Country Of Origin Research Articles

Advances and trends in research on mathematical working spaces: A systematic review

This study addresses the research developed around the theory of mathematical working spaces (MWS). To this end, factors such as researchers’ country of origin are considered, as well as methodological characteristics, proposed objectives in each study, specific theoretical factors, and the links between MWS and other theoretical perspectives. This systematic review follows the guidelines stated by reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses for documenting each stage of the review. In total, 102 studies were considered from databases including Dialnet, SciElo, Scopus, and Web of Science. The results help to illustrate research trends in MWS theory, as well as the possibility of fertile ideas for new studies and future lines of research for those interested in this theoretical approach.

Re-imagining African millennials’ brand buying and distribution channel selection behaviour in a technologically disrupted world

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the factors that influence millennial purchase behaviour, brand choice and distribution channel selection in an evolving technology-driven environment. Design/methodology/approach The study was exploratory, using qualitative methods of personal interviews and some ethnographic observations to collect data from 585 millennials from ten cities in nine African countries. Findings Findings from the study confirm and support the critical role of e-commerce in facilitating millennials engagement with brands, highlighting how brand purchases are integral to their lifestyle choices. There is an overwhelming confirmation of the importance of influencer marketing and social media in shaping purchase decisions, with new insights into the role of local micro-influencers and social networks. The findings from the study highlight the pivotal role of a brand’s country of origin in influencing millennials’ brand preferences. The study supports and advances insights into the importance of online shopping and diverse factors influencing millennials’ selection of distribution channels. Practical implications There is an opportunity to leverage the growing mobile telephone penetration and social media usage to develop innovative integrated marketing communications strategies. There are opportunities for co-creating marketing communication campaigns with millennials in different settings. These are outlined in the practical implications section. Originality/value The paper is based on original empirical data collected from ten countries and explores the behaviour of a growing but under-researched segment of millennials in Africa.

Playing Kioku Reduces Loneliness in Older Adults: A Pilot Study.

Introduction: Playing together increases social connectedness, and it may be a tool to reduce loneliness. Research into the mental health benefits of board games is underdeveloped. Objectives: The study aims to examine the effects of the Kioku board game on well-being outcomes. The Kioku board game was developed in order to enable small group interactions with a focus on encouraging participants to create stories through mutual attention and interaction. We hypothesized that following a weekly intervention for 12 weeks, players would report a decrease in loneliness and an increase in well-being, compared with nonplayers. Methods: During the summer of 2022, participants in groups of 4-5 players, chose a cube word and narrated a story. A sample of 151 older adults (Mean age = 75.05 ± 6.46 years) recruited from seven community activity centers in Israel was assigned by block randomization to an intervention (n = 72) or a control group (n = 79), awaiting 4-6 weeks for future participation. Loneliness (UCLA loneliness scale) and well-being (World Health Organization 5-item scale) were evaluated at baseline and at 12 weeks. Results: A two-way repeated measures analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) (Group × Time) controlling for age, country of origin, and marital status revealed significant interaction effects for loneliness [F(1, 146) = 178.04, n2 = 0.549, P < 0.001] and well-being [F(1, 146) = 69.14, n2 = 0.321, P < 0.001]. Loneliness decreased in the intervention group (mean difference: 0.62 points, P < 0.001), and increased in the control group (mean difference: 0.18 points, P = 0.001). Well-being increased in the intervention group (mean difference: 0.79 points, P < 0.001) and decreased in the control group (mean difference: 0.20 points, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Our findings support the effectiveness of the Kioku board game intervention for decreasing loneliness and promoting well-being in older adults, who might still be coping with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Country-of-Origin Effect in the Marketing of Sports Shoes among University Students

The aim of this study is to examine the Country-of-Origin (COO) effect in the marketing of sports shoes among university students. 156 university students were randomly distributed into three groups and exposed to a fictitious sports shoes’ advertisement. COO information was not provided in the Control Group (n = 53). The experimental groups were provided information on COO from either a country with high COO scores (n=50) or low COO scores (n=53). A one-way ANCOVA found that there was a significant difference in Perception of Quality of the sports shoes between groups, F(2,152) = 2.98, p &lt;.10 with respondents exposed to the advertisement featuring a country with high COO scores reporting the highest level of perceived quality. However, there was no significant difference across the groups for purchase intention. This suggests that COO effect exists for perception of quality but does not translate to purchase intention. Keywords: perception of quality, purchase intention, advertising, sports, footwear

Constructive Refoulement as Disguised Voluntary Return: The Internalised Externalisation of Migrants

AbstractThis paper purports to extend the concept of constructive refoulement in the context of externalised migration policies. This concept has been recognised in jurisprudence at the domestic, regional and international levels, and has developed through State practice as well as the practice of regional and international organisations. In the externalisation of migration policies, constructive refoulement becomes evident in both visible and invisible prisons: the United States-Mexico partnership in the Southern Border Programme creates a situation where asylum seekers eventually abandon the hope of continuing their asylum procedures and reluctantly return to other places. The Australian offshore asylum processing system, which has been remodelled by the UK, adopts the kyriarchical system where asylum seekers themselves control their self-return to their country of origin as a result of a combined situation of severe discipline and hatred between officials and inmates as well as between the inmates themselves. Meanwhile, the EU’s Reception Conditions Directive scheme incorporates migrants in a planned destitution scenario where they are forced to choose to leave Europe due to poor socio-economic conditions. The Japanese combination of karihomen and kanrisochi also creates a planned destitute environment which compels asylum seekers themselves to seek their return by depriving them of their basic needs. Such governmentality of internalising externalisation by the Global North must be critically assessed in terms of the developing concept of constructive refoulement implied under international refugee and human rights law.

Between meeting quotas and following the duty-bound heart: navigating the formidable dilemma of refugee protection in the EU

The provision of refuge to those fleeing persecution and danger is a complex matter that cannot be reduced to simply meeting admission quotas. While numerical targets for refugee admissions may seem like a straightforward way to ensure states are doing their fair share, an overemphasis on numbers risks obscuring the deeper moral issues at play. A truly robust approach to refugee protection requires that states act from the right kinds of reasons - a genuine commitment to the duty to provide safe haven to all refugees, regardless of their country of origin or the political expediency of admitting them. The worry is that if a state’s willingness to accept refugees fluctuates based on domestic political preferences and perceptions of national interest, rather than an unwavering recognition of the moral claims of the forcibly displaced, then the protection provided to refugees becomes contingent and precarious. A disposition to selectively protect only certain refugees undermines the very concept of refuge. However, in our non-ideal world, a commitment to the principle of robust refugee protection can run up against the hard reality of state non-compliance. If the only way to get some states to fulfil their duties is to allow them leeway in choosing which refugees to admit, we face a serious moral dilemma. Relaxing the demands of robustness may enable larger raw numbers of people to access refuge in the near term. However, it also risks eroding the norm of impartial consideration and creating a two-tier system of refugee protection. Ultimately, I argue, the dilemma between refugee numbers and robustness has no fully satisfying solution - it is an unavoidable product of our current circumstances of injustice and non-compliance. The best we can do is seek arrangements that ease this tension over time. This requires taking a nuanced, context-sensitive approach attuned to real-world constraints and trade-offs while still keeping sight of the moral lodestar of genuinely unconditional refuge for all who need it.

Friendly advice: socializing shaming in the committee against torture

ABSTRACT This article examines whether the relationship between the members of the United Nations’ Treaty Bodies’ (TB) home countries and the countries reviewed by these bodies is significant to the amount and style of criticism the reviewed country receives. This article explains why the source–target relationship is significant to shaming. It defines two shaming styles – Socializing shaming and Disciplining shaming and defines elements that enable the identification of shaming styles. Utilizing data on CAT shaming from 2001 to 2022 and on TB members’ country of origin it shows through regression analysis that the existence of a trade partnership between TB members’ home countries and reviewed countries results in more criticism. This article qualitatively identifies elements of Socializing versus Disciplining shaming in the communications with countries that are trade partners of the TB members’ home countries. It finds that Socializing shaming elements are more prevalent. This article draws theoretical, empirical and policy conclusions.

A Good Signal: How Firms Can Utilize Country of Origin as a Strategic Analytical Tool

Abundant consumer data has made decision-making more complicated, rather than simple, for marketers. This raises an important question about which variables in the data contain reliable information for retailers to predict future consumer purchase value (CPV) to guide strategic decisions. The authors address this question by exploring the variables “distinctive choice of brand country of origin” (DBCOO) and “country of origin diversity” (COO diversity) as analytical tools to extract insights from consumer purchase data. Building on signaling theory, the authors theorize and empirically test that DBCOO and COO diversity in a consumer's purchase history can signal, and therefore help predict, CPV. Moreover, the authors explore high-involvement product categories and purchase frequency as boundary conditions to develop a comprehensive framework of COO signals as strategic analytical tools. They find that DBCOO in a consumer's purchase history indeed increases CPV and that this relationship is enhanced for high-involvement product categories but moderated curvilinearly by purchase frequency. Moreover, they find that the COO diversity–CPV link is positive but interacts negatively with both moderators. This allows retailers to successfully distinguish high- from low-CPV consumers and thus enables them to manage the marketing mix and resources more effectively.

Cinematic hometactics: negotiating belonging in first-person documentary

ABSTRACT This article approaches first-person filmmaking as a potential home-making practice – a hometactic – that can actively negotiate reality to set forth new modes of belonging. With a focus on negotiating belonging in the context of migration, I turn to Four Journeys (Louis Hothothot, 2022) as a case study, a first-person documentary that explores the relationship between suppressed memories of violence and lived experience of in-betweenness by tracing four separate journeys between China, Hothothot’s country of origin, and the Netherlands, his country of residence. My analysis of Four Journeys’s home-making efforts as permeated by a praxis of care needed to enact a sustainable mode of belonging in the aftermath of migration is combined with insights from an interview between the filmmaker and the author. On the basis of the case study, the article proposes and elaborates on three forms of home-making practices in relation to cinema: hometactics in film (the documentation of home-making in the film), camera as a hometactic (the act of filmmaking as a home-making process), and cinematic hometactics (the cinematic enactments of home). While this three-part analytic differentiation serves to unpack the diverse forms of cinema and/as hometactics, the article also addresses their overlap.

Prevalence Rates of Tuberculosis, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and Hepatitis B and C among Migrant Workers in Jordan

Abstract Introduction: Migration across national borders is an influential factor of consideration in the control of infectious diseases. Therefore, including migrants in surveillance and screening programs as well as linkage to care is mandatory to meet the public health targets of countries and regions. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of tuberculosis (TB), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV) among migrant workers applying for work permits in Jordan during the period 2018–2020. The findings of this study are expected to guide health policy to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in Jordan. Methods: During the period 2018–2020, 439,622 migrant workers underwent routine testing for TB, HIV, and hepatitis B and C. Demographic, laboratory, and clinical data for those migrants were retrieved from the Directorate of Chest Diseases and Immigrants Health records. The overall prevalence of the mentioned diseases as well as by subgroups was calculated. Results: The prevalence rates of TB and HIV among migrants were 54 per 100,000 migrants (11 per 100,000 male migrants and 138 per 100,000 female migrants, P &lt; 0.001) and 21 per 100,000 (11 per 100,000 male migrants and 41 per 100,000 female migrants, P &lt; 0.001), respectively. The prevalence of hepatitis B was 10 per 1000 migrants (12 per 1000 male migrants and 7 per 1000 female migrants, P &lt; 0.001) and the prevalence of hepatitis C was 37 per 1000 (51 per 1000 male migrants and 10 per 1000 female migrants, P &lt; 0.001). The prevalence of all studied conditions varied significantly according to gender, age, occupation, and country of origin. Conclusions: The prevalence rates of TB, HIV, HBV, and HCV were generally higher among migrants than Jordanians. Evidence-based health policies need to be drafted that aim to address migrant workers health care to ensure the lowest possible risk from infectious diseases to the people of Jordan is maintained. The study findings can inform the formulation of immigration and public health policies, including screening requirements for migrant workers, health insurance provisions, labor regulations, and support services for those with these conditions.

Early action in the asylum support sector: a scoping review

People seeking asylum often have a range of complex social, emotional and economic needs that may be exacerbated by the hostile reception that they often receive. These needs and the stress of navigating asylum systems leave asylum seekers vulnerable to crisis, with refused asylum seekers particularly vulnerable. Even after receiving settled status of some form, barriers to accessing employment or housing and other services remain, as do the impacts of trauma, abuse, and loss sustained in the country of origin, during flight, or during the wait to receive settled status, again leaving refugees vulnerable to crisis. Early action can both have benefits for the individual asylum seeker and reduce the need for costly crisis interventions. This scoping review explores best practice in early action in the voluntary sector, while identifying gaps in the evidence base.

Sub-Saharan Irregular Migrant Women’s Sexuality: A Qualitative Study in Humanitarian Reception Centers

Irregular female migration to Europe is a growing phenomenon, as more and more women are fleeing their countries of origin due to gender inequality and violence. During the migration process, women experience physical, psychological and social problems that affect their sex lives. The aim of our study is to describe and understand how irregular migrant women living in humanitarian reception centers experience their sexuality at different stages of the migration process. This qualitative phenomenological study collected data through sixteen in-depth interviews with irregular migrant women between January and February 2023. Data analysis was carried out using ATLAS-ti 23.0 software, from which three themes were extracted: (1) The reality of sub-Saharan women’s sexuality, (2) In search of a better life: the choice between taking the risk or surrendering, and (3) The sexual revolution among migrants. Sub-Saharan women’s sexuality is subject to a complex normative order. The migratory process has severe consequences on migrant women’s sex life. The sexual needs of irregular migrant women admitted to humanitarian reception centers undergo a process of change that must be understood by healthcare providers in order to make improvements to care provision.

#2979 Patients referred to nephrology consultation from African countries of Portuguese official language: a Portuguese single-center cohort study

Abstract Background and Aims Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a main cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with African population being at increased risk. Nevertheless, access to treatment for CKD is restricted in African countries resulting in premature death. The latest statistics point to an annual referral to Portugal of around 900 patients from those countries for medical reasons—of which only 5% corresponds to Nephrology referrals. However, this protocol is burdened with high social and economic impact, consuming 50% of the funds budgeted by the Portuguese government (estimated at 3 million euros annually). The aim of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics, reasons for the referral and outcomes of patients from African Countries of Portuguese Official Language (ACPOL) to a nephrology consultation in a tertiary hospital in Portugal under a cooperation protocol. Method Single-center retrospective analysis of 131 African patients referred to our nephrology department between 2014 and 2023. Results Only 84 patients (64%) ended up being evacuated from their country of origin and attended the nephrology consultation in Portugal. The mean age was 46 ± 14 years and 55% were male. Thirty-two patients were from Guinea-Bissau (38%), 24 from São Tomé and Príncipe (29%), 22 from Cape Verde (26%), and 6 from Angola (7%). The motives for referral to a tertiary center were advanced CKD in 58 patients (69%), nephrotic syndrome in 21 patients (25%), and hemodialysis (HD) vascular access dysfunction in 5 of the cases (6%). In the group of patients referred with advanced CKD the mean eGFR was 16 ± 10 ml/min, all patients had hypertension, 20% had diabetes and 9% presented heart failure. More than half (56%) needed hospitalization with urgent need of dialysis and all patients started HD with a central venous catheter. During the follow-up, four patients died (5%), two patients (2.3%) transitioned to peritoneal dialysis and 70% were on kidney transplant waiting list. Patients referred with nephrotic syndrome had a mean eGFR of 71 ± 49 ml/min/1,73 m2 and a median urine albumin/creatinine ratio (uACR) of 6.9 [IQR 4.7-8.8] g/g. Kidney biopsy was performed in 90% of the cases, with membranous nephropathy (37.5%) and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (25%) being the two most frequent diagnosis. Only two patients returned to their origin country; the remaining prolonged their stay due to unavailability of resources for appropriate treatment in their country of origin. Conclusion These data emphasize the inequality in access to healthcare in African countries and highlights the urgent need for investment, especially in CKD, as it contributes to serious consequences in these patients’ survival and morbidity. With the cooperation protocol, Portugal provides the possibility for these patients to be evacuated and treated in specialized nephrology departments, improving their outcomes. However, our study shows that there is still a lot to be done since just over 60% of referred patients manage to reach Portugal. The entire evacuation process remains extremely delayed, a fact shown by the need for patients to start urgent HD and that more than half of them require hospitalization upon arrival at the nephrology department, with a high economic burden.

United States Migration, case of the Mixteca of Oaxaca

This article presents a bibliographic review research, analyzed qualitatively on the indigenous migration of the Mixtec people of Oaxaca and their main destination to the United States of America. The migration of the Mixtec of Oaxaca is a phenomenon that transcends cultural, economic and social borders, and its impact on the countriesof origin and destination, the theoretical work focuses on the Mixtec region of Oaxaca and the impact it has on the indigenous language Mixtec of that region.

Organic residue analysis in Latin American archaeology: Past, present, and future perspectives

AbstractOrganic residue analysis (ORA) studies residual anthropogenic organic molecules within archaeological matrices, offering valuable insights into various research inquiries. Despite the development of ORA in Latin America, its significance remains largely unrecognised and underrepresented. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the evolution, status, and prospects of ORA in Latin America. To achieve this, we conducted a thorough bibliographic survey and analysed contributions related to topics such as foodways, psychoactive consumption, the utilisation of paints, dyes, adhesives, binders, activity areas, and residue radiocarbon dating. We examine the geographical distribution of the studies, the flow between countries of sample origin and destination for ORA, and the chronological development in publications. We address challenges encountered in the production of ORA data in Latin America and emphasise the need for multiproxy and multi‐analytical approaches to characterise and identify robust biomarker sets to investigate the use and circulation of local commodities.

Maritime Sar Systems in the EU: Convergence and Co-optation into the Anti-Immigration Border

ABSTRACT Research focusing on maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) operations in contexts of migration typically focuses on single-country studies, rarely engaging with the development of regional trends. This paper centers on five maritime areas along the southern EU border (Eastern Mediterranean, Central Mediterranean, Western Mediterranean, Canary Islands) and the Dover Strait to examine the transformation of maritime SAR in Europe over the last decade. Our analysis draws from secondary sources to understand trends in these five major sea routes to and out of the EU. We conclude that ways of doing maritime SAR in the region are converging and that the emerging approach to maritime SAR is defined by its co-optation into the anti-immigration border apparatus, its militarization and the externalization of SAR responsibilities to countries of origin and transit. This convergence of SAR policy is evident yet still incomplete and fragmented, with each country exhibiting distinct institutional arrangements.

Dental service use among adults with incident type 2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis or inflammatory bowel disease.

It is not clear if or how the incidence of systemic conditions like type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affects dental service utilization. Using nationwide Danish register data, the aim of this study was to analyse the use of dental services 7 years before and after being diagnosed with DM2, RA or IBD between 1997 and 2011. Information about incident DM2 was obtained from the National Diabetes Register, and incident RA and IBD were defined based on diagnosis codes of hospital contacts identified through the National Patient Register. Separately, for each of the three conditions, each individual with the incident condition was matched to one control individual based on age, gender, country of origin, municipality of residence, highest completed education, the main source of income and income using coarsened exact matching in the year of incidence. The use of dental services and treatments received within each calendar year from 7 years before to 7 years after getting the condition were analysed with generalized estimating equations. People with incident DM2 were less likely (by seven percentage points) to be dental service users within a year than people without incident DM2 for a period extending from up to 7 years prior to 7 years after the diagnosis. This difference even slightly increased after the diagnosis. Those with incident IBD exhibited a consistently but modestly higher proportion of dental service use (three percentage points) than those without incident IBD before and after the diagnosis. Differences in the use of services between those with or without incident RA were minor. For all three systemic diseases, detected differences mainly mirrored differences in the provision of supragingival scaling and restorative treatment. The findings suggest that the impact of these three systemic conditions on dental service use was minor.

The external dimension of Italian migration policy in the wider Mediterranean

ABSTRACT This article provides the first systematic and comprehensive analysis of the external dimension of Italy’s migration policy (EXMIPO) in the broader Mediterranean, over the past three decades. Building on an original dataset spanning over 30 years and 125 instruments, it investigates how and to what extent Italy cooperated with countries of origin and transit in the management of migration flows. The article argues that the external dimension of Italy’s migration policy is far richer than initially expected. From the immediate neighbourhood, Italy’s EXMIPO has gradually extended well beyond its geographical borders. If initially, it relied on a strategy of issue-linkage between quotas and return agreements, this gradually faded away in favour of more informal tools. While governments’ political ideology did not play a key role in defining the direction of Italy’s EXMIPO tools, we find that the evolving dynamics of migratory flows, and the pursuit of flexible tools to promptly address rising numbers, were crucial aspects behind the country’s external migration policy.

International Student Mobility in the Context of Migration and Development

The impact of international student mobility on the development in countries of origin is an under-researched topic in migration studies. In a global knowledge economy, immigration countries in the Global North perceive international students almost exclusively as ideal immigrants who are (mostly) young, flexible, and highly skilled when they enter the labour market after graduation. However, international students can play an important role for their countries of origin. For instance, our own research on international students and alumni from selected countries in the Global South (Colombia, Georgia, Ghana, and Indonesia) studying in Germany and the United States shows that they transfer development-related knowhow back to their country of origin by doing diverse activities in leading positions. They do that through return migration as well as by remaining in the country of graduation (by creating transnational social networks from abroad) and through circular mobility. However, these processes need more institutional support. Therefore, international student mobility should be an integral part of global migration governance, where scholarships for students from poor countries are the key drivers for international mobility. These considerations can stimulate the broader discussion about international migration and development.

Latest Open Doors report examines trends in international student enrollment

The Institute of International Education, in collaboration with the U.S. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, has been gathering data and publishing statistics since 1948 on the number of international students enrolling in American colleges and universities, their countries of origin, and the number of American students studying abroad. This is a definitive survey of international and U.S. higher education student mobility.