Influence Of Forces Research Articles

Enzymes for consumer products to achieve climate neutrality

Abstract Today, the chemosphere’s and biosphere’s compositions of the planet are changing faster than experienced during the past thousand years. CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion are rising dramatically, including those from processing, manufacturing and consuming everyday products; this rate of greenhouse gas emission (36.2 gigatons accumulated in 2022) is raising global temperatures and destabilizing the climate, which is one of the most influential forces on our planet. As our world warms up, our climate will enter a period of constant turbulence, affecting more than 85% of our ecosystems, including the delicate web of life on these systems, and impacting socioeconomic networks. How do we deal with the green transition to minimize climate change and its impacts while we are facing these new realities? One of the solutions is to use renewable natural resources. Indeed, nature itself, through the working parts of its living systems, the enzymes, can significantly contribute to achieve climate neutrality and good ecological/biodiversity status. Annually they can help decreasing CO2 emissions by 1–2.5 billion-tons, carbon demand by about 200 million-tons, and chemical demand by about 90 million-tons. With current climate change goals, we review the consequences of climate change at multiple scales and how enzymes can counteract or mitigate them. We then focus on how they mobilize sustainable and greener innovations in consumer products that have a high contribution to global carbon emissions. Finally, key innovations and challenges to be solved at the enzyme and product levels are discussed.

Decoding underperformance of entrepreneurship at the bottom of the pyramid: a literature review of the field

PurposeDriving economic development at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) is an enduring global challenge. While the market-based approach places hope on entrepreneurship as a major impetus to drive the underdeveloped economy, the performance of entrepreneurial businesses and their impact on poverty reduction are sometimes below expectations. This paper seeks to examine the factors that may be hindering entrepreneurship within the BOP context. This paper presents preliminary answers and provides research suggestions related to this question.Design/methodology/approachIn order to identify the reasons behind the underperformance of entrepreneurship at the BOP, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to see what is already known about this puzzle.FindingsBy reviewing extant literature, four clusters of factors were found to shape entrepreneurial activities at BOP: (1) Individual-level factors may be restraining entrepreneurial activities within BOP context, (2) gender inequality at BOP is hindering female entrepreneurship, (3) insufficient institutional support is holding back entrepreneurial activities in BOP and (4) business development initiatives are making multi-faceted impacts on entrepreneurial activities in BOP.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to theory in that it is the first comprehensive review of literature on constraints of entrepreneurship in the context of BOP. In investigating influential factors of entrepreneurial success in the BOP context, the authors recognize four major influential forces that are shaping entrepreneurial processes at the bottom of the pyramid and further propose three directions of future research that are worthy for further exploration.

Reflections on Bain, Political Theology of International Order

William Bain sustains his audacious claim to write a landmark in international relations thought. His view that the medieval theological debate between imposed order and immanent order structures contemporary thought about international order is largely compelling, especially in light of his demonstration that certain thinkers such as Hobbes and Grotius served as transmission belts, carrying this debate into modernity. He also persuasively shows that imposed order, or nominalism, dominates today’s schools of international relations thought, while immanent order only whispers its dissent. I raise two questions in critical conversation. First, while Bain argues persuasively that political theology persists after Westphalia, which he seeks to debunk as a milestone in secularization, nevertheless Westphalia stands as a milestone in the marginalization of religion (though not political theology) as an influential force in politics. Second, while Bain demurs from choosing between imposed and immanent order on normative grounds, his claim that the choice is a matter of faith appears to be a choice for imposed order. Clarifying this normative question is an apposite task for this important author’s next book.

The Relationship of Tennessee Williams' Autobiographical Artist and Fragile Female character and its Presence on his Life and Works

The two most influential forces in the life of Tennessee Williams were his writing and his sister Rose. By no accident, many of his male characters are artists, and many of his female characters, like Rose, suffer from some condition that makes them alienated from the world and emotionally unprepared to dealwith its hardship. This study is an examination of the relationship between William's male artist and fragile female characters in each of the plays in which the two figures are found. It reveals that through these two characters and the progress of their relationship, Williams expressed the inner emotional turmoil of his own life. By the end of his work, Williams created an unsustainable bond between his writer and fragile female, allowing them to live, flourish, and care for one another in a way that he and Rose never could.

Characteristics of Circumstances and Influential Forces of Migration in Nepal (1990-2016): An Integrative Literature Review

The aftermath of conflicts and better livelihood as well as financial opportunities are the main push-pull factors of migration in Nepal. The authors surveyed several articles published between 1990 and 2016, which feature the various dimensions of both internal and international migration in Nepal such as; the context of migration, challenges of acculturation, and also forms of migration other than labor migration. This integrative literature review was undertaken in order to explore the inherent characteristics of both internal as well as international migration in Nepal. We found that a lack of employment opportunity in their home country caused a significant rise in the international migration from Nepal, mainly to Gulf countries. Besides that, the review also explores the factors of better livelihood opportunities in urban areas and the impact of conflicts as potential reasons of internal migration in Nepal. This research disseminates awareness of the inherent factors of both internal and international migration patterns in Nepal which will be supportive to the concerned government authorities in systematizing new migration policies.

Evaluation of Seismic Acceleration Demands on Mechanical Support Systems

Earthquakes are among the most influential force of nature that affect human life. Reconnaissance after the severe earthquakes pointed out that seismic performance of non-structural members and elements could be as significant as the structural members in lateral force-resisting systems. As such, it is important for design engineers to recognize the seismic demand on the mechanical systems that support the critical non-structural components (e.g., sprinklers, electrical and mechanical equipment, etc.) in terms of the safety during and after an earthquake as well as functionality and retrofitting cost after an earthquake. The primary goal of this study is to systematically investigate the seismic demands on the mechanical support systems of a typical mid-rise steel structure. For this purpose, non-linear time history analyses are carried out using a suite of ground motion acceleration records to evaluate the seismic demands on both seismic force-resisting system and the support system by means of inter-story drift angle and horizontal accelerations, respectively. Results obtained from the analyses are discussed considering the requirements stipulated in the current national and international buildings and recommendations are made.

The Art Déco Influence in the Modern Turkish Architecture of the Early Republican Period

With the proclamation of the Republic, Atatürk, the founder of Modern Turkey, wanted a new model of politics that would bring about the establishment of the “nation state”, also symbolized by architecture. Having decided to make a transition to modern architecture in Turkey, Atatürk invited academics from Germany and Vienna to achieve this. Consequently, by the 1930s, architecture followed a functionalistrationalist path in both public buildings and in residences. Another architectural style that wielded a lot of influence on the trends in the Modern Movement in this period was Art Déco. The plastic effect of mass in Art Déco was accompanied by purism. The purpose of th is article is to explore the characteristics of the Art Déco style in modern Turkish architecture, tracing it back to the 1930s, the time when a culture of architecture first began to form in Turkey, as Art Déco, in combination with rationalism, proved to be an influential force in Republican Turkey. The effect of this style on the composition of structural masses shall be described through examples of public and residential buildings. At the same time, an attempt shall be made to explore the connotations of contemporaneity, progress, technology, and industry as expressed in the vocabulary of the Republican ideology that embraced the mass aesthetic of the formal style that was Art Déco.

Constructing professional identities in new figured worlds: Foreign language teachers transitioning to English teaching in Vietnam

ABSTRACT Teachers stand at the face of educational change, and it is therefore important to understand the identity work that they do if reform is to be successful. This paper explores how two Vietnamese university language teachers renegotiated their professional identity in the context of dramatic changes to language provision in the tertiary-sector in Vietnam. These changes were brought about by higher education reforms and the national plan to improve the quality of English language teaching, commonly referred to as National Project 2020. The authors use the concept of Figured Worlds, and the related notions of figurative and positional identities, to analyse the narratives that permeated these teachers’ professional identities. Their storylines provide an illustrative case which highlights the complex forces that reshape teacher professional identities in times of externally imposed reform and professional transition. The findings of our study show that prior experience, language affiliation, emotional responses to change, professional orientations and actions, confidence, and self-esteem were key influential forces shaping the teachers’ identities. The findings have relevance for the broad field of teacher professional identity as well as for language education in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries.

Satisfaction to Stay, Regret to Switch: Understanding Post-adoption Regret in Choosing Competing Technologies When Herding

Facing hundreds of similar alternatives in any technology adoption decision, users commonly take a shortcut in the decision making: following others in the herd! Although herding is found to be an influential force for technology adoption, this research sheds light on its distal on user staying power in post-adoption evaluations. Supplementing the dominant perspective that users will stay with the chosen technology when satisfactory with the technology performance, this research proposes a new regret perspective to account for users’ concerns about the competing technologies and the decision process in the technology adoption decision. A research model is accordingly constructed and tested in two longitudinal field studies on user adoption and post-adoption evaluations across competing technologies in both forms of free software and paid hardware, with samples collected in Asia and Europe. Based on the findings and insights, this research suggests to IT vendors on how to retain users in the new era with competing technologies by understanding how post-adoption regret, the predominant factor of user switching, is formed and how it can be lessened.

Reasons And Development Of The "Algeria Crisis". The Attempts At A Political Settlement In 1991-1995

Abstract Algeria's domestic political environment began to change rapidly in 1989 February, after the adoption of the new Constitution, article 40 of which guaranteed the right to form political unions. This democratic process led to the legalization and further strengthening of many parties, including the Islamic. The purpose of this article is to present the socio-political developments in Algeria, which emerged as a result of the widespread Islamic movements in the country. The systemic crisis in Algeria during this period was one of the most important factors that significantly influenced the spreading of extremist Islamic ideologies in society. The Islamic movement united around the Islamic Salvation Front in a very short time and the latter became the most influential, strong Islamic organization whose primary goal was the Islamization of Algeria. In this context, special emphasis has been required on the role of the army in resolving the Algerian crisis. Due to the peculiarities of historical development, the army had a special role in the political life of the country, it was the only real force that was able to maintain the secular system established in Algeria. The attempts to resolve the economic, political, and social consequences of the armed struggle launched by the authorities against the Islamists are also studied in this article. The steps taken by the authorities and the opposition parties in the peaceful settlement of the "Algerian crisis" are considered separately. It is noteworthy that despite the fact that the supporters of the Islamization of the country were a huge and influential force, nevertheless, the authorities managed to maintain the established system of the government, preventing the further development of the Islamic extremist movements in the country.

Barriers and facilitators to nationwide implementation of the malaria vaccine in Ghana.

Interventions such as antimalarial drugs, bed nets and insecticides have helped curb the burden of malaria in the past decade, yet malaria remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children below the age of 5 years. In 2019, Ghana, Malawi and Kenya in sub-Saharan Africa (countries with moderate to high transmission areas of malaria and deaths) started piloting the RTS,S/AS01E malaria vaccine in selected regions. Using qualitative methods, this study examined the main factors (forces) that will influence or hinder the nationwide implementation of the malaria vaccine, if approved, in Ghana. We conducted in-depth interviews with 12 key individuals (national, research/academia and programme implementing partners) in the public health sector in Ghana from October 2018 to February 2019. Results were analysed using Kurt Lewin's force field analysis to understand how organizations interact with their external environment in the delivery of health policies such as the implementation of the malaria vaccine. We found that the disease burden of malaria deaths in Ghana, the efficacy of the vaccine, stakeholder involvement and evidence for the feasibility of vaccine delivery generated by the consortium of researchers (body of researchers) that can track the implementation were the driving forces to scale up the vaccine into a routine health system. On the other hand, the needed logistics, funding, administration of the four-dose vaccine and follow-up were identified as potential barriers. The most influential force collectively highlighted by the respondents was the disease burden, and the most influential barrier was the logistics of delivering the vaccine. Our findings provide decision makers with key barriers and facilitators to guide policy and decision-making for malaria control in Ghana and other similar settings in low- and middle-income countries.

Body Image Among Sexual and Gender Minorities: An Intersectional Analysis

ABSTRACT Body image is consequential for overall well-being and has a complex relation to gender. Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals develop body image amid intersecting systems of oppression, such as sexism, cisnormativity, heteronormativity, and gender binary pressures. This study used an intersectionality framework to examine how various aspects of gender identification (cis/trans, binary/nonbinary, woman/man identification) related to body image differences among SGM individuals. We also assessed whether identification with conventionally masculine and feminine personality traits predicted body image. We used one-way and two-way ANOVAs and linear regressions to analyze two indicators of body image (body appreciation and drive for muscularity) in a sample of 643 SGM individuals (148 sexual minority (SM) cis women, 171 trans women, 121 SM cis men, 43 trans men, 160 nonbinary individuals). Results implicated cisnormativity as an influential and hierarchical force for body image, although woman/man and binary/nonbinary identification also played roles in group differences. With a few exceptions, masculine but not feminine trait identification significantly predicted body appreciation and drive for muscularity, indicating a complicated association with overall body image. These findings underscore the value of an intersectional lens for analyzing how broad social forces may manifest in individual-level body image for SGM individuals.

Sleep loss leads to the withdrawal of human helping across individuals, groups, and large-scale societies.

Humans help each other. This fundamental feature of homo sapiens has been one of the most powerful forces sculpting the advent of modern civilizations. But what determines whether humans choose to help one another? Across 3 replicating studies, here, we demonstrate that sleep loss represents one previously unrecognized factor dictating whether humans choose to help each other, observed at 3 different scales (within individuals, across individuals, and across societies). First, at an individual level, 1 night of sleep loss triggers the withdrawal of help from one individual to another. Moreover, fMRI findings revealed that the withdrawal of human helping is associated with deactivation of key nodes within the social cognition brain network that facilitates prosociality. Second, at a group level, ecological night-to-night reductions in sleep across several nights predict corresponding next-day reductions in the choice to help others during day-to-day interactions. Third, at a large-scale national level, we demonstrate that 1 h of lost sleep opportunity, inflicted by the transition to Daylight Saving Time, reduces real-world altruistic helping through the act of donation giving, established through the analysis of over 3 million charitable donations. Therefore, inadequate sleep represents a significant influential force determining whether humans choose to help one another, observable across micro- and macroscopic levels of civilized interaction. The implications of this effect may be non-trivial when considering the essentiality of human helping in the maintenance of cooperative, civil society, combined with the reported decline in sufficient sleep in many first-world nations.

The Old Toponymy and New Topography of Zion: Utah, Photography, and Daniel George's Series God to Go West

The Old Toponymy and New Topography of Zion: Utah, Photography, and Daniel George's Series <i>God to Go West</i>

Bacterial Amyloid Curli Associated Gut Epithelial Neuroendocrine Activation Predominantly Observed in Alzheimer's Disease Mice with Central Amyloid-β Pathology.

Substantial evidence from recent research suggests an influential and underappreciated force in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis: the pathological signals originate from outside the brain. Pathogenic bacteria produce amyloid-like proteins "curli" that form biofilms and show functional similarities to human amyloid-β (Aβ). These proteins may contribute to neurological disease progression via signaling cascade from the gut to the brain. We propose that curli causes neuroendocrine activation from the gut to brain that promotes central Aβ pathology. PGP9.5 and TLR2 levels in response to curli in the lumen of Tg2576 AD mice were analyzed by immunohistochemical and qRT-PCR analysis. Western blot and human 3D in vitro enteroids culture systems were also used. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to investigate bacterial dysbiosis. We found significant increase in bacterial-amyloid curli with elevated TLR2 at the mRNA level in the pre- and symptomatic Tg-AD gut compared to littermate WT controls. This data associates with increased gram-positive bacterial colonization in the ileum of the symptomatic AD mice. We found fundamental evidence for vagus nerve activation in response to bacterial curli. Neuroendocrine marker PGP9.5 was significantly elevated in the gut epithelium of symptomatic AD mice, and this was colocalized with increased TLR2 expression. Enteroids, 3D-human ileal mini-gut monolayer in vitro model system also revealed increase levels of TLR2 upon stimulation with purified bacterial curli fibrils. These findings reveal the importance of pathological changes within the gut-vagus-brain signaling in response to luminal bacterial amyloid that might play a vital role in central Aβ pathogenesis seen in the AD brain.

The Origin and Development of Duoyan Garrison of Mongolia after 1600

&lt;p&gt;明朝長城邊外的東北地區，散處眾多羈縻衛所，其中以蒙古兀良哈三衛部落最大，為近邊主要勢力，其自明初受封後，即擁有朝貢貿易資格，並且日益向南遷徙、駐牧，影響明邊東段情勢甚巨。兀良哈三衛雖為明朝「屬夷」，但從未脫離與蒙古世界的聯繫，對明朝叛服不定，唯其勢力也從未能稱霸塞外，一直扮演著關鍵大部落的角色。十六世紀時，達延汗中興元裔，一統蒙古，兀良哈三衛同時向明朝稱臣，後被元裔勢力瓜分，僅朵顏衛持續興盛並成為三衛領導力量，直至明末。歷來的明史研究中，鮮見探究朵顏衛的來源、在明朝的發展，及其在晚明與元裔結盟的情況，這些問題尚有諸多不明之處。本文主要研究明朝朵顏的來源與發展，將先追溯明初「兀良哈三衛」之來源，再考察其首領部落朵顏衛的發展，進而釐清兀良哈部在明朝、河套平原俺答、察哈爾高原蒙古大汗等主要政權間扮演的角色。&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There were numerous garrisons (weisuo) under the Ming dynasty&amp;rsquo;s &amp;lsquo;bridle and halter&amp;rsquo; administrative system scattered across the northeast territory beyond the Great Wall. One garrison among them incorporated three tribes and was known as the Wu-Liang-Ha Garrison. The Wu-Liang-Ha Garrison was under Ming rule, but it also had close connections with Mongolian rulers and functioned as an autonomous military unit. It became the influential force residing in greatest proximity to the Ming border and possessed the right to trade with the Ming. When in the sixteenth-century, the Yuan descendant Dayan Khan reunited Mongolia, including the Wu-Liang-Ha Garrison, the latter were still a vassal of the Ming court. The Duoyan Garrison became the leading force among the Wu-Liang-Ha tribes up through the early 17th century, yet its history has rarely been studied. The primary aim of this paper is to flesh out the origin and development of the Duoyan Garrsion after 1600 and adumbrate the role it played between the northern tribes and Ming China. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

Erasing Minds: Behavioral Modification, the Prison Rights Movement, and Psychological Experimentation in America's Prisons, 1962–1983

This article explores the development of behavioral modification programs inside penitentiaries during the 1960s and 1970s, with a focus upon how such tactics were used to crush dissent and silence incarcerated people who challenged the prison regime. First, it explores how psychology became an influential force in the operation of many penitentiaries from the 1950s. Second, it considers the role that psychologists and psychiatrists played in developing brainwashing techniques to punish those prison activists who sought to expose the dehumanizing and brutal treatment of incarcerated people. Finally, it uses the example of the behavioral modification unit at Marion Federal Penitentiary to show how the federal government was complicit in the use of psychological torture to silence prisoners’ complaints.

Caught in the Middle: Internal and External Pressures on the Coverage of Organized Crime in Mexico

With 33 journalists killed since the beginning of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s presidential term in December 2018, Mexico heads the list of the most violent countries for journalists in Latin America—and that of countries not at war. While journalist organizations demand a meaningful protection apparatus to safeguard their physical safety, official corruption, and criminal impunity continue to escalate the pressures to which media staff are exposed, especially in Mexican states where cartels and criminal groups have the largest footprint. This study aims to precisely identify the pressures, both internal and external, facing journalists who report on organized crime in Mexico. To do this, we drew from the Hierarchy of Influences Model, and interviewed 22 Mexican journalists who work on the organized crime beat in the country’s capital and in the most violent states in the Republic. The results suggest that the most influential forces they face are associated with the organizational level (such as editorial line or institutional censorship), and the extramedia level (e.g., anti-press violence from cartels/authorities, and government advertising contracts).

Religious beliefs and the behavior of people during COVID-19 crisis

Religion is a powerful, long-standing, pervasive, and at the same time, most influential social force, whereas its social power can be used either in helpful ways to slow the spread of Covid-19 or in harmful ways that favor the rapid spread of the virus. While various religious communities played a central role in spreading COVID-19 in various spheres of the globe, intensive debates about physical distancing and its implications for religious gathering have brought religious topics onto agendas. Additionally, there are various religious stigmas, superstitious beliefs, stereotype ideas, arrogancies, targeting a particular community for the outbreak, disobeying nature of the government orders have also emerged in the scenario during the pandemic world is facing right now. However, following a qualitative narrative approach based on secondary materials, the study attempted to investigate the actual responses of various religious communities across the world in the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, the study concluded by explaining the potential role of religious leaders in this crisis.

Study of Identity Styles and Multiple Intelligences, and Their Relationship with the Quality of Working Life among Female Employees of Yazd University

Introduction: Improving the quality of the female employees' working life as an influential work force in meeting the organizations' goals is of particular importance because they are a wife, a mother and an employee at the same time .The present study aimed to investigate the identity styles and multiple intelligences, and their relationship with female employees’ quality of working life at Yazd university, in 2019.&#x0D; Method: This study was descriptive- survey in terms of data collection, and basic in terms of purpose. The statistical population of this study consisted of 159 female employees of Yazd University, among whom 120 were selected based on the Krejcie and Morgan table using simple random sampling method. Data were collected through Berzonsky's identity style, Armstrong's multiple intelligence, and Walton's quality of wor ing life questionnaires. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient, chi- square test, one- sample t- test, analysis of variance with repeated measures, and Bonferroni test.&#x0D; Results: Intrapersonal intelligence and normative identity style dominated other types of intelligences among female employees of Yazd University. The quality of their working life was average. There was no significant relationship between identity styles and the quality of working life. Also, among multiple intelligences, only logical- mathematical intelligence had a positive and significant relationship with the quality of working life.&#x0D; Conclusion: Regarding employment, the managers of organizations should give priority to people with informational and normative identity styles, and also, provide opportunities to use multiple intelligences of the employees to improve the quality of working life in order to increase productivity.