Contemporary Resource Research Articles

Current aspects of diabetic polyneuropathy in children

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a serious medical and social problem of our time due to its high prevalence, lethality, early onset of disability and increasing morbidity. In children and adolescents, type 1 diabetes (DM1), characterized by absolute insulin deficiency due to autoimmune or idiopathic lesions of pancreatic β-cells, is registered more often. Every year, the total number of patients with DM1 under 18 years of age in the Russian Federation increases by several tens of thousands of people. DM is accompanied by various complications and one of the most frequent is diabetic polyneuropathy (DP), which occurs in half of children with DM1 more than 3 years. The progressive course of DP leads to the development of serious consequences affecting the quality of life and prognosis of patients. At the same time, at present, many aspects of this complication are insufficiently studied or have contradictory data, which justifies the expediency of systematization of materials on the pathogenesis of DP, effective methods of diagnostics and treatment of the disease in childhood.The aim of the work was to analyze modern scientific publications devoted to the study of DP in children, based on the search of literature sources in PubMed, CyberLeninka and RINC databases. A total of 58 bibliographic publications were reviewed, including contemporary resources from the period 2019–2023.

Resource nationalism: the intersection of politics and economics

Resource nationalism has a complex economic, political, and cultural history and reality. The evolution of the supply and demand structure of the global mineral metal market influences it. It is closely linked to the “economic-political” system within resource-rich countries. We analyze the ‘economic-political’ logic of resource nationalist behavior using the two-tier game theory. We examine 261 cases of resource nationalism since 1990 and test the theoretical hypotheses using quantitative techniques. The results show that rising mineral prices are the main trigger for contemporary resource nationalism. However, ideology, institutional quality, social climate, and economic dependence within resource countries play a non-negligible role. Resource wealth dependence in host countries makes it difficult for policymakers to escape national resource interventions. We argue that (1) The global economic trading system imbalance is the root of resource nationalism. (2) Resource nationalism is an endeavor by resource-rich countries to seek entitlements from mineral resource endowments. (3) Resource nationalism is not a zero-sum competition in the national economic trading system. In the face of the potential risks posed by resource nationalism to the global supply of minerals, the relevant interest groups should have sufficient strategic reserves to cope with the possible game of interests.

Articulating Indigeneity in the messiness: Resource politics and capitalism in Qalang na Tayal (Tayal communities), Taiwan

This paper addresses Indigenous articulation in contemporary resource politics and capitalist markets, beginning with the contestation over Indigeneity within the socio-political context of Taiwan. Indigenous peoples in Taiwan have been challenged by the spatial trope of the ‘mountain’. This complex trope encompasses not only topographical aspects but also socio-cultural and political-economic characteristics. It has historically represented remote, montane areas and their populations as primitive, barbarian, and uncivilized, in contrast to the modern and developed plains. This paper presents two case studies to challenge the hegemonic construction of Indigeneity: a water management committee and a tomato cooperative. These case studies illustrate how Tayal people connect across time and place, and how they engage in a reconfiguration of the mountain imaginary, thereby producing a shift that heralds the mountains as authentically Indigenous. Tayal people articulate existence and belonging-together-in-place with non- Tayal settlers in novel ways. They have persisted and resisted in their homeland despite consistently facing stereotypes. This paper argues that there is no singular Indigenous other; therefore, there is no single way of being Indigenous. It also posits that the Tayal people’s articulation is deeply rooted in their collective sense of belonging-together-in-place. Finally, this paper proposes an ontological shift urging geographers and fellow academics to engage with Indigenous people in contested cultural landscapes.

‘Aikido Practitioners in Every Country Should Change and Unite with the Tradition’: Kisshomaru Ueshiba, Historical Memory, and the Internationalization of Aikido, 1948–1984

Kisshomaru Ueshiba, leader of aikido from 1945–1999 and son of aikido’s founder, published A Life in Aikido: The Biography of Founder Morihei Ueshiba and The Spirit of Aikido in the late 1970s and early 1980s that leveraged historical memory to centralize authority in the Aikikai organization as the art expanded outside Japan. The author used family history and political history to argue for an originalist approach to teaching aikido, one centred on the founder Morihei Ueshiba. Close readings of these works through the lens of historical memory reveal how mid-twentieth century aikido organizers engaged historical memory and family history for administrative purposes but also fit into a larger pattern of memory work that centred Japan in international Cold War era dialogue about peace. Such findings have applications in the contemporary administration of aikido as practitioners work to define the art in historical terms, revealing history as a contemporary resource for decision-making.

Assessing the Quality and Effectiveness of School-Based Sports Coaching Programs in China

This research assessed the effectiveness of sports coaching programs implemented in schools in China. It examines explicitly crucial elements such as coaching credentials, program structure, sports infrastructure, safety protocols, monitoring and evaluation approaches, and technology integration. The study used a stratified sampling technique to choose a representative sample of athletes from various universities. Data was gathered by administering questionnaires and conducting interviews to evaluate the athletes' perspectives on the coaching programs. The findings suggest that athletes typically have a good perception of coaching programs, especially about their effective promotion of cooperation, safety, and use of technology. However, some aspects need improvement, including grasping sports skills, allocation of facility money, and availability of contemporary resources. Furthermore, the research revealed no statistically significant disparities in athletes' evaluations or program outcomes when they were categorized according to their gender, sport, or length of participation. Furthermore, the coaching programs show a modest favorable impact on athletes' physical fitness, sports performance, and general well-being, with specific attention on the development of endurance, resilience, and problem-solving skills. The study furthermore cites many significant obstacles coaches encounter, including resource constraints, cultural and academic demands, inadequate professional growth opportunities, and hurdles to effective communication.

DIPG-72. CREATION, CHARACTERIZATION AND CATALOGUING NEXT-GENERATION DIPG PATIENT-DERIVED CANCER CELL LINES: THE DIPG C3 PROJECT

Abstract BACKGROUND Preclinical studies of diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) have increased significantly over the past 15 years due to the development of DIPG disease-specific tools including cell lines and animal models. We now know that DIPG is a molecularly heterogeneous tumor. While >80% of these tumors have H3K27M alterations, partner mutations can vary. Many DIPG cell lines used for pre-clinical assessments of new therapies have not been fully characterized, therefore, comparing preclinical results across studies has been impeded. We sought to Create, Characterize and Catalogue DIPG cell lines and animal models with the aim of expanding contemporary resources and providing a public database for DIPG researchers. METHODS Existing DIPG cell lines in the Center for Patient-Derived Models (CPDM) were utilized; additional patient-derived cell lines were created in CPDM, and obtained from collaborators. The assembled collection was characterized by whole genome (WGS) and RNA-sequencing (RNAseq). RESULTS To date, we have 21 growth-verified DIPG models with the majority grown as 3D neurospheres in-vitro and capable for long-term culture. Fourteen (14) of these patient-derived models were genomically verified with WGS and RNA-seq platform. Data will be made publicly available to researchers on cBioPortal. CONCLUSIONS Systematic characterization and cataloguing of pre-clinical DIPG models is important to allow more stringent comparison across studies and ensure their utility and impact. These DIPG-specific tools can thus be used in applications such as drug discovery and testing.

“Return us where we can hunt and gather”: hierarchies and social structures that sustain exclusion of San minority in Zimbabwe

PurposeThe paper seeks to analyse the constellation of social structures, administrative institutions and hierarchies that sustain the exclusion of the San minority group in Zimbabwe, with a particular focus on how the European expansion in the eighteenth century, the modern state and private property owners have colluded to perpetuate exclusion from accessing forest as their natural habitat. The purpose of this paper is to therefore highlight the various abuses, including those social, administrative legislative frameworks that discriminate against the San minority and it advocates for actions the right to consultation and the right to free, prior and informed consent to proposed developments.Design/methodology/approachThrough the modern ethnographic approach, data generation was guided by the principles of indigenous and decolonising research methodologies, which place emphasis on the importance of San people telling their own stories thereby shifting the power of a researcher to the indigenous participants. This is a qualitative study that gives prominence to the descriptions of experiences (phenomenology) and interpretations (hermeneutic) of their survival. The paper employed cultural ecology theoretical framework as a lens through which to see the San’s exclusion from forest resources and how this has tragically shifted their egalitarian lifestyle characterised by reciprocity, sharing and levelling to adaptation to the unfamiliar sedentary farming practices.FindingsThe technical implementation of forest boundary demarcation and forcing the San to join sedentary farming form part of the state’s territorialisation that excludes, restricts and disrupts the San minority from accessing forest products. The treatment of the minority group reveals not only the enormous authority of the state to transfer alienation to individuals and companies but also to legitimise the exclusion by establishing laws and policies that safeguard the interests of those favoured by the state. The San, who are already overly dominated by the social administrative structures of the Ndebele and Kalanga tribes, lack systematic and organised responses to their marginalisation.Originality/valueThe San community in Zimbabwe is under-researched and under-theorised particularly in relation to how historically formed postcolonial hierarchies of exclusion and marginalisation manifest themselves in contemporary resource governance. Less is known about how those that are powerful – government officials, private property owners and Kalanga/Ndebele tribes benefit more from the environmental resources than the powerless minority San, whose livelihoods depend on the primary natural resources. The unequal power relations have been demonstrated by the evictions of the minority from wildlife areas that were converted into game parks. The study reveals how indigenous San not only resist exclusion but also develop adaptable strategies through negotiations to improve their situation with social and administrative institutions.

Research hotspots and trends of microRNAs in spinal cord injury: a comprehensive bibliometric analysis.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a nervous system disease leading to motor and sensory dysfunction below the injury level, and can result in paralysis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a key role in SCI treatment, and related research provides insights for SCI diagnosis and treatment. Bibliometrics is an important tool for literature statistics and evaluation, objectively summarizing multidimensional information. This study comprehensively overviews the field through bibliometric analysis of miRNA and SCI research, providing contemporary resources for future collaboration and clinical treatment. In this study, we searched the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) database. After careful screening and data import, we extracted annual publications, citation counts, countries, institutions, authors, journals, highly cited articles, co-cited articles, keywords, and H-index. Bibliometrics and visualization analyses employed VOSviewer, CiteSpace, the R package "bibliometrix," and online analytic platforms. Using Arrowsmith, we determined miRNA-SCI relationships and discussed potential miRNA mechanisms in SCI. From 2008 to 2024, the number of related papers increased annually, reaching 754. The number of yearly publications remained high and entered a period of rapid development. Researchers from 50 countries/regions, 802 institutions, 278 journals, and 3,867 authors participated in the field. Currently, China has advantages in the number of national papers, citations, institutions, and authors. However, it is necessary to strengthen cooperation among different authors, institutions, and countries to promote the production of important academic achievements. The research in the field currently focuses on nerve injury, apoptosis, and gene expression. Future research directions mainly involve molecular mechanisms, clinical trials, exosomes, and inflammatory reactions. Overall, this study comprehensively analyzes the research status and frontier of miRNAs in SCI. A systematic summary provides a complete and intuitive understanding of the relationship between SCI and miRNAs. The presented findings establish a basis for future research and clinical application in this field.

Socio-environmental Opportunities for Organic Material Management in California's Sustainability Transition.

Contemporary resource management is doubly burdened by high rates of organic material disposal in landfills, generating potent greenhouse gases (GHG), and globally degraded soils, which threaten future food security. Expansion of composting can provide a resilient alternative, by avoiding landfill GHG emissions, returning valuable nutrients to the soil to ensure continued agricultural production, and sequestering carbon while supporting local communities. Recognizing this opportunity, California has set ambitious organics diversion targets in the Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Law (SB1383) which will require significant increases (5 to 8 million tonnes per year) in organic material processing capacity. This paper develops a spatial optimization model to consider how to handle this flow of additional material while achieving myriad social and ecological benefits through compost production. We consider community-based and on-farm facilities alongside centralized, large-scale infrastructure to explore decentralized and diversified alternative futures of composting infrastructure in the state of California. We find using a diversity of facilities would provide opportunity for cost savings while achieving significant emissions reductions of approximately 3.4 ± 1 MMT CO2e and demonstrate that it is possible to incorporate community protection into compost infrastructure planning while meeting economic and environmental objectives.

Waldorf early childhood care and education in the 21st century

Many of the elements of the Waldorf approach featured 100 years ago, with the opening of the first Waldorf early childhood groups, are now supported by current evidence and research into child development. Waldorf practitioners are developing stronger and better-informed practice based on the founding principles, contemporary resources and an ever-deepening understanding of young children today. In this paper I intend to explore five of the significant themes which have received additional impetus in recent years. 1. In the Waldorf approach a foundation of social and emotional development is prioritised as a support for later cognitive development. 2. A key features of the Waldorf early childhood environment is that it is a sensorily-friendly and unhurried microcosm of everyday life. 3. Waldorf practitioners and teachers have been actively promoting for the past century the importance of building up children’s connections with nature. 4. As a result of increased academicization and the pressures of 21st century life, child-initiated, free, creative play is under threat and needs protection and support. 5. One aspect of the Waldorf approach viewed as key is that the inner development of the practitioner or teacher is just, if not more, important than their outer work. Following this review of some essential aspects of the Waldorf approach in the light of recent development, the paper concludes by looking into the future and pinpointing three aspects at the forefront of developments and research among Waldorf early childhood practitioners today.

The use of games and play activities in teaching mathematics to children

This study delved into the influence of games and playful activities in teaching mathematics to children, exploring how these pedagogical tools can enhance the learning process. The main objective was to analyze the effectiveness of using games and playful activities in mathematics education, focusing on student engagement and understanding, as well as the inclusion of students with special needs. The methodology employed was a bibliographic review, which included the analysis of studies on the application of games in mathematics teaching and the use of contemporary resources like mathematical memes. The findings revealed that games and playful activities significantly impact student engagement positively, facilitating the understanding of mathematical concepts and promoting a more dynamic and inclusive learning environment. The research also highlighted the crucial role of teachers in effectively implementing these pedagogical tools and the importance of ongoing professional development. The concluding considerations emphasize the need for more dynamic and inclusive pedagogical approaches in mathematics teaching, underscoring the significance of games and playful activities as facilitators of the learning process.

What Does it Mean to be a Silviculturist?

Abstract Silviculture has been a dynamic discipline for over a century in North America. During that time, silviculture has been closely tied with dominant trends in society, from reforestation in the early nineteenth century to incorporating climate change, invasive species, and shifts in disturbance regimes during the twenty-first century, and the discipline continues to evolve. In this evolution, there have also been shifts to the definition of silviculture, from an art to art and science to recent proposals that it is strictly a science. We offer an alternative viewpoint in support of maintaining the contemporary definition that includes both art and science, supported by the role that silviculture plays in contemporary resource management and that silviculturists play in conducting both the strategic and tactical components of forest management. Despite the desire to recast silviculture as solely science, we argue that silviculturists need to be more artistic than ever, given the current era of rapidly changing social, ecological, and economic conditions. In addition to having a firm basis in science, silviculturists must also understand and practice their very important role as the honest broker between other resource professionals and society at large in the application of management on the ground. Study Implications: Silviculture has been practiced in North America for over 100 years. It is being shaped by remarkable developments in technology, evolving suites of interested parties and landowner objectives, and considerable climatic uncertainty. Silviculturists are being tasked with interpreting and applying science to accomplish increasingly complex objectives, often with scarce resources at large spatial scales; and all of this is being done in anticipation of further change. Silviculturists understand and accept these challenges and embrace the opportunity to be active stewards of the forests of tomorrow.

Using TED Talks Videos to Improve Speaking Skills Among Secondary Students in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

This study investigates the incorporation of TED Talks videos as a pedagogical tool in secondary language instruction, with a specific emphasis on improving speaking fluency and students' attitudes toward learning. By recognizing the increasing importance of multimedia in language acquisition, the research aims to uncover the tangible benefits of integrating TED Talks videos into language lessons. Utilizing a quasi-experimental design with control and experimental groups, the study combined quantitative analysis of pre-tests and post-tests with qualitative insights gathered from a Likert questionnaire. The outcomes strongly indicated that students exposed to TED Talks videos exhibit significant advancements in their as indicated by the significant mean value of post-test scores between the experimental and control groups. Additionally, the research highlights the pivotal role of authentic materials in enhancing motivation and fostering positive learning attitudes. This research also delved into the wider implications of these findings for language instruction, underscoring the potential of multimedia resources to revolutionize conventional teaching methodologies. Beyond the classroom, the research envisions an education landscape where innovative techniques, such as the incorporation of TED Talks videos, reshape language teaching. By addressing pedagogical and motivational facets, the study advocates for contemporary resources to create engaging and effective learning experiences. The research encourages educators to explore how multimedia interacts with diverse learners and cultural contexts, ultimately promoting dynamic instructional approaches aligned with evolving educational needs.

Contemporary Resource Management: Adaptive, Innovative, Participatory, and Interactive Strategies for Dealing With Unexpected Crises

Unexpected challenges and crises can arise at any time and affect various aspects of life. Such crises require quick, appropriate and innovative responses from the parties involved. This research aims to identify and analyze the adaptive, innovative, participatory, and interactive strategies used in dealing with unexpected crises. This research uses qualitative research methods. The data collection technique was carried out by literature study obtained through Google Schoolar. The data obtained were then analyzed through three stages, namely data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. The results showed that there are several adaptive, innovative, participatory and interactive strategies that can be used to deal with unexpected crises, including forming an emergency response team consisting of various elements of the community, conducting effective communication and coordination with the community, using information technology to disseminate information and coordinate crisis management activities, developing an early warning system to anticipate the occurrence of a crisis and increasing the capacity of the community to deal with crises

Authors of misfortune: interpretation and expertise in a model disaster

AbstractSince 2001, beetles have killed two‐thirds of the pine trees in British Columbia, Canada, decimating the predominant commercial tree species in one of the world's largest timber economies. Attempts to construct and circulate computer models of the infestation and its aftermaths, however, have obscured destabilizing changes across state institutions for environmental research. Juxtaposing literary conceptualizations of distributed authorship with ethnographic critiques of technoscientific bureaucracy, this article examines how the proliferation of computer models in contemporary resource planning institutions has altered the ways experts participate in and sanction interpretive communities. The dynamic conceptualizations of authorship produced through these exchanges challenge existing portraits of anticipatory governance, an emergent mode of administration that often relies on models for procedural implementation and narrative framing even as it circumscribes modellers’ voices to specific moments of interpretation and critique. While modellers make claims on distant futures to provoke discussion among diverse actors, later interpreters may highlight a model's apparent precision or its radical uncertainties to defer criticisms of problematic interventions and government restructuring. Such modes of attribution have deepened many scientists’ sense of estrangement from the interpretive communities their models help to engender.

Avoiding the Political Resource Curse: Evidence from a Most-Likely Case

Why do some countries escape the political resource curse while others do not? Most scholars argue that avoiding the claimed anti-democratic effects of natural resources, especially oil, largely depends on the quality of pre-existing political institutions and/or the effectiveness of contemporary resource management institutions. Drawing on the most-likely case of Timor-Leste, one of the world’s most oil-dependent countries that nevertheless successfully consolidated democracy, we challenge these dominant theories and highlight new important factors to consider. We show that Timor-Leste did not avoid the curse because of good pre-existing political institutions, good natural resource governance institutions, or an otherwise favorable environment for democracy. Instead, we find that the ideological beliefs of major political actors, their strong popular legitimacy, the absence of a hegemonic actor among them, as well as the approaches of external actors, have produced a consolidated democracy despite strong incentives for the development of authoritarianism. These findings highlight the importance of ideology and agency, of the composition of independence movements, and of constructive international engagement, in particular at critical historical junctures. In short, even countries facing serious political and economic challenges can avoid the political resource curse, and both scholars and policymakers should consider a broader approach to the phenomenon.

Amplifying Voices of Resilience: A Review of Women Rising

This research article reviews the book Women Rising: In and Beyond the Arab Spring, edited by Rita Stephan and Mounira M. Charrad. The primary objective of this article is to critically examine the book, assessing its merits and demerits. Comprising forty chapters authored by diverse contributors, the book employs interviews, translated essays, visual representations, and excerpts from participatory journals to amplify the courageous voices of women across borders and throughout history. The central focus is on the agency of women in the context of the Arab Spring, emphasizing themes of resistance, revolution, and reform, while also highlighting the challenges they face, including sexual threats, body shaming, and attempts to discredit their work. Notable figures discussed include Afrah Nasser, Tawakkol Karman, and others. The book also examines significant movements and gender-based laws and policies in these regions. It employs captivating language and supports its arguments with data and citations, maintaining a page-turning pace through its diverse authorship. Women Rising explores patriarchal constructs, classism, and the role of women as active agents of change, making it a relevant and contemporary resource.

Spatial and ideological transformation of the Abbots’ Garden in Oliwa in the 18th century

Ever since the Medieval era, Cistercian monasteries have been the centres of architecture, horticulture, art and craft. Their abbeys were also distinguished by a rich theological program. Within the larger monastic complexes, the abbot occupied a representative building, surrounded by an ornamental garden. In the 15th century, the Abbot’s Palace was erected at the Abbey in Oliwa, which had been founded in 1178. The abbot’s seat was repeatedly expanded by successive abbots, including Kasper Geschkau, Dawid Konarski, Jan Grabiński, Aleksander Kęsowski, and Franciszek Zaleski. Józef Jacek Rybiński in particular made some notable achievements, including building a new Rococo palace surrounded by a Baroque garden, which was characterised by a rich program referring to Christian symbolism. After 1772, Cistercian goods and properties were confiscated by Prussia. In 1782, Prince Karl von Hohenzollern-Hechingen, and then his nephew Prince Joseph, became the new abbots. With the help of the gardener Johann Georg Saltzmann, Prince Karl enlarged the garden with a new English- Chinese section with a rich Oriental program. The article presents the history of the garden, the evolution of its ideological program and layout, the landscape values of the former monastery complex as well as its contemporary resources.

Creation Stories: What Were the First Resource Churches?

AbstractThis article builds on the first in the trilogy, ‘What’s in a Name? An Examination of Current Definitions of Resource Churches’, by evaluating narratives in current literature about the origins of resource churches. These will be assessed according to the criteria, highlighted through the perspective of Foucault and Arendt on origin stories, of believability in their depiction of historical events, application to the manifest properties of contemporary resource churches, teleological purpose, and attentiveness to conflict. The origin, or creation, stories to be examined particularly consider the formation and development of resource churches in relation to the first century and Anglo-Saxon England, as well as following the start of the parish system.

A Hybrid Approach to Measure Students’ Satisfaction on YouTube Educational Videos

Every aspect of life has undergone innovation in recent years. Information Technology has revolutionized the concept of teaching and learning. Both educators and students are now utilizing contemporary resources for learning and teaching. One of the primary sources of contemporary educational resources is educational videos posted on various channels on YouTube. This study intends to investigate the opinions voiced in YouTube comments for educational videos with the help of Sentiment Analysis. In this research, three techniques namely SentiStrength, TextBlob, and Naive Bayes Classifier were utilized to analyze the sentiments. According to the results, the majority of the remarks made about the videos have positive sentiments that concluded that students are satisfied with YouTube educational videos and consider YouTube as a beneficial learning tool.