scholarly journals Characterizing partisan political narrative frameworks about COVID-19 on Twitter

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elise Jing ◽  
Yong-Yeol Ahn

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis that has been testing every society and exposing the critical role of local politics in crisis response. In the United States, there has been a strong partisan divide between the Democratic and Republican party’s narratives about the pandemic which resulted in polarization of individual behaviors and divergent policy adoption across regions. As shown in this case, as well as in most major social issues, strongly polarized narrative frameworks facilitate such narratives. To understand polarization and other social chasms, it is critical to dissect these diverging narratives. Here, taking the Democratic and Republican political social media posts about the pandemic as a case study, we demonstrate that a combination of computational methods can provide useful insights into the different contexts, framing, and characters and relationships that construct their narrative frameworks which individual posts source from. Leveraging a dataset of tweets from the politicians in the U.S., including the ex-president, members of Congress, and state governors, we found that the Democrats’ narrative tends to be more concerned with the pandemic as well as financial and social support, while the Republicans discuss more about other political entities such as China. We then perform an automatic framing analysis to characterize the ways in which they frame their narratives, where we found that the Democrats emphasize the government’s role in responding to the pandemic, and the Republicans emphasize the roles of individuals and support for small businesses. Finally, we present a semantic role analysis that uncovers the important characters and relationships in their narratives as well as how they facilitate a membership categorization process. Our findings concretely expose the gaps in the “elusive consensus” between the two parties. Our methodologies may be applied to computationally study narratives in various domains.

Author(s):  
Chandani Patel Chavez ◽  
Kenneth Cusi ◽  
Sushma Kadiyala

Abstract Context The burden of cirrhosis from NAFLD is reaching epidemic proportions in the United States. This calls for greater awareness among endocrinologists, who often see but may miss the diagnosis in adults with obesity or type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) who are at the highest risk. At the same time, recent studies suggest that GLP-1RAs are beneficial versus steatohepatitis (NASH) in this population. This minireview aims to assist endocrinologists to recognize the condition and recent work on the role of GLP-1RAs in NAFLD/NASH. Evidence acquisition Evidence from observational studies, randomized controlled trials, and meta-analyses. Evidence Synthesis Endocrinologists should lead multidisciplinary teams to implement recent consensus statements on NAFLD that call for screening and treatment of clinically significant fibrosis to prevent cirrhosis, especially in the high-risk groups (i.e., people with obesity, prediabetes or T2D). With no FDA-approved agents, weight loss is central to their successful management, with pharmacological treatment options limited today to vitamin E (in people without T2D) and diabetes medications that reverse steatohepatitis, such as pioglitazone or GLP-1RA. Recently the benefit of GLP-1RAs in NAFLD, suggested from earlier trials, has been confirmed in adults with biopsy-proven NASH. In 2021, the FDA also approved semaglutide for obesity management. Conclusion A paradigm change is developing between the endocrinologist’s greater awareness about their critical role to curve the epidemic of NAFLD and new clinical care pathways that include a broader use of GLP-1RAs in the management of these complex patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-164
Author(s):  
Dipendra Karki ◽  
Sushmita Upreti ◽  
Udbodh Bhandari ◽  
Sharad Rajbhandari ◽  
Niranjan Devkota ◽  
...  

Small business enterprises are widely recognized as a driving force of economic growth and development in any nation. Empirical evidence has shown that they contribute to job creation, help to alleviate poverty, and increase a nation’s level of productivity. In the exponential increase of small businesses, the role of the financial sector is crucial. This paper aims to identify the role of formal financial support in small business employment generation in Bouddhanath, Kathmandu. The study adopted a descriptive research design. Purposive sampling was used to select 285 business owners. A structured questionnaire was designed to collect their responses. Primary and secondary data was employed to analyze user status. Data analysis was performed with the help of descriptive analysis and a financial support index. The results showed that financial support plays a critical role in the enhancement of the small business sector, allowing businesses to create employment opportunities which further helps to maintain the Nepalese economy. The major challenges to the growth of small businesses in Nepal lie in securing initial funding and overreliance on credit. In addition, the ability to afford quality staff has an equally strong effect on the success of small businesses. Business growth clearly depends on the role of the formal financial sector to achieve the desired outcomes.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Salma S. Abed

Purpose The Covid-19 pandemic has affected every aspect of human life. Even though the pandemic length was not too long, a huge volume of research relating to Covid-19 has been published in different contexts. This paper aims to review the literature investigating the impact of Covid −19 on businesses generally and explore studies examining the technology role of business survival during the Covid-19 lockdowns specifically. Design/methodology/approach This study implemented the concept of a systematic review approach to review the literature that has been conducted in the business field during the Covid-19 crisis in general. Additionally, it looks into the research examining the role of technology in business survival in the Covid-19 crisis specifically. All studies were conducted in 2020. A total of 53 studies were identified and categorised into different themes. The research methods, theories and locations have also been analysed. Findings It was found that Covid-19 pandemic has affected all business sectors in several ways. Technology adoption has a critical role for business survival during the Covid-19 crises especially with small businesses. Very limited research has been conducted on the adoption of different technologies during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Originality/value This study presents the most frequent themes and topics that have been explored in the literature during the Covid-19 crisis in the business field. It highlights the methods used in addition to the theories and research locations present in this literature. Finally, it proposes the possible implications of this literature review.


Author(s):  
William H. Daughdrill

This paper will describe some of the key environmental and regulatory issues affecting development of offshore renewable energy projects in the United States. Offshore wind, wave, tidal current, and ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) projects all have unique environmental and social issues that must be addressed to the satisfaction of federal, state, and local authorities. This paper examines the existing federal regulatory schemes applicable to offshore renewable energy development in the United States including a discussion of an on-going jurisdictional debate between agencies at the U.S. federal government level. The various permitting processes for offshore renewable energy projects all involve an examination of the potential environmental and social/human effects of each proposed project. Typically, the agency with primary permitting authority must prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) or equivalent document that includes a transparent process that encourages the participation of the interested public and other affected stakeholders. While acknowledging the importance of social/human impact issues, this paper will focus primarily on the potential physical and biological effects from offshore renewable energy projects including a discussion of the uncertainty that surrounds predicting the impact of new or innovative technologies. The U.S. Department of Interior, Minerals Management Service (MMS) recently published a programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS) that includes 52 “best management practices” for reducing environmental and social impacts from offshore alternative energy projects. Finally the paper will examine the important role of environmental monitoring and adaptive management in informing regulators and developers of potential adverse impacts and adapting project design and operations to avoid or minimize these effects.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-23
Author(s):  
Lilian Milanés ◽  
Joanna Mishtal

AbstractScholarship and advocacy work regarding reproductive health have often focused on women’s experiences. Concerns about men’s sexual and reproductive healthcare (SRH) have historically been on the margins in this context. In the United States, young men are at the greatest risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), yet are the least likely to seek SRH. Based on research with 18 healthcare providers in a large public Florida university clinic, we examined providers’ perspectives about expanding men’s SRH provision and utilisation. Research findings demonstrate inconsistent provider strategies in treating men’s SRH needs and a clinical environment that has low expectations of men receiving preventive care, further perpetuating the placement of SRH responsibility upon women. This article contributes to applied and medical anthropology scholarship on health inequalities through its discussion of the challenges and barriers that contribute to poor SRH for young men and the critical role of providers in this context.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cesar V Borlongan ◽  
Hung Nguyen ◽  
Trenton Lippert ◽  
Eleonora Russo ◽  
Julian Tuazon ◽  
...  

Stroke is a major cause of death and disability in the United States and around the world with limited therapeutic option. Here, we discuss the critical role of mitochondria in stem cell-mediated rescue of stroke brain by highlighting the concept that deleting the mitochondria from stem cells abolishes the cells’ regenerative potency. The application of innovative approaches entailing generation of mitochondria-voided stem cells as well as pharmacological inhibition of mitochondrial function may elucidate the mechanism underlying transfer of healthy mitochondria to ischemic cells, thereby providing key insights in the pathology and treatment of stroke and other brain disorders plagued with mitochondrial dysfunctions.


2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 4111-4111
Author(s):  
Rita Elie El-Khoueiry ◽  
Takeru Wakatsuki ◽  
Yan Ning ◽  
Wu Zhang ◽  
Dongyun Yang ◽  
...  

4111 Background: The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathwaycontrols cell proliferation and differentiation. Disruption of this pathway has been shown in the majority of colorectal (CRC) and gastric cancer (GC). The TCF7L2 complex plays a critical role in this pathway. Interaction of TCF7L2 and β-catenin results in translocation to the nucleus and leads to up-regulation of target genes, including c-myc and cyclin D1. Previous reports have shown that TCF7L2 polymorphism rs7903146 C/T is associated with CRC risk and outcome; however, the prognostic role of this polymorphism in GC is unknown. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis of whether this polymorphism could predict outcome in GC in three independent cohorts. Methods: A total of 369 patients (pts) with histopathologically-confirmed localized GC were enrolled from Japan (n=169), the US (n=137), and Austria (n=63) between 2002 and 2010. Results: In the US cohort, pts with at least one-T allele ((T/T or C/T; n=46) showed a median TTR of 1.7 yrs vs. 4.4 yrs compared to pts homozygous C/C (n=76) (HR: 2.09 95%CI: 1.21- 3.59, p=0.0053). A similar trend was shown in the Austrian cohort, where pts harboring at least one-T allele (n=25) showed a median DFS of 2.08 yrs vs. 5.42 yrs for pts homozygous C/C (n=38) (HR: 1.79 [95%CI: 0.90-3.55], p=0.092). Moreover, in the Japanese cohort, pts homozygous for T/T demonstrated (n=2) a median DFS of 0.15 yrs vs. 4.82 yrs for pts harboring at least one-C allele (n=165) (HR: 10.5 [95%CI: 2.46-45.5], p=0.001). These results were confirmed in the OS in the US and Japanese cohorts. Pts at least one-T allele (n=46) showed a median OS of 3.3 yrs vs. 5.5 yrs for pts homozygous C/C (n=76) (HR: 2.41 95%CI: 1.28-4.53, p=0.0043) in the US cohort, while pts homozygous T/T showed (n=2) a median OS of 0.22 yrs vs 5.76 yrs for pts harboring at least one-C allele (n=165) (HR: 15.2 [95%CI: 3.50-66.7], p<0.001). Conclusions: TCF7L2 polymorphism was associated with worse prognosis in recurrence in pts with GC in three independently global cohorts. This polymorphism may be negative prognostic factor in GC regardless of ethnicity and etiology, suggesting the importance role of Wnt/β-Catenin signaling in GC.


2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 667-668
Author(s):  
Toni-Michelle C. Travis

Studies of local politics have often narrowly focused on elites, the role of competing interest groups, or the influence of the business community in making key decisions. Nelson's comparative study raises the level of discourse by drawing our attention to the often overlooked role of blacks in municipal politics. In comparing Boston and Liverpool the study expands our understanding of the similarities between racial politics in the United States and in Great Britain.


2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Petersen ◽  
Carsten-Andreas Schulz

AbstractThere is a growing scholarly consensus that Latin American regionalism has entered a new phase. For some observers, the increasing complexity of regional cooperation initiatives renders collective action ineffective. For others, the creation of new schemes signals a “posthegemonic” moment that has opened a space for collaboration on social issues. Both camps attribute this shift to the absence of the United States and the presence of left-leaning governments. By contrast, this study demonstrates that this agenda is not new, nor has the United States impeded similar initiatives in the past. In fact, the United States was instrumental in expanding regional cooperation on social issues in the early twentieth century. Instead, this article argues that agenda shifts are best explained by an evolving consensus about the role of the state. The “new agenda” is in line with historical attempts by governments to use regionalism to bolster their own domestic reforms.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document