Tying The Adversary\u27s Hands: Provocation, Crisis Escalation, And Inadvertent War

Recent tensions on the Korean peninsula and in the South China Sea have led to concerns that provocative actions, such as harsh rhetoric and low-level violence, might embroil the United States in an unwanted war. The international relations literature, however, does not offer a coherent theory of provocation and crisis escalation. Instead, scholars and policymakers rely on intuition or other mechanisms of escalation, such as those based on accidents, threat perception, or imperfect signaling to explain the dangers of provocation in crises. Drawing on recent insights in social psychology and the study of resolve, this dissertation advances a novel theory of provocation that explains how provocative rhetoric and military actions can distinctly lead to unwanted crisis escalation and conflict. I test my theory at the individual level with a survey experiment and use the findings to develop three game-theoretic models that analyze how provocation affects crisis dynamics in different strategic contexts. To show that these mechanisms can significantly impact real crises, I closely examine the Sino-IndiaWar of 1962 and Sino-Soviet Border Conflict of 1969 using primary Chinese sources, and briefly review three additional cases of more recent crises. In the conclusion, I discuss the implications for coercive diplomacy and crisis management

Understanding Students’ Cognitive and Affective Attitude and Attitudinal Structures Toward Physical Activity: A Person-Centered Approach

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the proportions of students who were holding positive, negative, and neutral cognitive/affective attitude and different cognitive-affective attitudinal structures toward moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) using a person-centered approach. Methods: A total of 3949 students participated in this study (1065 middle-school students, 784 high-school students, and 2100 college students). Results: A majority of students were holding positive cognitive (about 94%) and affective attitude (about 85%) toward MVPA. Most students (about 84%) held the Positive cognitive—Positive affective attitudinal structure toward MVPA. School level influenced the proportions of students who were holding different cognitive attitude status, affective attitude status, and cognitive-affective attitudinal structures; gender and body weight status did not significantly influence them. Conclusions: This study furthers our understandings on students’ attitude and attitudinal structures toward PA. It lays the foundation for the development of physical education curriculum or PA programs that aim at promoting students’ PA behavior through changing their PA attitude. Future studies are needed to examine the effects of different attitude statuses and attitudinal structures on PA behavior

Attitude and Attitudinal Structures Toward Physical Education and Their Influences on Physical Activity Behavior

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine middle and high school students’ cognitive and affective attitude and their cognitive-affective attitudinal structures toward physical education (PE). The effects of cognitive and affective attitude and attitudinal structures on physical activity (PA) in PE and outside of school were also examined. Methods: 1773 Chinese middle and high-school students participated in this study. SEM, Chi-square test, ANOVAs, and Contingency tables were adopted to address the research questions. Results: The results showed that most students (\u3e90%) were holding positive cognitive and affective attitude toward PE. Students’ affective attitude significantly influences their PA in PE and outside of school. Most students were holding the positive cognitive-positive negative attitudinal structure toward PE. Conclusions: All these findings lay important foundations for future theoretical advancement about attitude toward PE and provide guidance for PE teachers on attitude intervention and PA promotion

EuroCarto 2022

From the 19th to the 21st of September 2022, the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) hosted the 3rd European Cartographic Conference, EuroCarto 2022. The conference was endorsed by the International Cartographic Association (ICA) and jointly organized by the Research Unit Cartography at TU Wien, the German (DGfK), Austrian (ÖKK), Swiss (SGK) and British (BCS) Cartographic Societies. Sponsors were the Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri), the Federal Office of Metrology and Surveying (BEV) and the University of Toronto Press Journals Division (UTP). The conference provided a forum for discussion, exchange, and research collaboration for cartographers and professionals in related disciplines.Od 19. do 21. rujna 2022. Tehničko sveučilište u Beču (TU Wien) bilo je domaćin 3. europske kartografske konferencije, EuroCarto 2022. Konferenciju je podržalo Međunarodno kartografsko društvo (ICA), a zajednički su je organizirali Istraživačka jedinica za kartografiju na TU Wien te njemačko (DGfK), austrijsko (ÖKK), švicarsko (SGK) i britansko (BCS) kartografsko društvo. Sponzori su bili Istraživački institut za sustave okoliša (Esri), Savezni ured za mjeriteljstvo i mjerenje (BEV) i University of Toronto Press Journals Division (UTP). Konferencija je omogućila forum za raspravu, razmjenu i istraživačku suradnju kartografima i stručnjacima iz srodnih disciplina

Viral Studies In Pemphigus

Sera from patients with pemphigus. other bullous dermatoses, and various control groups were examined to determine whether paramyxoviruses, particularly SVS and DU, could be isolated. Indirect immunofluorescent tests and virus neutralization tests were employed to determine the incidence of SV5 virus antibody in sera from patients with various dermatoses, and to determine whether antibody to SV5 was related to the antiepithelial antibody associated with pemphigus. The frequency of antibody to SV5 (9%) and DU (11%) virus in sera from patients with pemphigus was not higher than the frequency ot antibodies to SV5 (14%) and DU (17%) in sera of various control groups. The absence of antibodies to 8V5 and DU virus in sera from most patients with pemphigus, the absence of intercellular antiepithelial antibody in sets from dogs and most humans with antibody to SV5 and DU virus, and the absence of correlation of titers in a patient with both types of antibody indicate that SV5 antibody is not functionally related to “pemphigus antibody.” In addition, no SV5, DU, or other hemadsorbing paramyxovirus was isolated from sera of patients with pemphigus. Isolation from blister fluid was not attempted. Infection with SV5, DU, or similar paramyxovirus is probably not usually, if at all, related to the etiology of non-Brazilian pemphigus

The Influence of Digital Marketing on Consumer Behavior in the Context of Online Shopping in the Klang Valley, Malaysia

The contemporary business landscape has undergone significant transformations, resulting in a highly competitive atmosphere. The onset of the second wave of digitization and technological innovation occurred in the early 2010s, and the COVID-19 pandemic further amplified its momentum. The second wave pertains to digitalizing the industrial sector, encompassing several aspects such as digital manufacturing, data-driven healthcare, intelligent buildings, and smart cities (World Economic Forum, 2021). Digital marketing has emerged as a highly prevalent marketing strategy organizations employ, mainly through social media platforms and email marketing techniques. Social media and email marketing are potent strategies for cultivating consumer engagement. This engagement plays a crucial role in influencing the frequency of customers' intent to make purchases. Furthermore, these marketing methods are characterized by their user-friendly nature and resilience.  Digital marketing technologies provide organizations with a convenient means to effectively promote their products and foster customer relationships at a reduced cost, resulting in heightened sales volume. This study investigates the relationship between digital marketing, consumer engagement, and purchase intention within the Klang Valley region. The primary objective is to optimize the utilization of the study findings by obtaining theoretical validation of the relationship between the variables and selecting the most suitable implications that contribute to identifying the influence of digital marketing on consumer engagement and purchase intention

Human Bocavirus – Insights into a Newly Identified Respiratory Virus

Human Bocavirus (HBoV) was discovered in 2005 using a molecular virus screening technique. It is often found in respiratory samples and is a likely cause for respiratory diseases in children. HBoV is distributed worldwide and has been found not only in respiratory samples, but also in feces, urine and serum. HBoV infections are mostly found in young children and coinfections with other respiratory viruses are often found, exacerbating the efforts to link HBoV to specific symptoms. The purpose of this review is to give an overview of recent HBoV research, highlighting some recent findings

Rapid cryopreservation of five mammalian and one mosquito cell line at -80°C while attached to flasks in a serum free cryopreservative

Cell culturing, and the requisite storage of cell lines at ultra-low temperatures, is used in most laboratories studying or using eukaryotic proteomics, genomics, microarray, and RNA technologies. In this study we have observed that A72(dog), CRFK(cat), NB324K(human), MCF7(human), WI38(human), and C636(mosquito) cells were effectively cryopreserved at -80°C while attached to the substratum of 25cm(2 )tissue culture flasks. This was accomplished using a serum free crypreservative recently developed by Corsini and co-workers. The technique allows for significant savings of time and money in laboratories that rapidly process numerous cell lines

Genomic heterogeneity among human and nonhuman strains of hepatitis A virus.

Cloned cDNA probes derived from the P1 and P2 regions of the genome of HM175 virus, a reference strain of human hepatitis A virus (HAV), failed to hybridize under standard stringency criteria with RNA from PA21 and PA33 viruses, two epizootiologically related HAV strains recovered from naturally infected New World owl monkeys. Hybridization of these probes to PA21 RNA was only evident under reduced stringency conditions. However, cDNA representing the 5' nontranslated region of the HM175 genome hybridized equally to HM175 and PA21 RNA under standard stringency conditions, while a probe derived from the 3' 1,400 bases of the genome yielded a reduced hybridization signal with PA21 RNA. In contrast, no differences could be discerned between HM175 virus and three other HAV strains of human origin (GR8, LV374, and MS1) in any region of the genome, unless increased stringency conditions were used. These results suggest that PA21 and PA33 are unique among HAV isolates and may represent a virus native to the owl monkey. Despite extremely poor homology within the P1 region, which encodes capsid polypeptides, monoclonal antibody analysis confirmed that the immunodominant neutralization epitopes of HAV were highly conserved between HM175 and PA21 viruses. Furthermore, experimental challenge of the owl monkey with successive PA33 and HM175 inocula confirmed a high but incomplete degree of cross-protection. Only one of six monkeys previously infected with PA33 developed recurrent hepatitis 28 days after intravenous HM175 challenge, while none of six monkeys previously infected with HM175 had demonstrable hepatitis following PA33 challenge. These data provide molecular evidence for the existence of HAV strains unique to nonhuman primate species and indicate that strict conservation of antigenic function may accompany substantial genetic divergence in HAV