Stories of Welcome Blanket Makers: Towards a Philosophy of Craft

Welcome Blanket was created as a craftivism response to Trump’s call for a border wall. “Imagine if the massive distance of this wall was re-conceptualized and re-contextualized not to divide, but to include. Instead of a wall, a concrete line, to keep people out, what if lines of yarn became 3,500,640 yards of blankets to welcome people in?” The 3,200-blanket goal was quickly achieved and shown in the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. Then, with enclosed notes from the makers welcoming newly arrived immigrants, the blankets were distributed to refugees and immigrants in several resettlement communities throughout the United States. Meanwhile, members of a community associated with a nascent Makerspace in Norfolk, Connecticut, began making small (15”x 20”) “hugs” blankets for children who had been released from ICE detention centers to shelters. Welcome Blanket facilitated a process through their call to action to have these blankets, handmade dolls, and toiletries, distributed. We also sent a bale of blankets to the Heartland Alliance for a group of unaccompanied immigrant children coming into Chicago. We conducted a series of conversations with makers, ages nine to ninety, who were first-generation immigrants, children of immigrants, indentured servants, as well as people who did not know very much about their family’s immigrant experiences. These dialogues reveal much about the phenomenology of craft, the values that emerge in the context of community around craftivism, networks, and the spirit of co-creation. Drawing on hidden histories in what appears to be a homogenous community, makers found that through the action and reflection of the Welcome Blanket process, the community was able to weave together local concerns with global injustices. As Bruno Latour (2005) states: “Strength does not come from concentrations, purity and unity, but from dissemination, heterogeneity, and the careful plaiting of weak ties.

Expression, purification and characterization of recombinant RNA-dependent RNA polymerase from Heterobasidion RNA virus 6

RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRps) are enzymes that catalyze nucleotide polymerization on RNA template in the presence of divalent metal ions. These enzymes are central for the life cycle of viruses with RNA genomes. A double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) mycovirus Heterobasidion RNA virus 6 (HetRV6) commonly infect forest pathogenic fungi from the species complex Heterobasidion annosum sensu lato. In general, the infection caused by HetRV6 is cryptic, but sometimes have negative or mutualistic impact on its host. The understanding of the HetRV6 life cycle, including RNA synthesis, can shed light on the biology of HetRV6 virus and explain its divergent impacts on the host. Furthermore, a recombinant HetRV6 RdRp can potentially be harnessed to produce dsRNA molecules applicable for silencing of the target genes in plants, fungi, insects and mammals via RNA interference (RNAi). The aim of the current study was to express, purify and characterize the in vitro enzymatic activities of RdRp from the HetRV6 virus. To this end, a complementary DNA sequence of the RdRp gene was cloned into Escherichia coli expression vector, from which the recombinant polymerase was expressed and purified using affinity, ion-exchange and size-exclusion chromatography. The purified HetRV6 RdRp was a soluble and active in vitro enzyme, which possesses polymerase and terminal nucleotidyl transferase (TNTase) activities in the absence of any primers or accessory viral or host proteins. The impact of the buffer composition, pH, temperature, divalent cations and nucleoside triphosphate concentrations was studied and the optimal reaction conditions were identified. The polymerase is fully dependent on Mn2+ ions and does not produce dsRNA in its absence, while Mg2+ ions at concentration 1‒5 mM enhance the polymerization activity. HetRV6 polymerase is active on heterologous templates. However, the requirements for successful initiation and elongation should be still studied in more detail to fully understand how the enzyme can be used for efficient dsRNA synthesis for biotechnological applications. The discovered TNTase activity can potentially be used for in vitro RNA labeling. The completed work is a useful starting point to further explore the properties of the HetRV6 RdRp in terms of possible RNA modifying tools, its structural organization and role in infection and host-microbe interactions

Critical Analysis of an Awake Prone Positioning Protocol at a Community Hospital

Background: Prone positioning has traditionally been implemented in the ICU as a last resort measure to treat ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). With the COVID-19 pandemic, awake prone positioning (APP) in non-intubated patients emerged as an intervention on general medical wards to prevent respiratory decompensation and transfer to the ICU as these patients frequently developed acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF) and ARDS. Methods: A critical analysis of a local community APP protocol was performed with updated recommendations from a comprehensive review of literature and feedback from stakeholders. Results: Early initiation and longer duration of APP is associated with improved patient outcomes, with periods of 30 minutes to 2 hours having immediate improvement on oxygenation and periods of \u3e8 hours reducing intubation and mortality rates. Few adverse side effects have been identified. Barriers to implementation include adequate equipment and staffing resources, consideration of relative and absolute contraindications, and awareness of APP as an existent, nurse-initiated protocol. Conclusion: APP is a non-invasive, feasible, nurse-driven intervention that may be applied in both ICU and non-ICU settings to decrease the risk of respiratory decompensation. APP may be considered outside of the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in cases of future respiratory illnesses in which physiological effects of APP may have similar outcomes

Do Oil-Rich GCC Countries Finance US Current Account Deficit?

Given the secrecy that wraps the flows of the GCC countries petrodollar surpluses to the United States and the pressures on these countries to spend and recycle more, this study attempts to uncover the direct and reverse causal relationships between the GCC financial accounts and the US current account deficit. It examines whether the GCC petrodollar surpluses are a global savings glut (an external factor) that causes the US current account deficit or in contrary this deficit is home-grown and the petrodollar savings glut hypothesis does not hold. It particularly focuses on worlds largest oil exporter to find out if the homegrown deficit hypothesis for the worlds largest oil consumer holds. It also investigates which types of investments or components of GCC financial accounts help cause the US deficit the most. The implications and policy recommendations for this growing source of global external imbalances are also provided. --Capital account,Financial account,Direct and reverse causality

“Because the computer said so!”: Can computational authorship analysis be trusted?

This study belongs to the domain of authorship analysis (AA), a discipline under the umbrella of forensic linguistics in which writing style is analysed as a means of authorship identification. Due to advances in natural language processing and machine learning in recent years, interest in computational methods of AA is gaining over traditional stylistic analysis by human experts. It may only be a matter of time before the software will assist, if not replace, a forensic examiner. But can we trust its verdict? The existing computational methods of AA receive critique for the lack of theoretical motivation, black box methodologies and controversial results, and ultimately, many argue that these are unable to deliver viable forensic evidence. The study replicates a popular algorithm of computational AA in order to open one of the existing black boxes. It takes a closer look at the so-called “bag-of-words” (BoW) approach – a word distributions method used in the majority of AA models, evaluates the parameters that the algorithm bases its conclusions on and offers detailed linguistic explanations for the statistical results these discriminators produce. The framework behind the design of this study draws on multidimensional analysis – a multivariate analytical approach to linguistic variation. By building on the theory of systemic functional linguistics and variationist sociolinguistics, the study takes steps toward solving the existing problem of the theoretical validity of computational AA

Fight Corruption the EU Membership Requirement: The Case of Albania

Corruption is one of the most crucial challenges which emerges as a solid opponent to the universal rule of the law. This paper examines the issue of combating corruption in Albania and its significance in the context of the country's pursuit of EU membership. Drawing upon the political and juridical history of Albania, the study highlights the close link between political culture and combating corruption in Southeast Europe. It underscores the challenges faced by Albania in combating corruption due to its difficult political past and the shortcomings in the development and enforcement of the law. The implementation of the Justice Reform in Albania is recognized as a significant step toward combating corruption, but the process has encountered obstacles and delays. The paper emphasizes the importance of respecting the deadlines set for the reform and ensuring the functioning of the judicial system to safeguard citizens' rights. Recommendations are provided, including the need for a safety net to prevent critical vacancies in the judiciary, restraining the right to resign during vetting procedures, and ensuring adequate logistical support and independence for new judicial institutions. The study concludes by emphasizing the ongoing fight against combating corruption as an essential requirement for Albania's EU membership and the need for sustained efforts to address the shortcomings identified in the process

Energy Crops: Stakeholder Identification and Analysis - A Case of Belarus

Belarus is subject to serious energy security issues due to limited domestic energy resources; a low diversity in the national energy profile, significant depreciation of capital assets in the Belarusian energy system, a high share of energy resources import, and a dominating dependence on one energy importer The Russian Federation. In response to these issues the country is very interested in diversifying its energy profile, development of non-conventional renewable energy types and increasing the share of local energy resources. Introduction of short rotation willow crops is one strategy under examination. When willow is grown for energy purposes, it has the potential not only to contribute to the energy security enhancement, but also yield co-benefits in economic, environmental and social terms. Currently energy crops based energy is in the stage of early development. Development of this energy option depends on a range of stakeholders, as well as economic and legislative settings. This work involves the identification of stakeholders in relation to short rotation willow crops (on any stage of their life cycle including cultivation and utilization of biomass), and then their interviewing in order to depict their interests, perception of other stakeholders, and existing coordination between them. All stakeholders identified are analyzed then in terms of attributes of power, legitimacy and urgency for defining those stakeholders that influence the development of short rotation willow crops most. The research reveals the general interest in the development of this energy option on the side of the national government, but low current interest on the side of most stakeholders. Moreover, there is a weak interaction between stakeholders, a factor that is held in this work to be mainly attributed to limited knowledge and experience on this technology. However, the current economic and legislative settings do contain tools for stimulation of renewable energy development, inclusive of energy crops. Such items include reduced environmental tax and indexed tariffs for bioenergy that will provide financial incentives and the coming law on nonconventional and renewable energy that will provide for stimulation tools for renewable energy

The War Against Corruption in Albania

Corruption is a challenge faced by the whole world, but the fight against it becomes even more emergent in certain regions, such as Southeast Europe, due to a high presence of organized crime, combined with mass spread poverty and low democratic tradition. Given that the countries of the region have already gotten the green light for EU candidacy status, corruption stands as one of the main conditions for this membership. Looking at the fight against corruption throughout the region, and placing Albania in a special perspective, this study aims to bring a comprehensive picture of the legal aspects of the fight against corruption in Albania, looking at the development of relevant legislation and its effects on implementation, as well as the way this establishes the country’s journey towards being part of the EU. From an additional element with adverse effects, corruption has become one of the mechanisms that put the system to work, and it is almost impossible to remodel this system if corruption still exists within it. Therefore, the “open war” against corruption has become a basic need and the central fight during the long recovery process of various countries that have gone through difficult transitional periods

Addressing Terrorism in The XXI Century Case of Albania

Terrorism is a worldwide phenomeon. The strategy against it has become increasingly intense in the last two decades. This article is focused on a systematic legal analysis of terrorism as a global phenomenon, its definition under international law and the Albanian Criminal Code, including forms of terrorism, analysis of funding sources, the interrelations of terrorism with drug trafficking and money laundering, and the role played by media in helping or combating terrorism. The conceptual legal analysis on terrorism law and practices at international level and Albanian case study are used as research methods. Juridical definitions on terrorism are not unique, because states do not use the same methods to deal with the threat of terrorist attacks. In addition, international laws and treaties are valid only for participating states, meanwhile other states avoid cooperation on security issues. Terrorism, as an international criminal offense, is unlikely to be totally stopped in the near future, because multilateral responses are hampered by complexity of national laws and are not binding for all, because of unavailability of some governments to relinquish a level of power to an international body. New national and global strategies are needed to fight terrorism in light of information technologies. Being a global partner in fighting terrorism, Albania has improved the legal framework on terrorism acts in line with EU guidelines which contributes in eliminating the consequences of organized crime and drug trafficking, as the means which fuel criminal and terrorism acts