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Topic Review
Understanding Sexual Agency
Debates on human agency, not least female and sexual agency, have permeated the social scientific literature and health educational practice during multiple decades now. This article provides a review of recent agency debates, illustrating how criticisms of traditional conceptions of (sexual) agency have led to a notable diversification of the concept. We propose a comprehensive, inclusive description of sexual agency, focusing on the navigation of goals and desires in the wider structural context, and acknowledging the many forms sexual agency may take. We argue there is no simple relation between sexual agency and sexual health. We propose the following description: Sexual agency refers to a continuum of dynamic, everyday, situated modalities of action related to sexuality in which agents navigate (contrarieties between) personal goals, desires and preferences on the one, and personal living conditions, normative expectations and the wider structural context on the other hand. A diversity of internal (e.g. self-identification) and/or external goals (e.g. maintain social relationships or challenge the status quo) motivate and direct sexually agentic behavior. Sexual agency may aim for change as well as for endurance, continuity and stability. It may be overt or tacit. It varies with individual (e.g. temporal orientation) as well as situational variables (e.g. novelty). Sexual agency may reproduce but also resist and renegotiate (aspects of) prevailing norms and the status quo. There is no simple relation between sexual agency and sexual health or well-being. Modalities of action as well as the constructiveness of their (multiple) effects always depend on personal frames of reference as well as on the opportunities and restrictions provided by the (immediate and distant) personal and structural context, including moral and ideological frameworks and dominant sexual stories.
  • 9.9K
  • 21 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Shallow Affect
Reduced affect display, sometimes referred to as emotional blunting, is a condition of reduced emotional reactivity in an individual. It manifests as a failure to express feelings (affect display) either verbally or nonverbally, especially when talking about issues that would normally be expected to engage the emotions. Expressive gestures are rare and there is little animation in facial expression or vocal inflection. Reduced affect can be symptomatic of autism, schizophrenia, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, depersonalization disorder, schizoid personality disorder or brain damage. It may also be a side effect of certain medications (e.g., antipsychotics and antidepressants). Reduced affect should be distinguished from apathy and anhedonia, which explicitly refer to a lack of emotion, whereas reduced affect is a lack of emotional expression (affect display) regardless of whether emotion (underlying affect) is actually reduced or not.
  • 9.8K
  • 24 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Second Language Acquisition
Second language acquisition, or SLA, is the process by which people learn languages in addition to their native tongue(s). The term second language is used to describe any language whose acquisition starts after early childhood (including what may be the third or subsequent language learned). The language to be learned is often referred to as the "target language" or "L2"; SLA is sometimes called L2A, for "L2 acquisition". The term "language acquisition" became commonly used after Stephen Krashen contrasted it with formal and non-constructive "learning." Today, most scholars use "language learning" and "language acquisition" interchangeably, unless they are directly addressing Krashen's work. However, "second language acquisition" or "SLA" has become established as the preferred term for this academic discipline. The study of SLA is usually viewed as part of applied linguistics.
  • 9.8K
  • 04 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Chemical Affinity
In chemical physics and physical chemistry, chemical affinity is the electronic property by which dissimilar chemical species are capable of forming chemical compounds. Chemical affinity can also refer to the tendency of an atom or compound to combine by chemical reaction with atoms or compounds of unlike composition.
  • 9.8K
  • 20 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Philistinism
In the fields of philosophy and æsthetics, the derogatory term philistinism describes “the manners, habits, and character, or mode of thinking of a philistine”, manifested as an anti-intellectual social attitude that undervalues and despises art and beauty, intellect and spirituality. A philistine person is a man or woman of smugly narrow mind and of conventional morality whose materialistic views and tastes indicate a lack of and an indifference to cultural and æsthetic values. Since the 19th century, the contemporary denotation of philistinism, as the behaviour of "ignorant, ill-behaved persons lacking in culture or artistic appreciation, and only concerned with materialistic values" derives from Matthew Arnold's adaptation to English of the German word Philister, as applied by university students in their antagonistic relations with the townspeople of Jena, Germany, where, in 1689, a row resulted in several deaths. In the aftermath, the university cleric addressed the town-vs-gown matter with an admonishing sermon "The Philistines Be Upon Thee", drawn from the Book of Judges (Chapt. 16, 'Samson vs the Philistines'), of the Tanakh and of the Christian Old Testament. In Word Research and Word History, the philologist Friedrich Kluge said that the word philistine originally had a positive meaning that identified a tall and strong man, such as Goliath; later the meaning changed to identify the "guards of the city".
  • 9.7K
  • 22 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Pearlescent Pigments
Pigments are substances used to modify the colour of a material, which, unlike dyes, are insoluble both in common solvents and binders. Pigments can be either organic or inorganic, though the latest type is the most used and widespread for industry applications.
  • 9.7K
  • 01 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Agricultural Production in Qatar
Starting in the 1970s, Qatar had almost entirely based its economic growth on resource exploitation of the hydrocarbon sector, with agriculture being considered only as a ‘’hobby’’, rather than an important economic activity. The real driver of change affecting Qatar’s agricultural sector is the issue of food security, after the 2017 embargo (imposed by neighboring countries that made Qatar’s government critically aware that it cannot rely on other countries to secure its food basket), and thus highlighted the need to produce in the country.The factor that has most hindered the development of productive agricultural and horticultural systems in the past has been the availability of land, with suitable soils. This is a consequence of Qatar’s harsh climate; it is in a hot arid zone characterized by sparse precipitation; high summer temperatures; together with high humidity in the late summer months that makes working outside very difficult; very high solar radiation; strong winds; and limited freshwater availability for irrigation causing dependency on desalinated abstracted groundwater, and/or (more recently) on desalinated sea-water.
  • 9.7K
  • 24 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Custodial Death of P Jayaraj and Bennicks
On 19 June 2020, P. Jayaraj (59 years old) and his son J. Bennicks (also spelled Fennix, Bennix) (31 years old) were picked up for inquiry by the Tamil Nadu Police in Sathankulam, Thoothukudi district for allegedly violating the Indian government's COVID-19 lockdown rules. According to the police, the duo was held for allegedly keeping their mobile accessories shop open beyond permissible hours on June 19. An FIR was filed against the two on 19 June and both were taken into custody. However CBI in chargesheet claimed there were no violation of the lockdown rules. they were sexually assaulted and tortured by the police while in custody, leading to their deaths. On 22 June 2020, Bennicks fell ill and was moved to the Kovilpatti General Hospital, where he died later that day. The following day, 22 June 2020, his father also died. The custodial death of the two men in Tamil Nadu's Sathankulam town in Thoothukudi district sparked massive outrage in the state over police brutality.
  • 9.7K
  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Mukhannathun
Mukhannathun (مخنثون "effeminate ones", "men who resemble women", singular mukhannath) was a term used in Classical Arabic to refer to men who were perceived as effeminate. Mukhannathun, especially those in the city of Medina, are mentioned throughout the ahadith and in the works of many early Arabic and Islamic writers. During the Rashidun era and first half of the Umayyad era, they were strongly associated with music and entertainment. During the Abbasid caliphate, the word itself was used as a descriptor for men employed as dancers, musicians, or comedians. In later eras, the term mukhannath was associated with the receptive partner in gay sexual practices, an association that has persisted into the modern day. Khanith is a vernacular Arabic term used in some parts of the Arabian Peninsula to denote the gender role ascribed to males who function sexually, and in some ways socially, as women. The term is closely related to the word mukhannath.
  • 9.7K
  • 10 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Sustainable Business Models
Over the years, researchers have presented different concepts regarding business models. There is no unanimity, but there is a general agreement that a business model is the representation of how a company conducts its business. Subsequently, interest in the topic has increased and has come to be considered by companies that, driven to incorporate a positive contribution to sustainability into their values, began to face economic development that considers social and environmental aspects instead of worrying only about profit for the shareholders.
  • 9.7K
  • 19 Apr 2022
Topic Review
White Tiger
The white tiger or bleached tiger is a pigmentation variant of the Bengal tiger, which is reported in the wild from time to time in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal and Bihar in the Sunderbans region and especially in the former State of Rewa. Such a tiger has the black stripes typical of the Bengal tiger, but carries a white or near-white coat.
  • 9.7K
  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Monochromatic X-rays
Monochromatic X-ray has a single energy level in contrast to white X-rays used in conventional radiation therapy. Irradiation of high Z elements such as gadolinium, gold and silver with a monochromatic X-ray can result in photoelectric effects that includes the release of the Auger electrons that have strong cell killing effect. To apply this principle to cancer therapy, various nanoparticles loaded with high Z elements have been developed that enabled high Z elements to be delivered to tumor. The recent addition is gadolinium-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticle (Gd-MSN). Tumor spheroids have been used as a convenient tumor model to demonstrate that monochromatic X-rays with energy level at or higher than the K-edge energy of gadolinium can destruct tumor mass that has Gd-MSN distributed throughout tumor spheroids.
  • 9.7K
  • 22 Jul 2020
Topic Review
Essential Trace Elements
Trace elements produce double-edged effects on the lives of animals and particularly of humans. On one hand, these elements represent potentially toxic agents; on the other hand, they are essentially needed to support growth and development and confer protection against disease. The amount taken up and the accumulation in human tissues decisively control whether the exerted effects are toxic or beneficial. This entry provides a brief description of some toxic, likely essential and essential elements and their influence on human health.
  • 9.7K
  • 20 Aug 2020
Topic Review
Rainfall Data
As is widely recognized, rainfall data is necessary for the mathematical modelling of extreme hydrological events, such as droughts or floods, as well as for evaluating surface and subsurface water resources and their quality. The phase, quantity, and elevation of generic hydrometeors in the atmosphere can be estimated by ground-based radars. Satellites can provide images with visible and infrared radiation, and they can also serve as platforms for radiometers to derive the quantity and phase of hydrometeors. Radars and satellites provide spatial information on precipitation at wide scales, avoiding many problems connected to local ground measurements, including those for the areal inhomogeneity of a network. However, direct rainfall observations at point scale can be obtained only by rain gauges installed at the soil surface.
  • 9.6K
  • 29 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Information Seeking Behavior
Information seeking behavior refers to the way people search for and utilize information. The term was coined by Thomas D. Wilson in his 1981 paper, on the grounds that the current 'information needs' was unhelpful as a basis for a research agenda, since 'need' could not be directly observed, while how people behaved in seeking information could be observed and investigated. However, there is increasing work in the information searching field that is relating behaviors to underlying needs. In 2000, Wilson described information behavior as the totality of human behavior in relation to sources and channels of information, including both active and passive information-seeking, and information use. He described information seeking behavior as purposive seeking of information as a consequence of a need to satisfy some goal. Information seeking behavior is the micro-level of behavior employed by the searcher in interacting with information systems of all kinds, be it between the seeker and the system, or the pure method of creating and following up on a search. A variety of theories of information behavior – e.g. Zipf's principle of least effort, Brenda Dervin's sensemaking, Elfreda Chatman's life in the round – seek to understand the processes that surround information seeking. The analysis of the most cited publications on information behavior during the first years of this century shows its theoretical nature. Together with some works that have a constructivist focus, using references to Dewey, Kelly, Bruner and Vygotsky, others mention sociological concepts, such as Bourdieu's habitus. Several adopt a constructionist-discursive focus, whereas some, such as Chatman, who can in general be described as using an ethnographic perspective, stand out for the quantity and diversity of references to social research. The term 'information behaviour' was also coined by Wilson and occasioned some controversy on its introduction, but now seems to have been adopted, not only by researchers in information science but also in other disciplines. The digital world is changing human information behavior and process. Focused almost exclusively on information seeking and using, information receiving, a central modality of the process is generally overlooked. As information seeking continues to migrate to the Internet, and artificial intelligence continues to advance the analysis of user behavior on the Internet across a range of user interactions, information receiving moves to the heart of the process, as systems "learn" what users like, want and need, as well as their search habits.
  • 9.6K
  • 09 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Creatine Monohydrate
Creatine (N-(aminoiminomethyl)-N-methyl glycine) is a naturally occurring nitrogen-containing compound that plays an integral role in cellular metabolism. Creatine monohydrate (CrM) supplementation increases muscle phosphagen levels, improves repetitive high-intensity exercise performance, and promotes greater training adaptations. No significant side effects other than weight gain have been reported from CrM supplementation despite widespread use throughout the world. 
  • 9.6K
  • 07 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Primary Socialisation
Primary socialization in sociology is the period early in a person's life during which they initially learn and build themselves through experiences and interactions around them. This process starts at home through the family, in which one learns what is or is not accepted in society, social norms, and cultural practices that eventually one is likely to take up. Primary socialization through the family teaches children how to bond, create relationships, and understand important concepts including love, trust, and togetherness. Several agents of primary socialization involve institutions such as the family, childhood friends, the educational system, and social media. All these agents influence the socialization process of a child that they build on for the rest their life. These agents are limited to people who immediately surround a person such as friends and family—but other agents, such as social media and the educational system have a big influence on people as well. The media is an influential agent of socialization because it can provide vast amounts of knowledge about different cultures and society. It is through these processes that children learn how to behave in public versus at home, and eventually learn how they should behave as people under different circumstances; this is known as secondary socialization. A vast variety of people have contributed to the theory of primary socialization, of those including Sigmund Freud, George Herbert Mead, Charles Cooley, Jean Piaget and Talcott Parsons. However, Parson's theories are the earliest and most significant contributions to socialization and cognitive development.
  • 9.5K
  • 18 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Responses to Sneezing
In English-speaking countries, the common verbal response to another person's sneeze is "bless you", or, less commonly in the United States and Canada , "Gesundheit", the German word for health (and the response to sneezing in German-speaking countries). There are several proposed bless-you origins for use in the context of sneezing. In non-English-speaking cultures, words referencing good health or a long life are often used instead of "bless you," though some also use references to God. In some Asian cultures such as Korean and Japanese cultures, the practice of responding to another person's sneeze does not exist. In the Assyrian language, “Shemad Alaha”, “in God’s name”, is the response to a sneeze.
  • 9.5K
  • 01 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Extended Shelf-Life Milk Thermal Processing
Extended shelf-life (ESL) or ultra-pasteurized milk is produced by thermal processing using conditions between those used for traditional high-temperature, short-time (HTST) pasteurization and those used for ultra-high-temperature (UHT) sterilization. 
  • 9.5K
  • 16 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Levirate Marriage
Levirate marriage is a type of marriage in which the brother of a deceased man is obliged to marry his brother's widow. The term levirate is itself a derivative of the Latin word levir meaning "husband's brother". Levirate marriage has been practiced by societies with a strong clan structure in which exogamous marriage (i.e. marriage outside the clan) was forbidden. It has been known in many societies around the world.
  • 9.5K
  • 03 Mar 2023
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