Global Form Research Articles

Multiplicity, the corporation and human rights in global value chains

Human rights in global value chains have become a key field of study in international law and corporate governance. The analysis often starts with a gap – a ‘governance gap’ in human rights protection. This pragmatic starting point calls for pragmatic solutions: better corporate compliance and more accountability. While this goes a long way in addressing corporate misconduct, the global corporate form, its power and legitimation in transnationally generating and appropriating value tend to become naturalized phenomena. Moreover, the effects of accountability agendas on corporate power and legitimation are hardly considered. Instead, I propose to address the ‘human rights problem’ by understanding the corporation and its networks as consequences of international politics – conceptualized as inter-societal multiplicity. The multiplicity lens offers a possibility to replace the governance gap with a productive conception of inter-societal conditions and can complement the focus on accountability and compliance. I conclude the article by tentatively sketching three important consequences of such a starting point for defining the problem of human rights in global value chains: the international dimensions of the division of labour under competitive conditions, the legitimation of corporate practices and the production of knowledge for their regulation.

Alignment of Local Wisdom Values ​​with Islamic Law in the Tradition of the Peta Kapanca Ceremony

This research aimed to examine the alignment of local wisdom values ​​with Islamic law in the tradition of the Peta kapanca ceremony in the Ambalawi sub-District. This study used a descriptive qualitative type with a phenomenological and sociological approach. The data collection method used observation, interviews, documentation, and a literature study. While the data analysis technique is descriptive and qualitative by reducing data, presenting data, and drawing conclusions. The results showed that the Peta kapanca tradition at the wedding ceremony of the Bima tribal community in the Ambalawi sub-district contained local wisdom values ​​in the form of faith values, brotherhood values, mutual help values, and patient values. The values ​​of local wisdom in the Peta kapanca tradition align with Islamic law, namely, having values ​​that do not conflict with Islamic teachings. This made local wisdom in the Peta kapanca tradition and Islamic teachings valuable as instruments in developing Islamic da'wah teachings. In addition, socio-culturally as a bulwark against the modern era in the form of globalization and liberalization due to the influence of outside culture, which is starting to erode.
 
 Keywords: Local culture, Islamic law, Peta kapanca, wedding

Prevalence of Malnutrition among Patients with Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus in Tertiary Care Hospital in Pakistan

Purpose: To figure out the prevalence of malnutrition among patients with Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) in tertiary care hospital
 Methodology: The study adopted a cross-sectional study. The study took place in Endocrine and Medicine Departments of Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, Pakistan from September 2019 to March 2020. A total number of 259 patients of T2DM were screened for screened for nutritional assessment with the help of nurse and supporting staff. The data was recorded with the help of question are and Subjective Global Assessment form (SGA). The nutritional risk parameters and malnutrition status was figured out and the data collected was statistically analyzed with the help of MS Excel and SPSS 22.0.
 Findings: The results of the current findings revealed that 123 patients out of 259 were at moderate risk of malnutrition, while 136 patients were highly at malnutrition risk. Similarly, 162 patients were sorted out to have the status of moderate malnutrition while 97 patients were severely mal-nourished. Among various categories of BMI the highest frequency has been shown by Obese Class-I with highest risk malnutrition risk and severe malnourished frequency. The Correlation Coefficient R2 value of 0.923. The Chi-Square value of 187.69 and p-value (1.214e-38) nullifies the Null hypothesis.
 Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, it may be concluded that a wholesome ratio of T2DM are at nutritional risk or having the status of malnutrition in hospitalized patients. Secondly, it may also be inferred that the largest number of T2DM could be assumed at Obese Class-I of BMI distribution.

Self-Reported Mental and Physical Measures in Adult Fontan Patients.

Introduction: The Fontan procedure is a palliative operation for patients with single functional ventricles, arising from a heterogeneous group of heart defects. There is a considerable gap in evidence regarding the self-reported physical and mental health of these patients surviving to adulthood. Methods and Results: We administered the PROMIS® Global Short Form (v 1.2) to Fontan patients during their scheduled clinic visits during 2017–2018. The raw PROMIS scores were subsequently converted to standardized T-scores, where the mean performance was 50 for the general population. We used Cronbach’s alpha to assess reliability, with >0.8 considered good. A total of 42 patients were included. The median age was 30 (IQR: 24–34) years and 59% (95% CI: 43–74%) were female. The median time from birth to operation was 4.5 (IQR: 3–8) years, with 55% having an extracardiac Fontan. The questionnaire had good internal reliability with an alpha of 0.87. Seventy-one percent of respondents rated their overall health as “excellent” or “good”. The mean T-score for physical health was 46.6, lower than the age-group mean (51.6, p < 0.001). The mean T-score for mental health was 53.3, higher than the age-group mean (48.5, p < 0.001). T-scores showed strong correlation with each other (r = 0.7) and weak correlation with age and time from procedure. There was no association of T-score with diagnosis or operation type. Conclusions: Adult Fontan patients report better mental health despite worse reporting physical health compared with the age group means. Patient-reported measures can provide clinically meaningful insights about the care of patients with complex congenital heart disease.

Dismantling new and old forms of colonialism: border thinking in Latin American universities

ABSTRACT Latin American universities have been subject to old and new forms of colonialism that act concurrently. Old forms of colonialism are based on a matrix of race and labour divisions that universities have inherited, reproduced, and reinforced. New forms of colonialism are attaching to global forces that promote a world class university model based on prestige, competition and international rankings. By means of both a bibliometric and a thematic analysis, this paper examines scholarly work on colonialism and internationalisation in Latin American universities and suggests that Latin American universities have developed both local and global-oriented mechanisms so as to deal with old and new forms of colonialism. Both mechanisms take place within universities although one is oriented to local actions, while the second has a more reflective nature. It is argued that both mechanisms are part of what has been called ‘border thinking’, that is collective and contesting narratives and actions that aim to dissolve colonial forces in the periphery. Although Latin American universities have been proactive in developing concrete initiatives to cope with older local forms of colonialism, a further task remains of promoting and instituting initiatives that confront the newer and global forms of academic colonialism.

A comprehensive review of video steganalysis

Steganography is the art of secret communication and steganalysis is the art of detecting the hidden messages embedded in digital media covers. One of the covers that is gaining interest in the field is video. Presently, the global IP video traffic forms the major part of all consumer Internet traffic. It is also gaining attention in the field of digital forensics and homeland security in which threats of covert communications hold serious consequences. Thus, steganography technicians will prefer video to other types of covers like audio files, still images, or texts. Moreover, video steganography will be of more interest because it provides more concealing capacity. Contrariwise, investigation in video steganalysis methods does not seem to follow the momentum even if law enforcement agencies and governments around the world support and encourage investigation in this field. In this paper, the authors review the most important methods used so far in video steganalysis and sketch the future trends. To the best of the authors’ knowledge this is the most comprehensive review of video steganalysis produced so far.

Preoperative dysphagia risk in community-dwelling adults aged ≥50 years: Prevalence and risk factors.

Preoperative dysphagia screening is rare. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and potential risk factors of preoperative dysphagia risk in adults preparing for surgery. The Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10), Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment Short Form (PG-SGA SF), and Sarcopenia Screening Tool (SARC-F) were self-administered in adults preparing for surgery to identify dysphagia, malnutrition, and sarcopenia risk, respectively. Other variables collected include clinical demographics, fall risk, and surgical history associated with increased dysphagia risk. Descriptive summary statistics, univariate analysis, and logistic regression were performed as appropriate. The median age was 69 years and preoperative dysphagia risk was 9.6%. Among 357 patients completing both EAT-10 and PG-SGA SF or SARC-F, 7.3% had preoperative dysphagia and malnutrition risk and 7.2% had preoperative dysphagia and sarcopenia risk. Preoperative dysphagia risk was 2.7 times greater in those with prior surgical history associated with increased risk of dysphagia, 2.2 times higher in women, and almost twice as high in Black patients and patients with fall risk. Logistic regression revealed significant odds ratios (ORs) for prior surgical history associated with increased risk of dysphagia (OR, 2.95; 95% CI, 1.62-5.40) and male sex (OR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.29-0.94), and a significant relationship between preoperative dysphagia and malnutrition risk (OR, 4.56; 95% CI, 2.02-10.28) when controlling for clinical variables. The high prevalence of dysphagia risk alone and in combination with malnutrition and sarcopenia risk in community-dwelling adults underscores the need for standardized preoperative screening and optimization prior to surgery.

IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICOCHEMICAL EVALUATION AND MICROBIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS IN ARTESIAN WELLS

The use of water as a natural resource is essential for the existence of life on the planet, and a recurring theme in various spaces of discussion and investigation, due to the concern of all social spheres. Water resources and related ecosystems are related to water resources, sustainable use of water changes and climate change. A worldwide source with a view to large use, due to its global form, it is guaranteed to verify the patterns of use by the large capacity, not considering that they can be presented by the large amount of water predicted9. 2011, in addition to the ability to transmit pathogens presents in the feces. There are several methods for the analysis of bacteria of the coliform group and Escherichia coli, among them the organisms are of the Most Probable Number, in which a technical estimate is made of how many are present in the original sample. This method is done through a series of serial dilutions, using the inverted Durhan tube to analyze the presence of microorganisms and the bright green broth 2% lactose bile to confirm the presence of total and thermotolerant coliforms. After the sample sampling period, the calculation of how many microorganisms that were analyzed are present in the sample is made. The present reviews data on water use, consumption and distribution, use of the most likely number method and its application to the analysis of water from artesian wells. With an increase in the need for education and an increase in the need to increase the number of equipment, in addition to the need to increase the amount of information, and not to increase the need to increase the number of equipment needed, in addition to the need to increase the amount of information and not to increase the need to increase the number of equipment needed.

Visibility Matrix: Efficient User Interface Modelling for Low-Code Development Platforms

In this paper, we introduce the idea of the ‘visibility matrix’ for automated data entry form generation in low-code development platforms. We then focus on the problem of software development productivity in the area of automated software generation as the main factor of the Industry 4.0 concept in the area of business information. In our study, two different approaches to user interface development in a business process management low-code platform were evaluated. The first, the multi-form model, assumes that input forms are prepared separately for each user task in the business process being automated. The second approach, the single-form model, assumes that there is one global input form for every task in the business process. Since users have access to different data in different process tasks, it is necessary to prepare the visibility matrix to define which data are relevant to which tasks. The experiments presented in this paper help to answer the following question: which approach yields better results in terms of productivity, which is measured as costs and time required to prepare the application? Several dozen real business processes were analysed to examine the properties of their visibility matrix. Additionally, the real project team members were evaluated to determine their productivity. Then, the productivity parameters were calculated for real business processes and real project teams. The results show which approach is better suited for real-world business process development.

Collective Disorientation and Catastrophic Precarity in the Hypermodern Era

Abstract Who can imagine a future today? Any sense of progress, or belief in the future, appears as merely another exclusive privilege of the ultrarich. Time seems to be accelerating faster than catastrophic trajectories can be metabolized. Meanwhile, hypermodern capitalism is eroding its own conditions of possibility, intensifying historical injuries and societal fractures, and destabilizing modern assumptions regarding space, time, and security. The supposed end of history that characterized the neoliberal era has morphed into a reckoning with the end of a world—perhaps not the world as such, but the world as it is being made and unmade by the spatial, temporal, racial, linguistic, technological, and imperial drives of hypermodern capitalism, particularly its global, financialized, and algorithmic forms. Scholars of political economy have drawn attention to the fracturing of the neoliberal phase of late capitalism and its hegemonic constellation, and how this fracture has led to a moment of historical uncertainty and transition in the dynamics of power and contestation across societies. Similarly, scholars across the humanities and social sciences have highlighted the existential and political challenges presented by the Anthropocene's apocalyptic implications. This article argues that the dialectical crises of capitalism and ecology are converging in a cultural condition of collective disorientation: a return of history bereft of futurity. Through an analysis of catastrophic precarity in the hypermodern era, the article tracks collective disorientation and catastrophic precarity across four registers—accumulation, time, space, and agency—before ending with a discussion of implications of the analysis for alternative orientations.

Negotiating the Art of Protest through Craftivism

AbstractAt a time of seemingly endless political and social unrest across the globe, many are reacting strongly to injustices and oppression through protest and other forms of resistance. Key among efforts are the ways that art can be used as a form of activism as is expressed through craftivism or the merging of art and craft. Often associated with domestic and feminist materials, proponents claim that craftivism offers an alternative to more demonstrative forms of protest yet critics claim it to be a mostly white, global north form of activism that lacks inclusivity. This article explores the perspectives of university undergraduates enrolled in an introductory craftivism course to understand how their exploration of craftivism, contributed to or challenged their understanding of protest and activism. In this interpretive inquiry, the researcher examines student's written artefacts and research fieldnotes. Findings suggest that the students gained a greater understanding of their beliefs about protest and the nuances and relational intricacies associated with protest, resistance and social action. They also recognised that acts of resistance, fall along a spectrum of negotiations across varying intentions and can fall short of arresting, dismantling and eradicating injustices and if not carefully implemented can even marginalise or disregard the intentions and ideas of others.

Natural resources and national productivity in Africa: are there differences in high and low globalized economies?

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the effect of natural resources on the national productivity of high and low globalized economies in Africa.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses two-step generalized method of moments dynamic panel data of 30 African economies between 2006 and 2016 to achieve the purpose of the study.FindingsThe results suggest that natural resources promote productivity within African economies regardless of the level of globalization. However, while natural resources have an overall enhancing effect on national productivity in both high and low globalized economies, the enhancing effect varies according to the forms of globalization. The findings of this study suggest that globalization can alter the nexus between natural resources and national productivity in Africa. The results imply that African Governments and their related policymakers can rely on globalization to promote the effect of natural resources on productivity of African economies.Practical implicationsThis result is good and welcoming news, especially when natural resources in Africa have been described by prior studies as a curse to the continent. While globalization can be a tool for policymakers in Africa to deploy the positive effect of natural resources on national productivity, they might as well be careful as to which form of globalization they pursue, given that different forms and different levels or extent (high or low) of globalization yields different results on the nexus between natural resources and national productivity.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to examine how natural resources affect national productivity in high and low globalized economies, especially in Africa.

Global form of flavor symmetry groups in 4d N=2 theories of class S

We provide a systematic method to deduce the global form of flavor symmetry groups in 4d N=2 theories obtained by compactifying 6d N=(2,0) superconformal field theories (SCFTs) on a Riemann surface carrying regular punctures and possibly outer-automorphism twist lines. Apriori, this method only determines the group associated to the manifest part of the flavor symmetry algebra, but often this information is enough to determine the group associated to the full enhanced flavor symmetry algebra. Such cases include some interesting and well-studied 4d N=2 SCFTs like the Minahan-Nemeschansky theories. The symmetry groups obtained via this method match with the symmetry groups obtained using a Lagrangian description if such a description arises in some duality frame. Moreover, we check that the proposed symmetry groups are consistent with the superconformal indices available in the literature. As another application, our method finds distinct global forms of flavor symmetry group for pairs of interacting 4d N=2 SCFTs (recently pointed out in the literature) whose Coulomb branch dimensions, flavor algebras and levels coincide (along with other invariants), but nonetheless are distinct SCFTs.

The Beginning/End of Diaspora: A Kernel of Time in a Mystical Mode of Existence

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; This article considers the potential payoffs of the diasporic as an analytical category developed from Indian Ocean histories that are related to and distinct from various castings of the global. Historically tracing the Indian Ocean trajectories of a Sufi Muslim family from Hadhramawt in relation to changing terms of sovereignty from the late-eighteenth century through the interwar period, the contours and crises of a normative framework for collective and individual life are recuperated and reexamined. The history of these individuals and the theory of life they presuppose and at times explicitly predicate or oppose afford the historian a view of the diasporic as capable of materializing the simultaneity of this- and other-worldly modes of existence. The article concludes that mystical interruptions of historical time that a critical diasporic lens again makes legible as an enduring global form of life represent rarely appreciated sites of emancipation.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

Industrial and regional strategies for economic renewal

The 2007-09 global financial crisis and recession were caused by the current free-market form of globalisation. That crisis, and the subsequent decade of austerity, left society and the economy ill-equipped to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. What we need now is to abandon that ‘capitalism unleashed’ form of globalisation, and instead develop and implement industrial and regional strategies to create an alternative, socially and environmentally sustainable form of development around a global Green New Deal. Such strategies could deliver immediate benefits — and would also help create the potential for transformative change over the longer term, to create a socially and environmentally sustainable future.

Coupled effects of particle overall regularity and sliding friction on the shear behavior of uniformly graded dense sands

Particle morphology has been regarded as an important factor affecting shear behaviors of sands, and covers three important aspects, i.e. global form (overall shape), local roundness (large-scale smoothness), and surface texture (roughness) in terms of different observation scales. Shape features of different aspects can be independent of each other but might have coupled effects on the bulk behavior of sands, which has been not explored thoroughly yet. This paper presents a systematic investigation of the coupled effects of the particle overall regularity (OR) and sliding friction on the shear behavior of dense sands using three-dimensional (3D) discrete element method (DEM). The representative volume elements consisting of ideal spheres and irregular clumps of different mass proportions are prepared to conduct drained triaxial compression simulations. A well-defined shape descriptor named OR is adopted to quantify particle shape differences of numerical samples at both form and roundness aspects, and the particle sliding friction coefficient varies from 0.001 to 1 to consider the surface roughness effect equivalently in DEM. The stress-strain relationships as well as peak and critical friction angles of these assemblies are examined systematically. Moreover, contact network and anisotropic fabric characteristics within different granular assemblies are analyzed to explore the microscopic origins of the multi-scale shape-dependent shear strength. This study helps to improve the current understanding with respect to the influence of the particle shape on the shear behavior of sands from different shape aspects.

The Study of Australian Jazz and the Issue of Methodological Nationalism

The Study of Australian Jazz and the Issue of Methodological Nationalism

Exploring the quality of smoking cessation in community pharmacies: A simulated patient study.

The prevalence of cigarette smoking continues to be a major public health problem In the United Arab Emirates (UAE); the government has recently implemented policies to reduce smoking prevalence. Innovative strategies to support cessation are needed. Community pharmacies are vital venues to extend the reach and effectiveness of smoking cessation support. To evaluate the quality of community pharmacist smoking cessation counseling in the UAE. A cross-sectional, simulated patient (SP) study was conducted among N=111 urban community pharmacies selected at random in Sharjah city. Two scenarios were developed to cover different types of cessation needs of treatment-seeking smokers and where pharmacists could have a major role in assisting with smoking cessation pharmacotherapy. The quality of pharmacist counseling was defined in terms of comprehensiveness and communication skills. Two formal assessment tools were used; an analytical checklist to assess the comprehensiveness of pharmacists smoking cessation counseling, and a global assessment form to evaluate communication skills. A descriptive analysis of the data was undertaken. A total of 101 pharmacists participated in the study. Pharmacist assessment of smoking cessation-specific information and provision of counseling were minimal. Pharmacists most frequently assessed nicotine dependence and provided generic guidance on the use of nicotine replacement products (NRTs) to manage withdrawal, but they largely did not obtain relevant histories (e.g., medical/medication histories, previous quit attempts, smoking triggers), explain individualized management strategies (e.g., setting quit date, changing environment, reassurance and encouragement), or provide advice about ongoing support. Pharmacists attained low scores in verbal and nonverbal communication and were frequently unempathetic and judgmental towards female SPs. Pharmacist-led smoking cessation programs can expand primary care-based cessation opportunities in the UAE and address the demand for cessation services. Pharmacists will benefit from additional training on the provision of smoking cessation interventions, with an emphasis on patient-centered communication skills.

The role of color contrast gain control in global form perception.

A Glass pattern consists of randomly distributed dot pairs, or dipoles, whose orientation is determined by a geometric transform, which defines the global percept perceived by an observer. The perception of Glass patterns involves a local process that associates dot pairs into dipoles and a global process that groups the dipoles into a global structure. In the present study, we used a variant of Glass patterns, which was composed of randomly distributed tripoles instead of dipoles, to estimate the influence of color contrast on perceptual grouping. Each tripole contained an anchor dot and two context dots. Grouping the anchor dot with one of the context dots resulted in a global percept of a clockwise spiral, while grouping with the other dot, a counter-clockwise spiral. All dots in each pattern were modulated in the same color direction but different contrasts. Four colors were involved, namely, red, green, blue, and yellow. The observers were to determine whether the spiral in each trial was clockwise or counter-clockwise. The probability of a context dot being grouped with the anchoring dot increased with its color contrast to a certain level, then decreased when the contrast continued to increase. Such probability decreased as the contrast of the other context dot increased. Our result cannot be explained by existing models in the literature, but with a divisive inhibition model. The equiluminance contrast result observed here is similar to the inverted U-shaped function for luminance contrast result previously reported by us, except that the color contrast model comprises a weaker self-inhibition component.

NSCGRN: a network structure control method for gene regulatory network inference.

Accurate inference of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) is an essential premise for understanding pathogenesis and curing diseases. Various computational methods have been developed for GRN inference, but the identification of redundant regulation remains a challenge faced by researchers. Although combining global and local topology can identify and reduce redundant regulations, the topologies' specific forms and cooperation modes are unclear and real regulations may be sacrificed. Here, we propose a network structure control method [network-structure-controlling-based GRN inference method (NSCGRN)] that stipulates the global and local topology's specific forms and cooperation mode. The method is carried out in a cooperative mode of 'global topology dominates and local topology refines'. Global topology requires layering and sparseness of the network, and local topology requires consistency of the subgraph association pattern with the network motifs (fan-in, fan-out, cascade and feedforward loop). Specifically, an ordered gene list is obtained by network topology centrality sorting. A Bernaola-Galvan mutation detection algorithm applied to the list gives the hierarchy of GRNs to control the upstream and downstream regulations within the global scope. Finally, four network motifs are integrated into the hierarchy to optimize local complex regulations and form a cooperative mode where global and local topologies play the dominant and refined roles, respectively. NSCGRN is compared with state-of-the-art methods on three different datasets (six networks in total), and it achieves the highest F1 and Matthews correlation coefficient. Experimental results show its unique advantages in GRN inference.