Search For Partners Research Articles

Race, Religion, and Geopolitics: Dating and Romance Among South Asian Muslim Immigrants in Canada

Abstract Using the “complex religion” framework, this article shows the importance of religion while recognizing how race, national origin, and geopolitics shape how Muslims navigate their romantic lives. Based on 50 in-depth interviews of South Asian Muslim immigrants in Canada on interfaith and interracial romance, I show that taken-for-granted labels “Muslim” and “South Asian” are ambiguous even for the participants as they navigate the search for compatible partners. Race and ethnicity are important components alongside religion and sect that together give meaning to negotiations about who is a “real” Muslim. And despite a sense of panethnic desi groupness, religion, sect, and nationality create fissures that challenge and limit notions of brown solidarity on the ground, even for children of immigrants. Finally, I identify how another important yet overlooked dimension of Muslimness—global geopolitics—shapes participants’ romantic pursuits. Overall, this article problematizes current approaches to studying Muslim immigrant experiences in the West.

Physicochemical classification of organisms

The hypervariable residues that compose the major part of proteins’ surfaces are generally considered outside evolutionary control. Yet, these “nonconserved” residues determine the outcome of stochastic encounters in crowded cells. It has recently become apparent that these encounters are not as random as one might imagine, but carefully orchestrated by the intracellular electrostatics to optimize protein diffusion, interactivity, and partner search. The most influential factor here is the protein surface-charge density, which takes different optimal values across organisms with different intracellular conditions. In this study, we examine how far the net-charge density and other physicochemical properties of proteomes will take us in terms of distinguishing organisms in general. The results show that these global proteome properties not only follow the established taxonomical hierarchy, but also provide clues to functional adaptation. In many cases, the proteome–property divergence is even resolved at species level. Accordingly, the variable parts of the genes are not as free to drift as they seem in sequence alignment, but present a complementary tool for functional, taxonomic, and evolutionary assignment.

Silencing of Ago-2 Interacting Protein SERBP1 Relieves KCC2 Repression by miR-92 in Neurons.

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) play important roles in modulating miRNA-mediated mRNA target repression. Argonaute2 (Ago2) is an essential component of the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) that plays a central role in silencing mechanisms via small non-coding RNA molecules known as siRNAs and miRNAs. Small RNAs loaded into Argonaute proteins catalyze endoribonucleolytic cleavage of target RNAs or recruit factors responsible for translational silencing and mRNA target destabilization. In previous studies we have shown that KCC2, a neuronal Cl (−) extruding K (+) Cl (−) co-transporter 2, is regulated by miR-92 in neuronal cells. Searching for Ago2 partners by immunoprecipitation and LC-MS/MS analysis, we isolated among other proteins the Serpine mRNA binding protein 1 (SERBP1) from SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. Exploring the role of SERBP1 in miRNA-mediated gene silencing in SH-SY5Y cells and primary hippocampal neurons, we demonstrated that SERBP1 silencing regulates KCC2 expression through the 3′ untranslated region (UTR). In addition, we found that SERBP1 as well as Ago2/miR-92 complex bind to KCC2 3′UTR. Finally, we demonstrated the attenuation of miR-92-mediated repression of KCC2 3′UTR by SERBP1 silencing. These findings advance our knowledge regarding the miR-92-mediated modulation of KCC2 translation in neuronal cells and highlight SERBP1 as a key component of this gene regulation.

Analysis of Sustainable Development of SMEs and Factors Influencing to the Ecotourism Industry

In order for companies, regardless of scale, to survive, function normally and have prospects for development in the current dynamic, competitive and business environment, partner search, outsourcing and participation of SMEs in the supply chains of multinational corporations are necessary. This is important because the process of globalization, integration, liberalization of markets has led to great business opportunities for SMEs, where financial sustainability matters.

Adolescents' Partner Search in the Digital Age: Correlates and Characteristics of Relationships Initiated Online.

Digital technology and social media platforms have transformed the ways adolescents communicate and cultivate romantic relationships, but few studies consider whether relationships initiated online are less salutary than those formed in person. A sample of 531 adolescents (Mean age = 16.7 years, SD = 0.358; 55% female) was recruited from an ongoing birth cohort study and administered bi-weekly diaries over a year to evaluate the circumstances associated with adolescents' romantic relationship formation and relationship quality. Two-thirds of respondents initiated one or more romantic relationships during the study, of which 15% were initiated online. Girls who did not fit in well at school and who had difficulty making friends were more likely to initiate romantic relationships online than their more sociable peers who fit in well at school; for boys, however, access to mobile devices increased the odds that romantic relationships were initiated online. The diaries captured considerable flux in the evolution of romantic relationships, but there was limited evidence that relationships initiated online involved greater risks, with the notable exception of greater age asymmetry.

The mediation of matchmaking: a comparative study of gender and generational preference in online dating websites and offline blind date markets in Chengdu

Online dating has modernized traditional partner search methods, allowing individuals to seek a partner that aligns with their preferences for attributes such as age, height, location, or education. Yet traditional forms of partner selection still exist, with continued parental involvement in the matching process. In this paper, we exploit different matchmaking methods with varying degrees of youth autonomy versus parental involvement. We use a unique dataset collected in Chengdu, China, where profiles from the blind date market (n = 158) capture parental preferences and profiles from an online dating website (n = 500) capture individual preferences. Regarding gender, we find that men generally display a desire for women younger, shorter, and less educated than themselves, while women desire older and taller men of the same education as themselves. With regards to parental influences, we find parents specify a narrower range of accepted partner attributes. Further, we find an interaction effect between gender and generational influences: the preferences of parents advertising their daughters on the blind date market show a greater discrepancy in attribute preferences to the online daters than parents advertising their sons.

Стратегії виходу підприємств на міжнародні ринки за рівнями управління

Globalization trends of today open and expand the trade-economic interconnections of enterprises over the world. Ukrainian business nowadays owns a small share of the global market. This is primarily due to uncertainty before the unknown market, the requirements of its consumers, foreign legislation, the conditions of certification and standardization, etc. The processes of entering international markets are caused by a number of reasons, among which the most common are: an increase in the volume of sales of goods or the provision of services, an increase in profitability, long-term profitability, an increase in innovation potential, an increase in experience, competition, the presence of government incentives. Generalization of approaches to the process of entering international markets allowed to formulate its planning stages: diagnostics of the enterprise, choice of strategy, choice of international market, search for partners, opening local representative offices, and creating a single information base of the enterprise. These stages are not overloaded with analytical research and calculations and are as close as possible to the practical activities of the enterprise. The article draws attention to the matter that effective functioning in international markets involves scaling up all the processes of the enterprise, and not conducting one-time export-import operations. Therefore, the systemacity of the entry of an enterprise into the international market involves the conduct of strategic analysis and the formation of a strategic plan. Properly planned activities and the chosen strategy of entering or expanding into international markets are the guarantor of mastering new segments and increasing profitability. On the basis of this, the types of strategies for entering international markets by levels of management are systematized, allowing to correctly coordinate and establish the relationship between them and implement the defined strategic goals of the enterprise.

Питання геополітичних союзників України у вітчизняній політичній думці першої половини ХХ сторіччя

The article is devoted to the analysis of the coverage of the issue of finding geopolitical partners and allies of Ukraine in the geopolitical teachings of Ukrainian thinkers of the first half of the 20th century. The problems of determining foreign policy priorities and Ukraine’s participation in international alliances in recent decades, the search for reliable partners, foremost in the security sphere, are outlined. It is emphasized that the Revolution of Dignity and Russian aggression crystallized the geopolitical priorities of Ukraine – the course for European and Euro-Atlantic integration was returned to the country’s Constitution, and the Russian geopolitical threat became a fact of the collective consciousness of Ukrainian society. It is noted that the theoretical work of Ukrainian political theorists of the first half of the 20th century has not lost its relevance in our time. Furthermore, it is noted that in the interwar period, the Black Sea region was the geographical space that aroused the greatest interest of Ukrainian geopoliticians and which they considered decisive for the future of the Ukrainian state. In their opinion, the fact that Ukraine is historically a part of the Black Sea-Mediterranean communication space, and also ensured the trade relations of this region with the Baltic States, determines the area of search for partners and allies. However, not only countries located in the region are among Ukraine’s potential allies, but also states that have significant geopolitical and economic interests there. The attitude of theorists of Ukrainian geopolitics to the idea of the Baltic-Pontic Federation and the list of countries that can join it is analyzed. The Ukrainian thinkers’ understanding of the peculiarities of the attitude towards the idea of the union of the countries of Eastern Europe and the creation of the Ukrainian national state within its ethnographic boundaries of the main geopolitical subjects of Europe – Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Soviet Russia – is revealed. The significance of the interaction of the Ukrainian state with Poland and Romania is emphasized. It is emphasized that the ideas of Ukrainian geopoliticians of the first half of the 20th century have not lost their relevance and require further study and understanding.

ОЦІНЮВАННЯ МІСЦЯ УКРАЇНИ В СИСТЕМІ МІЖНАРОДНОГО БІЗНЕСУ

The article examines the peculiarities of Ukraine's strategic partnership during the pandemic, political and economic crises, integration processes, which significantly affect the state of the country in international business. The dynamics and trends of modern foreign policy relations contribute to the activation of strategic partnership between states and the search for new partners. It should be noted that in 2020, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Australia, China, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand and Japan signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement. Therefore, Ukraine is seriously determined to deepen relations with Asian countries and in recent years has been increasing the volume of foreign trade with the URVEP region. This is evidenced by the increase in turnover with it by 13.8% to 20.6 billion dollars USA in 2020. Accordingly, the shares of exports (18.8%) and imports (20.9%) with this region increased. It was determined that, in addition to the Eastern Partnership, Ukraine should develop Asian and American directions. The study determined the possibilities of realizing the export potential of Ukraine on the markets of the EU, Asia and Africa by calculating the relative comparative advantages by product groups. It was determined that trade with the EU does not provide significant benefits for Ukraine, as most export items do not create sufficient added value. Accordingly, it is necessary to correct the deformation of the commodity structure of export-import from the EU. According to the results of the study of the comparative advantages of Ukrainian exports on the markets of Asia, the EU and Africa, those product groups that have prospects for development, such as plant materials, natural and artificial fur, lead and its products, meat and by-products, have been determined. The results can be used to justify the state policy of supporting national producers of products with greater added value in order to create conditions for the formation of new and joining existing global value chains, which will significantly increase the level of economic security of Ukrainian trade enterprises.

"Dva plana i dva maršala" u svetlu jugoslovensko-američkih odnosa (1947-1951)

Bearing in mind the character of Yugoslav foreign policy after WWII, as well as the state of Yugoslav-American relations, Yugoslavia rejected to participate in the Marshall Plan in 1947, but at the same time, it presented the First Five-Year Plan. The Tito-Stalin split in 1948 was a significant turning point in Yugoslav perception of the Marshall Plan. Although the generally negative attitude towards the Marshall Plan was still present, the absence of the main economic support from the Soviet Union conditioned the gradual Yugoslav turn towards the West and the search for new trade partners or donors of economic aid. The economic blockade of the Eastern Bloc in 1949, and the potential danger of their coordinated attack on Yugoslavia, called into question the survival of the Five-Year Plan in its originally conceived form. In such circumstances, a period of significantly changed American economic policy towards Yugoslavia began, and Yugoslav diplomacy had to engage in negotiations with the West. Such a policy was successful, and in the late 1940s and early 1950s, in addition to the intensified policy of securing export licenses, the United States granted loans to Yugoslavia through official channels and its influence in international institutions. Yugoslav criticism of the Marshall Plan at the time of the change in American economic policy was getting quieter. The newly established system of Yugoslav self-management set the ideological framework for building economic relations with both East and West. However, a far more significant legacy of the period of Yugoslav-American relations discussed in this paper was the laying of the foundations for the continuity of more intensive economic and political relations between the two countries throughout the Cold War and American policy that sought to "keep Tito afloat".

Новые форматы инвестиционного сотрудничества между Россией и Турцией в современных экономических условиях

The deterioration of Russia’s trade and economic relations with international partners due to the aggravation of the geopolitical situation in Ukraine increases the importance of diversification of key sectors of the Russian economy. Russia’s search for new strategic partners increases the pace of cooperation with the Republic of Turkey. The subject of the study is the study of the advantages of the Russian-Turkish strategic partnership, the basis of which is mutual interest in building up economic and geopolitical potential. The key objectives of the study will be to study the current investment climate, the stages of implementation of investment cooperation between Russia and Turkey in various sectors of the economy, analysis of the dynamics of foreign direct investment, mutual investment, trade turnover, exports and imports between the countries. Such research methods as observation, comparative analysis, generalization, historical method will be used in the work. The author will refer to the materials of Russian and foreign experts in the field of international economics, finance, investment deposits, statistical data on export, import, mutual turnover, foreign direct investment (FDI) between Russia and Turkey, obtained from the reporting documents of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), the World Bank (The World Bank), the United Nations (UN), the Turkish Construction Union (Turkish Construction Union). The main result of the study will be the structuring of factors affecting the dynamics of bilateral investment cooperation. The results of the study can be useful to representatives of business organizations, business owners and managers, specialists in the field of economics and finance. Formulating the main conclusions of the study, the author notes the priority of mutually beneficial Russian-Turkish partnership on key economic issues

ПІДПРИЄМНИЦТВО УКРАЇНИ В УМОВАХ ВОЄННОГО СТАНУ

Military actions on the territory of Ukraine led to a significant transformation of the domestic economy, which led to its significant slowdown and a decrease in the business activity of business entities. Regarding the economic consequences of the protracted military conflict, the direct losses of the economy from the damage and destruction of Ukraine's infrastructure are already measured at more than a hundred billion dollars. The most affected are residential construction, roads and airports, assets of industrial enterprises, the infrastructure of the agro-industrial complex, and the transport industry. As a result of globalization processes, military conflicts in certain regions can lead to significant changes not only in the economy of an individual country, but also in a significant number of other economic systems. However, special attention needs to be paid to the study of the main trends of the wartime economy, under the influence of which modern entrepreneurship is carried out in Ukraine and the determination of the key directions of its further development. Domestic business in the conditions of a modern war economy requires active state intervention, therefore direct regulation is an important tool of state support for business in conditions of war. Government agencies should provide the private sector with both financial and expert and consulting assistance. The search for grant funds from foreign countries is relevant, because the possibilities of state financing are limited, and the priority of budget expenditures is the issue of ensuring the country's defense capability. Also important issues for domestic entrepreneurship in the conditions of martial law are the restoration of supply chains, sales and the search for foreign partners, which will allow the restoration of production and operational processes in the near future.

Трансформаційні практики українського бізнесу під час пандемії коронавірусу і війни

It is noted that the individualized society with an increased tendency to nomadization, which began to form on Ukrainian territory, was forced to transition to sedentarization during the coronavirus pandemic, and during the war was affected by the opposite processes. “Narrowing the boundaries” of objective reality forces people to “expand the boundaries”, pave new paths and find/create alternative environments for the existence and realization of their creative abilities, which also applies to business. It is established that entrepreneurs began to produce new and transform existing business practices: closing, “zero” work, spending the “financial cushion”, relocation, covering the cost of materials, safe logistics, helping activists, changing the vector of entrepreneurial activity to foreign markets, implementing projects, participation in contests, grant programs, special initiatives (eDeclaration, “Supporting business in conditions of war”, grants to support micro and small businesses, Diia.Business, Virtual center Diia.Business, “Export in conditions of war”, access to international market and search for partners abroad, "Buy Ukrainian products and services", etc. It is suggested to strengthen the business strategy through the use of such effective tools as: landing page, multi-page site, Instagram, marketing kit, selling video, working with the database of customers, performance marketing, Google ADS, targeted advertising on Instagram & Facebook, marketing mix model, etc.; their positive and negative aspects. It is emphasized that transformative business practices in Ukraine can contribute not only to the formation of new trends, but also to the revolutionary transformation of economic forms – the transformation and renewal of economic consciousness.

Online Dating: Market or Bazaar? The Marriage Partner Search Process on an Orthodox Dating Site

Online Dating: Market or Bazaar? The Marriage Partner Search Process on an Orthodox Dating Site

Модернізація організаційно-комунікаційних основ державного управління галуззю охорони здоров’я

Досліджено трансформаційні зміни в системі державного управління галуззю охорони здоров’я України під впливом пандемії COVID-19 у контексті цілей медичної реформи – забезпечення здоров’я нації та підвищення ефективності охорони здоров’я. Проаналізовано організаційно-комунікаційні основи управління галуззю, що слугують базисом поєднання всіх суб’єктів управління через обласні державні адміністрації: Міністерство охорони здоров’я України, органи місцевого самоврядування, управління (відділи) охорони здоров’я міст, центральні міські (районні) лікарні, обласні лікувально-профілактичні заклади, інші заклади охорони здоров’я, населення, засоби масової інформації, інші інститути та громадські організації. Акцентовано увагу на ролі органів управління галуззю в контексті діджиталізації сервісів у межах завдань медичної реформи. У системі управління галуззю охорони здоров’я нею запропоновано вважати глибинну трансформацію, проникнення цифрових технологій у процеси оптимізації та автоматизації завдань, підвищення продуктивності та покращення комунікаційної взаємодії зі споживачами медичних послуг. Обґрунтовано доцільність модернізації організаційно-комунікаційних основ державного управління галуззю охорони здоров’я завдяки діджиталізації баз даних та галузевих сервісів.

FEATURES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DOMESTIC INSURANCE MARKET AS A COMPONENT OF THE FINANCIAL MARKET. DIRECTIONS OF ACTIVATION OF INSURANCE ACTIVITY IN THE CONDITIONS OF FORMATION OF THE DIGITAL ECONOMY

Insurance is one of the branches of the financial market that is more inclined to traditional ways of doing business and has a slow pace of technological innovation. However, the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the development of the insurance industry in the direction of its digitalization and increase investment in the process of innovation in the insurance market. According to the latest trends, 2021 is considered a record year for the innovative activity of the insurance industry, which has been faced with a number of challenges due to the global pandemic and awareness of the priority of digital transformation. The article is devoted to identifying current trends in insurance business innovation in the digital economy. The key technological trends of 2021 and how they are integrated into the sectors of health and life insurance, motor insurance and property insurance are studied. The stages of development of modern insurance technologies (InsurTech), which are innovative products in the insurance sector of financial infrastructure, are presented. Tools for digitalization of business processes of selling insurance products, accounting and tax accounting, risk underwriting, document management are presented. The main reasons for the reduction in the number of insurance companies in the domestic insurance market have been identified. It is determined that in the conditions of digital development it is appropriate for domestic insurance companies to implement such areas of activity as: customer-oriented approach, search for partners in the field of technology, protection of intellectual property.

Integrating Business, Social, and Environmental Goals in Open Innovation through Partner Selection

Although collaborative networks (CN) are widespread in academia and have come to be even more used in corporations all over the world, they still face several challenges on behalf of the new product development (NPD) context, especially in regard to the selection of the CN’s right partner. This becomes even more evident when it comes to promoting sustainable development goals within a CN’s activities, by selecting the right partners with a wide consensus from a CN’s management board, avoiding, therefore, the subjectivity around managers’ perception of a CN’s partner selection. Therefore, this work attempts to answer this problem, by presenting a soft-computing-based framework, to support the managers’ board on partner search and selection. The method presented here is further assessed by using a case study, based on the development of a green product, where, according to the obtained results, it is demonstrated that the proposed approach is extremely effective for partner selection, by assessing and prioritizing each candidate involved. The most suitable candidate that fulfills the CN’s requirements is then selected to be integrated as a future partner.

Diálogos entre o videoclipe publicitário e a gentrificação do queer

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how the gentrification of queer concept moves from physical territoriality to digital territoriality and manifests itself epistemologically in this process. This study looks, in particular, the application of the concept gentrification of queer in online partner search mobile app, based on bibliographic research and film analysis. It takes as corpus and locus to analyze such concept an advertising film in video clip format for the communication of a mobile partner search application: Grindr. With theoretical-conceptual review of studies about the territory, media technologies, surveillance, control, sexuality and queer theory, presents a critical reflection on how the application intended for the exercise of sexuality operates a new management of the queer subject in contemporary mediatized daily life, as well as analyzes the categories and aesthetic complexities of this subject under the regime of gentrification of his territory and of himself.

Mate-guarding duration is mainly influenced by the risk of sperm competition and not by female quality in a golden orb-weaver spider.

Males are expected to mate with as many females as possible, but can maximize their reproductive success through strategic mating decisions. For instance, males can increase their own fitness by mating with high quality females that produce more offspring. Additionally, males can adjust mating effort based on the relative distribution of females and male competitors. To test factors that influence male mate choice, we assessed male mating decisions in the golden silk orb-weaver spider, Trichonephila clavipes (Nephilidae), a species in which females are polyandrous, males guard females before and after copulation occurs and large males are the most successful at guarding mates. We tested the hypothesis that males spend more time guarding high quality females that are spatially isolated, and when the risk of sperm competition is higher. We also hypothesized that this effect increases with male body size. We assessed solitary and aggregated female webs in the field and quantified female quality (i.e., female body condition), male size (i.e., male body size), the risk of sperm competition (i.e., number of males in each female web), and mate-guarding duration (i.e., number of days each male spent in each web). We found that mate-guarding behaviour is largely influenced by the presence of male competitors. In addition, male body size seems to moderately influence male guarding decisions, with larger males guarding for a longer time. Finally, female body condition and type of web (i.e., solitary or aggregated) seem to play small roles in mate-guarding behaviour. As mate-guarding duration increased by 0.718 day per each additional male competitor in the web, and guarding behaviour prevents males from seeking additional mates, it seems that guarding females can be considerably costly. We conclude that failing to guard a sexual partner promotes high costs derived from sperm competition, and a male cannot recover his relative loss in fertilization success by seeking and fertilizing more females. In addition, the search for more sexual partners can be constrained by possible high costs imposed by weight loss and fights against other males, which may explain why the type of web only moderately influenced male mate choice. Following the same rationale, if high-quality females are not easy to find and/or mating with a high-quality female demands much effort, males may search females and guard them regardless of female quality. In conclusion, the factor that most influences male mate-guarding behaviour among T. clavipes in the field is the risk of sperm competition.

Vector-like quarks decaying into singly and doubly charged bosons at LHC

We investigate the production of vector-like quarks with charge 5/3 at the LHC and their subsequent decays into new singly or doubly charged bosons plus a heavy quark (top or bottom). In particular, we explore final states with same-sign di-leptons (electron or muon pairs), with the leptons coming from the decay of the new bosons and, in the case of production of singly charged bosons, from top quarks as well. These processes are predicted by classes of models based on extensions of the gauge group of the Standard Model, such as the 331 Model, where the electroweak symmetry is described by SU(3)L × U(1)X, X being a new abelian charge. For this purpose, a CMS search for vector-like partners with charge 5/3 decaying into Wt is recast to obtain model-independent bounds and projected reaches at future luminosity stages of the LHC. The results are then interpreted as mass bounds for the new particles predicted in the 331 Model and as a constraint on the scale of its spontaneous symmetry breaking. The complete set of model-independent results are provided as recast efficiencies, to allow for reinterpretation in different scenarios.