Popular US Research Articles

Diversity in global maize germplasm: Characterization and utilization

Maize (Zea mays L.) is not only of worldwide importance as a food, feed and as a source of diverse industrially important products, but is also a model genetic organism with immense genetic diversity. Although it was first domesticated in Mexico, maize landraces are widely found across the continents. Several studies in Mexico and other countries highlighted the genetic variability in the maize germplasm. Applications of molecular markers, particularly in the last two decades, have led to new insights into the patterns of genetic diversity in maize globally, including landraces as well as wild relatives (especially teosintes) in Latin America, helping in tracking the migration routes of maize from the centers of origin, and understanding the fate of genetic diversity during maize domestication. The genome sequencing of B73 (a highly popular US Corn Belt inbred) and Palomero (a popcorn landrace in Mexico) in the recent years are important landmarks in maize research, with significant implications to our understanding of the maize genome organization and evolution. Next-generation sequencing and high-throughput genotyping platforms promise to further revolutionize our understanding of genetic diversity and for designing strategies to utilize the genomic information for maize improvement. However, the major limiting factor to exploit the genetic diversity in crops like maize is no longer genotyping, but high-throughput and precision phenotyping. There is an urgent need to establish a global phenotyping network for comprehensive and efficient characterization of maize germplasm for an array of target traits, particularly for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance and nutritional quality. 'Seeds of Discovery' (SeeD), a novel initiative by CIMMYT with financial support from the Mexican Government for generating international public goods, has initiated intensive exploration of phenotypic and molecular diversity of maize germplasm conserved in the CIMMYT Gene Bank; this is expected to aid in effective identification and use of novel alleles and haplotypes for maize improvement. Multi-institutional efforts are required at the global level to systematically explore the maize germplasm to diversify the genetic base of elite breeding materials, create novel varieties and counter the effects of global climate changes.

Exploring the interplay of gender, discourse, and (im)politeness

Drawing upon the method of discourse analysis, this article explores the complex relationship between gender, discourse, and (im)politeness. By examining an extended excerpt of interaction taken from the popular US reality TV show The Apprentice, I examine the role of gender stereotyping and gender assumptions in the assessment of (im)politeness by the discourse participants. Following Mills (2002), I shall argue that gender plays a role in the judgments of (im)politeness by the interactants, and that judgments seem to vary among individuals. The analysis shows that a woman's relatively masculine verbal behaviour, albeit politic in view of the stereotypically ‘masculine’ context, is perceived as inappropriate and impolite. It is suggested that women professionals may be subjected to more stringent gender norms which govern what constitutes polite behaviour, as linguistic behaviour may be evaluated against the ‘norms’ of women's speech which is assumed to be stereotypically more polite than men's speech. The analysis also raises the issue of a double bind (Lakoff 1975) that women may confront regularly in the work-place.

Milk and Social Media

The advent of social networking sites and other online communities presents new opportunities and challenges for the promotion, protection, and support of breastfeeding. This study examines the presence of infant formula marketing on popular US social media sites, using the World Health Organization International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (the Code) as a framework. We examined to what extent each of 11 infant formula brands that are widely available in the US had established a social media presence in popular social media venues likely to be visited by expectant parents and families with young children. We then examined current marketing practices, using the Code as a basis for ethical marketing. Infant formula manufacturers have established a social media presence primarily through Facebook pages, interactive features on their own Web sites, mobile apps for new and expecting parents, YouTube videos, sponsored reviews on parenting blogs, and other financial relationships with parenting blogs. Violations of the Code as well as promotional practices unforeseen by the Code were identified. These practices included enabling user-generated content that promotes the use of infant formula, financial relationships between manufacturers and bloggers, and creation of mobile apps for use by parents. An additional concern identified for Code enforcement is lack of transparency in social media-based marketing. The use of social media for formula marketing may demand new strategies for monitoring and enforcing the Code in light of emerging challenges, including suggested content for upcoming consideration for World Health Assembly resolutions.

An Analysis of Korean Images in Popular US Magazines during the Korean War

An Analysis of Korean Images in Popular US Magazines during the Korean War

Reporting on Madame Nhu in the Viet Nam War: Representations of the Gendered Other

This article examines how figurations of Vietnamese women in the popular US imagination played significant roles in explaining, justifying, criticizing, or creating sympathy for US involvement in the war in Viet Nam. Bui looks to the clashes between Madame Nhu's efforts to manage her public persona with Orientalist discourses in circulation about this “dragon lady,” in both prowar and antiwar considerations.

Asymmetric effects and long memory in dynamic volatility relationships between stock returns and exchange rates

We use univariate and multivariate GARCH-type models to investigate the properties of conditional volatilities of stock returns and exchange rates, as well as their empirical relationships. Taking three European stock markets and two popular US dollar exchange rates as case study, our results show strong evidence of asymmetry and long memory in the conditional variances of all the series considered. In multivariate settings we find that bilateral relationships between stock and foreign exchange markets are highly significant for France and Germany. Moreover, both the univariate FIAPARCH and bivariate CCC-FIAPARCH models provide more accurate in-sample estimates and out-of-sample forecasts than the other competing GARCH-based specifications in almost all cases. Finally, there is evidence to support the suitability of the FIAPARCH model in forecasting portfolio's market risk exposure and the existence of diversification benefits between stock and foreign exchange markets.

Microbiological components in mainstream and sidestream cigarette smoke

BackgroundResearch has shown that tobacco smoke contains substances of microbiological origin such as ergosterol (a fungal membrane lipid) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (in the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria). The aim of the present study was to compare the amounts of ergosterol and LPS in the tobacco and mainstream (MS) and sidestream (SS) smoke of some popular US cigarettes.MethodsWe measured LPS 3-hydroxy fatty acids and fungal biomass biomarker ergosterol in the tobacco and smoke from cigarettes of 11 popular brands purchased in the US. University of Kentucky reference cigarettes were also included for comparison.ResultsThe cigarette tobacco of the different brands contained 6.88-16.17 (mean 10.64) pmol LPS and 8.27-21.00 (mean 14.05) ng ergosterol/mg. There was a direct correlation between the amounts of ergosterol and LPS in cigarette tobacco and in MS smoke collected using continuous suction; the MS smoke contained 3.65-8.23% (ergosterol) and 10.02-20.13% (LPS) of the amounts in the tobacco. Corresponding percentages were 0.30-0.82% (ergosterol) and 0.42-1.10% (LPS) for SS smoke collected without any ongoing suction, and 2.18% and 2.56% for MS smoke collected from eight two-second puffs.ConclusionsTobacco smoke is a bioaerosol likely to contain a wide range of potentially harmful bacterial and fungal components.

Queer/Palestinian Cinema: A Critical Conversation on Palestinian Queer and Women's Filmmaking

While expanding critiques of pinkwashing have drawn increasing attention to how queer issues in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories are perniciously mobilized by a network of lobby groups, Brand Israel initiatives, and international gay and lesbian organizations, these critiques often fail to consider how queer Palestinians mobilize and understand themselves. This article reports on an October 2011 panel and film screening at Yale University and the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at New York University. “Queer/Palestinian: Critical Strategies in Palestinian Queer and Women's Filmmaking” uniquely focused on questions of queerness and Palestine through a program of eight new Palestinian visual productions. The program brought together Palestinian film scholars, filmmakers, visual artists, and curators for a discussion of queer and feminist artistic practice in relation to Palestinian strategies for resistance. Together, the “Queer/Palestinian” films suggest the urgency for Palestinian visual artists to persistently generate new means of expressing, embodying, and critiquing visions for Palestinian society. Films such as Victoria Moufawad-Paul's Nus Enssas/ صيصنصن (Canada, 2011) and Raafat Hattab's Hourieh (Palestine, 2011) explore issues ranging from queer diasporic solidarity politics and challenges to out/closeted binaries and to the creative reinscription of nakba narratives. Nadia Awad's Two Adaptations of the Same Novel (US, 2011), Suzy Salamy's 1982/2006 (US, 2006), and Moufawad-Paul's Rejoice, O My Heart / يبلق اي حرفا (Canada, 2011) suggest an irreverent queer strategy by undermining the narrative conventions and visual codes of mainstream news media and popular US and Egyptian cinema. Salamy's video, previously projected through mobile exhibition on city buildings, and Eli Rezik's online “web-movies” Living Alone without Me (Palestine, 2011) and Between Us Two (Palestine, 2011) compelled a panel discussion of alternative means of distribution and exhibition. Finally, Alaa AbuAsad's Masturbate bil beit (Palestine, 2011) rounded out the program with an explicitly erotic and unapologetically political version of the meeting of “queer” and “Palestinian.”

Contemporary eco-food films: The documentary tradition

ABSTRACTThis article examines the central role food has played in documentary films as early as the Lumiere Brothers' 1895 view, Repas de bebe/Baby's Breakfast through the more recent eco-food films from United States, Canadian and European film-makers. Responding to non-fiction works of Michael Pollan, popular US documentaries such as Food, Inc. by Robert Kenner (2008) and King Corn by Aaron Woolf (2007) assert clear positions through their talking heads approach to exposition but draw on a limiting nostalgic view of food production. Austria's We Feed the World by Erwin Wagenhofer (2005) and multiple National Film Board of Canada documentaries, on the other hand, provide a depth of evaluation supported by multiple examples missing in both Food, Inc. and King Corn, yet weaken their arguments with an evenhanded approach to food ecology. Germany's Our Daily Bread by Nikolaus Geyrhalter (2005), however, comes closest to capturing the truth, offering fragmented observations that closely replicate the segmented process of industrial food production, effectively revealing its consequences to human and non-human nature because the intermediary veil of direct cinema has been lifted.

When the going gets tough, ads become straightforward but multi-appealed: The influence of the recession on financial services advertising appeals

Although many scholars and researchers have contributed to the sizeable literature on the relationship between advertising and society, few have examined economic circumstances as a meaningful force shaping advertising. This study provides the empirical evidence that changes in economic conditions, the recession in particular, can transform advertising appeals. The analysis of 1488 financial services ads placed in two popular US magazines showed that the patterns of appeals have turned to direct assertive styles in the wake of the economic crisis of the period 2008–2009. At the same time, however, ads during this recession period have used a far wider variety of strategic and tactical appeals than those in pre-recession era.

Emergency Management in China: Towards a Comprehensive Model?

In the United States, the institutional structures and processes of emergency management have been infused with ideas of Comprehensive Emergency Management (CEM) and the so-called all hazards approach since the mid-1980s. China’s new emergency management system has moved to the direction of a more CEM-like system, though some scholars and professionals advocate an even more comprehensive system. This paper examines the applicability of three popular US characteristic CEM principles in China: all-hazard, all-phase and all-stakeholder involvement. We argue that [1] the FEMA like all-hazard coordinating ministry is not an indispensable option for China; [2] integrating all-phase management [especially mitigation phase] should not only be applied in post-catastrophes reconstructions, but also in prior disaster mitigation phases; [3] too much stake has been imposed on individual leaders in vertical governmental relations which hinders opportunities on trial and error learning after an emergency. Finally, we try to contribute to the extensions of the CEM concept after comparing applications in different political and administrative contexts, and provide tentative directions for China’s CEM model.

Contesting danger: a new agenda for policy and scholarship on Central Asia

Western geopolitical discourse misrepresents and constructs Central Asia as an inherently and essentially dangerous place. This pervasive ‘discourse of danger’ obscures knowledge of the region, deforms scholarship and, because it has policy implications, actually endangers Central Asia. This article identifies how the region is made knowable to a US–UK audience through three mutually reinforcing dimensions of endangerment: Central Asia as obscure, oriental, and fractious. This is evidenced in the writings of conflict resolution and security analysts, the practices of governments, the activities of international aid agencies and numerous lurid films, documentaries and novels. The article first establishes the tradition of inscribing danger to Central Asia, in both academic and policy discourse, from the colonial experience of the nineteenth century through to the post-Soviet transition and subsequent considerations of the region in terms of the war on terror. It considers several examples of this discourse of danger including the popular US TV drama about presidential politics, The West Wing, the policy texts of ‘Washingtonian security analysis’ and accounts of danger, insecurity and urban violence in the Ferghana Valley. It is argued that popular policy and academic texts are relatively consistent across the three dimensions of endangerment. This argument is demonstrated through a discussion of how policy-making and practice is informed by this discourse of danger and of how the discourse of danger is contested within the region. The example of urban violence in Osh, Kyrgyzstan and Jalalabad, Afghanistan in 2010 demonstrates how opportunities to mitigate conflict may have been lost due to the distortions of this discourse of danger. It concludes by raising the challenge to policy-makers, journalists and academics to contest this western geopolitical discourse and provide better accounts of how danger is experienced by Central Asians.

To book or not to book: the role of hotel web site heuristics

PurposeThis study aims to examine web site heuristics and their influence on the likelihood to purchase.Design/methodology/approachA convenience sample of 28 participants was assigned a list of 30 hotel web sites to evaluate according to predetermined criteria and open‐ended questions.FindingsResults indicated that booking decisions are positively related to a web site's aesthetic appeal. The study found the presence of photographs on a hotel web site was the most significant factor impacting site appeal and influencing the booking decision. Other features affecting purchase decisions included ease of use, color, link availability, lack of web site clutter, and sites unique in appearance.Research limitations/implicationsResearch limitations included the size and composition of the sample. Respondents were college students, thus they represented a younger demographic and one which may be more tech‐savvy than other age groups. Also, the hotel web sites which were evaluated were located in one popular US tourist destination, meaning generalization to a larger population or to another industry may be limited.Practical implicationsResults showed four variables; pictures, ease of use, neat/uncluttered and plain/boring; were most significant on both site appeal and site influence. Practitioners would be well served to improve these web site elements to better accommodate customers and realize the greatest return on investment.Originality/valueThe paper investigates heuristics of hotel web sites. Findings identified areas for improvement by practitioners as well as areas for future research.

Comparison of ABTS/DPPH assays to measure antioxidant capacity in popular antioxidant-rich US foods

To evaluate the comparability of the two most common radical scavenging assays using 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, the 50 most popular antioxidant-rich fruits, vegetables and beverages in the US diet were identified and analyzed for their antioxidant capacities, total phenolics and flavonoids content. Spearmans–Rho correlation coefficients were calculated in order to characterize the relationship between antioxidant capacities, total phenolics and flavonoids content. Antioxidant capacity showed a strong positive relationship comparing both assays (ρ=0.949, p<0.001). Antioxidant capacity detected by ABTS assay was stronger positively associated with the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) from USDA database (for ABTS: ρ=0.593, p<0.001; for DPPH: ρ=0.539, p<0.001, respectively), phenolics (for ABTS: ρ=0.946, p<0.001; for DPPH: ρ=0.897, p<0.001, respectively) and flavonoids content (for ABTS: ρ=0.718, p<0.001; for DPPH: ρ=0.708, p<0.001, respectively). Antioxidant capacity detected by ABTS assay was significantly higher for fruits, vegetables and beverages compared to that by DPPH assay. The high-pigmented and hydrophilic antioxidants were better reflected by ABTS assay than DPPH assay. These data suggest that ABTS assay may be more useful than DPPH assay for detecting antioxidant capacity in a variety of foods.

The spirit of America lives here: US pro-wrestling and the post-9/11 War on Terror

This article argues that the ideological mechanisms and norms used to render the War on Terror both familiar and seemingly inevitable to a wide public have long been present in popular American culture in the form of professional wrestling. The professional wrestling performances of American company WWE attract an enormous global audience of committed followers. This article considers pro-wrestling as an example of what Jon McKenzie calls a regime of normative force, identifying similarities in structure, imagery and rhetoric between a range of WWE performances and the US-led War on Terror. The article analyses the familiar codes of pro-wrestling performance in the contexts of propaganda and ideological reaffirmation. The analysis includes the considerations of performer/spectator relationship, the slippage between fiction and reality, the centrality and inevitability of unending combat and the construction of foreignness in opposition to a paradigmatic America. Through a range of examples of post-9/11 WWE performances, this article will draw out connections between the ongoing state of combat entertainment and the popular US preparedness for an ongoing state of war.

“The End of Autocracy”: Analysing Representations of the Austro-Hungarian Dissolution as the Foundation of US Hegemonic Discourse

This paper investigates the manner in which the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was represented to the US public using a qualitative content analysis of articles from three major US newspapers in October and November, 1918. Against a geopolitical backdrop of the increasing global presence of the United States and assertion of its influence in international affairs, the analysis shows that three key themes were emphasised in the popular US political narratives at the end of World War I: national self-determination, legitimacy of governance, and the role of Eastern European diasporas and representatives in the United States. Throughout the essay, these themes are connected to key discussions of US hegemony in political geography. The critical geopolitics approach highlights how the articles signposted boundary markers of identity at a crucial, transitional point in US history, helping to crystallise an American sense of ‘Self’ increasingly based upon world leadership, and sending compelling messages about the expected behaviours of nations, states, and individuals. This work concludes that the stage was set early in the twentieth century for a phase of US global intellectual and moral leadership, and that the ascendance of US hegemony globally was accompanied by an active media project at home which sought to redefine Americans' collective sense of themselves as vanguards of liberal democratic values in a world of outdated and undemocratic regimes.

Differential Response of Southern US Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Cultivars to Ultraviolet‐B Radiation

AbstractElevated ultraviolet‐B (UV‐B; between 290 and 320 nm) radiation, because of depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, is one of the major environmental factors influencing plant metabolic processes and yield. The southern US rice cultivars contribute greatly towards US rice production, but the effects of elevated UV‐B radiation on these cultivars are not well known. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of elevated UV‐B radiation on leaf photosynthetic rate (Pn), membrane stability, pollen viability, phenolic concentration and yield of eight commercially popular southern US rice cultivars (five inbred cultivars and three hybrids). Plants were grown in a temperature‐controlled greenhouse in Beaumont, TX, USA, and were exposed to UV‐B radiation of 0, 8 or 16 kJ m−2 day−1 for 90 days. For most of the cultivars, plants grown under 8 or 16 kJ UV‐B radiation showed significant decreases in Pn, membrane stability, pollen viability, and yield compared with the plants grown under an UV‐B‐free environment, whereas there was a significant increase in leaf phenolic concentration under 16 kJ UV‐B radiation. The hybrid ‘Clearfield XL729’ performed best among the selected southern US rice cultivars under 16 kJ UV‐B radiation.

TERRORVISION

Since 9/11 there has been a proliferation of TV dramas on both sides of the Atlantic featuring Muslim characters in situations involving terrorist activities. In most instances, those Muslims from whom the threat is deemed to emanate are rhetorically placed at a distance from the nation. This essay argues that these dramas construct what we would call an ethnonormalized implied viewing subject: that is, one who is imagined either as part of, or sympathetic to, a white western consensus often organized around notions of family and patriarchy seen as under attack from the irrational nihilism of Islamist terrorism. In Fox's popular US thriller series 24, this consensus is valorized through the actions of the hero, Jack Bauer, whose instrumental violence is seen to underwrite and allow for the liberal rhetoric of his black president, David Palmer. Bauer is the bulwark standing against the dangerous infiltrations of those hostile to the workings of liberal democracy, foremost among whom are Muslims. By contrast, as an African-American, Palmer's role is to act as a father to an unruly national family and to embody a racial rapprochement through which the modern enemy, the Arab, can be more clearly identified, in the process eliding a much longer history of black and Arab anticolonial collaboration.

Gender and sexual scripts in popular US teen series: A study on the gendered discourses in One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl

In recent years, research focusing on the representation of youth and sexuality in the media has gained momentum. The sexual content in programmes can sometimes be characterized as hypersexual, and, according to Jacobson, we find such hypersexual representation in two-thirds of television programmes. Not only do the media offer teenagers more sexual content than previously, but the nature of the content itself has changed. Sexual acts are more explicitly depicted or referenced, the teenagers shown have their first sexual contact at an earlier age, and sexuality is no longer exclusively part of a committed relationship. We live in a mediated reality, and it is therefore necessary to study the content of contemporary media programmes directed at teenagers. This article examines the represented gender scripts in two popular US teen series (One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl) using a qualitative textual film analysis. Specifically, it focuses on the relation between gender and sexuality. Several stereotypical gender scripts are revealed, although more positive and emancipative discourses are found as well. A tendency to casualize sexuality is noticed, which pinpoints the possibility that it may be time to reconsider sexual licence in the twenty-first century as part of youth-as-fun instead of youth-as-trouble.

Leaching of 210Po in human saliva from smokeless tobacco

Use of smokeless tobacco (SLT) is associated with cancer of the oral cavity. 210Po, a known carcinogen present in SLT may leach into the saliva when the snuff is held in the mouth. Alpha emission from leached 210Po can cause oral tissue damage, especially in the presence of non healing ulcers seen frequently in snuff users’ mouth. Leaching of 210Po from SLT in human saliva was determined for six popular US snuff brands. 210Po was leached into human saliva for 30 min, separated radiochemically and its activity was determined by α-counting. Approximately 2–10% of 210Po present in SLT was observed to leach. Annual exposure from leached 210Po, based on average daily consumption of 15 g of SLT, was calculated to range from 1.1 to 3.8 Bq year−1.