Not Getting Stuck in Dryness - Strategies for Coping with Phases of Spiritual Dryness Among Religious Brothers and Sisters in Germany—Findings from Qualitative Interviews

Many believers experience phases of spiritual dryness in their lives coupled with feelings of exhaustion, confusion, and emotional emptiness. Even religious sisters and brothers experience such phases. But how do they cope with phases of spiritual dryness, and what resources do they use to overcome them? In a qualitative study, 30 religious brothers and sisters utilized four main categories of resources: internal reflective resources, internal spiritual resources, external personal resources, and external other resources. A primary strategy does not seem to exist for overcoming phases of spiritual dryness. In the context of this study, therefore, several resources emerged that were used in accordance with the triggers and were applied against the background of the life situation, context and attitudes, perceptions, behavioral competencies, resources, and abilities of the person concerned.

Collusion, Co-Optation, or Evasion: The Politics of Drug Trafficking Violence in Central America

Why do drug traffickers sometimes decide to use violence, but other times demonstrate restraint? Building on recent work on the politics of drug violence, this article explores how Central American drug trafficking organizations’ strategies impact their use of violence. I argue that three inter-related political factors—corruption, electoral competition, and the politicization of the security apparatus—collectively determine the type of relationship between traffickers and the state that will emerge. That relationship, in turn, determines the primary strategy used by traffickers in that country. Drawing on over two years of comparative ethnographic fieldwork in key transshipment points along the Caribbean coast of Central America, I show how co-optation strategies in Honduras have resulted in high levels of violence, evasion strategies in Costa Rica have produced moderate levels of violence, and collusion strategies in Nicaragua have generated the lowest levels of drug-related violence.

Reliability Evaluation of Bicube-Based Multiprocessor System under the g-Good-Neighbor Restriction

Multiprocessor systems are commonly deployed for big data analysis because of evolution in technologies such as cloud computing, IoT, social network and so on. Reliability evaluation is of significant importance for maintenance and improvement of fault tolerance for multiprocessor systems, and system-level diagnosis is a primary strategy to identify the faulty processors in the systems. In this paper, we first determine the [Formula: see text]-good-neighbor connectivity of the [Formula: see text]-dimensional Bicube-based multiprocessor system [Formula: see text], a novel variant of hypercube. Besides, we establish the [Formula: see text]-good-neighbor diagnosability of the Bicube-based multiprocessor system [Formula: see text] under the PMC and MM* models.

Characterisation and diagnosis of heritage concrete: case studies at the Eduardo Torroja Institute, Madrid, Spain

That the preservation of twentieth concrete heritage is an area scantly explored can be attributed to a lack of appreciation for such a young material. In most cases conservation is broached from a technical perspective with little regard for heritage value. Ongoing assessment of the condition of structures is the primary strategy to minimise such misguided action. This study involved characterising the condition of the concrete in a number of singular elements forming part of the Eduardo Torroja Institute for Construction Science headquarters at Madrid, Spain, a modernist compound listed by the city of Madrid as a protected asset. The in situ findings using non-destructive and laboratory techniques revealed the core concrete to be in good condition. The surface material, however, exhibits signs of durability issues calling for conservation treatments and techniques compatible with the preservation of the integrity and authenticity of this young heritage material.

Strategy for developing Indonesian vanilla products to improve the added value

Vanilla is a world-well-known spice product, especially as food and beverage flavoring; however, the availability of (natural) vanilla is too little (less than 1%) to meet the demand for vanilla either industry or household. So far, most Indonesian vanilla is traded as a commodity in the international (export) and domestic markets. For producers who are primarily smallholders, these conditions create business uncertainty and added value. This paper aims to review the strategy of product transformation from general commodities into certified products or branded products by utilizing digital marketing (e-commerce), which leads to the stability of the price of vanilla products (reduced uncertainty), and creates an additional value. The method used in this study is the literature review method. Product transformation requires product development, where certified products must follow particular procedures in production to obtain certification, and branded products require differentiating features in products that consumers appreciate. In addition to product development as a primary strategy is also needed supporting strategies such as proper pricing and promotion. This review implies that there is an opportunity to transform a vanilla product from a commodity to certified and branded products; hence it should become vanilla development agenda.

COMMON OCCUPATIONAL LUNG DISORDERS IN CURRENT INDIAN POPULATION AND PRINCIPLES OF AYURVEDIC MANAGEMENT

Occupational lung diseases are caused primarily as a result of exposure to risk factors arising from the work envi- ronment. Persons with few weeks of exposure to workplace hazards may experience mild symptoms, whereas long term exposure results in a complicated presentation like severe respiratory debilitation and even death. Occupational lung diseases may be misdiagnosed as COPD or other diseases, which leads to delay in the identification of the etiological factors. There is no treatment for any of the occupational lung diseases that can reverse the damage already done. So, prevention of occupational exposure is the primary strategy in these ailments. In the present era, people are turning towards Ayurveda for chronic disease management, so a long-term approach to these could be beneficial in the management of occupational lung diseases. So, it's the need of the hour for an Ayurvedic physician to be accustomed to occupational diseases and their management through Ayurveda. Keywords: Occupational lung disorders, Ayurveda for OLD, Yoga and Pranayama.

Takotsubo (stress) cardiomyopathy after ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccination

The global COVID-19 pandemic remains challenging with efforts for community vaccination the primary strategy to control transmission and disease sequalae in the mid to long term. While several candidate vaccines have been approved for use, there is an ongoing discussion regarding potential vaccine-related adverse events. Notably, thrombotic thrombocytopaenia has been reported following ChAdOx1 nCov-19 (AstraZeneca) vaccination. We report the first known case of takotsubo (stress) cardiomyopathy 4 days after administration of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine in a 72-year-old man. While this condition remains one primarily seen in females, our case represents a new trigger that warrants careful consideration when assessing patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes following ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccination.

Bimetallic Ni–Ru and Ni–Re Catalysts for Dry Reforming of Methane: Understanding the Synergies of the Selected Promoters

Designing an economically viable catalyst that maintains high catalytic activity and stability is the key to unlock dry reforming of methane (DRM) as a primary strategy for biogas valorization. Ni/Al2O3 catalysts have been widely used for this purpose; however, several modifications have been reported in the last years in order to prevent coke deposition and deactivation of the samples. Modification of the acidity of the support and the addition of noble metal promoters are between the most reported strategies. Nevertheless, in the task of designing an active and stable catalyst for DRM, the selection of an appropriate noble metal promoter is turning more challenging owing to the lack of homogeneity of the different studies. Therefore, this research aims to compare Ru (0.50 and 2.0%) and Re (0.50 and 2.0%) as noble metal promoters for a Ni/MgAl2O4 catalyst under the same synthesis and reaction conditions. Catalysts were characterized by XRF, BET, XRD, TPR, hydrogen chemisorption (H2-TPD), and dry reforming reaction tests. Results show that both promoters increase Ni reducibility and dispersion. However, Ru seems a better promoter for DRM since 0.50% of Ru increases the catalytic activity in 10% and leads to less coke deposition.

Performance and Upskilling: Indian IT Sector Temporary Workers’ Job Insecurity Coping Strategies Identified Through Grounded Theory

Globally, the demand for temporary workers is rising across organizations and sectors, driven by benefits of lower cost and workforce flexibility. Flexibility for organizations, however, means job insecurity for the temporary worker. This study focuses on understanding how the Indian IT sector’s temporary agency workers (TAWs), that is, temporary workers recruited by staffing agencies to work with client organizations, cope with their job insecurity. Grounded theory-based analysis of 36 interviews revealed that TAWs rely on enhancing their employability as the primary strategy to combat job insecurity. In addition, to enhance employability, TAWs make proactive efforts to perform consistently and upskill continuously. TAWs also expect support, largely in the form of learning and development opportunities, from the staffing agency and client to augment employability. The findings and recommendations in this article to help TAWs improve employability hold significance for TAWs, staffing agencies as well as clients. With enhanced employability, TAWs overcome job insecurity—an impediment to job performance, which is of direct relevance to the worker and the client—and also affects the staffing agency’s long-term relationship with the client.

The zombification and reanimation of purple urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) in response to food availability

To survive periods of starvation, organisms can reduce their metabolism and/or decrease energy allocation to reproduction. This is especially important for coastal rocky reefs where widespread kelp deforestation has become increasingly common in recent decades. This deforestation often results in the formation of urchin barrens that have high densities of herbivorous sea urchins and little macroalgae for them to consume. While it is clear that these barrens can persist for years to decades, it is unclear how the urchins within them survive such prolonged periods without regular access to macroalgae. Here, we show that urchin metabolism and gonad mass both decrease significantly when the urchins are starved, and that these urchins regain normal metabolic activity and gonad masses when access to food is restored. However, if urchins occur in barren areas that receive drift algae from nearby kelp forests, it appears they can maintain normal metabolic activity and gonad mass. Together, our results provide experimental evidence that reducing metabolism may be a primary strategy for avoiding starvation in urchins occurring within barrens. Our results can be especially important to researchers looking to restore kelp forests and to urchin fishers who seek to harvest these urchins for their gonads but currently cannot because their gonads are of poor quality. Additionally, this has important implications for consumers in other ecosystems where access to energetic resources is spatially or temporally variable and can point to new avenues of research to explain how organisms adjust their energetic needs to survive extended periods of starvation.