Geographically Located Research Articles

The Implementation of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) Approach in Efl Classes; A Case Study on The Border Of Indonesia – Malaysia

The position of English in Indonesia as a foreign language requires teachers to be more creative in using the right approach in teaching EFL classes. One approach teachers widely apply is the CTL approach because it is considered by them to combine the four skills in English, namely listening, speaking, and reading. and writing. However, the application of the CLT approach depends more or less on the character of the class being taught and is influenced by several factors, including the geographical location of an area where Sebatik Island is geographically located on the border of Indonesia and Malaysia. It makes the application of the CLT approach may be different from other areas find borders with other countries. This research aims to qualitatively describe the implementation of the CLT approach in the classroom by English teachers on Sebatik Island and the challenges they face in implementing it. The research method used is descriptive qualitative with a case study approach. Data collection methods were collected through observation, interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGD), and triangulation involving four respondents from several junior high schools on Sebatik Island. The data collected was then analyzed using the Miles and Huberman interactive analysis model consisting of three activity streams that co-occurred: data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion. From the data analysis using the model, the geographical location of Sebatik Island, which directly borders Malaysia, positively contributes to students' communication skills. However, the implementation of the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach by teachers on Sebatik Island is not free from several challenges, namely the lack of understanding among some teachers regarding the importance of this approach in learning English, the provision of supporting facilities, support from various parties including school principals and Government Agencies Education, as well as the political dynamics in the regions, which tend to be unproductive in developing teacher competency.

ASIA-PACIFIC FREE TRADE AGREEMENT, REGIONAL ECONOMIC INTEGRATION AND MONGOLIA

Mongolia is believed to have great potential for simultaneous integration in many fields. Our natural resources and geographical location, such as having only two neighbours, being in the middle of two large markets, and having no direct border with a third neighbour and landlocked situation, can be considered an opportunity. Mongolia's economy needs an easily accessible market to process and sell its natural resources, which are considered crucial in the near future. Interest in purchasing Mongolia's raw material wealth is not limited to the US and the EU. The most interesting sales market is that in the coming years, economic development growth will be higher than that of the USA and the EU. For us, Japan, South Korea, and ASEAN countries, which are close by road and can be reached just around our "nose fence", and especially is a region that includes China. Another aspect is that Mongolia is geographically located in the centre of Northeast Asia, i.e. in the heart of it, which not only separates Russia's raw material and energy markets from China's production (China is now Russia's largest trade partner and (which is changing) is also geographically positioned as a bridge between China's industrialised northeastern provinces and the relatively less developed northwestern provinces. Of course, at the moment, Mongolia lacks the necessary funds to modernise and expand transportation and energy infrastructure. However, in the end, it leads to the conclusion that only regional integration will create significant real economic and political opportunities in the future of Mongolia.

The Global North-Global South Relations and their reflection on the World Politics and International Economy

The concept of Global North and Global South (or North-South relations in a global context) is used to analyze a grouping of states along with socio-economic development and political parameters. The Global South represents a term frequently used to identify the regions of Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. It is one of a family of names, including “Third World” and “Periphery”, that determine territories outside Europe and North America, in most cases (though not all) low-income and often politically or culturally marginalized countries on one side of the so-called divide, the other side being the countries of the Global North (often equated with developed countries). As such, the term does not inherently refer to geographical south; for example, most of the Global South is geographically located within the Northern Hemisphere, and on the contrary, some countries from the Global North – particularly Australia, New Zealand, and the South African Republic are located in the Sothern Hemisphere. The determination as used by governmental and developmental institutions was first introduced as relatively open and value-free alternative to “Third World” and similarly, potentially “valuing” terms like developing countries. The States of the Global South have been described as newly industrialized or in the process of industrializing, and most of them appeared on the world political map as independent states as a result of the process of decolonization, which occured during the cold war period in the second half of the XX Century.In its turn, Global North correlates with the Western world—excluding Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Israel (among others)—while the South is largely associated with the developing countries (previously called «Third World”) and the Eastern world. The two groups are often defined in terms of their differing levels of wealth, economic development, income inequality, democracy, political and economic freedom, as defined by freedom indices. Countries, that are generally considered as part of the Global North tend to be wealthier and less unequal; they have developed states, with strong democratic institutes, which export technologically advanced manufactured products and where the biggest part of the economically active population is employed in the service sector. Southern states are generally law-income developing countries with younger, more fragile democracies heavily dependent on primary sector exports and generally, they share a history of colonialism imposed on them by Northern states. In most of those countries, the biggest part of the economically active population is involved in the sector of agriculture. Nevertheless, the divide between the North and the South is at times challenged.
 Based on the socio-economic parameters, as of the two decades of the 21st century, the share of the North—with one-quarter of the world population— comes four-fifths of the income earned anywhere in the world. 90% of the manufacturing industries are owned by the companies that are located in the North. Inversely, the South—with three-quarters of the world population—has access to one-fifth of the world’s income. As nations become economically developed, most probably they will be associated with the concept of “North”, regardless of geographical location; similarly, nations that do not qualify for “developed” status are in effect deemed to be part of the “South”.

МЕТОДИЧНИЙ ПІДХІД ДО КОМПЛЕКСНОЇ ОЦІНКИ РОЗВИТКУ ІНВЕСТИЦІЙНОГО ПОТЕНЦІАЛУ ІНДУСТРІЇ ТУРИЗМУ

The relevance of the topic lies in the existence of an urgent need for scientific improvements and taking into account the conditions of conflict and post-conflict recovery of the tourism economy based on the analysis of investment potential. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the introduction of a methodical approach to the comprehensive assessment of the development of the investment potential of the tourism industry on the basis of the sustainable and purposeful application of budget stimulation tools. Research methods: descriptive, analytical, weighted assessments, rating ranking, forecasting, integral indices, scenarios, generalization. The functional structure of the tourism industry is presented. The system of synthetic indicators of the development of the investment potential of the tourism industry by the level of targeted use of budgetary stimulation tools is summarized. It is proposed to carry out an assessment of the development of the investment potential of the tourism industry by stages, taking into account the peculiarities of business in the regions of the country. A methodical approach to the assessment of the development of the investment potential of the country's tourism industry based on the level of targeted use of budget incentives has been developed, which is based on basic methodological principles that are extended from the approach of individual assessment of synthetic indicators and have a significant impact on the level of development of the investment potential of the tourism industry in the regions of the country. The calculation apparatus for the application of the methodical approach is grouped. The distribution of tourist sub-complexes in the regions of Ukraine in different geographically located territories according to the quantitative value of budgetary stimulation of investments in the material and technical support of the subjects of the tourism industry is presented. Hierarchical clustering of tourism sub-complexes of Ukraine was visualized and the ranking of the parameters of development of the investment potential of the tourism industry of Ukraine according to the quantitative criteria of budgetary stimulation of investments in the material and technical support of tourist sub-complexes in different territories of their geographical location was carried out.

Design and Build Online Job Vacancy Application in Labuhanbatu Regency

Labuhanbatu is a regency in North Sumatra Province which is geographically located on the main route of the east coast of Sumatra. Due to its geographical location, this district has an increasing population. Employment problems in Labuhanbatu Regency which are estimated to be increasingly complex, not to mention driven by the increase in the Open Unemployment Rate (TPT) in Labuhanbatu Regency, encourage the local government to expand and develop employment opportunities. However, Labuhanbatu Regency does not yet have a job vacancy information system that can be accessed by job seekers and companies. Online job vacancy information is a solution in providing information that has a very significant impact in saving time and costs compared to job vacancies in print media. The online job vacancy portal has succeeded in filling the vacancy for job vacancies. This study aims to design and build an online job vacancy application in Labuhanbatu Regency. The system development method used is the waterfall model, while the programming language used is PHP and MySQL DBMS. After designing and implementing the system, it was found that the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) method with the waterfall model could be applied to build an online job vacancy application in Labuhanbatu Regency. It is hoped that this online job vacancy application can make it easier for job seekers in Labuhanbatu to receive job vacancies information so that the unemployment rate in Labuhanbatu Regency can be suppressed.

The Genetic Origin of Daunians and the Pan-Mediterranean Southern Italian Iron Age Context.

The geographical location and shape of Apulia, a narrow land stretching out in the sea at the South of Italy, made this region a Mediterranean crossroads connecting Western Europe and the Balkans. Such movements culminated at the beginning of the Iron Age with the Iapygian civilization which consisted of three cultures: Peucetians, Messapians, and Daunians. Among them, the Daunians left a peculiar cultural heritage, with one-of-a-kind stelae and pottery, but, despite the extensive archaeological literature, their origin has been lost to time. In order to shed light on this and to provide a genetic picture of Iron Age Southern Italy, we collected and sequenced human remains from three archaeological sites geographically located in Northern Apulia (the area historically inhabited by Daunians) and radiocarbon dated between 1157 and 275 calBCE. We find that Iron Age Apulian samples are still distant from the genetic variability of modern-day Apulians, they show a degree of genetic heterogeneity comparable with the cosmopolitan Republican and Imperial Roman civilization, even though a few kilometers and centuries separate them, and they are well inserted into the Iron Age Pan-Mediterranean genetic landscape. Our study provides for the first time a window on the genetic make-up of pre-Roman Apulia, whose increasing connectivity within the Mediterranean landscape, would have contributed to laying the foundation for modern genetic variability. In this light, the genetic profile of Daunians may be compatible with an at least partial autochthonous origin, with plausible contributions from the Balkan peninsula.

Geopolitical Status of Ukraine: Historiography and Methodological Discourse

The issue of Ukraine’s geopolitical status through the prism of historiography and methodological discourse of domestic and foreign scholars is revealed. It is established that in the vast majority of scientific works the geopolitical status of Ukraine is defined as extremely low with a further tendency to deteriorate. It is found out that the decline of Ukraine’s geopolitical status in the international arena began immediately after it acquired non-nuclear status under pressure from Russia and the United States. In the end, the “cassette” and “Kolchuga” scandals caused only a deterioration of both the international image and the geopolitical status of Ukraine. According to the works of leading Ukrainian scholars, the crisis of foreign policy and the decline of geopolitical status of the state were also caused by internal factors. These included the demographic crisis, large-scale corruption and falling GDP, which in turn led to an increase in Ukraine’s negative trade balance.
 A significant number of scholars link the weakness of Ukraine’s geopolitical status with its complicated geographical location. Thus, we can agree with the most authors that Ukraine is geographically located between the West and the East, as well as at the intersection of strategic interests of three civilizations: Euro-Atlantic, Eurasian and Islamic. It is this factor, along with Ukraine’s internal problems, that determines the peripherality of Ukraine’s geopolitical position as that of a buffer state. In order to finally transform Ukraine into a “gray” security zone and prevent its rapprochement with the EU and NATO, Russia launched a hybrid war in 2014, as a result of which it annexed Crimea and caused an armed conflict in Donbas. Such actions of Russia led to further weakening of the geopolitical status of Ukraine and its final transformation into an object of policy of powerful international players. In the current circumstances and forecasts, we increasingly share the idea of intensifying the Euro-Atlantic vector of Ukraine’s foreign policy and establishing a strategic security dialogue to strengthen relations with Eastern European neighbors in the framework of the possible implementation of the Baltic-Black Sea project.

Studi Komparasi Kebertahanan Kota Pasca Bencana Alam

<p class="Abstract"><em>Many cities in the world are geographically located in areas prone to natural disasters. This research is a comparative study that aims to compare the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of these cities in the process towards a resilient city despite having a high level of vulnerability to natural disasters. Some cities which are taken as case studies here show a good level of resilience to the disasters experienced. Case studies from this study are three cities namely Kobe, in Hyogo (Japan), Padang (Indonesia) and Camalig (Philippines) which use qualitative descriptive methods with SWOT analysis techniques. From the three cases studied, it was concluded that all three have the same vulnerability due to geographical location, but these three cities also have the capacity as cities that are resilient to disasters with different strengths of capital, which are able to be counterbalanced from vulnerability to resilience.</em></p>

Smart Water Quality Monitoring System Design and KPIs Analysis: Case Sites of Fiji Surface Water

Over recent years, waters in and around Fiji has increasingly succumbed to a reasonable level of contamination. Water quality is defined with set of standards that clearly state the parameters of different properties in water. These standards are different at various geographic locations. The specific quantitative values of these parameters for the Fiji Islands are established by the Fiji National Drinking Water Quality Standards (FNDWQS). Fiji is geographically located in the vast Pacific Ocean, and requires a data collection framework for different water parameters to monitor water quality. The GIS framework system can effectively solve this continuously in real-time. With the end goal being to quantify different parameters; four (04) key performance indicators (KPI) are identified: Temperature, potential of hydrogen (pH), Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP), and Conductivity. This paper presents a Smart Water Quality Monitoring System (SWQMS) which has been developed and deployed in five (05) Fijian locations (nodes) for the aforementioned KPIs measurement. The SWQMS interfaced with GIS and were powered using solar based Renewable Energy Source (REs). Finally, obtained data were tested and analyzed using statistical methods and verified comparing with the FNDWQS. The findings demonstrated that the system is capable of delivering an accurate and consistent measurement of water quality in real-time. Hence SWQMS could be a smart choice for various Pacific Island Countries (PICs) to use to monitor the water quality and in turn develop sustainable cities and societies.

Acute Drought Is an Important Driver of Bark Beetle Infestation in Austrian Norway Spruce Stands

Infestations of Norway spruce by the Eurasian spruce bark beetle Ips typographus have recently caused peaks in salvaged timber in Central European forests. Apart from extensive breeding material due to abiotic disturbance, increased spring and summer temperatures as well as precipitation deficits are presumably key drivers of bark beetle population dynamics. In this study, we investigated the influence of effective temperature sums, chronic and acute drought stress, and stand characteristics for explaining salvage logging due to bark beetle attack in Norway spruce stands of Austrian Federal Forests. We retrospectively simulated temperature and transpiration deficit as drought proxy by use of the monitoring tool PHENIPS-TDEF, a well-proven bark beetle phenology model, combined with an additional hydrological module developed for simulating transpiration deficits (TDEF) in forest stands. Overall, we found that bark beetle infestation occurred more frequently in stands with high share of Norway spruce, increased stand age and stand density. The probability of ongoing attacks was significantly higher in stands subject to salvage logging in the previous year. Chronically dry forest stands described in the forest inventory database as growing on shallow, xeric, and low moisture soil conditions, were significantly less prone to bark beetle attack across all forest enterprises. However, acute drought indicated by stand transpiration deficits was a significant predictor of bark beetle attacks, especially in stands geographically located in warmer and drier areas of the country. Although importance of TDEF parameters differed with geographic location and observation period, the clear increase in attacks across all forest stands in 2015 was principally linked to previous year’s and actual summer transpiration deficits. We conclude from our results that in the absence of severe abiotic disturbance a combination of ample host availability, favorable temperature conditions for bark beetle development, and acute disposition of trees to attack caused by drought stress can intensify population growth and very likely lead to bark beetle mass outbreaks.

First Determination of Pyrethroid Knockdown Resistance Alleles in Human Head Lice (Phthiraptera: Pediculidae) From Chile.

The infestation with the human ectoparasite, Pediculus humanus capitis (De Geer), is a common public health problem affecting schoolchildren worldwide. In Chile, the main active ingredients present in the over-the-counter pediculicides contain pyrethroids. Despite the extended use of these products, there is no evidence of the insecticide resistance status of the head lice geographically located in Chile. The most extended resistant mechanism of pyrethroids consists of the target site insensitivity (Kdr) determined by the presence of mutations linked to insecticide-binding sites in the voltage-sensitive sodium channel. T917I is recognized as the main mutation in head lice, and detection is considered to be a biomarker of resistance. The goal of the present study was to detect the presence and distribution of T917I mutation in five geographic locations of Chile. All five geographically selected louse populations had a frequency of pyrethroid resistance genes that ranged from 36 to 77%, and 94.9% of the collected head lice had one or two T917I mutant alleles. Moreover, the frequency of the aggregate resistant alleles was 50.5%. This is the first evidence that head lice in Chile had the mutations commonly associated with the resistance to pyrethroids. Moreover, the overrepresentation of heterozygotes in the studied populations suggests that head lice in Chile are currently under active selective pressure.

21st Century Approach: Using data and novel technologies to address the opioid crisis

ObjectiveTo use novel technologies to develop a rapid response framework to reach opioid overdose patients in an area which is challenging from both a geography and population distribution standpoint.IntroductionClark County, Indiana is geographically located in between the urban area of Louisville, Kentucky and Scott County, Indiana. Scott County is the site for the largest HIV outbreak in the history of the United States, directly related to high rates of IV drug abuse. The unique geographic location of Clark County in combination with the recent HIV and Hepatitis C outbreaks in Clark and neighboring counties has greatly informed the development of an effective response to overdoses and the opioid epidemic in general. Furthermore, Clark County has a unique population distribution, with a population of over 125,000 and a land area of over 300 square miles. Despite this large area, over 80% of the population lives within 9 miles of the southern border of the county. This leads to a mix of both urban and rural challenges. There are several areas of the county that have greater than 15 minute emergency response times, which is often the difference between life and death in an overdose situation. These factors led to the development of the Clark County Rapid Response Project. The rapid response project is a community-based, multidisciplinary framework to address the opioid addicted patient, from initial use to successful recovery. The project uses data driven technology to initiate the care of opiate overdose patients and administer lifesaving interventions.MethodsClark County has partnered with the Indiana State Department of Health utilizing the early notification system that monitors statewide overdose activity. Once an alert is sent out, the response involves the use of two early notification systems. Everbridge is a one touch notification system that allows rapid dissemination of information to various community partners to allow them to initiate the appropriate response. Pulse Point is a smart phone application that allows CPR and trained community laypeople to respond to a cardiac arrest or overdose patient in a public place. It provides directions to the patient as well as to the nearest AED. Clark County has also simultaneously instituted a county-wide CPR training initiative and offered Narcan training as well. This is a major paradigm shift, as prior methods of deployment of trained laypeople essentially relied on the chance that an overdose will be reached by a first responder.ResultsEverbridge has allowed for the rapid notification of county entities and deployment of resources to overdose ‘hot spot’ areas. The Pulse Point initiative has dramatically increased the number of CPR and Narcan trained responders and provided means of delivering them to the appropriate patient population in a timely manner. Both these technologies have dramatically increased the delivery of resources to the overdose patient and decreased response times to the delivery of care.ConclusionsUsing data driven technology to inform how Clark County Health Department and first responders collectively address the opioid crisis is a novel approach. Since January 2018, Clark County Health Department has used ESSENCE (Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics) to determine where and when an increase of drug overdose activity is occurring throughout the county. This affords county health officials the ability to inform in “near real-time” first responders, the emergency department and other community stakeholders, relevant information thus allowing for the rapid deployment of county resources to the areas most affected. Our collective efforts to save lives is further enhanced by the county using of novel technologies like Pulse Point which is used to deploy both CPR and Narcan trained laypersons directly to sites in the community where overdoses are occurring. In a community, which is in large part considered rural and, in many places, has a greater than 15 minute emergency response time, using Pulse Point and Everbridge technologies has uniquely positioned Clark County to be on the cutting edge of saving lives as we leverage data and technology to address the opioid epidemic in our communities. This has markedly improved access to treatment and response times to overdose patients in Clark County, Indiana.

What’s in a Term: Can Feminism Look beyond the Global North/Global South Geopolitical Paradigm?

What’s in a Term: Can Feminism Look beyond the Global North/Global South Geopolitical Paradigm?

Variation in Outcomes at Bariatric Surgery Centers of Excellence

In the United States, reports about perioperative complications associated with bariatric surgery led to the establishment of accreditation criteria for bariatric centers of excellence and many bariatric centers obtaining accreditation. Currently, most bariatric procedures occur at these centers, but to what extent they uniformly provide high-quality care remains unknown. To describe the variation in surgical outcomes across bariatric centers of excellence and the geographic availability of high-quality centers. This retrospective review analyzed the claims data of 145 527 patients who underwent bariatric surgery at bariatric centers of excellence between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2013. Data were obtained from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's State Inpatient Database. This database included unique hospital identification numbers in 12 states (Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Washington, and Wisconsin), allowing comparisons among 165 centers of excellence located in those states. Participants were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes. Those included in the study cohort were patients with a primary diagnosis of morbid obesity and who underwent laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, open Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, laparoscopic gastric band placement, or laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. Excluded from the cohort were patients younger than 18 years or who had an abdominal malignant neoplasm. Data were analyzed July 1, 2016, through January 10, 2017. Risk-adjusted and reliability-adjusted serious complication rates within 30 days of the index operation were calculated for each center. Centers were stratified by geographic location and operative volume. In this analysis of claims data from 145 527 patients, wide variation in quality was found across 165 bariatric centers of excellence, both nationwide and statewide. At the national level, the risk-adjusted and reliability-adjusted serious complication rates at each center varied 17-fold, ranging from 0.6% to 10.3%. At the state level, variation ranged from 2.1-fold (Wisconsin decile range, 1.5%-3.3%) to 9.5-fold (Nebraska decile range, 1.0%-10.3%). After dividing hospitals into quintiles of quality on the basis of their adjusted complication rates, 38 of 132 (28.8%) had a center in a higher quintile of quality located within the same hospital service area. Variation in rates of complications existed at centers with low volume (annual mean [SD] procedure volume, 156 [20] patients; complication range, 0.6%-6.4%; 9.8-fold variation), medium volume (annual mean [SD] procedure volume, 239 [27] patients; complication range, 0.6%-10.3%; 17.5-fold variation), and high volume (annual mean [SD] procedure volume, 448 [131] patients; complication range, 0.6%-4.9%; 7.5-fold variation). Even among accredited bariatric surgery centers, wide variation exists in rates of postoperative serious complications across geographic location and operative volumes. Given that a large proportion of centers are geographically located near higher-performing centers, opportunities for improvement through regional collaboratives or selective referral should be considered.

FORECAST OF SALES OF WALMART STORE USING BIG DATA APPLICATIONS

Many household products are sold by various subsidiaries of the retail store network which are geographically located at various locations. Supply chain inefficiencies will occur at different locations when the market potential will not evaluated by the retailers. Many times it is not easy for the retailers to understand the market condition at various geographical locations. The organization of retail store network has to understand the market conditions to intensify its goods to be bought and sold so that many number of customers get attracted in that direction. Business forecast helps retailers to visualize the big picture by forecasting the sales we get a general idea of coming years if any changes are needed then those changes are done in the retail store’s objective so that success is achieved more profitably .It also helps the customers to be happy by providing the products desired by them in desired time, when the customers are happy then they prefer the store that provides all the resources they need to their satisfaction by this the sales in the particular store in which the customers purchase more items increases causing more profit. The forecasting of sales helps to know the retailers the demand of the product. In this paper we make an attempt by understanding the retail store business’s driving factors by analyzing the sales data of Walmart store that is geographically located at various locations and the forecast of sales for coming 39 weeks is done. By sales forecasting the retail networks are supported so that the resources can be managed efficiently.

So many migraines, so few subspecialists: analysis of the geographic location of United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties (UCNS) certified headache subspecialists compared to United States headache demographics.

To evaluate the geographic location of the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties (UCNS)-certified headache subspecialists as compared with ratios of expected migraine and chronic migraine populations in the United States. The UCNS is a professional medical organization that accredits fellowship programs and certifies physicians who demonstrate competence in various neurologic subspecialties, including headache medicine. There are a limited number of UCNS-certified headache subspecialists currently practicing in the United States. All of the UCNS-certified headache subspecialists were geographically located and compared with demographic data about state populations obtained from the U.S. Census. The expected migraine and chronic migraine populations were calculated for each state based on recently published epidemiologic data. Ratios of UCNS-certified headache subspecialists to expected migraine and chronic migraine populations were compared for each state. These data were then organized by U.S. Census region and division. As of the 2012 examination cycle, 416 UCNS-certified headache subspecialists are currently practicing in the United States. The states with the highest number of headache subspecialists include New York, California, Ohio, Texas, Florida, and Pennsylvania. Six states have zero headache subspecialists, eight states have one headache subspecialist, and five states have two headache subspecialists. As per the U.S. Census, the total U.S. population for ages 12 years and older is 259,908,563. The total expected migraine population (11.79% of the general population) for ages 12 years and older is 30,594,362. The total expected chronic migraine population (0.91% of the general population) for ages 12 years and older is 2,361,397. The states with the best ratios of headache subspecialists to expected migraine and chronic migraine populations include the District of Columbia, New Hampshire, New York, and Nebraska. Besides states with zero headache subspecialists, the states with the worst ratios of headache subspecialists to expected migraine and chronic migraine populations include Oregon, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Kansas. When organized by U.S. Census regions, the Northeast has the best ratios of headache subspecialists to expected migraine and chronic migraine populations, while the West has the worst ratios of headache subspecialists to expected migraine and chronic migraine populations. In terms of U.S. Census divisions, the Middle Atlantic has the best ratios of headache subspecialists to expected migraine and chronic migraine populations, while the East South Central has the worst ratios of expected migraine and chronic migraine populations. There is a disproportionately small number of UCNS-certified headache subspecialists compared with the extensive expected migraine and chronic migraine populations in the United States. More UCNS-accredited fellowship programs and more UCNS-certified headache subspecialists are needed in order to ameliorate this disparity.

Assessing the Vulnerability of the Fiber Infrastructure to Disasters

Communication networks are vulnerable to natural disasters, such as earthquakes or floods, as well as to physical attacks, such as an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack. Such real-world events happen in specific geographical locations and disrupt specific parts of the network. Therefore, the geographical layout of the network determines the impact of such events on the network's connectivity. In this paper, we focus on assessing the vulnerability of (geographical) networks to such disasters. In particular, we aim to identify the most vulnerable parts of the network. That is, the locations of disasters that would have the maximum disruptive effect on the network in terms of capacity and connectivity. We consider graph models in which nodes and links are geographically located on a plane. First, we consider a simplistic bipartite graph model and present a polynomial-time algorithm for finding a worst-case vertical line segment cut. We then generalize the network model to graphs with nodes at arbitrary locations. We model the disaster event as a line segment or a disk and develop polynomial-time algorithms that find a worst-case line segment cut and a worst-case circular cut. Finally, we obtain numerical results for a specific backbone network, thereby demonstrating the applicability of our algorithms to real-world networks. Our novel approach provides a promising new direction for network design to avert geographical disasters or attacks.

Exploring geographical dispersion in Thailand‐based food supply chain (FSC)

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the key influential factors and their implications on food supply chain (FSC) location decisions from a Thailand‐based manufacturer's view.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 21 case studies were conducted with eight Thailand‐based food manufacturers. In each case, key influential factors were observed along with their implications on upstream and downstream FSC location decisions. Data were collected through semi‐structured interviews and documentations. Data reduction and data display in tables were used to help data analysis of the case studies.FindingsThis exploratory research found that, in the food industry, FSC geographical dispersion pattern could be determined by four factors: perishability, value density, economic‐political forces, and technological forces. Technological forces were found as an enabler for FSC geographical dispersion whereas the other three factors could be both barriers and enablers. The implications of these four influential factors drive FSC towards four key patterns of FSC geographical dispersion: local supply chain (SC), supply‐proximity SC, market‐proximity SC, and international SC. Additionally, the strategy of the firm was found to also be an influential factor in determining FSC geographical dispersion.Research limitations/implicationsDespite conducting 21 cases, the findings in this research are based on a relatively small sample, given the large size of the industry. More case evidence from a broader range of food product market and supply items, particularly ones that have significantly different patterns of FSC geographical dispersions would have been insightful. The consideration of additional influential factors such as labour movement between developing countries, currency fluctuations and labour costs, would also enrich the framework as well as improve the quality and validity of the research findings. The different strategies employed by the case companies and their implications on FSC location decisions should also be further investigated along with cases outside Thailand, to provide a more comprehensive view of FSC geographical location decisions.Practical implicationsThis paper provides insights how FSC is geographically located in both supply‐side and demand‐side from a manufacturing firm's view. The findings can also provide SC managers and researchers a better understanding of their FSCs.Originality/valueThis research bridges the existing gap in the literature, explaining the geographical dispersion of SC particularly in the food industry where the characteristics are very specific, by exploring the internationalization ability of Thailand‐based FSC and generalizing the key influential factors – perishability (lead time), value density, economic‐political forces, market opportunities, and technological advancements. Four key patterns of FSC internationalization emerged from the case studies.

Energy-aware load dispatching in geographically located Internet data centers

Abstract Online service providers (OSPs) have Internet data centers in multiple geographical locations in order to satisfy global user demand. Increased data centers consume a large amount of energy, and at the same time causes increased heat dissipation, greater cooling requirements, reduced computational density, and higher operating costs. It places a heavy burden on both the environment and energy resources. OSPs are now focusing more than ever on the need to improve energy efficiency. A new challenge has emerged besides the energy cost, the reduction of the carbon footprint. Although electricity is a clean and relatively safe form of energy to use, there are environmental impacts associated with the production and transmission of electricity. Meanwhile, increased online services require more Internet usage, especially with the trend of cloud computing; the network costs account for a large portion of operation costs for OSPs. This paper proposes an optimal energy-aware load dispatching model to minimize the electricity and network costs for OSPs. Our model can greatly reduce the costs for OSPs by considering the volatility of electricity market and applying energy-efficiency strategies in each data center. We conduct extensive evaluations based on real workload data and electricity price data. The results prove the effectiveness of our energy-aware load dispatching model with a theoretically guaranteed quality of service (QoS).

Conceptualizing an East Asian popular culture1

Since the 1980s, popular cultural products have criss‐crossed the national borders of East Asian countries, enabling a discursive construction of an ‘East Asian Popular Culture’ as an object of analysis. The present essay is a preliminary attempt to provide some conceptual and analytic shape to this object, delineated by its three constitutive elements of production, distribution and consumption. Each East Asian location participates in different and unequal levels in each of these component processes. Production can either be located entirely in a single geographic location or, alternatively, each of the necessary constituent sub‐processes can be executed from different locations; preference for either arrangement tends to reflect the relative dominance of the production location in exporting its finished products. Consumption and thus consumers are geographically located within cultural spaces in which they are embedded. Meanings and viewing pleasures are generated within the local cultures of specific audience. Conceptually, among the several possible consumption positions, the one in which an audience watches an imported programme is most intriguing. In this viewing position, differences between the cultures of the location of consumption and that of the production location become most apparent. The audience member has to bring his or her own cultural context to bear on the content of the imported product and read it accordingly. In this sense, the cultural product may be said to have crossed a ‘cultural’ boundary, beyond the simple fact of its having been exported/imported into a different location as an economic activity. Such an audience position requires the consumer to transcend his or her grounded nationality to forge abstract identification with the foreign characters on screen, a foreignness that is, in turn, potentially reabsorbed into an idea of (East) ‘Asia’; a potential ‘East Asian identity’, emerging from consumption of popular cultural products, is thus imaginable.