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Some nomads have their own websites and are on Facebook, which might be worth exploring. There is no typology of these nomads; some have regularity, some on highly ad hoc (just hitting the road) ventures, and some using websites, Facebook, and Internet gatherings to construct a community. Bruder mentions the I RV Daily Report i , the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous, roving GTG (get togethers), FreeCampsites.net, Kampgrounds of America, Amazon's CamperForce, and Craigslist (for job opportunities). [Extracted from the article]

The first European settlements in the new world faced technical issues with the help of the XVI century scientific advances. Besides briefly exposing the scientific and technological situation, this paper explores, with the help of reverse engineering, two singular mechanical wits representative of the technological advances introduced in America to overcome different problems. Firstly, a pump, based on an alternative movement system through crankshafts and pistons used against the continuous flooding suffered in the Ciudad de México valley. Although flooding remained a problem (it was solved in the XX century), hydraulic pumps were essential for continuous soil drainage. Secondly, a port crane for handling cannons, military devices, and construction materials during the Lima fortification in the XVII century. For both cases, reverse engineering, through engineering methods, Computer-Aided Design CAD programs, and additive manufacturing, provides virtual and/or tangible mockups that help to analyze and improve our knowledge about the dimensions, materials, and functions of used (and currently lost) mechanical systems during the American colonization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We construct scientific research cooperation networks in the field of public management to provide empirical support for exploring the trend in cooperation in the public administration domain. Based on the SSCI database, the co-authored papers in the field of public administration from 1921 to 2022 are selected as data sources. Ucient software is used to visualize the cooperation networks of countries, cities, institutions, and authors in public administration research, and to explore the spatial structure and driving factors of cooperation networks at different levels. The country-level cooperation in public administration research is closely related to geographical location and is affected by regional agreements to some extent. London and Washington are located at the center of the global public administration cooperation network, and the city-level cooperation network is affected by south-north differentiation and the east-west gap in global economic development and thus exhibits significant non-equilibrium. The institutions in the United Kingdom, America, and Canada are the main forces of international cooperation in the field of public administration and accordingly occupy a dominant position in cooperation networks. The authors' collaboration network in the public administration research shows strong centrality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Agri-silvicultures (ASC) are biocultural practices procuring either the maintenance of wild diversity in predominantly agricultural spaces or introducing agrobiodiversity into forests. In the Mesoamerican region, ASC contribute to food sovereignty and territorial conservation and provide strategies for dealing with global changes. Previous inventories of ASC identified gaps in information about these systems in the Mexican Arid America region. This article raises the general question: How have human interactions between cultural, wild, and domesticated biodiversity in this territory? The particular questions in this paper are: (i) How have historical processes shaped human interactions between wild and domesticated biodiversity in the region? and (ii) What types of agri-silvicultures have emerged in Mexican Arid America since these relationships? Methods: We trace a methodological border where archaeologists have identified the Mesoamerican region to define our study area as Arid America northern of this line in Mexico. We analyzed agriculturalization processes in Arid America through a historical review. Then, we carry out an inventory of Arid America ASC based on academic papers and other documented experiences. We constructed a spatial database and a typology to understand what kinds of agri-silviculture occur in the region. Results: We identified several pre-Hispanic agri-silvicultural practices in the region, like hunting, fishing, terraces, gathering, and irrigation systems. The cultivation of native species of maize, beans, and squash even was registered. The Spanish colonization forced the agriculturization in arid northern Mexico, where itinerant hunting-gathering patterns predominated. In the twentieth century, the Green Revolution adopted this area as the principal setting for industrialized agriculture. The industrialized irrigated systems expansion and other political strategies provoked the simplification of productive landscapes. The practices that integrate wild and agricultural diversity systems were marginalized and invisibilized in such a context. Our research group proposes seven types of agri-silvicultural systems (natives agrisilvicultures, the oases agroforestry, Mesquite and Huisache ASC, homegardens and other traditional forms of agroforestry or agri-silvicultures). These agri-silvicultures provide food, medicine, fodder, and other contributions, as income to the families that practice them and protect native and exotic species. Discussion and conclusion: The agriculturization of the arid environments initiated during Spanish colonization and the subsequent modernizing projects shaped dominant actors and ideologies in the arid north of Mexico. However, aridity has favored ancestral and agroecological relationships between cultures and biodiversity, emerging and subsisting Arid American agri-silvicultures. These agri-silvicultures deserve to be understood, adopted, and adapted to new contexts. They could be essential alternatives in the context of environmental changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the labour market effects of the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP), a programme authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to promote broadband deployment, mainly in rural areas. The BIP is one of the largest USDA broadband programmes implemented to date, providing more than $3.4 billion in grants and loans in FY 2010. We investigate the impacts of BIP investments on employment outcomes in BIP‐recipient Census tracts compared to similar tracts outside of BIP project service areas between the inception of the programme in 2010 and 2019. We use a quasi‐experimental research design that combines difference‐in‐difference regression with propensity score matching estimation to identify the causal effect of the BIP investments on employment outcomes. We find that the BIP investments had a positive overall effect on employment growth that increased over time. The subsidized investments had a greater effect on employment in startups than in incumbent businesses, in the goods‐producing sector and the information and communications technology sector than other sectors, and a greater effect in micropolitan census tracts than tracts located in metropolitan areas or in small town and remote rural locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a collection of lidar-derived aerosol intensive optical properties for several aerosol types, namely the particle linear depolarization ratio, the extinction-to-backscatter ratio (lidar ratio) and the Ångström exponent. The data collection, named DeLiAn, is based on globally distributed, long-term, ground-based, multiwavelength, Raman and polarization lidar measurements, conducted mainly with lidars that have been developed at the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research. The intensive optical properties are presented at two wavelengths, 355 and 532 nm, for 13 aerosol categories. The categories cover the basic aerosol types (i.e., marine, pollution, continental European background, volcanic ash, smoke, mineral dust), as well as the most frequently observed mixtures they form. This extensive collection also incorporates more peculiar aerosol categories, including dried marine aerosol that, compared to marine aerosol, exhibits a significantly enhanced depolarization ratio (up to 15 %). Besides Saharan dust, additional mineral dust types related to their source region were identified due to their lower lidar ratios (Central Asian and Middle Eastern dust). In addition, extreme wildfire events (such as in north America and Australia) emitted smoke into the stratosphere showing significantly different optical properties, i.e., high depolarization values (up to 25 %), compared to tropospheric smoke. The data collection reflects and underlines the variety of aerosol mixtures in the atmosphere and can be used for the development of aerosol-typing schemes. The paper contains the most up-to-date and comprehensive overview of optical properties from aerosol lidar measurements and, therefore, provides a solid basis for future aerosol retrievals in the frame of both spaceborne and ground-based lidars. Furthermore, DeLiAn can assist the efforts for the harmonization of satellite records of aerosol properties performed at different wavelengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the time when Spanish Crown was consolidating its presence in American lands through the dispatch of its royal officials, in his treaty Sobre justicia distributiva Friar Juan Zapata y Sandoval, who belonged to the Creole elite, supports the idea that men born in the New World should enjoy ecclesiastic benefits and secular trades in their republics by election, since he considers them worthy and with enough merits to be candidates. In this paper my aim is to research his actual position on these matters within the section "Acerca de la distribución de los oficios seculares" in the same treaty, to prove that Zapata could not really sustain his defense in favor of those men born in the New World. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of an energy crisis due to the Russian-Ukrainian war, the eyes of great countries such as America and others began to turn strongly towards exploiting unconventional resources to increase the oil and gas production. The first step in exploiting unconventional sources is to estimate the Total Organic Carbon (TOC). TOC measurements are expensive as well as time consuming, as samples of cuttings or core samples must be present to do the required lab tests. This issue encouraged the researchers to develop mathematical correlation to estimate the TOC. The paper aims at evaluating three of machine learning models namely medium decision tree model (MDT), support vector machine (SVM) and rational quadratic Gaussian process regression (GPR) learned based on well logs data for estimating the TOC. To reach this target, 334 datasets of TOC a function of gamma ray, formation resistivity and sonic transit time. The results showed that rational quadratic Gaussian process regression (GPR) has higher accuracy than other models in estimating TOC. GPR achieved correlation coefficient of 0.91 with root mean square error (RMSE) of 1.01% and mean average error (MAE) of 0.74%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first modern planetarium was presented in 1923 in Jena, Germany. Very soon in the subsequent years, planetariums were installed in other parts of Europe as well as in America. France, however, got its first planetarium only in 1937, for the World Exhibition organized in Paris. The team that took care of that planetarium was headed by a female amateur astronomer named Reysa Bernson. This choice might seem surprising, but it was not made at random, thanks to her never-ending astronomical activities at that time. This paper aims to bring back memories of this very active amateur astronomer of the 1920s and 1930s, and show the many ways in which astronomy was disseminated a century ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper locates Cormac McCarthy as a modern representative of a particular wing of American literary tradition and discusses the parallels between The Road and some important works of this tradition. Long before the transcendentalist views of nature as a sacred place, the first European immigrants to America described wild nature as an unfriendly domain where human beings are both punished for their sins and tested by the Supreme Being. Their perspective fits the descriptions of unfriendly nature in The Road. Besides, while the perception of nature in American culture is influenced by this wilderness concept that needs to be tamed and that needs to be civilized with human intervention, it has also been influenced by the romantic definition of nature seen after the onset of industrialism in Europe and America. The Road contains traces of both perspectives and moves them one step forward with its response to the modern environmental crisis. In this context, depending on the representations of nature and environment in the entirely devastated setting of the novel, McCarthy appears as the representative of a world where self-sustaining green nature no longer exists, and the environment covered with concrete forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes some of Anne Bradstreet’s “marriage” poems, in an attempt to show that the shift in her poetic voice, namely the turn to a more secular approach to poetry, makes her relevant today as the first published poet in America and the first American writer who struggled to establish a new literary paradigm in the New World. The poems “Before the Birth of One of Her Children,” “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” “A Letter to Her Husband, Absent Upon Public Employment”, “Another” I and "Another" II represent a shift from the “nostalgia” of English literature and the establishment of a new, feminine poetic voice, preoccupied with the condition of the woman writer and the fate of poetry in the patriarchal seventeenth-century American society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Erector spinae plane block is a technique used by anesthesiologists and pain physicians. It was introduced in 2016 and consists of an injection of local anesthetic between a vertebra and its corresponding muscle (erector spinae). It provides diffuse somatic and visceral analgesia useful for both surgery and pain therapy. In our paper we overview chronic pain, fascial blocks and erector spinae plane blocks. We give an overview of the erector spinae plane block technique, complications and possible use in chronic pain settings, highlighting the current evidence with a final overview of possible future directions of research. Chronic pain is a common, pervasive, and often disabling medical condition that affects millions of people worldwide. According to the Global Burden of Disease survey, painful chronic conditions are causing the largest numbers of years lived with disability worldwide. In America, more than one in five adults experiences chronic pain. Erector spinae plane block is a novel regional anesthesia technique used to provide analgesia with multiple possible uses and a relatively low learning curve and complication rate. Here, we review the erector spinae plane block rationale, mechanism of action and possible complications, and discuss its potential use for chronic pain with possible future directions for research [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic down turn which began in the early 1980s in Nigeria rather than declining exacerbated from the Mid-1980s as a result of the adoption of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). This has had a lot of dislocating effects on social and economic life especially for the poor who constitute majority in the society. The youth have reacted to the social dislocation by migrating to different parts of the world in search for greener pastures. However, while Europe and America have tightened the process of accessing visa, most young people have become daring in the phase of stiffer entry requirements to adopting hazardous and dangerous risks of venturing through the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea in desperation to migrate to Europe. It is against this backdrop that this paper examines the desperation of the Nigerian youth to migrate out of the country in the bid to access better life in Middle East, Europe and America. The paper further examines the social protection programmes available in Nigeria that are aimed at addressing unemployment, poverty and reducing the youth vulnerability to desperate migration. This, the paper argues is the uninformed decision to embark on migration which continues to claim lives, in the bid to cross the Mediterranean Sea. This situation has become a national embarrassment. The paper therefore calls for a review of social protection programmes and policies in order to stem desperate youth migration. Its argument is anchored on the Push and Pull Theory of Migration by Everett S. Lee and the Dual Labour Market Theory of Michael J. Piore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a collection of lidar-derived aerosol intensive optical properties for several aerosol types, namely the particle linear depolarization ratio, the extinction-to-backscatter ratio (lidar ratio) and the Ångström exponent. The data collection, named DeLiAn, is based on globally distributed, long-term, ground-based, multiwavelength, Raman and polarisation lidar measurements, conducted mainly with lidars that have been developed at the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research. The intensive optical properties are presented at two wavelengths, 355 and 532 nm, for 13 aerosol categories. The categories cover the basic aerosol types (i.e., marine, pollution, continental European background, volcanic ash, smoke, mineral dust) as well as the most frequently observed mixtures they form. This extensive collection also incorporates more peculiar aerosol categories, including dried marine aerosol that, compared to marine aerosol, exhibits a significantly enhanced depolarization ratio (up to 15 %). Besides Saharan dust, additional mineral dust types related to their source region were identified due to their lower lidar ratios (Central Asian and Middle Eastern dust). In addition, extreme wildfire events (such as in north America and Australia) emitted smoke into the stratosphere showing significant different optical properties, i.e., high depolarization values (up to 25 %), compared to tropospheric smoke. The data collection reflects and underlines the variety of aerosol mixtures in the atmosphere and can be used for the development of aerosol typing schemes. The paper contains the currently most comprehensive overview of optical properties from aerosol lidar measurements and, therefore, provides a solid basis for future aerosol retrievals in the frame of both spaceborne and ground-based lidars. Furthermore, DeLiAn can assist the efforts for harmonization of satellite records of aerosol properties performed at different wavelengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To enhance productivity, aquaculture is intensifying, with high-density fish ponds and increased feed input, contributing to nutrient load and eutrophication. Climate change further exacerbates cyanobacterial blooms and cyanotoxin production that affect aquatic organisms and consumers. A review was conducted to outline this issue from its inception - eutrophication, cyanobacterial blooms, their harmful metabolites and consequential effects (health and economic) in aquacultures. The strength of evidence regarding the relationship between cyanobacteria/cyanotoxins and potential consequences in freshwater aquacultures (fish production) globally were assessed as well, while identifying knowledge gaps and suggesting future research directions. With that aim several online databases were searched through June 2023 (from 2000), and accessible publications conducted in aquacultures with organisms for human consumption, reflecting cyanotoxin exposure, were selected. Data on cyanobacteria/cyanotoxins in aquacultures and its products worldwide were extracted and analyzed. Selected 63 papers from 22 countries were conducted in Asia (48%), Africa (22%), America (22%) and Europe (8%). Microcystis aeruginosa was most frequent, among over 150 cyanobacterial species. Cyanobacterial metabolites (mostly microcystins) were found in aquaculture water and fish from 18 countries (42 and 33 papers respectively). The most affected were small and shallow fish ponds, and omnivorous or carnivorous fish species. Cyanotoxins were detected in various fish organs, including muscles, with levels exceeding the tolerable daily intake in 60% of the studies. The majority of research was done in developing countries, employing less precise detection methods, making the obtained values estimates. To assess the risk of human exposure, the precise levels of all cyanotoxins, not just microcystins are needed, including monitoring their fate in aquatic food chains and during food processing. Epidemiological research on health consequences, setting guideline values, and continuous monitoring are necessary as well. Further efforts should focus on methods for elimination, prevention, and education. [Display omitted] • 63 publications from 22 countries are reviewed. • The global "south" tropical zones burdened with increased dependence and climatic factors conducive for blooms. • The most affected are small and shallow fish ponds, omnivorous or carnivorous fish. • Cyanotoxin levels exceeding the tolerable daily intake in 60% of the studies. • Impossible to compare values due to imprecision and lack of validated testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In recent years, there has been a significant increase in research on precision livestock farming. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the current state of research on precision livestock farming. Using the visualization tool CiteSpace, this study creates knowledge maps to display data on research countries, institutions, author collaborations, and keyword networks. Through these analyses, this study objectively reveals the dynamics, development process, and evolutionary trends of precision livestock farming research while identifying the frontiers and hotspots in the field. Precision livestock farming (PLF) utilises information technology to continuously monitor and manage livestock in real-time, which can improve individual animal health, welfare, productivity and the environmental impact of animal husbandry, contributing to the economic, social and environmental sustainability of livestock farming. PLF has emerged as a pivotal area of multidisciplinary interest. In order to clarify the knowledge evolution and hotspot replacement of PLF research, based on the relevant data from the Web of Science database from 1973 to 2023, this study analyzed the main characteristics, research cores and hot topics of PLF research via CiteSpace. The results point to a significant increase in studies on PLF, with countries having advanced livestock farming systems in Europe and America publishing frequently and collaborating closely across borders. Universities in various countries have been leading the research, with Daniel Berckmans serving as the academic leader. Research primarily focuses on animal science, veterinary science, computer science, agricultural engineering, and environmental science. Current research hotspots center around precision dairy and cattle technology, intelligent systems, and animal behavior, with deep learning, accelerometer, automatic milking systems, lameness, estrus detection, and electronic identification being the main research directions, and deep learning and machine learning represent the forefront of current research. Research hot topics mainly include social science in PLF, the environmental impact of PLF, information technology in PLF, and animal welfare in PLF. Future research in PLF should prioritize inter-institutional and inter-scholar communication and cooperation, integration of multidisciplinary and multimethod research approaches, and utilization of deep learning and machine learning. Furthermore, social science issues should be given due attention in PLF, and the integration of intelligent technologies in animal management should be strengthened, with a focus on animal welfare and the environmental impact of animal husbandry, to promote its sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The worldwide outbreak of the coronavirus was first identified in 2019 in Wuhan, China. Since then, the disease has spread worldwide. As it is currently spreading in the United States, policy makers, public health officials and citizens are racing to understand the impact of this virus on the United States healthcare system. They fear a rapid influx of patients overwhelming the healthcare system and leading to unnecessary fatalities. Most countries and states in America have introduced mitigation strategies, such as using social distancing to decrease the rate of newly infected people. This is what is usually meant by flattening the curve. In this paper, we use queueing theoretic methods to analyze the time evolution of the number of people hospitalized due to the coronavirus. Given that the rate of new infections varies over time as the pandemic evolves, we model the number of coronavirus patients as a dynamical system based on the theory of infinite server queues with time inhomogeneous Poisson arrival rates. With this model we are able to quantify how flattening the curve affects the peak demand for hospital resources. This allows us to characterize how aggressive societal policy needs to be to avoid overwhelming the capacity of healthcare system. We also demonstrate how curve flattening impacts the elapsed lag between the times of the peak rate of hospitalizations and the peak demand for the hospital resources. Finally, we present empirical evidence from Italy and the United States that supports the insights from our model analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schisandra henryi (Schisandraceae) is a plant species endemic to Yunnan Province in China and is little known in Europe and America. To date, few studies, mainly performed by Chinese researchers, have been conducted on S. henryi. The chemical composition of this plant is dominated by lignans (dibenzocyclooctadiene, aryltetralin, dibenzylbutane), polyphenols (phenolic acids, flavonoids), triterpenoids, and nortriterpenoids. The research on the chemical profile of S. henryi showed a similar chemical composition to S. chinensis—a globally known pharmacopoeial species with valuable medicinal properties whichis the best-known species of the genus Schisandra. The whole genus is characterized by the presence of the aforementioned specific dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans, known as "Schisandra lignans". This paper was intended to provide a comprehensive review of the scientific literature published on the research conducted on S. henryi, with particular emphasis on the chemical composition and biological properties. Recently, a phytochemical, biological, and biotechnological study conducted by our team highlighted the great potential of S. henryi in in vitro cultures. The biotechnological research revealed the possibilities of the use of biomass from S. henryi as an alternative to raw material that cannot be easily obtained from natural sites. Moreover, the characterization of dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans specific to the Schisandraceae family was provided. Except for several scientific studies which have confirmed the most valuable pharmacological properties of these lignans, hepatoprotective and hepatoregenerative, this article also reviews studies that have confirmed the anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, anticancer, antiviral, antioxidant, cardioprotective, and anti-osteoporotic effects and their application for treating intestinal dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Atlantic oyster of Chesapeake Bay has been the focus of intense economic and ecological pressures. In the 1 880s it was the main source for America's favorite food, and the oyster was overharvested to the point of scarcity. Three scientific discoveries concerning the oyster's material properties have been paving its way back from the brink of extinction, First William Keith Brooks studied the embryology of this oyster and showed that its shell served as a necessary part of its life cycle. Second, Roger Newell demonstrated the prodigious water filtration properties of this oyster and linked these properties to its ability to clean the estuary. The discovery of the filtration properties of the oyster was an affordance that enabled the oyster to "partner" with governmental agencies and NGOs who were attempting to restore the bay's clean water, fish, and birdlife, Third, Standish K, Allen, Ximing Guo, and their colleagues formulated a procedure that enabled the manipulation of oyster development to yield tasty, fast-growing, and disease-resistant triploid oysters. The disease-resistant oysters together with knowledge of the oyster's life cycle enabled the proliferation of the oyster by conservation groups. The goal of Chesapeake Bay conservation changed from "Save the oyster" to "Plant more oysters; help save the bay." This paper is part of a special issue entitled "Making Animal Materials in Time," edited by Laurence Douny and Lisa Onaga. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though the trademark holder registered his trademark as a domain name, legal scholars and courts did not clarify the legal character of the domain name. To this point, the debate about the nature of domain names was limited to whether the domain name is nonintellectual property or a kind of intellectual property. Even for those who believe that domain names would have intellectual property rights, the essence of this right is still wrapped up in mysteries. More often than not, the court’s decisions were limited to considering the domain name as intellectual property or not until the supreme high court in America decided to register the domain name booking.com as a trademark. This revolutionary decision would change the previous conceptions about the nature of domain names. This paper sheds light on how the supreme court decision would give the momentum to consider a domain name as a trademark, which paves the way as the author believes a domain name can be considered a digital trademark, bearing in mind that the medium, in which the domain names can be active, is the digital space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The predictions from time series data can help us sense development trends and make scientific decisions in advance. The commonly used forecasting methods with backpropagation consume a lot of computational resources. The deep echo state network (DeepESN) is an advanced prediction method with a deep neural network structure and training algorithm without backpropagation. In this paper, a Bayesian optimization algorithm (BOA) is proposed to optimize DeepESN to address the problem of increasing parameter scale. Firstly, the DeepESN was studied and constructed as the basic prediction model for the time series data. Secondly, the BOA was reconstructed, based on the DeepESN, for optimal parameter searching. The algorithm is proposed within the framework of the DeepESN. Thirdly, an experiment was conducted to verify the DeepESN with a BOA within three datasets: simulation data generated from computer programs, a real humidity dataset collected from Beijing, and a power load dataset obtained from America. Compared with the models of BP (backpropagation), LSTM (long short-term memory), GRU (gated recurrent unit), and ESN (echo state network), DeepESN obtained optimal results, which were 0.0719, 18.6707, and 764.5281 using RMSE evaluation. While getting better accuracy, the BOA optimization time was only 323.4 s, 563.2 s, and 9854 s for the three datasets. It is more efficient than grid search and grey wolf optimizer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The perennial western ragweed (Ambrosia psilostachya DC.) arrived from North America to Europe in the late nineteenth century and behaves invasive in its non-native range. Due to its efficient vegetative propagation via root suckers, A. psilostachya got naturalized in major parts of Europe forming extensive populations in Mediterranean coastal areas. The invasion history, the spreading process, the relationships among the populations as well as population structuring is not yet explored. This paper aims to give first insights into the population genetics of A. psilostachya in its non-native European range based on 60 sampled populations and 15 Simple Sequence Repeats (SSR). By AMOVA analysis we detected 10.4% of genetic variation occurring among (pre-defined) regions. These regions represent important harbors for trading goods from America to Europe that might have served as source for founder populations. Bayesian Clustering revealed that spatial distribution of genetic variation of populations is best explained by six groups, mainly corresponding to regions around important harbors. As northern populations show high degrees of clonality and lowest levels of within-population genetic diversity (mean Ho = 0.40 ± 0.09), they could preserve the initial genetic variation levels by long-lived clonal genets. In Mediterranean populations A. psilostachya expanded to millions of shoots. Some of those were obviously spread by sea current along the coast to new sites, where they initiated populations characterized by a lower genetic diversity. For the future, the invasion history in Europe might get clearer after consideration of North American source populations of western ragweed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lansium domesticum Corr. is a member of the Meliaceae family that is widely spread in tropical and subtropical region of Asia and America. Traditionally, the fruit of this plant has been consumed because of its sweet taste. However, the fruit peels and the seeds of this plant have been rarely utilized. The previous chemical investigation of this plant showed the presence of secondary metabolites with many biological activities, including cytotoxic triterpenoid. Triterpenoids is a class of secondary metabolites which contain thirty carbon atoms in the main skeleton. The high modification of this type of compound, including the ring opening, highly oxygenated carbons, and the degradation of its carbon chain to give the nor-triterpenoid structure, is responsible for its cytotoxic activity. In this paper, we isolated and elucidated the chemical structure of two new onoceranoid triterpenes, kokosanolides E (1) and F (2), from the fruit peels of L. domesticum Corr., along with a new tetranortriterpenoid, kokosanolide G (3), from the seeds of L. domesticum Corr. The structural determination of compounds 1–3 was undertaken through FTIR spectroscopic analysis, 1D and 2D NMR, mass spectrometry, as well as through a comparison of the chemical shifts of the partial structures of compounds 1–3 with the literature data. The cytotoxic properties of compounds 1–3 were tested against MCF-7 breast cancer cells using the MTT assay. Moderate activity was shown by compounds 1 and 3, with IC50 values of 45.90 and 18.41 μg/mL, respectively, while compound 2 showed no activity (IC50 168.20 μg/mL). For the onoceranoid-type triterpene, the high symmetrical structure of compound 1 is presumably the reason for its better cytotoxic activity compared with that of compound 2. Compound 3 showed moderate activity, mainly because of the presence of the furan ring, which, based on the literature, gives better cytotoxic activity in a tetranortriterpenoid-type structure. The findings of three new triterpenoid compounds from L. domesticum indicate the significant value of this plant as a source of new compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This project seeks to examine the ways in which the unique history of fetishization and criminalization of the Asian American body has been and continues to be used to justify violence against the Asian American community, especially those groups most marginalized, such as women, migrants, and sex workers. From early-held Western ideas of Asia as an exotic land ripe for conquest and resource extraction, to notions of early Asian American laborers as machine-like “coolies” who drove down wages and threatened white livelihoods, to the Atlanta tragedy against female spa workers being justified through “eliminating temptation” rhetoric, the desire to consume the Asian American body through labor and sex has been and continues to be used to justify and perpetuate violence and exclusion against the Asian diaspora in the United States. This paper will focus on how Asian and Asian American women exist at a unique intersection of labor and sex that leaves them particularly vulnerable to violence. In Part I, I will examine the development of the cultural and legal consciousness of the Asian woman in the United States and the impact of this construct upon the law. In Part II, I will explore non-carceral approaches to healing and forward movement for our communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Equity incentive, as an institutional arrangement for the coordination of the interests of shareholders and managers, has been widely implemented by public companies in developed capital markets throughout Europe and America. However, does it work and/or when might it be more effective in emerging market economies such as China? We aimed to understand the effects of equity incentive plans implemented by listed companies in China and the potential influence of the general characteristics of contracts on the effectiveness of equity incentive plans. Based on behavioral decision theory, this paper adopts a multivariate linear regression model to analyze the 1695 equity incentive plans implemented in Chinese listed companies between 2010 and 2018 with their two-year lagged performance data. The empirical results show that the operational performance of companies after implementing equity incentive plans shows a trend of polarization. In the 95% confidence interval, the effect of restrictive stock incentive and exercise-constrained variables is not significant, while the validity period has a significant positive correlation and incentive intensity has a significantly negative correlation with the company's operational performance. Furthermore, the negative effects mentioned above become more obvious with a longer plan implementation period. Based on these conclusions, we suggest that companies could adopt equity incentive plans with a relatively longer validity period and more reasonable incentive intensity. Additionally, it would be better for companies to select non-restricted stocks as incentive tools if there is no obvious preference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cymbopogon citratus belonging to the family Gramineae is an herb worldwide known as lemongrass. The prefix lemon owes to its typical lemon like odour, due to presence of citral a cyclic monoterpene. Lemongrass has phytoconstituents such as tannins, flavanoids, alkaloids, and various essential oils in this herb. Secondary active metabolites of a number of components have also been implicated in the varied pharmalogical effects of this plant. The name Cymbopogon comes from the Greek word "kymbe-pogon," which means "boat-beard". Cymbopogon citratus, a perennial fragrant grass native to South India and Sri Lanka, is now widely grown throughout tropical America and Asia. The essential oil is extracted from freshly cut and slightly dried leaves, which are used medicinally, Pharmacological properties of Cymbopogon citratus are extensively explored, however, research suggests that other species may prove helpful pharmaceutically. This review aims to discuss various aspects of lemongrass oil in respect of its properties and extractive procedure along with it identification methods. Lemon grass tea contains several biocompounds in its decoction, infusion and essential oil extracts. Anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-obesity, antinociceptive, anxiolytic and antihypertensive evidences of lemongrass tea were clearly elucidated to support initial pharmacological claims. The compounds identified in Cymbopogon citratus are mainly terpenes, alcohols, ketones, aldehyde and esters. Some of the reported phytoconstituents are essential oils that contain Citral, Citral, Nerol Geraniol, Citronellal, Terpinolene, Geranyl acetate, Myrecene and Terpinol Methylheptenone. Appreciable activity was observed against various isolates of Candida and clinical isolates of Aspergillus fumigatus, Microsporum gypseum and Trichophyton mentagrophyte. Citral is a combination oftwo stereoisomeric monoterpene aldehydes; the trans isomer geranial is in predominance to the cis isomer neral. This paper reviews recent information on extraction methods of lemongrass essential oil, its chemical composition depending on the origin of the plant, bioactivity of the oil constituents as well as potential application as a food preservative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the noticeably low presence of Canadian literature in hemispheric American literary research. The fact that hemispheric literary studies focuses on a comparison of the United States and Spanish America is partly because of Canada's marginal position in the Americas, its lack of identification with the continent, and Canadian scholars' reluctance to engage in hemispheric studies due to their insecurity concerning cultural identity and the discipline's potential imperialistic impulses. By examining a representative history of Canadian literature and several literary studies for intersections and tangencies between Canadian literature and other literatures of the Americas, this paper will demonstrate that there are natural links between them, which make a transnational comparative approach to Canadian literature both legitimate and desirable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperance literature, though widely popular in America and Britain between 1830-80, lost its allure in the decades that followed. In spite of its didactic and moralistic nature, the public eagerly consumed temperance novels, thus reciprocating contemporaneous writers' efforts to promote social ideals and mend social ills. The main aim of this paper is to redress the critical neglect that the temperance prose written by women about women has endured by looking at three literary works--two novellas and one confessional novelette--written by mid-nineteenth-century American female writers. These works serve as a prism through which the authors present generally "tabooed" afflictions such as inebriation among high-class women and society's role in perpetuating such behaviors. The essay examines the conflicting forces underlying such representations and offers an inquiry into the restrictive and hostile social climate in mid- nineteenth-century America and the lack of medical attention given to alcohol addicts as the possible causes that might have prompted women's dangerous behaviors, including inebriation. This paper also demonstrates the cautious approach that nineteenth-century female writers had to take when dealing with prevalent social ills, such as bigotry, hypocrisy and disdain directed at female drunkards. It shows how these writers, often sneered at or belittled by critics and editors, had to maneuver very carefully between the contending forces of openly critiquing social mores, on the one hand, and not being censored, on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 2029 April 13, asteroid Apophis will pass within six times of the Earth's radius (∼31 000 km above the surface) in the closest approach of this asteroid in recorded history. This event provides unique scientific opportunities to study the asteroid, its orbit, and surface characteristics at an exceptionally close distance. In this paper, we perform a novel synthetic geometrical, geographical, and temporal analysis of the conditions under which the asteroid can be observed from the Earth with a particular emphasis on the conditions and scientific opportunities for bistatic radar observations, the most feasible radar technique applicable during such a close approach. For this purpose, we compile a list of present and future radio observatories or radio facilities around the globe, which could participate in bistatic radar observation campaigns during the close approach of Apophis. We estimate signal-to-noise ratios, apparent sky rotation, surface coverage, and other observing conditions. We find that a global collaboration of observatories across Australia, Africa, Europe, and America will produce high-resolution delay-Doppler radar images with signal-to-noise ratios above 108, while covering ∼85 per cent of the asteroid surface. Moreover, if properly coordinated, the extreme approach of the asteroid might allow for radio amateur detection of the signals sent by large radio observatories, and citizen science projects could then be organized. We also find that for visual observations, the Canary Islands will offer the best observing conditions during the closest approach, both for professionals as well as for amateurs. The apparent size of Apophis will be 2–3 times larger than typically seeing, allowing for resolved images of the surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The open data revolution--a movement to liberate government-held information by publishing it online--holds enormous promise as a "force multiplier" for cash-strapped news organizations. Rather than consuming the resources of journalists and lawyers in fighting for access to government records, opening data voluntarily enables news organizations to devote their resources to adding value to government information through analysis and contextualization. But the reality of open data has yet to fully match its promise. This paper examines how and why, and recommends protocols to guide government agencies in selecting the highest-value datasets to publish. Access to government data and documents is the fuel that powers investigative reporting. But the freedom-ofinformation (FOI) laws that entitle the public and press to government-held information are notoriously frustrating to use; compliance is often incomplete, costly and slow. Voluntarily opening high-value datasets to public inspection can complement FOI laws in ways useful both to agencies (sparing them from repeat requests for the same information) and for requesters (sparing them from the adversarial process of suing for access). The first generation of government open data portals, however, has failed to garner widespread public engagement. Researchers have suggested that part of the problem is agencies' failure to prioritize publishing the data that users actually need. To illustrate the shortcomings of municipal open data sites, the authors chose 30 cities of varying sizes and checked their websites for one of the highest-priority datasets in contemporary America: Instances in which police officers use force. Predictably, the review found that big cities - with the capacity to hire well-qualified information officers - were likely to publish the data, while small towns invariably did not. Investing in open data is an investment in rebuilding frayed trust with a skeptical public. Reliable government data can be an asset in combating dis- and mis-information. But making this investment will require changing both government spending priorities and government custodians' widespread cultural predisposition toward secrecy. The authors recommend that, for open data portals to realize their civic potential, government agencies should prioritize the data they choose to publish by considering three priorities: Urgency, actionability, and verifiability. Although there is considerable controversy over whether news organizations should accept direct government subsidies, it would be uncontroversial for government agencies to support quality journalism indirectly, by lowering the barriers to obtaining useful information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Supreme Court of the United States of America has recently issued a decision in several cases that are closely related to First Amendment rights. In doing so, the Court has changed its own set of criteria from its earlier practice. The reasons for these decisions have attracted increased interest among practitioners and academics, as it is a long time since the Court has so clearly distanced itself from its own precedent and called lower courts to account for failing to take certain criteria into account. By analysing the Court's reasoning on the role of history and tradition and the compelling nature of religious belief, this paper seeks to answer the question whether the change in the Supreme Court's practice can indeed be considered truly substantial. I argue that the change is significant, but as a process is not without precedent, and is not necessarily unacceptable in terms of its consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the significance of soundscapes in the Tamil American poet Divya Victor's reconstruction of the archive of anti-South Asian violence in her acclaimed poetry collection Curb (Nightboat Books, 2021). Being a continuation of the poet's investigation of the limits of conceptual and "documental" poetics (Michael Leong), advanced in her Natural Subjects, UNSUB and Kith, Curb appropriates public and personal records to critique discrimination against the South Asian community in America's post-9/11 political landscape. Victor's poetics enact extreme witnessing, reestablishing the archive's unheard durations that her modality of the lyric upholds, and recovering locutions of the Indian diaspora eroded or erased by anti-immigrant and anti-Asian racism. Tracing the dynamics of location and locution at the sites of violent events as well as their barely audible frequencies registered in the sequence "Frequency (Alka's Testimony)," I argue that the archive's duration in Curb is extended by forms of "sonic agency" (Brandon LaBelle). I further show how, through the poetic work of hearing and sounding (including such techniques as echolocation and ventriloquy), Victor creates a simultaneously critical and lyrical space akin to auditory experience where the text's multiple durational vectors throw into sharp relief the lives "curbed," diminished, or destroyed by wounding, fear, and trauma, testifying to the extremity of the very act of witnessing. Finally, focusing on opacity as a fundamental quality of the archive, I also turn to Carolyn Chen's concrète sound compositions and Amarnath Ravva's assemblages that traverse Curb, accompanying the poet in collaborative hearing of the archive's spatial, temporal, and sonic dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study analyses the creation of the Juzgado de Indias and the problems that arise between the first Official of the new institution, Francisco de Vera, and the Cabildo of La Palma, despite the determination with which the local government defended the establishment of the institution on the island, because it was the monopolistic control of commercial traffic between Canary Islands and America. For this work, we use as primary sources the Acts of the Cabildo de La Palma between 1559 and 1599 and the royal papers included in the Archivo General de Indias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American storyteller Grace Paley (December 11, 1922-August 22, 2007) has been known for her political activism and her ability to construct powerful voices which recollected female, migrant, and urban collective experiences in post-world war ii America. In her stories, Paley emphasizes the act of storytelling as a tool for creating a collective shared experience out of individual characters, making the personal and domestic collective and political. In this paper, I will analyze the role of Paley's most prominent narrator, Faith Darwin, bridging the gap between the private and public urban spheres in three different and evolutive stories: "A Conversation with My Father" (1972), "The Long-Distance Runner" and "Faith in a Tree" (1974). These stories exemplify how Faith uses different strategies in storytelling with the purpose of achieving personal identity and empowerment through communal identification and the recollection of familiar experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses some insurgent spatial practices from the indigenous movement in Brazil considering the contemporaneous conjuncture of juridical-legal offensive. Firstly, we have offered as a background a discussion about the problem of the colonial origin imposed by the modern State in what we call America, an element that is present until today in countless conflicts of territorialities in our continent and that have repercussions on current indigenous spatial practices. Afterward, we have contextualized the juridical-legal offensive in contemporary Brazil, highlighting the thesis of the marco temporal ("time frame”) still being judged in the Federal Supreme Court and the main Bills in progress in the National Congress that constitute an antiindigenous agenda. Next, we have focused on the insurgent spatial practices, notably the retomadas and self-demarcations, and, in addition, the constitution of networks and the politics of scale. In the following section, we have deepened the analysis of a territorial experience of self-demarcation related to the Munduruku Planalto people, in Santarém, western Pará. Finally, we have concluded by highlighting the limits of the logic of the modern State facing reconquest and defense of indigenous territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change will have an impact on not only flood magnitude but also on flood timing. This paper studies the shifting in flood timing at 6167 gauging stations from 1970 to 2010, globally. The shift in flood timing and its relationship with three influential factors (maximum 7-day precipitation, soil moisture excess, and snowmelt) are investigated. There is a clear global pattern in the mean flooding date: winter (Dec–Feb) across the western Coastal America, western Europe and the Mediterranean region, summer (Jun–Aug) in the north America, the Alps, Indian Peninsula, central Asia, Japan, and austral summer (Dec–Feb) in south Africa and north Australia area. The shift in flood timing has a trend from − 22 days per decade (earlier) to 28 days per decade (delayed). Earlier floods were found extensively in the north America, Europe and northeast Australia while delayed floods were prevailing in the Amazon, Cerrado, south Africa, India and Japan. Earlier flood timing in the north America and Europe was caused by earlier snowmelt while delayed extreme soil moisture excess and precipitation have jointly led to delayed floods around the monsoon zone, including south Africa, India and Japan. This study provides an insight on the shifting mechanism of flood timing, and supports decisions on the global flood mitigation and the impact from future climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ageratina adenophora originating from central America has flooded forests, pastures, and farmland in more than 40 tropical and subtropical countries, causing huge ecological disasters and economic losses. In this paper, we intended to use a complex inoculum composed of Pseudomonas putita and Clostridium thermocellum to in-situ compost A. adenophora debris and then to compare the phytotoxicity of extracts from uncomposted and composted A. adenophora (UCA and CA respectively) to barley seed germination and young seedling growth. A field experiment was finally conducted to reveal the effects of UCA and CA on barley nutrients uptake, yield, grain quality, soil enzyme activities, microbial biomass and biodiversity. In-situ composting sharply decreased 4,7-dimethyl-1-(propan-2-ylidene)-1,4,4a,8a-tetrahydronaphthalene- 2,6(1H,7H)-dione(DTD) and 6-hydroxy-5-isopropyl-3,8-dimethyl-4a,5,6,7,8,8a-hexahydronaphthal en-2(1 H)-one(HHO) from 2096.3 and 743.7 mg kg-1 in uncomposted A. adenophora to 194.4 and 68.19 mg kg-1 in composted A. adenophora. UCAE showed negative influences on seed germination performances (except lower rates on germination percentage). The mechanism may be the inhibition of bio-macromolecules hydrolysis (including proteins, starch, and phytin) in endosperms and their hydrolysates for forming new plants. CAE promoted seed germination and seedling growth, increased chlorophyll levels in leaves, and stimulated dehydrogenase and nitrate reductase activities in plants, while UCAE got opposite performance. Compared with chemical fertilizers, application of CA in combination with chemical fertilizers significantly improved plant nutrient uptake (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium), yield, grain quality, quantity of 16S rDNA sequences, richness and diversity of bacterial communities in contrast to UCA which behaved otherwise. Taken together, the use of the microbial agent to in-situ compost A. adenophora may be an effective approach for agricultural use of A. adenophora debris as a plant-friendly organic fertilizer, being undoubtedly worth advocating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The massive wave of economic migration of Transylvanians to America in the early 20th century had a considerable impact on the lives of both those who decided to temporarily leave their homeland and those who stayed home. The Transylvanian pattern of emigration, similar to the neighbouring Central and Eastern European countries can be sum up as follows: young male peasants, poorly educated, but with high hopes and determination left for America, for highly demanding physical work, but well enough remunerated in order to allow them to return home relatively soon. This paper seeks to contribute to the rich literature on emigration, by focusing on how this phenomenon influenced the villagers of Șona, a small community in the former Făgăraș County. By analysing photos, artefacts and documents that belonged to the emigrants, the Ellis Island Passenger Search Database, and by conducting interviews with their living descendants, I focus on the personal experience of migration – individual stories of migrants, their relations with their family and the community. Thus, I try to partially recreate some biographies directly connected to the experience of migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States Preventive Services Task Force is perhaps America's best-known source of evidence-based medicine (EBM) recommendations. This paper reviews aspects of the history of one such recommendation—screening for colorectal cancer (CRC)—to explore how the Task Force evaluates the best available evidence to reach its conclusions. Although the Task Force initially believed there was inadequate evidence to recommend CRC screening in the 1980s, it later changed its mind. Indeed, by 2002, it was recommending screening colonoscopy for those aged 50 and older, "extrapolating" from the existing evidence as there were no randomized controlled trials of the procedure. By 2016, due in part to the use of an emerging analytic modality known as modeling, the Task Force supported four additional CRC screening tests that lacked randomized data. Among the reasons the Task Force gave for these decisions was the desire to improve adherence for a strategy—screening healthy, asymptomatic individuals—that it believed saved lives. During these same years, the Task Force diverged from other organizations by declining to advocate screening otherwise healthy Black patients earlier than age 50—despite the fact that such individuals had higher rates of CRC than the general population, higher mortality from the disease and earlier onset of the disease. In declining to extrapolate in this instance, the Task Force underscored the lack of reliable data that proved that the benefits of such testing would outweigh the harms. The history of CRC screening reminds us that scientific evaluation relies not only on methodological sophistication but also on a combination of intellectual, cognitive and social processes. General internists—and their patients—should realize that EBM recommendations are often not definitive but rather thoughtful data-based advice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the characteristics and distribution of shallow reservoir carbonate in an underground gas storage. This study was done on Parigi carbonate as a significant reservoir carbonate in West Java Basin. The carbonate is abundant, and it occurs at shallow depths 800 to 1000 m below sea level. This formation broadly spreads out in onshore and offshore West Java areas as platform and build-up carbonates. The development of buildup carbonates is mostly in a low relief offshore. They well-developed onshore where the build-up exhibits coral reef frameworks, high relief, reaching over 450 m in thickness. The carbonate outcrop in Palimanan, western Cirebon which has been studied is grouped into four types of lithofacies. The preservation condition of this carbonate reservoir is important, for the storage capacity can inject a big gas volume. The porosity and permeability parameters are the most influential factor in reservoir evaluation. The parameters for gas storage in this field are within the range of the existing field parameters in Europe and America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the political debate on student loan forgiveness from a religious (Christian) ethical perspective. In so doing, I answer the three specific questions. First, what are the prospects and limits of different political approaches to the issue? Second, what are the structural or ideological backgrounds that have given birth to the student loan crisis, but are not fully addressed by the president's executive ordering? Last, what is the Christian ethical response to the issue, and how could it be theologically justified? Answering these questions, I argue that it is time now for American society to reckon with the neoliberal economy of debt that has relentlessly undertaken every aspect of our social and political lives. I also contend that student debt should be regarded as a form of social gift offered by society to the future generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the ixodid tick species that are present in Colombia. The different databases reported 50 species of ticks, of which 29 belong to Amblyomma: A. auricularium, A. cajennense sensu lato (s.l.); for Colombia A. calcaratum, A. coelebs, A. crassum, A. dissimile, A. geayi, A. goeldii, A. humerale, A. longirostre, A. maculatum, A. tigrinum, A. triste, A. mixtum, A. multipunctum, A. naponense, A. neumanni, A. nodosum, A. oblongoguttatum, A. ovale, A. pacae, A. pecarium, A. patinoi, A. rotundatum, A. sabanerae, A. scalpturatum, A. tapirellum, A. varium, A. incisum, A. parvum; two Haemaphysalis species: H. juxtakochi, H. leporispalustris, two Rhipicephalus species: R. (Boophilus) microplus, R. sanguineus s.s., two Dermacentor species: Anocentor (D.) nitens, D. imitans, and 15 species of Ixodes: I. affinis, I. andinus, I. auritulus, I. bocatorensis, I. boliviensis, I. brunneus, I. fuscipes, I. lasallei, I. loricatus, I. luciae, I. montoyanus, I. pararicinus, I. tapirus, I. tropicalis, I. venezuelensis. Some of these species need to be validated, their presence confirmed, and their role as a risk for human and animal health studied. Therefore, a countrywide survey of Ixodidae ticks would be of great value to update the information presented in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global population of older people grows systematically and with age, the physical and cognitive abilities of people decline. The amount of evidence that gardening may provide substantial health benefits and enhance the quality of ageing is increasing. This paper presents a systematic review of the therapeutic effects of horticulture and gardening on clients aged ≥60 years. It encompasses articles published in English between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2021. The literature survey shows that the interest in the topic has grown significantly in recent years as over half of the published studies are from 2019 to 2021. Most of this work was done in Asia (60%), America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The most commonly used interventions were active horticultural therapy programs or gardening, but 20% of the studies explored the passive connection of being outside. The fitness of the elderly was measured using 33 psychological tests, 32 physiological and functional parameters and different kinds of self-developed questionnaires and interviews. The most commonly used psychological tests were the Geriatric Depression Scale, Self-rated Health and Quality of Life, Mini-Mental State Examination, Friendship Scale, Lubben Social Network Scale, and the Attitudes to Ageing Questionnaire. The physiological and functional parameters included heart rate variability, blood pressure, electroencephalography, brain nerve growth factors, and different types of biomarkers. The study outcomes demonstrated positive results of horticultural therapy on human health and well-being, particularly in a psychological dimension and to a smaller but still significant extent physiological aspect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ministerial circulars call not only for awareness-raising, but for a real "youth mobilisation" against global warming. These recommendations concern the neutrality of the school space within the republican framework. In order to depart from recurring debates in France, we propose here to take a detour through America, with the Little Rock affair and the Hannah Arendt's paper about claims of the State to initiate the process of social desegregation by ordering public high schools to integrate black students. But engaging youth in adults political struggles, it is not betraying education?Yet many tensions into Arendt's political philosophy suggest resting the problem of school neutrality in a less radical way when the subject concerns preservation of life, that is a necessary, although insufficient, condition of education. But, on the other hand, what to think mobilizing students by inculcating "good practices" without promoting reflection? In short, if the school, as an institution, is to serve as a relay for public policies, how should it perform the role assigned to it? Shouldn't youth mobilization take other forms than enrollment? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conquest and colonization of America between the late 15th century and the beginning of the 16th have been marked by conflicts between the Old and New World. In the midst of such tensions and with the relevant participation of Bartolomé de las Casas, a type of education had to be found to introduce and catechize the American native into a supposed civilization. The Dominican friar's proposal insisted that the preacher would be the person directly responsible for the process of Christianization/formation and he should have specific features to perform his task well, namely, a good rhetoric, an exemplary life, meekness, love and sweetness. In his book The Only Way (c. 1550, 1942), Las casas prepared a handbook of pedagogical guidelines for the friars of the Order of Preachers, based on the idea that the American native was endowed with reason and could be Christianized in a peaceful way, which was incompatible with the conquistadores' modes and activities. Current paper analyzes how Las Casas understood the task of the preacher and the characteristics he considered necessary to comply with the novel needs, especially Christianization/formation and the submission of the Native American at that specific instance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban shrinking is a phenomenon as common as urban expansion nowadays and it affects urban settlements of all sizes, especially from developed and industrialized countries in Europe, America and Asia. The paper aims to assess the patterns of shrinkage for small and medium sized towns in Oltenia region (Romania), considering demographic, economic and social indicators with a methodological approach which considers the use of different functions and applications of R packages. Thirteen selected indicators are analysed to perform the multivariate analysis on Principal Component Analysis using the prcomp() function and the ggplot2 package to visualize the patterns of urban shrinkage. Two composite indicators were additionally created to measure the extent of urban shrinkage: CSI (Composite Shrinking Index) and RDC (Regional Demographic Change) for two-time intervals. Based on the CSI, three major categories of shrinking were observed: persistent shrinkage, mild shrinking or slow evolution toward shrinking, where the vast majority of towns are found (including mining towns, where there still is a delayed restructuring of state-owned enterprises, and towns characterised by the agrarization of local economies), and stagnant/stabilized shrinkage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent paper showed that, whereas we expect pain to rise with age due to accumulated injury, physical wear and tear, and disease, the elderly in America report less pain than those in midlife. Further exploration revealed this pattern was confined to the less educated. The authors called this the 'mystery of American pain' since pain appears to rise with age in other countries irrespective of education. Revisiting this issue with the same cross-sectional data we show that what matters in explaining pain through to age 65 is whether one is working or not. The incidence of pain across the life-course is nearly identical for workers in America and elsewhere, but it is greater for non-working Americans than it is for non-workers elsewhere. As in other countries, pain is hump-shaped in age among those Americans out of work but rises a little over the life-course for those in work. Furthermore, these patterns are apparent within educational groups. We show that, if one ascribes age-specific employment rates from other OECD countries to Americans, the age profile of pain in the United States is more similar to that found elsewhere in the OECD. This is because employment rates are lower in the United States than elsewhere between ages 30 and 60: the simulation reduces the pain contribution of these non-workers to overall pain in America, so it looks somewhat similar to pain elsewhere. We conclude that what matters in explaining pain over the life-course is whether one is working or not and once that is accounted for, the patterns are consistent across the United States and the rest of the OECD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]