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Historical and Social Considerations upon Tuberculosis
No full textThe present article offers a concise perspective on tuberculosis (TB) ranging from antiquity to the present day and highlights the dangerousness of the disease in the light of its historical manifestations and current antibiotic resistance. Reflections on the social and economic impact of tuberculosis are presented together with notes on TB’s interplay with malnutrition and the social stigma linked to this disease in modern times. Different types of evidence from palaeopathological to artistic ones are offered and the need for a more comprehensive understanding on the disease’s history and evolution is stressed
The “Old Lady”: Engineering Hope in a Prisoner of War Camp
No full textIn a global effort to bridge generations and preserve history, Victory in 80 Objects is a project commemorating the 80th anniversaries of VE Day (Victory in Europe) and VJ Day (Victory over Japan). It focuses on telling the stories of these victories through 80 objects curated from leading military museums, each narrating tales of courage, sacrifice, and human experience during the conflicts. Launched on May 6, 2025, the project includes an online exhibition, a book, and community outreach initiatives.
Among these significant items is Object Number 32, simply titled “Secret POW radio,” a relic with a profound connection to the Batu Lintang Teacher’s Training Institute in Kuching, Sarawak. This unassuming object represents the crucial, often life-saving, role of information for prisoners of war
Characterisation and optimisation of HIV-1-based SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus
Get PDFThis study successfully generated high-titre HIV-1-based SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus and characterised key factors influencing its infectivity including SARS-CoV-2 N incorporation. Optimising pseudovirus production and cell models can enhance assay efficiency and reproducibility, establishing a robust platform for SARS-CoV-2 research. These findings are valuable for the study of infectious diseases, serving not only as a model for spike-mediated entry but also as a tool for investigating the function of other structural proteins involved in viral assembly
The Application of Cathodic Protection to Cyanidation Processing Tanks in Gold Mining
No full textTank failures in gold mining arise from poor corrosion management, resulting in safety, environmental, production and reputational damage. Research revealed corrosion rates up to 12 mm/year in cyanidation tanks, primarily due to protective coating failures. This study tested Impressed Current Cathodic Protection (ICCP) as a means to reduce corrosion losses, proving protection is feasible without adverse effects, such as gold loss. Laboratory and site experiments demonstrated ICCP’s effectiveness, providing new corrosion mitigation data for industry application
Demystifying consumer invisibility in marketing research: Towards a conceptual framework
Get PDFThe emergence of social media and new technologies have resulted in consumers facing an increasingly complex challenge regarding invisibility. Despite this, there is mixed evidence about the notion of consumer invisibility, its impact on consumer wellbeing and the conditions under which it may be desirable or undesirable for consumers. We address this important research gap by extensively reviewing the relevant literature on consumer invisibility and related concepts. We then conceptualize consumer invisibility as a construct with three underlying dimensions (type, context, and form). Next, we identify five types of antecedents (technological, organizational, environmental, social, and individual) and three levels of outcomes (micro, meso, and macro) of consumer invisibility, with potential moderators (emerging technologies, communication media, culture, and message alignment) that may influence its impact on important consumer outcomes. Finally, we develop a Consumer Invisibility (COIN) framework with ten testable propositions about the relationships among these variables. This research would help marketing managers design products and services to serve diverse consumer groups more effectively by looking beyond surface-level interactions to uncover deeper needs of their customers
The Effectiveness of Art-based Instrumental Mentoring in Enhancing Metacognitive Awareness Among First-Year University Students
No full textAn art-based peer mentoring program was designed to facilitate peer interactions and engagement through shared art activities. These activities were specifically developed to enhance metacognitive thinking among first-year university students by offering opportunities for self-reflection, self-monitoring and evaluation. The findings of this study highlighted the importance of socially constructed metacognition and shared physical activities in promoting the first-year university experience
Investigating the role of interchangeable auditor positions: Does swapping hats impact audit quality
No full textAbstract
Purpose: This study investigates the effects of the alternating roles of audit firms on audit quality.
Specifically, we examine whether appointing a previous external (internal) audit firm as an
incumbent internal (external) audit firm impacts audit quality. We analyze the economic bonding
and knowledge spillover hypotheses associated with these role transitions.
Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on a dataset of 1,092 firm-year observations of Omani
firms from 2005 to 2020, we utilize a more robust research design to demonstrate this effect.
Specifically, we use difference-in-differences, propensity score matching, and fixed effects models
to examine the developed hypotheses.
Findings: Our findings reveal that designating a former internal (external) audit firm as the current
external (internal) audit firm results in a notable decrease (increase) in earnings quality. These
results robustly support the economic bonding (knowledge spillover) hypothesis when internal
(external) auditors switch to external (internal) auditors. We control for variables such as
outsourced internal audit functions, alternative measures for discretionary accruals, and
endogeneity. Importantly, our main results withstand these supplementary tests. We also uncover
the influence of audit committee quality and audit firm type on auditor role switching outcomes.
Additionally, we find an overlooked incentive for external auditors to transition that is rooted in
the drive to enhance auditor efficiency by embracing outsourced internal audit responsibilities.
Originality: This study contributes novel theoretical and practical insights by expanding the
scholarly discourse in uncharted directions
Suffering, Monstrosity, Exceptionality
Get PDFIn what sense — which is to say, in what forms, under what conditions, and via what mechanisms — can nonhuman beings and forces take the form or play the part of political agency? While much recent work in the fields of posthumanism, animal studies and environmental humanities has helped to highlight, against the prevailing anthropocentric prejudice, the agential power of various nonhuman beings and conditions, the specifically political dimension to that agency is often obscure and frequently assumed. This chapter sets out to explore this problematic through an analysis of diverse sites and scenes of environmental politics. In the first instance, the analysis turns on the extent to which those cases articulating the most immediately available languages and frameworks for imagining environmental politics remain delimited by the anthropocentric nature of politics-as-usual insofar as they render nonhuman entities as the passive target of anthropic violence, governmental processes and representational politics. Drawing on a broadly continental tradition of philosophical inquiry, the discussion goes on to supplement this critical reading with a speculation on the potential for more-than-human forms of agency to appear otherwise within the space of politics today
The jet paths of radio active galactic nuclei and their cluster weather
Get PDFWe studied bent radio sources within X-ray galaxy groups in the COSMOS and XMM-LSS fields. The radio data were obtained from the MeerKAT International GHz Tiered Extragalactic Explorations data release 1 (MIGHTEE-DR1) at 1.2-1.3 GHz, with angular resolutions of 8.9″ and 5″, and median noise levels of rmsmed ∼= 3.5 and 5.5 μJy/beam. Bent radio active galactic nuclei (AGN) were identified through visual inspection. Our analysis included 19 bent radio AGN in the COSMOS field and 17 in the XMM-LSS field that lie within X-ray galaxy groups (2 × 1013 ≲ M200c/M⊙ ≤ 3×1014). We investigated the relationship between their bending angle (BA) - the angle formed by the jets or lobes of two-sided radio sources associated with AGN - and the properties of their host galaxies and large-scale environment probed by the X-ray galaxy groups. Our key findings are: (a) In the XMM-LSS field, we observed a strong correlation between the linear projected size of the bent AGN, the group halo mass, and the projected distance from the group centre. This trend, consistent with previous studies, was not detected in the COSMOS sample. (b) The BA is a function of environmental density, with the type of medium playing a significant role. Additionally, at z ≤ 0.5 we found a higher number of bent sources (BA ≤ 160°) compared to higher redshifts (z ∼ 1), by a factor of >1.5. This trend aligns with magneto-hydrodynamic simulations, which suggest that denser environments and longer interaction times at lower redshifts contribute to this effect. A comparison with the literature suggests that jet bending in galaxy groups within the redshift range 0.1 < z < 1.2 is primarily driven by ram pressure exerted on the jets, which occurs during quiescent phases of AGN activity. This study underscores the role of environmental interactions in shaping the morphology of radio AGN within galaxy groups, providing insights into the interplay between large-scale structure and AGN physics