Developed by Omocat and released in December 2020, OMORI is a surreal psychological horror role-playing game. The game follows the titular protagonist Omori as it examines such sensitive topics as suicide, grief, death, and depression. Such traumatic events are triggered in several planes of existence—White Space, Headspace, and Black Space—leading...
The Tijaniyya has witnessed a lively debate concerning the classic Sufi requirement of a living guide to give spiritual training (tarbiya) to aspirants. Prominent Tijani scholars across the Sahara—modern-day Morocco, Mauritania, and Senegal—have apparently staked different positions on this issue from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. The discourse has...
Ideas of African cultural or racial distinction, most notably Négritude, largely have been dismissed as marginal to “ordinary” Africans, or the vast majority who did not have the opportunity to study in Paris or London and meet with ideologues of Black nationalism from the diaspora. Sub-Saharan African Muslims earlier responded...
For decades, the theory of cultural proximity, which states that audiences prefer culturally proximal content (Straubhaar, 1991), has remained a major framework to explain audience preferences. We show how transnational media flows have challenged its contemporary applicability. To probe this, we focus on a recent, intriguing, and still understudied development:...
State borders allocate access to basic goods, opportunities, rights, and protections along lines of nationality, race, and gender. However, the discriminatory effects of state borders rarely appear as an issue in the self-understanding of liberal-democratic societies and their political theorizing. In this paper, I explore how the category of nationality...
Self-determination is a central concept for political philosophers. For example, many have appealed to this concept to defend a right of states to restrict immigration. Because it is deeply embedded in our political structures, the principle possesses a kind of default authority and does not usually call for an elaborate...
In periods of political unrest, media habits change significantly, allowing for new patterns of selectivity. This study's main contribution lies in its application of selective exposure theory and its comparison of people's media uses in five Global South polities that witnessed widespread protests in 2019: Chile, Hong Kong, Iran, Iraq,...
Although the technical and psychological accuracy of the polygraph has been contested almost since the device’s inception, it continues to enjoy substantial popularity within law enforcement and federal agencies throughout North America. This paper excavates the sexual politics of the polygraph focused on two key arenas where the polygraph has...
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the use of social media by individuals during protests in China (Hong Kong), Iraq, Iran, and Lebanon.
Method
Surveys in the four countries assess the relationship between people’s attitudes toward the protests and their selection bias on social media, manifested through selective sharing and selective...
This study examines selection bias on social media during the 2019 Lebanon protests. Based on the theoretical concepts of selective avoidance and selective sharing, the survey of a nationally representative probability sample found selective avoidance to occur across all social media. Among the various protest-related activities, sharing news was the...
Emerging digital entertainment media in the Global South are anchored in nation-state configurations, benefit from supranational affordances, and aspire to global operations. Drawing on Sassen’s “third spaces,” the article focuses on the case of Shahid, a Middle East-based video streaming platform and a hybrid media venture that operates at the...
What factors drive consumers to use artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbots? The current study examined the associations among AI-powered chatbots’ anthropomorphism (human-likeness, animacy, and intelligence), social presence, imagery processing, psychological ownership, and continuance intention in the context of Human-AI-Interaction. Results from a path analysis using LISREL 8.54 show that consumers’ perceived...
Instagram not only offers an arena for the fulfillment of basic human desires but also cultivates new types of multifaceted desires and consumptions in Web 2.0 environments. This study aims to examine a wide variety of dispositional, psychological, and attitudinal predictors of Instagram consumption and selfie-and-groupfie cultures. Three cross-sectional surveys...
Advancements in experiential media (EM) technologies, particularly virtual reality (VR), a subset of EM, can transform the ways public relations (PR) professions tell stories about a brand, organization, or mega-events. In the context of sports, PR content productions utilize various qualities of EM to offer immersive at-home, arena-like experiences for...
In this study, we examine how and the degree to which Experiential Media (EM) are utilized to promote travel, sports, and, more broadly, cultural tourism in EM contents produced in the buildup to the 22nd FIFA World Cup to be hosted by Qatar in 2022, the first Arab nation to...
Drawing from social learning theory and the mobile advertising literature on key performance indicators (KPIs), two experiments examined the influence of peer users' conversion in mobile social commerce. Experiment 1 (N = 211, between-subjects [high vs. low number of “sold items”]) tested the effects of peer users' conversion, operationalized as...
Why do people give and help others in face of their own mortality salience? The existential struggle with the awareness of death impacts the gamut of human cognition, emotion, and behavior. This multi-method research (∑N = 1,219) explains the psychosocial impact of COVID-19-related mortality salience on altruism. Drawing from terror...
Drawing from the terror management theory (TMT) and evolutionary perspectives of Life-History Strategy, a between-subject online experiment examined the interaction effects of pre-existing death anxiety, fear-inducing media content (coronavirus threat vs. gun violence threat vs. low threat mental disorder), and intrasexual competition for mates on online dating intentions and social...
ABSTRACT
Purpose
The authors assess the effectiveness of campaigns designed to increase the sport activities of migrant workers in Qatar, host nation of the FIFA Men’s World Cup Qatar 2022TM.
Design
The authors used the integrative model of behavioral prediction (IM) as a guide and conducted ethnographic interviews with migrant...
About a century ago, women in the US and western Europe looked to ‘Turkish pantaloons’ (shalwar) for freedom and were shamed, harassed, and even arrested for wearing them. Meanwhile, people of all genders in Turkey and Bulgaria moved freely in shalwar until modern nation-building projects imposed Western restrictive dress that...
Turkish television series are a global sensation, and concurrently, targets of bans, boycotts, and protests. In Russia, Turkish series are countered with Russian television productions, promoted as disclosing truths about Turkey that are absent in Turkish series. A multimodal discourse analysis of East/West and Eastern Wives from a critical geopolitics...
La crisis climática y la emergencia medioambiental auguran un futuro de incertidumbre para el planeta. Las directivas europeas y nacionales educativas establecen los marcos de actuación y los compromisos que cada agente debe asumir para alcanzar el nuevo paradigma sostenible basado en la Economía Circular. La escuela, como institución de...
This roundtable session initially took place as part of the international conference “Childhood, Youth, and Identity in South Asia,” organized by the Department of History, Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida, and the Centre for Publishing, Ambedkar University Delhi, India, on January 6–7, 2020.
This article explores how young Qatari audiences perceive authenticity in Turkish television dramas. The concepts of authenticity and realism are used as analytical tools to examine empirical findings from twenty focus group discussions with students, in 2016 and 2017. The results reveal that young Qataris see Turkish serials as offering...
This study examines refugee women's ICT and digital media usage during the Covid-19 pandemic. It aims to ascertain how women in refugee accommodation centres in Hamburg, Germany overcome information precarity due to limited or no internet access when public life primarily moved to the digital world. The discussion in this...
Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Virtual reality (VR) have attracted growing attention within the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry in recent years. Integration of BIM and VR technology can develop workflow efficiency through enhanced common understanding and prepare students in architecture and engineering programs to become leaders of the...
In an era where the world is plagued with environmental problems ranging from climate change to heavy metal pollution, new pathways towards environmental protection need to be implemented. Around the globe, countries have been constitutionalizing environmental rights in order to better use the law as a tool in these efforts....
Aside from Constitutional and negligence arguments, plaintiffs seeking to recover for nursing home COVID-19 related injuries or deaths have a third route: the federal and state False Claims Acts. This paper will examine the landscape of the False Claims Act (FCA) as it applies to nursing home liability in the...
This paper examines the international response to the issue of war crimes, exploring the effectiveness international institutions such as the International Criminal Court in investigating and prosecuting war crimes.
In 1994, South Africa held its first fully enfranchised election to usher in a new era and move away from the cruel Apartheid system of racial separation. This paper seeks to explain how political party-based constitutional negotiations in the final years of Apartheid influenced the country’s structure of government. I...
On October 2nd, an online conversation was conducted by the Program of African Studies of Northwestern University between Professor Chris Abani and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka.1 It was the resumption of a conversation between the two writers and scholars at the New York Public Library in November 2019. In response...
One of the first official decisions that Donald Trump made after his
inauguration was to withdraw US support for the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP). Mr Trump argued throughout the election that the
pact, and many other global trade deals, was harmful to American
companies and American workers and that he would...
The Republican party has for years sought to reform an American tax code
widely viewed as uncompetitive, expressing their ambitious goal as simply
making the tax system “that looks like someone designed it on purpose.”
Last November, when the party gained control of both chambers of
Congress and the White...
This past week saw Germany hold federal elections for the Bundestag, the
national parliament. The center-right Christian Democrat Union (CDU)
gained 33% of the vote, essentially securing Angela Merkel’s fourth term
as chancellor. The Social Democrats (SPD) secured 20.5% votes, retaining
their position as the Bundestag’s second largest party. However,...
When watching this year’s Golden Globes, Grammy Awards and other
shows honoring the past year’s best in entertainment, it was hard to miss
the rows of matching dress. Behind the black attire and parade of white
roses, stretched the industry stood unified after the myriad allegations and
confessions that have...
As American tech companies contend with strict scrutiny from Congress
in the wake of the 2016 election, several have already been harassed by
European regulators. During the past year, Amazon and Google were
slapped with massive fines, continuing a trend of EU hostility toward
major American tech companies.
Welcome to the second issue of Politica Northwestern, the academic
journal of Northwestern University’s Politics & Policy (P&P). P&P analyzes
the world in terms of impactful events. Political events occur constantly,
but their impacts are by no means equal. We distill major events to
determine how they will change the...
Impairments in the social use of language, or pragmatics, constitute a core characteris-tic of autism. Problems with pragmatic language have also been documented in fragile X syndrome (FXS), a monogenic condition that is the most common known genetic cause of autism. Evidence suggests that social cognitive ability, or theory of...
With the advent of a variety of novel nanometer-scale diagnostic techniques such as DNA micro- and nanoarrays, increasing focus has been placed on developing methods to quickly and accurately create these nanometer scale patterns. One promising technique for depositing DNA, proteins, and other liquid molecular "inks" with submicron resolution is...
Magnetic nanostructures (MNS) have become the subject of intense
interest due to their superparamagnetic properties and consequently
their potential uses in medical diagnostics and therapeutics. In this
study, monodisperse magnetite MNSs were synthesized via thermal
decomposition of iron(III) acetylacetonate and transferred to aqueous
solution using 11-aminoundecanoic acid as the surfactant....
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most common forms of dementia,
with no current definitive premortem diagnosis. Amyloid beta-peptide
derived diffusible ligands, known as ADDLs, have become a key link in
the AD specificity for memory loss and are a potential biomarker for AD.
In order to develop an...
Neurons are difficult to manipulate experimentally. Most transfection
reagents used for gene silencing are neurotoxic, and the postmitotic
state of neurons prevents the effective use of viral vectors. This study
demonstrated the delivery of antisense DNA against target genes by
gold nanoparticle oligonucleotide complexes (GNOs) in primary cultures
of rat...
Thermoelectric materials, which convert heat energy to electrical
energy, may become increasingly important in the world’s energy
situation. Through the inclusion of nanoscale features embedded within
a thermoelectric bulk material, it has been shown that a corresponding
decrease in lattice thermal conductivity results in an enhanced
thermoelectric figure of merit,...
Under the correct conditions, aluminum can be anodized in an electrochemical
cell to produce hexagonally ordered arrays of nanoscale
pores. This study examines how adding the chemicals methanol and
acetic acid to a typical anodization solution alters pore-growth patterns
across the surface oxide layer. The existence of the unique pore-growth...
This paper investigates the use of self-assembled monolayers
(SAMs) to optimize the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR)
biosensor for disease detection. Various experiments were done
with 1-(9-mercaptononyl)-3,6,9-trioxaundecan-11-ol (TDT) and
heptaoxatricosanoic acid (HSA), a new SAM; these included a solvent
study to determine refractive index sensitivity and nonspecific binding
and specific...
Cadmium selenide (CdSe) quantum dots have low conductivity upon
synthesis with the original capping ligands. The conductivity can be
altered by the addition of other ligands. Thiols, amines, and carboxylic
acids, as well as other functional groups, have been shown to improve
conductivity in quantum dot films. This investigation describes...
This study examined the invasiveness of nanofountain probes (NFP)
when used as a transfection tool for single-cell research. For comparison,
the damage caused to cells by more commonly used commercial
atomic force microscope (AFM) probes was also studied. Forces were
applied to cells at increasing levels using both probes, and...
The swelling and deswelling behavior of poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA)
thin films and the permeability of poly(styrene) (PS) membranes was
investigated using quartz crystal microbalance and ellipsometry.
The system consisted of either homopolymer PMAA film or diblock
poly(methyl methacrylate)-poly(methacrylic acid) (PMMA-PMAA)
brushes with a hydrophobic PS membrane capping layer. Results show...
This paper reports the syntheses of acetylene-terminated smallmolecule
cores. Also reported are successful attempts at “click”
coupling the core molecules with azide-terminated oligonucleotides to
construct stable small-molecule DNA hybrids (SMDH). Once these
click-based small-molecule DNA hybrids are formed, melting studies
will be done that study how the geometry of SMDH...
"This paper describes the development of an efficient transfection
vehicle for nucleic acids using surface-functionalized gold nanoparticles
(AuNPs) with a mixed-monolayer of biological molecules—a hybrid
approach that combines two previously investigated models. The
objective is to improve upon previously described nanoparticles used to
introduce nucleic acids to cells—oligonucleotide-functionalized AuNPs
and...
Small, soluble, self-assembling peptide Aβ-oligomers, known as ADDLs
(amyloid-derived diffusible ligands), accumulate in the Alzheimer’s
disease (AD) brain as Aβ 12-mers and are thought to contribute to AD
neuropathological conditions. Unlike plaques, which were once thought
to cause neuronal death due to insoluble amyloid plaque deposits,
ADDLs initiate abnormal changes...
Semiconductor nanowires show promise for application in nanoscale
electronics, but the difficulty of forming low-resistance ohmic contacts
provides a challenge to their implementation. To improve the electrical
performance of lithographically defined nickel contacts, nickel-silicide/
silicon axial nanowire heterostructures were formed by controlled
partial silicidation. Prior to annealing, two-terminal silicon nanowire...
Small, soluble, self-assembling peptide Aβ-oligomers, known as ADDLs
(amyloid-derived diffusible ligands), accumulate in the Alzheimer’s
disease (AD) brain as Aβ 12-mers and are thought to contribute to AD
neuropathological conditions. Unlike plaques, which were once thought
to cause neuronal death due to insoluble amyloid plaque deposits,
ADDLs initiate abnormal changes...
In the field of clinical diagnostics, biosensors are used to identify genetic
disorders by hybridizing a surface-bound DNA sequence with the
patient’s DNA. To further improve biosensor design, two nonlinear
optical techniques, sum frequency generation (SFG) and second
harmonic generation (SHG), were used to probe the orientation,
chirality, and surface...
The formation of organic layers on hydrogen-passivated silicon (HPS)
surfaces via (UV) ultraviolet treatment was completed for three styrene
derivatives with different conjugated lengths. The styrene molecules
were synthesized and characterized using nuclear magnetic resonance
(NMR) spectroscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
(GC-MS). Layer formation on silicon was then accomplished through...
Polymer nanoparticles (PNPs) were formed from amphiphilic diblock
copolymers consisting of a hydrophilic block with pendant polyethylene
glycol tosylate (PEG-OTs) groups and a hydrophobic block with pendant
terthiophene (TTT) groups. The resulting PNPs were characterized
using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron
microscopy (TEM) to determine size, shape, and...
The formation of covalently grafted polymer brushes on silica (SiO2)
nanoparticles was achieved by surface-initiated reversible additionfragmentation
chain transfer (si-RAFT) polymerization. RAFT initiator
was first attached onto the surface of silica nanoparticles and then
examined by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) analysis. From the
resulting RAFT initiator-modified SiO2 nanoparticles, polymer chains
can...
Bone-related problems have always been a concern in the medical field,
particularly how to heal and rebuild bones more rapidly when injuries
occur. A path to solving such problems might be to examine the
processes when bone develops in nature. This project aims at discovering
the chemical reactions that occur...
The aim of this research is to investigate the pH effect on the assembled
nanostructures of peptide amphiphiles (PAs). Controlling the sizes and
shapes of these assembled nanostructures is of great importance for
their ultimate applications in drug delivery, tissue engineering, and
regenerative medicine. A complete characterization of these nanostructures...
Semiconductor oxides are important materials in gas-detection systems
and can be improved by enhancing the sensitivity and selectivity of
oxide sensors to specific gases. This research investigates the effect of
palladium dopant (Pd) on the hydrogen gas-sensing ability of ZnO 2-D
nanostructures. Photolithography was used to pattern electrodes on
various...
Concern about maximizing and improving heterogeneous catalysis has
grown because it is used in a variety of applications. This study focused
on the effect single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) had on titanium
dioxide (TiO2) catalysis. Two different forms of TiO2, rutile and anatase,
were combined with SWNTs in heterogeneous mixtures and...
Chip-based devices and biosensors
incorporate the attachment of biomolecules
at interfaces. The behavior of biomolecules
at the surface and interfaces differs from the
behavior of biomolecules in the bulk solution.
Surface-analysis techniques are therefore
required to characterize these interfaces.
Second harmonic generation (SHG) has been
used to characterize DNA on...
In this research project, particle sorting of
Brownian liquids was explored by sweeping
two noncoherent pairs of parallel optical
standing waves in a translating medium.
Each wave was created by interfering two
coherent beams of light, and the resulting
fringe periods were determined by the angle
of intersection. Adjusting the...