Conducting Research Despite Travel Restrictions

At the time of writing, May 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted all aspects of life around the world, and academic research is no exception. It is also widely predicted that even after the present pandemic calms down, international travel restrictions are likely to remain in place in some shape or form for the foreseeable future. Researchers are seeking ways to move their projects forward despite the unprecedented challenges of lockdowns and social distancing measures. This brief guide, adapted from the module Technology-Enhanced Research, aims to provide researchers at SOAS with some practical pointers in navigating such challenges

Generosity and Resilience: Transnational Activity among the Khmer of Norway

The article reports on the pilot phase of an ongoing study of successfully rehabilitated Khmer refugees. Some of the most striking recoveries in this heavily traumatized group have taken place among those who have focused on contributing to the rebuilding of Cambodia. The article explores this collective and individual transnational generosity both generally, as an aspect of survivor resilience, and specifically by following one process. Why do Khmer refugees want to build a school and what does it mean to them? How does their transnational generosity relate to the resilience of Khmer refugees? Their own explanations are founded in their religion.Cet article est un compte rendu sur la phase pilote d'une étude en cours sur des réfugiés khmers réhabilités avec succès. Certains des rétablissements les plus frappants dans ce groupe fortement traumatisé sont survenus parmi ceux qui se sont évertués d’apporter leurs contributions à la reconstruction du Cambodge. Cet article explore cette générosité transnationale collective et individuelle tant sur le plan général, dans son aspect de l’endurance du survivant, que sur un plan plus spécifique d’un processus donné. Pourquoi les réfugiés khmers veulent-ils construire une école et qu’est-ce que cela signifie pour eux ? De quelle façon leur générosité transnationale se rapporte-t-elle à l’endurance du réfugié khmer ? Leurs propres explications trouvent leurs fondements dans leur religion

Ideer og forestillinger i representasjoner av maskulinitet på sosiale medier – en kvantitativ og kvalitativ studie av YouTube-videoer

Abstract The phenomenon the manosphere has been a subject of growing interest in academic research for the past five years. In its mention the manosphere is often associated with words such as misogyny and antifeminism. The term originated in a blog post in 2009, and it was later popularized by the blogger and author Ian Ironwood: “The Manosphere is a loose collection of blogs, books, and forums about men, male issues, and masculine interests” (Ging, 2017). Later on the academic and popular discourse seem to define the manosphere as a conglomerate of online groups, bounded together by the overarching red-pill philosophy which serves as a world ontology for the rationalisation of male victimhood and hate against women (Ging, 2017). This world ontology is centred around the belief that the cultural and institutional practices of society are in fact deeply rooted in an antifeminist misandry (hate against men). Using an analogy from the sci-fi movie The Matrix, the red pill symbolizes enlightenment for the men who have discovered the truth about the world in which women are favoured. These groups are often considered the online manosphere groups: Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW), Pickup Artists (PUA) and Men’s Rights Activists (MRA) (Ging, 2017; Valkenburg, 2021; Marwick \& Caplan, 2018). A majority of the research has been centred around the communities in which these members interact, in particular Reddit forums, and consists of qualitative analysis of posts and comments in various forums belonging to the manosphere (Bujalka et al., 2022). In this thesis I seek to understand how the ideas of the manosphere have spread and morphed into expressions and representations of masculinity in YouTube videos. This approach is based on the assumption that the boundaries of the manosphere are not easily identifiable when moving beyond websites and forum groups. My focus is on representations of masculinity rather than representations of the manosphere, thus allowing for more diverse sentiments and expressions of masculinity in my dataset. Due to my technical background in IT and software development, I have been able to use a multidisciplinary research methodology. Using automated data retrieval with Google’s YouTube API combined qualitative content analysis, this multidisciplinary approach has enabled a richer description of the phenomenon, representations of masculinity. My findings show that videos posted by YouTubers associating themselves with MGTOW have been present since 2011. Representations of masculinity labelled red pill and the manosphere were scarce in 2015, reaching the level of magnitude in scope and popularity as seen today in 2018. My findings also suggest that ideas associated with the manosphere, such as the depiction of the male archetype the alpha male, constitute a trend which is exploited for commercial purposes such as self-help and motivation videos that are not necessarily linked to misogynistic content. The first occurrences of these self-help and motivation videos were around 2020. This indicates that both the popularity growth of YouTube-content associated with the manosphere and the growth of YouTube as a social media platform (Ruby, 2023) have led to the formation of a commercial market built upon masculinity ideals

Antimicrobial Activity of Phomopsis SP. ED2, an Endophytic Fungus Isolated From Orthosiphon Stamineus Benth

This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial activity of the endophytic fungus Phomopsis sp. ED2, which was previously isolated from the flower of the medicinal plant Orthosiphon stamineus Benth, in Penang, Malaysia. The 14 days-old fungal cultures were extracted with different organic solvents, include hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and butanol. The antimicrobial activities of the extracts were tested by disc diffusion assay. Based on the results, most antimicrobial compounds were present in the ethyl acetate fraction, and this extract could significantly inhibit the activity of bacteria, yeasts and fungi. The results also indicate that the antimicrobial compounds were mainly associated with the fungal biomass and all the Gram-positive test bacteria were inhibited by the ethyl acetate extract of the fungal biomass. Notably, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aereus exhibited a high sensitivity to the extract, with a low minimal inhibitory concentration and low minimal lethal concentration. The isolate also effectively inhibited the growth of the dermatophytes Microsporum gypseum and Trichophyton rubrum. Preliminary phytochemical screening also demonstrated that the extract contains phenols and steroids which possess antimicrobial activity. These results reveal that the endophytic fungus Phomopsis sp. is potential source of novel chemotherapeutic agent

Anti-MRSA Activity of Penicillium Minioluteum ED24, an Endophytic Fungus Isolated From Orthosiphon Stamineus Benth

Nowadays, the medical concerns with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aereus (MRSA) arised when in 2009, the proportion of S. aureus isolates that are resistant to methicilin has increased to 59.5%- 64.4% in South East Asia. Hence a new antibacterial agent from natural source is necessary to combat the infectious diseases. This study aimed to investigate the anti-MRSA activity of the endophytic fungus Penicillium minioluteum ED24, which was previously isolated from the leaf of the medicinal plant Orthosiphon stamineus Benth, in Penang, Malaysia. Methanol was used to extract the freeze-dried fungal biomass of the 14-days old fungal culture. The extract showed very significant anti-MRSA activity of disc diffusion assay with the minimal inhibitory concentration of 31.3 mg/mL and minimal lethality concentration of 250 mg/mL. Besides, 50% growth reduction of MRSA was observed at 33.2 h at the concentration of extract at MIC and 26.7 h at concentration of 2MIC. The structural degeneration of MRSA was observed by using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The SEM micrographs showed that the formation of cavities were observe on the extract treated cells and the cell wall structure of the MRSA was collapsed after treated with the fungal extract. The results suggesting that the bacterial cell wall is the target of the antibiotic compound(s) present in the extract. These results reveal that the endophytic fungus P. minioluteum ED24 a is potential source of anti-MRSA compound

Assets Expropriation via Cash Dividends? Free Cash Flow or Tunneling

AbstractThis study solves the dispute between the free cash flow and tunneling hypotheses in explaining the role of cash dividends on asset expropriation of the controlling shareholders in Chinese listed firms. Investors value more the cash dividends and the cash holdings of firms with lower ownership control than those of firms with higher ownership control. This is more consistent with the tunneling hypothesis. However, when investment opportunities are considered, the free cash flow hypothesis better explains firms' dividend policy. Investors value more the cash dividends of firms with fewer investment opportunities and higher probability of expropriation. This study indicates that investors are concerned with the potential asset expropriation through cash payouts, unless firms possess high growth opportunities