League Members Research Articles

Profile of human rights defenders in the Maghreb: the case of the Tunisian human rights league

ABSTRACT Since the 1980s, human rights activists have constituted political agenda-setting groups in the Maghreb countries, mainly following the international turn towards human rights in the post-Cold War decades. Despite this fact, only scarce attention has been paid to their social and professional background. The article explores this topic and provides hitherto unpublished data about the first generation of human rights activists in Tunisia, in particular the members of the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH). Its members were a product of post-colonial Tunisia’s investment in (higher) education, teachers and professors, white-collar public servants, lawyers, doctors and journalists. They formed a committed, intellectual elite concerned with relationship between the state and citizens, seeking to influence public policies, carve out public, independent political spaces and get a share in the management of state affairs. Factual evidence surrounding human rights activists in Morocco and Algeria suggests they shared the same characteristics as LTDH members. Given the human rights situation in the Maghreb countries, the article suggests more research should be done about how human rights activists could more effectively link-up up with moral activism of social–professional groups that are absent from the human rights organisations.

“What it is exactly that circulates”: Affective value, re/production, and rhetorical exchange

Revising Marxist theories of circulation with affect theory, this article establishes a new model of rhetorical analysis that positions rhetorical exchange as a circulatory infrastructure of late capitalism. By measuring the value produced by rhetors and audiences in rhetorical exchange, we can see how the daily rhetorical activity of neoliberal subjects captures our behavior, positioning us a raw material for late capitalists. This new theory of rhetorical circulation is tested and revised by a qualitative study on the mundane communication of neoliberal subjects, in this case, the group chat of one fantasy football league. Fantasy football communication creates an ambient backdrop for its users, leading to quotidian rhetorical exchanges in clearly defined social networks. The study shows the contours of rhetorical exchange in one league's GroupMe chat. I found that, in exchange, subjects transform their investments into social and cultural capital (Bourdieu's capital forms). Ultimately, subjects can produce what I call affective capital, a uniquely neoliberal capital form. I find that the immense value of affective capital produced by league members in rhetorical exchange points to the reasons why neoliberal subjects repeatedly return to platforms that harvest our data.

Analysis and Improvement Strategies of Gansu Youth League Official Short Video Content from the Perspective of Recognition

How to enhance the recognition of new media Official Short Videos among users? This paper selects the Douyin account of the Youth League of Gansu Province for analysis. Based on the literature on evaluating the effectiveness of communication of short videos, this article has developed a model for measuring video identity, and provided content analysis for the 9% of Gansu Youth League members with the highest degree of identity using this model. In the research, this article found that video materials tend to be official and original videos, and tends to focus on comprehensive organization, local content, and positive emotions. High quality video content in the form of video, plus the popular sound effect of only music, and videos with tags to participate in topics or Douyin challenges that last between 1 and 15 seconds, have the greatest chance of gaining user recognition. At the same time, official video sources, original videos, and videos from local sources have the highest correlation with recognition. Therefore, this article believes that in order to gain recognition for future Official Short Videos, more efforts should be made in these three aspects.

The management of international boycotts in historical perspective: Volkswagen and the Arab League boycott, 1960–1977

Research has shown that multinational enterprises (MNEs) manage international boycotts by demonstrating commitment to shared social values. However, international boycotts often revolve around contentious issues and values that are not universally embraced, requiring firms to implement different strategies to maintain legitimacy across markets. This paper analyses Volkswagen’s management of the Arab League boycott of Israel to develop a typology of MNEs’ management strategies for international boycotts. The Arab League boycott posed a business dilemma: non-compliance endangered revenues in Arab League member states, but compliance risked counterboycotting in the US and Israel. Analysis of corporate and federal archives reveals that Volkswagen used three overarching strategies: prevention, delay, and negotiation. Volkswagen first camouflaged its engagement in Israel to prevent the boycott. When facing the boycott threat, Volkswagen pursued delaying strategies to create room for negotiations with actors from home, host, and third countries that eventually preserved the firm’s legitimacy across markets.

Sympathy Education and the NSPCC’s League of Pity, 1891–1913

ABSTRACT This article assesses the evolving dimensions of sympathy education in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It focuses on the League of Pity, the juvenile branch organisation of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). In its early years the League sought to emphasise Christian service and self-denial, and aimed to help poor victims of abuse become useful members of society. After the turn of the twentieth century, however, images and descriptions of suffering children featured in its propaganda less frequently; they were increasingly supplanted by reports of the various fundraising events attended by League members. The NSPCC sought to promote a sense of community between the League’s children and those whom it helped, but there was little real connection across the gulf that separated them. The League of Pity was an imagined community, despite its successes as an organised philanthropic offshoot of the NSPCC.

The Growth and Development of Youth League Members in Social Practice

The Growth and Development of Youth League Members in Social Practice

An American Dilemma? It's Happening in Detroit, or the Swedish History of Finally Got the News (1970)

Abstract: This paper presents the Swedish history of the legendary documentary Finally Got the News (1970), a collaboration between Newsreel and the League of Revolutionary Black Workers in Detroit. Through an analysis of the re-edited print made by Swedish TV in 1971 and archival research on the League member Glanton Dowdell, who distributed the film in Sweden, the paper sets out to both correct some of the previous research and reveal how racism was a blind spot in Sweden, which at that time appeared to be the model of a politically progressive country that engaged with the American Black Power movement.

God is not back: the long-term effects of Soviet secularism

ABSTRACT How effective was Soviet secularization and what is its long-term legacy? This paper investigates the lasting effects of Khrushchev’s Virgin Lands Campaign (1950s) on the current level of Orthodox religiosity in eastern Russia using an original district (raion)-level dataset that combines historical and contemporary evidence. By employing various matching techniques and an instrumental variable approach, I identify significant effects of the Virgin Lands cultivation on diminishing the role of religion even 60 years later. Moreover, I demonstrate that the resettlement of Communist Youth League (Komsomol) members and the destruction of traditional social relations may have worked as key mechanisms that contributed to the legacy effects. This study offers one of the first micro-level empirical investigations into the impact of Communism-driven secularization, and contributes to the emerging inquiry into the historical legacy of communism.

The League: A person-centred approach to the development of social robotics for paediatric anxiety.

Social robots are promising tools to improve the quality of life of children and youth living with anxiety and should be developed based on the priorities of end users. However, pathways to include young people in patient-oriented research, particularly in the overlap between technology and mental health, have been historically limited. In this work, we describe engagement with experts with lived experiences of paediatric anxiety in a social robotics research programme. We report the experiences of patient advisors in a co-creation process and identify considerations for other research groups looking to involve end users in technology development in the field of youth mental health. We engaged individuals with a lived experience of paediatric anxiety (current, recent past, or from a parent perspective) using three different models over the course of three years. Two initial patient partners were involved during project development, eight were engaged as part of an advisory panel ('the League') during study development and data analysis and four contributed as ongoing collaborators in an advisory role. League members completed a preparticipation expectationsurvey and a postparticipation experience survey. Eight individuals from a range of anxiety-related diagnostic groups participated in the League as patient partners. Members were teenagers (n = 3), young adults aged 22-26 years who had connected with a youth mental health service as children within the past eight years (n = 3) or parents of children presently living with anxiety (n = 2). Preferred methods of communication, expectations and reasons for participating were collected. The League provided specific and actionable feedback on the design of workshops on the topic of social robotics, which was implemented. They reported that their experiences were positive and fairly compensated, but communication and sustained engagement over time were challenges. Issues of ethics and language related to patient-centred brain health technology research are discussed. There is an ethical imperative to meaningfully incorporate the voices of youth and young adults with psychiatric conditions in the development of devices intended to support their mental health and quality of life. Six young people and two parents with lived experiences of paediatric anxiety participated in all stages of developing a research programme on social robotics to support paediatric mental health in a community context. They also provided input during the preparation of this manuscript.

Regional institutions’ contribution to energy market integration in the middle East

The energy market integration in the Middle East is assessed by comparing the acting institutions in the Levant and Persian Gulf sub-regions. Pami Aalto's regional institution's theoretical framework and the case-oriented comparative research method are adopted for this purpose. Changes in the Levant region coincided with the Arab League's establishment. This league did not develop due to inappropriate bi-lateral energy relationships and a lack of effort among the inter-state trade institutions. Regional institutions, lacking order creation, next to the Arab League members' sovereignty disturb gas transmission, transit, and environmental protection regulations. The Arab League has recognized Israel as an energy-producing member and has reduced the political conflicts' intensity to improve Arabic leadership in the Levant integration. The Persian Gulf states' unilateral trade negotiations, sanctions imposed by the US and EU on Iran's energy sector, and political disputes between Iran and some Arab states prevent coherent regional integration, liberalization, and the launch of joint energy projects. In bi-lateral energy diplomacy competition between the regional great energy powers, Iran and Saudi Arabia outside the region is evident. Though the environmental stewardship institution supports green energy, the profit-interest has priority in these regions. The outcome of this article reveals the existence of constraints imposed on energy market integration in these sub-regions.

Civil Conflicts and Exchange Rate Misalignment: Evidence from MENA and Arab League Members

Abstract For more than a decade, civil conflicts intensity has been high in the Middle East and North Africa, yet the monetary and financial impacts of such episodes have received relatively little attention. Using macroeconomic and conflict panel data for Arab League members, Iran and Turkey during the period 1970–2018, this paper constructs a country-specific real exchange rate misalignment index and adopts an instrumental variable approach to show that civil conflicts lead to real exchange rate overvaluations in the region: a 1 unit increase in civil conflict intensity leads to a 0.24 unit increase in the RER misalignment index. The results suggest that upward pressures on the real exchange rate, such as inflation resulting from physical capital and output loss, dominate. Economic policy during post-conflict transitions should mitigate this effect by incorporating a strategy to realign the currency.

E33 Identifying and understanding JDM in Africa: a survey of rheumatology care providers from Africa

Abstract Background It is estimated that millions of children in Africa suffer from pediatric rheumatic diseases (PRD). Despite this, as of 2021, there were just 28 pediatric rheumatologists in only 10 of the 54 African countries. With ∼700 million children living in Africa, this number falls far short of the recommended minimum 1750 pediatric rheumatologists needed for ideal care. Rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases are the second leading cause of disability globally. However, there is a paucity of data on PRD in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) due to limited diagnostic capacities, scarcity of pediatric rheumatologists, and limited awareness of PRD. We have much to learn about the prevalence of PRD as well as clinical manifestations, optimal treatments, and outcomes in African children with PRD. Juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) can cause significant morbidity and irreversible damage when inadequately treated, resulting in medical, social, and economic burden on patients, families, and healthcare systems, particularly in LMIC. The few studies of JDM in Africa suggest high rates of severe manifestations, including calcinosis, vasculitis, and pulmonary involvement. The objective of this survey is to better understand the scope of JDM burden in Africa by obtaining an overview of JDM and comparing this to data in previously published work. Methods A survey was distributed to members of the African League of Associations for Rheumatology (AFLAR; n = 233) and Paediatric Society of the African League Against Rheumatism (PAFLAR; n = 130) via WhatsApp groups. Respondents were queried about the total number of JDM patients seen currently or within the last 10 years; morbidities and clinical outcomes, including calcinosis, interstitial lung disease (ILD), clinically inactive disease, remission, and death; and availability and accessibility of diagnostic tools and medications. Results A total of 43 (12%) individuals started the survey, with 4 (9%) partially and 16 (37%) fully completing it, describing 216 JDM patients. One general pediatrician participated; the remainder were adult (n = 10; 50%), pediatric (n = 7; 35%), or adult/pediatric (n = 2; 10%) rheumatologists. Respondents represented the 5 regions of Africa, primarily Northern Africa (n = 12; 60%). Mortality was reported at 14% and 29% in Kenya and Zambia, respectively (Table 1). Many respondents identified limited availability of medications (56%), unfamiliarity with JDM by caregivers (69%) and other medical providers (44%), and delayed presentation to care (75%). Access and/or cost limited use of diagnostic tools and medications. Of the 27 queried diagnostic tools and medications, 13 were reported to be accessible to only 50% or fewer of respondents, the majority (69%) of whom were from Northern or Southern African countries. Despite the lack of cost or other apparent access barriers, disease assessment tools are used by only 53% of respondents. Conclusion This is the first study to explore JDM on a broad scale across the African continent. We identified 216 African children with JDM within the past 10 years, exceeding the previously published reports of 196 JDM patients seen in the last 25 years and likely still underestimating prevalence. Our results suggest substantially higher rates of severe disease, with mortality rates in some countries vastly different from the 1–3% reported in high-income countries. Many respondents were limited in their capacity to diagnose and treat JDM, but there was a wide range across African regions that seemed to parallel known disparities in healthcare resource availability in Africa. This survey highlighted important possible differences in disease manifestations and outcomes that warrant further study. Future collaboration with our African colleagues is critical to raise awareness of JDM to ultimately improve disease severity and outcomes. Ethics Institutional review board approval was obtained with waiver of informed consent.

K5리그 축구동호인의 참여동기가 자아존중감 및 운동지속의도에 미치는 영향

This study aims to inverstigate the effect of participation motivation on the self-esteem and exercise adherence intention of K5 league soccer club memvers. To accomplish this objective, this study surveyed 152 soccer club members of the K5 league in Gyeongnam/Busan in 2021. BR Collected data from the questionnaire was analyzed according to the aim of this study with the use of SPSS/PC Window V.23.0. The results are as follows: There was statistically significant difference in the level of participation motivation among the K5 league soccer club members and statistically significant relationship was found between self-esteem and participation motivation of memvers of the K5 league soccer club. Also, it was found that participation motivation had a statistically significant effect on the intention to adhere to exercise. BR Taken together, these results suggest that strengthening the intrinsic motivation for achievement is more important than the intrinsic motivation for knowledge acquisition in order to increase the self-esteem of soccer club members in the K5 league, the top amateur league. BR In particular, increasing the goal of moving to a higher league or advancing to the FA Cup among K5 League soccer club members is necessary in order to induce continuous participation. BR Players who moved to lower leagues or whose athletic performance decreased can have a negative impact on athletic performance and motivation to continue exercising. Therefore, setting individual and team goals as well as the role of the coach/manager are important in order to improve the self-esteem of soccer club members in the K5 league.BR

Israel's Moment: International Support for and Opposition to Establishing the Jewish State, 1945–1949 by Jeffrey Herf

<i>Israel's Moment: International Support for and Opposition to Establishing the Jewish State, 1945–1949</i> by Jeffrey Herf

Sensitivity of rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 during the Omicron variant outbreak among players and staff members of the Japan Professional Football League and clubs: a retrospective observational study

ObjectivesRapid antigen tests have been used to prevent the spread of the COVID-19; however, there have been concerns about their decreased sensitivity to the Omicron variant. In this study, we...

Hawaiian League Membership, 1887

Hawaiian League Membership, 1887

Antropometric Characteristics Structure of “VC Jahorina” Pale Volleyball Players

Background: Morphological dimensions represent the functioning of the growth and development of the musculoskeletal system and also play a role in specific volleyball activities. In the sphere of volleyball, it is imperative to identify the anthropometric constitution, generated by exogenous and endogenous factors. Aim study: The main goal of the research was to determine the factor structure of isolated latent dimensions of the population of female volleyball players of VC "Jahorina" Pale, a member of the volleyball Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Methods: The study involved 18 active players of the women's volleyball club Jahorina (BH=173±8.77cm; BW=66.04±9.09kg; BMI=22.03±2.19kg/m2, age=19.11±2.63 years old) members of the volleyball Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A set of 15 anthropometric variables was measured in the morphological space with the aim of determining correlations between anthropometric characteristics and identifying the latent morphological structure of volleyball players. Result: Statistical processing of the data was performed by Pearson correlation coefficients and Hoteling principal components analysis (PCA). The results of the correlation analysis showed statistically significant linear correlations between most anthropometric variables (pConclusion: It was structured by hypothetical factors with characteristic roots (Eig.>1), which were interpreted as Factor of volume and longitudinal dimensionality of the skeleton (F1=42.45%; Eig. 6.37>1), Factor of skin folds of the trunk (F2=28. 96; Eig. 4.08>1) and Subcutaneous adipose tissue factor of the lower extremities (F3=10.04; Eig.2.12>1). The correlation of the factors confirmed the inverse relationship of the factors (F1-F2=-0.85; F1-F3=-0.81). It can be concluded that the increased volume of volleyball players is not accompanied by higher values of skin folds, but is a consequence of increased muscle mass.

Season Ticketing as a Risk Management Tool in Professional Team Sports: A Pricing Analysis of German Soccer and Basketball

Ticket sales remain a significant source of revenue in professional team sports. However, season ticket revenue, as an effective risk-reducing instrument, is rarely analyzed in the literature. This study aims to determine, from a price and product perspective, the extent to which different factors affect season ticket prices. Using three different professional German sports leagues, a ticket-pricing model was developed as the empirical model. Consistent with other pricing studies, an ordinary least-squares (OLS) model and a Tobit model were fit. The results indicate that different season ticket rights, type of season ticket, club league membership, fan club membership, club stadium utilization rate, club sporting performance, and club market size have significant negative or positive impacts on season ticket price. Whereas, for example, a reserved seat in the stadium has a positive impact, the population of the club’s city has a negative impact. Based on the results, club managers should consider all traditional season ticket rights and season ticket discounts when calculating season ticket pricing. These and further implications are discussed with respect to the risk management issues of season ticket pricing in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and differences in local market constellations of professional team sports clubs.

Gender distribution of rheumatologists across Africa (REACT): a cross-sectional survey study

<h2>Abstract</h2><h3>Background</h3> Gender disparities in health care are pervasive worldwide, including the field of rheumatology in Africa, where there is a scarcity of rheumatologists. The heterogeneity of these disparities underscores the importance of addressing unmet needs at a regional level. We aimed to determine the number of rheumatologists in Africa, the gender distribution in the public and private sector, and participation in academia and leadership roles. <h3>Methods</h3> In this cross-sectional study, fully qualified rheumatologists in Africa were chosen by leadership position and role in national societies to distribute an online survey to members of the African League of Associations for Rheumatology (AFLAR). Data on the number of rheumatologists registered per country or in national rheumatology societies, gender distribution in private and the public sector, and academic involvement were collected from countries that are members of the AFLAR. Gender was self-reported in the survey as man, woman, or prefer not to disclose. <h3>Findings</h3> Between Feb 2 and March 16, 2022, we collected data from 44 (81%) of 54 African countries. We identified 2970 rheumatologists providing health-care services to 1·19 billion people in 44 countries, representing 0·25 rheumatologists per 100 000 population. There was a wide variation in the distribution of rheumatologists with 1·86 rheumatologists per 100 000 people in Tunisia and no rheumatologists recorded in 15 African countries. Most rheumatologists were from North Africa, with 2592 (87%) from four countries (Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia). 1772 (60%) of 2970 rheumatologists were women. 791 (71%) of 1112 rheumatologists involved in academia were women, 1041 (65%) of 1610 rheumatologists practicing in the public sector were women, and 201 (27%) of 756 in the private sector were women. 18 (41%) of 44 countries had a national society and women served as current or previous presidents in five of the 18 national societies. <h3>Interpretation</h3> This study highlights the low number and unequal distribution of rheumatologists in Africa. Women predominate and are well represented in academic settings, but not in leadership positions. AFLAR, national societies, and health-care policy makers need to develop a strategy to increase the number of rheumatologists at national and regional level. Gender inequality needs to be addressed to ensure that women are adequately represented and occupy leadership positions within national societies. <h3>Funding</h3> None.

Influence of deep learning-based journal reading guidance system on students' national cognition and cultural acceptance.

The purpose is to explore new cultivation modes of college students’ national cognition and cultural acceptance. Deep learning (DL) technology and Educational Psychology theory are introduced, and the influence of art journal reading on college students’ national cognition and cultural acceptance is analyzed under Educational Psychology. Firstly, the background of Educational Psychology, national cognition and cultural acceptance, and learning system are discussed following a literature review. The DL technology is introduced to construct the journal reading guidance system. The system can provide users with art journals and record the user habits like reading duration and preferences. Secondly, hypotheses are proposed, and a questionnaire survey is designed, with 12 specific indicators to investigate and collect research data. Finally, the collected data are analyzed. The results show that women’s cognition of Chinese traditional culture, Chinese excellent revolutionary culture, and Chinese national identity is higher than that of men. By comparison, men’s cognition of Chinese advanced socialist culture is higher than women’s. After using the journal reading guidance system, the cognition of female college students on traditional Chinese culture is improved by 16.3%. Before and after reading art journals, the overall national cognition and cultural acceptance of Minority students are higher than that of Han students. The overall cognition of Literature and History students is higher than that of Science and Engineering students in traditional Chinese culture and China’s excellent revolutionary culture and lower in advanced Chinese socialist culture and Chinese national identity. The overall cognition of college students’ party members to the advanced socialist culture is higher than league members. As students read more art journals through the guidance system, their overall national cognition and cultural acceptance have increased. Therefore, reading art journals can promote college students’ national cognition and cultural acceptance. A national cognition and cultural acceptance promotion system that conforms to the current situation of college students is constructed. The finding provides a reference for developing complex emotion recognition technology in human-computer interaction.