Can lifestyle factors be the key in deciding the COVID-19 outcome?

The COVID-19 recovery rate of 97.3% and the death per million of 345 in India are better than the corresponding values in the USA and most of Europe despite better health infrastructure in these countries. The mean COVID fatality rate of Europe and a few countries in America is seven times that of India. This warrants a systematic study of the factors behind this conspicuous disparity. It is time to study lifestyle and other factors that may be related to recovery with minimal medical intervention or serious complications, leading to belated recovery and sometimes mortality. Obesity and excessive consumption of soft drinks, red meat and processed food may have a role to play in the European and American countries. On the other hand, the use of turmeric, black pepper, ginger in daily cooking, consumption of Indian gooseberry, Tulasi, different decoctions (Kashaya) and practice of various immune-boosting breathing exercises including yoga might have had a role in India. A detailed study involving a sizable number of cases of recovery and death in India, USA and some European countries will throw light on these factors behind the significant differences. The results shall provide crucial learning to the world for managing future waves and pandemics.

Locked up? The development and internal migration nexus in Colombia

Although a sizable number of studies have been exploring the migration development nexus in international settings, there is still a reduced number on internal contexts in recent years. This research aims to estimate the causal effect of origin economic conditions on internal population migration using a time series of the Colombian states between 2012 and 2019. This analysis provides a macro perspective of associations and causation between population dynamics and development in the current changes observed using spatial interaction models. Likewise, it analyses the current portray of internal migration in Colombia (defined by five-years and one-year flows). The evidence shows that the migration hump depends on the scale at which it is analyzed. At an aggregated scale, initial economic conditions are negatively associated with migration until a threshold where this relationship is reversed. The opposite is observed in the rural migrants subsample.

Role of Technology on Religious Tourism in Turkey

The religious tourism sector is a booming industry and attracts a sizable number of tourists around the world. While several factors play an important role in increasing the number of tourists for religious purposes, technology plays a vital role in managing and boasting religious tourism in a country. The authors aim to see this in the context of Turkey, a country that is a bridge between East and West, possessing a number of religious touristic sites and attracting a large number of tourists. The profile of the country and the role of technology in increasing tourism in Turkey also suggest improvements in the technological landscape of the country to increase and facilitate the religious tourists.

Nutritious mushroom protein crisp – healthy alternative to starchy snack

Global salty snacks category had reached USD 137 billion in sales in 2018. Due to growing health concerns and awareness, consumers are looking for healthy snack choices by avoiding ingredients such as fat, sugar, cholesterol, and sodium and selecting baked and salt free multigrain chips. A sizable number of consumers are concerned about snack nutrition and look for quality ingredients and minimally processed foods called as “Good Health Snack (GHS)”. In this work, we present the development of method of producing and testing mushrooms protein crisps (MPC), a healthy alternative to conventional starchy snacks that are rich in protein, nutraceutical compounds, minerals, vitamin, dietary fiber, and immunity inducing beta-glucans. The methods of producing MPC with different seasoning and hydrolyzed protein, calorie, nutritional and chemical composition, consumer response, shelf life after packing and market analysis are described. These systematic studies will help to market potential of this product which is a healthy alternative to other calorie rich snacks sold in the market benefiting the consumers. Graphical abstract

ПРОБЛЕМИ ПРИ ГРАМАТИЧЕСКАТА АДАПТАЦИЯ НА НОВИ ЗАЕМКИ ОТ АНГЛИЙСКИ ЕЗИК / PROBLEMS OF THE MORPHOSYNTACTIC ADAPTATION OF RECENT ENGLISH LOANWORDS IN BULGARIAN

This paper examines the morphosyntactic adaptation of recent English loanwords to the grammatical system of Bulgarian. It builds on the conclusions in Hristov (2015) and outlines the latest trends in the accommodation of some problematic Anglicisms. Special attention is paid to the gender and number adaptation of nouns, the (in)declinability of adjectives, as well as the adoption of new verbs. The results demonstrate that the accommodation strategies discussed in the specialist literature are for the most part followed consistently although there are some exceptions too. In spite of the sizable number of imported adjectives which receive Slavonic derivational suffixes, a large number of newly borrowed adjectives remain indeclinable; there is also evidence for the blurring of the boundaries between adjective and noun modifiers – an expected new development in the ever growing tendency for foreign adjectives to remain uninflected in Bulgarian. The few borrowed verbs likewise take derivational suffixes and are thus successfully incorporated into the Bulgarian verbal system. At the same time, there are some surprising findings which suggest that processes rather untypical of Bulgarian might be underway. Nouns exclusively denoting females can be assigned a formal masculine gender, even without belonging to the so-called dual gender of epicene nouns – a highly unusual phenomenon. The material also turns up zero plural inflections, as well as plurals with English -s. The analysis highlights the competition between Bulgari-an and foreign forms and structures, as well as the question whether those innovations have the potential to become more established in Bulgarian grammar. Keywords: Anglicisms/English loanwords, morphosyntactic adaptation, nouns, adjectives, verbs, Bulgarian language

Are You Experienced? US Ambassadors and International Crises, 1946–2014

How important are ambassadors in international politics? While a growing body of research stresses the importance of diplomacy in international politics, it remains unclear if individual ambassadors make a significant difference or what attributes make for an effective ambassador. This paper explores these questions through a systematic analysis of 2,730 US ambassadors between 1946 and 2014. The United States is distinctive in that it sends a sizable number of noncareer political appointees to serve as ambassadors. This provides a unique opportunity to examine how an ambassador's experience shapes where they are placed and how they perform. Using various techniques to address selection effects, including matching, I find that the United States is less likely to experience a militarized dispute with a host nation when it is represented by a political ambassador. Moreover, political ambassadors with professional experience in politics or the military, those who are close to the president, and those who are appointed in permissive congressional environments are less likely to experience militarized disputes during their tenure. Individual ambassadors matter, but diplomatic experience alone is not the only attribute that makes for an effective ambassador.

Antimicrobial activity of copper and silver metal nanoparticles synthesized from Riccia fluitans

Riccia bryophyte, a genus of liverworts that comes under the family of Ricciaceae, order Marchantiales. The plants are primitive plant structure, that's not differentiated into root, stem, and leaf. The material utilized in this study was a Spp of a Riccia fluitans, that grows on damp soil or, less unremarkably, floating in ponds, and is usually utilized in aquariums. The nanoparticles utilized in this study exhibit potential medicinal drug activity. Advantages of its therapeutic potential can be utilized in a sizable number of fields like health care, cosmetics, biomedical, food and feed, drug-gene delivery, surroundings, health mechanics, optics, chemical industries, physical science, area industries, energy science, catalysis, lightweight emitters, single lepton transistors, nonlinear optical devices, and photo-electrochemical applications. This study aimed to gauge the medicinal drug activity of Riccian nanoparticles, copper-loaded nanoparticles, and silver-loaded nanoparticles against varied microorganisms. The result of the study showed that the Nanoparticle, Ag-NP and Cu-Np synthesized from Riccia is having good antimicrobial activity against tested organisms.

Platforms' partner networks: the missing link in crowdfunding performance

PurposeA network of partners helps and assists a crowdfunding platform (CFP) in scouting, assessing and selecting projects. This cooperation increases the number of successful projects by attracting a sizable number of investors, proponents and attracting marginal investors when a campaign falls short of the threshold for success. This study examines the role of partner networks in a platform ecosystem, specifically in terms of number of different partners and their diversity in the performance of the crowdfunding campaign.Design/methodology/approachUsing logistic and linear regressions, we analyze a sample of 233 projects, both funded and not funded, launched by 10 Italian equity CFPs between 2014 and 2018.FindingsOur findings indicate that the variety of partners in a platform's network influence the probability of campaign success and how much capital the proponent company raises. CFPs are resource-constrained new ventures, and a network with a wider variety of partners ensures the strategic resources and competencies that are required in an early stage market, thus facilitating campaign funding.Practical implicationsThe variety of partner networks could help CFPs to offer unique and strategic value propositions and define the competitive positioning of platforms.Originality/valueThis study provides a deeper understanding of the determinants of equity crowdfunding campaign performance by emphasizing the role of CFP's network of partners on the entire crowdfunding ecosystem and its underlying organizational elements.

Dark photon from light scalar boson decays at FASER

FASER is one of the promising experiments which search for long-lived particles beyond the Standard Model. In this paper, we focus on dark photon associating with an additional U(1) gauge symmetry, and also a scalar boson breaking this U(1) gauge symmetry. We study the sensitivity to the dark photon originated from U(1)-breaking scalar decays. We find that a sizable number of dark photon signatures can be expected in wider parameter space than previous studies.

Building the Team

The recruitment of a nurse champion and a physician champion is described in detail. At in-person meetings and via online presentations, team members familiarize themselves with current catheter practices and absorb the new protocols. They decide which medical floor unit will be the first target and pilot project for the initiative. Their criteria: a unit with a track record for cooperating with interventions and that also has a sizable number of Foleys and catheter-associated urinary tract infection cases. The project manager, champions, and other team members work out implementation details—promoting the project’s goals throughout the hospital, coordinating with other ongoing quality initiatives in the hospital, and identifying those people who will need special convincing. The changes will drive staff from their comfort zones, add to their workload, and challenge traditional relationships between nurses and doctors.