bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The X-linked splicing regulator MBNL3 has been co-opted to restrict placental growth in eutherians
Authors: Spruce Thomas , Plass Mireya , Gohr André , Ray Debashish , Martínez de Lagrán María , Rot Gregor , Nóvoa Ana , Burguera Demian , Permanyer Jon , Miret Marta , Zheng Hong , Swanson Maurice S. , Morris Quaid , Mallo Moises , Dierssen Mara , Hughes Timothy R. , Pernaute Barbara , Irimia Manuel
Published: April 2022

Understanding the regulatory interactions that control gene expression during the development of novel tissues is a key goal of evolutionary developmental biology. Here, we show thatMbnl3has undergone a striking process of evolutionary specialization in eutherian mammals resulting in the emergence of a novel placental function for the gene.Mbnl3belongs to a family of RNA-binding proteins whose members regulate multiple aspects of RNA metabolism. We find that, in eutherians, while bothMbnl3and its paralogMbnl2are strongly expressed in placenta,Mbnl3expression has been lost from nonplacental tissues in association with the evolution of a novel promoter. Moreover,Mbnl3has undergone accelerated protein sequence evolution leading to changes in its RNA-binding specificities and cellular localization. WhileMbnl2andMbnl3share partially redundant roles in regulating alternative splicing, polyadenylation site usage and, in turn, placenta maturation,Mbnl3has also acquired novel biological functions. Specifically,Mbnl3knockout (M3KO) alone results in increased placental growth associated with higherMycexpression. Furthermore,Mbnl3loss increases fetal resource allocation during limiting conditions, suggesting that location ofMbnl3on the X chromosome has led to its role in limiting placental growth, favoring the maternal side of the parental genetic conflict.
Optineurin promotes myogenesis during muscle regeneration in mice by autophagic degradation of GSK3β
Authors: Shi Xiao Chen , Xia Bo , Zhang Jian Feng , Zhang Rui Xin , Zhang Dan Yang , Liu Huan , Xie Bao Cai , Wang Yong Liang , Wu Jiang Wei
Published: April 2022

Skeletal muscle regeneration is essential for maintaining muscle function in injury and muscular disease. Myogenesis plays key roles in forming new myofibers during the process. Here, through bioinformatic screen for the potential regulators of myogenesis from 5 independent microarray datasets, we identify an overlapping differentially expressed gene (DEG) optineurin (OPTN).Optnknockdown (KD) delays muscle regeneration in mice and impairs C2C12 myoblast differentiation without affecting their proliferation. Conversely,Optnoverexpression (OE) promotes myoblast differentiation. Mechanistically, OPTN increases nuclear levels of β-catenin and enhances the T-cell factor/lymphoid enhancer factor (TCF/LEF) transcription activity, suggesting activation of Wnt signaling pathway. The activation is accompanied by decreased protein levels of glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β), a negative regulator of the pathway. We further show that OPTN physically interacts with and targets GSK3β for autophagic degradation. Pharmacological inhibition of GSK3β rescues the impaired myogenesis induced byOptnKD during muscle regeneration and myoblast differentiation, corroborating that GSK3β is the downstream effector of OPTN-mediated myogenesis. Together, our study delineates the novel role of OPTN as a potential regulator of myogenesis and may open innovative therapeutic perspectives for muscle regeneration.
Integrated approach of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity and cardiovascular risk scores for predicting the risk of cardiovascular events
Authors: Kim Hyue Mee , Rhee Tae-Min , Kim Hack-Lyoung
Published: April 2022

Background

The 2013 American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA) atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk score may be insufficient for accurate prediction of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in Asians. This study was performed to investigate whether brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) has additional prognostic value to the risk score estimated by the ACC/AHA pooled cohort equations (PCEs).

Methods

A total of 6,359 patients (3,534 men and 2,825 women) aged 40–79 years without documented cardiovascular disease who underwent baPWV measurement were retrospectively analyzed. Cardiovascular risk scores were calculated using the 2013 ACC/AHA PCEs. Cardiovascular events, including cardiac death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, coronary revascularization and ischemic stroke, were assessed.

Results

During a median follow-up period of 4.0 years (interquartile range 1.7–6.1 years), cardiovascular events occurred in 129 patients (2.0%). The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that baPWV was stronger in the detection of cardiovascular events than the 2013 ACC/AHA risk score (area under the curve: 0.70 versus 0.62, p<0.001). In the multivariable Cox regression analysis, both baPWV and 2013 ACC/AHA risk score were independently associated with the occurrence of clinical events (p <0.001 for each). The baPWV had incremental prognostic value to the 2013 ACC/AHA risk score in predicting clinical events (global chi-square from 21.23 to 49.51, p<0.001).

Conclusion

The baPWV appears to be a strong predictor of the risk of cardiovascular events in Koreans. Measuring baPWV in addition to the 2013 ACC/AHA risk score helps identify individuals at risk for MACE aged 40–79 years without previous cardiovascular diseases.
Historical Narratology and the “Hymn of the Fayth” in Final Fantasy X
Authors: Powell Andrew S. , Dudley Sam
Published: April 2022

Central to the narrative of Final Fantasy X is its in-game faith "Yevon," borrowing extensively from such real-world parallels as Shinto, Buddhism, and Catholicism. Beyond the history of the religion itself, the music and its history displays parallels to real-world influences, as the "Hymn of the Fayth" depicts Western liturgical design and function but textual and experiential sources from Eastern practices. A thorough analysis of the musical structure, filmic/ludic settings of each setting, and word play in the construction (and deconstruction) of the text reveals the deep entwinement of the game's central hymn and its dual religious connotations that binds the player's world and the game's world.
Thus Spake Uematsu: Satirical Parody in the Opening Sequence to Final Fantasy VI
Authors: Anatone Richard
Published: April 2022

This chapter examines the opening cue "Omen" from Final Fantasy VI as a satirical parody of both Richard Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra and of Nobuo Uematsu’s own compositional language. As the opening track of the game, "Omen" foreshadows the rise and fall of both the Gestahl Empire and of Kefka, the game’s failed Nietzschean Übermensch. Furthermore, the musical cue contains harmonic, modal, motivic, and structural connections with the primary music of the game’s two primary antagonists heard later in the soundtrack. The second part of this chapter considers the opening rising fourth gesture as a satirical parody of Uematsu’s own musical devices, which results in the composer satirizing himself in addition to Strauss’ famous tone poem.
Music, Mediation, Memory: Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Authors: Grasso Julianne
Published: April 2022

This chapter explores musically mediated memory in Square Enix’s Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy series, focusing on Nobuo Uematsu’s music for the main franchise Final Fantasy games as repurposed for rhythm-game mechanics. The author argues that the shift from music as an aesthetic feature of games to a mechanical one implicates a particular activation of memory and meanings related to music, genre, and play. Not only does the “rhythm-gamification” of familiar tunes change the player’s relationship to video game music, but it also reawakens and re-inscribes memories of play through processes of "remediation." By bringing Uematsu’s iconic music to the foreground of the game, Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy makes memory and nostalgia a means of interaction.
Expressing lookism on YouTube fashion channels: Perceptions of young Korean women
Authors: Park Juha , Chun Jaehoon
Published: April 2022

This study examines the factors that promote lookism on YouTube fashion channels as well as the influence of video watching by analysing media viewers experiencing lookism in Korean society. Young Korean women in their 20s who subscribe to YouTube fashion channels were interviewed. On these fashion channels, viewers’ herd mentality is stimulated by videos about certain looks or slender physiques and plastic surgery, while the comments highlight the importance of one’s appearance, causing viewers to be concerned with others’ assessments of their looks. Compared with celebrities, beauty/fashion YouTubers share ordinary themes and familiarize themselves with viewers, eventually becoming objects of social comparison and standards of ideal beauty in Korea. Viewers’ consistent exposure to these videos causes them to compare their socio-economic conditions regarding appearance management with those of the YouTubers. Meanwhile, the positive appearance-related values and healthy appearance management of some YouTubers enable their viewers to recognize diversity in appearance and independently participate in appearance management, thus increasing confidence in viewers’ appearance and reinforcing their use of beauty/fashion YouTube content to discover their own tastes. Research has shown that YouTube videos and YouTubers can affect one’s perception and attitude towards personal appearance and confirmed that the influence of YouTube fashion channels on society is growing as an emerging discourse on appearance management based on diversity. This study finds that fashion-related content on YouTube substantially affects viewers’ different perceptions of looks, appearance management behaviours and appearance-related values. This study has implications for social media studies by suggesting the need to constantly examine YouTube, a medium that reflects the phenomenon of lookism in Korean society.
Política migratoria y securitización en la administración Trump (2017-2021)
Authors: Delkáder-Palacios Augusto
Published: April 2022

El proceso de securitización de las migraciones debe explicarse en un contexto general de crisis de la globalización y del orden liberal internacional. Son principalmente dos las visiones políticas actuales al respecto de la globalización y la movilidad: la posición globalista y la posición escéptica. En este escenario de crisis se está produciendo un auge de las políticas orientadas a la restricción de la libre circulación de las personas impulsadas por fuerzas de la derecha radical populista. Nos ocupamos en este estudio del proceso de securitización de la política migratoria de Estados Unidos durante la Administración Trump y, en particular, en las relaciones con México. Finalmente, analizamos el Pacto Mundial para una Migración Segura, Ordenada y Regular, firmado por Naciones Unidas en 2018, como alternativa de desecuritización de las políticas migratorias. Estudiamos los límites y las potencialidades de este acuerdo para la gobernanza global de las migraciones.
Pérdidas de independencia e ideología:el caso de Portugal (1580-1640)
Authors: Da Silva Guevara Gisela
Published: April 2022

Este artículo tiene como objetivo mostrar cómo la autoridad de los monarcas lusos, que siempre ha sido fuerte desde la fundación del reino de Portugal, ha sido legitimada, tras la pérdida de la independencia entre 1580 y 1640, en un plan no solamente políticojurídico, sino también místico.
The Effect of Trailing Edge Profile Modifications to Fluid-Structure Interactions of a Vertical Axis Tidal Turbine Blade
Authors: Arini Nu Rhahida , Turnock Stephen R , Tan Mingyi
Published: April 2022

Renewable energy has become an essential energy alternative since the continual depletion of non-renewable energy resources and increasing environmental issues. Tidal energy is a promising future renewable resource which can be extracted using a vertical axis tidal turbine. Since it was proposed, a tidal turbine performance requires improvements which can be obtained by a blade’s trailing edge modification. Modifying the blade’s trailing edge profile is confirmed to be one way to improve a turbine’s work. However, the influence of a trailing edge modifications on a vertical axis tidal turbine blade’s interaction with fluid has not been fully understood, thus the fluid induced vibration as the fluid behaviour working on a vertical axis tidal turbine blade has not been completely discovered. In this paper, 2D fluid-structure interactions of modified vertical axis tidal turbine blades are examined and modelled using OpenFOAM. Three different modified blade profiles are proposed: sharp, rounded, and blunt. The modified profiles are employed to an original NACA 0012 blade and their influences on a vertical axis tidal turbine blade interaction are observed. The result discovers the fluid behaviour and fluid-induced vibrations at all positions (represented by 12 positions) over one turbine’s cycle. The results demonstrate the frequency domain blade velocities and time domain blade displacements for all modified blades. The fluid behaviour around the blade is confirmed by pressure distribution plots over the blade’s upper and lower surfaces. The results show that the blunt profile provides less frequent vibrations due to a reducing vorticity in the downstream fluid regime. However, the vibration amplitude that occurs on the blunt blade is higher than those of rounded and sharp profiles. Based on this research, the blunt trailing edge profile appears to be more favourable to be applied and used for vertical axis tidal turbine blades.
Emotion Regulation and Self-Injury Status among Nursing Students: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Safira Dyah Ayu Nur , Hidayati Nur Oktavia , Sari Citra Windani Mambang
Published: April 2022

Background: One of the factors associated with the incident of self-injury among college students is emotion dysregulation, but many factors, namely self-criticism, daily guilt, and social factors are associated with emotion dysregulation as well. However, little is known about how the process happens and how the emotion regulation relates to other factors associated with the incident of self-injury.Purpose: This study aimed to identify the relationship between emotion regulation and self-injury status among nursing students.Methods: A descriptive correlational study was conducted among 783 nursing students in a public university in Indonesia. Stratified random sampling was used to recruit the samples. The data were collected online using the Difficulties of Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory (DSHI). The univariate analyses in the form of percentage and bivariate analyses with the Point Biserial test were performed for data analysis.Results: The results showed that the minimum and maximum scores of emotion regulation in nursing students were 41 and 163, respectively. The mean score and standard deviation of emotion regulation were 96.75 and 20.948, subsequently. As many as one-third (32.6%) of students committed self-injury. The Point Biserial test showed a relationship between emotion regulation and self-injury status (sig. 2-tailed = 0.000).Conclusion: There is a relationship between emotion regulation and self-injury status among nursing students. This study suggests the importance of health promotion and nursing intervention regarding emotion regulation as a prevention and treatment of self-injury among nursing students.
The relationship between differential media exposure and attitudes towards Muslims and Islam and the potential consequences on voting intention towards banning veiling in public
Authors: Eugster Beatrice , Arlt Dorothee , Schmidt Franzisca
Published: April 2022

This article focuses on how exposure to different media genres relates to two components of attitudes, Muslims as a group and Islam as a religion. It also highlights how these components mediate the relationship between media exposure and behavioral intention, namely voting intention towards banning veiling in public spaces. The analysis builds on an online survey conducted in Switzerland. We found that exposure to specific media genres is not equally associated with attitudes towards Muslims versus attitudes towards Islam. Contrary to our expectation, we did not find the association to be stronger when it came to influencing attitudes towards Muslims as compared to influencing attitudes towards Islam. However, our findings clearly showed that it matters whether people consume news via television or newspapers, especially mass-market (commercial television and tabloids) versus upmarket news (public television and quality newspapers). Attitudes towards Muslims living in Switzerland are more negative among those consuming mass-market news than those consuming upmarket news. Anti-Islam attitudes, however, were only associated with reading newspapers—both tabloids and quality newspapers. The findings provided only partial support for the mediating role of attitudes towards Muslims and Islam concerning the indirect relation between media exposure and voting intention towards banning veiling.
Applying a diagnostic excellence framework to assess opportunities to improve recognition of child physical abuse
Authors: Rasooly Irit R. , Dang Khoi , Nawab Ursula S. , Shaw Kathy N. , Wood Joanne N.
Published: April 2022

Objectives

Diagnostic excellence is an important domain of healthcare quality. Delays in diagnosis have been described in 20–30% of children with abusive injuries. Despite the well characterized epidemiology, improvement strategies remain elusive. We sought to assess the applicability of diagnostic improvement instruments to cases of non-accidental trauma and to identify potential opportunities for system improvement in child physical abuse diagnosis.

Methods

We purposefully sampled 10 cases identified as having potential for system level interventions and in which the child had prior outpatient encounters to review. Experts in pediatrics, child abuse, and diagnostic improvement independently reviewed each case and completed SaferDx, a validated instrument used to evaluate the diagnostic process. Cases were subsequently discussed to map potential opportunities for improving the diagnostic process to the DEER Taxonomy, which classifies opportunities by type and phase of the diagnostic process.

Results

The most frequent improvement opportunities identified by the SaferDx were in recognition of potential alarm symptoms and in expanding differential diagnosis (5 of 10 cases). The most frequent DEER taxonomy process opportunities were in history taking (8 of 10) and hypothesis generation (7 of 10). Discussion elicited additional opportunities in reconsideration of provisional diagnoses, understanding biopsychosocial risk, and addressing information scatter within the electronic health record (EHR).

Conclusions

Applying a diagnostic excellence framework facilitated identification of systems opportunities to improve recognition of child abuse including integration of EHR information to support recognition of alarm symptoms, collaboration to support vulnerable families, and communication about diagnostic reasoning.
On the gaps between consecutive primes
Authors: Sun Yu-Chen , Pan Hao
Published: April 2022

Let

p
n

p_{n}

denote the 𝑛-th prime.
We prove that, for any

m
≥
1

m\geq 1

, there exist infinitely many 𝑛 such that

p
n

-

p

n
-
m

≤

C
m

p_{n}-p_{n-m}\leq C_{m}

for some large constant

C
m

>
0

C_{m}>0

, and

p

n
+
1

-

p
n

≥

c
m

⁢

log
⁡

n
⁢

log
⁡

log
⁡

n
⁢

log
⁡

log
⁡

log
⁡

log
⁡
n

log
⁡

log
⁡

log
⁡
n

p_{n+1}-p_{n}\geq\frac{c_{m}\log n\log\log n\log\log\log\log n}{\log\log\log n}

for some small constant

c
m

>
0

c_{m}>0

.
Furthermore, for any fixed positive integer 𝑙, there are many positive integers 𝑘 with

(
k
,
l
)

=
1

(k,l)=1

such that

p
′

⁢

(
k
,
l
)

≥

c
⁢
k

⋅

log
⁡

k
⁢

log
⁡

log
⁡

k
⁢

log
⁡

log
⁡

log
⁡

log
⁡
k

log
⁡

log
⁡

log
⁡
k

,

p^{\prime}(k,l)\geq ck\cdot\frac{\log k\log\log k\log\log\log\log k}{\log\log\log k},

where

p
′

⁢

(
k
,
l
)

p^{\prime}(k,l)

denotes the least prime of the form

k
⁢
n

+
l

kn+l

with

n
≥
1

n\geq 1

, which improves the previous result of Prachar.
Generalized resolvent operator involving 𝒢(·,·)-co-monotone mapping for solving generalized variational inclusion problem
Authors: Iqbal Javid , Mishra Vishnu Narayan , Mir Waseem Ali , Dar Aadil Hussain , Ishtyak Mohd , Rathour Laxmi
Published: April 2022

In this paper, we define a generalized resolvent operator involving a

𝒢
⁢

(
⋅
,
⋅
)

{\mathcal{G}(\,\cdot\,,\cdot\,)}

-co-monotone mapping for solving a generalized variational inclusion problem. We show that the resolvent operator under consideration is single-valued as well as Lipschitz continuous. An iterative algorithm is constructed to obtain the approximate solution of our problem. An example is provided to illustrate the theoretical findings.
Bacterial decay in waterlogged archaeological compression wood varies with severity of compression wood
Authors: Kim Jong Sik , Cha Mi Young , Lee Kwang Ho , Kim Yoon Soo
Published: April 2022

Bacterial decay in compression wood (CW) tracheids of waterlogged archaeological wood (WAW) was investigated using light microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and TEM immunogold labeling. Erosion bacteria were identified as the main degraders, and the extent of cell wall degradation differed depending on the severity of CW tracheids (mild vs. severe). Mild CW tracheids showed preferential decay in the inner S2 layer, with the locally degraded and/or fragmented S3 layer remaining. In contrast, severe CW tracheids revealed gradual degradation of the cell wall from the erosion progressing from exposed faces of the cell wall as decay progressed. The overall decay was more extensive in mild than in severe CW tracheids, and degradation of the highly lignified outer S2 layer (S2L) was only detected in mild CW tracheids. TEM immunogold labeling of 1,4-β-galactan, homogalacturonan (HG), heteroxylan, and heteromannan epitopes showed that there was no preferential degradation of pectins and hemicelluloses by action of diffusible enzymes and/or agents through the un-decayed cell wall during bacterial decay, in both mild and severe CW tracheids. Inter-CW tracheid bordered pit membranes showed higher decay resistance than CW tracheid walls. Degradation of HG and heteromannan epitopes was suppressed in pit membranes.
Comedy Bootcamp: stand-up comedy as humor training for military populations
Authors: Olah Andrew R. , Junkin Janelle S. , Ford Thomas E. , Pressler Sam
Published: April 2022

This paper details the results of an 18-month program impact evaluation (n = 72) on Armed Services Arts Partnership’s “Comedy Bootcamp,” a popular stand-up comedy course specifically tailored to military veterans. Based on literature around the benefits of sense of humor and humor training (e.g., 7 Humor Habits), we anticipated that participants in Comedy Bootcamp would show greater well-being relative to a control group, and that this effect would be mediated by an increase in sense of humor (i.e., self-enhancing humor style). Results largely supported the hypotheses, showing that Comedy Bootcamp participants experienced an increased self-enhancing humor style, which in turn yielded improved self-esteem, resilience, depression, and stress (though not anxiety). Further, longitudinal analyses demonstrated the benefits of the program persist at 3- and 6-month follow-ups. Implications and future directions are discussed.
Low expression of miR-27b in serum exosomes of non-small cell lung cancer facilitates its progression by affecting EGFR
Authors: Cao Xiying , Zhong Weixiang , Guo Shaoming , Zhang Zuxiong , Xie Chunfa
Published: April 2022

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a malignant tumor. Serum exosomal miR-27b is related to tumor diagnosis. We explored the roles of serum exosomal miR-27b in NSCLC. NSCLC patients were assigned to NSCLC-early/terminal groups, with healthy subjects as controls. miR-27b expression was assessed using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and its diagnostic efficiency was analyzed using the receiver operating characteristic curve. The correlation between serum exosomal miR-27b expression and tumor markers carcinoembryonic antigen 125 (CA125), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and cytokeratin 19-soluble fragment (CYFRA21-1) was analyzed using the Pearson analysis. The downstream target genes were predicted. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) level was assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Correlations of miR-27b expression with serum EGFR level and CA125, CEA, and CYFRA21-1 levels were analyzed using the Pearson analysis. Serum exosomal miR-27b was diminished in NSCLC and was further decreased in the NSCLS-terminal group. The sensitivity of miR-27b < 0.8150 for NSCLC diagnosis was 76.64%, and the specificity was 83.33%. Serum exosomal miR-27b was negatively correlated with CA125, CEA, and CYFRA21-1. miR-27b targeted EGFR. Serum EGFR was raised in NSCLC and was further elevated in the NSCLS-terminal group. miR-27b expression was negatively correlated with EGFR level. EGFR level was positively correlated with CA125, CEA, and CYFRA21-1 levels. Collectively, low expression of miR-27b assisted NSCLC diagnosis, and miR-27b exerted effects on NSCLC through EGFR.
Application of cyclohexene oxide modified chitosan for paper preservation
Authors: Wang Xuemei , Qi Yingping , Shen Yongfeng , Li Hua
Published: April 2022

A new chitosan derivative (CS-CHO) was successfully synthesized based on chitosan (CS) and cyclohexene oxide (CHO). It proved that CHO was successfully grafted onto the amino group of CS by N-alkylation reaction through the characterization of FTIR, XRD and DSC-TGA. The mechanical properties (tensile strength, folding endurance, tearing strength), optical properties (whiteness, glossiness) of the CS-CHO coated paper sample were tested. The results showed that the mechanical properties of the paper treated with 10 % CS-CHO increased significantly without changing the appearance of the paper. The paper permanence (tensile strength, folding endurance, tearing strength and pH) of the treated paper samples tested by dry-heat aging test. The results showed that the permanence of the treated paper samples was significantly improved compared with the blank aged paper samples, which indicated that CS-CHO had the function of deacidification while reinforcing the paper samples, providing the possibility for deacidification and reinforcement in one-step method and playing a positive role in the paper preservation.
Farmers’ perception, awareness, and constraints of organic rice farming in Indonesia
Authors: Sujianto  , Gunawan Endro , Saptana  , Syahyuti  , Darwis Valeriana , Ashari  , Syukur Mat , Ariningsih Ening , Saliem Handewi P. , Mardianto Sudi , Marhendro
Published: April 2022

The green revolution and climate change have become a promising Indonesian rice production strategy to reach self-sufficiency through the application of improved agricultural technology such as organic rice farming (ORF). ORF is an eco-friendly agricultural practice that increases production, income, and sustainable agriculture. This study assessed farmers’ perception, motivation, constraints, awareness, and belief in adopting ORF. The study used a multi-stage sampling procedure. The primary data were collected from 203 households in West Java Province using a structured questionnaire. Weighted average index (WAI) was used to assess the farmers’ perception, motivation, awareness, and belief regarding the adoption of ORF. The results reveal a significantly different perception between ORF and conventional rice farming (CRF) farmers on production, quality, health and safety, market price, environmental concern, and certification aspects. ORF farmers had a more positive perception than conventional farmers. The results of the WAI reveal that CRF had a lower yield (0.63), risk-averse (0.70), and no cash compensation (0.62), whereas ORF had a higher price (0.82) and organic farming lifestyle (0.83). The ORF farmers also still have a strong positive belief in organic farming for the future, even though they lack organic fertilizer resources and certification. The strategies for adopting ORF are infrastructure improvement and community empowerment, compensation and incentive strategy, more intensive socialization, provision of assistance and training related to ORF, marketing facilitation, and subsidies on the prices and certification of organic rice.
Multimodality in Hong Kong government posters from the 1950s–1980s: an appraisal analysis and the discursive construction of legitimation
Authors: Wong May L-Y
Published: April 2022

This paper uses van Leeuwen’s (2008. Discourse and practice: New tools from critical discourse analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press) Authority Legitimation framework to examine government posters published in the 1950s–1980s in Hong Kong, which serve as a means of shaping public opinion and legitimate social action. Martin and White’s (2005. The language of evaluation: Appraisal in english. London: Palgrave Macmillan) Appraisal framework is also applied to provide the study with relevant analytical tools by which to construct evaluatively coherent authorial reading positions propagated by the government in the posters as well as aligning viewers with these desired positions. The government posters being studied are concerned with various aspects of social practices in the domain of public health communication. This paper argues that the representations of these social practices are realized as texts – both visual and verbal – in the posters, as part of a broader recontextualization process where legitimate ways of doing things as stipulated in the government guidelines are recontextualized in these posters and conveyed to members of the public. The aim is two-fold: (1) to provide a systematic analysis of how visual and verbal resources construe evaluation in the government posters and the consequent legitimation discourse as viewers are being persuaded to align with legitimate social practices; (2) to highlight various forms of legitimation, namely, role model authority legitimation, impersonal authority legitimation, and conformity authority legitimation, that are realized in these posters through visual-verbal articulation.
Status and Outlook for Climate Resilient Aquaculture in Kenya
Authors: Adekola Olalekan , Gatonye Margaret , Orina Paul
Published: April 2022

The impact of climate change on the aquaculture sector, which both supports livelihoods and is a source of nutrition in Kenya, is of concern. This study seeks to assess how stakeholders understand the impact of climate change on the aquaculture sector in Kenya, with a view to highlighting the steps needed towards enhancing the adaptation of aquaculture infrastructure to climate change. The study adopts a complementary mix of data collection methods (workshops, interviews, questionnaires, and field visits) implemented in four case study sites (Kakamega, Kajiado, Nairobi, and Kiambu). The findings of this study indicate that the most important climate hazard impacting aquaculture in Kenya is drought. It is estimated that about 40% of the potential growth of the subsector is lost due to the direct and indirect impacts of climate change. However, only a handful of farmers have opted for adaptation measures mainly because they are considered expensive. Facilitating the adequate adaptation of aquaculture practice to climate change will require a focus on improving the fish production infrastructure, improved aquaculture feeds, and policy changes. Overall, this study shows that for the sector in Kenya to overcome the impacts of climate hazards and be resilient to future climate change, there is also a need to prioritise economic incentives and capacity building. The findings are timely and should serve as crucial stimulus for critical stakeholders towards developing infrastructures in tackling the present climate change challenges confronting the aquaculture sector in Kenya.
Crafting a Relational Queer Body
Authors: Latorre Guisela
Published: April 2022

In this article, I argue that Latinx artist Ben Cuevas uses knitting—a craft associated with traditional femininity and domesticity—to propose new understandings of relational queer bodies in an era of renewed and heightened policing and abuse against racialized subjects in the 2010s and 2020s. Relational queer bodies are those that not only refuse normativity and fixed categories of identity but also thrive on egalitarian social relations and interconnectedness. Moreover, relational queer bodies are defined not so much by their bodily presence. Rather, they are mostly constituted through practices of solidarity, affinity, and community building. Through his work, Cuevas defines the relational queer body as one that moves fluidly across discursive, meditative, and physical states. His knitting gestures and movements thus become the means by which the artist moves across various realms of the body. Cuevas’s desire to explore embodiment compels spectators themselves to experience the subjectivity of the queer body of color, to resist the dehumanization that a white supremacist society imposes on nonwhite and nonnormative communities. As an HIV-positive, genderqueer, and racialized subject, Cuevas’s decision to extend his bodily presence within the artwork becomes an inherently political act, one that is made all the more transgressive and provocative by the artist’s choice of materials.
Latin American Art by and for Whom?
Authors: Flaherty George F. , Nelson Adele
Published: April 2022

What theoretical and political exigencies framed the discussions of Latin American art in the 1970s, and what are the afterlives of those formations today? This Dialogues traces a constellation of curators and scholars that participated in the articulation of the field of modern and contemporary Latin American art, paying attention to experimentation and the ways coloniality haunt its development. Authors analyze episodes in the formation of the field, including a prominent international symposium, an audiovisual display as curatorial intervention, and the redefinition of popular art, as well as troubling the subordination of Black art. George Flaherty and Adele Nelson discuss the intensive questioning that constituted the Austin Symposium in 1975, drawing on the previously understudied audio recordings of the conference. Camila Maroja reconsiders the controversial audiovisual presentation by Ángel Kalenberg at the Tenth Paris Biennial (1977) with a view to the transnational cultural politics of the period. Karen Benezra offers that Ticio Escobar’s multidecade reconception of popular art grants space for art by communities historically excluded from both art and the mestizo nation, notably the Ishir Indigenous people of Paraguay. Eddie Chambers issues a challenge and reflects on the limited degree to which the contributions of African-descended artists have been recognized by historians of Latin American art, focusing on Brazil and Cuba. Together these texts propose that questioning and unresolvability can serve as both tools and reminders of the size and significance of the continued work required of the field of modern and contemporary Latin American art.
Projecting Latin America
Authors: Maroja Camila
Published: April 2022

What theoretical and political exigencies framed the discussions of Latin American art in the 1970s, and what are the afterlives of those formations today? This Dialogues traces a constellation of curators and scholars that participated in the articulation of the field of modern and contemporary Latin American art, paying attention to experimentation and the ways coloniality haunt its development. Authors analyze episodes in the formation of the field, including a prominent international symposium, an audiovisual display as curatorial intervention, and the redefinition of popular art, as well as troubling the subordination of Black art. George Flaherty and Adele Nelson discuss the intensive questioning that constituted the Austin Symposium in 1975, drawing on the previously understudied audio recordings of the conference. Camila Maroja reconsiders the controversial audiovisual presentation by Ángel Kalenberg at the Tenth Paris Biennial (1977) with a view to the transnational cultural politics of the period. Karen Benezra offers that Ticio Escobar’s multidecade reconception of popular art grants space for art by communities historically excluded from both art and the mestizo nation, notably the Ishir Indigenous people of Paraguay. Eddie Chambers issues a challenge and reflects on the limited degree to which the contributions of African-descended artists have been recognized by historians of Latin American art, focusing on Brazil and Cuba. Together these texts propose that questioning and unresolvability can serve as both tools and reminders of the size and significance of the continued work required of the field of modern and contemporary Latin American art.
Prognosefähigkeit von Kennzahlen während der Laufzeit von Private Equity Fonds
Authors: Kley Christoph , Zwinselman Yannick , Brunner Hans , Kull Stefan
Published: April 2022

Häufig fragen sich Investoren während der langen Laufzeiten von Private Equity Buyout Fonds, wie ihre Fonds rentieren. Das Thema lautet deshalb, inwiefern branchenübliche Kennzahlen in der Lage sind, bereits nach 5 Jahren den internen Zinsfuß nach 10 Jahren vorherzusagen. Dazu wird ein Datensatz analysiert mit dem Ergebnis, dass sich vor allem der interne Zinsfuß nach 5 Jahren für eine zuverlässige Prognose eignet. Darüber hinaus werden als didaktischen Mehrwert die branchenüblichen Kennzahlen erklärt und evaluiert.
SPAC is back
Authors: Rollmann Stephan , Schiereck Dirk
Published: April 2022

Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) erleben an den US-Börsen aktuell eine Renaissance historischen Ausmaßes. Der Beitrag untersucht die Historie und die Struktur dieses besonderen Börsenmantels und vergleicht die Merkmale und Ziele der 2007 und 2020 emittierten SPACs. Dabei konnte eine strukturelle Evolution der SPACs sowie ein aktuell vermehrtes Interesse an Digitalunternehmen identifiziert werden. Der Beitrag deckt auch auf, welche Veränderungen sich für SPAC-Anleger ergeben haben.
Herausforderungen bei der Bekämpfung von Wirtschaftskriminalität
Authors: Noll Bernd , Witt Andreas
Published: April 2022

Beim Thema Wirtschaftskriminalität hat sich in den letzten Jahrzehnten ein grundlegender Bewusstseins- und Bedeutungswandel vollzogen. Lange Zeit eher ignoriert und verharmlost, ist sie zu einem rechtspolitischen Kernthema geworden. Globalisierung und Digitalisierung eröffnen größere Spielräume für Wirtschaftsdelinquenz, die große Herausforderungen für die Bekämpfung für Strafverfolgungsbehörden und Unternehmen mit sich bringen.
KiKA – ein multimedialer Contentanbieter
Authors: Plenk Astrid
Published: April 2022

Der Kindermedienmarkt in Deutschland ist heiß umkämpft. Der Wettbewerb findet dabei nicht nur im klassischen linearen TV-Bereich statt, sondern wird im Zeichen der Digitalisierung multimedial und crossmedial auf sämtlichen Ausspielwegen geführt. Die Programmgeschäftsführerin von KiKA, Dr. Astrid Plenk, erläutert die starke Marktposition des Kinderkanals von ARD und ZDF und die strategischen Konzepte, wie man auch zukünftig als öffentlich-rechtliches Angebot bestehen will. Das Fundament aller Bausteine im Produktportfolio von KiKA, so Dr. Plenk, sei der medienpädagogische Hintergrund und die konsequente Ausrichtung auf die kindlichen Bedürfnisse. Als öffentlich-rechtliches Qualitätsangebot sei die Marke KiKA darauf ausgerichtet, einen wichtigen Wertbeitrag für die Gesellschaft zu leisten.
Nachhaltigkeit – eine Frage von Haltung und Balance
Authors: Taube Marie-Fee
Published: April 2022

Nachhaltigkeit hat viele Begrifflichkeiten und Themenfelder – bei RTL Deutschland werden im Kontext von Verantwortung zwei Wirkungsebenen unterschieden: der Brain- und der Footprint. Mit dem Footprint sind unmittelbare Nachhaltigkeitswirkungen unserer Geschäftstätigkeit gemeint, mit dem Brainprint, den wir als Medienschaffende hinterlassen, unsere Inhalte – also mittelbare Wirkungen. Darüber hinaus berücksichtigt nachhaltige Entwicklung im gängigen Verständnis ökologische, wirtschaftliche und gesellschaftliche Dimensionen. Die Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie von RTL Deutschland unterliegt ebendiesem ganzheitlichen Verständnis: (1) Social & Society: Einen positiven Beitrag zur demokratischen und weltoffenen Gesellschaft leisten. (2) Content & Sales: Geschäftserfolg sichern mit Angeboten, die einen positiven Beitrag zur nachhaltigen Entwicklung leisten. (3) Supply Chain & Environment: Ressourcen schonen, positive Umwelteinflüsse fördern und negative reduzieren und vermeiden. Die drei Säulen bedingen sich gegenseitig und sind nicht immer trennscharf.
Análisis de los planes de formación permanente del personal de sector público: Un estudio de caso
Authors: Rodríguez-Fernández Juan Ramón , Díez-Gutiérrez Enrique-Javier
Published: April 2022

Objetivos. Esta investigación se ha dirigido a atender 3 objetivos: Analizar en profundidad el modelo de planificación de la formación que desarrolla el Instituto Asturiano de Administración Pública Adolfo Posada, del Norte de España. Señalar las implicaciones que puede tener este tipo de diseño formativo para el desarrollo de la formación permanente de las personas empleados en el sector público en las administraciones. Y proponer alternativas formativas a partir de las limitaciones encontradas. Metodología. La metodología de investigación utilizada es de corte cualitativo, utilizando como instrumentos de investigación el análisis documental de materiales y bibliografía, así como entrevistas a personas profesionales participantes. Resultados. Los resultados obtenidos se han agrupado en torno a las categorías analíticas que se han delimitado durante el proceso de investigación: rol docente, contenidos, materiales y recursos, objetivos educativos y metodologías didácticas empleadas. Se ha constatado que el modelo de planificación de la formación empleado es el que responde a las características del denominado modelo tecnológico. Conclusiones. Ante las limitaciones que este modelo tiene para fomentar la transferibilidad de la formación al puesto de trabajo y para potenciar la participación activa de sus empleados y empleadas a lo largo de todo el proceso de planificación y ejecución de la formación, se propone en la parte final de este artículo una serie de principios alternativos para la organización de la formación en las administraciones públicas.
El papel de la familia en la realización de los deberes escolares
Authors: Hernández-Prados María De los Ángeles , Gil-Noguera Juan Antonio
Published: April 2022

Objetivo. Conocer cómo afecta la familia, concretamente el padre y la madre, en el patrón de realización de los deberes. Metodología. Se llevó a cabo un estudio descriptivo-evaluativo transversal, mediante un cuestionario ad hoc, en el que participaron un total de 294 familias españolas cuyos hijos e hijas estaban matriculados en los últimos cursos de primaria durante el curso académico 2019-2020. Para el análisis estadístico se empleó SPSS 22.0, y dado que las variables seleccionadas son nominales se ha recurrido a la estadística descriptiva, concretamente a frecuencias y porcentajes, así como al empleo de tablas de contingencia, χ2 de Pearson, V de Cramer para determinar el tamaño del efecto. Resultados. Los principales resultados arrojaron un patrón parental de autonomía en la realización de los deberes y la búsqueda de apoyo preferentemente en familiares en vez de apoyos externos, algo que se repite en los hijos e hijas, quienes además realizan los deberes en casa e invierten entre 1 y 2 horas, aunque esto depende del curso educativo. El lugar y la persona que ayuda con los deberes de los hijos y las hijas se encuentran significativamente relacionados con el nivel de estudios de las personas progenitoras. Conclusión. Finalmente se demuestra significativamente la continuidad del modelo de padres, madres a hijos e hijas, lo que denota la necesidad de una revisión pedagógica al respecto, que promueva un enfoque diferente de aproximación a la realización de las tareas en casa.
Promoting Student Competencies in Informatics Education by Combining Semantic Waves and Algorithmic Thinkingv
Authors: RITTER Frauke , STANDL Bernhard
Published: April 2022

We live in a digital age, not least accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is all the more important in our society that students learn and master the key competence of algorithmic thinking to understand the informatics concepts behind every digital phenomena and thus is able to actively shape the future. For this to be successful, concepts must be identified that can convey this key competence to all students in such a way that algorithmic thinking is integrated in the subject of informatics - beyond a pure programming course. Furthermore, based on the Legitimation Code Theory, semantic waves provide a way to develop and review lesson plans. Therefore, we planned a workshop, that follow the phases of a semantic wave addressing algorithmic problems using a blockbased programming language. Considering this, we suggest the so-called SWAT concept (Semantic Wave Algorithmic Thinking concept), which is carried out and analyzed in a workshop with students. The workshop was carried out in online format in an 8th grade of a high school during a coronavirus lockdown. The level of algorithmic thinking was measured using a pretest and posttest both in the treatment group and in a control group and with the help of the approximate adjusted fractional Bayes factors for testing informative hypotheses statistically and through a reductive, qualitative content analysis of the students’ work results (worksheets and created programs) evaluated. The semantic wave concept was measured using several cognitive load ratings of the students during the workshop and also statistically evaluated with the approximate adjusted fractional Bayes factors for testing informative hypotheses, as well as a qualitative content analysis of the worksheets. Results of this pilot study provide first insights, that the SWAT-concept can be used in combination of unplugged and plugged parts.
Valery Podoroga’s Theory of Mimesis: the Sensory Aspects of Text Perception
Authors: Juodeika Rytis
Published: April 2022

The paper aims to analyse and understand tensions and meanings in the notion of mimesis in the perspective of philosophical anthropology. Classical mimesis theories, which stretch from classical antiquity to modern works by E. Auerbach or P. Ricoeur, are often associated with poetics, narratology or other literature theory studies. V. Podoroga talks about anthropological and phenomenological mimesis, not only about ‘external’, Aristotelian version, but also about internal mimesis. He focuses on the experience of the body as the basis of mimesis. The author explains how mimesis in Podoroga’s version acquires new meanings and demonstrates how Podoroga’s matrixes of anthropograms complement, discuss and transgress hermeneutical models of Ricoeur.The author claims that the method of Podoroga brings us to some kind of a unique ‘system’, that could be compared to the ideas of ‘the death of the author’ (R. Barthes) or ‘the open work’ (U. Eco). Podoroga shows us an alternative, non-semiotic and mimetic approach in contemporary thought, that has not been widely discussed yet in both Russian and English sources.
An Arendtian Reading of Antigone: Tyrrany Emerging from Righteousness
Authors: Basturk Efe
Published: April 2022

The aim of this article is to investigate the tyrannical similarity between Antigone and Creon through Hannah Arendt’s political philosophy. As Arendt claimed, tyranny firstly signals the end of the political through which men can share their natality. The very meaning of tyranny is the domination by absoluteness that ends deliberation among mortal beings. Antigone only focuses on the divine law, which is seen as absolute righteousness that precedes the law of the city, and so, she tends to ignore any other option on rightfulness. This article aims to show that not only Creon but also Antigone can be regarded as a tyrant, since Antigone tends to sublime her dedication to an infallible justice, causing her to deny any other claim on justice.