple electrodes number, and effect of series and parallel connection to harvested energy. Therefore, a combination of series and parallel connection among the leaves can be installed to harvest higher voltage and current. The experimental results show that 58,8 mW electrical power can be harvested using 18 pairs of electrodes embedded in 6 leaves. The produced energy is used to power up low-power devices such as a calculator or a light emitting diode (LED) and can be stored in a capacitor or a battery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian legislation and military doctrine stipulate that soldiers 'subjugate their will' to government, and fight in any war the government declares. Neither legislation nor doctrine enables the conscience of soldiers. Together, provisions of legislation and doctrine seem to take soldiers for granted. And, rather than strengthening the military instrument, the convention of legislation and doctrine seems to weaken the democratic foundations upon which the military may be shaped as a force for justice. Denied liberty of their conscience, soldiers are denied the foundational right of democratic citizenship and construed as utensils of the State. This article critiques the idea of moral agency in Australian legislation and military doctrine and is concerned with the obligation of the State to safeguard the moral integrity of individual soldiers, so soldiers might serve with a fully formed moral assurance to advance justice in the world. Beyond its explicit focus on the convention of Australian thought, this article raises questions of far-reaching relevance. The provisos of Australian legislation and doctrine are an analogue of western thinking. Thus, this discussion challenges many assumptions concerning military duty and effectiveness. Discussion will additionally provoke some reassessment of the expectations democratic societies hold of their soldiers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because law clerks are integral to the work of the Supreme Court, the selection of clerks is important. Observers of the Court have referred to "feeder judges," by which we mean court of appeals judges from whom justices draw large numbers of clerks. This article analyzes the feeder-judge phenomenon in the 1976-1985 and 1995-2004 terms of the Court. It verifies that justices do rely heavily on certain court of appeals judges as sources of clerks and that justices differ considerably in the sets of feeder judges from whom they draw clerks. It also shows that there is a strong ideological element to the use of feeder judges by individual justices and that this element has strengthened over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is aimed at assessing potentials, challenges and the economic contributions of tourism resources in the South Achefer district. A descriptive research design and mixed research approaches were employed. 161 samples were selected from target populations. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were employed. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 22. Descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage and mean were computed. Qualitative data were triangulated. The result confirmed that the study area has huge potential resources to develop community-based ecotourism with the cumulative mean values of 1.66. These resources include: Zhbst forest; Zhbst and Klti caves; Ashare waterfalls, varied wildlife species, as well as cultural resources such as ancient churches, festivals, funeral ceremonies and monasteries. There are, however, many challenges to using this potential. These include a lack of infrastructure and poor coordination of stakeholders. In the South Achefer district, the levels of community agreement on the economic contributions of tourism were high with a cumulative mean value of 1.7. The potential tourism resources of the area need to be promoted by the tourist office using a variety of promotional tools. To develop these potential tourism resources, concerned bodies must collaborate to provide basic tourism infrastructure facilities and services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai] is a cucurbit with high value in Burkina Faso. It is appreciated for its fruits, which are widely consumed. In the literature, watermelon is described as an important source of bioactive compounds beneficial to health. There is very little scientific data on this supposed nutraceutical potential of the watermelon. This study aimed to characterize the nutraceutical and antioxidant potential of the pulp of five watermelon cultivars grown in Burkina Faso to identify the best cultivars for consumers. The study focused on the physicochemical, nutraceutical, and antioxidant activity characterization of the cultivars using standard methods. This study revealed a significant variation in total phenolics, flavonoids, β-carotene, and lycopene contents between the five cultivars while the color did not show significant variation. The color parameters with ΔE ranging from 40.62 ± 4.87 (SB cultivar) to 48.90 ± 15.81 (KK cultivar) determined did not reveal any significant difference between cultivars. For the phytochemical parameters: total phenolic compounds, total flavonoids, β-carotene, and lycopene, the cultivars KK and KA showed the highest content. The statistical analysis of the results shows positive correlations between phytochemical composition and pulp color. The color could thus, depending on the cultivar and its maturity, constitute a preliminary indicator of choice for the estimation of the content of bioactive compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to identify the individual phenolics and volatile compounds, as well as the organic acids of strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) genotype fruits. The antioxidant activities were also assessed using three methods (DPPH, ABTS and βeta carotene bleaching assays) significant differences (p˂0.05) were observed among all the genotypes. Total phenols varied from 25.37 to 39.06 mg GAE/g dried weight (DW), total flavonoids ranged between 3.30 and 7.07 mg RE/g DW, and anthocyanins varied from 0.15 to 0.64 mg cya-3-glu/100 g DW. Moreover, the antioxidant activities were in the range of 3.33–21.08, 2.25–19.58, and 1.08–13 mg ascorbic acid equivalent/g DW for DPPH, ABTS and βeta carotene bleaching assays, respectively. Seventeen phenolics compounds were identified by HPLC in A. unedo fruits. Gallocatechol and catechin were the most abundant compounds. Among the volatile compounds identified, hexadecanoic acid was the most abundant in all the genotype fruits. The principal component analysis revealed that the first two components formed 66.47% of the total inertia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terms used in the study of people/place bonding too often circumscribe thinking to either the most readily conceived and tangibly experienced scale of place – home/neighborhood – or to the most politically prevalent scale of place – the state. In doing so, researchers ignore the influence of places that help constitute identity between and above the aforementioned scales. A more elastic conceptualization of place attachment allows for mutability of place-identities and their capacity to be both multi-sited and varying in scale. With a long history of ethnic Russian habitation from the Tsarist through Soviet eras, the northern oblasts of Kazakhstan emerged as a borderland of potential irredentism akin to eastern Ukraine. Calls for secession and annexation have, however, been minimal thus rendering the region's amalgam of place identities a ready case for considering relational geographies of borderland place-attachment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous literature links maternal pregnancy-specific anxiety (PSA) with later difficulties in child emotional and social cognition as well as memory, functions closely related to the amygdala and the hippocampus. Some evidence also suggests that PSA affects child amygdalar volumes in a sex-dependent way. However, no studies investigating the associations between PSA and newborn amygdalar and hippocampal volumes have been reported. We investigated the associations between PSA and newborn amygdalar and hippocampal volumes and whether associations are sex-specific in 122 healthy newborns (68 males/54 females) scanned at 2-5 weeks postpartum. PSA was measured at gestational week 24 with the Pregnancy-Related Anxiety Questionnaire Revised 2 (PRAQ-R2). The associations were analyzed with linear regression controlling for confounding variables. PSA was associated positively with left amygdalar volume in girls, but no significant main effect was found in the whole group or in boys. No significant main or sex-specific effect was found for hippocampal volumes. Although this was an exploratory study, the findings suggest a sexually dimorphic association of mid-pregnancy PSA with newborn amygdalar volumes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a research study detailing the procedure and results of experimental eye-tracking research to evaluate employers' career websites. The objective of this research was to gain an insight into Generation Y's perspective on the career websites of prospective employers. The objective was developed into several research questions and hypotheses. The eye-tracking research method was used to test the websites. The eye-tracking tests were supplemented by an in-depth interview and a standardised questionnaire with the aim of acquiring the respondents' subjective views and preferences. The research study contributes to an understanding of how prospective employees from Generation Y view the career websites of employers and the importance of the elements presented on them; it allowed factors that affect the perceived attractiveness of career websites to be identified and provided information as to what Millennials liked the most/least about the organisations' career websites and what would be advisable to change in order for the career websites to better serve their purpose. Based on the research findings, recommendations were made for creating attractive career websites for job seekers from Generation Y. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Justice for People on the Move, Gillian Brock constructs an elaborate normative framework, based on human rights practice, to assess how states must treat international migrants in order to legitimate exclusionary claims to self-determination. In this discussion piece, I argue that this framework cannot always satisfactorily explain when and why it is impermissible for legitimate states to remove irregular migrants from their territory (i.e. deport them). I show that Brock's intuitions about at least one of her own paradigm cases – the removal of long-settled immigrants whose irregular immigration was tacitly approved at the time – are not accommodated by her own framework. However, Brock also acknowledges that deportation is often harmful to persons and that this is morally problematic. Although this concern with harm is not systematically elaborated in Brock's discussion, I think it should be. I suggest that a purely harm-based framework is fully able to negotiate Brock's moral worries about deportation and outline the cornerstones of such a framework, stressing that harm in deportation may count as permissible only if it satisfies the joint desiderata of necessity and proportionality. I conclude by giving a sense of how one of Brock's paradigm cases – the tacit-approval case – could be assessed within this framework, arguing that such an analysis would likely bolster Brock's intuitions about this case whilst satisfactorily explaining if and why exactly the deportation practice in question cannot permissibly be pursued by legitimate states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic of 2020-21 has acted as an inflection point, exposing the fragility of liberal democracy in India, already beleaguered by the rise of majoritarian populism since 2014, buttressed by a process of expansion of bureaucratic power and autocratic legalism while marginalizing the processes of political accountability – étatisation, and normalization of state violence. The combined impact of such developments has been an erasure of basic rights to life and livelihood for the poor, rooted not only in state incapacity but also in state acquiring impunity for its acts of coercion and violence against its own citizens. Many of these processes have come into stark focus during the Covid-19 pandemic, but have longer histories and are likely to have impact far beyond the pandemic. The paper examines some of these processes with the help of three interlinked but conceptually distinct strands: (a) étatisation and suspension of politics; (b) (en)forcement of a new normal during the health emergency; and (c) erasure of right to life and livelihood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Small or large birth weight for gestational age has been linked with later cardiovascular disease risk. However, cardiovascular risk markers from childhood to adulthood according to birth weight in diverse longitudinal settings globally have not been extensively studied. Objectives: To examine the relationship between birth weight and cardiovascular risk profile from childhood until young adulthood in two geographically and socioeconomically distinct cohorts. Methods: Data were derived from two longitudinal birth cohort studies; one from southern Finland (Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project, STRIP) and one from northern Australia comprising Indigenous Australians (Aboriginal Birth Cohort, ABC). The sample included 747 Finnish participants and 541 Indigenous Australians with data on birth weight, gestational age and cardiovascular risk factors (body mass index [BMI]), waist-to-height ratio [WHtR], lipid profile, blood pressure) collected at ages 11, 18 and 25 or 26 years. Carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) was assessed at age 18 or 19 years. Participants were categorised according to birth weight for gestational age (small [SGA], appropriate [AGA] or large [LGA]). Associations between birth weight category and cardiovascular risk markers were studied using a repeated measures ANOVA. Results: Higher birth weight category was associated with higher BMI later in life in both cohorts (p<.003 for STRIP and p<.0001 for ABC). In the ABC, higher birth weight category was also associated with higher WHtR (p<.004). In the ABC, SGA participants had lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure than AGA participants (p<.028 for systolic, p<.027 for diastolic) and lower systolic blood pressure than LGA participants (p<.046) at age 25. In the STRIP cohort, SGA participants had lower cIMT than LGA participants (p<.024). Conclusions: Birth weight can predict future cardiovascular risk profile in diverse populations. Thus, it needs to be included in targeted public health interventions for tackling the obesity pandemic and improving cardiovascular health worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Vedic literature constitutes the fulcrum of Sanskrit literature and is repositories of some fundamental concepts of human rights. This manuscript endeavors to decode the tenets of human rights concealed in the Vedic texts. It further endeavors to view a connection between archaic Vedic literature and human rights and approaches the subject of human rights from the perspectives of Vedic texts. As an articulated concept, human rights have distinct western inception though the elements that constitute the concept postulate different cultural forms and are found in sundry civilizations of which one is Vedic civilization. The Vedic rights are certainly not akin to modern-day human rights but then it would not be feasible to expect much from the texts that are approximately 3500 to 4000 years old. Though the Vedic literature vividly resonates with some rudimentary conceptions of human rights, the relationship between Vedic literature and human rights is not entirely smooth and tension free. This manuscript withal fixates on the incongruities subsisting between Vedic literature and human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to identify, quantify, and elucidate the polyphenols, flavonoids, and anthocyanins, and their antioxidant activities (via 13 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) (DPPH) radical and 2,2ʹ-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical cation scavenging abilities and bleaching β-carotene tested in vitro in the whole fruit, fruit skin of strawberry tree fruits of 5 genotypes and to find out the most valuable fruit for disease preventing diets. Total phenols, total flavonoids, total anthocyanins, antioxidant activity (DPPH, ABTS and β-carotene bleaching assay), pH, titrable acidity, soluble solids, and organic acids were investigated in five strawberry tree genotypes belonging to several areas in Morocco. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of individual phenolic compounds by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were also carried out. Significant differences (p˂0.05) were observed across the five genotypes in total phenols (25.37–39.06 mg GAE/g DW), total flavonoids (3.30–7.07 mg RE/g DW), total anthocyanins (0.15–0.64 mg cya-3-glu/100 g DW), pH (2.44–3.92), titrable acidity (0.65–1.01 g malic acid/100 g fw), and soluble solids (14.83–18.53%). The antioxidant activity was evaluated by three assays. The values were 3.33–21.08, 2.25–19.58, and 1.08–13 mg AAE/g DW for DPPH scavenging test, ABTS, and β-carotene bleaching, respectively. Gallocatechol and catechin were the most abundant phenolic compounds. Principal component analysis showed that the first three components formed 90.25% of the total inertia. Chlorogenic acid, ellagic acid derivative I, ellagic acid, rutin, and cyanidin-3,5-diglucoside were the most involved variables in the total variance explained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a list of films and books related to labor. The books include "A Common Thread," by Beth English, "Big-Box Swindle," by Stacy Mitchell, "Cross-X," by Joe Miller, and "Is Iraq Another Vietnam?," by Robert K. Brigham. The films listed include "Crossing Arizona," "Farmingville," and "Quiet Revolution."

The article examines the impact of the disaffiliation of national labor unions from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations on labor unions in Cleveland, Ohio. A speech on the need for solidarity was delivered by John Kilbane, business manager of the Laborers Local 310, in the national disaffiliation fight. It is said that almost 2,000 members are lost in the local labor movement.

This article focuses on the complementarity between formative interventions research conducted within the framework of cultural historical activity theory, action research and learning, as well as how this complementarity influences the researcher's role. The study suggests how action research, learning and formative interventions can be complementary in educational research and, furthermore, how this complementarity can challenge and expand the researcher's role when supporting and researching school development processes. A previously conducted study is presented as an example. The analysis of the researcher's role is based on observations, interviews, reflection conversations and questionnaires focusing on the arenas in which the researcher acted. The paper argues that the researcher's role in educational research should be expanded, combining the researcher's role both in action research and in formative interventions. The example study shows that researchers must engage with teachers in their teaching and support them in their daily practice, thus helping them to apply new knowledge to practical situations in order to develop their practice. Complementarity between action research, action learning and formative interventions aligns the processes at the classroom and system levels, leading to school development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1995 South African Citizenship Act in conjunction with s3 of the South African Constitution enshrined a free and equal Citizenship for all South Africans. The initial legislation inclined toward the inclusive, allowing dual citizenship and a number of other exceptions to reintegrate those who had lost citizenship under the Apartheid Regime. This paper argues that since 1995 there has been a slow but steady move to restrict access to citizenship through the legislative amendments of 2004, 2007 and 2010 and the Department of Home Affairs' unduly restrictive interpretations of the law in formal regulations and policies. The evidence suggests an agenda of 'shrinking the state' or, at the very least, an inclination to keep South Africa for South Africans. The paper argues that, as citizens, we ought to keep a sharp eye on this trend and respond to its political nature through political channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of biodiesel from transesterification of oils is the currently available alternative to consumable fuels. The study focuses on the performance assessment of a microreactor platform for biodiesel production. Since a microreactor provides better mass transfer and a higher surface-to-volume ratio, this significantly contributes to augmenting the reaction rate of biodiesel production at reduced cost. In this study, firstly the T-shaped microfluidic reactor was fabricated on a PMMA (poly methyl methacrylate) sheet. Then, the kinetics of enzymatic transesterification reaction for biodiesel synthesis in this reactor was investigated. A combination of sunflower oil and methanol was used as feedstock in the presence of lipase from Thermomyces lanuginous as a catalyst and tert-butanol as a solvent. The reaction was carried out under ambient conditions (1 atm and 30 °C) where 285 v% of tert-butanol was loaded to oil with 4 wt% lipase, and the molar ratio of oil to methanol was 1:2.5. Gas Chromatography was used to measure the concentration of biodiesel. The kinetic parameters such as maximum reaction rate (Vmax) and Michaelis –Menten constant (KM) were found to be 0.725 (mol/L.min) and 0.092 mol/L, respectively. High Vmax and low KM values indicated the better performance of the reactor. In addition, a Lineweaver–Burk plot with excellent coefficient of determination (R2) of 99.5% supported the high performance of the microreactor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim this work was to determine some biochemical and organoleptic characteristics of the juices obtained after mango preservation using bacterial biopesticides. For this purpose, a sample of 12 Brooks mangoes collected at the fruit quay of Adjamé (Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire) was divided into 3 batches of 4 mangoes and used for the preservation test. Two batches of mangoes were preserved respectively with Bacillus subtilis GA1 and Bacillus sp while the other batch served as a control. After 15 days of storage at room temperature, the mangoes were transformed into juice and were subjected to microbiological and physicochemical analyses to demonstrate the effect of the biopesticides. The results of the physicochemical analyses revealed that the juices had a pH between 4.86 and 5.34, a titratable acidity between 0.81 and 1.17% and a brix degree between 9.25 and 11.75. In terms of biochemical parameters, the contents of ash, protein, total sugars and reducing sugars were respectively between 0.24% ± 0.05 and 0.32% ± 0.17; 2.58% ± 0.74 and 3.06% ± 1.44; 56.48% ± 6.62 and 70.6% ± 3.68 and 22.28% ± 3.95 and 29.28% ± 3.8. From the mango juices obtained the presence of Mesophilic Aerobic Germs (MAG), fungi and coliforms was recorded with the highest loads being respectively 2.8.103 CFU/mL, 3.1.102 CFU/mL and 5.1.101 CFU/mL. The use of bacterial biopesticides in mango preservation has little influence on the biochemical and organoleptic characteristics and preserves the sanitary quality of mangoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]