scholarly journals The BBC Persian Service and the Islamic Revolution of 1979

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annabelle Sreberny ◽  
Massoumeh Torfeh

AbstractThis paper is the second part of a work in progress that examines the impact of seventy years of BBC Persian broadcasts to Iran. The Persian Service, established in December 1940, was originally set up by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) as one of thirty-eight language services broadcasting to strategically important areas of the world during World War Two. The first piece of research looked at three historic moments when the influence of BBC Persian broadcasts was hotly debated: the toppling of the pro-German Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, in 1941; the late 1940s, when Iran's nationalist leader, Mohammad Mossadeq, championed oil nationalization and challenged the rights hitherto enjoyed by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company; and the US-led coup of 1953 that returned the young Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to the throne. The present research focuses on a period that many Iranians consider the most influential in terms of all BBC broadcasts to Iran. The BBC Persian Service (BBCPS) became a household name during 1978, the year leading up to the revolution of 11 February 1979. Many Iranians at home and abroad tuned in to hear the latest news and developments, even as the Shah of Iran accused the BBC of fomenting revolution, an argument echoed thirty years later in the responses of the Islamic Republic to the launch of the new Persian television channel in January 2009. The research shows clearly how difficult it had become for the FCO to uphold the independence of the BBC and support their closest friend in the region when he believed that the British government must be in charge. There was indeed heated debate and discussion inside the Foreign Office as to whether Britain was sacrificing its long-term interests by allowing the BBC to continue its broadcasts when even the British ambassador in Tehran was suggesting the service should be closed down.

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 629-629
Author(s):  
Silke Metzelthin ◽  
Sandra Zwakhalen ◽  
Barbara Resnick

Abstract Functional decline in older adults often lead towards acute or long-term care. In practice, caregivers often focus on completion of care tasks and of prevention of injuries from falls. This task based, safety approach inadvertently results in fewer opportunities for older adults to be actively involved in activities. Further deconditioning and functional decline are common consequences of this inactivity. To prevent or postpone these consequences Function Focused Care (FFC) was developed meaning that caregivers adapt their level of assistance to the capabilities of older adults and stimulate them to do as much as possible by themselves. FFC was first implemented in institutionalized long-term care in the US, but has spread rapidly to other settings (e.g. acute care), target groups (e.g. people with dementia) and countries (e.g. the Netherlands). During this symposium, four presenters from the US and the Netherlands talk about the impact of FFC. The first presentation is about the results of a stepped wedge cluster trial showing a tendency to improve activities of daily living and mobility. The second presentation is about a FFC training program. FFC was feasible to implement in home care and professionals experienced positive changes in knowledge, attitude, skills and support. The next presenter reports about significant improvements regarding time spent in physical activity and a decrease in resistiveness to care in a cluster randomized controlled trial among nursing home residents with dementia. The fourth speaker presents the content and first results of a training program to implement FFC in nursing homes. Nursing Care of Older Adults Interest Group Sponsored Symposium


2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (2 (176)) ◽  
pp. 227-245
Author(s):  
Anna Reczyńska

Polish Issues in Canada During World War I The article presents the impact of World War I on Polish immigrants in Canada, the position of the Polish ethnic group in this country and the efforts of persons of Polish descent in regard to recruitment for the Polish Army in North America. Poles, who were subjects of Germany or the Austro-Hungarian Empire were treated as enemy aliens. Those people were forced to register and report to the police on a regular basis and some of them were interned in labour camps during the war. Some were released from the camps after an intervention of Polish organizations and priests. Soldiers of Polish descent, volunteers and recruits also fought in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces in Europe. Over 20,000 Polish volunteers from the US (including over 200 from Canada) enrolled in a training camp formed in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario on the border with the US. The problems with the organization and functioning of the camp, and opinions on Polish volunteers shaped the attitude of many Canadians towards the Polish diaspora and the newly established Polish state. Keywords: World War I, Polish Diaspora in Canada, Niagara-on-the-Lake camp, Haller’s Army, Colonel Arthur D’Orr LePan Streszczenie Artykuł przedstawia kilka przykładów obrazujących oddziaływanie wydarzeń I wojny światowej na żyjących w Kanadzie polskich imigrantów, pozycję polskiej grupy etnicznej w tym kraju oraz na aktywność osób polskiego pochodzenia na rzecz rekrutacji do wojska polskiego w Ameryce Północnej. Polaków, którzy byli poddanymi Niemiec lub monarchii austro-wegierskiej traktowano jak przedstawicieli państw wrogich. Mieli obowiązek rejestracji i regularnego zgłaszania się na policję a niektórzy zostali internowani w stworzonych w czasie wojny obozach pracy. Część z nich była z tych obozów zwolniona po interwencji polskich organizacji i polskich duchownych. Żołnierze polskiego pochodzenia, zarówno ochotnicy jak i poborowi, znaleźli się także w oddziałach Kanadyjskich Sił Ekspedycyjnych walczących w Europie. Ponad 20 tys. polskich ochotników z USA (w tym ponad 200 z Kanady) zgłosiło się też do obozu szkoleniowego utworzonego w Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, przy granicy z USA. Problemy z organizacją i funkcjonowaniem tego obozu oraz opinie o polskich ochotnikach, kształtowały nastawienie wielu Kanadyjczyków do polskiej grupy etnicznej i nowotworzonego Państwa Polskiego.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rainer Baule ◽  
Hannes Wilke

This paper bridges two recent studies on the role of analysts to provide new and relevant information to investors. On the one hand, the contribution of analysts to long-term price discovery on the US market is rather low. Considering earnings per share forecasts as the main output of analysts’ reports, their information share amounts to only 4.6% on average. On the other hand, trading strategies set up on these EPS forecasts are quite profitable. Self-financing portfolios yield excess returns of more than 5% over the S&P 100 index for a time period of 36 years, which is persistent after controlling for the well-known risk factors. In this paper, we discuss the link between the low information shares and the high abnormal returns. We argue that information shares of analysts cannot be higher, because otherwise their forecasts would lead to excessively profitable trading strategies which are very unlikely to persist over such a long period of time.


2020 ◽  
Vol 635 ◽  
pp. A22 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Deline ◽  
D. Queloz ◽  
B. Chazelas ◽  
M. Sordet ◽  
F. Wildi ◽  
...  

Context. The characterisation of Earth-size exoplanets through transit photometry has stimulated new generations of high-precision instruments. In that respect, the Characterising Exoplanet Satellite (CHEOPS) is designed to perform photometric observations of bright stars to obtain precise radii measurements of transiting planets. The CHEOPS instrument will have the capability to follow up bright hosts provided by radial-velocity facilities. With the recent launch of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), CHEOPS may also be able to confirm some of the long-period TESS candidates and to improve the radii precision of confirmed exoplanets. Aims. The high-precision photometry of CHEOPS relies on careful on-ground calibration of its payload. For that purpose, intensive pre-launch campaigns of measurements were carried out to calibrate the instrument and characterise its photometric performances. This work reports on the main results of these campaigns. It provides a complete analysis of data sets and estimates in-flight photometric performance by means of an end-to-end simulation. Instrumental systematics were measured by carrying out long-term calibration sequences. Using an end-to end model, we simulated transit observations to evaluate the impact of in-orbit behaviour of the satellite and to determine the achievable precision on the planetary radii measurement. Methods. After introducing key results from the payload calibration, we focussed on the data analysis of a series of long-term measurements of uniformly illuminated images. The recorded frames were corrected for instrumental effects and a mean photometric signal was computed on each image. The resulting light curve was corrected for systematics related to laboratory temperature fluctuations. Transit observations were simulated, considering the payload performance parameters. The data were corrected using calibration results and estimates of the background level and position of the stellar image. The light curve was extracted using aperture photometry and analysed with a transit model using a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. Results. In our analysis, we show that the calibration test set-up induces thermally correlated features in the data that can be corrected in post-processing to improve the quality of the light curves. We find that on-ground photometric performances of the instrument measured after this correction is of the order of 15 parts per million over five hours. Using our end-to-end simulation, we determine that measurements of planet-to-star radii ratio with a precision of 2% for a Neptune-size planet transiting a K-dwarf star and 5% for an Earth-size planet orbiting a Sun-like star are possible with CHEOPS. These values correspond to transit depths obtained with signal-to-noise ratios of 25 and 10, respectively, allowing the characterisation and detection of these planets. The pre-launch CHEOPS performances are shown to be compliant with the mission requirements.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-46
Author(s):  
Janet Currie ◽  
Michael Mueller-Smith ◽  
Maya Rossin-Slater

We study the effects of prenatal exposure to violent crime on infant health, using New York City crime records linked to mothers' addresses in birth records data. We address endogeneity of assault exposure with three strategies and find that in utero assault exposure significantly increases the incidence of adverse birth outcomes. We calculate that the annual social cost of assault during pregnancy in the US is more than $3.8 billion. Since infant health predicts long-term wellbeing and disadvantaged women are disproportionately likely to be domestic abuse victims, violence in utero may be an important channel for intergenerational transmission of inequality.


2012 ◽  
Vol 222 ◽  
pp. F2-F2

World growth is expected to remain below trend at 3.1 per cent in 2012 and 3.4 per cent in 2013.The Euro Area is forecast to contract by 0.5 per cent this year and grow only marginally next year with unemployment reaching ‘depression-era’ rates in some periphery economies. The US is likely to grow by 2 per cent in each year.Growth in Brazil, Russia, India and China will be below long-term potential next year, although ‘hard-landings’ will be avoided; the impact on advanced economies will be offset by a large gain in competitiveness.Debt to GDP ratios in OECD countries will, on average, be higher in 2014 than at present.


2007 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Fredrik Øksendal

In the period from 1877 until the outbreak of World War I, Sweden, Denmark and Norway constituted a currency area – the Scandinavian Monetary Union (SMU). They shared the same unit of account, the gold krone. Both full-bodied gold coins and token coins of the three countries served as legal tender and circulated freely within the union. Initially set up to preserve the traditional circulation of neighbouring coins in the border regions, the central bank cooperation was extended to a mutual settlement mechanism (1885) and later reciprocal acceptance of notes at par (1901). A desire for economic integration was present under the surface of this practical approach, mirroring the predominant liberal worldview of the 1870s. For instance, the Norwegian government saw a common coinage as an instrument for ‘knitting together the three nations to a single commercial territory’. In the parliamentary debate on Norwegian entry into the union a supporter argued that ‘the real objective of unity in coin had to be to bring the countries closer together’. Thus, from the outset, the SMU was a combination of practical arrangements and lofty ambitions.


2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (S310) ◽  
pp. 74-77
Author(s):  
M. Sansottera ◽  
L. Grassi ◽  
A. Giorgilli

AbstractWe study the secular dynamics of extrasolar planetary systems by extending the Lagrange-Laplace theory to high order and by including the relativistic effects. We investigate the long-term evolution of the planetary eccentricities via normal form and we find an excellent agreement with direct numerical integrations. Finally we set up a simple analytic criterion that allows to evaluate the impact of the relativistic effects in the long-time evolution.


2021 ◽  
Vol 204 (01) ◽  
pp. 91-98
Author(s):  
Cyucze Chen'

Abstract. Since entering the 21st century, trade frictions between China and the United States have occurred frequently. In response to the escalation of the US provocation, China began to impose a 25 % tariff on US soybeans. The hindrance of Sino-US soybean trade has brought new opportunities for the development of Sino-Russian soybean trade. Purpose. This article analyzes the current situation of China-Russia soybean trade cooperation in the context of Sino-US trade frictions, and analyzes the current constraints and favorable opportunities in the development of the Sino-Russian soybean trade industry. Methods. The study used monographic, abstract-logical methods and the method of comparative analysis. Results. It can be said that Sino-US trade friction has objectively injected new momentum into Sino-Russian agricultural cooperation, and soybeans have become a new growth point in Sino-Russian agricultural cooperation. In the context of the “Belt and Road” initiative and the long-term trade competition between China and the United States, it is of great significance to further strengthen Sino-Russian agricultural cooperation and increase the level of agricultural trade represented by soybeans between the two countries. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the analysis of limited factors of influence and indication of a new direction of cooperation in the field of soybeans between the PRC and the Russian Federation.


Author(s):  
Tetiana Kondakova

This article analyzes the impact of the Ukrainian diaspora on Ukraine using an extensive survey of more than sixty opinion leaders, scholars, representatives of Ukrainian organizations in the diaspora, as well as data shared by these organizations and relevant scientific literature. The article attempts to identify the main types of influences by areas and nature of the activity of the diaspora. One type of influence of the diaspora is informational or propaganda influence. Through the Ukrainian media, literature, art, scientific works, petitions, actions, and protests, the Ukrainian diaspora promotes information about Ukraine, contributing to the creation of a positive international image for the country. During the massacres and imprisonment of Ukrainian dissidents worldwide, student and human rights organizations set up committees to defend political prisoners under the leadership of Ukrainian diaspora representatives. The struggle for the release of Ukrainian political prisoners was also waged by the Ukrainian media that published self-published works (samvydav), research, memoirs, and documents of many Ukrainian political prisoners, documents and bulletins of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, as well as many other materials about Soviet arbitrariness in Ukraine. Today, all Ukrainian diaspora organizations, to a greater or lesser extent, are fighting against Russian propaganda. Another type of influence of the diaspora is political influence, i.e., the ability of the diaspora to facilitate the adoption of political decisions beneficial to Ukraine by their host countries. Ukrainian diasporas are actively lobbying for Ukraine’s interests, which resulted in the proclamation of Captive Nations Week in the USA, recognition of the Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people in 17 countries, the introduction of the Defending American Security from Kremlin Aggression Act and other bills to the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, establishment of support groups for Ukraine in the US and Canadian Parliaments, adoption of numerous laws and political documents worldwide that condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, impose sanctions on the Russian Federation, and create a legal basis for providing financial, humanitarian, and military assistance to Ukraine. The economic or financial influence of the Ukrainian diaspora on the homeland is represented by remittances sent by representatives of the diaspora to their relatives who still live in Ukraine and by financial aid provided to Ukraine by diaspora organizations and patrons to achieve specific goals. Thanks to the diaspora efforts, millions of dollars in assistance were provided to Ukraine during the years of its independence. Significant results have been achieved in the field of cultural and educational impact. The most notable examples of educational and cultural influence are the return of Ukrainian folklore and traditions to Ukraine taken away by the Soviet oppression; the establishment or restoration of organizations such as Plast, the Shevchenko Scientific Society, the Ukrainian Youth Association; organization of internship programs for Ukrainian students and young specialists; creation of advisory programs for the Government of Ukraine with the participation of highly-qualified Western specialists; transfer of know-how; and creation of training programs for Ukrainian police and army. Specific examples given in the article can demonstrate the extraordinary efforts made by the diaspora to support and assist Ukraine.


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