Mental Health in 3D

There is a wealth of research on the depiction and impact of mental health representations in traditional media; however, less is known about video games. As the dominant form of media in the 21st century, video games uniquely portray mental illness in traditional ways as well as in ways unique to video games, such as in-game mechanics (e.g., sanity meters) and player-driven decision making. This paper outlines the importance of cultural messages relating to mental illness as conveyed through video games in terms of content and influence and presents a multi-dimensional model of analysis for the representation of mental illness in digital games. The aim of this paper is to provide a foundation for understanding how mental illness is represented in digital games, provide a new perspective for thinking critically about representation of mental illness in games, and overview a new framework for assessing video game content in this area.

Effect of Apartment Community Garden Program on Sense of Community and Stress

Apartment housing has become a dominant form of urban residence. High dwelling density in apartment complexes causes frequent conflicts and disputes. To counter this, it is necessary to promote a sense of community among residents with programs such as a customized horticultural program for the introduction of a community garden in an apartment complex. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of a community garden program in an apartment complex in fostering residents’ sense of community and reducing stress. Experiments were performed in three groups: a group participating in the program based on the sense of community theory (SCG; n = 11), a group participating with a focus on horticultural education (HEG; n = 11), and a non-participation group (NPG; n = 10). The experimental results revealed that the sense of community was significantly higher in the SCG than in the HEG and NPG. The results suggest that the SCG positively affected the sense of community, overall energy, ratio between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, and stress resistance. Considering these results, community garden programs with appropriate interventions to promote a sense of community are more effective in improving community life and reducing stress than programs based on horticultural education.

Empires and Nations in the Modern World: Shifting Political Orders

This essay traces the path of empires and nations as forms of governance, the eventual predominance of nations and disappearance of empires, and the contemporary interplay of large and small nations as the dominant form of global governance. It also gives attention to the rise of capitalist economic organization as a factor expanding empires and later encouraging nationhood. The essay emphasizes two stages in the emergence of nations: the emergence in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries of nations and eventually of the great powers, and the post-1945 emergence of nations as the universal form of government, consisting mostly of small powers, linked by the United Nations.

A Comparative Study on the Life Cycle Assessment of New Zealand Residential Buildings

In New Zealand, housing is typically low density, with light timber framing being the dominant form of construction with more than 90% of the market. From 2020, as a result of the global pandemic, there was a shortage of timber in New Zealand, resulting in increased popularity for light steel framing, the main alternative to timber for housing. At the same time, the New Zealand government is committed to sustainability practises through legislation and frameworks, such as the reduction of whole-of-life carbon emissions for the building industry. New Zealand recently announced reducing its net greenhouse gas emissions by 50% within 2030. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a technique for assessing the environmental aspects associated with a product over its life cycle. Despite the popularity of LCA in the construction industry of New Zealand, prior research results seem varied. There is no unified NZ context database to perform an LCA for buildings. Therefore, in this paper, a comprehensive study using LCA was conducted to quantify and compare the quantity of carbon emissions from two commonly designed houses in the Auckland region, one built from light timber and the other from light steel, both designed for a lifespan of 90 years. The cradle-to-cradle system boundary was used for the LCA. From the results of this study, it was found that the light steel house had 12.3% more carbon in total (including embodied and operational carbons) when compared to the light timber house, of which the manufacturing of two houses had a difference of 50.4% in terms of carbon emissions. However, when the end-of-life (EOL) analysis was included, it was found that the extra carbon could be offset due to the steel’s recyclability, reducing the amount of embodied carbon in the manufacturing process. Therefore, there was no significant difference in carbon emissions between the light steel and the light timber building, with the difference being only 12.3%.

Analisis Pemanfaatan Sampah Plastik dengan Metode Buang, Pisah, dan Untung Menggunakan Sistem Barcode

Sampah yang meningkat tanpa adanya penanganan lebih lanjut akan mengakibatkan permasalahan serius. Penimbunan sampah dapat bertahan dengan waktu yang lama, yang disebabkan oleh lambatnya waktu dekomposisi dari timbunan sampah, khususnya sampah plastik. Penelitian bertujuan mengetahui jumlah sampah plastik yang dihasilkan, keuntungan yang dihasilkan dan keberlanjutan dari penerapan metode Buang, Pisah, Untung (Bungpitung) menggunakan sistem barcode. Penelitian mengambil metode purposive sampling. Pengumpulan data berupa data sekunder harga jual sampah plastik dan data primer timbulan sampah plastik dan wawancara. Penelitian menggunakan analisis metode gabungan (mixed methods) penelitian kuantitatif dan kualitatif. Total timbulan sampah plastik dari semua responden sebesar 136.508 gr dengan rata-rata timbulan sampah plastik 65 gr/orang/hari. Bentuk sampah plastik dominan terbanyak Gelas Bening Sablon (GBS) sebesar 35.526 gr. Bentuk sampah plastik dominan terbanyak dari total seluruh jenis yaitu Botol Bening Biru (BBB) sebesar 40.525 gr. Total keuntungan sampah plastik yang diperoleh dari semua responden sebesar Rp 128.945 dengan rata-rata keuntungan sampah plastik Rp 61,4 /hari. Tingginya nilai timbulan sampah plastik, tingginya nilai keuntungan yang dihasilkan, kontinuitas penerapan metode bungpitung, peningkatan wawasan mengenai pengelolaan sampah plastik, peningkatan perilaku dalam mengelola sampah plastik serta pendapat secara langsung oleh responden mengenai kelayakan metode Bungpitung merupakan bukti metode Bungpitung layak diterapkan pada masyarakat di masa yang akan datang.ABSTRACTIncreased waste without further handling will lead to serious problems. The landfill can last for a long time, which is caused by the slow decomposition time of the landfill, especially plastic waste. This study aims to determine the amount of plastic waste produced, the profits generated from the application of the Dispose, Separate, Profit (Bungpitung) method using a barcode system. The research took the purposive sampling method. Collecting data in the form of secondary data on the selling price of plastic waste and primary data on the generation of plastic waste and interviews. This study uses a combined analysis (mixed methods) of quantitative and qualitative research. The total generation of plastic waste from all respondents is 136,508 grams with an average plastic waste generation of 65 grams/person/day. The dominant form of plastic waste is Screen Printing Clear Plastic Cups (GBS) as much as 35.526 gr. The most common form of plastic waste of all types is Blue Clear Plastic Bottle (BBB) of 40,525 gr. The total profit from plastic waste obtained from all respondents is Rp. 128,945 with an average profit of Rp. 61.4/day for plastic waste. The high value of plastic waste generation, the increase in the value of the profits generated, the continuity of the application of the bungpitung method, increased insight into plastic waste management, increased behavior in managing plastic waste, and direct assessment by respondents about Bungpitung methods suitable for use in the community in the future.

Instrumental diagnosis of cholesterol polyps of the gallbladder

Gallbladder polyposis is a common pathology, the detection of which has increased significantly in recent years. The dominant form of this disease is cholesterol pseudopolyps, mainly found inwomen. Clinical manifestations of gallbladder cholesterol polyps are nonspecific,which presents certain difficulties in diagnosis.Ultrasonography is one of themost informative and accessible instrumental diagnostic methods.

AN ANALYSIS ON CODE-SWITCHING AND MIXING AMONG ENGLISH LEARNERS OF GAYONESE-SPEAKING STUDENTS

This research tries to find out types and their dominance of code-switching and code-mixing among EFL students with Gayonese backgrounds. This research also looks at whether a certain type of ethnic group is affluent to a specific type of code-switching and mixing. The employed method is a qualitative study, in which this study manages to identify a social phenomenon in a certain community. The data is obtained from the 13 participants in their conversations. Instruments used are observation, recording, transcribing to identify code-switching, and mixing. The result of this study shows that the participants, who are all entitled to Gayonese identity, employed all kinds of code-switching and mixing, which were extra-sentential, inter-sentential, and intra-sentential. All types of code-switching and mixing are apparent in all sets of conversations. Along with some previous research, this study affirms that there is little evidence that a certain type of ethnicity employs a certain dominant form of code-switching and mixing. There appear all types of code-switching and mixing, without one dominant type, is found in all sets of conversations. Thus, code-switching and mixing were believed to assist the learners to deliver them through to be completely understood and meaningful in the communication.

Thiol-Functionalization Carbonaceous Adsorbents for the Removal of Methyl-Mercury from Water in the ppb Levels

Mercury is a highly toxic pollutant of major public health concern, and human exposure is mainly related to the aqueous phase, where its dominant form is methyl-mercury (MeHg). In the current work, two carbon-based adsorbents, i.e., a commercial activated carbon and a sunflower seeds’ biochar, were modified by the introduction of thiol-active groups onto their surfaces for the MeHg removal from natural-like water in ppb concentration levels. The examined thiol-functionalization was a two-step process, since the raw materials were initially treated with nitric acid (6 N), which is a reagent that favors the formation of surface carboxyl groups, and subsequently by the thiol surface bonding groups through an esterification reaction in methanol matrix. The adsorbents’ capacity was evaluated toward the Hgtotal legislative regulation limit (1 μg/L) in drinking water (denoted as Q1). The respective isothermal adsorption results revealed an increased affinity between MeHg and thiol-functionalized materials, where the commercial carbon showed slightly higher capacity (0.116 μg Hg/mg) compared with the biochar (0.108 μg Hg/mg). This variation can be attributed to the respective higher surface area, resulting, also, to higher thiol groups loading. Regarding the proposed mechanism, it was proved that the S-Hg bond was formed, based on the characterization of the best performed saturated adsorbent.

The COVID States Project #75: Attitudes toward COVID-19 boosters before and after Omicron

Recognizing that the protection conferred by COVID-19 vaccines may wane over time, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has encouraged adults in the United States to receive booster shots that can augment their immunity to the virus. While the Biden administration sought to encourage all adults to receive boosters, the CDC initially authorized the shots only for higher-risk individuals. Subsequently, authorization was broadened to all adults, although only higher-risk individuals were encouraged to pursue boosters. Most recently, after substantial criticism, the CDC changed its language to encourage all adults to receive boosters.But regardless of the language, are US adults sufficiently convinced to seek booster shots? Will the same factors that contributed to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and vaccine resistance impact booster shots? The answers may have profound public health implications as the US enters the season during which respiratory viruses typically have the greatest impact, and the highly-transmissible Omicron variant rapidly becomes the dominant form of COVID-19, after being labeled a variant of concern by the World Health Organization on November 26th.Between November 3rd and December 3rd, 2021, the COVID States Project asked 22,277 adults in all 50 US states and the District of Columbia about their attitudes and behaviors regarding COVID-19. In particular, we asked about whether people are vaccinated or intend to be vaccinated, and whether they had sought booster shots or intend to seek a booster shot. In this brief report, we examine attitudes toward COVID-19 booster shots, and whether they differ across particular groups of people. Since the survey was ongoing when news about Omicron emerged in the US, we also take an initial look at whether these attitudes have begun to shift along with perceptions of the threat posed by COVID-19 subsequent to the November 26th announcement.

Fearful Asymmetry

The definition of spirituality shifts perpetually across time and place, but there is a pattern at work. The definition of “spirituality” is always in relation to the definition of “religion” in a given society. In the United States and Western Europe, spirituality has been defined by what is left out of it, by which we mean diverse beliefs and varied everyday practices outside of—or on the margins of—existing religious institutional norms. While both are distinct from secularism, spirituality is the “other” to the “norm” of religion. In contemporary China, however, a different dynamic is at work. The dominant form of religious life emphasizes diverse beliefs and everyday ritual activities that are rooted in multiple religious traditions. This means that we require new ways of thinking about spiritual life in the Chinese context and other societies, such as those in Africa, with similar polytheistic patterns of practice.