State Practice Research Articles

Specialty Melons Grown under High Tunnel Conditions Yield Good to Excellent Internal Quality

Interest in local foods, especially locally grown fruit, is increasing. High tunnel vegetable growers are strategically poised to meet this demand by growing specialty melons (Cucumis melo). Although specialty melons are commonly grown in high tunnels in other parts of the world, it is an uncommon practice in the midwestern United States. The objectives of this study were to evaluate 10 specialty melon cultivars for high tunnel production and measure fruit yield and internal quality. Fruit of the cultivar Eden’s Gem yielded the greatest number of marketable fruits per plant; however, these melons are small and have a loose cavity. Fruit of the cultivars Honey Orange and Divergent yielded the largest marketable fruit per plant with tighter cavities; however, the cavities were large. All cultivars had good to excellent internal quality in terms of sugar content. The production of specialty melons in the high tunnel was successful, resulting in the production of melons with good to excellent internal quality, and several yielded three to four marketable fruit per plant. Implementing a strong pest management plan for cucumber beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi) and powdery mildew (Erysiphe cichoracearum, Sphaerotheca fuliginea) is recommended to prevent yield loss, especially in locations such as the Midwest, where cucumber beetles often vector bacterial wilt (Erwinia tracheiphila).

Bayesian statistical concepts with examples from rodent toxicology studies.

The theory and practice of statistics comprises two main schools of thought: frequentist statistics and Bayesian statistics. Frequentist methods are most commonly used to analyze animal-based laboratory data, while Bayesian statistical methods have been implemented less widely and may be relatively unfamiliar to practitioners in experimental science. This paper provides a high-level overview of Bayesian statistics and how they compare with frequentist methods. Using examples in rodent toxicity research, we argue that Bayesian methods have much to offer laboratory animal researchers. We advocate for increased attention to and adoption of Bayesian methods in laboratory animal research. Bayesian statistical theory, methods, software, and education have advanced significantly in the last 30 years, making these tools more accessible than ever.

Challenges and future prospects of EU Citizenship

Abstract This paper explores the evolution, rights, challenges, and future prospects of European Union (EU) citizenship. Tracing its origins from the early stages of European integration to the present day, the paper examines the development of EU citizenship rights and their impact on individuals’ lives within the EU. It delves into the rights and benefits conferred by EU citizenship, including free movement, social entitlements, and political participation. Furthermore, the paper discusses the challenges and controversies surrounding EU citizenship, such as citizenship acquisition, integration policies, and the implications of Brexit. Through case studies and comparative analysis, it offers insights into member state practices and legal precedents shaping EU citizenship. Looking ahead, the paper explores potential reforms, challenges, and opportunities for strengthening EU citizenship in the context of evolving European integration. Additionally, it underscores the importance of citizenship education and awareness in fostering civic engagement and promoting a sense of belonging among EU citizens. By providing a comprehensive analysis of EU citizenship, this paper contributes to the ongoing discourse on European identity and integration, with implications for policymakers, scholars, and citizens alike.

Humanitarianism as a tool of statecraft: contested authority, sovereign violence, and humanity in the Syrian civil war.

This research explores the dynamics of interaction between the sovereign state and international humanitarian organisations in alleviating human suffering in the Syrian civil war. Considering civil wars as a rupture in sovereignty, its focus is on the practices of the sovereign state within its social context and the resulting implications for aid organisations. I argue that the Syrian regime has employed state violence, in tandem with administrative and bureaucratic impediments, to reassert its sovereign authority in humanitarian decision-making processes. This exercise of sovereign power is intertwined with the actions of aid organisations, thereby reshaping power dynamics among the state, aid organisations, and vulnerable populations. Through a qualitative method, I show that the deployment of state violence concomitantly pushes aid organisations, specifically the United Nations, towards enforcing the state sovereignty defined by the regime. As an effect of assertive sovereignty, interpretations of humanitarian principles and practices are continuously negotiated and constructed differently by aid organisations, even though they share a common overarching goal.

Queer Terrorists, Terrorist Queers: The Sexual Politics of Turkey’s War on Terror

How do the so-called wars on terror impact queer lives and politics? This article addresses this question by exploring the racialized gender and sexual politics of Turkey’s own brand of war on terror and its ramifications for LGBTQI+ lives. Building on long-term ethnographic fieldwork with the disabled veterans of Turkey’s Kurdish war and public culture analysis, I reveal how the political construction of Kurdish militants as queer figures goes hand in hand with state terrorization of LGBTQI+ people in contemporary Turkey. I anchor my analysis in a novel counterinsurgency trope—“terrorists in skirts”—a trope popularized by the state-controlled media for psychological warfare purposes. I argue that the voyeuristic media fascination with cross-dressing militants is both symptomatic and constructive of an Islamist-nationalist authoritarian regime where terrorism and gender and sexual nonnormativity are violently conflated in state discourse and practice.

Laughing at the state: state violence and satirical acts of citizenship in the Afro-Brazilian diaspora

This article explores acts of humour that enact citizens as political subjects in the face of state violence and practices of controlled incorporation of racialised Afro-Brazilian others. To do this I analyse hitherto unstudied material from the online memes that followed the forced disappearance of Mr Amarildo de Souza by the ‘pacifying’ police in Rio de Janeiro. Doing this I show how multi-modal online memes that take an ironic stance towards state-violence can be understood as enacting a radical equality which subverts the state-sanctioned racialised and gendered distribution of unequal functions and places that serves to ‘pacify’ threatening racialised others. Thus, I argue that the act of joking is an act of citizenship because it presupposes equality while enacting an incongruity between this equality and the reality of racist state violence, and its ostensible purpose of ‘saving’ racialised victims. In this way ironic memes can provide an important contribution to theory of citizenship, which hitherto has not involved the study of humour as a political act. Thus, if the political nature of humour involves incongruity between conceptualisation and experience, abstract and sensory/objective, sanctity and profanity, dignity and baseness, acts that ironically enact these incongruities as existing in and between state-discourse and practice are deeply political acts and need to be studied as such.

Extension studies in revascularization for left main coronary artery disease: considerations for good statistical practice and clinical guidance.

Extension studies in revascularization for left main coronary artery disease: considerations for good statistical practice and clinical guidance.

Has the National Treatment Treaty Standard Evolved into a Customary Rule of International Law?

The present paper examines whether the consistent inclusion of the National Treatment standard in various BITs has led to the emergence of a customary international law rule of similar content. To analyse this issue, the paper tailors the test established by the ICJ in the North Sea Continental Shelf cases, which examines the process of development of a treaty rule into a customary law rule. The article concludes that the mere presence of the National Treatment standard in numerous BITs does not inherently imply that it has evolved into a customary international law rule. The article argues that this is primarily because the assessment of customary international law necessitates state practice to exist separately and autonomously from treaty practice. Hence, the replication of the rule across BITs alone does not provide sufficient grounds for presuming the existence of a customary law rule. By assessing and tailoring the criteria set forth by the ICJ and considering the scholarly perspectives on this matter, this paper offers an understanding of the conditions required for the transformation of a treaty-based rule into a customary law principle. The aim is to contribute to the ongoing scholarly discourse on the development and identification of customary international law, specifically in the context of investment treaties and the National Treatment standard.

The Biological Weapons Amendment to the ICC Statute and National Provisions

Abstract After a contentious path, the amendment incorporating biological weapons into Article 8 of the ICC Statute was finally adopted in 2017. Since then, 18 states have ratified the amendment. This article examines the amendment in light of national provisions addressing the use of biological weapons in armed conflict. By discussing the national provisions before and after the amendment, it is possible to determine the effect of the amendment on subsequent national provisions. Combined with an analysis of states’ rationale for adopting relevant legislation, it is possible to assess the impact on state practice and consequently understand the significance of adopting an amendment to the ICC Statute and incorporating it into national legislation for the development or confirmation of customary international law. The lessons learned in the process could be applied to other existing or future amendments.

Inheritance, Marriage and Adoption: Changing Judicial Practices in Hyderabad State

Although Hindu banking firms in Hyderabad state had an advantage over Muslim ones because Hindu law allowed adoptions while Islamic law did not, adoptions were nonetheless a source of great conflict and division for firms. Before the late nineteenth century, inheritance practices in Hyderabad privileged both Hindu and Muslim nobles and officials, but as Hyderabad’s courts and advocates began to be connected to courts and advocates based in British India, contesting family members turned from the family and customary law generally administered in Hyderabad to the evolving standardisation of Hindu and Islamic law in British India. Hyderabad’s government, however, continued to privilege Hindu and Muslim nobles well into the twentieth century, although more research is needed about changing judicial practices in Hyderabad and other native states.

Nefarious Implications in Yasmina Khadra’s The Sirens of Baghdad

The research paper is mainly concerned with the projection of the nefarious implications as exposed in Yasmina Khadra’s The Sirens of Baghdad (2007). This novel depicts the evildoings of the American soldiers that have been practiced against the Iraqi people living in Iraq. They have committed nefarious yet shameful acts against the Iraqi individuals whom they consider their foes, whereas the latter are innocent and friendly people Evil has been an everlasting wrongdoing on earth since the creation of the world. It has been extremely embedded in the nature of man and is sure fought by good-natured people. It is no wonder to find a whole country like the United States practice evildoings against many and various nations, being the posterity of the tribes of the Vikings, Vandals, Gales, Danes and above all the Anglo-Saxons that invaded Britain, slaughtered its nation and settled in it in the fifth and sixth centuries AD and whose posterity are still oppressing other nations and invading countries all over the world. The research meticulously examines those nefarious actions made by the occupying American soldiers depicted in the titular novel, pointing out the bitter behavior of the Americans against the Iraqi nation as represented in The Sirens of Baghdad. Edward W. Said’s representations in his book Orientalism unfolds the Westerners’ crooked means in exploiting other nations, whose oriental perspective cannot be exempted from this study.

The Problem and the Solution: Centering Taxation in the History of Civil Rights

When African-American history is done well, it allows us to see the places where inequality hides. Scholars in the areas of the history of capitalism, African-American history, and urban studies have popularized the language of historical phenomena such as white flight, redlining, and privatization, in the process of explaining the origins of contemporary challenges. A reasonably educated person understands that deindustrialization at mid-century led to job losses. Every May, pundits write essays about the failure to equalize schools as the nation memorializes the anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Popular journalists Ta-Nehisi Coates and Nicole Hannah-Jones owe their careers to their study of historical work in order to leverage public-facing conversations from reparations for slavery to the politicization of the teaching of civil rights. Essentially, good history helps us search for the state practices and policies that soften the blow of inequality, assault human dignity, and normalize poverty. In his deeply researched and thoughtfully written book The Black Tax, Andrew Kahrl addresses another obscure mechanism that has historically worked to dispossess and disadvantage African Americans across regions and generations, and has ensnarled both landowners and tenants. Kahrl's book forces readers and scholars to think about the ways that a lack of federal authority and will to protect Black citizens allowed states and municipalities to assess, tax, and place liens on Black property—from vacant plots to farm land to family homes.

Migration policies and labor mobility in Africa

Labor migration appears to be one of today's solutions to the socio-economic and cultural imbalance in Africa. Its contribution to the growing interconnection of the world over the last century through the commercialization of raw materials is undoubtedly significant, given the relief it has brought to most economies in Africa and beyond. Unfortunately, a panoramic look at the legal atmosphere that hangs over labor migration in Africa leaves one wondering. The aim of this study, which complements many others already carried out on the subject, is to determine the appropriate legal interpretation of migration policies and labor mobility in Africa. According to the results of the analysis and comparison of regional and sub-regional policy frameworks and the various state practices developed in the field of labor migration, a mixed reading reveals that the genuine political will to encourage labor mobility, affirmed at supra-state level, remains inconsistent at state level.

Sharing Stories, Food and Passports: Forced Migration, Museum and Memory Activism in Contemporary Germany

ABSTRACT This article uses the online exhibition ‘Arriving: Life after Forced Migration’ by the Marienfelde Refugee Center Museum in Berlin as a case study to investigate how museum activism can contribute to creating and disseminating memories about contemporary forced migration. Employing a close visual and textual analysis of the online exhibition combined with insights from recent discourses on museum activism, migration and memory studies, the article explores which forms of memory the exhibition creates, how these memories emerge and to which end they are used. The analysis firstly illustrates how the exhibition creates a space for communicative memory to surface within the portrayed refugee families through the sharing of stories, objects and food from ‘home’. Secondly, it goes on to argue that the exhibition engages in memory activism by humanizing the portrayed individuals, exposing discriminatory state practices and challenging the audience through provocative questions. Thirdly, the article submits that this online exhibition contributes to a growing transnational archive of forced migration memories. Comprised of a multitude of online platforms dedicated to collecting, preserving and sharing forced migration stories, this archive stimulates multidirectional memory making and allows counter narratives to surface within an increasingly divided Europe.

Teacher Cultivation of Classroom Statistical Modeling Practice: A Case Study

This report characterizes forms of dialogic support that a sixth-grade teacher generated during whole-class and small-group conversations to help students develop a practice of statistical modeling. During four weeks of instruction, students constructed and revised models to account for variability and uncertainty across a variety of random processes, many of which they experienced first-hand. Data sources for the research included field notes and video recordings of classroom conversations involving the teacher. Analyses identified and characterized teacher assistance during classroom episodes in which the teacher fostered the emergence and development of fundamental aspects of statistical modeling practice. These aspects included a) establishing mappings between models of chance and the situations or processes being modeled, b) imagining outcomes as constituents of a long-run random process, c) evaluating model fit, and d) making model-based inferences. Throughout instruction, the teacher systematically helped students coordinate these distinctive aspects of modeling practice. The findings suggest how teacher practices can promote the sustained development of statistical reasoning as a dialogue between data and model, and more generally, how teacher assistance attuned to student thinking about aspects of a disciplinary practice can foster a student-centered phenomenology of that practice.

State Variation in Medicare Reimbursement for the Top 100 Cardiothoracic Surgery Procedures, 2013-2022.

Objective We analyzed changes in reimbursement rates for cardiothoracic surgery procedures from 2013 to 2022 to identify interstate variance andcompare changes in reimbursement between procedural groups. Methods The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services database was analyzed to find the 100 highest-grossing cardiothoracic surgery CPT codes from 2013 to 2022. Medicare Administrative Contractor codes were utilized to identify reimbursement for each state. The payments were adjusted for inflation utilizing the consumer price index. Procedures were weighted according to revenue, and an average yearly, inflation-adjusted percent change in reimbursement was generated for each U.S. state. Procedural groups were compared using single-factor ANOVA and post-hoc tests. Results Since 2013, the inflation-adjusted Medicare reimbursement for the top cardiothoracic surgery procedures for all U.S. states and territories decreased by a yearly average of 2.67%. Puerto Rico (-0.33%), Louisiana (-1.84%), and Alabama (-1.85%) showed the smallest change. Illinois (-3.62%), Kansas (-3.40%), and Wyoming (-3.22%) had the greatest decrease in reimbursement throughout the observed period. Pacemaker and defibrillator (mean: -20.85), valvular (-22.07%), and coronary artery bypass graft(CABG) surgery (-21.99%) procedural groups demonstrated significant differences between valvular (p=0.01) or CABG (p=0.02) and pacemaker and defibrillator. Conclusions Our study confirms that reimbursement patterns vary by geographical area. Second, geographic variation suggests an incentive for physicians to practice in states with higher Medicare reimbursement. Certain procedural groups have been affected more than others. New lobbying strategies may be needed to mitigate diminishing reimbursement so that quality of care is not impacted for Medicare beneficiaries in low reimbursement states.

Церковное и государственное строительство на Восточном Кавказе во второй половине XIX века (по материалам проповедей протоиерия Николая Котляревского)

The study of confessional issues in the Eastern Caucasus, using the example of the activities of Archpriest N.V. Kotlyarevsky, the study is devoted to, it examines the issues of moral development of the Orthodox population of the Eastern Caucasus, the ideological role of clergy in matters of family and marriage, and public service. The Orthodox clergy in the Caucasus was an integral part, the base for the implementation of the Caucasian policy in the region. The integration component of the Caucasian policy has become a priority, especially in the period from the 1930s. XIX century, when as a result of acculturation processes there was a change in management vectors - from the military-political subordination of the region to its development, by means of involvement in the trade, economic, cultural field of the empire, and the formation of a socio-cultural space. Acculturation processes, both state and domestic, came to the forefront of state policy in the region. The paper highlights the issues of the place and role of the Orthodox clergy in the spread of education in the region, charitable activities, especially in the second half of the 19th century, which was due to the influx of the empire's resettlement policy into the region. The Orthodox clergy of the Caucasus became the conductor of the state acculturation of the region, supervising the issues of matrimonial ties, the revival of Orthodoxy, its spread in the region, the value orientations of family and marriage, as well as state initiatives and practices in the Eastern Caucasus.

ПРАВОВАЯ ПОЛИТИКА ГОСУДАРСТВ-ЧЛЕНОВ ЕАЭС В СФЕРЕ РЕАЛИЗАЦИИ ПЕНСИОННЫХ ПРАВ

The article discusses issues of legal policy of the EAEU member states in the field of implementation of pension rights of citizens using the comparative method. Based on the legislative practices of states, the author examines the models of state pension systems and highlights their specifics and common, advantageous features. In the process of the study, the essence and direction of reforms of state pension systems were established, aimed at solving a number of problems in reducing social tensions, with the gradual release of the budget from the burden of pension payments, reducing the unemployment rate, which helps to increase the interest of citizens in pension savings and stimulate the personal responsibility of citizens for pension provision for a decent standard of living when acquiring pension rights. It is noted that one of the fundamental principles and norms of international law in the system of protection of social and labor human rights is the right to pension provision, guaranteed by the constitutions of the EAEU member states and their obligations to fulfill the ILO minimum social standards to provide citizens with at least 40% of the level of pensions in relation to average salary. At the same time, states should direct efforts to implement policies to ensure employment, protection against unemployment and the development of non-state investment institutions in the field of pensions.

Effects of Statistical Practices for Longitudinal Group Comparison of the Penetration-Aspiration Scale on Power and Effect Size Estimation: A Monte Carlo Simulation Study.

Multiple bolus trials are administered during clinical and research swallowing assessments to comprehensively capture an individual's swallowing function. Despite valuable information obtained from these boluses, it remains common practice to use a single bolus (e.g., the worst score) to describe the degree of dysfunction. Researchers also often collapse continuous or ordinal swallowing measures into categories, potentially exacerbating information loss. These practices may adversely affect statistical power to detect and estimate smaller, yet potentially meaningful, treatment effects. This study sought to examine the impact of aggregating and categorizing penetration-aspiration scale (PAS) scores on statistical power and effect size estimates. We used a Monte Carlo approach to simulate three hypothetical within-subject treatment studies in Parkinson's disease and head and neck cancer across a range of data characteristics (e.g., sample size, number of bolus trials, variability). Different statistical models (aggregated or multilevel) as well as various PAS reduction approaches (i.e., types of categorizations) were performed to examine their impact on power and the accuracy of effect size estimates. Across all scenarios, multilevel models demonstrated higher statistical power to detect group-level longitudinal change and more accurate estimates compared to aggregated (worst score) models. Categorizing PAS scores also reduced power and biased effect size estimates compared to an ordinal approach, though this depended on the type of categorization and baseline PAS distribution. Multilevel models should be considered as a more robust approach for the statistical analysis of multiple boluses administered in standardized swallowing protocols due to its high sensitivity and accuracy to compare group-level changes in swallowing function. Importantly, this finding appears to be consistent across patient populations with distinct pathophysiology (i.e., PD and HNC) and patterns of airway invasion. The decision to categorize a continuous or ordinal outcome should be grounded in the clinical or research question with recognition that scale reduction may negatively affect the quality of statistical inferences in certain scenarios.

A matter of choice: a cross-sectional study examining the impact of the overturning of Roe v Wade on U.S. medical students’ perceptions and career decisions

Background In June 2022, the Dobbs decision by the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections. In states with restrictive abortion laws such as Indiana, which also has the country’s largest medical school and the third worst maternal mortality rate, the impact of this ruling may be huge on the medical field. The purpose of this study was to analyze perceptions of medical students in Indiana in their third and fourth years of education after the Dobbs decision to assess if the state’s current abortion restrictions impact their career choice. Methods Between December 2022 and March 2023, an anonymous survey was carried out at Indiana University School of Medicine, which included questions about personal beliefs on abortion and the current abortion laws in Indiana, as well as priorities when choosing residency training and practice locations. Results Our survey found that four-fifths of medical students in Indiana disagreed with the Dobbs decision. While most students (71.4%) had not considered state abortion laws when selecting a medical school, since the Dobbs decision, 66.3% of third-year and 40.3% of fourth-year students indicated that they would take abortion laws into account when choosing a residency program. 47.5% of female students stated that they will be seeking residency in a state where abortion is legal and 55.3% of single students were more likely to leave Indiana to practice medicine. Conclusion Our research suggests that physicians who are more liberal in their views on abortion may now be much less likely to practice in conservative states which will compound the healthcare outcomes secondary to the Dobbs decision. We emphasize the role that abortion laws have in shaping the landscape of healthcare workforce and the need for a more nuanced understanding of how societal structures impact women's reproductive decisions and career paths in medicine.