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Afghanistan’s diaspora swelled after the Taliban took over the government in 2021 and initiated a nation-building project that marginalized some ethnic groups. Acts of discrimination were exposed online and discussed by users in the diaspora and in Afghanistan. Studies of non-mediated practices of Afghanistan’s diaspora show separation along ethnic lines. How the ethnic divisions play out in the digital space where users from the diaspora and Afghanistan debate the future of the nation and whether digital affordances facilitate interactions across divisions, and how, have not been addressed. We connect the literature on digital diaspora and firestorms to elucidate the role of affect in interactions between “here and there.” We conducted a netnography of X (Twitter) posts about events in Afghanistan between August 15, 2021, when the Taliban seized Kabul, and August 15, 2024. A thematic analysis of threads revealed three themes: essentialist displacement, the politics of labels, and language advocacy. The themes wove reciprocal defensive exclusionary discourses of place, group labels, and language erupting in affective surges animated by historical grievances and perceptions of marginalization evolved over centuries-long cohabitation in spaces that now constitute the state of Afghanistan. While heterogeneous and interacting across ethnic lines, the contributors spun essentialist discourses reflecting struggles over recognition, legitimacy, and ownership of the national narrative. The ethnic divisions were actively reshaped and expressed in digital spaces, producing fragmented encapsulation.

Mexican immigrants to the United States increasingly migrate to relatively new places such as Washington state, which now places in the top eight destination states. States wield increasing power to manage migration and negotiate residency at local scales. Although studies focus on migration debates in national and alternative media, little analysis has been done on newspapers in rural communities where migrants work and settle. We examine local English- and Spanish-language newspapers in rural Washington state to demonstrate how English-language newspapers legitimated competing interests and discourses of vulnerability versus precarity, whereas Spanish-language newspapers constituted a collective for rights connected historically to other subaltern groups. We then evaluate the potential for disrupting dominant discourses by local newspapers.

In this essay, we seek to provide a focused critique of theories of identity within intercultural communication literature. In addition, we propose ways of revising/extending identity theorizing in the field through the use of alternative communication-based frameworks or theoretical lenses that give the construct, \"identity,\"; a more dynamic and multi-faceted re-reading; and finally, we offer empirical examples of the use of such alternative frameworks in three brief case studies drawn from the three authors' individual works. This essay will therefore surface both the structural constraints as well as the subjective re-creative processes involved in the constructing, construing, performing, and negotiating of identities. Ultimately, we seek to show how the concept, \"identity,\"; might be engaged more adequately taking into consideration its cultural, historical, and political embeddedness in multiple contexts using the lens of communication.

Fragmented urban space combines elements of time and place that people use to negotiate their multiple identities. In this essay, we examine how Polish immigrants in Phoenix utilize particular locations to enact aspects of their ethnic identity. We argue that particular identity formations are articulated through configurations of space and that examination of spatial configurations gives us insights into enactment of ethnic identifications and the politics of multiple identifications. The postmodern urban environment contains fragmented and sometimes fleeting spaces that people seek out to communicate particular aspects of their identities.

This paper explores how diasporic identities are reinvented through constitutive rhetoric to legitimate certain forms of collective power and action. Diasporic collectivities are constituted in relationship to nation-state systems as well as other groups with whom they share histories and compete to establish claims to the homeland. The collective \"we\"; emerges as a shifting formation as the identity of the diaspora, its borders, and who counts as its members is constantly contested and repositioned. The paper analyzes discourses reinventing Polish American diasporic identity within the changing political situation of Poland including its democratization and incorporation within Western political structures.

This paper explores how diasporic identities are reinvented through constitutive rhetoric to legitimate certain forms of collective power and action. Diasporic collectivities are constituted in relationship to nation-state systems as well as other groups with whom they share histories and compete to establish claims to the homeland. The collective \"we\" emerges as a shifting formation as the identity of the diaspora, its borders, and who counts as its members is constantly contested and repositioned. The paper analyzes discourses reinventing Polish American diasporic identity within the changing political situation of Poland including its democratization and incorporation within Western political structures.

Swab, RT-qPCR tests remain the gold standard of diagnostics of SARS-CoV-2 infections. These tests are costly and have limited throughput. We developed a 3-gene, seminested RT-qPCR test with SYBR green-based detection designed to be oversensitive rather than overspecific for high-throughput diagnostics of populations. This two-tier approach depends on decentralized self-collection of saliva samples, pooling, 1 st -tier testing with highly sensitive screening test and subsequent 2 nd -tier testing of individual samples from positive pools with the IVD test. The screening test was able to detect five copies of the viral genome in 10 µl of isolated RNA with 50% probability and 18.8 copies with 95% probability and reached Ct values that were highly linearly RNA concentration-dependent. In the side-by-side comparison, the screening test attained slightly better results than the commercially available IVD-certified RT-qPCR diagnostic test DiaPlexQ (100% specificity and 89.8% sensitivity vs. 100% and 73.5%, respectively). Testing of 1475 individual clinical samples pooled in 374 pools of four revealed 0.8% false positive pools and no false negative pools. In weekly prophylactic testing of 113 people within 6 months, a two-tier testing approach enabled the detection of 18 infected individuals, including several asymptomatic individuals, with substantially lower cost than individual RT-PCR testing.

Background: The lead breakage (LB) during transvenous lead extraction (TLE) increases procedural complexity, increases the risk of complications, and decreases procedural efficiency. This study aimed to identify protective and risk factors for the breakage of cardiac electronic device leads during extraction. Methods: Data were sourced from the EXTRACT prospective registry for TLE procedures conducted between January 2016 and June 2025. A total of 702 consecutive TLE procedures involving 1375 leads were enrolled. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify independent protective and risk factors and develop a model to predict the occurrence of LB during TLE. Results: In the analysed group, 56 (7.98%) of 702 TLE procedures were disrupted by the breakage of at least one lead. The model showed a lower lead breakage rate in procedures when an atrial lead was simultaneously extracted, a locking stylet was used, and when the procedure was conducted in older patients or those who had undergone prior cardiac surgery. Higher risk of LB was proven in the following cases: the extraction of leads implanted a long time ago; the extraction of VDD-type leads; the extraction of abandoned leads; extraction during a prolonged procedure. Occurrence of lead breakage may lead to pericardial effusion requiring intervention, acute kidney injury, or leaving remnants of the leads. Conclusions: Lead breakage is an underestimated procedural difficulty that can occur during transvenous lead extraction. In this study, several clinical and procedural variables were independently associated with lead breakage. Abandoned leads, VDD leads, and prolonged procedure time were associated with increased risk. In contrast, older age, use of a locking stylet, atrial lead extraction, prior cardiac surgery, and later year of implantation demonstrated independent protective associations.