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Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major public health concern worldwide and recognized as the leading cause of chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). India, Pakistan, Georgia, [...]

Chromium contamination in water bodies poses severe risks to both the environment and human health. This research introduces an innovative solution to this challenge by creating a vapor-activated carbosorbent from biodegradable household waste. The efficacy of this adsorbent in removing total chromium through batch methods from aqueous solutions was investigated. Surface analysis using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) exhibited a porous structure, while Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) identified distinct functional groups on the surface. The point of zero charge (PZC), determined at 6.95, revealed the adsorbent's surface chemistry. Impressively, the synthesized carbosorbent exhibited significant adsorption capacities of 23.08 mg.g-1 for Cr(III) and 24.84 mg.g-1 for Cr(VI) under optimal conditions. The Langmuir isotherm model illustrated a monolayer adsorption mechanism aligned with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, confirming chemisorption. Thermodynamic analysis disclosed favorable and spontaneous chromium adsorption. Negative ΔG° values affirmed the spontaneity, while the exothermic nature of the process was signified by the positive ΔH° value, indicating heat release. Increased randomness at the solid-liquid interface, indicated by the positive ΔS° value, underscored the enhanced affinity between the adsorbent and adsorbate. This study exemplifies the potential of the vaporactivated carbosorbent as an efficient and sustainable remedy for chromium-contaminated water bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hongbao is a monetary gift given during Chinese New Year and other occasions. In 2015, WeChat introduced its electronic version in China. This has altered its original and ritualistic meaning, which is linked to a conception of the world characterised by filial piety, benevolence, and social harmony. Here the red packet is seen as a connector linking the generations, and also the individual to the community. The money inserted in the red packet symbolises these relationships, as well as the debt of life that can never be reimbursed. Hence, the amount is symbolic. The time-space compression that allowed for the introduction of the e-hongbao has changed this meaning, and the WeChat app can be analysed as a mediator that links the sender and the receiver. This blurs the meaning of the hongbao, linking it to economic practices and highlighting the individualisation of Chinese society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noel Barber's Tanamera plots the story of Singapore during World War II as an adventure and interracial romance. Published in 1981, Tanamera enjoyed immense popularity along with other colonial romances that circulated at the time. This article explores readers' continuing fascination with the genre of colonial romance. Read in light of the postcolonial theory, the study turns to the way the reading public outside academia responds to the colonial imaginary and the extent to which it shapes the collective memory of the empire. The article focuses on Tanamera as a case study for its representations of history and memory of colonialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of culture in hiring, team formations and workplace interactions in Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SME) in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector. This research used the case study approach, with multimethod data collecting instruments like observation, interviews, and analysis of the data available on the websites of the two ICT SMEs under study. The participants selected for the study were the owners, managers and senior employees of both firms. While both firms operated in similar fields, the workforce of one consisted largely of Malaysian employees, while that of second company consisted largely of foreigners. The findings revealed a considerable bias and preference towards cultural homogeneity.

What is the place of the excluded memories, stories, and narratives in the historical imagination of a nation? This study approaches the multiple temporalities and spatialities that constitute the time-space of history through Bakhtin's concept of chronotopia. While a chronotopic approach to the past grounds its experience in time and space, the network of chronotopes and their inter-relationships establishes the past as a realm of relationality that is open to engagement. This is especially relevant in multicultural postcolonial societies where official history has emerged as a contested zone with multiple narratives – colonial, nationalist, migrant – all vying with and against each other. Through a close reading of Tash Aw's The Harmony Silk Factory, this study explores the multiplicity of chronotopes that characterize the narratives of a historical event at any point of time and their dialogic relationships with each other. Such multiplicity of narratives, the paper argues, is a hallmark of histories emerging from the postcolonial multicultural nations. The latter part of the paper explores the relationship between history and literature to propose literature as time and space that carnivalizes the monologic drive of history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]