The soft power of popular cinema: the case of India

Among BRICS nations, India has the most developed and globalised film industry, and the Indian government as well as corporations are increasingly deploying the power of Bollywood in their international interactions. India’s soft power, arising from its cultural and civilizational influence outside its territorial boundaries, has a long history. Focusing on contemporary India’s thriving Hindi film industry, this article suggests that the globalisation of the country’s popular cinema, aided by a large diaspora, has created possibilities of promoting India’s public diplomacy. It examines the global imprint of this cinema as an instrument of soft power

Effect of Supplementation with Zinc and Other Micronutrients on Malaria in Tanzanian Children: A Randomised Trial

Hans Verhoef and colleagues report findings from a randomized trial conducted among Tanzanian children at high risk for malaria. Children in the trial received either daily oral supplementation with either zinc alone, multi-nutrients without zinc, multi-nutrients with zinc, or placebo. The investigators did not find evidence from this study that zinc or multi-nutrients protected against malaria episodes

Understanding Smokers' Motivations to Use Evidence-based Smoking Cessation Aids

Introduction: Use of evidence-based smoking cessation aids (SCA) is an efficacious way to improve smoking cessation relapse rates. However, use of SCA in the Netherlands is particularly low. This study examined determinants of intention to use SCA in smokers willing to quit. Methods: The Dutch Continuous Survey of Smoking Habits, a cross-sectional population survey, was used. Respondents were smokers (n = 594) wanting to quit sometime in the future and who made at least one quit attempt in the past, categorized as past users of evidence-based SCA, past users of nonevidence-based SCA, and smokers who had never used SCA before (nonusers). Respondents were asked about past SCA use, motivational determinants regarding smoking cessation and SCA use, and intention to use SCA during a future quit attempt. Results: Older and more addicted smokers were more likely to have used evidence-based SCA. Evidence-based and nonevidence-based users reported stronger attitudes and perceived social norm as well as lower self-efficacy expectations regarding smoking cessation and SCA use than nonusers. Having positive outcome expectations and perceived social norm regarding SCA use were strong predictors of intention to use SCA. Self-efficacy regarding smoking cessation was negatively related with intention to use SCA. Conclusions: Nonusers, nonevidence-based users, and evidence-based users have different motivations for using evidence-based SCA and should not be treated as a homogenous group in smoking cessation programs. Additionally, it is unclear whether nonusers should be encouraged to use SCA, given that this group is less addicted and more confident about quitting

Affitins: Ribosome Display for Selection of Aho7c-Based Affinity Proteins

International audienceEngineered protein scaffolds have made a tremendous contribution to the panel of affinity tools owing to their favorable biophysical properties that make them useful for many applications. In 2007, our group paved the way for using archaeal Sul7d proteins for the design of artificial affinity ligands, so-called Affitins. For many years, Sac7d and Sso7d have been used as molecular basis to obtain binders for various targets. Recently, we characterized their old gifted protein family and identified Aho7c, originating from Acidianus hospitalis, as the shortest member (60 amino-acids) with impressive stability (96.5 °C, pH 0-12). Here, we describe the construction of Aho7c combinatorial libraries and their use for selection of binders by ribosome display

The role of r&d investments on labor force: The case of selected developed countries

Whether the change in R&D spending creates technological unemployment, in particular, is a controversial issue. Acceptance of this hypothesis might not be possible under all circumstances. At this point, especially if country-based research is conducted, it might be the right choice to consider the countries with the highest R&D expenditure. This study empirically analyses the role of R&D spending on unemployment by using annual data from 1996 to 2017 of 15 developed countries. In empirical results, it was first determined that there is no co-integration between the ratio of R&D expenditures to GDP and the unemployment rate. Therefore, an attempt was made to determine the existence of a hidden co-integration among the shocks of these variables. The direction of asymmetric causality among them was investigated as a result of the detection of findings that is evidence of hidden co-integration. Although there is an otherwise observation, asymmetric causality analysis results predominantly show that there is causality from R&D expenditures to unemployment