Remote Religion / Remote Region: Practicing and Researching Remote Religion in the Andaman Islands

Remoteness is an attribute that has often been negatively attached to island-spaces like the Andaman Islands, separated from the Indian mainland by the vast Bay of Bengal, located at the ‘liquid borderlands’ of South and Southeast Asia. The Covid-19 pandemic, on the other hand, has popularised the use of ‘remote’ methods of enabling religio-social interaction. The islanders of these geographically ‘remote’ locations use these ‘remote’ ways of connecting to perform their religious practices and maintain their faith networks, which is otherwise compromised due to the pandemic-induced restrictions on social gatherings. By exploring the ‘online’ global faith networks of the little-known Matua religion, as well as, the social, technical and logistical constraints in the devotees’ access to ‘remote’ religion, the paper addresses two questions: first, how do individuals play out their identities, both as islander and as devotee, ‘online’; second, what are the corresponding technological and logistical conditions that enable their ‘presence’ and who are the ‘absent’ actors. Drawing from remotely collected data, particularly online ethnography and telephonic interviews, the paper explores the mediating role of technology in destabilizing, as well as, solidifying concepts of remoteness and isolation, particularly in the peripheries of nation, during times of restricted mobility.

Community Based Prospective Study of Miscarriages in Context of Biomass Fuel Use by Tribal Women of Rural Remote Region

OBJECTIVE Community based prospective study was carried out to know about the occurrence of miscarriages in context of Biomass fuel use by rural tribal, pregnant women. DESIGN Cross-sectional analysis. SETTING Villages and Dr. Sushila Nayar Hospital, Utavali, Melghat, Amravati Maharashtra. POPULATION Study in 100 villages, all pregnancies included. METHODS After approval of the institute’s ethics committee, study was conducted in 100 villages. After base information, villages were divided into 50 study, 50 controls, subdivided into 40 study villages with advocacy for protection from ill effects of Biomass fuel, 40 non-advocacy controls and 10 study villages where in addition to advocacy Chimneys were fixed on roofs of huts with no windows, for exit of smoke and 10 controls where neither advocacy was done nor Chimneys were fixed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Change in occurrence of miscarriage with Biomass fuel use. RESULTS In 50 study villages, of 1005 pregnancies, 2.8% reported miscarriages and in 50 controls, of 1097 pregnancies 3.1% had miscarriage. Of 2700 pregnancies in 40 Advocacy study villages 6.6%, of 40 controls of 2700 pregnancies, 10.5% had miscarriages. In 10 villages with Advocacy as well as Chimneys, of 700 pregnancies, 2.4% had miscarriages in 10 controls, of 700 pregnancies 5.6% ended in miscarriages. In first year it could have been underreporting. CONCLUSION In rural tribal women miscarriages were not more than globally known, but Biomass fuel did affect occurrence of miscarriages.

Correlation of Myocardial Strain and Late Gadolinium Enhancement by Cardiac Magnetic Resonance After a First Anterior ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Objectives: To investigate the correlation of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) feature-tracking with conventional CMR parameters in patients with a first anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).Methods: This sub-analysis of OCTAMI (Optical Coherence Tomography Examination in Acute Myocardial Infarction) registry included 129 patients who finished a CMR examination 1 month after a first anterior STEMI. Cine images were applied to calculate both global and segmental left ventricular peak strain parameters. The patients were divided into two groups by left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and compared with 42 healthy controls. Segmental late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) was graded according to LGE transmurality as follows: (1) >0 to ≤ 25%; (2) >25 to ≤ 50%; (3) >50 to ≤ 75%; (4) >75%. Left ventricle was divided into infarcted, adjacent, and remote regions to assess regional function.Results: Compared with controls, global radial (28.39 ± 5.08% vs. 38.54 ± 9.27%, p < 0.05), circumferential (−16.91 ± 2.11% vs. −20.77 ± 2.78%, p < 0.05), and longitudinal (−13.06 ± 2.15 vs. −15.52 ± 2.69, p < 0.05) strains were impaired in STEMI patients with normal LVEF (≥55%). Strain parameters were strongly associated with LGE (radial: r = 0.65; circumferential: r = 0.69; longitudinal: r = 0.61; all p < 0.05). A significant and stepwise impairment of global strains was observed in groups divided by LGE tertiles. Furthermore, segmental strain was different in various degrees of LGE transmurality especially for radial and circumferential strain. Strains of adjacent region were better than infarcted region in radial and circumferential directions and worse than remote region in all three directions.Conclusion: Global and regional strain could stratify different extent and transmurality of LGE, respectively. Although without LGE, adjacent region had impaired strains comparing with remote region.

Vulnerability of the Permafrost Landscapes in the Eastern Chukotka Coastal Plains to Human Impact and Climate Change

Permafrost landscapes are particularly susceptible to the observed climate change due to the presence of ice in the ground. This paper presents the results of the mapping and assessment of landscapes and their vulnerability to potential human impact and further climate change in the remote region of Eastern Chukotka. The combination of field studies and remote sensing data analysis allowed us to identify the distribution of landscapes within the study polygon, reveal the factors determining their stability, and classify them by vulnerability to the external impacts using a hazard index, H. In total, 33 landscapes characterized by unique combinations of vegetation cover, soil type, relief, and ground composition were detected within the 172 km2 study polygon. The most stable landscapes of the study polygon occupy 31.7% of the polygon area; they are the slopes and tops of mountains covered with stony-lichen tundra, alpine meadows, and the leveled summit areas of the fourth glacial-marine terrace. The most unstable areas cover 19.2% of the study area and are represented by depressions, drainage hollows, waterlogged areas, and places of caterpillar vehicle passage within the terraces and water-glacial plain. The methods of assessment and mapping of the landscape vulnerability presented in this study are quite flexible and can be adapted to other permafrost regions.

Early Miocene coral reef-associated bryozoans from Colombia. Part I: Cyclostomata, “Anasca” and Cribrilinoidea Cheilostomata

This is the first of two comprehensive taxonomic works on the early Miocene (ca. 23–20 Ma) bryozoan fauna associated with coral reefs from the Siamaná Formation, in the remote region of Cocinetas Basin in the La Guajira Peninsula, northern Colombia, southern Caribbean. Fifteen bryozoan species in 11 families are described, comprising two cyclostomes and 13 cheilostomes. Two cheilostome genera and seven species are new: Antropora guajirensis n. sp., Calpensia caribensis n. sp., Atoichos magnus n. gen. n. sp., Gymnophorella hadra n. gen. n. sp., Cribrilaria multicostata n. sp., Cribrilaria nixor n. sp., and Figularia bragai n. sp. Eight species are identified only at genus level and remain in open nomenclature. Of the species found, 27% have erect colonies and 73% encrusting colonies. Both types contributed to the reef framework and produced sediment. The observed bryozoan diversity was higher in the barrier reefs than in the lagoonal patch reefs. UUID: http://zoobank.org/5c8468ef-31b0-4e7e-ba93-60a2e2f30b76.

Dual Use School Community Libraries

The paper describes a case study of a group of six dual use school community libraries in one remote region of South Africa. The recent government sponsored LIS Transformation Charter has placed a spotlight on the backlogs in school library provision. The study, conducted in April 2009, investigates if shared libraries might help fill gaps and, if so, under what conditions. The background, research questions, methodology and site are described but only an outline of possible findings are provided here. A fuller picture will be ready for the IASL conference in September.

Pervasive distribution of polyester fibres in the Arctic Ocean is driven by Atlantic inputs

Microplastics are increasingly recognized as ubiquitous global contaminants, but questions linger regarding their source, transport and fate. We document the widespread distribution of microplastics in near-surface seawater from 71 stations across the European and North American Arctic - including the North Pole. We also characterize samples to a depth of 1,015 m in the Beaufort Sea. Particle abundance correlated with longitude, with almost three times more particles in the eastern Arctic compared to the west. Polyester comprised 73% of total synthetic fibres, with an east-to-west shift in infra-red signatures pointing to a potential weathering of fibres away from source. Here we suggest that relatively fresh polyester fibres are delivered to the eastern Arctic Ocean, via Atlantic Ocean inputs and/or atmospheric transport from the South. This raises further questions about the global reach of textile fibres in domestic wastewater, with our findings pointing to their widespread distribution in this remote region of the world.

The Concept of a Romantic Hero in the Sculpture of Argentina in the 20–40s of the 20th Century

The interest in the history and culture of Argentina in the Russian Federation today has a special char-acter. It is believed that the presence of a huge number of immigrants from Europe, including from Russia, distinguishes Argentina culturally from oth-er countries of the New World, makes its culture more understandable. There is a perception that this is the most Europeanized country in South America. To a large extent, this ideologeme is the result of foreign policy pursued by Argentina itself. At the same time, the process of the formation of national identity in here was complicated and did not end until the 40s of the 20th century. The relevance of the study is to reveal the inconsistency of this process on the material of sculpture as a document of the era, to show the rejection by masters from a remote region of the country, the province of Chaco, the prevailing ideas about the barbarity and savagery of the Indians and Gauchos, the original population of this province and part of other territories of the state. The novelty lies in the comparative compari-son of the positions of the academic art history of Argentina and academic art in the understanding of Indian themes and in how it was interpreted by re-gional masters – K. Dominguez (died in 1969), C. Schenone (1907–1963), J. de la Mena (1897–1954), as well as in the art history analysis of significant works of the considered problematic and the roman-tic tendencies manifested in them. It is advisable to correlate the process of “Europeanization” of Indi-ans, bloody and long-term hostilities in order to expel the gaucho and Indians from their ancestral lands with the understanding of who was the true hero of history in the creations of their descendants. The works of the sculptors Chaco, romantic in spirit, are related to the great J. Hernandez’s poem “Martin Fierro”. Today they are kept not only in the capital of Chaco, Resistencia, but also in museums in Buenos Aires and foreign collections

Impacts of long-range transport of aerosols on marine-boundary-layer clouds in the eastern North Atlantic

Vertical profiles of aerosols are inadequately observed and poorly represented in climate models, contributing to the current large uncertainty associated with aerosol–cloud interactions. The US Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Aerosol and Cloud Experiments in the Eastern North Atlantic (ACE-ENA) aircraft field campaign near the Azores islands provided ample observations of vertical distributions of aerosol and cloud properties. Here we utilize the in situ aircraft measurements from the ACE-ENA and ground-based remote-sensing data along with an aerosol-aware Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model to characterize the aerosols due to long-range transport over a remote region and to assess their possible influence on marine-boundary-layer (MBL) clouds. The vertical profiles of aerosol and cloud properties measured via aircraft during the ACE-ENA campaign provide detailed information revealing the physical contact between transported aerosols and MBL clouds. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (ECMWF-CAMS) aerosol reanalysis data can reproduce the key features of aerosol vertical profiles in the remote region. The cloud-resolving WRF sensitivity experiments with distinctive aerosol profiles suggest that the transported aerosols and MBL cloud interactions (ACIs) require not only aerosol plumes to get close to the marine-boundary-layer top but also large cloud top height variations. Based on those criteria, the observations show that the occurrence of ACIs involving the transport of aerosol over the eastern North Atlantic (ENA) is about 62 % in summer. For the case with noticeable long-range-transport aerosol effects on MBL clouds, the susceptibilities of droplet effective radius and liquid water content are −0.11 and +0.14, respectively. When varying by a similar magnitude, aerosols originating from the boundary layer exert larger microphysical influence on MBL clouds than those entrained from the free troposphere.