Reconsidering Teacher Presence and Community Building in an Online ESOL College Composition Course During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The pandemic of 2019 exposed considerable weaknesses in how teachers were present and communities were built in asynchronous, international, online ESOL composition classrooms. Although teachers put more time into their courses, students still felt disconnected from their educational experience. This study, through student surveys and teacher reflections, followed two teachers who devised innovative solutions to actively do “being present” as teachers and to thereby more compellingly draw students into the community-building process despite the limitations of the online space amidst an international crisis. Included are recommendations about specific ways to challenge traditional online instructional methods, to allow and promote student agency through unstructured and semi-structured activities, to create connections via strategic vulnerability, and more. Also discussed are key concepts for future research and general conclusions about the need for such teacher adaptability and the lessons from it, both for during the pandemic and beyond it.

COVID 19 Outbreaks on the Growth of Self Servicing Technology Using Digital Payments

In comparison to any other International crisis, Covid19 was sudden and did not leave much time for individuals or Governments to prepare in terms of the impact it had on healthcare infrastructure or trade-in various sectors. The modern world is highly connected and stopping the inter-country movement of people is very difficult. Given the rapid increase of cases, Covid19 was declared as a pandemic and for lack of any other viable option, most Governments chose the way of locking down the economy. There was little information on how Covid19 spreads mortality rate or recovery rate, etc. Impetus on social distancing forced people to get wary of any contact including the exchange of cash which in turn resulted in the rapid adoption of alternate measures such as digital payments. Supply chain management was badly hit and demand for essential products and services increased significantly. Although overall volumes of digital payments went down due to adverse impact on several sectors, its usage as a replacement of cash increased significantly. This sudden increase and adoption by people who are not technology-savvy gave rise to frauds and cyber-attacks. Thus there arose a need for stringent regulations, the evolution of technology, and enhanced user education. There has been a significant push by the Government for achieving a cashless economy and digital payments surely will provide robust support for this objective. RBI has also proposed a self-regulatory body for digital payment and has taken initiatives like making NEFT available 24*7 and removing applicable charges. There are rising impetus and applications of digital payment technologies in day-to-day and business-related trade transactions.

Study on the perspectives of application of eco-friendly laser biotechnology for environmental protection in Uzbekistan

Since few decades, the world is encountering unusual and daunting environmental challenges like global warming, climate change, pollution of the atmosphere and water, an emerging international crisis in water availability, long-term damage to ecosystems and substantial loss of biodiversity, waste production and disposal, damaged aquatic ecosystems, impacts of chemicals use and toxic substance disposal, as well as land degradation and deforestation. Accordingly, Uzbekistan has also been encountering some environmental issues, such as global Aral Sea crisis, soil erosion and desertification, wastewater, air pollution and a growing amount of municipal solid waste. Hence, this paper illustrates the major environmental challenges and risks in Uzbekistan, as well as, the possible application of environmentally friendly laser biotechnology for more efficient and rationale protection of ecosystems and wide-scale reclamation of deteriorated areas. Comprehensive use of laser irradiation can be effectively applied in environmental protection engineering and technologies for sustainable development in selected regions. Laser irradiation or photostimulation is a neoteric area and process of environmental biotechnology. In this process, coherent laser light is employed to optimize the natural processes involved in the bioremediation of xenobiotics or bioaccumulation of metals. Additionally, laser biotechnology could be broadly used for more efficient reclamation of contaminated soil, wastewater treatment, as well as for increasing the growth rate of irradiated plants and their resistance to various macro- and micro pollutants in the air, soil, and water.

A Crise Financeira Internacional de 2008 como Resultado da Dinâmica do Eixo Sino-Americano de Acumulação l The 2008 International Financial Crisis as a Result of the Sino-American Axis of Accumulation’s Dynamics

Há um consenso na academia em atribuir a causa da crise internacional de 2008 ao processo de financeirização da economia dos Estados Unidos. Esta pesquisa considera esse entendimento correto, porém insuficiente para entender com profundidade como a crise impactou a economia mundial e o sistema interestatal. O objetivo deste trabalho é fugir do “nacionalismo metodológico” que permeia essa visão e entender a crise de 2008 como uma crise da conjuntura da economia-mundo capitalista. Seguindo a análise dos Sistemas-Mundo, o artigo é iniciado com o estudo da atual conjuntura, de expansão financeira do ciclo sistêmico estadunidense, que deve ser entendida através dos processos complementares de financeirização econômica e reestruturação produtiva mundial. Em um segundo momento, a pesquisa se volta para entender como esses dois processos construíram um “eixo sino-americano de acumulação”. Finalmente, entende-se que, apesar da aparente simbiose dessa relação, ela apresenta um desequilíbrio estrutural que originou a crise de 2008.Palavras-chave: Crise Financeira Internacional de 2008; China; Estados Unidos.ABSTRACTThere is a consensus in academia to attribute the cause of the 2008 international crisis to the financialization process of the United States’ economy. This research considers this understanding correct, but insufficient for a deep understanding of the crisis’ impact in the world economy and in the interstate system. This research aims to escape the “methodological nacionalism” that permeates this vision, understanding the 2008 crisis as a crisis in the conjuncture of the capitalist world-economy. Following the World-Systems Analysis, this research starts with the study of the current conjuncture, the financial expansion of the American systemic cycle of accumulation, which must be understood through the complementary processes of economic financialization and world productive restructure. In a second step, the research turns to understand how these two processes built a “Sino-American axis of accumulation”. Finally, it is understood that, despite the apparent symbiosis of this relationship, it presents a structural imbalance that originated the 2008 crisis.Keywords: 2008 International Financial Crisis; China; United States. Recebido em: 10/04/2021 | Aceito em: 17/07/2021.

Refined burned-area mapping protocol using Sentinel-2 data increases estimate of 2019 Indonesian burning

Many nations are challenged by landscape fires. A confident knowledge of the area and distribution of burning is crucial to monitor these fires and to assess how they might best be reduced. Given the differences that arise using different detection approaches, and the uncertainties surrounding burned-area estimates, their relative merits require evaluation. Here we propose, illustrate, and examine one promising approach for Indonesia where recurring forest and peatland fires have become an international crisis. Drawing on Sentinel-2 satellite time-series analysis, we present and validate new 2019 burned-area estimates for Indonesia. The corresponding burned-area map is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4551243 (Gaveau et al., 2021a). We show that >3.11 million hectares (Mha) burned in 2019. This burned-area extent is double the Landsat-derived official estimate of 1.64 Mha from the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry and 50 % more that the MODIS MCD64A1 burned-area estimate of 2.03 Mha. Though we observed proportionally less peatland burning (31 % vs. 39 % and 40 % for the official and MCD64A1 products, respectively), in absolute terms we still observed a greater area of peatland affected (0.96 Mha) than the official estimate (0.64 Mha). This new burned-area dataset has greater reliability than these alternatives, attaining a user accuracy of 97.9 % (CI: 97.1 %–98.8 %) compared to 95.1 % (CI: 93.5 %–96.7 %) and 76 % (CI: 73.3 %–78.7 %), respectively. It omits fewer burned areas, particularly smaller- (<100 ha) to intermediate-sized (100–1000 ha) burns, attaining a producer accuracy of 75.6 % (CI: 68.3 %–83.0 %) compared to 49.5 % (CI: 42.5 %–56.6 %) and 53.1 % (CI: 45.8 %–60.5 %), respectively. The frequency–area distribution of the Sentinel-2 burn scars follows the apparent fractal-like power law or Pareto pattern often reported in other fire studies, suggesting good detection over several magnitudes of scale. Our relatively accurate estimates have important implications for carbon-emission calculations from forest and peatland fires in Indonesia.

International crisis in the midst of civil war

This article examines the nexus between international crises and civil wars. Based on the premise that not all simultaneous civil and international conflicts are related, the study aims to explore the circumstances in which civil wars affect violent escalation in international crises. The study identifies ‘composite’ crises – where the civil war is the core issue of the international dispute – as a unique subset of international crises. These crises are distinguished from ‘unrelated-civil war’ situations, in which the issues in the internal and international conflicts are separate. Using data from the ICB, COW, and UCDP/PRIO datasets, the article tests a dual-conflict argument, positing that interconnected issues and interactions between actors in composite situations inhibit moderate crisis management and aggravate interstate behavior. The findings show that while civil war in composite situations has a negative impact on crisis escalation, unrelated-civil war has an inverse impact on interstate relations in crisis.

Sector florícola ecuatoriano y afectación en mercado internacional a causa del covid19

RESUMEN La exportación de flores representa un rubro importante dentro del sector exportador no tradicional, tanto así que desde el año 1984 se constituye la Asociación Nacional de Productores y exportadores de Flores de Ecuador, con la finalidad de consolidar y apoyar al sector floricultor del país, representando actualmente 188 socios, dentro de los cuales se encuentran fincas productoras, agencias de carga, comercializadoras, obtentores y operadoras logísticas, todas estas directamente relacionadas con los mercados de trabajo agrícola. Dentro de los procesos de reestructuración empresarial que se vive en las empresas productoras y exportadoras de flores ente la crisis internacional producto de la pandemia causada por el COVID19, las condiciones de trabajo en el sector se han vuelto inestables por cuanto ante la reducción de las exportaciones y esto sumado a un precio del 40% por debajo del precio habitual del producto es un futuro incierto y preocupante a miles de trabajadores vinculados de manera directa e indirecta al sector. La oferta y demanda que se vive en los mercados internacionales está ocasionando ingentes pérdidas económicas al sector florícola ecuatoriano, pues según datos del Banco Central del Ecuador, además de los efectos a causa del COVID19 hay que añadir también una caída de precios en el mercado internacional, altos costos de producción, mal clima, crisis económica en los países de destino y la falta de competitividad de Ecuador. Las empresas están obligadas a reevaluar nuevamente las cuestiones pendientes para la adaptación de los mercados agrarios ante las actuales condiciones del mercado, centrando los mecanismos de producción para enlazar las próximas campañas agrícolas en concordancia a las políticas económicas y fiscales que faciliten una mayor reactivación de este importante sector que en el año 2019 envío 15,000 toneladas de flores al exterior, inyectando millones de dólares en la economía ecuatoriana. Definitivamente el bienestar de la economía ecuatoriana debe de girar en torno al fortalecimiento de la agricultura y la agroindustria como pilares de la matriz productiva, y diversificar su oferta exportable en el comercio internacional que cada vez demanda más productos con sello orgánico, así como el reconocimiento a las flores ecuatorianas entre las mejores del mundo, constituyéndose en un bastión para el desarrollo económico y sostenibilidad de la economía, así como en paralelo la generación de nuevas empresa y miles de nuevas fuentes de empleo. ABSTRACT The export of flowers represents an important item within the non-traditional export sector, so much so that since 1984 the National Association of Flower Producers and Exporters of Ecuador was established with the purpose of consolidating and supporting the flower growing sector of the country, currently representing 188 members, among which there are producing farms, cargo agencies, marketing companies, breeders and logistic operators, all of them directly related to the agricultural labor markets. Within the business restructuring processes being experienced in the flower producing and exporting companies in the face of the international crisis caused by the pandemic caused by COVID19 , the working conditions in the sector have become unstable because of the reduction of exports and this added to a price 40% below the usual price of the product is an uncertain and worrying future for thousands of workers linked directly and indirectly to the sector. According to data from the Central Bank of Ecuador, in addition to the effects of COVID19 , there is also a drop in prices on the international market, high production costs, bad weather, the economic crisis in the destination countries and Ecuador's lack of competitiveness. Companies are obliged to reevaluate again the pending issues for the adaptation of agricultural markets to the current market conditions, focusing the production mechanisms to link the next agricultural campaigns in accordance with economic and fiscal policies that facilitate a greater reactivation of this important sector that in 2019 will send 15,000 tons of flowers abroad, injecting millions of dollars into the Ecuadorian economy. Definitely the welfare of the Ecuadorian economy should revolve around the strengthening of agriculture and agribusiness as pillars of the productive matrix, and diversify its exportable supply in international trade that increasingly demands more products with organic seal, as well as the recognition of Ecuadorian flowers among the best in the world, becoming a bastion for economic development and sustainability of the economy, as well as in parallel the generation of new businesses and thousands of new sources of employment.