Football as Soft Power: The Political Use of Football in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

In November 2022 Qatar hosts the first Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region FIFA World Cup. This paper seeks to understand the use of football as a soft power political tool in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Based on culture, values and policies, soft power is power through attraction as opposed to coercion. The stronger one player’s values, culture and policies are, the more soft power that player has. Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, traditional fossil fuel-based states, suffer from a lack of attraction. By investing in football, each nation hopes to project a new image and ensure future relevance. Qatar uses football to increase its standing in the international community, helping to ensure its own protection in case of regional disputes. The UAE uses football to help convert itself into an international travel and business centre, while Saudi Arabia invests in football to help project a progressive image of itself to the world and ensure regime securityhttps://ecommons.aku.edu/uk_ismc_series_ops/1009/thumbnail.jp

Factor Structure and Psychometric Characteristics of the Beck Depression Inventory-Fast Screen in a Sample of Patients with Pain

The purpose of this study was to extend previous literature of the BDI-FastScreen and demonstrate a more empirical clinical utility within a sample of patients with pain. This study utilized existing data found in a large, multiphysician, multilocation pain management practice. The sample consisted of 328 male and female patients with pain. Various psychometric analyses were performed. Results pertaining to the internal consistency of the BDI-FastScreen determined the items most highly correlated were pessimism and loss of pleasure. A factor analysis revealed 49.18 % of the variance of the factor structure of the BDI-FastScreen was comprised of one factor. Gender was investigated as a moderator of depression and pain and although gender was not demonstrated to moderate the pain / depression relationship, there was a clear relationship between pain and depression. There was a significant correlation between the physicians’ rated depression score and patients’ corresponding, self-reported depression scores on the BDI-FastScreen. Researchers compared patients’ self-rated depression scores and depression descriptors embedded within another measure. A significant correlation between the BDI-FastScreen scores and the items on a derivative of the SFMPQ was found. All the correlations were significant, confirming the supposition that breaking down the seven items into descriptors and embedding the descriptors into a different measure adequately assesses for depression. Results of this project demonstrate the BDI-FastScreen can be condensed to one word descriptors and adequately assess for depression in a population with chronic pain. Instead of utilizing the data from two distinct measures, the adapted patient encounter form, a derivative of the SF-MPQ and BDI-FastScreen, both clinical disorders can be expeditiously and adequately assessed. This study will provide physicians and clinical health psychologists with diverse insights and the ability to utilize multiple depression measures to provide insightful treatments for their patients

Transplantation and identity: a dangerous split?

International audienc

Efectos pleotrópicos de inhibidores de 3-hidroxi-3-metilglutaril-coa reductasa en nefropatía obstructiva

The incidence of chronic renal diseases is increasing world-wide, and there is a great need to identify therapies capable of arresting or reducing disease progression. The current treatment of chronic nephropathies is limited to angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers, but there is growing clinical and experimental evidence that statins (3-hydroxy-3-methyglutaryl-CoA reductase inhibitors) could play a therapeutic role.Fil: Kurbán Carosella, Fernando Tufik. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Manucha, Walter Ariel Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentin

Global tectonic studies: Hotspots and anomalous topography

Volcanic activity on Earth and its secular variations are compared with that on other terrestrial planets. Activity at divergent, transform, and convergent plate margins is described with particular emphasis on hot spots and flood basalts. The timing and causing of uplifting above 500 meters, which in not associated with either plate boundaries or the normal nonplate margin edges of continents is considered with particular focus on the Guyana Highlands in southern Venezuela and western British Guiana, and the Brazilian Highlands in the central, eastern, and southern parts of the country. The mode and mechanism of plateau uplifting and the re-elevation of old mountain belts and subsidence of intra-continental basins are also discussed

Reflexiones en torno a la idea de riesgo en Salud Mental

El presente trabajo intenta constituirse en un aporte desde el Trabajo Social a los debates actuales en el campo de la Salud Mental surgidos fundamentalmente a partir del cambio de paradigma que implicó la sanción de la Ley Nacional Nº 26657. En este sentido, interesa profundizar analíticamente respecto a la dimensión del riesgo en Salud Mental, partiendo del carácter polisémico que adquiere dicha categoría y de las modalidades particulares de comprensión que priman en el campo. Se considerará para ello el análisis de tres dimensiones constitutivas desde mi punto de vista respecto al tema intentando compartir reflexiones surgidas de la intervención profesional en un Hospital Especializado en Salud Mental. En primer lugar, definiremos la noción de riesgo cierto e inminente; luego profundizaremos en la idea de dignidad de riesgo y por último se plantearán algunas consideraciones respecto a la situación actual de las personas con las que trabajamos en el campo de la salud mental desde un efector público de salud, en lo que a mi entender configuraría una situación de riesgo existencial; procurando propiciar el entrecruzamiento de las tres dimensiones señaladas.Eje temático 1: Neoliberalismo y desigualdades sociales. Precariedades de la vida cotidiana y de la trama institucional.Grupo de trabajo 6: Desafíos y reflexiones del Trabajo Social y/o el Equipo de Salud en torno a las determinaciones sociales de la salud colectiva.Facultad de Trabajo Socia

Zu interkulturellen Lernprozessen im Französischunterricht. Eine qualitative Untersuchung aus der Lehrerperspektive

Vor dem Hintergrund der zunehmenden Pluralität der Gesellschaft geraten immer mehr Individuen in den Austausch mit anderen Kulturen und werden auf diese Weise verstärkt mit kultureller Diversität und der Erfahrung von Alterität konfrontiert. Um wichtige Voraussetzungen für den Umgang in einer kulturell heterogenen Gesellschaft zu erwerben, ist interkulturelle Bildung mit der Empfehlung der Kultusministerkonferenz von 1996 zum zentralen fächerübergreifenden Lernziel deklariert worden. Vorausgegangene Untersuchungen legen nahe, dass meistens eine Diskrepanz besteht zwischen bildungstheoretischen Überlegungen zum interkulturellen Lernen, die in bildungspolitischen Dokumenten aufgegriffen werden und der Umsetzung in die Unterrichtspraxis. Hier setzt die vorliegende Untersuchung an, indem sie die Frage untersucht, ob interkulturelles Lernen in der Unterrichtspraxis des Französischunterrichts umgesetzt wird und im Bewusstsein der Lehrpersonen verankert ist. Hierzu wurde eine qualitative Untersuchung durchgeführt, indem zum einen offene Fragebögen von Französischlehrpersonen zur Analyse herangezogen wurden und in einem weiteren vertiefenden Schritt Leitfadeninterviews mit Lehrern durchgeführt wurden. Auf der Grundlage der Ergebnisse werden erfolgsfördernde und erfolgsmindernde Faktoren zur Umsetzung der interkulturellen Idee im Französischunterrricht aufgezeigt und mögliche interkulturelle Gestaltungsräume in der Lehrerbildung und in der Schule herausgearbeitet