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Yemenis have a long history of settlement in America. First-generation Yemenis have mainly worked as laborers in agriculture and car manufacturing, and some second-generation Yemenis attend educational institutions. Today, Yemen is facing sectarian and regional conflicts, which are affecting Yemeni Americans. In this paper, I investigate the identity of young Yemeni Muslims in Michigan and New York. This paper uses grounded theory and is based on data from interviews with five participants that I conducted in 2010 and 2017; and arts and crafts of newly arrived Yemeni youths displayed in an exhibition in 2017. I conclude that young Yemeni-American Muslims are likely to identify with America because of their resilience and optimism. The policy makers and the wider society should make an effort to make America an inclusive society so that the new Yemeni arrivals in the United States do not feel distressed with the war-torn conditions back home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Thi Qar Arts Journal is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents a prototype of an electronic system for the needs of students. The objective is to develop and promote a prototype electronic student profile. The methodology for designing the proposed prototype includes a review and comparative analysis of existing electronic student profiles in universities from Europe, America and Asia, based on the usability and other leading features similar to the functionality of the proposed system. Advantages of university platforms regarding functionality, user interface, usability, speed of access are described. Some of the analysed systems have weaknesses and associated problems that have been avoided in the developed electronic system. A survey was also conducted among students who actively use electronic profiles for training and administrative services, and the results were integrated to add useful features to the developed system. The paper presents the main characteristics of the proposed prototype, such as speed and ease of use, and an intuitive design with easy access to the required resources. The prototype could be implemented for the needs of academic users in any educational institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the labour market effects of the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP), a programme authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to promote broadband deployment, mainly in rural areas. The BIP is one of the largest USDA broadband programmes implemented to date, providing more than $3.4 billion in grants and loans in FY 2010. We investigate the impacts of BIP investments on employment outcomes in BIP‐recipient Census tracts compared to similar tracts outside of BIP project service areas between the inception of the programme in 2010 and 2019. We use a quasi‐experimental research design that combines difference‐in‐difference regression with propensity score matching estimation to identify the causal effect of the BIP investments on employment outcomes. We find that the BIP investments had a positive overall effect on employment growth that increased over time. The subsidized investments had a greater effect on employment in startups than in incumbent businesses, in the goods‐producing sector and the information and communications technology sector than other sectors, and a greater effect in micropolitan census tracts than tracts located in metropolitan areas or in small town and remote rural locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planning alternatives evaluation is often influenced by the evaluator's background knowledge and preferences, and its objectivity is hard to guarantee. A comprehensive evaluation method combining Geographic Information System (GIS) with system analysis technology is proposed in this paper. Using a land use issue in America as an example, GIS was combined with Fuzzy Logic, and the Analytic Network Process (ANP) method was used to evaluate three planning alternatives. The evaluation value of each qualitative index was obtained by Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation, and the quantitative index value was calculated by GIS algorithms. A weighted hypermatrix of ANP network was constructed to reveal the overall relative importance weight of alternatives. The results indicate that, in this case study, the factor weight rankings that influenced the selection of the land use alternative are Ecological factors (above 40%), socioeconomic factors (30%), Physical and Chemical factors (10–17%), and cumulative related factors (10%). In the long run, choices of planning alternatives will greatly affect the natural environment, the physical and chemical environment, and the social economy. The results indicate planners have to pay attention to a wide range of both qualitative and quantitative factors as much as possible in land use decisions. This study illustrates how the GIS-ANP method combine qualitative and quantitative factors in planning for a comprehensive analysis, thus improving the objectivity of evaluating land use planning alternatives and determining the importance of influencing factors. Future work aims to optimize the evaluation index system of planning, and measure index values in a more precise way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Erector spinae plane block is a technique used by anesthesiologists and pain physicians. It was introduced in 2016 and consists of an injection of local anesthetic between a vertebra and its corresponding muscle (erector spinae). It provides diffuse somatic and visceral analgesia useful for both surgery and pain therapy. In our paper we overview chronic pain, fascial blocks and erector spinae plane blocks. We give an overview of the erector spinae plane block technique, complications and possible use in chronic pain settings, highlighting the current evidence with a final overview of possible future directions of research. Chronic pain is a common, pervasive, and often disabling medical condition that affects millions of people worldwide. According to the Global Burden of Disease survey, painful chronic conditions are causing the largest numbers of years lived with disability worldwide. In America, more than one in five adults experiences chronic pain. Erector spinae plane block is a novel regional anesthesia technique used to provide analgesia with multiple possible uses and a relatively low learning curve and complication rate. Here, we review the erector spinae plane block rationale, mechanism of action and possible complications, and discuss its potential use for chronic pain with possible future directions for research [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Brazilian Journal of Education, Technology & Society (BRAJETS) / Cadernos de Educação Tecnologia e Sociedade (CETS) is the property of Brazilian Journal of Education, Technology & Society - BRAJETS and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

How do White Americans evaluate the politics of belonging in the United States across different ethnoreligious identity categories? This paper examines this question through two competing frameworks. On the one hand, given the salience of anti-Muslim attitudes in the United States, we consider whether White Americans penalize Muslim immigrants to the United States regardless of their ethnoracial background. On the other hand, Muslim identity is often conflated by the general public with Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) ethnoracial identity. We argue MENA-Muslim identity should be understood through the lens of intersectionality. In this case, White Americans may penalize MENA-Muslims immigrants to the United States more than Muslims from other ethnoracial groups. We test these two frameworks through a conjoint experimental design wherein respondents are asked to evaluate immigrants and indicate to whom the United States should give a green card—signaling legal belonging—and how likely the immigrant is to assimilate into America—signaling cultural belonging. Although White Americans believe White Muslims may assimilate better to the United States relative to MENA-Muslims, race does not moderate how White Americans evaluate who should be allowed to belong in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Pasado y Memoria. Revista de Historia Contemporánea is the property of Pasado y Memoria and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Pasado y Memoria. Revista de Historia Contemporánea is the property of Pasado y Memoria and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper surveys insurance policies and proposals by companies that operated in the decades around 1800 in different regions of the North American continent. Our survey serves to compose a landscape of environmental risks that early insurers registered. This line of inquiry merits special attention for records of the Phoenix Assurance Company London, which include a unique documentation of natural hazards shaped by the risk inspection tour of the British insurance expert Jenkin Jones. We attempt to offer a long-term view on those natural catastrophes and disaster-prone regions that hold a prominent place in American memory since the late nineteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Avian Influenza is an infectious, contagious disease of an acute evolutionary type with an epizootic enzootic character, affecting numerous species of domestic and wild birds, clinically characterized by serious general disorders, accompanied by respiratory, digestive, nervous phenomena and an edema of the subcutaneous connective tissue from head and neck region, and morphopathologically through hemorrhagic lesions in various tissues and organs. At present it is spread in most European countries, America, Asia and Africa. It is of great economic importance due to its very high morbidity and mortality. Because the disease is underdiagnosed, and people do not notice the illness or mortality occurring in their livestock, the virus is very difficult to control. The number of cases of infection increases in the spring and autumn due to the migrations that migratory birds perform. They either start the migration already infected, or become infected during the migration, in the stopovers where the disease develops. Infected birds do not manage to reach the end of the migration, the body being weakened due to the fight against the virus, they can no longer fly and end up dying in the territories of the free countries, leading to new outbreaks of Avian Influenza. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Revista Fotocinema is the property of Revista Fotocinema and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Public Relations Research Middle East / Magallat Bhut Al-Laqat Al-Amh - Al-Srq Al-Aust is the property of Egyptian Public Relation Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Spanish Journal of Comparative Education / Revista Española de Educación Comparada is the property of Editorial UNED and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: The prevailing scientific literature aggregates Asians living in America into one omnibus category and thus can problematically result in a subpar and at times inaccurate understanding of health, social and cultural factors necessary for competent and informed medical care. Method: A literature search was conducted by cultural experts familiar with Asian Indian culture with a focus on immigrants from this community living in the US. Database using search engines was sought in the following domains: immigration patterns, prevalence for key medical and neurological conditions commonly associated with cognitive dysfunction, psychiatric/psychological needs in the community, some preliminary neuropsychological testing considerations while working with this community, and treatment considerations that could affect adherence and efficacy of outcomes. Articles were selected from 2000 to the most recent date, with emphasis on compiling information from review papers and meta-analysis from the past decade. Conclusions: Asian Indians living in the US are distinct from the larger Asian American community. Immigration trends underscore that Asian Indians have a bimodal distribution of wealth. Regarding medical conditions, a key and highly concerning finding is the higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, especially in young males. The lack of non-existent cognitive data in this community is glaring and should serve as an impetus for conducting high-priority research in this community. Preliminary neuropsychological testing considerations are discussed from a practical perspective with emphasis on multilingualism and region of origin. Finally, treatment considerations include understanding attitudes and beliefs regarding traditional medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The worldwide outbreak of the coronavirus was first identified in 2019 in Wuhan, China. Since then, the disease has spread worldwide. As it is currently spreading in the United States, policy makers, public health officials and citizens are racing to understand the impact of this virus on the United States healthcare system. They fear a rapid influx of patients overwhelming the healthcare system and leading to unnecessary fatalities. Most countries and states in America have introduced mitigation strategies, such as using social distancing to decrease the rate of newly infected people. This is what is usually meant by flattening the curve. In this paper, we use queueing theoretic methods to analyze the time evolution of the number of people hospitalized due to the coronavirus. Given that the rate of new infections varies over time as the pandemic evolves, we model the number of coronavirus patients as a dynamical system based on the theory of infinite server queues with time inhomogeneous Poisson arrival rates. With this model we are able to quantify how flattening the curve affects the peak demand for hospital resources. This allows us to characterize how aggressive societal policy needs to be to avoid overwhelming the capacity of healthcare system. We also demonstrate how curve flattening impacts the elapsed lag between the times of the peak rate of hospitalizations and the peak demand for the hospital resources. Finally, we present empirical evidence from Italy and the United States that supports the insights from our model analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an infectious agent spread by mosquitos, that has engendered endemic or epidemic outbreaks of Chikungunya fever (CHIKF) in Africa, South-East Asia, America, and a few European countries. Like most tropical infections, CHIKV is frequently misdiagnosed, underreported, and underestimated; it primarily affects areas with limited resources, like developing nations. Due to its high transmission rate and lack of a preventive vaccine or effective treatments, this virus poses a serious threat to humanity. After a 32-year hiatus, CHIKV reemerged as the most significant epidemic ever reported, in India in 2006. Since then, CHIKV-related research was begun in India, and up to now, more than 800 peer-reviewed research papers have been published by Indian researchers and medical practitioners. This review gives an overview of the outbreak history and CHIKV-related research in India, to favor novel high-quality research works intending to promote effective treatment and preventive strategies, including vaccine development, against CHIKV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Umm Al-Qura University Journal for Languages & Literature is the property of Association of Arab Universities and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Atlantic oyster of Chesapeake Bay has been the focus of intense economic and ecological pressures. In the 1 880s it was the main source for America's favorite food, and the oyster was overharvested to the point of scarcity. Three scientific discoveries concerning the oyster's material properties have been paving its way back from the brink of extinction, First William Keith Brooks studied the embryology of this oyster and showed that its shell served as a necessary part of its life cycle. Second, Roger Newell demonstrated the prodigious water filtration properties of this oyster and linked these properties to its ability to clean the estuary. The discovery of the filtration properties of the oyster was an affordance that enabled the oyster to "partner" with governmental agencies and NGOs who were attempting to restore the bay's clean water, fish, and birdlife, Third, Standish K, Allen, Ximing Guo, and their colleagues formulated a procedure that enabled the manipulation of oyster development to yield tasty, fast-growing, and disease-resistant triploid oysters. The disease-resistant oysters together with knowledge of the oyster's life cycle enabled the proliferation of the oyster by conservation groups. The goal of Chesapeake Bay conservation changed from "Save the oyster" to "Plant more oysters; help save the bay." This paper is part of a special issue entitled "Making Animal Materials in Time," edited by Laurence Douny and Lisa Onaga. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a long time, the level of endurance quality of our male basketball athletes is not high, and there is a gap with the strongest countries in Europe and America. The former head coach of Chinese men's basketball team diagnosed the biggest problem of Chinese men's basketball team and Chinese youth men's basketball team is the poor quality of endurance. It is especially important to strengthen the endurance training of our basketball players and improve their endurance level. However, from the current situation, the teams in the training due to the lack of standards for endurance quality training has led to a great blindness in endurance quality training. The endurance quality level evaluation of young male basketball players is a classic multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) issue with vague, inconsistent, and indeterminate information. The 2-tuple linguistic neutrosophic sets (2TLNSs) is an appropriate form to express the indeterminate decision-making information in the endurance quality level evaluation of young male basketball players. Therefore, in this paper, the 2-tuple linguistic neutrosophic numbers CLVA (2TLNN-CLVA) is built based on traditional close value (CLVA) method and applies it to evaluate the endurance quality level of young male basketball players. Finally, a numerical example for evaluating the endurance quality level of young male basketball players has been given and some decision comparisons are also conducted to further illustrate the advantages of the 2TLNN-CLVA method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The refuge chamber provides a safe space where people can stay safe when they are trapped by an accident in a coal mine. The refuge chamber includes several systems such as oxygen supply, air purification, cooling, and dehumidifying. The oxygen supply system is the core of the refuge chamber because it is a closed environment. The oxygen supply time is 96 h according to the relevant standards in America and China. If people stay in the refuge chamber for more than 96 h, the oxygen supply may not be enough, and they can be in danger. It is necessary to efficiently use oxygen and extend the oxygen supply time. Based on the experimental platform of the refuge chamber, this paper conducts an in-depth study on the automatic control of the oxygen supply system. The oxygen supply system and the harmful gas removal system can be automatically and efficiently controlled by the programmable logic controller (PLC) according to the personnel number and the oxygen concentration. The experiment has proved that the system is good and reliable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schisandra henryi (Schisandraceae) is a plant species endemic to Yunnan Province in China and is little known in Europe and America. To date, few studies, mainly performed by Chinese researchers, have been conducted on S. henryi. The chemical composition of this plant is dominated by lignans (dibenzocyclooctadiene, aryltetralin, dibenzylbutane), polyphenols (phenolic acids, flavonoids), triterpenoids, and nortriterpenoids. The research on the chemical profile of S. henryi showed a similar chemical composition to S. chinensis—a globally known pharmacopoeial species with valuable medicinal properties whichis the best-known species of the genus Schisandra. The whole genus is characterized by the presence of the aforementioned specific dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans, known as "Schisandra lignans". This paper was intended to provide a comprehensive review of the scientific literature published on the research conducted on S. henryi, with particular emphasis on the chemical composition and biological properties. Recently, a phytochemical, biological, and biotechnological study conducted by our team highlighted the great potential of S. henryi in in vitro cultures. The biotechnological research revealed the possibilities of the use of biomass from S. henryi as an alternative to raw material that cannot be easily obtained from natural sites. Moreover, the characterization of dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans specific to the Schisandraceae family was provided. Except for several scientific studies which have confirmed the most valuable pharmacological properties of these lignans, hepatoprotective and hepatoregenerative, this article also reviews studies that have confirmed the anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, anticancer, antiviral, antioxidant, cardioprotective, and anti-osteoporotic effects and their application for treating intestinal dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The composition of the lower continental crust, as well as its formation, growth, and evolution, remains a fundamental subject to be understood. In this study, we carry out a comparative and integrative analysis of seismic tomographic models, teleseismic receiver function results, and Airy isostasy in order to investigate the properties of the lower continental crust in eastern North America. We extract the depths for Vs of 4.0 km/s, 4.2 km/s, and 4.5 km/s from three selected tomographic models and calculate the differences between the Vs depth contours and the Moho depth defined by receiver functions. We then calculate the Airy isostatic Moho depth and its misfit with the receiver‐function‐defined Moho. Our analysis reveals three key features: (a) the deepening of the Vs depth contours and the strong negative Airy misfit within the U.S. Grenville Province; (b) a seismically faster‐than‐average and compositionally denser‐than‐average lowermost crust in the eastern North American Craton and the Grenville Province; and (c) the thickest, seismically fastest, and densest lowermost crust beneath the southern Grenville Front, the southern Grenville‐Appalachian boundary, and the U.S.‐Canada national border. We suggest that the lower crust of the craton and the Grenville Province has densified through garnet‐forming metamorphic reactions during and after orogenesis, contributing to the widely distributed fast‐velocity layer. The lower crust beneath the tectonic boundaries could have experienced more extensive garnet growth during orogenesis and emplacement of mafic magma. This study provides new constraints on the seismic and compositional properties of the lower crust in eastern North America. Plain Language Summary: The continental crust provides important clues about the formation and evolution of the Earth. However, the dominant composition of the lower part of the continental crust remains enigmatic, especially in the regions where the seismic velocities are significantly faster than the global average. In this paper, we investigate the properties of the lower continental crust in eastern North America by comparatively analyzing two types of data sets: (a) the variations of seismic velocity within the crust and (b) the variations of the crustal thickness. Our comparative and quantitative analysis reveals that the lower crust of the eastern North American Craton and the Grenville Province is seismically faster and compositionally denser than the global average. The thickest, seismically fastest, and compositionally densest lower crust is roughly along the orogenic fronts and the U.S.‐Canada national border. We suggest that garnet growth within the lower crust is a viable mechanism for forming the widely distributed fast‐velocity layer in eastern North America. The lower crust may have been further densified through extensive garnet growth and emplacement of mafic magma at a regional scale. Key Points: A high‐velocity lower continental crust distributes widely in eastern North AmericaThe seismically fastest and densest lower crust is roughly along the orogenic frontsThe lower crust densifies through the metamorphic growth of dense minerals [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to systematically review the English Language Teaching (ELT) curriculum and policy studies. A systematic literature review was utilized to describe the features, trends, and patterns of ELT curriculum and policy studies through the Preferred Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Seventy-three empirical articles published between 2010 and 2020 were analyzed based on geographical region, research methodology, participants, and research focus. Results revealed that most of the reviewed studies (58.90%, n=43) were conducted between 2016 and 2020, whereas about 41.1 % (n=30) of the reviewed studies were carried out between 2010 and 2015. Moreover, about 68.49% of the reviewed studies employed a qualitative research design, followed by a mixed-method (about 24.65%), whereas only about 6.86% used a quantitative research methodology. Results showed that most of the studies targeted ELT policy and curriculum in Asia (54.79%), followed by Europe (20.55%), America (13.70%), and Africa (6.84 %). Furthermore, 4.10 % of the studies examined ELT curriculum and policy globally. Thirty-four ELT policy and curriculum studies focused on teachers, three articles focused on learners, and only two papers targeted other participants. Findings showed that it would be difficult to discern a strong pattern in the ELT curriculum and policy studies since they targeted various issues. The majority of the reports were small-scale qualitative studies conducted in Asian countries; therefore, to address the issue of generalizability in ELT, more extensive quantitative studies in different geographical areas are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

America's long post war boom was underpinned by the state, by Roosevelt's New Deal, by its wartime economy, and by Roosevelt's plans for investment in post war science and infrastructure. In the 1970s America abandoned its developmental model, as critics from left and right attacked plans and planners: yet in the fast rising states of Asia it was embraced. Is it too late for a wakeup call in America and Britain, the champions of anti-planning and the small state? This paper looks for explanations, examines consequences and suggests that the Covid pandemic may trigger a sea change in norms, values and attitudes towards planning and governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperance literature, though widely popular in America and Britain between 1830-80, lost its allure in the decades that followed. In spite of its didactic and moralistic nature, the public eagerly consumed temperance novels, thus reciprocating contemporaneous writers' efforts to promote social ideals and mend social ills. The main aim of this paper is to redress the critical neglect that the temperance prose written by women about women has endured by looking at three literary works--two novellas and one confessional novelette--written by mid-nineteenth-century American female writers. These works serve as a prism through which the authors present generally "tabooed" afflictions such as inebriation among high-class women and society's role in perpetuating such behaviors. The essay examines the conflicting forces underlying such representations and offers an inquiry into the restrictive and hostile social climate in mid- nineteenth-century America and the lack of medical attention given to alcohol addicts as the possible causes that might have prompted women's dangerous behaviors, including inebriation. This paper also demonstrates the cautious approach that nineteenth-century female writers had to take when dealing with prevalent social ills, such as bigotry, hypocrisy and disdain directed at female drunkards. It shows how these writers, often sneered at or belittled by critics and editors, had to maneuver very carefully between the contending forces of openly critiquing social mores, on the one hand, and not being censored, on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper offers a critical and comprehensive understanding of how Yasmina Khadra's fiction The Sirens of Baghdad (2008) provides a counter-narrative to the institutionalized politics of the Western hegemonic discourse regarding the people living in the conflicting country of Iraq. Set against the backdrop of America's invasion of Iraq in 2003, the novel attempts to unearth the psyche of the young men of decent origins taking up arms against the Western forces. The narrator of the novel represents thousands of young men who are often branded as religious fanatics in the West, but are actually fighting against the injustices, inequalities and humiliations which they have to endure. The writer's professed aim is not to justify radicalism and violence, but to provide a thorough understanding of some of the main drives which led to the occurrence of violence in these war-torn regions. According to Tabish Khair, "Violence, in other words, is not a free choice at the social level... These individuals are usually those who feel that an injustice had been done to them and theirs, those who labour under an overpowering feeling of deprivation."(Khair, 2008 p.10) Rather than portraying religion as the source of hatred, the novel emphasised the social and political issues. One of the main hindrances, the author believes, in the process of establishing peace in these conflicting territories is the Western stereotyping, which the author tries to dismantle in the following novel. The present paper also offers a comparative study with John Updike's fiction Terrorist in order to vindicate the countering of the Western narrative in The Sirens of Baghdad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine how independent directors (IDs) affect a firm's performance measured on profitability, with corporate social responsibility (CSR) interaction. Design/methodology/approach: The study uses an international data set of 1,817 firm-year observations from 545 large companies in 20 countries across Asia, America and Europe, and the fixed-effects estimation method. Findings: The direct effect of IDs alone on profitability is statistically insignificant; however, the synergic effect of IDs and CSR on profitability becomes significantly positive when firms disclose CSR information. Practical implications: The profitability is partially sourced from the synergy of IDs and stakeholders through CSR. IDs may use CSR disclosure to win stakeholders' goodwill. This goodwill will likely be transformed into profitability. The empirical results indicate that there should be more need for IDs' engagement in CSR projects as the resources of IDs combined with external stakeholders can be of important value to firms. Originality/value: This paper reveals the underlying mechanism that firm-idiosyncratic value is formed using a combination of ID resources and stakeholders through CSR. This research extends the literature of IDs' efficiency and effectiveness and confirms the agency theory and resource dependence theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates how the leaders of the War Refugee Board, a U.S. government agency created during World War II to rescue European Jews from Nazi oppression, tried to overcome public opinion and government bureaucracy with a public relations campaign that countered prevailing discourses related to immigration and Jews in World War II America. This study shows the potential for public relations practitioners to introduce and maintain discussions about the qualities of a public, initiate meaningful action, and negotiate the meanings of different publics and the people within them - illustrating the possibilities of government public relations beyond advocacy for policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to provide firm-level evidence on the relationship between the presence of financial services multinationals and indigenous counterparts' performance, using a comprehensive sample of firms in the emerging financial industry in Vietnam. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses the generalized method of moments with instrumental variables (IV/GMM) to deal with potential endogeneity problem. Of this technique, a pragmatic approach to constructing instruments is adopted, capitalizing on the geographical and industry segmentation of the local market. The empirical analyses also address statistical issues of the overall model significance, heteroskedasticity and multicollinearity. Findings: The regression results reveal that foreign entrants have a positive and statistically significant association with indigenous firms' labor productivity and the average wage, with a more pronounced impact on the latter. The increased entry of financial multinationals appears to be uncorrelated with indigenous firms' profitability. The extended estimations also suggest that investor origin matters in determining spillover magnitude. The average estimate of Asian affiliates in the examined relationship is approximately half that of European affiliates, whereas foreign entrants originating from America show an insignificant role. Originality/value: This study sheds light on the broader impacts of foreign financial affiliates by simultaneously exploring their impacts on three key dimensions of indigenous firm performance, namely, labor productivity, average wage and profitability. This paper also enriches the existing literature by disentangling the effects of foreign entrants from different regions of origin, which was largely neglected in the context of financial services multinationals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Describe the characteristics of the different cardiology medical residencies in Latin America. Method: Cross-sectional study that aims to evaluate the characteristics of cardiology residencies in Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America, through self-administered electronic surveys. Results: Three hundred seven residents of 147 residences were surveyed. Mean age was 31 years and 63% were male. Ninety eight percent carry out their training in the capital city. The average total training time is 4.8 years. Forty four percent complete their residency in internal medicine prior to starting cardiology, and 10% have no prior training. In cardiology training is 3 years in most countries. Fifty four percent present academic activities every day and 16% only once or less, consisting of theoretical classes (93%), clinical cases (85%), bibliographic workshops (69%), and writing scientific papers (68%). Supervision is carried out by the chief resident (45%), resident coordinator (44%), resident instructor (27%) or the department head (54%), while 2.6% do not present supervision. The main rotations were echocardiography (99%), hemodynamics (96%), coronary unit (93%), and electrophysiology (92%). Residents highlighted the need to improve academic activities (23%) and scientific production (12%). Conclusions: There are important differences in the academic and practical training between the residences of the different countries of America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid developm the application of digital ent of the new generation of information and communication technologies (ICT), the state-level governance model has undergone profound changes. It is worth pondering whether this change will have an impact on the carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals. Therefore, we collected data from 51 global economies that have proposed carbon neutrality targets from 2003 to 2020 to build a series of spatial measurement models and explored the impact of e-government construction on carbon emission intensity (CEI). Then, we further considered regional heterogeneity factors, grouped the selected countries into Asian, European, and American countries, and verified the differences between e-government construction and CEI in different regions. Additionally, on the basis of the spatial mediation effect model, this paper analyzed the industrial structure which played an intermediary role in achieving target for reducing CEI through e-government construction. The main findings are as follows. (1) A higher level of e-government construction will result in lower-carbon emissions intensity. (2) Spatial spillover effect regression results showed that the construction of e-government in neighboring countries also significantly inhibits the carbon emission intensity of the host country. (3) There was significant regional heterogeneity in the impact of e-governments on CEI; in Asia, the construction of e-governments significantly reduced CEI, but no significant reductions were observed in Europe and America. (4) E-governments influenced CEI by optimizing the industrial structure. The construction of e-governments was effective in Asia and Europe, while intermediary effect test was failed to pass in the Americas. This study mainly focused on the environmental benefits brought by the construction of e-governments, and the obtained results would provide an important reference for the achievement of the dual-carbon goals in countries worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conflicts, whether internal or external, have the ability to increase energy security risks. Given this background, this paper investigates the impact of conflicts on energy security risks in the panel data of 40 major energy-consuming economies from Asia, America, Europe, and Africa by employing the Cross-sectionally augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag model from 1996 to 2021. The results show that the risks to long-term energy security fall with the rise in internal and external conflicts globally and in Asian, American, European, and African economies. However, all regions see decreased long-term energy security risk due to rising financial development. At the same time, national income mitigates energy security risks globally and in American countries. Technological innovation reduces long-term energy security risks globally in Asian, American, and European economies. Conversely, only gross domestic product and technological innovation cause the energy security risks to fall globally and in American economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coming out videos have become an increasingly popular genre on social media among queer youths and YouTube celebrities, and a few most popular ones have generated tens of millions of views combined that have also caught wide public attention from traditional mass media. This paper considers and compares two (sets of) coming out videos on YouTube from the Rhodes brothers in the United States and the Huang brothers in Taiwan that both became landmark social media and mass media events. It questions the normative narrative of coming out and the uneven flows of youth cultures and celebrity cultures online, where the visibility of certain social groups has masked the invisibility of other marginalized people. The critique extends to the "YouTube celebrity economy" and video-based female queer fandom, as well as the parents' responses and reactions to their children's coming out that have been recorded on video—an important part of coming out that is often overlooked in queer studies and youth studies. This paper offers a unique lens that connects online stardom and fandom to parental responses to coming out, shedding further light on global youth cultures, YouTube economy and queer celebrities, and parent-youth relations in Asia and America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Esboços: Historias em Contextos Globias is the property of Esbocos: historias em contextos globais and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Aims: This paper reviews the oral health services which were available for early (1945–1955) and late (1956–1964) baby boomers, as well as predicts their future oral healthcare needs. Methods and Results: The knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes of the parents of the baby boomers toward dental hygiene and oral healthcare, are reviewed. The introduction of dental health screenings occurred from 1910 to early 1970s, the creation of the first dental hygiene school and the introduction of water fluoridation influenced oral healthcare. Technology introduced in the dental offices in the 1960s included the high‐speed handpiece, followed by intraoral suction in 1979. Baby boomers are keeping their teeth at higher rates than preceding generations due to improved prevention and advances in the treatment of periodontal disease, and overall lower rates of smoking in older adults, when compared to younger adults. However, access to dental care remains an issue for many. Advances in prevention and treatment of periodontal disease, early detection of root caries, new restorative techniques, and improved technologies to replace teeth are also discussed. Conclusions: Early detection of periodontal disease, oral, and oropharyngeal cancer, risk factors for tooth loss and untreated caries are needed to improve the oral health for baby boomers. Access to oral healthcare is still an issue due to socio‐economic disparities in America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies a historical, cultural and social perspective to analyse the political transnationalism of indigenous peoples. Using key concepts like indigenous movements and transnational defence networks, alongside desk study and analysis of indigenous organisations' goals and programmes, this paper proposes a classification and definition of three types of indigenous political transnationalism: migratory, institutional and relating to transnational peoples. Examples are given for each, including indigenous organisations from America, Africa, Asia and international organizations, with the aim of revealing the complexity and importance of transnationalism as a fundamental factor in the indigenous protests of the last decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On June 24th, 2022, the Supreme Court hit the women of America with a gut-punch in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned Roe vs. Wade. This paper is a response to that ruling, which essentially decrees that women have no constitutional right to make personal decisions about their own bodies. The angry ghosts of women who died in back alley abortions howled in America's soul. The Muse of Free Women went on retreat. Those who have taken their right to decide whether or not to bear a child for granted saw their world turned upside down. Those who remember the bad old days when abortion was illegal all over America watched the country pivot backwards. The Supreme Court has appropriated our wombs as vessels of the state. But when it comes to the work of tending the fruit of our wombs, those in the so-called "pro-life movement" are nowhere to be found. An underlying misogynist mother hate—an inability to empathize with the reality of women's lives and bodies—reared its ugly head. Hadn't we rid ourselves of that painful shadow with the Women's Liberation of the 1960s and 1970s? Apparently not. The antidote comes in the form of Motherline stories, which flesh out the joys and agonies of being the bearers of new life. Myths about the Great Mother Goddess from many cultures in the world help women see themselves with more complexity and nuance and offer images of power and intelligence beyond the patriarchal paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of 3D visualization technologies offers a unique opportunity to reconstruct historical cities that no longer exist or have been substantially modified. In this paper, we use the oldest preserved map of the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, created in 1588 by the engineer Leonardo Torriani, as the basis for its 3D virtual recreation. This map shows the first non-fortified Spanish colonial city whose plan provided a model for the colonial cities in America. These distinct features made San Cristóbal de La Laguna a UNESCO world heritage site. In our work, we present a map-based workflow for 3D reconstruction that balances fidelity to the original map with the integration of other historical sources and the current status of the city. This leads to the development of several 3D models from those distinct sources whose integration provides the 3D reconstruction of the city in the 16th century. The results of this project can be applied to other similar maps that were created in Europe at that time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cases of horizontal transfer of transposable elements (TEs) between species are known for the Drosophilidae family. In the middle of the last century, the case of horizontal transfer of the P-element from the Drosophila willistoni to the D. melanogaster was described. A novel P-element invasion into the D. simulans genome from D. melanogaster occurred approximately 10 years ago. Currently, the P-element has spread across all D. melanogaster population and 30% of D. simulans populations in Europe, Africa and America. In this paper, we investigated the presence of the P-element in D. simulans lines caught in different years in three Asian populations (Tashkent, Nalchik and Sakhalin Island). We also examined the physiological characteristics (cytotype, lifespan, fecundity and locomotor activity) of D. simulans lines with and without the P-element to determine the significance of this new mobile element in the genome. The P-element was found in lines isolated from nature after 2012. The number of P-element copies per genome (two-to-three dozen according to fluorescence in situ hybridization data) was greater than in the American and comparable to the African populations. There were signs of intraspecific hybrid dysgenesis for some pairs of lines. However, in general the presence of the P-element did not adversely affect the physiological characteristics. Either adaptation to the new TE occurs very quickly, or the rate of movement of the P-element is so insignificant that its appearance in the genome remains unnoticed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China experiences a serious shortage of soybean supplies and relies heavily on international trade with high vulnerability and large uncertainty, which maybe sows food security risks. It is of great significance to analyze the structural evolution of the global soybean trade network and its implications to China for ensuring food security. This paper constructed a global soybean trade network (GSTN) and analyzed the structural evolutionary characteristics of GSTN from 2000 to 2020 using the complex network analysis method and simulated the impact of targeted destruction on China through scenario analysis. The results showed that GSTN was gradually complex exhibiting a small word and a scale-free network property. The global soybean exporter was dominated by some major soybean-producing countries in America. The US played an important role in maintaining GSTN's robustness. China was the world's largest soybean importer; unfortunately, its soybean imports relied heavily on a few countries, and the anti-interference ability of China's soybean trade tended to decline. Therefore, China's soybean trade was increasingly vulnerable to being tightly controlled by other countries when some uncertain factors occurred, such as trade frictions and changes in policy decisions from importing and exporting countries. The US and Brazil were key countries with significant soybean trade ties to China. To assess the impact of the two countries on China's soybean trade, targeted destruction method was used through destroying them in the network. Targeted destruction scenario analysis indicated the two countries played important roles in the anti-interference ability of China's soybean trade. Brazil played a positive role in China's control of soybean trade flows, while the US did not. Some policies for China's soybean production and international trade were proposed. A balance between the domestic production and import of soybean is needed. Optimizing the soybean trade import system and seeking more trade partners is crucial. Improving soybean self-sufficiency is the fundamental way to reduce the high-import dependence. The study provided some insights for coping with international market fluctuations and improving the sustainability of China's soybean trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past studies have demonstrated that synoptically active weather systems play an important role in the spatial and temporal variations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) within and above the planetary boundary layer. For the first time, we investigate the spatial variability of column‐averaged dry‐air mole fractions of CO2 ${\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ (i.e.,XCO2 $\mathrm{i}.\mathrm{e}.,{\mathrm{X}\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$) due to the impact of synoptic scale transport using retrievals from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory‐2 (OCO‐2) for 66 summer cold front passage cases over the conterminous U.S. and Mexico from 2015 to 2019. XCO2 ${\mathrm{X}\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ differences across cold fronts in summer were found to be in good agreement with observations obtained from the Atmospheric Carbon and Transport (ACT‐America) field campaign, though with a reduced magnitude due the flat averaging kernel representing fairly uniform vertical sensitivity in the troposphere as opposed to in situ CO2 ${\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ measurements. OCO‐2 observed XCO2 ${\mathrm{X}\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ frontal differences are statistically distinct from north‐south XCO2 ${\mathrm{X}\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ climatological spatial variations on similar spatial‐scales on synoptically benign days, implying that the frontal passages contribute to enhanced XCO2 ${\mathrm{X}\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ spatial contrasts. An exploratory analysis finds no evidence of a linkage between the temperature differences and XCO2 ${\mathrm{X}\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ differences, but a more thorough exploration is left as future work. Plain Language Summary: Atmospheric CO2 ${\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ is one of the main contributors to climate change among the various long‐lived greenhouse gases. The spatial distributions of atmospheric CO2 ${\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ may change abruptly on short time scales (e.g., hours or less) and gradually on long time scales (e.g., years or longer). Due to weather, there are several mechanisms for atmospheric CO2 ${\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ spatial redistribution, for example, the advection of upwind sources and/or sinks. In this paper, we explore the spatial CO2 ${\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ differences related to summer cold fronts. We collect 66 summer cold fronts as seen from NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory‐2 over the CONUS and north Mexico between 2015 and 2019. The results suggest that the column‐averaged CO2 ${\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ (XCO2 ${\mathrm{X}\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$) differences across these 66 summer cold fronts are statistically distinct from the climatological XCO2 ${\mathrm{X}\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ north‐south gradients. The summer cold‐front‐relative contrasts between warm and cold sectors can provide a reference for models in simulating the horizontal advection, source, and/or sink changes in the synoptic weather. Key Points: XCO2 ${\mathrm{X}\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ retrievals from Orbiting Carbon Observatory‐2 (OCO‐2) exhibit enhanced contrasts across cold fronts in the conterminous US during 2015–2019 summers, with larger XCO2 ${\mathrm{X}\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ values in the warm sectors than the cold sectorsAnalyses reveal that OCO‐2 observed transient XCO2 ${\mathrm{X}\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ frontal contrasts that were greater than climatological XCO2 ${\mathrm{X}\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ spatial differences on days without cold fronts in the CONUS in summers during the period 2015‐2019 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The predictions from time series data can help us sense development trends and make scientific decisions in advance. The commonly used forecasting methods with backpropagation consume a lot of computational resources. The deep echo state network (DeepESN) is an advanced prediction method with a deep neural network structure and training algorithm without backpropagation. In this paper, a Bayesian optimization algorithm (BOA) is proposed to optimize DeepESN to address the problem of increasing parameter scale. Firstly, the DeepESN was studied and constructed as the basic prediction model for the time series data. Secondly, the BOA was reconstructed, based on the DeepESN, for optimal parameter searching. The algorithm is proposed within the framework of the DeepESN. Thirdly, an experiment was conducted to verify the DeepESN with a BOA within three datasets: simulation data generated from computer programs, a real humidity dataset collected from Beijing, and a power load dataset obtained from America. Compared with the models of BP (backpropagation), LSTM (long short-term memory), GRU (gated recurrent unit), and ESN (echo state network), DeepESN obtained optimal results, which were 0.0719, 18.6707, and 764.5281 using RMSE evaluation. While getting better accuracy, the BOA optimization time was only 323.4 s, 563.2 s, and 9854 s for the three datasets. It is more efficient than grid search and grey wolf optimizer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The perennial western ragweed (Ambrosia psilostachya DC.) arrived from North America to Europe in the late nineteenth century and behaves invasive in its non-native range. Due to its efficient vegetative propagation via root suckers, A. psilostachya got naturalized in major parts of Europe forming extensive populations in Mediterranean coastal areas. The invasion history, the spreading process, the relationships among the populations as well as population structuring is not yet explored. This paper aims to give first insights into the population genetics of A. psilostachya in its non-native European range based on 60 sampled populations and 15 Simple Sequence Repeats (SSR). By AMOVA analysis we detected 10.4% of genetic variation occurring among (pre-defined) regions. These regions represent important harbors for trading goods from America to Europe that might have served as source for founder populations. Bayesian Clustering revealed that spatial distribution of genetic variation of populations is best explained by six groups, mainly corresponding to regions around important harbors. As northern populations show high degrees of clonality and lowest levels of within-population genetic diversity (mean Ho = 0.40 ± 0.09), they could preserve the initial genetic variation levels by long-lived clonal genets. In Mediterranean populations A. psilostachya expanded to millions of shoots. Some of those were obviously spread by sea current along the coast to new sites, where they initiated populations characterized by a lower genetic diversity. For the future, the invasion history in Europe might get clearer after consideration of North American source populations of western ragweed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Policy & Internet is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper adopts an evolutionary institutionalist approach to explain the persistent popularity of sports in the USA. Veblen's writing in Theory of the Leisure Class suggests two cultural and economic functions of modern sports: as a mode of preservation of leisure class values and as a means of conspicuous waste. Our analysis emphasises the role of sports as an institution for the preservation of leisure class values in general, and what Veblen terms 'predatory prowess' in particular. We identify several contemporary examples of Veblenian cultural traits that explain the affinity for sports in America and illustrate the continued applicability of Veblen's analysis. Finally, we offer support for the Veblenian view by expanding the scope of our argument to the broader evolutionary institutionalist literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]