Extensive Reviews

China, Aspiration to Become a Football Superpower: What We Need to Know?

Jean Humbert, Junying Wei, Cristian Camilo Burgos Villa, Gama Rivas Daru — Sat, 05 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The purpose of this paper is to find out the Chinese aspiration towards the football business, its risks, and challenges. Specifically, we examined the national and international Chinese investments in football. Our findings revealed that there is a tendency for China to offer a large sum of money to the foreign players to attract them but also to invest in infrastructure across the country in order to increase the population's interest in this sport. Imperative to know that, the state's asserted desire to become a great football nation, public and private companies must follow people’s hope. It has been found that big football fans are involved in the development of football in China. The goal is to find the future Mbappé or Ronaldo who will allow China to shine as a football superpower.

Brief Review of the Genus Diospyros Montana Roxb

Sujatha Venugopal, Venkatesan Alagesan — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Diospyros montana Roxb. (F: Ebenaceae) commonly known as Ebony is a species of flowering tree native to India and other countries. These plant part as a whole in used in treatment of several diseases in particular, leaves and bark are used in folk medicine for the treatment of fish poison, anti-inflammatory, anti cancer etc. This present investigation reviews the bioactivity of flavonoids, phenols, carbohydrates, amino acids, protein, saponins, alkaloids, tannins, sterols, anthocyanin and anthraquinones, fixed oils and fats, and their presence in various parts of Diospyros montana. The significant constituent such as Diospyros, Isodiospyrin, Oleanolic acid, quercetin, β-amyrin and kaempferol have been isolated from various parts of the plant is discussed with a detailed description. The narrower approach indicates that Diospyros montana possess various pharmacological activities like antiviral, anticancer, antitumor, antimalarial, anthelmintic, prostaglandin synthesis inhibitory, anti-inflammatory, hypolipidemic, and antileukemic agent and several other important medicinal properties. This review focus on comprehensive and categorized information on the botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacological aspects of Diospyros montana which provide valuable information to researchers for continuing further scientific work on this plant.

The Transformation of the Spanish Influence in Latin America through the Multinationals

Xieyun, Crsitian Camilo Burgos Villa, Jean Humbert, Gama Rivas Daru — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Today the influence of the countries is manifested in a more subtle way than in the past. While in the past the cornerstone of influence was the use of force and coercion in order to dominate a certain territory, today everything tends to be more covert and somewhat sophisticated. The States now make more use of soft power than hard power, without giving up the use of force if is necessary. This is the case of Spanish multinationals throughout the American hemisphere or what is known as Latin America, where with a great expansion throughout the region backed by the political power of the Spanish State, it has managed to export Spanish presence and influence again throughout the region, more than 200 years after the independence of these countries from the Spanish crown. The assertive analysis of how dominance by force has given way to economic dominance is the main point of this article. Analyse the operations of these companies in the region through a meticulous investigation and its corresponding historical process to understand how works.

A Systematic Review of Garlic and Ginger as Medicinal Spices against Viral Infections

Cosmos Ifeanyi Onyiba — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Garlic (Allium sativum) and Ginger (Zingiber officinale) are globally utilized herbal medicinal spices. This systematic review discussed available evidence on the direct and indirect antiviral activities of garlic and ginger. Studies investigating the antiviral activities of garlic and ginger were searched and retrieved from four databases, including Google Scholar, PubMed, Science direct, and MEDLINE. Data search and retrieval were done up to 15 October 2021. A total of 28 studies were included in this systematic review (garlic = 18 studies; ginger = 10 studies). Fresh garlic aqueous extract and fresh ginger hot water extract were the most investigated forms of garlic and ginger, respectively. There was minimal evidence on the prophylactic antiviral effect of garlic and ginger, moderate evidence on the therapeutic and prophylactic/therapeutic antiviral effects, and minimal evidence on the enhancement of the immune system against viral infections. The low-moderate quality evidence on the direct and indirect antiviral effects of garlic and ginger has provided the necessary background to instigate further high-quality investigations to validate the current information, address the grey areas, and provide valuable insights into the possible utility of garlic and ginger as raw materials in drug development against viral infections.

Ontology of Nigerian Local Governments

Stephen Chioke — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

From a functionalist perspective, every human society is made up of different social rankings, groups, units and organisations crafted to serve different purposes. The functional approach to the ontological perspective on local government is not about the call for absolute autonomy of local government. Thus, the main problem of this paper is to investigate the ontology of Nigerian local government from a functionalist approach. Using qualitative data, the paper reviewed the: true ontology of an ideal local government from a global parallax; factors affecting the ontology of Nigerian local governments; and practicable ways of making Nigerian local governments align with the global pattern of local governance. Godfatherism; corruption; bias, favouritism and nepotism; bad governance; inefficient service delivery; and electioneering problems were highlighted as the major factors affecting the ontology of Nigerian local governments. The paper submits that we must arise from slumber and as such, no room for excuses. Other revelations were thrown up as regards the true ontology of local government and the practicable ways of making Nigerian local government conform to global pattern. The paper concluded that, Nigeria local government is a failed public bureaucracy asking for the masses’ collective attention in form of revitalization. This attention if given will cause a paradigm shift and reasonably refurbish the local government system/structure to fit into the ontological shape of a modern day local government that is compliant with international best practices. This study has its implication on future research and practice.

Politics of Marginalisation of Igbo Nation in Nigerian Public Administration and Insecurity

Stephen Chioke — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The Igbo nation is an important constituent part in the Nigerian political constituency. Yet they remain politically marginalized and enslaved and consequently treated as a second class citizen in the Nigerian project. According to the nature of this research, a desk research with great reliance on the secondary method of data collection and observation was used in: assessing the extent of the marginalisation of Igbo nation; establishing the relationship between marginalisation and insecurity in Nigeria; and examining whether the marginalisation is a blessing or curse. The paper discovered that the current tide of marginalisation is a blessing to the marginalised and a curse to the unity and sustainable development of Nigeria as a sovereign state. It is herein recommended that the principle of inclusivism should be manifestly practiced. In this regard, the Igbo man should not be merely tolerated in his own home. He must be allowed to be a stakeholder in matters that concern him as a part of the general system. It concluded that, for public administration to serve the need of the people, it must be devoid of marginalisation and allied factors such as: divide and rule, corruption, nepotism, tribal sentiments and other associated ills that make public administration unworkable. The implication of the study for practice is that if we continue to approach marginalisation separately from the issue of insecurity in which indices like human right abuses, inequality, unemployment and social exclusion on the basis of tribal and religious classifications are not tackled with utmost seriousness, insecurity will remain a nagging challenge in Nigeria. Therefore, there is a correlation between marginalisation and insecurity.

The Struggle for Control or Survival: A Study on the Theme of Gravity's Rainbow

Junge Dou — Wed, 19 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, with sprawling, encyclopedic narrative and penetrating analysis of the impact of technology on society, is a postmodern epic. In portraying an entropic world, Pynchon reintroduces his perennial themes of Preterite and Elect, Conspiracy and Counterforce, Apocalypse and Alienation, making it an intellectual tour de force. The book picturesquely presents the resistance against the technology fetishism totalitarian societies, controlled by the elite/Elect, of the jilted imperial subaltern/Preterite who are in pursuit of self and history. The pervasive sexual intercourse descriptions and the linguistic extremes of equitation and obscenity, which voice the desires of Elect and Preterite respectively in their struggle for control or survival in the totalitarian societies. The paradoxical dichotomy of despair and hope, survival and death are closely interdependent in the novel, which is the portrayal of the plight of human beings. The stories happen around the rocket show the absurdity of human life in the modern high-tech society and people's resistance and expectation to the absurdity of life and reflects Pynchon's implied meaning and deep humanistic concern for the status quo of human society. Gravity, rocket, and rainbow as a whole signifies both an elegy and longing on humanness out of the ruins and waste land after the war.

Quantum Control Modelling, Methods, and Applications

Nahid Binandeh Dehaghani, Fernando Lobo Pereira, Antonio Pedro Aguiar — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000

This review concerns quantum control results and methods that, over the years, have been used in the various operations involving quantum systems. Most of these methods have been originally developed outside the context of quantum physics, and, then, adapted to take into account the specificities of the various quantum physical platforms. Quantum control consists in designing adequate control signals required to efficiently manipulate systems conforming the laws of quantum mechanics in order to ensure the associated desired behaviours and performances. This work attempts to provide a thorough and self-contained introduction and review of the various quantum control theories and their applications. It encompasses issues spanning quantum control modelling, problem formulation, concepts of controllability, as well as a selection of the main control theories. Given the vastness of the field, we tried our best to be as concise as possible, and, for the details, the reader is pointed out to a profusion of references. The contents of the review are organized in the three major classes of control problems - open-loop control, closed-loop learning control, and feedback control - and, for each one of them, we present the main developments in quantum control theory. Finally, concerning the importance of attaining robustness and reliability due to inherent fragility of quantum systems, methods for quantum robust control are also surveyed.