21st Century Research Articles

Silver nanoparticles in medicine and technology: Synthesis, functionality and future prospects

Nanomaterials, particularly nanoparticles (NPs), have emerged as forefront materials of the 21st century due to their unique properties and potential applications. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are among the most attractive inorganic nanomaterials, widely used due to their significant antibacterial properties, broad-spectrum activity, and potential applications across various fields, including health, food storage, textiles, and environmental solutions. AgNPs exhibit a large surface-area-to-volume ratio, enabling enhanced interaction with bacterial cells, making them effective in medical and industrial applications. Despite concerns over their toxicity, AgNP-based products have been approved by multiple regulatory bodies. Nanoparticle synthesis methods are generally divided into physical, chemical, and biological approaches. Although physical and chemical methods are efficient, they involve toxic chemicals and energy-intensive processes. Biosynthesis, particularly plant-based, offers an eco-friendly alternative, reducing the environmental and health risks associated with chemical agents. The review also explores the therapeutic potential of AgNPs in drug delivery systems, especially in topical formulations like nanoemulsions, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs). These nanocarriers enhance drug stability, skin penetration, and controlled release, making them ideal for dermal and transdermal delivery. Moreover, the use of AgNPs in dentistry is highlighted for their bactericidal properties, which help prevent infections and implant failure, with the potential for enhancing therapeutic outcomes without common drawbacks like tooth staining. Overall, AgNPs exhibit promising applications in biomedical, pharmaceutical, and dental fields, and their novel functionalities continue to advance the development of nanotechnology-driven solutions.

Role of District Central Cooperative Banks in Financial Inclusion: A Study on Two Selected Districts of West Bengal

Financial inclusion provides the legitimate provisions of basic banking services with adequate financial securities to the unbanked population at a reasonable cost. Since the early decade of the 20th century, the cooperative system has been engaged to percolate financial inclusion in various strata of our society. Several initiatives regarding financial inclusion have been implemented in the post-independence period; however, the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) 2014 has been considered as one of the most fruitful and effective initiatives by the Government of India for opening no-frill bank accounts with zero balance facilities for financially excluded people in our country, and the cooperative banks have been playing a vital role in the process of implementing the said Yojana. The present study, based on Hooghly District Central Cooperative Bank (HDCCB) and Burdwan Central Cooperative Bank (BCCB) of West Bengal, has comprehended to investigate the role of the DCCBs in the process of financial inclusion with respect to a number of financial operations and annual changes of savings accounts over the second decade of the 21st century. The study has identified statistically significant segments of the financial operations. Those segments are consequences of several fluctuations in financial operations due to the changes in banking policy, implementation of PMJDY, demonetisation, loss of agriculture production, adverse effects of COVID-19 and also the national economic downturn. Finally, it has been observed that the implementation of PMJDY significantly gave rise to the business of the HDCCB and also acted as a threshold point of financial inclusion than its counterpart in the Burdwan district of West Bengal.

Images of the Israel-Gaza War on Instagram: A Content Analysis of Western Broadcast News Posts

This quantitative content analysis examined how popular Western broadcast news channels—BBC News, CNN, Fox News, Sky News, and MSNBC—used Instagram (IG) to cover the initial phase of the fifth Israel–Gaza war of the 21st century, which began on October 7, 2023. The research was undergirded by framing theory and the victim/defensive mode of reporting model. Overall, findings suggest that Western broadcast IG reporting was decidedly pro-Israel. Studied outlets consistently favored Israeli and pro-Israeli sources over Palestinian and pro-Palestinian sources; highlighted Israeli victims while neglecting Palestinian victims; and framed Israeli violence as self-defense while framing Palestinian violence as aggression.

Research on the influencing factors of the difference in warming rates between the east, west and central regions of North America during the 21st century

Temperature in North America (NA) is a significant focus of current climate change research. This study focuses on various climate variables and employs linear regression and correlation coefficient analysis to examine the factors influencing the differences in warming rates across the eastern, western, and central regions of NA in the 21st century, as well as the correlations between these factors and temperature. Results indicate that NA temperatures are rising with notable regional variations in warming rates. Under the influence of cloud cover, the impact of precipitation on warming rates is relatively minor, whereas radiation significantly affects warming rates. Additionally, sea level pressure influences wind patterns, thereby significantly impacting warming rates. This study highlights the complexity of regional climate dynamics in NA and provides deep insights into regional climate differences.

The Impact of ICT on Fostering Creativity in Business Education Pre-service Teachers: A Comprehensive Literature Review

Creativity is a global issue in higher education in the 21st century since it has shifted teaching and learning into learner-centered approaches meant for skills development. Studies show that 21st century skills foster creativity through technology and change how teaching can be approached in higher education. Since the workforce demands that students be able to apply their creativity, higher education must recognize its critical role in helping students get ready for it. Despite the benefits of creativity to students, literature shows that there is a profound gap between the knowledge and skills that students learn in higher education and the knowledge and skills they need in 21st century community and workplaces. Hence, this study explores the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on fostering creativity in Business Education pre-service teachers as well as suggests the strategies that could assist students to develop creative skills. The study followed the systematic literature review method PRISMA in selecting studies to be included and excluded in the synthesis of the study. The process commenced by identifying the problem and screening studies to include and exclude in the study. Only 30 studies conducted between 2013 and 2023 were screened for inclusion. Based on the literature and the two-tier model of creativity, it was identified that creativity empowers learning through interactive learning tools; can be used for personalized learning; can also be used for global collaboration; and cultivates innovative minds. The paper also suggests strategies that can effectively foster creativity, such as pedagogical training and support, professional development, mentorship programs, resource accessibility, an ICT-infused curriculum, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and technology-enhanced assessment.

Hostile Sexism Predicts Annual Within-Person Increases in Sexual Prejudice for Both Men and Women: Evidence from an 8-Year RI-CLPM

Although many Western democracies have made important strides toward egalitarianism in recent years, members of the LGB+ community continue to endure sustained animus. Yet, little empirical work has examined the ideologies that promote sexual prejudice in the twenty-first century. We address this oversight by positing that hostile sexism temporally precedes increases in sexual prejudice for both men and women. Accordingly, we used nine annual waves (2014–2023) of longitudinal panel data from a nationwide random sample of New Zealand adults to examine the within-person cross-lagged associations between ambivalent sexism and sexual prejudice across heterosexual men ( n = 22,751) and women ( n = 38,004). As hypothesized, hostile sexism (but not benevolent sexism) predicted within-person increases in sexual prejudice for both heterosexual men and heterosexual women over time. These results replicated across ethnic majority men and women, ethnic minority men (but not women), and LGB+ men (but not women), as well as when adjusting for participants’ age. Together, these results demonstrate that the pernicious effects of hostile sexism extend beyond women's rights, and highlight the importance of addressing sexism to foster broader egalitarian ideals over time. Additional online materials for this article are available on PWQ's website at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/03616843241275579 .

“Rise of the Resistance” and the Demise of Social Being: The Autolysis of Subjectivity in the Twenty-First Century

“Rise of the Resistance” and the Demise of Social Being: The Autolysis of Subjectivity in the Twenty-First Century

Six Weeks to Wellness: The Role of Breathing Exercises Based on Motor Development Pattern in Improving Fitness and Quality of Life in Overweight Elderly Women.

Background: Being overweight is a major global health epidemic of the 20th and 21st centuries, which can affect the movement system function of older adult women. This study evaluated the effects of a breathing exercise based on motor development patterns on functional fitness and quality of life in overweight older adult women. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 40 community-dwelling women aged 65-75. Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention group, which completed a 6-week breathing exercise program (three supervised and three home-based sessions per week), or a control group, which maintained usual routines. Outcome measures included cardiovascular fitness, upper and lower body flexibility, muscle strength, dynamic balance, and quality of life, assessed at baseline and post-intervention. Results: The intervention group showed significant improvements in cardiovascular fitness (p < .001, ES = 0.652), upper body flexibility (p < .001, ES = 0.652), lower body flexibility (p < .001, ES = 0.538), upper body strength (p < .001, ES = 0.538), lower body strength (p < .001, ES = 0.538), and dynamic balance (p < .001, ES = 0.475) compared to the control group. Quality of life also significantly improved in the intervention group (p < .001, ES = 0.475). Conclusion: Breathing exercises based on motor development patterns significantly enhance functional fitness and quality of life in overweight older adult women. Incorporating these exercises into regular physical activity routines may promote health and independence in older adults. Further research should explore long-term benefits and optimal exercise parameters for older adults.

Disaster risk from diarrhoeal diseases and WASH in South Africa and Botswana in MDG time

South Africa and Botswana are middle-income countries in the southern part of the African continent. They are also the two of the most developed countries in the region, where socio-economic situation is better than in many other parts of the African continent. The progression of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in these two countries can be seen as the setting stage for the disaster risk management understanding in the African region in the 21st century. This is done in this article for disaster risk management and waterborne diseases or water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) conditions in Botswana and South Africa. The authors used an open-source on the mortality in children under 5 to develop a proxy indicator for disaster risk from WASH. This dependent variable is correlated with the access to improved water and sanitation sources or facilities, and the expected lifespan at birth of the South African population. The latter indicators are used as independent variables in correlations, and they are seen as expressions of vulnerability determinants in the WASH context in South Africa and Botswana. Results indicate that the strongest prevention of the death rates from the WASH-related diseases comes from the overall status of the healthcare system in Botswana and South Africa. Socio-economic parameter played limited to no role in the determination of the diarrhoeal disease disaster risk in both the studied countries.Contribution: Access to improved drinking water sources and improved sanitation facilities played a partial role as a controlling factor in determining the WASH-related death rates. The overall functioning of the healthcare system is the most dominant factor in the disaster risk from WASH in South Africa and Botswana.

Sports Merchandise Marketing Analysis of Sports Brand Marketing Strategies Taking Nike as an Example

Since the 21st century, rising economic productivity has increased incomes, thereby shifting the focus of individuals and societies from basic needs to richer spiritual lives and healthier lifestyles. Global brands such as Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour have expanded their reach into the Chinese market, reflecting a broader societal acceptance of sports goods. The increasing prevalence of products such as Arc’teryx jackets and LULULEMON yoga wear reflects a shift in perspective on health and fitness. Consequently, the sports goods market has become highly competitive, with brands launching new products, expanding their offerings, and enhancing cost-effectiveness while maintaining quality.In order to succeed, sports brands must adopt superior quality, innovative thinking, and unique marketing strategies. This article employs SWOT and 4P analyses to examine Nike’s marketing strategy and ascertain its customer appeal and high turnover. Additionally, it identifies shortcomings in Nike’s approach and proposes solutions. Using Nike as a case study, the article investigates how sports brands can develop practical marketing strategies to secure a strong market position.

Exploring the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Humanity

This study discusses whether artificial intelligence will pose a threat to human beings. This topic is chosen as AI affects everyone in the 21st century and the problem of it being a threat will come to if nothing is done. Signs of AI can be seen everywhere, from robots to phones, and even dishwashers, this piece of technology has grown to become an irreplaceable figure in the lives of humans. However, as the speed of development of technology increases, AI might get out of control and even become a threat to people. This research has stated some threats it will cause and their solutions. Much literature written by technology experts has been read and used as references in this research to provide reliable data. This research can be used to help solve or mitigate the problem in the future as it explains in detail what could be done. From this research, it concluded that without humans doing anything to interfere with this problem, AI will threaten humans someday. However, this day might not come so soon due to factors like countries refusing to sell microchips to China because of competition. Therefore, if the solutions listed in the research are used, the probability of AI becoming a threat to people will decrease dramatically.

Balancing Athletic and Academic Excellence: A Quantitative Study of Student-Athletes' Time Management Strategies

This study focuses on the unique challenges faced by student-athletes and explores how they find a balance between competitive sports and academic pursuits. Through a one-year longitudinal study of 360 college athletes from a variety of sports and academic backgrounds, we deeply analyzed the relationship between time management strategies and academic achievement, athletic performance, and psychological health. The study used quantitative research methods to analyze the data and revealed several key time management strategies that were associated with significant improvements in academic and athletic performance. In particular, we discovered a novel "flexible focus" strategy that enabled students to quickly switch their attention between learning and training while maintaining high efficiency. In addition, the study found the moderating effects of social media use, sleep patterns, and nutritional intake on time management effects. Based on these findings, we proposed a comprehensive "dual-track development model" to provide a practical guidance framework for student-athletes, coaches, and educators. This model is not only applicable to traditional college sports programs, but also considers the emerging field of e-sports, providing a new perspective for understanding and supporting the comprehensive development of student-athletes in the 21st century. The results of this study have important implications for higher education policy, athletic training program design, and the development of student support services, providing an empirical basis for promoting the comprehensive development of student-athletes.

Changes in Extreme Daily Precipitation over the Contiguous United States from Convection-Permitting Simulations

Abstract The potential for changes in extreme precipitation events due to anthropogenic climate change may have significant societal impacts (e.g., agricultural productivity, property loss, mortality). This project uses a dynamically downscaled, convection-permitting regional climate model to investigate extreme daily precipitation in the CONUS, defined explicitly as the 99th percentile 24-h accumulated value. The simulation output includes a historical baseline (HIST; 1990–2005) and two epochs at the end of the twenty-first century (EOC; 2085–2100) under intermediate and pessimistic emissions scenarios. Independent observations illustrate that HIST admirably represents extreme precipitation climatology for most locations in the domain. Comparisons between HIST and the two EOC scenarios for the 99th percentile of daily precipitation show statistically significant increases during Dec–May across the Midwest and Ohio Valley and statistically significant decreases for the southern Great Plains during Dec–Feb. Extreme value analysis further reveals increasing variability in precipitation extremes for eight climatologically unique cities across the CONUS by the end of the twenty-first century and significant increases in return period precipitation amounts for most cities examined. These results provide additional guidance for stakeholders to reduce societal impacts and economic loss from daily precipitation extremes and create a more climate-resilient society.

Twentieth century extreme precipitation detected in a high-resolution, coastal lake-sediment record from California

AbstractCalifornia faces increasing economic and societal risks from extreme precipitation and flooding associated with atmospheric rivers (ARs) under projected twenty-first century climate warming. Lake sediments can retain signals of past extreme precipitation events, allowing reconstructions beyond the period of instrumental records. Here, we calibrate AR-related extreme precipitation from the last century to proxy data from lake sediments collected in the latitudinal zone of the highest frequency landfall for modern ARs in California. Excursions in erosional proxy data (Ti/Al) are positively and significantly correlated (rmedian = 0.45, pmedian = 0.04) with modern records of integrated vapor transport (IVT, kg m−1 s−1), a key metric of AR intensity, using correlations that incorporate age-model uncertainty. Despite the land-use change near the study site, the data suggest intense and long-lasting AR storms are identifiable in this sedimentary record. These results allow conservative inferences concerning past extreme hydrology at this site.

Exploring the Cultural Influences on Modern Chinese Jewellery

Since the turn of the twenty-first century jewellery industry of China has been showing clear signs of rapid expansion. A major contributing factor to this development has been the artistic skills of the Chinese designers who have created a separate brand for themselves globally. This paper seeks to understand the rising popularity of the designers in the light of the debate that exists in jewellery designing research field- skill vs aesthetics. The youthful Chinese brand has created a syncretistic design that showcases the traditional Chinese aesthetic (or philosophy) and tempers it with the technical skills of the West. This has led to a new phenomenon of Zhong- reviving the traditional Chinese in the light of the global West. In light of this development, young consumers who have dispensable income in their hand are now bent on purchasing customised bespoke jewellery. Various Chinese designer-artists and their aesthetic branding has been compiled together through various secondary literature review to critically analyse this new Chinese phenomenon visible in the global jewellery market.

Durability through discord – debating parliamentary procedure in Europe around the turn of the twentieth century

ABSTRACT During recent decades, the role and legitimacy of national parliaments have become increasingly topical and disputed. Parliaments seem to be on the constant defensive against criticism and challenges coming from multiple directions. New populist parties have entered the debating scene, framing parliaments as elite playgrounds and using them as stages for polarized politics. Not only mirrors of social unrest, debates in national assemblies may also be considered catalysts of social upheaval. Both stable and young democracies have been backsliding, and elected autocrats have concentrated power to small elites, harnessing public institutions for their power politics. At the same time, parliamentary democracy appears slow, short-sighted, inefficient and incapable of resolving the great dilemmas of our time. Democratic innovators are calling for more direct, deliberative and participatory forms to support, or even replace traditional parliamentary decision-making and representative democracy. 1 1 For example, D. van Reybrouck, Against Elections: The Case for Democracy, translated from Dutch by L. Waters (London, 2016); H. Landemore, Open Democracy: Reinventing Popular Rule for the Twenty-First Century (Princeton NJ, 2020). Accused of being ‘all talk, no action’, ‘political theater’ and arenas for ‘empty words’, ‘idle talk’ and ‘useless debate’, parliaments and their practices that long seemed self-evident, are now debated, abused, put aside or even neglected.

Implications of the Differences between Chinese and American k12 Education Models for China

The differences between Chinese and American K-12 education systems have garnered significant attention, yet challenges persist in integrating their strengths. This paper analyzes the structures, methodologies, and impacts of the Chinese and American education systems, focusing on student interest cultivation, development, and future employment prospects. The analysis reveals that the Chinese system excels in academic rigor and discipline, but often at the expense of creativity and student well-being. Conversely, the American system fosters creativity and critical thinking, yet struggles with maintaining academic rigor and consistency across regions. Based on these findings, this paper suggests that China should incorporate more flexible, holistic educational approaches that encourage creativity and personal growth. At the same time, the United States could benefit from adopting elements of China’s emphasis on academic discipline and mastery of core subjects, particularly in STEM fields. Both countries should also enhance global perspectives and technology integration to better prepare students for the demands of the 21st century.

Analysis of the Application of Game Theory from Multiple Aspects: Economics, Business, and Education

In the late 20th century and early 21st century, there has been extensive literature published regarding proposals of the utilization of game theory from different academic aspects, which are tedious and unnecessary work for scholars who only wish to simply learn about some of the applications of game theory. This paper summarizes and organizes a few examples of the applications of game theory using prominent existing literature from three aspects: business, economics, and education, hoping to spark scholars’ interests and provide a broad understanding for readers as to when and how game theory may be used. When applying game theory to a real-world issue in business, economics, or education, the development and design of a “game” with certain selected constraints and variables is used to replicate the real-world model using mathematical languages. Depending on the real-world conflict these models are portraying, they might be novel concepts or variations of already-existing models. The summarization of some applications of game theory may spark interest for scholars interested in the various fields explored such as business management, economics, and optimization and quickly understand current progress in the area of game theory.

Shattering Reality: Monsters from the Multiverse

Kaijū media frequently features dangerous scientific experiments as a central theme, invented by scientists who are falsely convinced that they both completely understand and control their advanced technology. In the past few decades, this has included the introduction of high-energy physics (HEP) experiments—especially mammoth particle accelerators—that, among other destructive results, allow for the entrance of equally large and dangerous creatures into our world from parallel dimensions. Public concerns voiced about the safety of the creation of two groundbreaking energy accelerators—the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in New York and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Europe—in the early 21st century are tied to related science fiction media that capitalize on such fears (including Godzilla vs. Megaguirus [2000], Pacific Rim [2013], The Cloverfield Paradox [2018], The Kaiju Preservation Society [2022]). Particular attention is paid to the Netflix original series Stranger Things (2016–) as a detailed case study. This study concludes with an analysis of scientists’ attempts to embrace the popularity of Stranger Things in their communication with the general public, and suggests that ongoing issues with conspiracy theories have been fueled in part by such attempts, coupled with long-standing issues with the HEP community and their peculiar scientific naming conventions.

THE ROLE OF CARBON DIOXIDE IN “GLOBAL WARMING” AND ITS APPROACH IN CHEMISTRY TEXTBOOKS

This study aimed to investigate the approaches taken to hypotheses describing climate drivers, especially the warming theory , in Brazilian high school chemistry textbooks from the early 21st century. We assume that the concept of the leading role of CO2 in global climate change is based mainly on theoretical data and fragments of information derived from computational climate models. In parallel, several empirical studies have pointed to the natural and cyclical nature of climate phenomena that have occurred throughout history. Therefore, we proposed to compare these studies with the content available in some of the main high school textbooks used in Brazil in the early 2000s, using Discursive Textual Analysis . According to the results, all the collections analyzed opted for unilateral warming approaches, derived from the IPCC ( Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ) reports, that is, without a comprehensive description of antagonistic and natural hypotheses about current climate change.