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Manga as a cultural art form delves into various sociocultural issues and narratives, and the representation of diverse cultural contexts in manga has increased over the years. The role of Japanese manga as a site for intercultural understanding and engagement is worth further investigation, and research in this area is still growing. This article explores intercultural dialogue through a case study of the Japanese manga Satoko and Nada Volume 1 by Yupechika, which narrates the friendship between Satoko, a young Japanese woman, and Nada, her Saudi Muslim roommate. It adopts a literary approach to the analysis of the manga and employs textual analysis as the methodology. The manga is analysed through the lens of interculturalism and deep dialogue focusing on the themes of food, fashion and faith. Through the analysis, readers are exposed to the narrative of intercultural engagement as portrayed by the mangaka. Yupechika incorporates pre-existing prejudices in the engagement between the two culturally diverse characters. The narrative arc reveals the importance of empathy, space and value sharing in forging intercultural understanding. This reading into Yupechika's intercultural narrative is a microcosm of the type of dialogue needed in the world today to overcome the acute racism and xenophobia.

Geopolitical and national interests predominate, given that a war between Russia and Ukraine would result in a daily economic decline in both countries. I am convinced that countries, not their people, wage wars. People have other concerns, such as food and a virus that has apparently not yet left these countries. Several plausibility arguments are presented in the first section of the paper, which addresses the persistently debated virus's origins. In contrast, its leadership continues to flounder. Numerous healthcare workers perished on the front lines, but there was scant coverage of their deaths during the first year of the pandemic and none since. The elderly, the frail elderly, and even the young are the most severely affected by the pandemic deaths that have occurred over the past two years and continue to occur. Current ontology is concerned with the controversies, hypotheses, and theories surrounding this damned insignificant RNA and its capacity to cause such catastrophic harm to humanity. Indeed, the issue is its disputed and contested origin. After two years, it appears that the graphs, countries, and news that are updated every minute on the Worldometer have not changed. However, something has changed; for example, countries have ceased to report the incidence of COVID-19 deaths.

Abstract
The accumulation of six pharmaceuticals of different therapeutic uses has been thoroughly investigated and compared between onion, spinach, and radish plants grown in six soil types. While neutral molecules (e.g., carbamazepine (CAR) and some of its metabolites) were efficiently accumulated and easily translocated to the plant leaves (onion > radish > spinach), the same for ionic (both anionic and cationic) molecules seems to be minor to moderate. The maximum accumulation of CAR crosses 38,000 (onion), 42,000 (radish), and 7000 (spinach) ng g−1 (dry weight) respectively, in which the most majority of them happened within the plant leaves. Among the metabolites, the accumulation of carbamazepine 10,11-epoxide (EPC — a primary CAR metabolite) was approximately 19,000 (onion), 7000 (radish), and 6000 (spinach) ng g−1 (dry weight) respectively. This trend was considerably similar even when all these pharmaceuticals applied together. The accumulation of most other molecules (e.g., citalopram, clindamycin, clindamycin sulfoxide, fexofenadine, irbesartan, and sulfamethoxazole) was restricted to plant roots, except for certain cases (e.g., clindamycin and clindamycin sulfoxide in onion leaves). Our results clearly demonstrated the potential role of this accumulation process on the entrance of pharmaceuticals/metabolites into the food chain, which eventually becomes a threat to associated living biota.

Abstract: Background: Some authors claimed that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) black box warning on treatment-emergent suicidality with antidepressants in adolescents (issued 2004) and young adults (issued 2006) led to an increase of suicides, based on the analyses of ecological data with debatable assumptions about putative changes in suicide rates. Aims: To explore if putative changes in suicide rates in adolescents and young adults at the time of the FDA warnings is a detectable signal in the data or compatible with random fluctuations. Method: We applied different changepoint analyses for adolescent and young adult suicide rates from 1981 to 2019 in the USA. Results: Changepoint analysis did not support a detrimental effect of the FDA black box warnings. The downward trend of suicides reversed several years after the warning in adolescents (2007–2009) and many years before in young adults (1999–2001). Limitations: Our analyses cannot rule out detrimental effects of the FDA warnings. However, even if there was such an effect, it was likely small and indistinguishable from random fluctuations in the available suicide data. Conclusion: There is no detectable change of trend in adolescent or young adult suicide rates in line with a detrimental effect of the FDA black box warnings on treatment-emergent suicidality.

Sustainable (no trend in the abundance of interacting species) coexistence of species can be maintained due to fluctuations in their abundance and distribution over habitats in a heterogeneous environment. In the water shrew and the common shrew, joint settlements exist in near-water areas and occasionally appear in "dry" habitats, where the water shrew periodically invades. Given the well-known overlapping food niches of these species, one would expect the discovery of mechanisms that reduce competition, however, in "dry" habitats, we did not find such mechanisms. The use of space is characterized by a random overlapping of the home ranges of animals. In the preference test (a container with an animal versus an empty container), individual repeatability of sociability was found in tests with a conspecific stimulator, but was absent in tests with a stimulant of another species. The presence of the water shrew (as a stimulant) in the behavioral test did not increase of anxiety of common shrews, but increased the thoroughness of exploration. The reaction of the water shrew to the common shrew was not found in interspecific tests. In the absence of specific adaptations aimed at the spatial segregation of animals, the coexistence of the water shrew and the common shrew is quite well explained by "fluctuation-dependent" models of coexistence.

Childhood obesity remains chronic and high in the U.S.,
driven by factors including poor dietary habits and lack of physical activity.
Interventions that address multiple causal factors may be the most appropriate strategy
to address rising childhood obesity rates. The Cooperative Extension Service offers
programs across the country to address causal factors of childhood obesity, but few
coordinated or concerted efforts have been made to determine overlap, reduce
duplication, or identify best practices in programming. To fill this gap, the National
Institute of Food and Agriculture Multistate Project W3005 Extension Workgroup sought to
develop a novel tool to compare programs with components related to childhood obesity
prevention. This manuscript details the iterative process used to develop the Childhood
Obesity Prevention Program in Extension Rubric (COPPER), provides findings from the
pilot process, and reveals the broad application and potential of this tool within
Extension and nutrition education. The newly developed COPPER tool is multi-functional
and may be beneficial in program development, implementation, adoption, and/or
adaptation of programs in new settings. This tool will be useful for Extension, public
health, and other community organizations focused on issues central to childhood obesity
targeting children, parents, and/or caregivers.

During the final stages of the Late Bronze Age (9th–8th century BC) the territory of northern Bosnia wascharacterised by remarkable cultural dynamics, visible primarily in the distribution of metal finds: weapons, tools,jewellery, and functional costume objects. A new type of funeral practice – inhumation – emerged here, with thisperhaps being an important factor in the formation and social stratification of communities living in this areaat the end of the Late Bronze Age and the beginning of the Early Iron Age. In this paper, a group of remarkableobjects is presented for the first time. The collection of chance finds from Lipac, near Doboj, consists of a groupof metal functional-decorative objects of high craftsmanship, and a smaller group of ceramic vessels, most likelyfound as part of a burial inventory dated to the early 8th century BC. In addition to basic information on thedistribution and chronological framework of certain pieces of ornaments themselves, the grave finds from Lipacprovide us with exceptional insight into possible local technological innovations and adaptations based on localtraditions, models and aesthetic criteria established among communities from this period. Objects in the gravecan be divided into two groups: objects related to food and drink, and bronze ornaments related to personal attire.

Background: There are growing concerns about the homeless and mental health issues globally. This study aims to examine the mental health situation of homelessness and the determinants of anxiety and depression of them in Hong Kong. Method: The data from the largest territory-wide study of the homeless population in 2021 was analyzed. Descriptive statistics and logistic regressions were used to investigate the association between mental health and socioeconomic variables, including demographic background, economic indicators, COVID-19 worries, government measures, and respect by others. The symptoms of depression and anxiety were assessed using Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) and General Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Results: The results showed that being female, food insecurity, and chronic diseases were the risk factors for anxiety and depression. A high level of respect by others was the protective factor for depression (adjusted OR 0.37, 95% CI [0.23, 0.61]) and anxiety (adjusted OR 0.40, 95% CI [0.24, 0.68]), compared to a low level of respect in the multivariate model. Conclusions: Providing medical outreach services, additional resources for social services, implementation of homeless-friendly policies, and a progressive supply of public and transitional housing would help enhance the well-being of the homeless population

Oman's vision 2040 focuses on four main pillars of People, Economy, Institutions and Environment. Every nation's economy greatly benefits from its environment, both directly and indirectly. Direct usage is through its use in manufacturing and indirect usage is through the myriad of services it offers. In recent decades, the nature of the environmental concerns facing the world has undergone a major shift. The best defense to sustain the environment is to instill awareness among the youth. This research attempted to initiate this defense mechanism through an assessment of environmental paradigms among budding Omani entrepreneurs. Researchers adopted an area sampling design to select respondents from designated food service-sectors. Data collection was administered through a structured questionnaire using NEP scale focused on five facets such as Reality of Limits to Growth, Anti-anthropocentrism, Fragility of Nature's Balance, Rejection of Exemptionalism and Possibility of an Eco-Crisis. The analysis included Descriptive statistics, student's t test, ANOVA and multiple comparison using Tukey HSD test that revealed the impact of respondents' gender, type of business and location on environmental paradigms to comprehend creative entrepreneurs' willingness to sustain natural resources in support of Oman's Vision 2040.
Keywords: Ecocentric views; Young Entrepreneurs; NEP scale; Sustainable Development (SD); Oman Vision 2040

The Republic of Moldova is a small country located near the Russian war with Ukraine. Our country is vulnerable and its pro-European government needs support. Of course, in these circumstances it can be said that without the external help and solidarity shown by Moldovan citizens, the government would have collapsed under the pressure of the influx of refugees from Ukraine. Furthermore, there is the inflationary crisis, with energy and food prices rising due to pressure on world energy markets and disruptions in supply chains caused by war. One of the territorial disputes that broke out with the collapse of the USSR, Transnistria evolved to the term "frozen conflict". There has been almost no violence in Transnistria since the war ended thirty years ago, but now in the context of the war between Russia and Ukraine, there has been an increase in violent incidents, with a series of mysterious explosions and attacks on infrastructure. Both Chisinau and Tiraspol have used diplomatic channels to alleviate tensions. Moldovans have had to calm some impetuous officials who have used a much more inflammatory language about Transnistria, reiterating that they are only looking for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

In conversation with critical platform and labor studies, which tend to focus on drivers and food delivery workers, this article seeks to expand our understanding of the platform gig economy from the perspective of reproductive labor and migrant domestic workers. The exploitation of women's unpaid and low-paid reproductive work has persisted throughout various stages of capitalist development. Migrant domestic workers' underpaid reproductive labor becomes an essential site for primitive capital accumulation and the production of the labor force in the contemporary neoliberal global economy. Building upon analyses of the historical and contemporary circumstances of transnational migrant domestic workers in Canada, I argue that digital labor platforms become a technology-enabled, capital-driven force in the larger commodification and exploitation process of migrant workers' reproductive labor, and such processes are underpinned by entangled structural and institutional forces of the uneven capitalist development, racism, patriarchy, and the state's discriminatory (im)migration and labor policies. The article suggests that understanding the seeming prevalence of platform work should be situated in the continuous formal subsumption of reproductive labor and the class immobility of migrant domestic workers, and labor activism and movements should contest the entwined power dominations beyond merely demanding regulations over platforms.

AbstractThere is a dearth of data on rare earth elements (REE), yttrium and scandium in foods which extends also to baseline datasets for edible wild mushrooms, though this has started to change in the last decade. Concentrations and shale normalized patterns of REE and Y (REY) were studied by using inductively coupled plasma–quadrupole mass spectrometer in 22 pools (2235 specimens) ofCantharellus cibarius(Golden Chanterelle) collected in Poland and also a pool ofC. minor(Small Chanterelle) (153 specimens) from Yunnan (Chinese Province). The total REY plus Sc varied inC. cibariusfrom 10 to 593 µg kg−1dw whereas that for the Yunnan'sC. minorwas 2072 µg kg−1dw.C. minorfrom Yunnan has higher REY and Sc compared to theC. cibarius. Sc concentrations in twentyC. cibariuspools were below 1 µg kg−1dw, but 17 and 27 µg kg−1dw were detected at the other two sites and 66 µg kg−1dw was detected inC. minor. The median Y content ofC. cibariusandC. minorwas 22 µg kg−1dw and 200 µg kg−1dw. The difference in REY and Sc concentrations and shale normalized patterns between mushrooms from Poland and Yunnan seems to reflect the regional difference in concentration and composition of these elements in the soil bedrock.

This paper discusses how different groups within Myanmar's population respond to multiple crises caused by the 2021 military coup, the economic and social consequences of multiple waves of Covid-19 and increasing global food and fuel prices. It is based on monthly observation reports (MOR) by local researchers to focus on the range of actions taken by Myanmar's silent accommodating majority. Contrary to conventional studies that treat "loyalty" and "passive resistance" as separate categories of individual or collective responses to government failures, this paper introduces "accommodation" as a strategy to reflect actions by those who have engaged in both compliance and passive resistance to deal with the military dictatorship in Myanmar. Those who practice accommodation strategies prioritize safety-first approaches that avoid open resistance to the military regime while simultaneously challenging its claim to legitimacy. Some of the strategies that undermine the military regime's claim to legitimacy, however, such as the civil disobedience movement in education and healthcare, further deprive the state of the resource to serve the needs of the general population and thus have detrimental and long-term impacts on individuals who use these. (Crit Asian Stud / GIGA)

Twenty years ago, the UN adopted a zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) by its personnel. After prohibiting sex with children and the exchange of sex for "cash, food and things," it "strongly discourages" sexual relationships with beneficiaries because "they are based on inherently unequal power dynamics" and undermine the UN's credibility and integrity. Taking inspiration from the critical feminist project of understanding what happens when feminist ideas and projects become institutionalised, I consider the effectiveness and unintended consequences of the policy's discouraged relationships standard. I argue that by centring an "inherent power imbalance" between peacekeepers and local people, the policy undermines the UN's capacity to meaningfully address that imbalance in practice. Moreover, the discouraged relationships standard diminishes the policy's perceived legitimacy among staff, with ramifications beyond the prevention and punishment of sexual misconduct. Based on research in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Timor-Leste, Geneva, and New York, this article generates insights about the persistent challenges to preventing and punishing SEA and situates them in relation to broader questions around how international missions view and interact with local populations, and how this affects the integrity and effectiveness of their work.

Social media influencers have become an indispensable part of social media, informing audiences, especially young ones, about various topics, such as beauty, lifestyle, or food. Recently more political influencers have emerged, and regular influencers have increasingly taken positions on political and societally relevant topics, including climate justice and gender equality. Yet, empirical evidence on how both types of influencers are perceived by their audiences and how they might impact young audiences regarding political action is scarce. Hence, the present study set out to investigate adolescents' and young adults' use and perception of social media influencers in the context of political information dissemination, opinion formation, and mobilization. With the help of qualitative interviews of young people in Germany (16-22 years), we show that while the mainstream media seems to still be the primary source of political information, influencers focused on politics are increasingly used to make sense of this information. The presumed impact ranges from amplifying the effects of existing opinions to opinion formation and changes in voting intentions based on the assessment provided by the influencer. Regular influencers who talk about political topics occasionally are not perceived as reliable sources of political information.