Solidarity Through Localization? Humanitarian Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic

This contribution discusses whether humanitarian aid is a suitable tool for expressing global solidarity in the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the distinction between the concepts of humanitarianism and solidarity, as well as the example of the so-called “refugee crisis,” it provides a mixed answer: humanitarian aid and solidarity are, principally, different things, hardly comparable and, at times, even contradictory. However, the corona pandemic presents an opportunity for localization of humanitarian aid, which is an opportunity for greater solidarity with those most in need. To make humanitarian aid a real tool for expressing global solidarity, one would have to regard the recipients of aid as equals and strengthen their agency, as well as that of local and grassroots organizations in the most affected areas - much as the localization agenda demands.

Description of a CSF-Enriched miRNA Panel for the Study of Neurological Diseases

Background: The study of circulating miRNAs in CSF has gained tremendous attention during the last years, as these molecules might be promising candidates to be used as biomarkers and provide new insights into the disease pathology of neurological disorders. Objective: The main aim of this study was to describe an OpenArray panel of CSF-enriched miRNAs to offer a suitable tool to identify and characterize new molecular signatures in different neurological diseases. Methods: Two hundred and fifteen human miRNAs were selected to be included in the panel, and their expression and abundance in CSF samples were analyzed. In addition, their stability was studied in order to propose suitable endogenous controls for CSF miRNA studies. Results: miR-143-3p and miR-23a-3p were detected in all CSF samples, while another 80 miRNAs were detected in at least 70% of samples. miR-770-5p was the most abundant miRNA in CSF, presenting the lowest mean Cq value. In addition, miR-26b-5p, miR-335-5p and miR-92b-3p were the most stable miRNAs and could be suitable endogenous normalizers for CSF miRNA studies. Conclusions: These OpenArray plates might be a suitable and efficient tool to identify and characterize new molecular signatures in different neurological diseases and would improve the yield of miRNA detection in CSF.

Garment recommendation in an e-shopping environment by using a Markov Chain and Complex Network integrated method

In the e-commerce environment, website-based recommendation systems have been developed in order to help consumers without professional fashion-related knowledge to identify the most relevant garment products satisfying their specific personalized requirements in terms of fashion and functionalities. However, there are two main drawbacks in the existing recommendation systems: (1) the existing shopping data and/or human body data-based recommendations cannot effectively deal with fashion trends; (2) the shoppers’ experience and knowledge are rarely considered in these systems. To solve these two drawbacks, we propose in this paper a new garment recommendation mechanism using a Markov Chain and Complex Network integrated method. The Markov Chain method is employed as a suitable tool permitting one to extract fashion trends from a lower quantity of shopping data. The Complex Network method is used to formalize uncertain relations between human body shapes, garment fitting effects and garment features, provided by shopping experts. Compared with other existing recommendation methods, the proposed method is validated to be more robust and more interpretable owing to its capacity of handling body types and fashion trends.

Russia’s Humanitarian Policy at the Present Stage

This article deals with a system of a humanitarian policy of Russia in accordance with the documents of strategic planning. Different interpretations of the definition “humanitarian policy” are considered, which are taken from official documents, official speeches as well as from expert community. There is also a comparison of the Russian and Western interpretation of the definition of “humanitarian”. The article touches upon concept of “Soft power” because this term is closely relative to the humanitarian sphere in Russian strategic documents. The activities of the Russian organizations in the humanitarian field are examined on the basis of their strategic documents. This article seeks to determine whether the modern system of the Russian humanitarian policy is a suitable tool for the implementation of its objectives.

Multiperspectivity as a Process of Understanding and Reflection: Introduction to a Model for Perspective-Taking in Geography Education

Perspective-taking is an essential competency because it enables a better understanding of complex issues or conflicts with various actors and different points of view involved. However, no competency model for perspective-taking has been provided in geography education to date, which is why a respective model was developed in this study. The model was then applied by analysing 28 articles from four practice journals of geography education from German-speaking countries. This analysis focused on the dimensions of the perspective-taking competencies that were required by respective tasks within the lesson concepts. The results show that the tasks hardly promoted competence-oriented geography teaching in terms of perspective-taking. Therefore, the competency model could be a suitable tool for analysing and developing teaching materials that implement perspective-taking.