Illustrating Divorce Tax Law: Lasting Impacts

When an individual mentions divorce, it is easy to become swept up in an array of emotions. Divorce, in many ways, is seen as a beast of legal facets that needs to be understood. This highlights the impact that knowledgeable lawyers have on the general public. Understanding the individual facets of divorce law is imperative. Divorce not only affects two people, but it possesses additional consequences for individuals related to divorcees. Divorce further has the potential to shift the dynamic for an entire family. Additionally, divorce is becoming increasingly prevalent. Current survey data found that steadily half of marriages fail (Mathewson, 2018). Unfortunately, this has placed a consequent strain on the legal system. Due to the frequent occurrence of divorce, new advances are always being made within divorce law that have been used throughout case law

An Olfactory Based Behavioral Analysis of Bombus terrestris in Relation to Three Strains of Solanum lycopersicum

Every year agricultural companies produce new strains of Solanum, the genus that includes species such as tomatoes, potatoes and eggplants. Using artificial selection, the strains are created for disease resistance and hardiness. However, it is unknown if pollinator-attractive traits are inadvertently lost by this process. It has been documented in strawberries that different strains of the same species produce different amounts of volatile organic compounds. The strain that produced the highest quantity of volatile organic compounds attracted the most pollinators under field conditions, and elicited the greatest antennographic response in Red Mason bees (Klatt et al., 2013). Therefore, I asked if bumblebees, one of the main pollinators of Solanum, are differentially attracted to multiple strains of tomatoes, an important cash crop. Of the three strains used in this study, I predicted that bumblebees would be most attracted to the cultivar with the least disease resistance because it was less likely that any attractive traits had been bred out. I tested this hypothesis using an olfactory based Y-maze behavioral apparatus and determined that in a laboratory setting bumblebees were significantly more attracted to Brandywine, the least disease resistant strain, than Mountain Magic, the cultivar with the greatest disease resistance profile. The results were confirmed using both cuttings of the plants and whole plants. From these data it is possible to say that the volatile organic compound profile of Mountain Magic may have been inadvertently modulated by artificial selection towards disease resistance. Therefore, it is necessary to create a larger scale study to determine if this trend is endemic to all artificially selected tomatoes, or localized to these two strains

The Simulated Life: A Psychological and Philosophical Examination of Contemporary Social Media Use of Adolescents

Suppose you were born 50 years ago. You may not have encountered a screen for several years. Suppose you were born today. You would likely encounter a screen instantly. Unlike 50 years ago, adolescents are exposed to screens and social media quickly and frequently. For those born today, it can be difficult to imagine a world without social media, smartphones, and the internet. Recently, China limited the amount of time adolescents under the age of 18 can spend playing video games. Bans and limitations like this may sound strange to a western audience, but many people are worried about the impact of heavy technology use on adolescents. Young children are learning to take silly pictures on their parents’ smartphones at the same time they are learning to speak, which is undoubtedly unprecedented. Based on this new and strange connection between people and technology, one cannot help but wonder what is happening to our brains and, further, what this connection means philosophically for our worldview and existence experience. The increased use of and reliance upon technology are also being explored by psychologists, as there seem to be ties between mental health and technology use. Additionally, technology changes the way the brain works, potentially altering the physical brain structure and impacting mental health and abilities like attention, concentration, and socialization in young people with heavy screen use. This paper examines some psychological effects of social media use on adolescents and explores the philosophical implications of social media use on our understanding of reality and its value. The first section describes the significance of new smartphone and internet technologies, and the second section introduces a short fictional case study. In the third section, good, neutral, and negative effects of social media use on adolescents are discussed. The philosophical implications are discussed in the final section

Pellets recovered from stick nests and new diet items of Furnariidae (Aves: Passeriformes)

This is the first record showing eleven species in seven genera of Furnariidae (Aves: Passeriformes) from Argentina that regurgitate pellets. A total of 627 nests of Furnariidae was examined, and from 84 nests (13.3%), 1,329 pellets were recovered. These pellets were found in the closed, domed nests of many Furnariidae, because in comparison to other passerine birds, their nests were used for roosting, especially in the subfamily Synallaxinae. Anumbius annumbi had the highest percentage of nests containing pellets. Food items identified from the pellets provided important new data on the diets of several species of Furnariidae.Fil: Turienzo, Paola Noemí. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Di Iorio, Osvaldo Rubén. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental; Argentin

The Reversed Reality: The Reported Double-Digit Incremental Economic Growth Versus the Decreasing Trend in GDP Performance in Ethiopia During 2011-2020

Economic development and poverty alleviation have been a priority of the Ethiopian government over the past decade. The country is one of the poorest countries in sub–Saharan Africa and there have been contradicting reports by the government during the same decade for its fast-growing economy in the region with double-digit and incremental growth. This article attempted to analyse the trend in economic performance and the financial flow into the economic sectors in the country. On the one hand, government reports have indicated that the country is economically one of the fastest growing in Africa, a position that has been seconded by international financial institutions and other bilateral donors. On the other hand, the country remains on the list of poorest countries in the world.  A qualitative approach was applied in analysing the reported data on economic performance in the country from 2011-2020. The study relied on secondary data sources using aid flow records, reports of government and United Nations agencies, policy manuals, research findings, books, and journals. The GDP measure in Ethiopia during the past decade decreased from 11.39 in 2011 to 6.06 in 2020. The trend in specific economic sectors was decreasing with little progress in specific poverty indexes in the economic sector. There were marked inequalities between urban and rural areas in the country. The performance in water supply, electricity power provision and road networking in the country showed sluggish progress. The intended transition from an agriculture-led economy to an industry and services sector-led economy remained unmet. The country continued relying on foreign aid for its poverty alleviation efforts and the aid flow during the past decade showed a fluctuating trend. The study results imply that there should be genuine reports on the economic performance of the country relying on the specific indexes of poverty measures. There is also a critical need to focus on internal capacities over the reliance on foreign support to achieve poverty alleviation and economic development goals

Foreign Aid and Factors Determining Its Effectiveness on Poverty Alleviation in Ethiopia

Economic development and poverty alleviation are central agendas in Ethiopia where millions of its people are below the poverty line. This article applied a qualitative approach mainly relying on secondary data in dealing with the role of foreign aid and factors determining its effectiveness in contributing to the poverty alleviation efforts in Ethiopia. The economic sector mainly the agriculture sector is believed as the backbone of the country’s economic development and poverty alleviation a means of subsistence and a source of raw materials for its light industries. Foreign aid is believed to contribute to the poverty alleviation efforts in the country but its effectiveness is questioned and debated for many reasons. Some scholars and development practitioners argue for the positive role aid plays in poverty alleviation while others argue against its positive contribution. There are also arguments on aid conditionality, pointing out preconditions to make aid effective in poverty alleviation efforts. This group believes in addressing factors hindering aid effectiveness. In Ethiopia, institutional capacity, poor government expertise, low commitment and poor leadership quality, corruption, and donor interests and procedures affect aid effectiveness. Policy actions are recommended to deal with the factors affecting aid effectiveness and improve its role in poverty alleviation efforts in the country

Actes du Séminaire international Alejo Carpentier y España (Santiago de Compostela, 2-5 de marzo de 2004)

Ce volume propose un bel ensemble de travaux dans un champ plus que pertinent, et qui n’avait été jusqu’alors que fort peu abordé : les liens et les rapports d’Alejo Carpentier avec l’Espagne et sa culture. Fin connaisseur des classiques espagnols, Carpentier a nourri son œuvre critique et sa création romanesque de culture et d’histoire d’Espagne. C’est en Espagne que sont régulièrement rééditées ses œuvres et il était urgent que celui qui fut un grand Prix Cervantes fût honoré par la communa..

William Aldridge’s and Samuel Whitchurch’s Competing Versions of John Marrant’s Life Story

In this presentation, I maintain that book history offers important ways to trace the packaging, circulation, and consumption of early black Atlantic texts and lives. To begin a more comprehensive interdisciplinary initiative that fuses archival work, book history, and early black Atlantic literature, I attend to the key differences in various prose and verse editions of the best- selling conversion and captivity narrative, The Narrative of the Lord’s Most Wonderful Dealings with John Marrant, A Black, published both during and after the itinerant preacher’s lifetime (1755-1791). Specifically, I analyze relevant parts from the authorized fourth edition of Marrant’s narrative along with the unauthorized prose and verse editions written by the Methodist ministers, William Aldridge and Samuel Whitchurch. Aldridge and Whitchurch created versions of Marrant’s life based on his oral remarks on his conversion at his ordination in a Huntingdonian chapel in Bath. The differences found in Aldridge’s and Whitchurch’s respective texts underscore an editorial tension in the consistent repackaging of Marrant’s life story. Whereas Aldridge’s prose editions document Marrant’s captivity by and sustained interactions with the Cherokees, Whitchurch’s poem, The Negro Convert (c. 1785), boasts that the speaker of his poem will not “sing” of “Indians.” For Whitchurch, the sea and sailors–not the North American landscape and Native American peoples–provided a more realistic space for pursuing Marrant’s commitment to Christianity following conversion. This presentation also attends to parts of Whitchurch’s neglected poem, David Dreadnought, the Reformed English Sailor (1812). Whitchurch’s poem focuses on the maritime adventures of David Dreadnought, John Marrant, and David Henderson and the conversion narratives of this diverse group of mariners. Whitchurch wrote Dreadnought—and used Marrant’s life—to frame empire building as a providential act with the absorption of blacks (and Scots) and established a specific type of “imagined community” for early-nineteenth-century British readers

Exploring Systemic Reform in Criminal Justice for Afro-Americans Based on Critical Policy Ethnography

The persistent disproportionate rates of Afro-American involvement within the criminal justice system at all levels have resulted in historic levels of unexplained mass incarceration. Despite federal guidance, the pandemic of unexplained mass incarceration persists. Some studies have noted that the lack of academic attention may be one of the primary reasons for the lack of change. Others have noted the need for centering and lifting the perspective of those who have been most impacted by these racial disparities. The intent of this study was to offer a qualitative close-up examination and analysis from the perspective of impacted populations. The ecological systems theory of human development and the critical race theory provided the conceptual framework. Through a critical policy ethnographic approach, the micro processes of two southwestern jurisdictions were studied to assess the roles of structural competency and integrity in systems change. The study revealed the need for a mindset shift that acknowledges and honors equitable access to basic human rights regardless of race. The mainstream population has been very slow to acknowledge the existence of any systemic problems. The lack of acknowledgment sets the stage for nonaction and the reinforcement of collective belief systems that shift blame and burdens to impacted individuals and groups whom they have classified as the other. With systems sanctioned groupthink, the exclusion of the other has become institutionalized and normalized. The study revealed that deep change on multiple levels is needed to bring about the desired systemic social change

Changing the spiral: Restoration effort of degraded land in Ethiopia, challenges and prospects, the case of Hadiya zone

Land degradation resulted from man-made and natural causes lead countries to the environmental and socio-economic problems. Currently it is threatening lives of millions of people particularly in developing countries where the agriculture is the main source of subsistence and income. Now restoration programmes have been taking place in the areas where land degradation is severe problem. Countries, governments and other stakeholders agree on that restoration of degraded lands leads to alleviating the poverty effects in the countries under problem. The results of the restoration efforts, its contribution to address environmental problems and poverty aspects depends on the way how the actors of the restoration process involved in, their interest over the process and the extent to which the varying interest of these actors reconciled. -- Relevance to Development Studies -- Dealing with restoration effort as a means to address the issue of land degradation and the livelihood aspects of households, brings it at the core of development issue. The issue of land degradation, restoration efforts and the poverty alleviation strategies are the interrelated aspects that should be treated accordingly, and at the same time the core issues of development particularly in developing world. There are number of actors involved in the process of restoration of degraded land. This paper enables to discuss about actors in the restoration process as an issue addressing the rural development strategy from the point of view of role and interes